Nino Train is charging ahead, and we'll see if it even has any intention of stopping! She's gonna have to make some moves soon, because Itsuki is still far ahead of her thanks to the massive headstart that she got. Last chapter, we see Nino already feeling the effects of the soulmate bond and we'll see how it plays out in this one. Will she continue to be a tsundere? Or will she give in to what she feels? Only one way to find out! Oh, and what is this? 100 favorites and follows in a span of a week and a half? Damn, this blew up so fast. Thanks for the support and please continue to do so, everyone. GOTOUBUN FLUFF FOR THE WIN!

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

"Uesugi-kuuunn!" Itsuki called out while waving her arm happily, as she made her way towards her tutor who was waiting by the sidewalk outside of school. Fuutarou just stood in his place with a small smile, waiting for the girl to get to him. She had informed him beforehand to wait for her outside of the school, because she was going to tell her sisters that she would be getting home the same time as yesterday, since her tutoring session with Fuutarou will be taking place directly after school.

"You seem happy. Did something happen with your sisters?" he asks, noticing that Itsuki was somehow happier than when she was yesterday. He may not be adept in stuff like this, but he could feel it in him that Itsuki's radiance was as bright as the sun at the moment. Okay, that may be a far-fetched comparison, but the point still stands because she just latched onto his arm in a loving manner.

"I told everyone that I will not be able to go home with them, and they let me go. Now, I feel that a weight is finally off my chest. I suppose telling my sisters that I would be spending the afternoon with my tutor is enough to reassure them of my whereabouts unlike yesterday," she explained.

Fuutarou let the girl do as she wished, while trying his best not to show his smile when Itsuki leaned her head against his shoulder. "Good. I was afraid that I would've had to compromise and figure out a way to continue our tutoring sessions if they didn't let you. I would have understood if they did, of course. You kind of hired me as your tutor out of nowhere, and I can bet you didn't inform your family beforehand about your decision."

"If that was the case, you could come over to our home, then. That way, my sisters won't have to worry about me outside of school, and you can even meet them!" Itsuki clapped her hands together with a smile, looking like she was actually considering the idea of bringing her tutor to their apartment.

"I don't think that's a good idea…" Fuutarou laughed dryly. "You already know how I feel about interacting with new people, I'd like to keep it to a minimum. I don't mean anything harsh with my words, but meeting four other girls at the same time? I don't think things will end up in a good way, especially when one of them doesn't want me around."

"Oh, you mean Nino? I talked with her about what she did, and she seems to understand my intentions. I was honestly surprised when she willingly relented because I thought she would be too stubborn to give up on bothering you," Itsuki stated, with a thoughtful look on her face. She was well aware of what she was doing by now but made no move to remove herself from Fuutarou's arm since they were already aware of the other's feelings.

Fuutarou was equally surprised as well, because from the way that Nino spoke with him earlier, it really seemed like she was hellbent on keeping him away from Itsuki. Maybe the shock she received earlier from when they looked at each earlier had something to do with it. That was yet another question that he should be asking the old god later on! Way to make his already-normal relationship with Itsuki more complicated, oji-san!

"Really?"

"That's right. I know for a fact that Nino is too stubborn to give up on something and will keep her attention on it until she accomplishes what she wants, but she really said that she won't bother you again. My other sisters were caught off guard with it as well, and we all tried to ask Nino if something was going on with her. She didn't say anything, of course, and remained quiet until I said goodbye."

Fuutarou glanced down at Itsuki, and he saw her with a conflicted look on her face. It didn't take him a moment to figure out what she possibly had in mind. "Let me guess, you doubt her words and you think she's not really going to stop telling me to stay away from you."

"I don't want to think my sister is lying… but honestly, it wouldn't be surprising if she keeps it up." Itsuki sighed, before looking up at Fuutarou in deep concern. "You should not keep your guard down, Uesugi-kun. Nino can be unpredictable at times, and she might approach you again regarding me."

"Noted. But for now, let's stop talking about your sister, and focus on the tutoring session that we'll be having. Have you brought the books that you bought yesterday?" he said, shifting the conversation from her family to their agenda for the day, which was successful in changing Itsuki's mood from concerned to excited.

"Oh, yes! I have them inside my bag. There's no way I can forget about them when we have a study session today!" Itsuki grinned, which made Fuutarou blush for a moment before getting rid of it with a shake of his head.

Luckily, she didn't see him do such a thing since her eyes were closed. The redhead might tease him relentlessly for it and while he wouldn't mind if that really happened, he didn't want to get distracted from his main goal of teaching her today.

"Great work, Itsuki. Now, to give you a brief rundown of what we'll do…"

While the pair continued on their way towards their destination, four similar-looking girls came out from behind a nearby alley with varying reactions on their faces from what they just witnessed. Ichika raised a hand to her face, which failed to hide the huge smile that she had, accompanied by slight blush that dusted their cheeks. Miku, who normally looked devoid of any emotion, had widened her eyes that clearly showed her surprise. Yotsuba was the same, but unlike Miku who hid her mouth from sight, the ribbon-wearing quint's jaw had dropped out of shock.

