Expect the chapters for this story to be 2-3k words long, with at least one wholesome moment happening in each one. It's so I could avoid dumping all the fluffy-goodness in one chapter, and to prevent the story from getting stale. Right now, we are still focusing on Itsuki solely, so it would likely be a few chapters more before the other quints get introduced.

Discord link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]

Disclaimer: I don't own the Quintessential Quintuplets, or any of its characters...

"My name is Nakano Itsuki. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Fuutarou's eyes widened as he got a good look at the newest student joining the class, who was a red-haired girl wearing star-shaped clips on her head, and the young man could clearly remember her face as though they spoke to one another just a while ago.

It was none other than his apparent soulmate, Itsuki Nakano.

Before their class could start, the teacher had announced that there would be a transferee from another school will be joining their cluster from now on, filling nearly the whole with anticipation to who it might be. Fuutarou, being the quiet and uncaring person that he was, attempted to take a nap until the teacher would start their lesson at least, only to be taken aback as soon as he saw who had stepped into the classroom.

"It's a girl."

"She's cute…"

"That uniform is from Black Rose's girl school, right?"

"Seriously, she must be loaded, huh."

"Oi, oi, what are you even talking about?"

Itsuki's foreign presence inside the class elicited various responses from the students, except for Fuutarou, who was quiet the whole time the girl spoke in front. However, his thoughts were a completely different story.

"She's here?! This means we're going to be classmates…" Fuutarou said in his mind, unsure if Itsuki being his classmate was a good or bad thing. On one hand, this was his soulmate, and there might be instances wherein they may attract unnecessary attention because of their… 'bond', but on the other hand, Itsuki seemed innocent when it came to romance, since she was extremely shy around him earlier and discussed their academics instead. "Calm down, calm down, she's not that kind of girl. Nakano-san is well aware that our current relationship is tutor and student, and she doesn't seem interested in having a romantic relationship."

While Fuutarou was lost in his thoughts, the teacher showed Itsuki her designated seat by pointing towards an empty seat near the back, and the girl complied by nodding her head before heading towards her desk. Along the way, she came across a familiar face, and Itsuki was quick to notice who he was.

"Uesugi-kun?!" she exclaimed in surprise, walking closer to his desk. "You're here as well?!"

Her voice was enough to snap Fuutarou out of his little trance, and he found himself face-to-face with his soulmate/student/classmate. He snuck a quick glance at the people around, and found that all of their classmates were staring at them in wonder, most likely due to the fact that Itsuki already knew who he was.

Crap! Knowing them, they'll make up kinds of rumors if they get even the slightest hint of them having a relationship! Gotta make it clear that they were nothing more than friendly acquaintances!

"H-Hey, Nakano-san." He gave her an awkward smile, while trying his best to sound natural. "Isn't this a lot more convenient? We'll be classmates from now on."

Itsuki's surprised look morphed into one that showed happiness, flashing the biggest smile that she could muster. She wouldn't have to look around the school for her tutor, because he was just nearby. "Yes, that's right! I'm glad we're classmates, Uesugi-kun!"

In a move that sent shockwaves all throughout the room, Itsuki stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Fuutarou before pulling him into a hug, with his head being half-buried in between her well-endowed chest A.K.A. the Sacred Valley.

Everyone, including the teacher, let out audible gasps due to complete shock at this, and there were even a few girls who squealed instead. No one spoke afterwards, as their full attention was solely directed towards the newest student, who straight-up walked towards the most unapproachable person inside the classroom before hugging him like it was nothing. What's worse, they looked like they knew each other somehow!

What was even going on at this point?

Fuutarou, despite his blushing face, bore a deadpan look. Welp, there goes his chance to show that him and Itsuki were merely acquaintances, but he couldn't blame the girl for being like this. She didn't even seem like she knew what she was doing, which means she was acting on instinct just now. Because who exactly would walk up towards someone he/she just met and pull that person into a hug?

