Disclaimers: I don't own a Nakano. If I did, i'd be in jail, but at the very least you can assume it was worth it.
Fuutarou Uesugi, 17 years old and the heir of the billion dollar tech company owned by Isanari Uesugi along with his younger sister Raiha Uesugi.
The boy was well known in his area being fairly attractive, rich and above all: incredibly intelligent.
So while there wasn't a scarcity for people trying to vie for his attention, the boy was still known to be reclusive and cold save for his best friend.
"Yo, Fuu, you wanna go out this weekend?" Takeda Yuusuke asked.
Takeda Yuusuke, the one friend that everyone knows for Fuutarou Uesugi to have. It was well known that his father is the chairman of the school board of the best school in the area and while he was also attractive and always placed second in exam scores. Despite this, he always kept up a cheery personality, being quite popular among the population of Asahiyama High School.
"Again? You know I don't care for third wheeling on one of your dates." Fuutarou spoke in a monotone voice as the two continued to play games together.
"Aw, don't be like that, you know she doesn't mind you around." Takeda laughed at the mention of his girlfriend.
"I'm not an idiot, she's been trying to have me get with Otori." The stoic boy sighed before taking Takeda's last stock.
"Damn. I can never beat you in anything… and so what? You can't tell me you don't find her cute." Takeda teased to which Fuutarou coughed.
"That's not the point. I barely have time with you. I doubt i'll be able to entertain the idea of going out with someone." He explained, causing Takeda to laugh once more.
"Haha! I'm honored, but I guess it's hard to draw the attention of The Fuutarou Uesugi." Takeda teased, earning a groan from Fuutarou.
"Well I can't make you if you don't want to. I'll just say you're studying again, which you probably will be doing." He sighed, leaning back in his chair as Fuutarou picked the next stage.
"Maybe you can finally be number one in something if you spent more time on things." Fuutarou deadpanned.
"Pft. Well I can at least say i'm much better with people than you, you introvert." The blonde let the jab go as this was their usual banter.
"But you know you've gotta open up at some point, right? Not unless you're thinking that i'm your one true love. If that's the case, i'll have to respectfully decline for I don't swing that way." Takeda gave a grin that looked very punchable, but Fuutarou held back as always.
"I will when I have the time, but as of right now, i'm much too busy." The heir defended himself, but Takeda rolled his eyes.
"You spent an entire month on a camping trip with me without studying and you still managed to stay in first place. I doubt you're too busy for anything you freakin robot." He groaned, placing his hand over his head for a moment before getting back into the game.
They both already knew the real reason he didn't ever want to be around people.
He was just plain bad at it.
"Hey, if you spend so much time studying allegedly, how are you still beating me in this game I play everyday?" Takeda asked, but received no answer as Fuutarou smirked before taking another set.
Line Break
Takeda was sitting in a seat alone, going over a few of his notes. He had bought himself a bento from a fairly popular restaurant named "Hideyoshis Eats" made by a very energetic couple.
Despite his attitude, Takeda was an extremely diligent worker who did look to surpass his best friend someday, but wasn't ever too broken up when he couldn't.
He was enjoying life after all. With his work and his dads pulling, Takeda was destined to be whatever it was he wanted to be, coupled with an amazing girlfriend and a best friend who understood him better than anyone else, there was simply nothing he had any real issues with.
He just wished he could improve his best friend's life.
He was already aware, thanks to a certain little sister of the siscon, that he barely left the house without Takeda's pushing or for school.
Takeda was worried.
"Um, excuse me… Is this seat taken?" He heard a timid voice, causing him to look up to see a beautiful redheaded girl in a uniform he wasn't familiar with.
The girl looked incredibly nervous, but not the type of nervousness he'd see when a girl would try to talk to him despite him already having a girlfriend.
She was new here.
"Oh, yeah, don't worry. I'm sitting alone." He laughed, as the girl nodded and sat down with a tray.
A quick glance and it looked like she was just having rice and nothing but.
Was she on a diet? She didn't look like she was.
He didn't want to press on that subject considering the last time he had mentioned such a thing. Needless to say his face still stings from remembering that moment.
"Hey, are you new here?" He asked, getting the girl to look up at him with a surprised look.
