"The Yakiniku set without the Yakiniku, please," Fuutarou speaks calmly to the cafeteria lady and, after paying, accepts his food. It was the easiest way to save money. The Yakiniku set without the Yakiniku was the cheapest thing to eat at lunch, which was convenient for Fuutarou. Also, it came with miso soup and vegetables despite being the same price as a bowl of rice alone. His family was very poor and thus, he needed to save as much money as he could, whenever he could.

As usual, the whispers that followed him wherever he went grew louder, their blasphemous voices mocking him as if he couldn't hear them. Being a top scorer meant unwanted popularity, and his natural tendency to avoid social interaction led to them ostracizing him. Business as usual.

"What's he eating now?"

"Isn't he that weird Uesugi guy?"

"Look at the nerd!"

These were phrases he often heard, but he had long since grown accustomed to them. He was hated by everyone and has no friends as well, which had been the situation since high school. But he didn't mind, he liked having his peace. Not having to pander to the others around him meant more time that could be spent on his studies.

While he runs to the water dispenser to get a cup of water, which was free at the school, two boys from his class run after him. He fills his cup with ice-cold water and starts to drink from it and is immediately rewarded with two sharp collisions, courtesy of his fantastic classmates.

His face and the top of his school uniform are now drenched full of cold water, but instead of raising his voice and calling out to the two perpetrators, who had long since walked past him, he decided to remain calm, grabbing a cloth to dab at the moisture. It wouldn't do him any good if he rebelled against them anyway. He wasn't exactly equipped for a fight, would only get in trouble, and probably be laughed at by everyone else as well as he got beaten up by the individuals he tried to stand up to. He wasn't going to let petty teenagers get the better of him.

Suddenly, a red-haired girl in a school uniform from another school runs towards him. She has a cloth in her hand and looks anxiously at Fuutarou. He didn't recognize her, didn't even have a vague recollection of her face, and he didn't care about her either. "Is everything okay with you? Because of those nasty boys, your beautiful shirt is all wet. Here, take my handkerchief. " she speaks to him rapidly, holding out the cloth as she does so.

Fuutarou, however, does not take it, instead of continuing to use his own to finish wiping away the excess water. "Thank you for the gesture, but I already have my own," he explains to the girl and moves past her, looking for an empty seat.

The girl turns to him once more and reaches for his sleeve. "Hey, would you mind eating with me? I'm new here and I don't know my way around..." she murmurs to him shyly. Fuutarou sighs slightly, inclining his head to look her in the eye. The girl's cheeks are flushed slightly and her eyes gleam in the light. Even a loner such as Fuutarou just couldn't say no to such a cute sight, and this results in him nodding at her. "Yeah, I don't mind," he replies to her. She smiles broadly at him while letting go of his sleeve. "Thank you very much. Come on, I've already put my lunch down!"

The two of them sit down at the table where the girl was sitting before, whereupon Fuutarou immediately starts digging into his meal.

"My name is Nakano Itsuki by the way, but you can call me Itsuki. It's nice to meet you. What's your name?" she asks him after beginning to eat her food, glancing in his direction. Fuutarou had almost finished his meal and seemed to be studying while polishing off his plate, which surprised Itsuki a little.

"Uesugi Fuutarou. It's nice to meet you too, Itsuki," he remarks in passing and continues to eat awkwardly with one hand while flipping pages with the other. Now Itsuki also notices that his plate was almost empty and that his meal had only consisted of a small bowl of rice, some soup, and vegetables. Her food, on the other hand, consists of udon, shrimp tempura, squid tempura, chicken tempura, sweet chicken tempura, toppings, and a dessert. Way too much for one person.

Itsuki feels bad since she had so much food and Fuutarou had so little, which is why she picks up one shrimp with her chopsticks and puts it on his plate. Fuutarou looks down in surprise and looks at the red-haired girl right after. "What are you doing?" He asks her with a nasty look on his face, to which she shudders. "I thought you could take a little more. I'd feel bad if I ate that much, especially since you only had a small meal," she replies nervously, her cheeks turning red again in embarrassment.

