We got to witness some Nino fluff last chapter and oh boy, was it wholesome! She still has a lot of ground to cover though, because Itsuki is still in the lead thanks to her big headstart. Will she continue to charge ahead in full steam? We'll find out together, it seems. Let's not waste any more time and dive straight into another chapter full of fluffy Gotoubun goodness!

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

"Why can't I stop thinking about that guy...? It's already been one whole day, it should already be out of my mind by now…" Nino groaned in her thoughts, while feeling a bit frustrated with herself. About two days have already passed, and yet her mind kept on wandering back to the moment when she held hands with Fuutarou… it was just occupying her mind too much!

That wasn't all, though. They even did it TWICE, with him initiating the first one while she was the one who started it the second time! What boggled even her even more was how she thought of his well-being when he told her that to leave, before ultimately deciding to bring him along with her to the cafeteria, at the risk of being seen by other students! If that's not enough, the most embarrassing thing to happen to her that day took place afterwards, when she said that she didn't care if rumors about her begin to spread around here!

"Argh, why did I even do something so embarrassing?! That was really dangerous too! What if someone saw us?! Okay, so what if I didn't want him to starve?! I didn't have to hold his hand! We could've just walked together! W-Wait, that would be still be risky since we're close to one another! Uuurghhh, this is so confusing…!"

Nino shook her head furiously, momentarily being unaware of her surroundings in favor of removing Fuutarou from her mind. She wasn't even aware that she was about to bump into someone else and their lunch but fortunately for her, that person was someone she was starting to get familiar with.

"What are you doing, Nino?"

A tick mark appeared on her head, stopping in her tracks with the decision to give this guy a verbal smackdown that will be remembered for ages. She had no time to entertain someone else right now, and she was starting to get annoyed! "What does it look like I'm doing?! I'm trying to get rid of someone in my mind, but I can't do it, for fu— U-Uesugi-kun?!"

Her fiery response continued until she opened her eyes and got a good look at the person before her. He had a lunch tray in his hands and looked as unamused as ever. Almost immediately, she was overtaken by shock and accidentally blurted out his name in a loud voice, while being unaware that she used an honorific as she did so.

Fuutarou was caught off guard with her saying his name loudly and quickly looked around to see if anyone heard her. Much to his annoyance, several people turned their heads to look at them, most likely because they heard her loud voice. He wasn't surprised with this but damn it, now they had the attention of some students and it wouldn't even take a minute before a lot more people turn their heads towards them! He had to improvise for a solution, quick!

"Come here," he said firmly, using one hand to hold his tray from below and grabbed Nino's arm with the other one, before bringing her along with him to find an empty table they can use. He made sure not to bat an eye at the students who were staring at them in wonder, but it seemed like Nino wasn't aware of what she did just yet.

"H-Hey, what are you doing…?!" she said heatedly, both confused and angry with Fuutarou for his sudden action. Who did this guy think he was?! She could forgive him for yesterday because of the circumstances of their situation, but this was different! What the hell was he planning to do with her?! Whatever he had in mind, she wasn't going to let it happen! However, her expression only lasted for a few moments because as soon as she spoke, Fuutarou sent her a serious look that kept her from saying anything more.

"Quiet," he told her before turning his attention towards the empty table that he saw near the exit doors, without bothering to wait for Nino's response. That place was perfect, and they could make an easy escape if things ever escalate like yesterday!

Even though he wasn't looking at her anymore, Nino nodded dumbly at the order he gave her, while keeping her head down to hide the blush on her cheeks. She didn't say anything else and simply followed him wherever he was planning to go. What was with her, honestly? Why was she following his words when she didn't really have to? Seriously, she needed an answer or this issue will only bother her until she personally decides to sort it out!

The moment they reached the table, Fuutarou set down his tray before pulling out one of the chairs for Nino to sit on. The girl was surprised at this and looked at him with wide eyes, as if she was asking if he was serious. Fuutarou only raised an eyebrow at her, which made her blush up a storm and quickly took her seat to try and calm herself.

Fuutarou was confused with her reactions so far; wasn't she aware of what she just did? He then shrugged his shoulders after a few seconds, thinking nothing of it. Well, whatever she had in mind, that was her problem unless she talks about it. It's just how life works. The young man took his seat opposite to her and wasted no time, starting to eat his usual lunch of rice, soup, and vegetables.

