Chapter 9?

After having left the apartment of the quintuplets, Futaro begins to make way towards the rooftop where he had left Miku, Yotsuba, and Riaha. However, Futaro walks with slightly slumped shoulders, evidently showing the poor mood he has found himself in.

Nino, after having been left by Ichika, begins to walk towards the same destination, and while she may feel a little disheartened at her sister's inability to attend the fireworks this year, she is still glad her Ichika is finding something that she enjoys to do, even if she herself doesn't realize it.

Nino arrives at the rooftop before Futaro, instantly being greeted by two of her younger sisters.

"Nino! What took you so long? The fireworks are about to start!" spoke Yotsuba, before she noticed Nino's disheartened look.

"Wait, Nino, are you alright?" she asked, holding her sister's hand to show support.

Nino slightly chuckled at her sister's concern, before waving her hand in front of her face as to brush away any concern she may have had.

"No no, I'm fine Yotsuba. Just irritated that Ichika couldn't come here tonight." she said, laughing, before continuing, "Really? What a nerve that girl has! Choosing something over this? I just can't believe her." Nino said, head held up high, now seemingly in a much better mood with her sisters around, causing Miku to smile and Yotsuba to chuckle.

"Well, I'm sure Ichika has a good reason, right Nino?"

"Even if she did, that wouldn't stop Nino from complaining," interjected Miku, who had thus far been quiet, thinking of a certain tutor who should be coming with her youngest sister in tow.

"Urk... T-that's not true at all Miku!"

Miku however ignored Nino's retort, as she quickly returned, only to gain a soft chuckle from the middle sister, before she returned her gaze back towards the spot where the fireworks were to be going off shortly.

A few short minutes happen to go by until Futaro shows up at the rooftop just before the fireworks were to set off.

Riaha was the first to notice her brother, having been anticipating his arrival for some time, worried that he would miss the fireworks.

"Onii-chan! What took you so long?"

"Sorry, It took longer than I expected," he said, eyes trailing to meet Miku's, before walking over to her.

"I uh, couldn't get Itsuki to come tonight," he said with an apologetic look on his face, truthfully sorry that he couldn't bring her to come.

Miku only sighed at this, not in disappointment that Futaro had failed to get Itsuki to come with him, just saddened that her sister would in fact miss the fireworks this year, along with Ichika.

"It's ok, you tried to bring her, and that's all that matters," she said, smiling towards the boy, heart fluttering at his honest attempt to bring her sister, and at the fact that he genuinely cares for them.

Suddenly, Nino finally took notice of her tutor who had arrived, and went towards him, wondering where he had gone after getting Miku.

"Hey, Uesugi, where'd you go?"

"Sorry, I went to try and bring Itsuki here so we could have all five of you, but she was a bit sicker than I had thought, so she couldn't come."

Nino's eyes widened slightly at this, shocked that the boy would go so far as to try and bring Itsuki here together, even if he knew how important the night was.

"Well, what can't be done can't be done I guess. If it makes you feel any better, I couldn't bring Ichika back."

"Yeah, I see that."

"Yeah! So let's just try and enjoy the night with 3 of us sisters, and little RIaha here!" Yotsuba exclaimed, holding Riaha like a trophy to show off to everyone around, earning chuckles from all.

After this, the 5 of them watched the fireworks, no one really speaking a word until it was all over, simply enjoying the beautiful colors that spread across the night sky before them. Well, at least everyone except Futaro and Miku enjoyed them, Futaro still thinking of what had conspired earlier.

And Miku herself spent most of the display watching a certain someone, finding them far more interesting than the lights dancing in the sky.

Eventually, the fireworks died down, and the 5 of them began making their way off of the rooftop as their time renting it had since passed.

"Ah, the fireworks were as pretty as last year!" exclaimed Yotsuba, running ahead of the group only to spin around and wait for them.

"What'd you think about them Uesugi-san?"

Futaro, who was now carrying a sleeping Riaha on his back, just shrugged at the question.

"They were fine."

"Mouuuuu." Yotsuba pouted at Futaro's lack of a real response.

"Who cares what this stick in the mud thinks? Let's just hurry up and meet Ichika at the park nearby. She should be showing up soon." said Nino, motioning for everyone to follow her.

