Welp, the cat's out of the bag! Last chapter, we saw the old god revealing to Fuutarou that he has five soulmates but we didn't exactly see his reaction, so we'll find out about that here! We'll see if he'll be able to take it well or not. Pray for his sanity, lol. 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...

Fuutarou needed a few moments to himself to think about what the old god said, and he was not even sure if he heard him right. Was he serious? Was he hearing things? Was the elderly deity joking around with him? Whatever the answer was, it made him unable to follow up with another response until almost a minute had passed. Meanwhile, the old man was checking his watch that seemed to appear out of nowhere but staying remarkably patient until the young man could speak again.

"W-What did you just say…? Itsuki and… her sister are… two of the five… soulmates that I'll meet…?" Fuutarou muttered like a robot, feeling as if he lost some of his brain cells from what the old man told him. What the hell was this guy trying to say? Five soulmates? Where the hell did that come from? Oh, maybe it was just some kind of cruel, sick joke… there is no way that was true. Fuutarou's eye was also twitching madly, and it was only a matter of seconds before he blows up.

"That is correct. Those two girls are both of your–" the old man tried to say, but was interrupted by Fuutarou himself when the young man literally got into his face with an unnerved expression.

"What kind of sick joke is this, oji-san?!" Fuutarou shouted, almost having a crazed look in his eyes had it not been for his own knowledge that he was speaking with an apparition and not a real person. If the old man was real and he was standing there before him, Fuutarou would've grabbed the guy by the collar and shaken him back and forth, consequences be damned! "Two soulmates?! Do you think I have no knowledge about romantic relationships at all? I know it is an indisputable fact for a person to only have ONE soulmate, and not any more than that! You can't be serious with what you said about myself having multiple soulmates…"

Unfortunately, the God of Love remained stoic in his expression as though he was expecting this kind of reaction from Fuutarou. "Yes, that's true. All humans are all originally supposed to only have one soulmate. When you were born, you only had one soulmate like everyone else. But… it just so happened that when you were on that little trip you went on to Kyoto when you were a child… a very important matter came up at the same time… and because of that, I, the God of Love and Fertility, made a huge mistake and ended up adding four more girls to your soulmate count while I was reviewing all the pairs that I have made so far."

"Say what?!" Fuutarou's jaw dropped, before he put on a more serious look. So, there was a catalyst that caused him to be put in this situation! If there was anything to blame for his situation, it would be the thing that distracted the old god even for a quick moment! "W-What was the important matter that came up that caused you to make a mistake…?!"

The elderly god then turned his gaze to the side, almost looking embarrassed of himself. "The 'Ballad of Fallen Angels' episode of Cowboy Bebop got my complete attention when I gave the show a watch, and I ended up becoming a big fan of the show…"

"SHOULD YOU REALLY BE WATCHING ANIME WHILE YOU'RE WORKING?! YOU'RE A GOD, OLD MAN!" Fuutarou screamed through shark teeth, a large tick mark appearing on his head in both annoyance and anger. The nerve of this old man… getting distracted by anime?! HE WAS A GOD, WHY WOULD HE CARE ABOUT ANIME?! THAT'S NOT AN EXAMPLE HE SHOULD BE SETTING TO THOSE WHO FOLLOW HIM! It was the old man's fault… that he's in this situation… at this point, he didn't want to use any honorific while calling him… the actions of this god himself made Fuutarou lose what was left of his respect for him.

Seriously, what kind of god watches anime while working?!

"Don't get me wrong, hear me out! It was my first time watching anime! I noticed that many mortals like Cowboy Bebop, so I decided to give it a try! Spike and Vicious were just too interesting for me not to pay utmost attention to the episode…"

"Do you have any idea what you did?! I was already fine with Itsuki being my soulmate because she's a girl that I can get along with! I already did what you wanted me to do and accepted Itsuki, but then her sister comes along the very next day and now I have to deal with two soulmates! It doesn't even stop there! You said I'll meet three more…?! Why did it have to be–" A sudden thought then struck his mind, causing him to pause in his rant so he could put on a neutral look on his face. "Wait just a moment. When you said there are three soulmates that I have yet to meet, are you by chance referring to their three other sisters?"