Itsuki would, apparently. She was his soulmate, after all.

"Uh, Nakano-san? Would you mind…?" he stated in a neutral tone, resigning to his fate of being the center of attention in his class for at least a week. There's no way that he could put a stop to their babbling mouths from spreading rumors all throughout the place for a few days, so he'll just have to ignore anything that comes his way. Luckily, since his head was only half-buried into her chest, his voice wasn't completely muffled and Itsuki was able to hear him.

"What is it, Uesugi— e-eeehhhhh?!" she said in a sweet tone at first, before her face turned completely red upon seeing what she was doing. Itsuki quickly let go of him and backed off, her hair shadowing over her eyes out of embarrassment. She clasped her hands together in apology, paying no heed to their other classmates who were watching closely. "O-Oh my goodness, I… I'm so sorry, Uesugi-kun! I didn't know what I was doing…! I just felt so happy, and I… I wasn't aware of what was happening!" she cried, small droplets of tears already forming at the corners of her eyes.

Fuutarou sighed and simply raised a hand, stopping the girl from outright crying while also gaining her full attention.

"It's fine. I had the suspicion that you were acting on pure instinct, so I don't blame you for what happened, Nakano-san." He bore an unfazed look, showing that he could still remain calm in spite of their current dilemma. "If you still want to talk about it to apologize or further explain your actions, do it later. I am sure that we've gotten the attention of the whole class long enough."

Taking a quick glance at her surroundings, Itsuki quickly noticed that everyone was staring at her and Fuutarou with looks of shock on their faces, causing her hair to shadow over her face once again. "Y-Yes, you're right, Uesugi-kun! We shall continue discussing this later on…!" she said in an attempt to save herself from further embarrassment, before quickly rushing towards her seat.

"I changed my mind. Having a soulmate is as bad as it gets. How naive of me, thinking that romance and relationships weren't troubling in school…" Fuutarou continued in his thoughts, while he could only laugh in a sardonic manner at his own misfortune.

At the end of the day, much to his own frustration, Fuutarou Uesugi became the subject of attention in the whole class by simply socializing with a girl, who also happened to be the newest student of the class. It wouldn't even take a day for this issue to reach the whole school, and his popularity within the system would change for the worse, at least in his opinion.

What a quick turn of events for the guy who was supposed to be the loner of the class.

~~XoXo~~

As soon as their last class was over, everyone was busy packing their things and Fuutarou wanted nothing more than to venture into a locker and trap himself there for the whole year. He couldn't even gather his belongings properly without his classmates talking about him 'hugging a pretty girl'. In the eyes of a normal person, this was a pretty normal scenario to happen in school, but Uesugi wanted none of that.

"I still wonder what that girl sees in him…"

"Think she's his secret girlfriend or something?"

"Well, I think Uesugi-kun's kinda cute."

"Hmm, but he looks kinda scary..."

Fuutarou could only cry inside, in a state of despair now that his reputation will never be the same again. He was completely fine with being the social outcast of the classroom, but that got thrown out of the window when Itsuki pulled him into a hug out of nowhere, who was apparently the newest student joining the class. From there, he could deduce that it would only take a mere day before the issue blows up and starting tomorrow, he'll want nothing more than to hide his face with a paper bag until the attention dies down.

Hearing the murmurs from his classmates, the young man could only palm his face in a useless attempt to hide himself from the world. "I just had to be the one that that old man picked, huh…?"

"Hey, Uesugi-kun! Our class sure is lively, right?" Itsuki said with a bright smile before rushing towards her newly-appointed tutor, looking ready to leave with him.

"Huh…?" he said blankly, turning towards whoever it was that spoke to him. Much to his relief, it was just Itsuki and not one of his nosy classmates. "Oh, it's just you, Nakano-san. I suppose it is lively, like what you said."

Itsuki noticed the uncaring tone in his voice, and she could clearly tell what exactly was bothering him. "Uhm… I apologize again for... what I did earlier," she stood straight and bowed her head in apology. "I should have been more aware of my actions, Uesugi-kun. I never knew you disliked having too much attention on yourself."