"Uh, ah, yes! How could you tell?" She looked genuinely surprised despite wearing a completely different outfit then the other girls in the cafeteria.
"Well, that's definitely not a uniform of our high school." He pointed out, getting her to blush in embarrassment.
"Er… Y-yes. I just transferred recently." She spoke solemnly, causing Takeda to raise an eyebrow.
"Oh? Well welcome to Asahiyama High! My name's Takeda Yuusuke, it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance." He gave a smile with a friendly aura, causing her to nod and give her own smile back.
"Itsuki Nakano. It's nice to meet you too." She politely responded.
"Yeah, if you ever need any help with anything, you can always ask me as i'm quite knowledgeable about this school." Takeda offered, before noticing that Itsuki had already eaten her entire meal of a single bowl of rice.
He wanted to ask if that's all she was having, but decided against it.
"Oh, that'd be quite wonderful. May I ask what it is you're doing since I didn't see you eat anything?" Itsuki asked, getting him to hold up his papers.
"Mm. I'm just going over school notes. I have someone i'm trying to beat, but he's quite a genius." The boy laughed as Itsuki took the papers to read and her eyes widened.
"Wow. These are really detailed. You must be a genius too, Yuusuke-san." She exclaimed, losing all her timidness immediately.
"Hehe. You'll make me blush. I'm just a hardworker with someone to push me." He looked away sheepishly, never one to accept praise too much.
"No, really, you must be real smart. What did you get on your last test?" She asked, getting a shrug from him.
"I aced it with a few points off for not showing my work." He sighed as Itsuki looked at him bewildered.
"Whoa. I usually fail with a lot of points off because I don't show my work." The girl shamelessly admitted.
"Ehehe… I don't think that's something you should say so easily…" Takeda sweatdropped as Itsuki looked away embarrassed.
"Ah! Sorry. I've just been trying real hard to study, but I can never seem to do too well…" She sighed, looking down casted before she turned to look at him.
"But wait. If you can help me, can you help me study?" She asked, looking hopeful.
Well that was a cute look, it's quite too bad he was already taken.
"Oh. Oh no. I'd be a terrible teacher. My mind works quite differently especially since I find it hard to care to show any work or give any insight on how I do things. Even the notes you've read are just what i've copied word for word from the lessons." Takeda scratched his face with a guilty look.
"Oh. Okay… I see. It's okay, it was my fault for getting too hopeful." She sighed, looking like a puppy who had just been scolded.
Wow, now he felt like a jerk and he was used to that feeling already.
Wait.
Takeda's brain went on overdrive for a moment, as a sudden thought hit him.
"Hey, Nakano. I do know someone who'd be AMAZING at teaching, heck, I'm still learning things from him. Stuff like this clicks immediately to him and he's always been great at teaching despite his quirks." Takeda had an evil smirk, one that Itsuki didn't notice as she looked up at him with a worried expression.
"Would he be able to help though? I don't have too much money…" Itsuki began as Takeda laughed it off.
"No worries! He's my BEST friend, he'll help free of charge if I asked him." Takeda reassured her, getting her to nod with a grateful smile.
"Oh that'd be perfect! Thank you Yuusuke-san! I'd really appreciate it." She beamed, easing his heart as he looked away.
"Y-yeah. Of course. No worries. Here, let's exchange contacts. If you're free today, i'll be able to take you right over." He smiled, before Itsuki once again looked disheartened.
"Oh… I don't have a phone. My father can't afford one for myself and all my sisters so only my oldest sister has one in case of emergencies." The girl was making him really really depressed right now.
"Oh, um. Well, tell your sister where you'll be and i'll meet you at the school entrance, okay?" The blonde boy improvised, earning a nod from the young girl.
It was then that the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch time. It was a good thing she didn't have that much food to go through.
"Ah, it looks like it's time to go, i'll be seeing you later then, Nakano-san." He politely bowed before getting his stuff to get to class.
"Of course. I'll see you later, Yuusuke-san." Itsuki returned the same courtesy and the two made their way off.
"Well, that worked out pretty well, but now i've gotta see how to get through the brick wall." Takeda thought to himself as he made his way back to class.
He was then hugged from behind while he was en route, getting him to stop, already knowing who it was.
