It will probably take around 3 or 4 chapters more before the next quint makes eye contact with Fuutarou. Until then, Itsuki has a very big headstart over her sisters. Too bad she isn't the type to go for what she wants without hesitation, unlike Nino. This'll allow her sisters to catch up when they finally meet Fuutarou, hehe.

Discord link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]

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

Exiting the bookstore, Itsuki could be seen carrying books for English, Math, Social Studies, Japanese, and Science (all of her subjects) while Fuutarou dealt with both of their bags. Taking a glance at the books that she had, the young man was starting to wonder if buying reference materials for all subjects was really necessary. She can't be that bad, right?

"Not to be rude, but do you really need all of those?" he asked her. "I know I asked you to buy some learning materials, but I think this may be too much…"

"A-As much as I hate to admit it, yes…" Itsuki blushed and looked down in shame. "I have said earlier that my grades aren't so good compared to yours, and that much is true. In fact, the very reason why my sisters and I had to transfer schools was because of low academic remarks in every area, and I want to change that."

Fuutarou ignored the part where Itsuki said that she had sisters who transferred just like her, focusing completely on the lone fact that this girl was struggling to get good grades in every subject. "I see… that definitely explains why you were asking me to tutor you," he concluded.

Itsuki nodded in confirmation, before she looked quite hesitant about her next words. She was somehow afraid of what he might think of her if she said it. Nonetheless, Itsuki chose to speak her mind and share her thoughts with her companion. Fuutarou was someone she could trust, as shown when he agreed to be her tutor and was willingly spending time to act as one.

"Uesugi-kun?"

"What?"

She looked back towards him, her eyes showing her clear nervousness. "Do you… Do you think it's childish of me to dream about graduating from college and becoming a teacher in the future?"

Now this was a question he wasn't expecting. Where did that come from?

"Childish? Why would you say that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well… I've heard that most people would rather set short-term goals to accomplish instead of ones like mine. They say that it's impossible to reach that kind of dream when I don't even know the steps I will have to take in order to get there, and that only a child would do it."

Fuutarou thought about her words for the next few moments, letting them fully register into his mind. So Itsuki wanted to be a teacher as her dream profession, but was experiencing some problems that could interfere with that. Well, he was no expert in making a person feel better, but he was the only one with Itsuki at the moment and she was expecting an answer from him, anyway.

He shook his head. "No, I don't think it's childish to dream of such a thing at all. It's normal to aim for graduating college and get your degree, before choosing your desired job. To be completely honest with you, Itsuki, I am somewhat similar. I dream of finishing college, but I haven't made a decision yet on what career path I should choose."

The girl widened her eyes as a result. "Y-You haven't…?"

"I see no reason to, not when I haven't even stepped into college yet," he shrugged. "Anyway, the only thing I can say to you is that not all people go through the same experiences while growing up, but that's not important. Some may be born in a life of poverty but has excellent academic skills, some people get better as they learn more, while there are also some people who are born rich but are as dumb as a brick."

The young man's last comment rang in Itsuki's ears like an alarm clock, feeling that it was somehow directed towards her, and it caused the girl to scrunch her eyebrows before puffing out her cheeks in a big pout.

"What matters is how—" Fuutarou stopped in his words when he saw Itsuki pouting at him, causing him to feel confused. "Uh, did I do something wrong? Why are you looking at me that way?"

"Uesugi-kun," she stated in a very serious tone, completely different from her happy self, which was all that he's been seeing from her so far. "Who were you talking about when you said that 'there are some people who are born rich but are as dumb as a brick'?"

"No one. I was just stating an example, so stop glaring at me already," he explained without hesitation, but all his words did was make Itsuki pout even harder at him. "What are you even angry at? It's not like you're born—" It then hit him, causing Fuutarou to widen his eyes in surprise. "Wait a second, don't tell me that you're rich!"

"How else could I have bought these books that you asked me to buy?!" she cried, as her frown deepened in anger. "Muuuuu, I can't believe you, Uesugi-kun! T-Teasing me like this when I'm asking you a serious question! I even trusted you with something personal…!"

He frowned, not liking the fact that he was getting accused for something he had no fault in. "Hey, hey, hang on, I never even knew you were rich! We just met this afternoon, how do you expect me to come to that conclusion after only a few hours?"

"You couldn't even figure it out after seeing the lunch that I ordered? Mmmuuuu, you're just teasing me right now, I know it!" she pointed towards him in an accusing manner, with small tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"I'm not! There's no possible way for me to come to that conclusion because, if you can remember, my lunch was vastly inferior compared to yours in just about everything. Perhaps, if I had given more attention to what you were eating, I could determine that you had a nice upbringing. The only thing I did was take a quick glance at your lunch, and I didn't say anything else after that. But in a similar way, you should have been able to realize that my financial standing isn't in a very good state and therefore, I am clueless to the concept of who is rich compared to those who have enough money to sustain themselves. I sincerely thought you were a part of the latter and didn't give it much thought, that's all."

The girl's pout slowly disappeared, but her frown remained. Itsuki still didn't look entirely convinced despite his reasonable explanation. "Really…?" she said, breaking their eye contact and looking towards the side instead.