"That is correct. Their sisters, Ichika, Miku, and Yotsuba Nakano are your three other soulmates that you will inevitably meet." The old god answered with a neutral look of his own, while twirling his finger around his beard. "At the very least, you're getting closer to meeting all of your soulmates instead of meeting them at different places at different times."

Fuutarou remained silent for a few seconds, before he fell forward and didn't bother catching himself, causing him to land face-first into the ground without a care for the pain. The God of Love only shook his head at this.

"That doesn't make my situation any better, old man! Why did it have to be me?! Someone who has never wanted anything to do with these things, and you're giving him FIVE soulmates? It doesn't even stop there! How the hell do you expect me to have feelings for five girls, who are all sisters?! Never mind the fact that those are my soulmates, but you want me to make a whole harem of girls happy?! Is my life some sort of anime to you?! I didn't need something like this in my life!"

"Fuutarou, stand up. It's not the end of the world for you," the old god said, but the boy didn't move an inch. He shook his head once again and used his staff to turn Fuutarou over on his back. Once he did, the young man was crying anime-like tears out of despair and didn't care that his face had gotten dirty from being on the ground. "You're certainly making it look like your life is an anime right now," the deity thought to himself.

"Why couldn't I have just one soulmate? I was perfectly fine with Itsuki being my girlfriend in the future, but now I have to deal with five of them… why am I even alive at this point…" Fuutarou was laughing at himself at this point, as if he had gone mad and forgot about everything else around him.

The old god shook his head again. "Fuutarou, I know you're just faking this. Stop acting like a child for you are already a man."

"Oh, shut up… you don't even know how I feel, old man …" Fuutarou groaned loudly. While he knew to himself that this won't solve anything, he just wanted to lie down for now. It was a way easier task to do than taking care of five different girls who also happen to be sisters. "Just let me stay here for a while… it's your fault why I'm like this, anyway."

"Regardless of what you feel about this, your situation remains the same. The rest of your soulmates will all experience the same shock you felt with Itsuki and Nino Nakano. It doesn't matter what you try to say, either. Because once you meet the rest of your soulmates, you will inevitably fall in love with them as they do for you. I forgot to mention this the last time we talked, but a person with a soulmate makes them exceptionally fortunate, or someone with good luck."

"I'm not sure if the luck I have right now could be considered as 'good'…" Fuutarou snickered, before deciding to get back to his feet. Yeah, there's no use moping around while crying about what could have been… even though things would definitely be easier if Itsuki was his only soulmate.

"However, because of this, their entire life's worth of 'fortune' is used up on that one thing..." The old god continued and at this point, Fuutarou was looking up at him with a more serious expression. "…and if they let that good luck get away, naturally, the only left would be bad luck. The people who have never met their soulmate are safe from this, but you're not one of them because you have already met Itsuki Nakano and her sister, two of your designated partners."

Fuutarou narrowed his gaze before looking down on the ground, looking like he was in deep thought about something.

"So that's what you meant when you said that if I ignored the soulmate that I was supposed to meet, she's going to die."

"That's right. The same will happen for their three other sisters and from there, you will have to make all of them happy. They are your soulmates, which speaks about the gravity of your situation should you fail to do what you need to do."

"Fine," Fuutarou sighed in defeat. If this was going to be his life from now on, the only thing he can do is move forward like that one guy from an anime show that was about killing giants. Well, if Itsuki was able to bring out a smile from him in the span of a few hours, surely Nino wouldn't be that bad, right? He'll have to see for himself tomorrow, but for now, he has to finish things with the old man. "I just have one more question to ask you."

"Go ahead. What is it?"

"Is it a coincidence that my soulmates are all sisters, let alone quintuplets? I've already said that I'm not someone into romance but the fact that the soulmates you've paired me with are all family… it's too suspicious, even for me." Fuutarou explained calmly, folding his arms across his chest. "So has that got something to do with your matchmaking job that you neglect for anime, old man?"

