Well, well, well! With the Meatbun Monster Rampage finally ending last chapter, the time has finally come to meet the other quints, as well as the next one whom Fuutarou will meet! Will it be Ribbonmania? Ichika's VIP Show? Mikuism? Or the Nino Train? Let's not waste any time and hop straight into the chapter!

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

"Tadaima~!" Itsuki chirped happily as she entered her home, still in a happy mood from her last exchange of words with Fuutarou. Why wouldn't she be happy? Fuutarou and her had an honest conversation, ending with them admitting their growing feelings for the other! Her happiness at this moment couldn't possibly be interrupted!

Speaking of her tutor, she'll have to text him a message and tell him that she was able to get home safe and sound. She never knew Fuutarou could be a worrywart, but it's not like that was a bad thing. Surely, he must be the same way towards his younger sister.

"Itsuki! Where the hell were you?!" A girl with long hair and butterfly ribbons demanded, storming over towards the newcomer. The two shared nearly the same face and body figure, which meant that this one of the sisters that Itsuki told Fuutarou about.

"I was simply studying with a friend, Nino. I apologize if I made any of you worry for my well-being." Itsuki answered without hesitation, bowing her head in apology.

"Damn right we were worried! If Ebata-san hadn't informed us that he already picked you up, we would have gone by ourselves to look for you!" The girl called Nino massaged her temples to alleviate herself from her frustration, which was barely effective at all.

"Nino's right, Itsuki. You could have at least given us a call or texted a quick message about where you were. That way, we wouldn't have been worried too much. You're still our youngest sister, and we, as your Onee-samas, have a responsibility to keep you safe." A girl with very short hair and a single earring said in a calmer tone, giving Itsuki a gentle smile as she spoke. Interestingly enough, she also looked exactly the same as the first two girls.

"I know, Ichika. Again, I apologize for making all of you worry about me. I should have informed all of you beforehand that I would be going somewhere after school, but it completely slipped my mind." Itsuki bowed her head before them, taking a deep breath. Before she can try to ease her tutor's worries about her, she has to calm her sisters down first! "I take full responsibility for my actions, and I promise not to do it again!"

Another similar-looking girl with short hair and a green ribbon on her head poked her head out of the kitchen, before rushing towards Itsuki as though she was competing in a race. "Itsuki?! You're finally back! We were soooo worried, we thought something bad happened to you!" She waved her arms in the air in a frantic manner, showing her clear worry for her Itsuki.

Itsuki smiled apologetically. "I am fine, Yotsuba. Nothing bad happened to me, because I was in good hands ever since I left the school premises. Then Ebata-san took me back here after I sent him a text about my location, so you can be assured that I am completely safe and sound."

"Even so, you still made us worried about you. We never expected you to do something like this." A gloomy-looking girl with headphones around her neck joined the group. Like the others, she shared the same face and figure, which made the five of them quintuplets. "That's not what a good sister should be doing, Itsuki."

"Yes, Miku, I know… I apologize once again for my carelessness, everyone. It was wrong of me not to tell any of you where I have been for the past few hours." Itsuki sighed, finding no one to blame for her own actions but herself. The youngest of the sisters could only hang her head in defeat, her guilt completely winning over her. Way to guilt-trip somebody, right? She didn't bother looking up to face them, knowing that it will just cause her to feel guiltier for what she did.

"Hmph. Did you at least see the messages we sent to you? We even tried to call you, in case you didn't know." Nino said haughtily, crossing her arms and giving her younger sister a deep frown.

"I haven't checked my messages ever since I left school, and turned on silent mode while I was studying to avoid unnecessary interruptions… I only saw your messages and the calls I missed while I was inside the car." Itsuki wailed, knowing that she will get chewed out no matter what she says.

"Ugh, whatever! Just don't do it again, you crybaby!" Nino rolled her eyes in annoyance and stormed off towards the kitchen, but not before giving Itsuki one more glance. "Dinner's almost done, so fix yourself already and wait at the table!"

At the mention of dinner, Itsuki's mood immediately brightened and she could only smile at her sister's retreating figure. "I'll be there in a minute!" she cheered, about to rush upstairs to drop off her things and get a proper change of clothes, when Ichika's voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Wait a moment, Itsuki. You said that you studied with a friend, correct? But where exactly?" she asked with a curious look. "We tried looking for you around the school first, then we thought you might have gone home ahead of us. But we couldn't find you anywhere, so where were you this whole time?"

"I was at my friend's house. We've been studying together ever since we left school, that's all." Itsuki's answer was short and straightforward, which was all that she needed to say before taking off. While she was heading up to her room, her other sisters could only look at her with varying expressions.