"Hey, hey! I've caught you again!" Yamada giggled as he chuckled.
Yamada Kashiwazaki. A fairly popular girl among the school and was currently dating him. She was well known among the cliques due to her own cheery personality though unlike her popular boyfriend, she wasn't too high in terms of grading. That would go to her own best friend Otori who he almost never saw due to her basically mirroring Fuutarou for how much she's studied.
"Aha. You sure did. What's up?" He asked, getting her to release him to allow him to turn around and face her.
"Well, we're still going to Hideyoshis this saturday right? You said Uesugi-san wouldn't go and Otori-chan doesn't want to either." She asked, earning a nod from him.
"Yeah, he's dead set on staying inside his entire life, but I do have a new plan and you might not like it." Takeda held a hand to his chin, debating the morality of what he was doing.
"Oh? What's that? When you've got a plan. It normally turns out well." She asked, tilting her head.
"I just met the new transfer student Nakano-san. She has terrible grades and she asked me to help her study." He explained, getting Yamada's eyes to widen.
"Ohhh! Yeah, I met her too! She's really cute, but I didn't ask her about her grades. She's new but was already talking about some really interesting usages of makeup with cheap products that i've never even thought of… Wait. You didn't say yes, did you?" She narrowed her eyes, putting her hands on her hips with a suspicious stare.
"Haha. Of course not, dear. If I couldn't get you to raise your grades, I doubt i'd have any success with anyone else." He joked, earning a stomp on his foot from her.
As he recoiled in pain, holding back a yell, she looked away with a cross of her arms.
"Hmph. Well what's your plan?" She asked and Takeda then elaborated.
"I'm going to set up Fuutarou as her tutor. I'm meeting her today and i'll be bringing her over to his house." He explained, though that just made her look more confused.
"I'm lost. What does this have to do with Otori-chan?" She asked.
"Well, i'm just setting up Fuutarou with anybody that can help him come out of his house without black magic. Either he'll fall in love the moment he sees Nakano-san or she'll at least get him to be more outgoing enough where he'll agree to one of our get togethers.
"Hmmm… I see where you're going with this, but are you sure you can even get him to agree? Also, how does that help me with Otori-chan if he ends up falling in love with Nakano-san?" Yamada questioned further.
"I can't tell, but there won't be any progress from here on out if we don't try anything." He shrugged, before she asked one last question.
"Are you sure you can even convince him to tutor someone?" She asked, getting him to laugh again, brushing it off.
"Of course. I'm his best friend! There's no way he'll say no." He waved her off.
Line Break
"Hell no." Fuutarou said flatly as Takeda was on his knees.
"Please! She's a really dear friend and I want the best for her! Do it for me!" Takeda begged, prostating in front of him.
"Why does that matter to me? Tutor her yourself. I can't break my schedule for someone I don't even know, especially someone that sounds like a deadlast." He stood firm on his stance.
Takeda had woven an elaborate lie to try and get Fuutarou to tutor Itsuki but he was firm on his resolve.
"Dude. I already said I could get your help and you know I can't teach anyone!" He protested, earning a shrug from him.
"That doesn't matter to me! Don't go dragging other people along on a whim!" Fuutarou yelled back, irritated.
This wasn't good, she was on the way right now. If he walked off, he'd miss his chance.
"Dude, hear me out. If you help me out just this once, I'll have my dad make your sister that glass sculpture of Hello Kitty for you." He bargained, getting the boy to stop and think it over.
It wasn't well known, but Takeda's dad had a hobby of glassmaking and was extremely talented, selling his work for thousands of dollars online. While Fuutarou could afford it, the waiting list was much too long due to the process of making just one in the man's freetime.
He really wanted to be a good brother, so he relented, sighing.
"Fine, but you handle the gift wrapping too and I can only help as much as she's motivated in learning!" He said, getting a nod from Takeda.
"Yeah! Yeah! One hundred percent! I saw her myself, she looked like she's an excellent worker." Takeda nodded fervently, before he heard a familiar voice.
"Ah, Yuusuke-san!" He heard from behind, turning around to see the girl panting heavily as she made her way to them.
"Ah, Nakano-san. Why are you out of breath?" He asked, worried.
