Disclaimer: This is fanwork based on the manga the Quintessential Quintuplets (Go-Tobun no Hanayome), by Negi Haruba. Its setting, characters and plot belong to its rightful creator. I write this only for fun and as a little writing experiment.

WARNING FOR ANIME VIEWERS: Currently, the story is following the events of the manga beyond chapter 32. If you don't want to be spoiled, STOP READING.

The Takeda Sultanate

After the utter failure of the diplomatic conference at Toraiwa, the Nakano countries started following divergent paths.

In the Ichika Empire, old and problematic ambitions resurfaced, and their voices became louder and louder in the imperial court. The Church of Miku still dreamed of founding a holy nation in the New Continent, but those dreams clashed with the hungrier and more pragmatic plans of the Kingdom of Nino. Behind the scenes, the agents and diplomats of the Republic of Yotsuba plotted to pit their rivals against one another. Only the Itsuki Commonwealth remained true to the spirit of peaceful cooperation that had sparked the Discovery. Soon, however, their loyalties would be put to the test.

The gloves were off. The rivalries among the Nakanos were about to get bloody.

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The golden city

The roots of this conflict can be found in the year 69, when the Ichika Empire refused to keep funding the joint projects of the Nakanos. Until that moment, the imperial treasury had been one of the pillars of exploration, but now it was up to each country to find the money or give up.

Soon, a race for resources started. Colonial adventures were expensive, and only a few outposts were self-sufficient. If the Nakanos had to keep paying for them without Ichikan money, facing bankruptcy was a likely possibility.

It was then when Yotsuban agents made a huge discovery.

Gold. Rumours of a golden city and mines of gold in the depths of the Uesugi jungles. The land was called "Revival", for it was said that, in ancient times, the goddess of harvest and sugar had been reborn in that place. While there were obvious exaggerations, the Republic of Yotsuba gathered information and came to the conclusion that this new region had enough riches to support expansion in both the New and the Old Continents. Moreover, it was said that the local Futaro chieftains had heard good things about the Nakanos and were willing to sign trade deals and accept settlers in their lands. Whoever reached them first would have a major advantage over the others.

The Republic of Yotsuba knew that they did not have the money or the means to secure the land of Revival, so, instead, they leaked its location to the Church of Miku and the Kingdom of Nino, in the hopes that a new rivalry could be sparked and neither of them could get the upper hand.

As it was expected, both the Church and the Kingdom organized large expeditions to safeguard their claims.

The Mikuists sent scholars and missionaries to spread the word of the Goddess, and a sizeable contingent of templars to defend the sacred word with steel. When Nino's knights arrived to dispute their position, attempts at negotiation were made, but they failed. The locals were adamant: as generous as their offer was, they would only trade and ally themselves with one partner.

With no side willing to back down, conflict was inevitable.

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The Battle of Revival

In the plains outside the city of Revival, the holy warriors of the Prophet awaited the Ninian charge. They were well-organized, well-armed and their morale was high, for their had faith in the Goddess. They were Her agents in this world and their quest was a sacred one: to bring peace and enlightenment to the heathen lands of Uesugi. Surely the Goddess would give them victory against the ambitious servants of the tyrannical Queen of Nino, right?

However, the templars had made a fatal mistake: only a fool would meet Nino's cavalry on an open field.

The clash was brutal. The Kingdom's riders surrounded Miku's footmen and pushed them against the nearby river, where they drowned by the dozens. In the end, survivors of the Church's expedition managed to retreat to the village of Komugiya and managed to make it part of their Holy Alliance, but Revival would remain in Nino's hands.

After their victory over the Church, the Kingdom of Nino consolidated its possessions in the New Continent. The era of scattered colonies and outposts was over. In the year 71, the Queen proclaimed that all the Ninian territories at the other side of the ocean were to become part of a single entity: the Viceroyalty of Fukunia. A governor chosen directly by Her Majesty (the "viceroy") would be in charge of colonial affairs, and the change of name ("the country of the Fu", from the nickname used in Nino for the Futaro tribes) signalled a change of approach too. Closer, more involved, and willing to support their Uesugi allies at home and abroad.

Of course, this sudden and brazen change was met with disapproval by other Nakanos. The Church had not forgotten their loss at Revival, and both the Itsuki Commonwealth and the Republic of Yotsuba lamented the unilateral actions of their sister nation. But it was the Ichika Empire who took it in the worst possible way.

Conflicted and distracted as they were, the Nakano nations did not notice that a new challenger was approaching. From the south of the Old Continent, the star of the Takedas was rising.

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The arrival of the Takedas

The Takeda Sultanate was a country with ancient roots that had grown big and powerful in the southern shores of the Mare Scola, in the frontier with the Nakano countries. Despite the occasional border disputes, their relationship with their northern neighbours was relatively cordial, and their shared history dated back to the times of the Renan Empire. If there was a country in the Old Continent able to match the riches and glories of the Nakanos, it was the Takeda Sultanate.

This presented an opportunity to the elite caste of the Maruos.