While he was eating, Nino was deeply buried within her thoughts. Did he want to eat lunch with her?! N-Not that she would mind such a thing, but it was just too sudden! Wasn't he supposed to be doing this with Itsuki instead?! Plus, they only met two days ago, right?! It shouldn't be rushed this way! They weren't even friends, yet! W-Well, that can be debate on, but still! Things weren't supposed to be like this! Besides, shouldn't he be angry with her for jumping to conclusions about him?! But despite that, the girl couldn't help but remind herself the way Fuutarou told her to stay quiet…

It's like he was telling to her to 'shut up and come with him', which literally meant that he was asking her out!

Nino couldn't take it anymore!

She had to ask him!

"W-Why did you bring me here…?" Nino decided to break the ice between them, and go straight to the point. While she spoke, however, she felt her mind was about to go haywire from the amount of thoughts she was having at the moment. "This is just wrong! I'm sure he knows that Itsuki likes him, so why is he going after me?! Itsuki will be mad if she finds out about this, you idiot!"

"Why are you asking me that?" Fuutarou asked in return, finding it completely ridiculous that she asked such a thing. Did she really not know what she just did a while ago?

His response caused her a vein to pop in her head, giving in to her frustration easily. She wanted an answer from him right now! This wasn't the time to act like a dense idiot like most of those shounen anime protagonists!

"Stop playing stupid with me! W-Why did you ask me to sit here with you…?!" she asked sharply, leaning forward a bit so she could glare at him, which was hard to be taken seriously because of the red tint on her cheeks.

"I don't know what you're thinking about right now, but in case you have a bad memory, you shouted my name in the middle of the cafeteria a while ago when we came across one another. In order to save you and myself from being the subject of attention once again, I led you here before things blow out of proportion once again. What did you think I was doing?"

The scowl on Nino's face quickly fell apart upon hearing his words and almost immediately, she fell back to her seat with her head down, an imaginary rain cloud appearing on above her before lightning struck down. This caused Fuutarou to sweat-drop, while the girl was put in a state of both shame and disappointment.

Nino began to speak in a tone filled with sarcasm, while laughing at her own expense. Her eyes looked dead and she had a painfully broken smile that one would expect from a person who came out of a mental asylum. "Oh. I'm such an idiot, then. Why did I even think of something else, hahaha…"

Fuutarou scratched the back of his head in confusion. Seriously, what was Nino thinking he would do? This girl may be his soulmate, but he couldn't understand what she was thinking compared to Itsuki. Maybe it's because her younger sister was a lot more open with him, while she kept things to herself. It could also be because Itsuki and him were more understanding of the other due to their sense of maturity, which made it a lot easier for him to connect with that girl. For sure, though, things between him and Nino will most likely be harder than when he was with her sister.

"I'm sorry, but were you expecting me to do something else?" he asked.

"N-Nothing! Never mind! Forget I said anything!" Nino declared hotly, shaking her head furiously to try and get over the embarrassment of assuming that Fuutarou wanted to eat lunch with her. Yeah, why would he even want to eat with her in the first place? He had Itsuki, anyway! Besides, she was sure that he was wishing her younger sister was here instead of her! It doesn't matter that she could feel her chest hurting when she thinks about it!

"Alright, then…" Even though he was still confused with her, his stomach needed more attention, so he went back to eating. Somehow, he thought his situation with Nino would be easier because she was Itsuki's sister and he already liked that eating-monster girl, but wow… this was a tougher problem to handle.

He was sure that the old man didn't care about him having a hard time at all, because his full attention must be directed towards watching his anime at the moment instead of his job…

What a stupid god.

Snapping out of her embarrassment, Nino began to take several deep breaths to try and calm herself. Okay, so what if she was sitting across her sister's crush? This is nothing! She can handle this with no sweat, since she was also able handle his presence yesterday. Whatever she was feeling for him, it doesn't matter!

Nino snuck a glance at Fuutarou to see if he was still having suspicions about the way she was acting, but it seemed like he was focused on eating. Thankfully, she's safe from his perceptive eyes! However, that lasted only until she also noticed the lunch that he was having. To put it into simple words, it sucked. It didn't even look like a real lunch at all. It was more of an appetizer of sorts. Was this really the guy that Itsuki has a crush on?

"What the hell are you eating?" she asked, her tone not bearing any malice or anger, but rather genuine curiosity.

"It's the same lunch that I order everyday. Does this make you uncomfortable?"