Yotsuba was surprised at first, before being filled with nothing but happiness for her sister. "Itsuki made a friend? That's amazing! Let's ask Itsuki about her!"

"Making a friend on our first day of school then going to her house already? This sounds a bit sketchy for someone like Itsuki, even if she loves studying most of the time…" Miku said with a hint of suspicion in her tone.

"I think you may be right, Miku. No offense to Itsuki, but I don't think she's one to make friends, let alone on our first day of classes. That's always been more of Nino or Yotsuba's thing, or even mine. But since she did say that they studied together, maybe this friend of Itsuki loves studying as much as she does and they got along well because of that?" Ichika explained, which barely led them to a conclusion when their youngest sister gave them a vague answer.

"Let's just ask her, then! I'm sure Itsuki will tell us more about her friend once we eat dinner," Yotsuba suggested.

Ichika shrugged. "I guess that's the best plan that we have right now. Let's ask Itsuki-chan all about her new friend later on, fufu~" With that, she went towards the table while letting out a yawn, being followed closely by Miku and Yotsuba.

"I don't think there's something going on with Itsuki. There's nothing wrong with making friends, right? Since it's also someone who's studying with her, maybe they're helping each other get smarter." Yotsuba asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"There's indeed nothing wrong with making friends, Yotsuba. But this is Itsuki we're talking about. The same Itsuki who is our sister, wouldn't think of interrupting her time studying if it means going out with friends like Nino. There might be something else that we don't know about," Ichika explained in a calm tone.

Yotsuba nodded slowly. "Oh… I think I get it…"

Ichika could only give both of her sisters a reassuring smile. "I just hope there's nothing going on with Itsuki like what you said.

~~XoXo~~

"Something is definitely going on with Itsuki!" Was the thought that crossed nearly everyone's mind on the table, as they all stared at Itsuki with both confused and surprised looks on their faces.

While the girl was happily digging through her dinner, she also snuck glances at her phone, which was directly beside her plate, and then letting out small giggles every now and then. There was nothing wrong with Itsuki being the happiest person on Earth while munching on food, so that wasn't what they were worried about. Itsuki also believed that it was bad manners to bring one's phone to the table, but ended up doing the very same thing whenever she needed to talk to someone important.

However, what really caused the sisters to conclude in their minds that Itsuki was acting strange, was the fact that she would laugh like a giddy school girl after seeing something in her phone. This was definitely the first time that Itsuki had acted like this, and her four other sisters didn't want anything more than to figure out what was making the youngest among them to laugh like this!

This must have something to do with the friend that she mentioned earlier!

Yotsuba, who was convinced that there's nothing wrong with Itsuki earlier, could only feel curious with what her own sister had in mind. Miku's expression had changed from sullen to confused, showing her clear worry for Itsuki. Nino, who had been informed by the other three girls beforehand, could only raise an eyebrow at Itsuki and the way she was stealing glances at her phone. It caused Nino to feel tempted to look at who exactly her sister was talking to but stayed herself, because there was no need to invade another's privacy just to figure out more about the person that Itsuki was talking about.

Ichika took a deep breath, before sending her younger sister a look of interest. As of now, she's the only one who can likely get a clear answer from their sister. "Itsuki-chan, you seem really happy lately. Do you mind telling us what's gotten into you all of sudden? Not that it's a bad thing, but… it just feels weird, seeing you laugh like this… in front of the table while eating, no less."

The youngest sister removed her gaze from her phone, so that she could look at Ichika solely. "Oh, I… have I been bothering any of you with my words? I…I apologize if I am being too inconsiderate of all of you." Itsuki muttered, before shaking her head as a smile appeared on her features again. "I simply can't help but want to laugh when I speak with my friend, even if it's through a text message."

"That's okay, Itsuki-chan. Although this makes me curious about this 'friend' that you've been speaking of… she must be a very fun person to be with if she can make you laugh like this while eating dinner!" Ichika exclaimed.

Itsuki only smiled wider, before clasping her hands together. "Oh, definitely! He may not be that good at socializing with others, but I really enjoy his company! Again, I apologize if we've been sending messages to each other in the midst of dinner, but he's also my tutor. He's looking out for the future of my academic grades, after all, and I trust that he's going to help me reach college."

The youngest of the Nakano sisters was completely oblivious to the reactions that she received from her sisters, all because she was thinking of the time she spent with Fuutarou earlier today, which culminated in a mutual confession of their feelings for the other.

"He?!"

"Sending messages?!"

"T-Tutor...?!"