"That…" The old god then shifted his gaze from the young man to the side, as though he was caught red-handed. "…is something you'll find out once you've met all of your soulmates. If I tell you, it would be cheating. You have to go through your heroines' routes like a true harem protagonist in any eroge game out there."

"So you're not going to tell me anything?" Fuutarou continued with a calm tone. Not to worry, he was sort of expecting this to happen, so there's no need for him to lose his cool once again.

"No."

"Very well. There's no reason for me to stay here anymore, then." Fuutarou then walked through the old god without a care in the world, passing through the deity since he was only an apparition and continued on his way. "That was an interesting discussion, old man, but I'm afraid I need to get home to wash the dirt off my clothes and myself. I'm sure Raiha must be worried about me as well. Hopefully, this won't be the last time we meet."

"You can call me anytime, Fuutarou, as long as you don't do it while I'm watching Cowboy Bebop." The God of Love gave a small nod, before disappearing with the wind, leaving the young man alone to his thoughts on the way back home.

Alright, to put it into the simplest words, he was fated to have a harem thanks to the 'mistake' of a certain old man, and he had met two of them so far. He already had a mutual connection with one of them, while the other one's status was unknown. He had not met the three other girls yet, but it was already clear that it would sometime soon. The girls of said harem were all sisters, and that certain old man was hiding the reason why.

That's it for the summary of his talk with the old man.

"Still… why me?" Fuutarou asked no one in particular because it was more of a question for himself. So much for being the anti-social outcast of the class, right? If seeing him hang out with Itsuki sent his classmates into an abyss of confusion, then seeing him with Nino will surely hit them harder than a truck capable of sending people to other realms.

Facing Itsuki tomorrow will surely be harder now that Nino was also his soulmate, and he could only hope that the latter doesn't think of creating trouble that involved him anytime soon… unless…

~~XoXo~~

It was already lunch period, but Fuutarou didn't bother going to the cafeteria just yet. He was waiting for someone to inevitably show up, even though he was already feeling hungry. It wasn't Itsuki, since he convinced her to have lunch with her sisters for the day, not wanting to make it seem like he was stealing her away from her family like what Nino was totally imagining he would do.

He was leaning against the wall next to the door, holding the results he had from the surprise quiz that they had on their last period before lunch with a smile on his face. Of course, he had a perfect score, but what made him feel proud and somewhat satisfied was the fact that Itsuki ended up scoring very near the passing grade, which meant that their first two sessions were already bearing fruit.

Hey, she may not have passed yet, but it's already huge progress! In fact, she was already overjoyed at scoring very near the passing grade and almost hugged him right after class, if only he didn't tell her that their classmates were there. Well, he wouldn't really mind another sweet hug from Itsuki… but it would be a bad move considering what he was planning right now.

Regardless, Itsuki was even more encouraged to do better in today's session, so that she'll finally be able to pass the next exam! Surely, she's already telling her other sisters about her sorta-accomplishment at their lunch table and might even —

"Hey."

Fuutarou was immediately brought out of his thoughts when he heard someone else's voice nearby, causing him to turn towards the direction of where it came from. Outside, he looked unaffected but, on the inside, he smirked in triumph because his plan had worked.

Nino Nakano stopped right in front of him with an unreadable expression on her face, while her arms were on her hips. There was no telling if she was either pissed, serious, or a mixture of both, but one thing was clear.

She was here for something important.

"Nakano Nino-san," he acknowledged without any hint of malice in his tone, slowly folding his test paper before storing it in his pocket. "Itsuki told me about you yesterday during lunch. Have you come again to tell me to stay away from your sister?"

"C-Cut the honorific crap and shut up, alright? I've got some things to say," she spoke, doing her best to keep her serious look from faltering while making sure that there wasn't anyone around who was watching her.

Fuutarou raised an eyebrow for a moment, before straightening his posture so he could feel more comfortable. "Alright, then."

"Itsuki talked to me yesterday about you, and while I still have my doubts about this whole tutoring thing you're doing, I'll let my sister do what she wants. But the moment that I hear something happened to her because of you, I swear…"

He nodded slowly in agreement. "Fair enough. You can hit me if anything happens to Itsuki while I'm around. As her tutor, her safety falls upon my shoulders and as a result, I deserve whatever's coming my way if something happens to Itsuki."

