As I said, this story will change canon events from the Gotoubun storyline, so the next quint that Fuutarou meets might surprise you. It's fair game for Ichika, Nino, Miku, and Yotsuba. The next one who meets Fuutarou will have to quickly catch up to Itsuki's massive headstart, though. More fluffiness awaits for everyone!

Discord link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]

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

"Will it really be okay to have our study session in your home, Uesugi-kun? I wouldn't want to intrude into your home…" Itsuki says in a nervous tone, feeling embarrassed about entering a boy's home, especially when the one being talked about was a fellow teenager like her.

It didn't help that he was also her tutor, and… the boy she was developing feelings for…

He waved off her concern, continuing to lead the way towards his home. "Don't worry, it's just the three of us living together anyway. My old man, my little sister, and myself. We'll just be having this study session for about an hour and a half, and then we'll be done for the day. After all, it's only the first session between us, and I'll have to spend some time devising a study plan specifically for you."

"That sounds fair," Itsuki nodded with a smile. "But… may I ask if you could escort me to the station afterwards? I…I am still trying to know my way around here so you wouldn't need to bother with me in the future…"

"I'll take you to the station later on then, but please don't think you're bothering me by asking for such a thing." Fuutarou told her while shaking his head in amusement. "I really wouldn't mind taking my time showing you how to know your way around this neighborhood."

"W-Well, I was just being considerate of you, Uesugi-kun!" She turned her look elsewhere, a pout forming on her face. However, she had a blush on her face which made it harder for her to be taken seriously. "There is no need for you to continue showing me directions after this. I'm not like that green-haired buffoon from that one show who gets lost all the time."

"Itsuki, you don't need to worry about me. The moment I agreed to be your tutor, I have a responsibility to look after your well-being while you are out of the school premises. I would rather not have your family storming down to my home with threats if something bad happens to you. Besides…" He sent her a smug yet awkward grin, deciding to try and see the extent of her 'feelings' for him. "Deep down, I'm sure you want me to accompany you when you head home, right?"

Like what he had predicted, Itsuki looked down as her blush became deeper, showing that Fuutarou was right. She then closed her eyes and turned away once again, puffing her cheeks more and causing her pout to become bigger.

"A-Alright I do, so what…?" she fired back, a hint of hesitation visible through her look. "I enjoy your company, Uesugi-kun, but… I feel that it would be too much of me to ask for you to do such a thing… when you're already my tutor. It isn't fair on your part if I continue asking you to keep doing things for my sake." She quickly shook her head upon noticing that she had spoken too much. "J-Just focus on teaching me, and I will be fine…!"

Fuutarou looked surprised with her conflicting answer, but realized that it may just be a part of Itsuki's personality. What was that particular trope called? He could have sworn he heard it somewhere…

Ah yes, a tsundere. Though, she was showing more of her 'dere' side so far.

He shrugged nonchalantly, before sending her another smug look. "Whatever you say. Regardless of that, I'll still be accompanying you whenever we're done with our study sessions because it's what I'm supposed to do. You can't tell me otherwise, Itsuki. You better get used to it."

Itsuki pouted at him even harder after his words, but didn't choose to say anything else. Arguing about such a small matter would be pointless at this point. If Fuutarou wanted to go with her the whole way even if he didn't have to, she'll just leave him be… which is rather embarrassing to think about, now that the idea had sunk in her mind.

~~XoXo~~

After a few more minutes of venturing along the suburbs, the pair had reached an apartment where they stopped right before the front door. Itsuki took a quick glance around, now understanding what her tutor meant when he said that his financial standing wasn't in a good state and causing her to secretly give him a sympathetic look.

"Now I feel more embarrassed to be here," she thought to herself.

Moments after knocking on the door, a young girl with long, black hair with a huge ahoge atop her head came rushing out and hugged Fuutarou tightly. The young man looked a bit embarrassed by this, especially since Itsuki was just behind him and was surprised by what she was seeing as well.

"R-Raiha…" he called out to his younger sister, who was as cheerful and energetic as any child out there, while also having enough maturity to handle most of the responsibilities inside the house. Fuutarou then turned towards Itsuki and gave her an awkward grin, showing that he was used to his sister being like this. "Itsuki, this is Raiha, she's my younger sister."

Itsuki's eyes widened slightly. "Your… sister?"

"Welcome back, Onii-chan!" Raiha Uesugi pulled back from the embrace with a big smile, before noticing the red-haired girl who was standing behind her big brother. "Oh, and good afternoon, miss…?"

Itsuki quickly snapped herself out of her trance and knelt down for a bit, before giving the young girl a bright smile. "It's Nakano Itsuki. I'm a friend of your big brother. Nice to meet you, Raiha-chan!"