Fuutarou didn't want to accept the shrimp, but he couldn't possibly refuse it either. Free food was free food, after all. Carefully, he takes a bite of the shrimp, opening his eyes wide. "This tastes amazing." Fuutarou expresses in astonishment and holds his hand in front of his mouth before he starts to swallow. With a rapid speed, he eats the rest of the shrimp as well, savoring every last bite. He just wasn't used to such good food.

Itsuki smiles at him with satisfaction, picking up the second shrimp with her chopsticks as well. Slowly she stretches the second bit of food out to him. "Here, have another one. You seem to like it," she suggests to him, whereupon he eats the shrimp directly off her chopsticks. The two of them had not thought at all that it was not at all normal for strangers to feed the other.

Itsuki notices this after a moment and pulls the chopsticks out of his mouth. Nervously, she begins to stutter. "D-Did you l-l-like it?" she asks him very quietly. Nodding, he looks to her and swallows the last bite. He hadn't realized what had just happened at all. "Yeah, but tell me, are you okay?" he replies, confused.

A moment of awkward silence returns before Fuutarou takes out his test. "Thanks for the food. I hope you don't mind if I review my test." Fuutarou says offhandedly whilst looking over his test paper instead of in her direction, already focused on studying again. The girl, on the other hand, is now starting to eat by herself and nods slightly. "That's all right with me. What's your score if I may ask?" She politely asks in response to his statement, curious as to why he was so focused on the paper in front of him.

Fuutarou hesitated for a moment, not liking to talk about what grades he got on tests. Usually, he would use this to pull a prank on the people who didn't like it, but Itsuki had shown that she was nicer than the general public. He didn't want Itsuki to think he was a nerd. Still, it would be rude to just tell her no, especially after the good first impression. He quietly said, "100 points." he mumbles, causing Itsuki to be taken aback. "100 points? You're really smart!" she tells him enthusiastically.

A brief moment of silence returns with the girl finishing her meal and then looking to Fuutarou, who was trying not to show that he was pleased by the compliment.

"You know, I'm not exactly the best when it comes to grades. The reason I transferred to this school in the first place is that I and my sisters failed our tests. So it would be nice to have someone who could help us study..." Itsuki tells him whilst feeling a bit depressed and abruptly bows to Fuutarou.

"Please teach me and my sisters!"

Fuutarou didn't know how to react apart from putting aside his test. In his eyes, he was not the type to become a tutor. He was a friendless loner who only talked to Itsuki because she had been polite and nice. However, she had offered him, a complete stranger, her own food out of kindness. And if he was honest, she was pretty cute...

"By the way, don't worry. If you become our tutor, I will see to it that you also receive your fair reward." Itsuki continues, not noticing his internal conflict.

Fuutarou jumps up. "I'm doing it!" he answers loudly, making the whole canteen go quiet and causing everyone to stare at him. Fuutarou looks around nervously and notices the situation in which he had put himself. He quickly grabs his plate and runs away. "Anyways, see you later, Itsuki!"

He didn't run to get out of this awkward situation, after all, he was already used to it. He didn't want Itsuki to take on his bad reputation and be hated by the students just because she ate with him. Itsuki, on the other hand, looks at him, aghast.

Just leaving like that, made her kind of sad. First of all, because she kind of liked Fuutarou, and he didn't seem like a bad person at all despite all the bad rumors she had heard. Additionally, she didn't mind that everyone was looking at her, but the other had immediately rushed off and taken the attention with him.

Arriving in class once more, Fuutarou is surprised to see a familiar face again. The girl from lunch stands in front of the class and bows. He blinks, wondering…what were the odds that she, of all people, would end up in his class?

"I'm Nakano Itsuki, nice to meet you guys. You can call me Itsuki if you want. " her words echo throughout the room. The rest of the students respond very enthusiastically.

"It's a cute girl!"

"Isn't that Kurobara Girl's uniform?"

"Seriously? That means she is rich!"