On the other hand, Nino was the only one with a different reaction among them. Instead of being shocked or surprised, she only had a small frown on her face, and it wasn't clear whether it was out of anger, confusion, seriousness, or even interest.

One thing was for sure, though.

Instead of having her gaze on her sister, Nino locked her vision solely towards the young man who was with Itsuki, and no one could tell what she was thinking about at the moment.

"Oh my, that was soooo cute of those two!" Ichika squealed happily, slapping both of her cheeks to try and contain herself. "No wonder Itsuki-chan has a crush on him! Uesugi-kun looks like a really genuine guy like what she told us, and he's even going out of his way to help her study!"

"I can't believe I'm really seeing Itsuki showing affection for a guy," Miku said in shock. "She's always focused on studying on her own that things like romance are just a distraction for her. I'm starting to wonder about what happened between her and Uesugi that made her like him."

"Remember what Itsuki said about Uesugi-san, Miku? She said that he agreed to being her tutor and she also said he's been really helpful to her." Yotsuba spoke up, snapping out of her shock before scratching the side of her head in slight confusion. "Maybe Itsuki likes him for that?"

Miku shook her head and turned around, preparing to leave before this blows out of proportion. "Whatever her reason is, don't you all think this is wrong and an invasion of Itsuki's privacy? We're practically spying on our sister, even though we already gave her permission to go with Uesugi to his house."

"Miku has a point. We already gave Itsuki permission to go on this tutoring session she has, and we can always ask her about Uesugi-kun and their 'relationship' later on." Ichika nodded in response to Miku's words, before smirking at the odd one out of all of them. "I mean, there's only one person to blame for this, since she's the one who was planning to keep an eye on Itsuki-chan and Uesugi-kun and ended up bringing us along."

Nino sent a heated look towards Ichika, feeling attacked when her sisters' gazes were all directed towards her. "Hey, what are you all looking at me for?! I just wanted to see what that jerk was like! It's not like I'm still bothering him up close!"

"Yes, yes, but don't you think this is still wrong? You're gonna make yourself look like a stalker of some sort, and I doubt that you want people to call you that way." Nino's gaze narrowed further at that, showing that Ichika hit it right on the nail. "You could just ask Itsuki about Uesugi-kun later on or approach the guy himself, but not to threaten him, of course."

"I'm not a fucking stalker! It's just that Itsuki's not telling us anything even if we ask her! You heard her last night, didn't you? She doesn't want to tell us anything because she 'respects' his privacy. And no, you can't expect me to walk up to him again just to talk! That guy doesn't know manners even if it slapped him in the face! Can't even look me in the eye when I'm talking…"

"We're heading home, Ichika." Miku spoke up all of a sudden, and the short-haired girl only gave a nod as if it were giving permission to do so. And so, only Nino and Ichika were left standing in their places while Miku and Yotsuba went on ahead.

"Then why did it look like he was having a completely civil conversation with Itsuki? She also seemed comfortable around him, and she's not the one among us who likes to hang out with other people. If Itsuki trusts him, don't you think we should do the same for her sake?" Ichika counters in a calm voice, which causes Nino to look away, unable to give a straight answer to that.

Eventually, she managed to think of an answer and put on a defiant look once again. "S-So what? I'm not Itsuki, and I don't feel comfortable around that guy at all. He just makes me sick."

"Then why are you even doing this? If being around Uesugi-kun makes you uncomfortable, why go through the trouble of following them until now? I thought you also wanted to see what he was like, but what is it, really? You're not really making any sense, Nino. Do you want to see what Uesugi-kun is like, or are you really trying to avoid him?"

"Well, I..." she tried to answer, but couldn't find the right words to say it. She became roundabout with her answers that there was no way for her to come up with another reason. It made her grit her teeth and stomp her feet in frustration. "F-Fine…! I'll just head on home, then! Happy?! You can deal with those rumors about that idiot and Itsuki dating all by yourself!"

With that, Nino stormed away in anger, following Miku and Yotsuba while Ichika was left in surprise at what she heard. Rumors? Dating? Itsuki? Where did that come from? When did this start? What did Nino mean by those words? Itsuki was dating someone? Heck, there's so many more questions that springed up in her mind that she could fall to her knees from being overwhelmed. Well, there's only one person who can tell her more about this!

"Wait, Nino! Hold on!" Ichika called out, running after her sister before she could lose her. "Hey, what did you mean by rumors? What's going on?"

"It's that jerk and Itsuki! There's a rumor about them dating that's spreading around the school and I somehow heard about it earlier. How do you think I found out about him? Asked questions all over the school? Now leave me alone!" Nino huffed, still feeling pissed off about Ichika pointing out her actions when she was just trying to find out more about the young man that Itsuki was with.