Nino, Miku, and Yotsuba shouted almost at the same time, their eyes growing wide out of shock. Meanwhile, Ichika was the same, except that she was covering her mouth in order to stifle her gasp and her face was slowly turning red from the implications of her sister's words.

"I-Itsuki-chan, correct me if I am wrong, but did you just imply that the friend you made is a boy?" Ichika asked, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. They won't be able to figure out anything if they don't pull themselves together, even if Itsuki really said that she was with a boy for several hours!

"Yes, why do you ask?" Itsuki tilted her head and munched on an egg roll as if nothing was wrong in the world.

The short-haired girl widened her eyes, realizing that Itsuki wasn't kidding. She was with a boy until Ebata-san had to pick her up! Her shocked expression soon turned into a teasing look. "Ara, does Itsuki-chan have a crush on someone?"

"N-No, it's not like that. I met him earlier during lunch and I noticed he has very good grades when I saw his exam results. I asked him if he could be my tutor, and he accepted. He's been helpful so far, and he's really thoughtful of my own limits." Itsuki explained, but her mind was apparently heading in a different direction. "Well, I… I really like Uesugi-kun, but I can't tell you such a thing…"

"Who is he?! I'll give him a piece of my mind for getting buddy-buddy with you, Itsuki!" Nino immediately slammed her hands on the table and stood up, a tick mark appearing on her head while she clenched her fist slowly in anger.

"Nino, please don't misunderstand. We're not 'buddy-buddy' or whatever you're saying. It's not like we did anything inappropriate too. All we did was hold our study session in his house, nothing more."

"You went to his house?! I'm gonna kill him!" Nino cried, showing that she wasn't really listening to everything that her sister explained.

"Now, now, Nino. I believe you're taking things out of proportion. Why don't we hear out Itsuki-chan for now?" Ichika, being the calm and logical sister that she was, raises her hand in order to prevent her sister from creating a bigger outburst. Nino narrowed her eyes at Ichika for a moment, before sitting back down, although begrudgingly.

Itsuki sent a grateful nod towards her short-haired sister. "Thank you, Ichika. Now, as I was saying, all we did this afternoon was hold our study session in his home. He is my tutor, after all, and we've had a productive first day so far. To tell you in advance, we'll be doing the same tomorrow, the day after that, and so on. That way, all of you won't have to worry about my whereabouts every time school comes to an end."

"But why do it in his house…?" asked Miku. "You couldn't do it in school instead? Or maybe even the library?"

"He asked me to buy some books for our study session, so he led me to a bookstore where I purchased everything that I needed help with. Apparently, the store we went to was also near his home, and he insisted that we hold our study session there. I agreed, and everything turned out well in the end.

Miku nodded slowly, looking satisfied with Itsuki's answer while Yotsuba was the next to speak up.

"What's his name? Maybe we can all meet him tomorrow during lunch and say hi! Since he's your tutor, he must be a really great guy!"

Itsuki shook her head sadly. "I apologize, Yotsuba, but I can't tell any of you who he is."

"And why the hell not?" Nino asked sharply, folding her arms across her chest.

"Because my tutor is not fond of too many social interactions," Itsuki pushed up her red glasses and released a sigh, before looking at each of her sisters. "He prefers to be alone in order to focus on studying, and I respect his wish. Therefore, I can't tell you who he is."

"Wow, he sounds a lot like you, don't you think? You stay inside your room most of the time, doing nothing but studying until it's time to eat." Ichika pointed out with an amused smile. "Next to Miku, you're also the one who interacts with others the least but here you are, making a friend on the first day of school. You sure you don't have a crush, Itsuki-chan?"

"I told you, it's not like that." Itsuki shook her head and sighed, before drinking some water to calm herself. Hopefully, she looked convincing enough for them to believe she didn't like him. "And believe me, I am aware of what I did. I'm even considering our meeting to be a stroke of luck."

Ichika shrugged her shoulders, before her teasing look returned. "I guess you can't tell us his name, but what about the things you did together, Itsuki-chan? You seem like you enjoyed yourself today, right? Let's hear some details~"

"I-I don't think that's a good idea…" Itsuki stammered, fearing that if this continues, her sisters will find out that she does have feelings for Fuutarou!

"Yeah, tell us more, Itsuki!"

"Sure, why not?"

Yotsuba and Miku spoke up, much to Itsuki's further embarrassment. The only one who remained silent was Nino, who looked like she was focusing on eating dinner, but had other thoughts of her own. She was picturing a typical Japanese nerd in her mind as Itsuki's tutor, and he was cowering in fear from seeing her. Nino smiled in satisfaction from that thought, before she began to think of a way to find the person that her sister was referring to.