"Oh yeah, what'd you think about the fireworks Miku?" Asked Yotsuba.

"They were pretty," said Miku, not knowing if they truly were or not due to her lack of paying attention.

After this, the four high school students had some small talk before they eventually arrived at the park where they would wait for Ichika.

Futaro then walked over to a nearby bench, placing Riaha down and sitting next to her, waiting for Ichika to come so he could finally take his leave. Why did he decide to stay and wait for Ichika? Well, that's the courteous thing to do in this situation, isn't it?

After a short while, Nino then spotted Ichika walking towards them with the casting agent, and quickly went to meet them.

"Ichika!" she said walking up to them, "Did you do well?"

"Well? She did simply amazing! I don't know what you said to her, but I've never seen her put on such emotion!"

The man then studied Nino for a quick moment, before suggesting, "Hey, you two are sisters right? Why don't you Accompany your sister at the next shoot? Twin actresses would be brilliant!"

Nino pondered the idea of being a famous actress in the future, thinking that that'd be a brilliant kind of luxury she'd enjoy.

"I don't know... You'll have to let me think about it."

"Great! You can ask your sister for my information if you feel like taking up this offer!"

And with that, the agent walked towards his car, leaving Ichika and Nino alone.

"You know, it was sort of lonely without you this year."

Ichika scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

"Ahaha, I'm sorry about that. Did the others have fun at least?"

"Yotsuba sure did, that's for sure. And I assume you did as well."

"Well, I did my best tonight. I just hope it was enough."

Nino placed a hand on her sister's shoulder, saying "I'm sure you did great. Now come on, we have to hurry home. It's getting way too late for us to leave Itsuki home alone. You know how scared she can get."

Ichika chuckled at this slight teasing towards her younger sister.

"Yes, let's go."

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Miku Nakano was in danger.

Normally, she was an extremely composed individual, not one to let her emotions get the better of her, and one who normally thinks logically about situations.

However, the situation she found herself in currently was one she didn't know how to solve.

Yes, her tutor, who coincidentally was the boy she had eyes for, had fallen asleep atop her lap.

Initially, Miku hadn't even noticed that the boy was asleep. He was sitting upright, his eyes just staring at the park before him, and she had wanted to thank him.

Yet after giving her thanks for his attempts to gather her sisters, she quickly realized that he was in fact snoring quietly next to her, apparently being one to fall asleep with their eyes open.

She laughed at this, but the laughter quickly quieted down as she felt his head fall on her lap, her face instantly becoming flushed red like her hair.

'!'

She quietly panicked, not trying to disturb the sleeping boy, and looked around for Yotsuba, hoping she would be able to help. Yotsuba however was swinging on a set of swings a little ways ahead of her, jumping off the swing when she would reach a height, and then repeating the process yet again. For what reason Yotsuba did this, Miku couldn't think of it. All she could think of was 'Yotsuba, help me!'

She then went to look for Nino, yet unfortunately for Miku, Nino was walking away towards the street, meeting up with someone who was just too far away for Miku to call for.

After realizing that all avenues for help had abandoned her, Miku turned towards the boy resting in her lap, and slightly smiled.

"Futaro looks so peaceful when he's sleeping," she said to herself, her hand slowly running through the boy's hair, as to give some small comfort to him.

She sat there for a short while, running her hands through his hair, enjoying this moment she got to have alone with the boy, even if it was just a moment only she would remember. She then took out her phone, and quietly snapped a picture of the boy's sleeping face, something she would save for herself to remember this small moment.

Eventually, Yotsuba came over and saved Miku from her confinement. However, Miku, although initially wanting to get out of the position immediately, now pouted when Yotsuba shook Futaro up.

"Psst! Uesugi-san! Wake up, it's time to go!" she whispered, shaking his shoulders after having lifted him to a seated position.

"Hmm? Ah. I-I wasn't sleeping!"

"Shishishishi Yes you were Uesugi-san! Think about what could've happened to little Riaha-chan!" Yotsuba teased, earning a glare from her tutor.

"Whatever. I'll see you guys tomorrow then. I have to get Riaha home before it gets too late." he said, getting up to take Riaha to their small home. However, before he walked away, he went up to Yotsuba and whispered something in her ear. What he whispered, Miku couldn't hear.