More and more, it was evident that the political and economic power was concentrating in the hands of the national leaders. The Ichika Empress, the Queen of Nino, the First Apostle of Miku, the Most Serene Duchess of Yotsuba and the Grand Itsuki Princess, they all benefited from direct control over the colonies, while the traditional bureaucratic classes back home were being relegated. Previous internal attempts to stop the flow had been unsuccessful; perhaps it was time to ask for help abroad.

Behind their rulers' backs, a group of Maruos sent envoys to the Takeda Sultanate to convince them to lay claim to the New Continent.

Truth be told, the Takedas had been eyeing the lands of Uesugia for a long time, almost since the Discovery. It was not just a predatory outlook, though. The Sultans of the Takedas were proud sponsors of traders and scholars, and resented that the Nakanos kept an almost exclusive monopoly on the interactions with the New World. The aid and the promises of non-interference from the Maruos sealed the deal. As long as the Takeda Sultante did not attack Nakano possessions, they would be free to invade the territories of the natives as they saw fit.

So, in the year 73, the Sultan of the Takedas declared war on the Futaros.

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The Takeda invasion

This was not a mere raid, like the attack of the Maedas decades earlier, but a true invasion. A mighty fleet was assembled and it soon secured a beachhead in the New Continent. After a handful of battles against the local Futaro tribes, who were taken completely by surprised, the Sultan of Takeda announced that final victory was at hand.

It was a most optimistic assessment, though.

To begin with, the Takedas had not really conquered many territories. Fearful of the reaction of the Nakano rulers, they had limited their advances, seeking to win by overwhelming their enemies in open battle. Not ready for that kind of combat, the Futaro alliances chose to retreat and muster their forces until the time was right.

The situation worried the Nakanos. As with the Maedas, they wanted to offer their full support towards their Uesugi partners. Sadly, ancient treaties prevented them from clashing with the Takedas. While their attack was most unwelcome, they had not broken the accords. To aid the Futaros would mean open war with the Takeda Sultanate, at a time when unity among the Nakanos was at a low point and an economic crisis was hitting them hard. More importantly, though, the Futaros themselves asked them not to intervene.

For a long time, there had been an unbalanced relationship between the Futaros and the Nakanos. The latter were, if not bigger, at least richer and more developed, and they boasted more advanced technologies, particularly in the military. Meanwhile, the Futaro tribes lacked cohesion and did not present a united front. Thankfully, the Nakanos had chosen the path of diplomacy and trade rather than conquest. The lands they had taken, they were given in the first place. The cities they built, they were there with their neighbours' permission. But still, there was a stark difference in power. And with the current conflict among the Nakanos, becoming puppet states or vassals of the rival countries was not out of the question.

The Takeda invasion was a big crisis, but it also presented a big opportunity. The opportunity to rekindle the fire that once led the Futaros to become the dominant tribal confederation in the New Continent.

After several years of impasse, in the year 76 the Futaros finally gave the Takedas what they sought: a decisive battle in the open, with their main armies facing each other at the fields of Kawanakajima. Takeda spies had gathered crucial information about the order of battle, but the Sultan ignored their advice. The result was a crushing defeat for the Takedas. Always chivalric, the Sultan himself congratulated the enemy commander and signed a peace deal with the Futaros. For the first time since the Discovery, the local tribes had managed to fend off a foreign invasion without Nakano aid.

This was a momentous occasion in the history of the Uesugis. Unfortunately, little attention was paid by the Nakanos, for another conflict was consuming their energies.

The War of the False Apostle had already begun.

Author's notes:

Manga readers will probably know this, but it's still important to point it out: the series has ended and we have a winner. But I won't say who, just in case there are still some non-manga readers around.

Personally, I must say I wasn't too happy with the result. Not (just) because my favourite quintuplet didn't win (although I admit that the winner was a logical choice), but because in the last arcs the series seemed to focus more on mystery for mystery's sake, rather than the romance. Futaro's feelings were never the focus, and in the end they remained secondary.

Nevertheless, this story will follow the original plot to its very conclusion. As for other things:

* "Revival" is the name of the pastry shop where Futaro works. Later, Nino will join him after competing with Miku for the post, hence the "battle". The real-life equivalent would be the legends about El Dorado that incited many explorers and conquerors. While that legends proved untrue, the Spanish did manage to get very important mines, like those at Potosí in modern Bolivia. As for "Komugiya", it's the name of the bakery shop where Miku ends up after her failure at becoming Futaro's co-worker. It represents the colonies that England, France and others created when they couldn't outcompete Spain and Portugal in other regions.

* The Viceroyalty of Fukunia has two inspirations. In real life, a viceroyalty was the highest administrative division of Spain's colonial empire. And "Fukunia", of course, comes from "Fuu-kun", the nickname for Futaro that Nino takes for herself.

* Ironically enough, the character of Takeda Yusuke is also a historical reference in the original series. His surname, like Futaro's, comes from one of the most famous warlords during the Sengoku period: Takeda Shingen. He had a famous rivalry with Uesugi Kenshin, and they fought several battles at Kawanakajima. In fact, chapter 73 of the manga is titled "New Kawanakajima", so even the author likes to draw parallelisms between his romcom and history.