"I…um…I wouldn't mind sharing a bed with you…" Fuutarou stammers nervously even as the blush on his face intensifies. Itsuki turns to him again while her face starts to turn bright red.
"Oh…uh…I…hmm…well…" She stutters, just as nervous while turning away from him. "I-In that case…w-why don't we…y-you know…get into b-bed..?" Her whole body was shaking with the sheer intensity of the nervousness and embarrassment she was feeling. Her mind was muddled, and she was finding it hard to string together a coherent train of thought. Was she really sleeping going to sleep in the same bed as Fuutarou?
Fuutarou nods shyly, slowly walking towards the bed alongside her. Both of them stop right in front of it but no one moved an inch despite the simplicity of the action they had to perform. They both stood there, waiting for the other to climb in, to make the first move.
"Here, m-make yourself comfortable…" Itsuki mumbles while pointing at the bed, finger trembling despite the calm façade she was trying to maintain.
Fuutarou turns to her and shakes his head. "No, please. It's your room so you should make yourself comfortable first."
Even as the words leave his mouth, Itsuki shakes her head in response to them. "This may be my room but y-you are my guest, after all. So please…" Itsuki looks up to Fuutarou with an expression that was equivalent to her getting on her knees and begging. The word "cute" crossed his mind, but he quickly banished it with a sigh. After seeing her reduced to this state, he couldn't possibly decline her offer even if it made him feel uncomfortable.
Fuutarou nods, very slowly and very carefully getting into the bed, shifting around even as he laid down. It was very comfortable and the big duvet warded away the biting chill he had been feeling. It was the complete opposite to the hard futon that was his constant companion, one that couldn't properly keep him warm during winter.
He moves to the side so Itsuki would have enough space for herself. Once he moved out of the way, Itsuki laid down too. The two of them were now lying next to each other in the same bed, sharing the same blanket and with only a little bit of space between their bodies.
The two teenagers didn't really know what to do next so Fuutarou turned on his side to face the wall and whispers, "Good night, Itsuki." He was still pretty nervous about the whole situation and sleeping like this wouldn't be easy. Hopefully, he could catch enough sleep so that he wouldn't be acting like a zombie the next day.
"Yeah, have a good night, Uesugi-kun," Itsuki mumbles while turning away so that the duo were back to back. She was pretty nervous as well, maybe even more nervous than Fuutarou. She was sharing her bed with a boy, with Fuutarou! How would she be able to sleep like this?
After wishing him a good night, Itsuki turns off the lights and removes the star-shaped hairpins from her hair. Simultaneously, the two teenagers close their eyes, hoping to fall asleep from the sheer fatigue that had accumulated throughout the day. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Even after ten minutes of awkward, strained silence, the two teenagers were still wide awake.
Suddenly, Itsuki turns back towards Fuutarou and gently touches his shoulder. "Uesugi-kun, are you still awake?" She whispers quietly, hoping that she hadn't just woken him from his slumber.
"Yes. What is it, Itsuki?" Fuutarou replies in a low tone while turning to face Itsuki. Now the two of them were face to face, inches away from each other. In fact, they were so close to each other that he could feel her breath on his skin.
"Can I ask you a question?" Itsuki asks while locking eyes with Fuutarou, a trace of worry entering her expression. He nods, not knowing what else to do. "Please be honest. Do you think that we can pass the midterm exams?"
Her tutor remained quiet for a few seconds, unsure about how he could tell her the truth without discouraging her. Choosing his words carefully, Fuutarou begins to speak, "As of right now, I don't think you and your sisters have the chance to pass all the exams. I am pretty sure that we have made good progress but that progress still isn't enough. You, out of all five sisters, have the highest chance to pass the exams. Miku will most likely pass the exam on Japanese History simply due to her interest in the subject. On the other hand, Yotsuba still has problems with the very basics of every subject to be tested. She and Nino, who I haven't seen studying at all, have the lowest chance to pass the exams." Fuutarou explains, bluntly, choosing to be honest rather than give her false hope.
