An awkward silence dominates the atmosphere between Fuutarou and Itsuki as they continue to stand outside the apartment.

The two don't really know what to say after Ichika pushed them outside. Itsuki blushes as she remembers what Ichika told her, internally chewing out her sister. "'Walking home together while watching the sunset, isn't that romantic?' Ichika has the wrong idea! It's not like I like Uesugi-kun that much...he is just my tutor." Itsuki thinks while turning to Fuutarou.

Fuutarou on the other hand is still confused because there was no reason for Itsuki to bring him home, so why would Ichika suggest that? He shakes his head and looks down at Itsuki. "You don't have to bring me home if you don't want to. I have no problem with walking home by myself if you want to just go back inside."

"It's ok. I have nothing planned for the rest of today so I can come with you."

"Alright, in that case, let's go together." Fuutarou walks towards the elevator and presses the button to call it.

Itsuki quietly stood for a few moments, takes a deep breath, and then carefully walks next to Fuutarou as the elevator opens right in front of them.

Astone-faced and cold-eyed man with black hair wearing a black suit and a grey tie stands in front of them. Despite his formal attire, he looks relatively young.

Itsuki's blush disappears and she looks straight at the man's face, the previous embarrassment was forgotten.

"Itsuki-kun..."

"Father..."

Fuutarou looks at Itsuki with confusion, before looking back to the man in the lift. This young man is her father? He looks way too young for that!

"Is this boy with you?"

"Yes, his name is Uesugi Fuutarou and he is a classmate of mine. I met him during lunch and asked him if he could be our tutor."

"I see...so you took that problem into your own hands..." The man looks at Fuutarou with a calculating look on his face. "It's nice to meet you, Uesugi-kun. I hope that you will teach my daughters well...I don't want to see them fail any more exams..."

Fuutarou straightens his posture, formally bowing towards Itsuki's father. "It's nice to meet you too, Otou-san! I will surely make-" "You have no reason to call me like that."

"-your daughters pass with ease!"

"…that's good to hear. Have you two discussed your payment yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Well...How about 25, 000 Yen for each day you teach my daughters?" Fuutarou blinks, mind stuttering at the statement as his heart starts beating rapidly. "25,000 Yen? This has to be some kind of joke! They can't possibly pay me this much? I knew they were rich but I didn't know they were that rich! This way, my family's debt will be paid off in no time!" Fuutarou thought to himself while he was trying to figure out what to say.

"Thank you very much, Otou-san. That would be-"

"Please don't call me that."

"-more than enough as a payment."

"Good...Itsuki-kun, what are you two up to right now?" Itsuki looks to Fuutarou and suddenly begins to blush again, much to his confusion. "Well, father...I was just about to...bring Uesugi-kun back to his home..."

"I see...Should I have Ebata drive you?"

"I don't think that will be necessary. We will just walk together." "I see...make sure to get home on time."

The two of them nod in unison and walk into the elevator. The father walks past them and continues on towards their apartment. However, as the elevator doors close, he turns around.

"Uesugi Fuutarou...I expect great things from you..."

Now outside after leaving the building, Itsuki walks with Fuutarou along the footpath heading to his home. Both Fuutarou and Itsuki walked silently as both of them are unable to think about what to say to each other, the earlier awkwardness returning.

Itsuki is also still nervous because of what Ichika told her. At this very moment, she became very aware of what she has done with Fuutarou since she met him just earlier that day. She fed him, they hugged each other, she invited him to her place and now she's even walking him to his home. These were all things nobody would do with a tutor. Itsuki finally understood why Ichika thought something was going on between the two of them even though she couldn't have possibly known what had happened in school. If she had, well, Ichika would probably be absolutely certain that they were in a relationship.

"Is everything ok with you, Itsuki?" Fuutarou asks out of the blue, attempting to break the uncomfortable silence. Itsuki startles and turns his way while her cheeks turn red.

"Yeah, I am fine. Don't worry about me!" She replies nervously.

"Really? You seemed like you were worried about something so I thought maybe you weren't feeling well. Are you sick?"

"No, it's nothing. I was just-" Itsuki tries to answer but is then interrupted by a familiar-sounding voice. "Itsuki! What are you doing here?" It was Nino who was walking towards the two of them. In her right hand, she carries a shopping bag and in her left hand, she carries an extravagantly fancy-looking purse.