Fuutarou doesn't listen to the other students' conversations and thus misses the fact that Itsuki's family was quite rich. He was busy thinking about how he could avoid getting all the other student's attention turned onto him when she notices the fact that he exists.

Itsuki walks down the rows and is greeted by all the students until she meets Fuutarou in the last row. She starts to grin and leans over to him. "It must be fate, we're in the same class, Uesugi-kun," she speaks to his face. "Not so sure if it's fate. Still, it's good to see you again. " Fuutarou answers curtly to avoid more attention.

Itsuki sits down in her seat right next to Fuutarou, whereupon the lesson begins. Here Fuutarou could prove again that he was the right person for the job as a tutor in case she had second thoughts. Every task that needed to be solved, he solved with ease and he also showed what he could do on a blackboard. Itsuki was impressed, and also very happy that she was going to be taught by someone like Fuutarou who is very smart and diligent.

After class, the hall quickly became empty, leaving only Itsuki, Fuutarou, and a handful of other students in the hall. After a short while, Itsuki packs up her papers and then turns to Fuutarou. "Hey, do you want to come over to my house after school so that we can start studying?" she asks him rather directly, giggling happily. She did not notice that this was the first time she has invited a boy to her home.

Fuutarou sighs and then rises from his chair. "I think that can be arranged. I just need to call Raiha and let her know she doesn't have to cook for me today." replies the latter as he strides outside. "Raiha?" Itsuki ponders curiously, following Fuutarou hesitantly. "Raiha is my little sister. Since our mother passed away, Raiha had to take care of the household and cooking."

Itsuki was taken aback and abruptly stops. While she hadn't directly asked about his mother, she felt as if she had opened up an old wound dealing with Fuutarou's family. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me to ask. My heartfelt condolences," she mumbles dejectedly as she lowers her gaze.

Fuutarou turns to her and immediately sees how upset she was about him losing his mother. He walks towards her and sighs. "You don't have to apologize, after all, I was the one who told you about it. It's been a long time and I've come to terms with it." He explains calmly, but then sees Itsuki's eyes slowly fill with tears. Fuutarou tenses up, not knowing what to do.

"I remember when our mother died. My sisters and I were incredibly upset, and we just didn't know what to do. Every time I think about what it would be like if she were alive, we miss her a lot." Itsuki sobs quietly as some of her tears drop onto the floor. "Now to hear that you also lost your mother is just..." Itsuki doesn't say anything further as Fuutarou gently takes her in his arms, placing her head against his chest as he attempts to comfort her.

Fuutarou's cheeks blushed even as he hugged Itsuki in the middle of the hallway. He didn't mind her close proximity to him, but there was no way he wanted to be seen like this. If the rest of the students saw this, rumors would immediately start flying and make their way to the rest of the school in no time. He didn't want Itsuki to be associated with him, the creepy loser, on her very first day of school.

Itsuki, on the other hand, still remains huddled in Fuutarou's arms before she too slowly begins to wrap her arms around him and hugs him tightly. She didn't mind that she could be seen by others at any time if they were near the duo. Fuutarou's closeness and his warm embrace calmed her heart. She pressed her face tightly against his chest, enjoying his closeness for a few more moments.

"Itsuki, we're being watched..." Fuutarou whispers to her nervously. She slowly lets herself loose from the hug and looks around. The few students who were lingering around in the classroom had spotted them and were smiling or gaping at them in surprise. Itsuki's cheeks turn bright red, but she couldn't think about this situation for long before Fuutarou takes her by the hand and abruptly runs away, tugging her along.

In the school's courtyard, well hidden behind some trees, Fuutarou finally stops. Both are completely out of breath from running and breathing heavily. "Did you have to do that? Why did you just grab me and run away?" Itsuki asks him as she wipes the last tears from her face. " I didn't want them to get a bad impression of you right away. " Fuutarou explains to her as he sits down on the ground out of breath.

Itsuki looks at him in confusion. "What do you mean? Why would they get a bad impression of you or me?"