Her eyes then widened when she felt something warm on top of her head, causing her to look up and see that Fuutarou had placed his hand on her hair, before giving her a small pat afterwards. This caused her to blush deeply, as her whole body froze up in response to her tutor's little gesture.

"Like I said, Nakano-san, it's not your fault. I don't blame you for what happened since you didn't know such things about me, so let me deal with this thing on my own." He explained, before removing his hand from her head. "Besides, the attention will die down in a few days, as long as we don't do anything that will cause it to blow up even further. So don't beat yourself up over it, alright?"

"O-Okay," she slowly nodded, her blush never leaving her face.

"Now, then…" Fuutarou slung his bag over his shoulder and flashed the girl a little smirk. "Shall we get going, Nakano-san? We're supposed to have a study session since I am your tutor, correct? Let's go somewhere more appropriate to do this."

Expecting the girl to follow him, he walked ahead of her but immediately stopped when he heard her say something.

"Itsuki."

He turned around to look at her curiously. "…what?"

"You can just call me Itsuki," the girl replied with a smile, her mood doing a complete 180. "Not that we should be more informal with each other, but you might get confused soon."

Fuutarou raised an eyebrow. "Confused with what?"

She waved off his concern, before catching up to Fuutarou and with that, the two were walking side-by-side. "D-Don't mind it too much. Just call me Itsuki from now on, okay?"

"Very well," he nodded. "In that case, you may call me Fuutarou. That way, even if I am your tutor and you are my student, we can show that we are still on equal grounds with one another."

Itsuki shook her head, looking embarrassed at the thought of calling her tutor by his given name. "Ah, you don't have to worry about me, Uesugi-kun."

"Whatever floats your boat, then. Now, since you want me to tutor you, I'm going to need you to buy some reference materials that I can start with, particularly those in which you're having difficulties in. Will that be a problem?" he asked, taking a quick glance at Itsuki.

"Oh, that's not something to be worried about, Uesugi-kun. I can buy a few books for our sessions, but…" Her expression fell, as her cheeks turned deep red out of embarrassment while her eyes turned blank white. "I…I don't know my way around here…"

"Oh," he sweat-dropped, before quickly regaining his composure. "In that case, I'll show you my favorite store where I bought some books that I have back home. I'm sure you'll be able to find all that you need there, Itsuki."

"That's a great idea! I can't wait to learn from you, Uesugi-kun! Let's do this!" Itsuki gave him the biggest smile she could muster, unaware that she had latched herself onto his arm, nuzzling into his sleeve as if she was his girlfriend.

"I-Is she even aware of what she's doing when this happens…? No, when she hugged me earlier, she didn't even notice her actions until I pointed it out. Her actions are stemming from pure instinct." Fuutarou spoke in his thoughts, blushing deeply from Itsuki's display of affection. Of course, this is to be expected, since she was his soulmate. However, despite his embarrassment, he couldn't find it in himself to tell the girl to stop for whatever reason unlike earlier.

He was about to call out her name and tell Itsuki that she may have been getting too close to him, but Fuutarou stopped himself at the last second, when he got a good look at the way the girl was smiling. It caused a bubbly sensation to fill his chest, which he found somewhat pleasing that he couldn't stop himself from forming a small smile on his face in response.

"...I suppose I could let her do what she wants for now."

It was a really good thing that they were the only ones within the hallway, otherwise it things would've been worse for the two of them.

I definitely think Itsuki is the type of girl who is unaware of what she's doing until she notices it, especially when it comes to romance. You can even apply that scenario to food, because her instincts take over when it comes to eating. This makes her cuter and more adorable that way, since she is a newbie to the concept of love while at the same time, she's Fuutarou's first soulmate. You can expect more Fuutarou x Itsuki wholesomeness next chapter!

Goodbye... and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture*

-Lance