Nino gave him a deadpan look, as if she can't believe that this was all that he's eating for lunch. Seriously, how can he survive on only this? This is what he had to eat when she brought him here yesterday? She already wanted to bang her head against a wall for acting so worried about him. "You call that lunch? It looks like an appetizer portion in a restaurant. Wait, that doesn't even fit it. It looks like the cheapest meal you can get at a diner."

"Of course you'd say something like that, because your family is rich. It's how Itsuki is able to order a very big lunch when it's lunch period around here. How I wish I could do the same when it's time to eat, but reality is often disappointing." Fuutarou explains calmly, shaking his head before going back to eating.

"Hang on, are you actually telling me that you're poor?"

"Yes, I most definitely am poor. It's the reason why I took up Itsuki's offer to be her tutor. In exchange for helping your sister in her studies and guiding her to pass her exams, I'll be receiving compensation for my time spent with her."

"So you're just in it for the money?" Nino crossed her arms and sent him a dirty look, as if she was daring him to say anything more. So Itsuki's crush was nothing but a cheapskate? He didn't like Itsuki at all? She expected more from the guy that her sister was interested in…

"At first, yes." Nino narrowed her eyes even more at him, looking like she was about to lash out at him but Fuutarou spoke up first. "However, in the short time that I have gotten to know your sister, I have realized that we were alike in many aspects and she has a dream that I respect. Because of that, I thoroughly enjoy your sister's company, despite not being fond of interacting with other people."

"Hmph, you better. Remember what we talked about yesterday, idiot. I'm keeping my eye on you…" Nino huffed, turning her gaze to the side before glancing back at the young man's lunch. For some reason, the sight of it was making her uncomfortable and she had no idea if it was because of how lame it looked, or because it didn't even look like it can fill a stomach. "Is this what you're eating here everyday?" she asked, looking up to meet his gaze.

He nodded, slurping up the rest of his miso soup before sending her a confused look. "Pretty much. Why do you ask?"

"N-Nothing…! I just… wanted to know…" Nino quickly exclaimed, before her voice became a lot more quiet by the end. It was clear that she was deep in thought about something, but there's no telling what it could possibly be.

"Okay…" he said in an unsure tone, before stuffing the last portion of his rice and vegetables into his mouth. As he ate his food in peace, he spent the next few moments staring at Nino, while thinking about what he's seen from her so far. His first impression of her was a stubborn and someone who easily jumps into conclusions, although those assumptions were thanks to Itsuki describing her sister when they briefly discussed her two days ago.

Now that he had a somewhat better grasp of the girl's personality from their two separate encounters yesterday and today, he couldn't help but be curious on how he would develop feelings for her. Sure, she was cute and beautiful like her sister, but her personality was like a wild card. Itsuki was right, she's unpredictable and he had been caught off guard by this girl twice now; the first was during yesterday, when she brought her along with him to the cafeteria, the same way he took her to the laboratory to hide from students. The second time took place just earlier, when she accidentally blurted out his name loudly while they were in a public place, which forced him to take desperate measures by bringing her here to hide themselves from the eyes of many students. It was a good thing she called him 'Uesugi-kun', which was how Itsuki referred to him, so these people should think he was just with Itsuki and not anyone else.

Somehow, he was glad that his soulmates were quintuplets.

He knew Nino was also his soulmate, but compared to Itsuki, he was able to click with the latter a lot quicker. He could already notice from her actions yesterday how this girl was struggling with her emotions around him, which meant that the soulmate bond was already affecting her, but what about him? Perhaps he was still new to relationships that he didn't think developing feelings for someone else takes time, and that Nino wasn't anything like her sister one bit.

Maybe he'll learn to develop feelings for Nino in the future and besides, there's no real need to rush things, anyway. For now, he can enjoy his relationship with Itsuki and at the same time, continue to learn more about Nino and see what she's like. In time, he'll surely come to enjoy her company as much as he does for Itsuki.

"Nino? You're having lunch with Uesugi-kun?"

Both Fuutarou and Nino turned their heads towards that familiar voice, and saw two girls who were Itsuki, holding her tray that usually held many sets of food like always and Yotsuba, who had one of her own but had a smaller lunch than Itsuki. Of course, the young man didn't know the identity of the girl with Itsuki, so Nino ended up greeting her sister instead… in her own way, of course.

"Do you see a lunch tray anywhere? Of course I'm not having lunch with this guy!" Nino denied hotly, folding her arms and looking away with a huff, although it was more of a way to hide the blush that appeared on her face.