"Itsuki, I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't have any friends here. Everyone else thinks I'm a bad person, a nerd, a loser, or even just scum. They try to do everything in order to avoid me, and some of them try to make my life a living hell too, like the guys at lunch today." Fuutarou explains calmly, looking to Itsuki. "I don't want rumors to start that we are friends or even dating. That wouldn't help you on your first day of school, and you'd probably become everyone else's target, too. I can't let that happen. "

Itsuki was touched by his sweet words and leans forward to get closer to him. "When I left at lunch today... and when I only said a passing hello to you in class... and just now, I was just trying to protect you from rumors. I don't want-" But he couldn't speak any further, because Itsuki abruptly sat down and wrapped him in her arms.

"I don't believe what those rumors say. Uesugi-kun, you're not a loser, let alone scum. You're a soft and kindhearted person, I could tell right away. I don't care what the other students think of me. I'll stand by you." she whispers softly in his ear. Again, she enjoys his closeness, but this time she also feels a comforting warm sensation in her heart. She realizes that asking him to sit with her at lunch today was the right decision. Such a small incident led to her meeting what she considered an incredibly nice person.

Surprised, Fuutarou also puts his arms around her again and his cheeks started to blush. He hadn't heard such kind words in a long time, not even from Raiha, and his heart started beating quickly. He couldn't enjoy their hug fully though, as he was still shaken by the feeling that someone could see them.

Fuutarou tries to slowly untangle himself from Itsuki again shortly after, but can't as she clung even more tightly to him.

"O-Only a few more se-seconds..." she murmurs to him nervously before squeezing him harder. She really couldn't get enough of this moment.

"Oh come on, we need to go back home now," Fuutarou growls, a little annoyed, whereupon Itsuki reluctantly lets go of him. Fuutarou slowly gets up in front of her and walks straight on to leave the school grounds. Itsuki, on the other hand, remains seated for a brief moment, watching him go. "Hadn't he enjoyed our hug? Had it bothered him that I had embraced him so suddenly?" Her comforting warm feeling from just a moment ago fizzled out again, replaced by cold doubt and Itsuki stood up to anxiously follow Fuutarou.

On a couple of occasions outside of the school's yard, Itsuki exchanged glances at him, and their conversations were rather short. Ever since their second embrace, things had been awkward, if not tense, between the two of them.

After a while, they arrive at a high-rise apartment building. "This is where you live?" Fuutarou asks, overwhelmed by the sheer size of the building. He now realizes that Itsuki must have come from a wealthier background, which explains how willing she was to offer a reward in exchange for him tutoring her. "Yes, I and my sisters live on one of the upper floors. Why don't you come upstairs?"

Itsuki takes Fuutarou upstairs and finally opens the door to her apartment. "Come in," she speaks calmly to him, letting him go in first before she too enters the apartment and closes the door. "Pardon the intrusion." He calls out softly, wondering if there was anyone else there.

On a grey couch, situated in front of a large table, sits a girl who has long wavy brown hair, which covers part of her face and one eye. She also wears headphones around her neck. In the nearby kitchen stands a girl with long pink hair with two butterfly-shaped ribbons. She seemed to be busy cooking. Another girl with short straight orange hair that sits around her neck and a green ribbon-shaped like the ears of a rabbit in her hair was just about to walk down the stairs and a girl with very short pink hair was just coming out of an adjoining room. They all looked confusingly similar to Itsuki, differing only in their clothes and hairstyles. Surprised by his greeting, all the girls look to the entrance door where Fuutarou and Itsuki are currently standing.

"May I introduce you, Uesugi? These are my four sisters, Miku, Nino, Yotsuba, and Ichika!"

Fuutarou looks confusedly from one girl to the other and finally back to Itsuki.

"B-But what...?"

"We're quintuplets!"

Hey there,

here I am with another fanfiction of the quintessential quintuplets. But this one is different because I will actually continue writing it. So you can expect to see some more of it in the future.

English is not my native language so please forgive me any errors. Also I wanna thank a friend of mine who helped me writing it, he corrected every of my errors he found.

What will happen next time? How will the girls react to Fuutarou? You will see it in the next chapter!