"Alright, Uesugi-san! See you!" waved Yotsuba as the boy began walking away.

She then turned towards Miku.

"Miku, did you have a fun time this year? I'm sorry that it was just only 3 of us, but I for one had a blast."

Miku in response to Yotsuba's question just simply nodded, saying 'Yeah' with a smile on her face, looking at something on her phone.

The two noticed Ichika and Nino walking towards them, and when they got close enough, Ichika bowed before her two younger sisters.

"I'm sorry for running off like that guys!" she said, head facing the ground.

Of course, her sisters were not upset with her, and forgave her with relative ease, and thus, the four quintuplets decided to go home, not wanting to leave their youngest alone any longer.

3 of the quintuplets went straight to bed, with the 4th going to her room initially, before waiting a short while and checking on her youngest sister next door.

She noticed how her beloved sister's desk was in disarray, and how her sister seemed to have fallen asleep atop her bed crying.

'Uesugi-san, what happened?' thought Yotsuba as she went to grab a blanket to place over Itsuki's body, before softly running her fingers through her sister's long locks of hair. She then wished her sister a good night and walked out of the room and into her's, ready to go to bed, worried for her sister.

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The next day, Futaro went to school like normally for the most part, although he was still worried about how he would face Itsuki after what had conspired between them the night for the fireworks.

'The first thing I have to do is apologize. I can't even begin to tutor Itsuki if she hates me. And if she gets her sisters to hate me as well, then it's over.' he thought as he began to walk into class, only to notice that Itsuki's desk was empty when he walked in.

'Weird'

However, instead of becoming concerned over Itsuki's absence, Futaro just brushes it off as something not to concern himself with. The rest of his day went by without much concern, eating lunch by himself, acing any question thrown his way during class, yet all the while, he was preoccupied with how to apologize to Itsuki the next time he sees her, which should be later that afternoon.

After his classes had concluded, Futaro began making his way towards the apartment of the quintuplets, having a random encounter with Miku at the school gate.

"Oh, hey Miku. what're you doing here?" he asked, wondering why she was just waiting at the school gate.

"O-oh, H-hello Futaro! I-I was j-just about to h-head home a-and get r-ready for today's s-session." she sputtered out, too embarrassed to admit that she was purposely waiting for him at the gate in hopes of walking to the apartment with him.

"Oh, well lets just walk there together then." Futaro suggested nonchalantly.

"Y-yes! L-lets!" Miku eagerly responded.

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After having arrived at the apartment, Miku and Futaro both stepped into the elevator, and just as it was closing, they heard a voice call out for the elevator to stop.

"Pardon me, but could you two hold the elevator for a moment!" called out an old man, a man Miku was able to recognize.

"Oh, Ebata-san. Are you taking a break from Chauffeuring dad today?" asked a curious Miku.

"Yes, he put me up to some business this afternoon that would take time away from that. And I assume this young man is your tutor?"

"Yes sir."

"Splendid, I hope you help these girls succeed with all your might."

"That's what I plan on doing."

The three then sat in the elevator in silence as they ascended towards the top of the large building, until they left the elevator and began towards the Nakano door.

Opening the door, Futaro spotted Yotsuba, Ichika, and Nino all awaiting the tutor, having arrived slightly before he and Miku, yet he found that Itsuki was absent from the group of quintuplets.

"Hey uh, is Itsuki not here today? I don't really want her to miss today's lesson."

'That, and I need to talk to her privately.'

Ebata then pulled Futaro aside and whispered into his ear.

"Actually, Uesugi-san, the girls' father, had asked me to tutor Itsuki privately, hence why I'm here."

"Huh? Why?" Futaro asked, questioning why he can't tutor the youngest quintuplets.

"For the reason why, I do not know. Yet I do believe it was Itsuki's request to have private tutoring. Now, you'll have to excuse me so we can get started."

And with that, Ebata left Futaro and 4 of the quintuplets alone downstairs, as he walked up towards Itsuki's room to utor her.

Author's note- Another chapter down! I had a lot of fun with this one! I really like Miku, so I was excited to write a little more for her, even if it was just a small moment! Itsuki wasn't in class today! Why? She even asked for a private tutor that isn't Futaro? Why? Who knows! Anyway, I hope you found this chapter to your liking, reviews are dope, and peace!