"Friend?! O-Onii-chan has a friend…?" Raiha asked incredulously, almost unable to comprehend what she was hearing. "I thought for sure he would stay as a moody guy who keeps his distance from everybody, but thanks to you, Itsuki-san, Onii-chan will finally smile a lot more!"

Fuutarou paled, since his own sister just gave Itsuki some potential blackmail material against him. No, he wasn't embarrassed at the fact that he never had 'friends' before, but rather it's because Raiha let it slip that he almost never smiles, which he has clearly done several times today.

And all of them were directed towards Itsuki herself.

"Now, now, Raiha, I think you've said enough to Itsuki…" he attempted to speak, but was quickly cut off by the sound of someone giggling.

"Oh, Uesugi-kun? Am I perhaps the first friend that you've ever had? I feel like I should be honored, fufufu…" Itsuki sent a smirk of her own towards Fuutarou, while the young man himself looked nervous.

"At least she hasn't caught on to what Raiha said about me smiling a lot more…" he thought to himself while sweat-dropping. "But damn, I never knew Itsuki had a teasing side in her. I don't know if that's a good thing since she's my soulmate…"

Raiha went back to the door and invited the two older teens inside with a wave of her arm. "Please come in! I made some onigiri, let's eat them together!"

Itsuki's eyes sparkled at the mention of food, before she clasped her hands together happily. "I'd love to have some, Raiha-chan! Come on, Uesugi-kun! We can eat some while we're studying!" She then turned towards her tutor and began to pull on his arm like a child asking for candy.

"Sure, why not?" he shrugged, causing Itsuki's smile to grow wider before the girl took off her shoes and rushed inside to try some of Raiha's homemade rice balls, leaving Fuutarou in the doorway.

"I guess... this isn't as bad as I expected it to be," he admitted to himself, finding himself focused on the happy look on Itsuki's face while munching on an onigiri. Raiha looked overjoyed at this and not long after that, the two girls were laughing along with each other.

Fuutarou then came to a sudden realization. Compared to when he met Itsuki several hours earlier, he wasn't complaining much about his situation compared to way before he met the girl. He could clearly remember how he wondered why the God of Love had to choose him for this and everything else, until he stopped doing those after school ended.

In the eyes of a normal person, one would describe that as being too fast, but wasn't Fuutarou's situation anything but normal? Itsuki was his soulmate, and it was terribly obvious that the girl harbored feelings for him. If that wasn't enough, the old god had told him that two soulmates will 'fall in love with each other that it hurts'.

But despite that, Fuutarou didn't feel like complaining anymore. He didn't even have something to complain about in the first place. The fact that his relationship with Itsuki as of now made him smile in a genuine way several times was enough to tell himself that he was secretly liking his situation. To add to that, the girl wasn't rushing their relationship despite her obvious feelings.

"You know… what was I even worried about? Everything is completely fine and I think this could have gotten worse if my soulmate wasn't Itsuki," he said rhetorically in his thoughts. Shaking his head in amusement, he went inside his home and closed the door, while the bubbly sensation in his chest promptly returned, and the young man couldn't stop himself from smiling at the scene before him.

"Oiii, Uesugi-kun!"

Fuutarou shook his head to snap himself back to reality, where he saw Itsuki giving him a small pout, before it turned into a sweet smile as soon as his eyes were set on her.

"If you just stay there, we won't be able to get some studying done! Aren't you supposed to be getting ready to teach me, Uesugi-kun?" she asked, munching on another onigiri quietly.

The boy allowed himself a small chuckle, before raising his hands in defeat. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry for spacing out, Itsuki. Let's get started then." He joined his sister and student near the table, taking an onigiri for himself before taking out the books that Itsuki bought for their study session.

Raiha's jaw dropped at what she was seeing before her. "Onii-chan is actually laughing!"

~~XoXo~~

"Mou, it's already 4:30? But it feels like time passed so quickly!" Itsuki put on an annoyed look as she stared at the clock on her phone. Everything was going well during their study sessions; while she was constantly munching on the onigiris that Raiha made, Fuutarou gave her a brief summary on what they would be learning about in every subject area for the next several weeks. His explanations about their subjects were concise and straightforward, and he pauses his lectures whenever she was writing down his words, in order to make sure that he wouldn't be going too fast for her pace.

However, all good things had to come to an end.

"Yes, and I'm afraid that'll be the end of our session today, Itsuki." Fuutarou only gives her a small nod while helping the girl pack her books. "No need to worry, because we will be meeting tomorrow, the day after that, and so on. A tutor's job isn't over until his student is fully capable of passing exams with flying colors, after all."

"Uesugi-kun, can't we continue until 5:00 at least?" She asked, looking up at the young man pleadingly. "I can still learn more from you and I certainly don't feel tired at all. Furthermore, your discussions are engaging and I feel more motivated to learn as a result!"