"Nino, I was just about to bring Uesugi-kun home. I see you bought groce-" Nino abruptly interrupts Itsuki whilst she was about to finish her sentence. "Why are you bringing this idiot home? I am sure he is smart enough to find the way himself."

All of a sudden, Nino grabs Itsuki's hand and drags her away from Fuutarou, who was just standing there and watching in confusion. He had interacted with all of the sisters except Nino, so where had she gotten the impression that he was an idiot from?

"Let's go home. We have something to discuss!"

Itsuki looks back at Fuutarou and then down at her hand as she was being dragged away by Nino. She shakes her head and then frees herself from Nino's grasp.

"I am sorry, Nino, but I want to walk Fuutarou back home. We can discuss this later when I return."

Nino lowers her gaze, both hands gripping their respective articles tightly, and grinds her teeth. Fuutarou was taken aback by Nino's sudden hostility. Itsuki on the other hand turns to Fuutarou, takes his hand, and starts to walk away with him.

"Why...Why are you doing this?" Nino mumbles while the distance between her and Itsuki continues to grow. "Why do you let him intrude into our lives?"

"Itsuki! Wait, you don't have to do this!" Fuutarou exclaims while Itsuki leads him away from her sister. "You can go back to Nino. I can go home by myself!"

Itsuki stops abruptly as he finishes his sentence and then turns to Fuutarou. Itsuki's hair shines brightly due to the sunset behind her, her eyes are filled with determination and her beautiful smile is cuter than ever before. At that moment, he was absolutely dazzled by her beauty.

Fuutarou blushes and can't get his eyes off of Itsuki as she stands there, looking like a goddess.

"But I want to bring you home..." she whispers to him. Fuutarou's heart, already out of control, beats faster than ever before as he suddenly remembers that they were holding hands. He releases his hand and steps back while lowering his gaze before he was deemed a creep for staring too long. "I see..."

Fuutarou walks past her silently and then waits for her to catch up. Itsuki hesitates but then follows him again. For the rest of the way, the two of them didn't say a single word to each other. The atmosphere between the two of them was just too awkward for one another to attempt to start another conversation, especially after what happened with Nino.

Fuutarou was baffled by the previous situation. She said that she wanted to bring him home but her eyes said something else. He just couldn't figure out what they meant. Also, her appearance while saying it…so outstanding that he once again begins to blush as he thinks about what he had just seen.

Itsuki on the other hand felt like she did something wrong. Why did Fuutarou react like that? Had she said something inappropriate? Was it because she was rude to her sister? She just couldn't figure out what she had done that caused him to act like this.

When Itsuki, together with Fuutarou, finally reaches his home, the atmosphere is still as awkward as before, maybe even worse. Fuutarou nervously scratches the back of his head and then turns to Itsuki. "Well...here we are, this is my home. Thank you for bringing me here."

Itsuki looks up to Fuutarou and then gently nods. "No need to thank me." She answers just as shyly while averting her gaze from his face. She still wasn't sure what Fuutarou's reaction earlier meant but she just didn't the courage to ask him.

There was another short moment of tense silence between them before Fuutarou starts walking towards the entrance door of the house. "Well then...see you tomorrow..." he mumbles. Itsuki nods once again and says goodbye to him while taking out her phone.

Suddenly the entrance door opens and a small girl with long black hair and a huge ahoge catapults herself out of the house, latching on to the surprised teenager. "Onii-chan! You are finally home!" she shouts happily with a smile on her face as she hugs Fuutarou tightly.

"Raiha! What are you doing?" Fuutarou asks while trying to escape her tight hug. Itsuki looks up at the two of them. Was this girl the sister he had been talking about? To her, she seemed kinda nice and really cute but nonetheless, it was time for her to go so she starts typing something on her phone while turning around.

"Onii-chan, is that girl one of your students?" Raiha asks whilst smiling and looking up Itsuki. "If you have the time, how about having a meal with us?"

"Raiha, she needs to go back to her home since it's going to start getting dark soon!" Fuutarou answers Raiha's question which leaves her with a sad expression on her face. His sister stops embracing him, rushing forward to look at Itsuki with puppy dog eyes.

"You...really don't want to stay and eat with us?" Itsuki straightens up. She doesn't think that her heart can take it if the girl cry so she carefully puts her phone away and walks towards her. "I can't possibly decline your invitation. So I would be grateful to have dinner with you, Raiha-chan."

Fuutarou sighs. With the awkward atmosphere from before, inviting her to eat dinner with them didn't seem like a good idea. Still, he brings Itsuki and Raiha inside without saying a word.