"Aw, come on, Nino. All I did was point out some things that I've noticed about you. Like I said, you could just approach him for a nice and quiet talk. What's wrong with having a calm discussion to resolve things? It's what we do when you and Miku have those little arguments all the time." Nino didn't answer verbally, and simply let out a growl instead. "Come on, tell Onee-san what you know about this rumor."

Nino clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Urgh, it's not much because I went straight for Uesugi when I heard his name! All I know is that some students are talking about how Itsuki hugged Uesugi out of nowhere on her first day, that's why they're thinking they have a secret relationship, or something…"

"Itsuki hugged Uesugi-kun?!" Ichika's eyes widened to massive proportions, taken aback with this newfound knowledge. Wel, well, well, this has surely gotten more interesting than before! A huge smile then took over her features, while a small hint of a blush dusted her cheeks. "Oh my god, so there really is more to their relationship than just tutor and student!"

"Yeah, and thanks to you, I can't see if there's something really going on between them anymore!" Nino snapped at her sister, sending her a deep scowl. "Obviously, the rumor about them dating is nothing but pure bullshit, but you'd have to be blind to not see that there's something about him that Itsuki likes! I'm trying to find out what it is!"

From the normal view of a person, it would seem like Nino was telling her sister that there's something about Fuutarou that caused Itsuki to be attracted towards him but in reality, she was actually referring to herself. Nino couldn't explain it, but there was something tugging onher heart that was bothering her ever since she met Fuutarou just a few hours ago. It's the reason why she wasn't able to focus on lunch earlier, because her image of Itsuki's tutor couldn't leave her mind and until now, she was trying to figure out the reason why. Was it because he was hot? No, there were surely more attractive guys around the school than him! He looked like a delinquent of some sort? M-Maybe, but he was Itsuki's tutor and wouldn't be considered as one! Whatever the reason is, Nino couldn't help but want to figure out why she couldn't remove him from her mind and why there was a tugging feeling in her chest when she thinks of him.

It was so confusing!

It's not like she was attracted to him, or anything!

…

…right?

"Woah, calm down, Nino." Ichika raised her hands to show that she had no intention of creating another argument. "I didn't say that trying to find out more about Uesugi-kun was a bad thing. It's just that the way you're doing it is kinda wrong, because you're acting like a stalker who's following her crush around."

"I'm not a stalker…" Nino seethed, although it was more of a cover-up to hide her blush when Ichika implied that she was 'following her crush around'. Something tugged on her chest once again as a result, and it caused her to clutch her shirt to try and calm herself.

"And you're not. Like I said, you can just approach the guy and talk to him yourself. I'm sure Itsuki-chan wouldn't mind if you have a simple talk with her crush. It's not the end of the world if you talk to him, you know. If you really want to know what he's like, it's better if you see things for yourself instead of listening to those rumors."

"Tch…" Nino scoffed, although she didn't look as angry at the idea like earlier. "…you really think talking to him is gonna solve this? Last time I talked to him, he couldn't even look me in the eye and it ended up being a disaster."

Ichika smiled nervously, before regaining her composure. "I think that's because you were saying some harsh things, like telling him to stay away from Itsuki and threatening him if he doesn't? Maybe if you start over again in a civil manner, you'll be able to see what he's like and why Itsuki has a crush on him. Don't forget to tell Onee-san all about it, though!" she finished with a wink.

The long-haired girl continued to scowl for the next few moments, before letting out a loud groan in defeat. "Ugh, fine. I'll talk to him again tomorrow. But I'm not going to apologize or anything! I'm just going to find out what Itsuki even sees in that guy… he's not even that attractive to me…"

"That's completely fine, Nino. But I don't know, I don't think it's his appearance that made Itsuki have a crush on him…" Ichika cheered on for her sister, unaware that what she did would only lead to further complications down the road… for both her family and Fuutarou Uesugi.

Itsuki still giving us wholesome moments even though her route is [technically] over! Damn, I can't take this level of fluffiness... she is JUST TOO CUTE! AND WE'RE JUST GETTING STARTED! For Nino, she's really having a hard time, isn't she? Just after telling the guy to stay away from her sister several hours earlier, now she's following him around to see what he's like. Thanks to that, Ichika and the others are now aware of Itsuki having a crush on Fuutarou, but they have no idea how deep her feelings go. At the same time, Ichika suggests talking to Fuutarou face-to-face instead of stalking him, to which Nino eventually agreed to. Well, looks like she's gonna talk with Fuutarou soon, but will that end on a good note? There's no telling if the soulmate bond is gonna bother her so much that she can't take it anymore... oh, and there's also the issue of Fuutarou being confused with feeling the shock twice, when Itsuki is already his soulmate. Something fishy is going on, and a talk with the God of Love is the only way to get his questions answered! So many things to happen on top of more fluff, tune in next chapter!

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

-Lance