"Oh, I got lost in the school for a bit. I'm still new and kept ending up in the gardening clubs room." She said each word between pants.
"Oh, well next time we'll give you a proper tour of the school, but in the mean time, Nakano-san, this is my best friend and the smartest guy in the entire school, Fuutarou Uesugi. Fuutarou, this is Nakano-san, my dearest friend from childhood." Takeda introduced the two, earning a look of confusion from Itsuki.
"Dearest friend? We just me-" Itsuki began before being interrupted by Takeda.
"Haha, it's been so long, but we've basically resetted our friendship. Don't mind her." Takeda laughed awkwardly while maintaining a shifty expression.
Fuutarou didn't believe him for a second after knowing him for so long, but didn't press it.
"Miss Nakano. Fuutarou Uesugi. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I hope to work well together with you from here on out." He extended his hand to which the young girl took timidly, shaking it.
"Ah! You're in the same class as me!" Itsuki exclaimed, causing the boy to stare at her for a brief moment.
"Oh, yeah, you were introduced this morning." He offhandedly said, as the conversation didn't go any further.
"Well now that we're friends, let's go to Fuu's place and get started." Takeda was smiling brightly.
They were in the same class too? Things were working out too well.
"Of course, right this way. I hope you don't mind walking as I find it wasteful to drive just twenty minutes to and from school." He nodded, moving to lead the way.
"U-um no! I just need to be able to get home by 9 or my family will be worried." She answered, earning another nod from him.
"No worries. If it gets too late, I'll have my chauffeur drive you. He knows the way around pretty well after all and as you are now my student, I will ensure that your lessons will be convenient and of the highest quality for you as you will now represent my tutelage." He sternly said, giving her a hard stare, causing her to shrink away.
"Don't mind, Fuu, he's a perfectionist. Now that he's agreed to tutor you, you'll now be under the best care as long as you can handle it." Takeda sighed at his best friend's antics, following from close behind.
"A-ah. okay... " Itsuki looked down nervously, not wanting to make eye contact with the imposing man.
"Now. Tell me your schedule. Any day you wish to take a break and have your own free time. What subjects you're currently struggling with. Anything that can help to ensure you have the best setting to study under." Fuutarou listed off robotically, causing the poor girl to get panicky as her eyes began to form swirls.
Well. At least he was taking this seriously.
Line Break
"Here's your problem. You have the same issue that Yamada-san had. You need to properly align your numbers or you'll accidentally add things wrong. Five hundred and ten plus thirty four is not eight hundred and fifty. Are you left handed? Try writing this way so you can better align things this way to avoid making such an avoidable mistake." Fuutarou had taken to teaching like a fish to water while Itsuki despite her prior nervousness had managed to find herself in a comfortable position as Fuutarou hovered behind her.
Takeda for his part was just on the television playing Smash.
While there were A LOT of discrepancies of Itsuki not only going to a boys house on the first day but also his room, they eventually managed to assure her that nothing was going to happen and not to worry.
After the walk had settled things perfectly on what schedule Itsuki will be following, Fuutarou immediately had her working on everything to get a feel for what she was doing wrong.
The results were good as he immediately managed to figure out each of her issues, unsurprisingly. This coupled with the fact that Itsuki was an extremely hard worker helped.
Now Fuutarou wasn't a miracle worker. He was incredibly talented and incredibly intelligent but Itsuki Nakano wasn't going to magically be competing with him for number two in the exam results right after day one, but as of right now, she was making progress already.
"Hah. Thank you, Uesugi-san. I never noticed how badly I was messing up nor why." Itsuki sighed, taking off her glasses to rub her eyes.
"It's no problem. Human error is a normal thing and it's why i'm here. Just continue to do what I tell you to and I promise that you'll be able to pass." He spoke with a hint of warmness.
Despite how introverted he was, Fuutarou had a weakness for those who worked hard.
That was probably why he never got along too well with Yamada, but managed to be on good terms with him and Otori.
"I'm really appreciative of you taking the time to teach me, Uesugi-san, I wish there was a way to repay you." She sighed, looking guilty at the situation.
"No worries. Just beat that guy over there and i'll be happy enough." Fuutarou jabbed a thumb towards Takeda who gave a lighthearted laugh.