"I apologize for this sudden development, Itsuki, but something happened that made us have to share a table. It involves a certain someone shouting out my name while we were in the middle of many students, and I had to quickly think of a solution to avoid unnecessary trouble." Fuutarou took a deep breath and took it upon himself to explain what was going on which caused Nino to sneer at him, knowing that he was referring to her.

"That's alright, Uesugi-kun. We can all simply eat together! Oh, if only Ichika and Miku were here with us…" She set down her tray and clapped her hands together, her smile growing wider. "Before that, Uesugi-kun, I would like you to meet one of my sisters, Yotsuba. I am aware that you are not fond of interacting with others much, but Yotsuba here really wanted to meet you because Nino already did."

He let out a dry chuckle at Nino's direction, remembering how they first came across one another. It was also the moment where he turned into a harem protagonist and one who has no way of escaping his fate, all because the god in charge of relationships was 'busy' with his anime. "Technically, my first meeting with Nino wasn't exactly on civil grounds."

"If you got a problem with me, then just say it!" Nino snapped, causing Fuutarou to raise his hands in surrender, since it wasn't his intention to start an argument.

"Oh, uhm…" Itsuki stood still in her place, glancing at her sister in worry. Yotsuba did the same before she only shrugged her shoulders, as if she was willing to roll with what Fuutarou wanted. Well, if he didn't want to meet her, then there's no need to persuade him or anything. That's right, he was still not adept in social interactions. "Well, if you don't want to, then there's no need for Yotsuba to be—"

Fuutarou stopped her before she could finish, raising his hand before turning towards Itsuki. "No, it's fine. I didn't say I didn't want to. At least it's one of your sisters, and you're here to back me up."

"Oh," Itsuki blinked. She remained quiet for a few moments, realizing that she jumped into conclusions before Fuutarou could give an answer. Welp, that was embarrassing for someone like her. Itsuki quickly snapped out of it though, shaking her head with a smile. "If that's the case, I would like you to finally meet one of my sisters, Yotsuba."

"Nice to finally to meet you, Uesugi-san! Itsuki told me a lot about you, y'know?" Yotsuba placed her tray on the table and flashed a radiant smile. She even closed her eyes which only ended up making her look happier. She opened them a few seconds later, before looking up as if she was thinking about something. "Hm, is it true that you scored a perfect score on an exam? Itsuki told us about it but I think I should hear the answer from you."

"What Itsuki told you is correct," he said, arranging the dishes he used on his tray as Itsuki took her seat on the chair next to him and began to eat.

"Woah, really?! You must be a genius, Uesugi-sa—!" Yotsuba stopped in her words when she turned her attention back towards the boy, and the two ended up locking eyes with one another. Almost immediately, their bodies froze as an electric shock travelled felt like it passed through their entire systems.

Fuutarou was able to keep a straight face this time, having experienced this feeling twice now and he knew this was going to inevitably happen the moment Itsuki showed up with her sister. It didn't stop his eyes from widening, however, because it was still enough to catch him off guard. Meanwhile, Yotsuba let out a gasp and was unable to stop a shocked look from forming on her face. Her heart started beating faster, and her cheeks sported a blush that was getting bigger by the second.

If that wasn't enough, her mind had pictured a blonde-haired kid in Fuutarou's place while being surrounded by five red-haired girls who all shared the same faces, which caused her jaw to slowly fall open.

There was no doubt about it.

Fuutarou Uesugi… Itsuki's tutor… was the boy that they met back then.

Poor Nino. She had no idea that she shouted Fuutarou's name and immediately thought that he was trying to have lunch with her. Well, maybe in the future, okay? Right now, their relationship hasn't reached that level yet, and OH MY GOD! WHAT IS THIS?! FUUTAROU HAS MET ANOTHER ONE OF HIS SOULMATES ALREADY?! HOLY SHIT, RIBBONMANIA HAS ENTERED THE PICTURE! Just when the Nino Train has begun to take off from the station, Ribbonmania also decides to make its move on Fuutarou! Now our boy is going to deal with 3 soulmates at the same time! I do hope he can handle it! Fuutarou and Yotsuba have felt the shock and now they are linked together as well! Oh, but what's this in the end? She remembers Fuutarou? That's not really surprising, but why does it say 'they' and not only her? Oh boy, this is just getting more interesting by the moment!

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

-Lance