Itsuki lowers her gaze and any residual traces of hope disappear from her expression after hearing this. She had probably figured it out already, but after hearing him say it out loud, she felt a deep sadness.
"Father will most likely find out about this. Maybe he will even think of replacing you…" Itsuki mumbles before wrapping her arms around Fuutarou, much to his surprise. She gently presses her head against his chest. "I don't want you to get replaced…"
Any embarrassment he might have felt from her actions was quickly replaced by fear after hearing her words. If her father really did replace him, it would mean not only that he would no longer be able to teach them, but also that he would no longer be earning money to support his family. That meant trouble for all of them.
After a few moments, Fuutarou places his hand on Itsuki's head and starts patting her. "Don't worry, I am sure that your father and I can come to an agreement if that happens. After all, failing the midterm exams doesn't mean you will drop out of high school. We just have to give our best for the next time we face the exams."
Itsuki nods, letting go of him. "You probably are right. It will be ok, as long as we try our best." She softly declares with a grin on her face.
"As long as we give our all, everything will go just fine," Fuutarou whispers in response while removing his hand from its position on her head. "And now, let's get back to sleep, ok?"
Itsuki nods in agreement and then closes her eyes. Fuutarou turns around to face the wall before closing his eyes too. Fortunately, he was much calmer now so falling asleep wouldn't be as hard as before.
After a few minutes, Itsuki appeared to have already fallen asleep judging from how her breathing had evened out, while Fuutarou was only a couple moments away from slipping into dreamland as well. Suddenly, Fuutarou feels the sensation of arms around his body and opens his eyes in surprise as Itsuki shuffles closer to him, pressing up against his back. His cheeks start blushing again as he turns around to see what was going on. He checks to see if she was awake, but her closed eyes and soft snores clearly demonstrated otherwise.
"You are a cuddler, huh?" Fuutarou murmurs to himself and then turns his head to the side again. "I should have seen this one coming." Fuutarou didn't mind her cuddling with him. Actually, he thought it was pretty cute.
Soon after, Fuutarou fell asleep as well…
When Fuutarou woke up due to the sun shining straight into his eyes, he still feels Itsuki's arms around him. But not only that, his face was covered by Itsuki's red hair. While it had a fragrant aroma, the strands were getting everywhere and it was starting to feel irritating. He brushed the hair aside, noting that it smelt like flowers. Roses?
He turns to back to look at Itsuki, still fast asleep. Fuutarou grinned at the adorable sight before him and then tries standing up. Unfortunately, the girl was still clinging on to him, and the more he struggled the tighter her grip became.
Fuutarou gently grabs her arms and finally frees himself from her embrace. He then stands up and stretches his limbs. He was feeling really good, better than he had felt in a long while. The bed was comfortable and he had slept like a king. He really couldn't have asked for more.
He carefully opens the door in order not to disturb Itsuki's rest and walks out only to bump into one of the girls. She had long, messy hair and wore blue pajamas. There were no ribbons, hairpins, or headphones that he could use to identify which one of the sisters it was. It couldn't be Itsuki, she was still in her room. So who was it?
"Oh, good morning, Fuutarou." The girl mumbles while rubbing her eyes. "Did you sleep well?" By the way she was referring to him, he couldn't identify her either. None of the girls called him "Fuutarou", choosing to attach some suffix or use his last name instead. Still, he could say that this girl wasn't Nino. Nino wouldn't have asked how he slept, she would have asked whether it was time for him to leave. Well, two down, three to go.
"Good morning. I was sleeping really, really well. Itsuki's bed is so comfortable!" He mentions happily while walking down the stairs with the girl. When they arrived on the first floor, the girl stopped and turns to Fuutarou nervously. "F-Fuutarou…can I talk to you for a second..?"
Fuutarou turns to the girl and notices how her cheeks were starting to flush. She lowers her gaze and nervously looks upwards, towards the second floor, before walking towards the guest. "What is it?" Fuutarou asks, puzzled by her timidity.