"Haha, with Fuu as your tutor, you might actually be the new number two if you worked hard enough, Nakano-san, but know that I won't give up my spot too easily." He grinned.
"Ah! I could never… You've been so kind as to introduce me." Itsuki kept her head down before Fuutarou tapped her on the head with his notebook.
"Don't talk like that. You can do anything if you try hard enough and that guy over there likes to slack off from time to time. You're doing well for your first day and I believe you would have already surpassed him if you had ironed out your faults before." Fuutarou assured her, locking his eyes with her.
Itsuki blushed, looking away immediately and managing to sputter out her words.
"O-of course. I believe I can do so if i'm with you, Uesugi-sensei." Itsuki's face turned a brilliant shade of red, one that wasn't unnoticed by Takeda.
Well, things were working in one way at least.
That being said…
"Hey, i've got to go see Yamada-chan at a cafe. You want to follow, bro?" Takeda asked, getting a shake of his head from him.
"No, you guys always go to places that sell things that are too sweet for me." He truthfully said, getting Takeda to stick his tongue out.
"That's probably a representation of you, you unfeeling robot!" Takeda jabbed, before standing up and looking at Itsuki.
"You good to stay here, Nakano-san?" Takeda asked, to which she looked up in surprise.
"O-oh! Oh no. I wouldn't want to impose, but I also must be going home soon. My house is rather far from here." She explained.
"Ah, no worries. Maybe some other time. I'll see you in school tomorrow and remember to ask me about anything." Takeda gave a friendly smile before giving a wave over his back.
"Are you good to go home alone or would you like for me to give you a ride?" He asked.
"Ah, i'm good to go alone. I wouldn't want to ask when you're already spending so much time on me." Itsuki shook her head quickly.
"Nonsense. It wouldn't be polite of me to just let you walk home alone, just stay here. I'll be right back to see if Fujiwara-san is available." He spoke monotonously, before exiting his room, leaving her there to contemplate how her day went.
Itsuki had just been transferred and wasn't expecting too much besides the excitement of having a new student. She seemed to have lucked out as while she was lost from her sisters, she had met Takeda who was extremely friendly. She told her sisters who couldn't believe she managed to meet, according to Nino, the most popular guy in school.
She was suspicious but everyone around her vouched for the charming young man who then proceeded to introduce her to his best friend.
"Fuutarou Uesugi is a very serious guy." was her first thought.
Her next thought was how serious he was about tutoring her. Takeda was right! He was practically a robot.
But he wasn't kidding when he said Fuutarou would be able to help her. She just didn't expect to be in his room of all places! This was her first time ever in a guys room and she had to say…
She wasn't too surprised.
Books everywhere. Games everywhere. No posters however and everything was extremely tidy.
All in all, she couldn't make too much out of Fuutarou, but he had been extremely delicate with handling her studying so far, so she didn't have any negative thoughts on him.
"Alright, Takumi's ready to go. He'll meet you outside in the Toyota Sprinter Trueno." Fuutarou said upon returning to his room.
"A what?" Itsuki asked, not knowing car names.
"The white car that'll probably be beeping outside and driven by a sullen looking guy." Fuutarou elaborated, earning a nod from her in understanding.
"Good. It was a lovely day meeting you, Nakano-san. I'll see you tomorrow and we may continue if you'd like and remember, as long as you work hard under me, you WILL pass." Fuutarou promised, earning a nod from her.
"Of course, Uesugi-sensei! I-i'll do my best!" She declared, unconsciously saluting him to which he gave an amused smirk.
"You don't have to salute me like that…" He said, getting her to blush heavily and sputter out an apology.
"No worries, have a safe trip home." He said, leading her out.
"The same to you, Uesugi-sensei!" She exclaimed, bowing politely, before dashing out.
Fuutarou sighed as he closed the door and began to make his way back to his room.
"Oh? Who was that, onii-chan?" His sister's voice asked from behind the couch, having been hidden the entire time.
"A friend of Takeda's. She'll be studying under me for some time." He answered, walking over to see what she was doing.
Raiha was on her own Switch, no doubt playing Animal Crossing again.
"Oh? Is this another plan of his to set you up with someone?" Raiha asked with a giggle.