"I can't believe this is the day Fuutarou brought his girlfriend home!" Isanari, the father of Fuutarou, laughs as he sits at the dining table with Itsuki and Fuutarou. While he teases the two teenagers, Raiha is standing in front of the stove where she is cooking the dinner, Fuutarou looks down and buries his face into his notebook, working through his homework instead of dignifying that with a response. Itsuki on the other hand sits there quietly, trying her best to not blush. She didn't know what to do so she decided to just sit there and wait until the dinner was ready.

"Eh? This has been expired for a week! Better use it now or I can't drink it anymore." Isanari then starts to drink rapidly from the milk carton. Itsuki and Fuutarou look at him with disgust and a slight bit of concern.

Fuutarou looks nervously at Itsuki and thinks about what happened just a few minutes ago and remembered how because of that situation, the whole atmosphere between them was uncomfortable. He really didn't know what to do or say.

"Did you do a good job as a tutor, Onii-chan?" Raiha suddenly asks. Fuutarou tries to answer but Itsuki quickly turns to Raiha and answers for him. "Your brother is a great tutor. We had some difficulties gathering my sisters today and we may have to study a lot more in order to pass our exams but I believe with your brother as our tutor, we'll be able to do just fine."

Raiha and Fuutarou are both relieved to hear that. As his first time as a tutor, Fuutarou didn't know if he actually did a good job but those kind words showed him that he can pull it off. Raiha on the other hand is relieved because, with the money Fuutarou earns, they could slowly pay off their debt a little bit more quickly, even if Raiha doesn't yet know how much Fuutarou would be earning.

A few moments later, Raiha lays down four plates and a big pot filled with mouth-watering curry. Isanari politely grabs Itsuki's plate and carefully pours the curry. "I sure hope you'll enjoy Raiha's magnificent cooking," he says to which Itsuki nods while smiling. "Thank you for the meal."

Everyone sat and ate quietly at the tatami table. Isanari asks his son about the test he had done the other day, despite already guessing that Fuutarou would have scored 100 points.

Raiha asks Fuutarou what he would like for dinner tomorrow to which he just answers that she could choose whatever she would like to cook. She hums thoughtfully before continuing to eat.

Itsuki however, unlike the rest of them, stays quiet and doesn't participate in any of the conversations they are having. She was deep in thought, enjoying her meal and thinking about what happened earlier.

When everyone had finished eating, Fuutarou stood up and walks to the entrance door. "I believe your sisters and your father may already be worried about where you are since it's already very late," he explains. Itsuki nods and follows him to the door. "That's right. They are probably already wondering where I am, so it would be better for me to take my leave. Thank you for inviting me in for dinner with your family."

As Fuutarou opens the door and takes his first step outside with Itsuki, Raiha rises up and follows them. "Itsuki-san, will you come and eat with us again in the future?" She asks, her face clearly displaying to everyone present that she enjoyed Itsuki's company. "Of course! I get quite hungry after studying, so I hope that you will cook for me again!" Itsuki leans forward to pat her head, grinning warmly.

Fuutarou slowly closes the door after waving goodbye to his father and sister and then walks on to the main road with Itsuki. "I can call father's secretary to pick me up, so you don't have to walk me home." She explains while taking out her phone. "I see..." Fuutarou answers quietly.

"Yes, Ebata-san? Would you be so kind as to come and pick me up?"

Fuutarou wasn't paying attention to Itsuki's call, lost in his thoughts as she speaks to the individual on the other side of the phone.

"Should I talk to her about earlier? I mean since she said she wanted to walk with me to my home, I stayed quiet which then led to this awkward atmosphere between the two of us. Maybe she thinks that she must have done something wrong? In that case, I should apologize to her. But what if she thinks everything is fine and I would only make it worse by apologizing? And also what about-" Fuutarou thinks until Itsuki snaps him out of his thoughts.

"Will you please listen to me?!" She pouts angrily which leaves Fuutarou confused. "Is something the matter?" He asks while taking a step back, startled by the sudden change in her demeanor.

"You seemed like you weren't listening to me. I asked you if you would come to tutor us again tomorrow".

"Sorry, I was just lost in my thoughts," Fuutarou explains as he nervously scratches the back of his head. "Yes, I will come to tutor everyone again."

A short moment of silence occurs as the two of them just shyly looked down at the ground, unable to meet each other's eyes. Fuutarou is still not sure if he should talk to her about it so he just remained quiet until suddenly Itsuki spoke up. "Hey, have I done something to you?"