"Y-You know I-I wanted to t-talk to you for quite a while now…" The girl mumbles while lowering her gaze to the ground. "A-And I don't know how to t-tell you…but…"
Fuutarou tilts his head. What was this girl talking about? And more importantly, which one of the sisters was he currently talking to? If he couldn't figure out who it was, he couldn't possibly figure out what she was referring to. "Just say what you want to say."
The girl's face was as red as it could possibly get and she was starting to fiddle with her fingers. "I-I…Fuutarou…I wanna say…" The girl suddenly looks up to him and seems to be using every single bit of her courage to force the next few sentences out from her mouth. "I am sorry for what I have said about you. That wasn't nice. I hope you can forgive me!"
What? What is she apologizing for? The only person who he could imagine apologizing to him, apart from Nino, because of nasty comments was...
"Miku? Are you up, yet?" A voice yells from the second floor. "Could you help me find my contact lenses? I can't seem to find them!" Yes, the girl was Miku. Fuutarou couldn't recognize her because her usual pair of headphones were nowhere to be seen.
After hearing her sister call for her, Miku instantly turns around and rushes into the bathroom. She locks the door behind her and therefore prevents Fuutarou from going after her. Fuutarou sighs and looks to the stairs to see which girl was calling for her. Leaning over the railing was Nino who was wearing pink pajamas with white flowers on them. "Miku, come on. You know I can't see properly without them. Help me find them!"
"He? I'm not Mi-" Fuutarou was trying to say but then gets interrupted by Nino again who grabbed his hand. "Now come on and help me search for them!" Fuutarou blinks, completely and utterly confused by what was unfolding before his eyes. How and why was Nino thinking that he was her sister? He was much taller and also had significantly shorter hair. But most importantly, she should be able to distinguish him from her sisters!
Nino walks to her room with Fuutarou and then points to her shelf. "It should be somewhere on that shelf. Can you look for it?" Nino asks and despite his confusion, Fuutarou just nods nervously. He couldn't possibly tell her that he wasn't Miku, she would freak out and probably kill him. He just had to get her contact lenses and then silently sneak away before she could put them in and attack him. Again.
Fuutarou walks up to the shelf and then searches for the contact lenses but all he could find were some photos of the five sisters. One showed them in their old school uniforms, one showed them when they were in middle school and one showed them when they were even younger than that. Fuutarou grins after looking at the last one. They really all look the same in that one, they even wore the same white outfit. But somehow, looking at it gave him a familiar feeling...
"Hey Miku, maybe they are on the top of the shelf. Maybe you can find them up there?" Nino asks suddenly and points at him in the right direction. Fuutarou stretches up and finally finds a small box with contact lenses inside of them. He grabs it and gives it to Nino.
"Ah, thank you, Miku." Nino happily exclaims while walking to her desk where a big mirror was hanging. As soon as she started putting the contact lenses in, Fuutarou quickly walks to the exit and opens the door. But before he could leave, Nino starts talking to him again, still believing him to be Miku.
"Can you imagine that Itsuki really wants to be friends with this idiot? She is acting like she has known him for years! I can't believe she lets him intrude in our home! She even made me cook dinner for him..." Nino explains while putting in her first lens. Fuutarou swallows nervously and turns to Nino even as he reaches for the door. "I don't wanna see him here anymore, this is our home! Not his! This place should be special and nobody should be here except for us. I just hope that you don't join his tutoring nonsense too or I will be left on my own..." Nino's voice gradually gets quieter with time, desperation entering her tone. Was that really that big of a deal to her?
"Sorry..." Fuutarou apologizes softly and then leaves the room. That really was a close call. If he hadn't left soon, she would have probably noticed his true identity. Thankfully, everything went as planned.
"Good morning, Ueusugi-san!" One of the sisters suddenly exclaims from behind him. Fuutarou turns around and sees Yotsuba and Ichika walking towards him. While Yotsuba seemed as fit as ever, Ichika looked like she could sleep for many more hours before being fully rested. "Ya-ho~! Did you slept well, Fuutarou-kun?"