"Who knows? She's incredibly gifted regardless, she just needs the right guidance." He shrugged as Raiha sat up to give him a hug.
"Well no one's better than my onii-chan!" She laughed embracing her older brother, getting a smile as he hugged back.
"Of course, now go get ready for bed, I know you're going to try to stay up late again." He sternly said, causing her to pout but relenting and running off to get ready.
Line Break
"Hey, sorry, i'm late! I was with Fuu again as usual." Takeda waved to the group sitting together in the cafe.
"Let me guess, he didn't want to come again?" Yamada asked.
"Yep, you know he hates too much sweets." He shrugged, taking a seat next to his girlfriend as she immediately snuggled up to him.
"Meh. He probably just wants to study again. That's all he does." Yamada said with a sigh.
"I would've studied too if you weren't so insistent on my being here…" Her friend said.
Otori Tachibana. A very diligent worker who always placed within the top ten of the exams and never any lower.
She wasn't as outgoing as Yamada, but she still appeared more than Fuutarou. She was a rather popular girl in their school, being many men's fantasies for how she carried herself, but such thoughts never seemed to pop up.
"Oh cmon, Otori-chan, you can't stay inside ALL day." Yamada whined, causing Eba to giggle.
Eba Ibarazaki, the The Track Captain Queen, known to be quite mischievous as well as athletic known for carrying the school track meets as well as being "A beautiful tanned skin goddess" by some people.
Not that Takeda would care since she went out of her way to mess with everyone.
"Well,we know the real reason she agreed to come here today was for the parfaits." Eba teased, getting Otori very slightly blush, looking away as she ate the deluxe order she had gotten.
"Now now, Eba, it's not right to tease a girl for something like that. You're here too, aren't you?" Takeda asked, getting Eba to smile back.
"Yeah, but you know i'll just run it off in a few hours. Miss Sugar and Ice over here struggled just walking all the way over here today." Eba moved her hand to pinch Otori's cheek, getting her to voice her disdain.
It was then that Takeda noticed another girl among the table. A beautiful redhead who was staring at him intently. She wore butterfly accessories and was wearing a uniform that he shouldn't have recognized but now did today.
"And you are?" Takeda asked with a curious look.
"Nino. Nino Nakano." She answered, not going with the energy of the other girls.
"Hey, didn't you say you've already met? I was confused when you told me she was going to study under Fuutarou-kun." Yamada asked, getting Takeda to stare at her intently.
"Yeah, we were literally just together. Are you two perhaps twins?" Takeda asked.
"Oh, you mean Itsuki. Yeah, something like that. We're quintuplets." She sighed, crossing her arms as everyone stared at her.
"Quintuplets? You mean there are four other girls just as beautiful as you, Nakano-san?" Yamada asked, bewildered.
"Y-yes. You can put it like that!" Nino Nakano looked bashful at the compliment, but she took it in stride.
"Wait. So there are five of you?" Takeda asked, his smile dropping from his face momentarily.
"Yeah. Why do you say it like that?" Nino narrowed her eyes.
Wow. Okay. She was really suspicious of him. Maybe she's a man hater, but that's not his problem.
"I was just curious, haha." Takeda laughed nervously.
"Oh. Wait. Now that reminds me, I think i've met one of your sisters! She's really fast and I'm already trying to get her to join my team." Eba began conversing with Nino excitedly.
Takeda on the other hand was deep in thought.
Itsuki Nakano was one of five sisters who looked exactly the same, hmm?
He should probably tell Fuutarou, but it's probably not that big of a deal.
Thank you for reading this far. I hope you've all enjoyed the start of a brand new series from that guy who stumbled blindly around the creation of Affection Meter. With this story, i'm hoping to be more grounded and consistent, but tell me if somethings off as this was written with the full hope of being a better writer to bring you guys something fun to read with me.
Shoutouts to Lance-sennin who's been posting every day and keeping my interest of Quintuplets stoked. If it weren't for him and the many QQ fans keeping myself interested, I wouldn't be here to help you all today. So give him support before you do for me as he's been working really hard.
Also join the Discord we're both in if you'd like to be a part of the conversation and I hope you don't mind my personality quirks at discord gg U7MwDzS6tG
I wish you a good day.
RedGlitchFox