"Whoever Itsuki's talking about, I don't give a shit. I'll find out who he is and tell him to shove it!"

~~XoXo~~

As soon as the bell rang which signified lunch break for the students of the school, the first thing that Itsuki Nakano did was walk towards her tutor with a smile on her face.

"Uesugi-kun, I'm going to inform my sisters that I'll be eating lunch with you today. Yesterday, they were really worried about me, so I can't risk it again…" Itsuki laughed nervously, while rubbing the back of her head.

Fuutarou, who was arranging his things inside his bag, sent a small nod at the girl. "Do what you have to do. I'll head on to the cafeteria first to find a table, then. I'm sure you can find me when you get there."

Itsuki's smile only became brighter, before she bowed her head in gratitude. "Thank you for understanding, Uesugi-kun. I'll see you there!"

With that, Itsuki walked off, while the young man watched her leave with a tiny smile. He paid no attention to his classmates whispering amongst themselves about 'Uesugi-kun and Nakano-san being boyfriend and girlfriend', because they simply had no idea what was truly going on between him and Itsuki. There's no way he could stop their loud mouths from babbling rumors around here, but he could at least ignore them and continue acting like himself.

As soon as Itsuki was out of his sight, Fuutarou went back to packing up his stuff and at this point, a girl with long hair and butterfly ribbons before approached him with a scowl on her face.

"Oi. Are you that Uesugi Fuutarou that I've been hearing around here?" she asked in a sharp tone that left no room for arguments.

Fuutarou nodded, but he made no move to look at this new presence that bothered him. She must be one of those people who fell for the rumors about him, and he wanted nothing to do with it. "That would be me, yes. Is there something that you need?"

"Good. I'll make this quick, then. Stay the hell away from Itsuki, or there's going to be trouble. Do you understand?"

Fuutarou rolled his eyes internally. He could just walk away and ignore this girl, or he could give her a straight answer to end this conversation right away.

"I don't know which of the rumors surrounding me you have heard, but I have one thing to say. My relationship with Itsuki is tutor and student, and we are not dating of the sort."

"You're an idiot, you know? I wonder what my sister even saw in you!" Nino Nakano laughed in a haughty manner. "She told us about you last night, and let me tell you what I think right now. I don't care even if you're her teacher, or whatever! Stay away from Itsuki, or you're gonna have to deal with me!"

He gave a small nod of understanding. "Ah, so you're one of the sisters that Itsuki has told me about. I never thought that I'd meet you here, but anyway, I'm afraid that's Itsuki's decision to make. She wanted me to be her tutor, and it's up to her to end our relationship."

Nino gritted her teeth. "I don't care about that! Just stay away from my family, you hear?! We don't need someone like you around!"

Fuutarou slung her bag and shook his head. He had no time for this, because he had to get to the cafeteria to find a table. "I'm sure you have plenty of complaints about me being with your sister, but you'll have to talk to her about that as I have no time to entertain you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get going."

As he was walking away, Nino gained a tick mark on her head before storming over towards the boy. "You jerk! Don't you turn your back on me! I'm not done with you yet!"

Grabbing his shoulder, Nino forced him to turn around and face her. The young man was surprised with this and wasn't able to stop himself from turning around, causing him to scoff. However, as soon as Nino had locked eyes with Fuutarou, an electric shock went through both of their bodies, one that the latter was already familiar with.

This sensation caused both pairs of eyes to widen even more, with Fuutarou being completely taken aback while Nino lost her fiery temper and couldn't say anything at the moment. They could only stare at one another, with the boy coming to a single conclusion in his mind as soon as his thoughts were up and running once again.

There was no doubt about it. This girl… was also his soulmate.

And there we go. The other girls have been finally introduced, and Itsuki was lucky they didn't notice that she does have feelings for Fuutarou, but will that last long? Ichika almost got the answer from her, lol. And what do you know? The Nino Train is the next route that Fuutarou is taking, so the next chapters will be focused on Nino and her confession that will inevitably happen! However, Fuutarou himself seems confused with this because he thinks that Itsuki was already his soulmate. Ohoho, that old god will have to answer this question soon! Damn, just the day after he met Itsuki, he meets Nino and they feel the shock. He's gonna have a lot on his hands with two girls now being his soulmates. Wonder how she'll end up falling for our boy, Fuutarou? Mikuism, Ribbonmania, and Ichika's VIP Show will have to wait, because the Nino Train has arrived at the Uesugi Station early!

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

-Lance