"There's no reason for me to lie. Now as I was saying, what matters is how you choose to spend your life to reach that dream you have. Will you work hard and believe in yourself to reach what you thought was impossible? Or will you just lie around and think that your dream will happen even if you didn't do anything? That is what's childish, if you ask me. What you're doing is completely acceptable and normal in my eyes."

"But..." Itsuki lowered her head, her bright red hair shadowing over the entirety of her face before she spoke in a sad tone. "But I'm a failure when it comes to my grades. Even though I try my best to study, I always get the same results. Isn't that more of a childish action? Not being able to improve at all? At this rate, I don't think I will even get to step into college…"

Itsuki was quickly brought out of a near-depressed state when she felt Fuutarou's large, warm hand rest on top of her head, causing her to look up at the young man with wide eyes.

"Itsuki, it's not the end of the world for you. You're not one of those people who laze around on their couches and do nothing but watch television and play games all day. You still work as hard as you can, and you clearly know your limits. All that's left for you is to improve yourself through your academic grades."

The girl shifted in her position a bit, looking doubtful for a brief moment before looking back up towards Fuutarou. "How exactly…?" she asked softly, her voice still holding some of her worries for her own self.

"Have you forgotten who I am?" he asked rhetorically with a deadpan look, before it shifted into a genuine smile, something that one would never expect from Fuutarou. "I'm the tutor that you hired, and it'll be my job to help you elevate your grades. Why do you think I asked you to buy all these books you're holding?"

Itsuki's cheeks turned red. "I…"

"Itsuki," he placed his hands on her shoulders, causing the girl to quickly turn back towards him with a surprised look. "Personally, I'm not someone who would normally care about other people and what they want to do in life, but you're an exception to that. It's not just because I'm your tutor, but I also respect your dream now that I know about it, and how you strive to achieve it. You don't laze around on a couch, doing whatever you want like one of those typical spoiled rich teenagers. You actively try to improve yourself, and you can admit your own faults. For that, I swear that I will do my best to help you improve in your studies and to make sure that you get through high school."

Her eyes widened afterwards, taken aback from Fuutarou's declaration to help her, to the point that it caused small droplets of tears to form in her eyes once more, and her lips trembled with emotion. This alarmed Fuutarou, thinking that he somehow made her cry by invading her personal space.

"Wait, don't cry! I'm so—!"

He was immediately cut off when Itsuki launched herself towards him, wrapping her arms around his body and burying the side of her face into his chest. Fuutarou's eyes widened at her action and took a few steps back as a result, before he felt his face heating up.

"I-Itsuki…?"

The red-haired girl knew that her face must be burning, but she didn't care about that at the moment. Itsuki only hugged Fuutarou tighter, feeling the warm comfort provided by his body heat. This made her smile through the tears that escaped her eyes, and caused something to click in her mind.

"Is this… love? I have never felt this way before, but I don't mind being like this…" Itsuki thought to herself, fighting an internal battle in which her 'diligent and studyholic' side was losing badly against the side that wanted to rely on her newfound friend, just like how she would do the same for him. That wasn't a bad thing at all, because Itsuki couldn't help but be curious about this newfound feeling that she was experiencing and wanted to learn more about it. She was someone who never entertained the idea of romance, until she came across this young man, who used only words and actions to somehow win over her.

And he wasn't even doing it on purpose!

Itsuki wanted to ask him about these feelings that she was experiencing, but pushed it into the back of her mind instead. She didn't want to burden him with a serious matter, not when they just met and while she was like this. However, she could still enjoy their time as friends until the day comes when she can tell Fuutarou about the lingering feeling in her heart and what it meant.

She knew she would be in safe hands with Fuutarou Uesugi being there for her as a friend, as a tutor and hopefully, more than those in the future.

"Thank you… Uesugi-kun," she whispered loud enough for him to hear, before closing her eyes and letting herself melt into his warmth for as long as she could.

"Uh… don't mention it," Fuutarou replies in an awkward tone, before slowly wrapping his arms around her in an attempt to return the hug with a red face. Itsuki nearly jumped in surprise at his action, but soon relaxed and buried her face deeper into his chest, having this moment of bliss with her apparent soulmate.

"This feels… nice," Fuutarou whispered, finding himself to be enjoying this, much to his own confusion. These interactions were way out of his league, as he preferred to be alone. He never hugged anyone outside of his family, so why was this fine with him? It was a completely different experience to when the red-haired girl hugged him in front of everyone earlier too. Was it a sign that he was falling in love with Itsuki just like what the God of Love said would happen? It would be a reasonable answer, since she was his soulmate… right?

"Whatever, I'll deal with it later." The young man pushed the issue into the back of his mind and focused solely on his current situation, giving into his impulse to enjoy this moment of affection while he still can. He even tried patting her back gently, earning a comforting sound from Itsuki and prompting him to continue.

Unaware of his own feelings towards this issue, Fuutarou Uesugi had no idea that he was truly falling in love with his soulmate, Itsuki Nakano.

Fuutarou's situation is not good, he's slowly surrendering to the cuteness of Itsuki, which isn't something to complain about at all. If this was any normal romance fic, it would be a slow route in development, but it isn't. HAHAHAHAHA! Did you expect me to take the slow route for this? They are already soulmates, there's no need to be slow! Bring on more fluff and wholesomeness next chapter, screw waiting around!

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

-Lance