Fuutarou locks gazes with Itsuki, flushing slightly at the doe-eyed look she was giving him. Fuutarou stayed quiet as he is at a loss for words on what to say.

"Up until now, you didn't say anything to me but I thought that it was just because of your reserved nature. This morning you were so incredibly kind to me but now I just feel like I am getting ignored by you, possibly because I am distracting you in such a way." Itsuki explains in a matter-of-fact tone, with an upset look on her face. "So please tell me, what did I do wrong?"

Fuutarou finally mans up and moves towards Itsuki so that they are standing face to face. Taking a deep breath, he arranges his words, and then speaks up, "You did nothing wrong. If somebody did something wrong, it was me ignoring you. I am sorry that I made you feel that way." Fuutarou begins his apology but then hesitates. He couldn't possibly tell her that he was acting weird because her beauty left her speechless. Sidestepping what would probably make the situation worse, he offers an alternative explanation. "It just felt wrong that you stood up to your sister because of me."

"I just wanted to walk home with you. Isn't that what friends do?"

Itsuki was right, that's was what friends do. Relief and joy courses through his body. After all, Itsuki is the first person to call herself his friend in many years. All the time, he was alone but now he had found a friend.

Fuutarou smiles and looks at the road as a black car drives towards them. "Yes, that's what friends do. Sorry to make you worry, it won't happen again." He explains and points at the car. "Is that your driver?"

A big smile forms on Itsuki's face as he apologizes. Deep down, she just wanted to hug him in order to show how much that meant to her but she just couldn't do it, especially now that Ichika had brought to her attention what her actions looked like to others. "That's good to hear." She answers as the car stops right next to them. She opens the door and looks at Fuutarou one last time before she gets in.

"I had lots of fun today. I look forward to your tutoring. See you in school."

"Yeah, have a good night. Stay safe." The car door closes and just a few seconds later, the car drives away into the night. Fuutarou follows the car with his eyes until it makes a sharp turn and disappears behind some buildings. Smiling softly to himself, he makes his way back into his house.

"I'm home!" Itsuki shouts through the apartment so her sisters and her father would know that she was back home. On the couch she sees Nino watching TV while simultaneously texting on her phone.

Itsuki knows that she could not avoid a serious discussion with her sister so she walks towards her boldly, deciding to bite the bullet. "Nino, I think we need to talk."

"Why should we?" Nino asks with an angry voice which leaves Itsuki confused. "Because you let some random guy intrude our home and then bring him home instead of staying by your sister's side?"

"Uesugi-kun is not some random guy. He is our tutor and he is my friend! I was just being polite by bringing him home!" Itsuki gets furious herself as she couldn't understand why Nino had something against Fuutarou despite him being a nice person.

"You just met him today! He could be a stalker or some kind of criminal without you knowing it and you already trust him like you've known him for years!" Nino puts her phone down and stands up while Itsuki walks even closer to her. The two girls were standing face to face, eye to eye, and both looked like they would not stop until one of them conceded to the other.

"I trust Uesugi-kun because he showed me that he cares about me! Who are you to decide who I am friends with?" Their voices are getting louder and louder as their argument progresses. Everyone in the apartment was able to hear it so it didn't take long until Ichika suddenly appears right next to Nino and Itsuki, stepping in between them.

"Now let's all calm down, there is no reason to fight about this." She says while pushing the two away from each other so they would not try to harm the other or do something they would later regret.

"You just don't get it. Why are you defending this moron?" Nino mumbles before she runs up to her room and loudly slams the door, locking it so nobody could get in.

Ichika sighs and turns off the TV before she looks at Itsuki. Itsuki seems like she was annoyed but her sister knows that deep down, she was desperate, trying to understand why her sister was being so hostile.

"Hey, how about we have a girl's talk?"

Authors Note:

Hey guys,

I hope you enjoyed this chapter too.

Some asked or theorized this will be a Story about Itsuki. A little hint: The title implements something else.

Also, I am sorry that this chapter took a little bit longer to make. My friend who proofreads everything I write to look over the wording and grammar is busy at the moment and will be for the future.

Even this very chapter hasn't been fully corrected by him yet but I still didn't want to let you wait. It will be edited soon.

I hope you understand and can be patient as you wait for the next chapters.

See you next chapter

Note two:

The chapter now has been updated as it has been finally proofread by my friend.