Fuutarou nods and grins at the two of them. "Yes, it was very comfortable sleeping in a big bed once in a while. At home, we only have small futons to sleep in so that was something new." Fuutarou explains and then jumps as Ichika strides forward to grab onto his arm. "The next time you sleep here, you will sleep in my bed, okay~" Ichika whispers into his ear which made him flustered. "Y-Yeah...why not..?" He mumbles nervously, attempting and failing to break her grip before accompanying them downstairs.
Arriving in the living room, Fuutarou sees Miku and Itsuki in the kitchen. They seem to be talking while Itsuki prepares breakfast. "Good morning!" Yotsuba happily yells at the two of them. The two turn around to the group and Miku immediately blushes when she saw Fuutarou while Itsuki starts to pout as soon as she saw Ichika clinging to Fuutarou once more.
"Good morning you three! I hope you are happy with toast as breakfast? We don't have anything else here." Itsuki explains while walking into the living room with a bunch of plates. "We only can prepare toast? We really have to go buy groceries in the next few days."
"Miku? Where are you?" Nino suddenly yells while walking down the stairs. "There you are. Why did you run away so suddenly? I still wanted to talk to you!" Nino walks up to Miku who seems to be really confused by this question. Fuutarou freezes, hoping that she wouldn't piece together what had actually happened.
"What do you mean? Why would I run away from you?" Nino sighs after hearing this but instead of arguing with her, she decides to help Itsuki with breakfast. "Forget it, it wasn't that important." She takes out some cheese, strawberry jam, and butter out of the fridge and puts it on the glass table in the living room. Itsuki then puts two pieces of toast on everyone's plates and sits down with everybody.
"I hope you are okay with this tiny selection of things you can put on your toast, Uesugi-kun," Itsuki tells Fuutarou while spreading strawberry jam over the three pieces she had on her plate. "Are you kidding me? Normally, I don't even get to eat breakfast and if I get to eat breakfast, it's mostly just leftovers from the previous day. In comparison, this is more than enough. Thank you very much." Fuutarou takes some of the butter and spreads it all over his slice of bread.
"That's good to hear," Itsuki replies with a bright smile on her face.
When they were all finished with their breakfast, Nino and Itsuki once again take up the dirty dishes and bring them into the kitchen where they clean up before placing the washed plates into the dryer.
"Now that we are all finished, let us start with today's lesson! You still have a lot to learn in order to pass the midterm exams!" Fuutarou exclaims while taking out his books. The girls on the other hand weren't as enthusiastic as Fuutarou was. "But we spent so much time studying yesterday, can't we just relax for a bit?" Yotsuba suggests even as she deflates.
"No can do. We have to get ready for the midterm exams. They start in two days, we can't waste any more time!" Fuutarou explains while opening his Mathematics textbook. "We are going to start with Math today. There is a lot we didn't yet talk about and..." Fuutarou looks at Miku who nervously raises her hand. "Yes, Miku?"
"F-Fuutarou, w-would it be ok if I...if I join you today?" She asks while lowering her hand again. Wow, she really wanted to join his lesson? Finally, after all the effort he had put into changing her perception of him and pushing every single button he could, he had done it! "Of course. You can join us whenever you want, Miku." Miku blushes after hearing this and lowers her gaze nervously.
"Anyway, we are going to start with differential functions. Open your notebooks, we will start working on a few tasks."
Author's Note:
You wanted it, you get it. Itsuki is a cuddler. I hope you are happy now :D
Now for the reviews:
Cloves, I mentioned this in my other chapters too and maybe you should read the title of this story but this will not be an Itsuki route but a harem route.
Danilla fedakov, I chose Ichika to be a model because I thought the roles she got as an actress didn't really suit her. Also, I wanted to bring some extra spice into the story.
Sorry that this chapter took so long, maybe the next few will also take a little bit longer because of school. I hope you can understand that.
Anyway, do you think they will pass the Midterm exams or do you think they will fail? What will Maruo say to all of this? Find out in the next chapter!