Fuutarou gritted his teeth at Itsuki pulling out the 'puppy-dog eyes' card and luckily, he managed to overcome that deadly weapon. He folded his arms across his chest, before shaking his head.

"Like I told you earlier, today is only our first session together, so it wouldn't make sense to push through your limits right away. Trust me, you don't want to go home with very noticeable bags under your eyes."

Itsuki was about to give him one of her huge pouts as a response, until his words slowly registered into her mind. Fuutarou had a point, but he didn't have to turn her down that way. What a meanie. "F-Fine, I get it," she huffed and simply turned away.

Fuutarou sighed, placing his hand on her shoulder, which surprised the girl for a bit. It seems that his student needs to learn when to work hard and when to take it easy. "I appreciate your enthusiasm in wanting to learn more, but we're just getting started, Itsuki. Take this as the first step to learning under my tutelage instead. Of course, we're bound to get to that level soon, especially when it's time for the exams. But for now, let's take it easy so you don't get overwhelmed with too much information off the bat. Okay?"

Losing most of her earlier grumpiness towards him, Itsuki nodded quietly, not choosing to say anything more. All that was left in her mind was how her tutor spoke with her calmly in order to resolve their little problem, and Itsuki was left thinking about it in particular. Fuutarou then removed his hand from her shoulder and stood up.

"I'll just drop off my bag in my room, then we can leave. I still have to show you the way to the station." He told the girl, before picking up his bag and walking off. This prompted Raiha, who was finished in washing the dishes, to walk up towards Itsuki with a concerned look on her face.

"Don't be sad, Itsuki-san. You'll come back tomorrow with Onii-chan, right?"

"Of course I will, Raiha-chan. Uesugi-kun is my tutor, after all. Why are you asking such a question?" The redhead asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Maybe I can try to make onigiri tomorrow too? Or something else, so we can eat together again!" Raiha exclaimed, which only caused Itsuki to feel even more confused than before. "Please don't stay mad at Onii-chan. He can be a bit grumpy, but he's a good guy! Please don't stop being his friend, Itsuki-san."

"Oh, Raiha-chan…" Itsuki shook her head and let a smile appear on her features, before she pulled the younger girl into a warm embrace. "I'm not mad at your brother at all, and I'm not going to stop being his friend. I was just thinking deeply about him, that's all."

"Why were you thinking of Onii-chan?"

"I've heard what some of our classmates have been saying about him. Some of them have said that he's scary, a delinquent, a know-it-all, and many other things. At first, I didn't believe them because Uesugi-kun has been nothing but civil and understanding towards me since we met. He can be blunt and look somehow intimidating, but I really enjoyed his company when we met at lunch," Itsuki explained with a healthy blush covering her cheeks.

"Then why did it look like you were mad at him...?"

"When I noticed your reaction when we met, Raiha-chan, it made me think that our classmates might not be making complete lies after all. I didn't pay attention to the thought at first, because I believed that Uesugi-kun is a good person. I happened to have the chance to see it for myself, so I tried to make it seem like I was angry with your brother a while ago, but I only wanted to see how Uesugi-kun would handle it."

Raiha's eyes widened. "Wait… so… you were just pretending to be mad at Onii-chan because you wanted to see how he would react to it?"

"That's right. This only affirms my belief that your brother is a good person, and no one can convince me otherwise!" Itsuki smiled brightly. "Although I still want to continue our study session for some more, I understand why we do need to stop now. Besides, I'll be coming back tomorrow like you said, Raiha-chan!"

The young girl's eyes were filled with emotion, as she hugged Itsuki tightly. "T-Thank you, Itsuki-san… for being Onii-chan's friend. He won't say it, but I'm sure that he feels the same way that I do. I know Onii-chan better than anyone else, and he already sees you as someone important to him. Onii-chan doesn't invite people into our house, but he did it for you. Itsuki-san, you're the first friend that he made in years."

"He…He does…?" Itsuki thought to herself, wildly blushing in the process. Now having a good idea of what Fuutarou was like, hearing such a thing was like something akin to a confession! However, being a complete beginner when it came to romance, she didn't give it too much thought and simply took it as Fuutarou sees her as a friend he can trust. "Perhaps… we can be more than that in the future."

"I'm happy to be Uesugi-kun's friend, Raiha-chan. I'm your friend too from now on, okay?" Itsuki asked happily, and the younger girl could only respond with the same level of enthusiasm.

"Yes! I'll be your friend too, Itsuki-san!" Raiha said, forming a big smile of her own.

While the two were busy in their own little world, they never noticed that Fuutarou had been watching the whole scene play out before him, as the corners of his lips curved upwards by the end of it.

Itsuki has met Raiha and the two quickly connected with each other, which isn't a surprising thing at all. Now that their first study session is over with, Itsuki is ready to go home, but do you expect her to get home without more fluff coming? Stay tuned, because more wholesomeness will happen in the next chapter!

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

-Lance