Nino was slightly surprised with his answer, but quickly regained her composure before she could get caught. Also, she was surprised with the way that he was maintaining eye contact with her now. Yesterday, he couldn't even look at her but now, it seemed like turning his gaze away was the last thing on his mind.

"S-Shut it, I'm not done. Also, I'm not going to apologize to you or anything for what I did, because it doesn't change the fact that I'm still pissed off that a guy like you suddenly shows up in our lives. Do you know what we felt when Itsuki told us that she made friends with a boy?"

"I could only imagine that you're very protective of your sister, and you wanted nothing more than to keep her safe. That is a totally understandable reaction, and one that I can relate to. If my younger sister did the same, I would have reacted in a similar way."

"Exactly. Looks like you're not much of an idiot, after all!" Nino smirked, which caused Fuutarou to raise an eyebrow and at the same time, she realized what she just said. Nope! Abort! He mustn't notice! "A-Anyway! I'm not looking for forgiveness, but… I understand that I did something wrong, so let's just start over. You remember everything that I told you and keep Itsuki safe, and you're cool with me."

Fuutarou gave her another nod and in a bold move, he leaned his face towards hers that their noses were within inches of the other. "Sounds good to me. Is that all you wanted to talk to me about?"

Nino couldn't stop herself from blushing at how close he was, but at the same time, she couldn't push him away for some reason. Was it because he looked hot in her eyes? His aura at the moment was so strong? His serious demeanor was somehow getting under her skin? "Uhm… y-yeah, that's… all I wanted to tell you…" she murmured, unable to continue eye contact and was the first to break it by looking to the side.

Satisfied with her answer, he went back to his original position and it caused the girl to sigh in relief. Just as this happened, several voices down the hallway had caught their attention and made them turn their heads in response.

"Hey, that's Uesugi-kun!"

"Is that Nakano-san with him? Since when did she have really long hair?"

"That's how her hair is, idiot. Did you lose your glasses or something?"

"They're not at the cafeteria for lunch… are they having alone time with one another?!"

"Seems like it. Maybe they were about to kiss or something!"

"That means we ruined what was supposed to happen, morons!

"Oh no…" Nino widened her eyes in shock at being caught in the act by several students, while taking a step back subconsciously. At the very least, they didn't know it was her and thought that she was Itsuki, but she didn't want that either! Now her sister will continue to be the subject of the rumors around here!

Before she could catch up with what was happening, a large, warm hand grasped hers and led her away from the scene, catching her off guard that she nearly tripped on her own feet.

"H-Hey! What the—?!" she lashed out at the person who dragged her along, only to stop when she saw Fuutarou with a very serious look on his face while keeping his gaze forward. The girl widened her eyes even more and she couldn't help but blush deeply at what was happening while the tugging feeling inside her chest only got stronger than before. As if it were in slow motion, the young man turned his head to look at Nino, making her heart skip a beat.

"Let's get out of here, Nino."

Nino couldn't say anything as a response, only having the strength to nod dumbly as the two teenagers ran through the school corridors to escape the eyes of other students.

Looks like Fuutarou has no choice but to succumb to his fate as a harem protagonist, guys. Stupid god, getting distracted by anime while working. What kind of god does that?! No matter how good Cowboy Bebop is, you should NEVER let it distract you on the job. But whatever, what's done is done and Fuutarou has to deal with having five soulmates from now on. On the bright side, we see Nino in this chapter and see a fluffy moment between her and our boy by the end. Hahaha, how romantic is that? Fuutarou says he has no idea what to do regarding relationships but he can be smooth when he wants to... how will this moment with Nino unravel in the next chapter? Stay tuned!

Itsuki: Muuuu, I hate that god! Why would a powerful being be distracted by something you can watch on television? Uesugi-kun should be mine alone! Why do I even have to share him?! I met him first, remember? I even confessed before any of my sisters did! *pouts even more*

Yes, Itsuki, we know... but we have no choice but to accept what happened... it's not like it's Fuutarou's fault...

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

-Lance