Hello world, and all who inhabit it! Another daily update brought by yours truly! Last chapter has been solely about Nino once again and by now, her relationship is as good as it can get without a confession. The only thing left for Nino to do is confess her feelings, which she is very capable of doing if she puts her mind into it. In fact, the only thing holding her back is likely the fact that Itsuki has a crush on Fuutarou. I don't think that will fully stop her though, but we'll have to see. What's going to happen here? Let's dive straight in!
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Disclaimer: I don't own the Quintessential Quintuplets, or any of its characters...
The Nakano quintuplets were all gathered under a tree, with two of them looking like they were about to leave any second now. With all of their classes over for the day, it was finally time for Itsuki to have another tutoring session with Fuutarou, and for Yotsuba to join them on her first day. The young man was already outside of the school premises, letting his two students bid their temporary farewell to their other sisters before they leave.
"Itsuki-chan, be sure to show Yotsuba the way home, okay? Since it's her first time there, she doesn't know her way around Uesugi-kun's neighborhood," Ichika said in a caring tone, just like how a real elder sibling does when showing worry for her family. Well, considering the fact that two of them will be out until sunset at least, it's hard for them not to worry.
"In all honesty, I still haven't memorized the way from Uesugi-kun's home to the station where I call Ebata-san to pick me up…" Itsuki laughed nervously, feeling embarrassed that she couldn't tell her way around Fuutarou's neighborhood yet. Part of the reason behind that would be her being distracted most of the time by a certain someone, but oh well. The girl then smiled once again, feeling reassured because of the person who would be accompanying them later on. "But, there's no need to worry, Ichika. Uesugi-kun accompanies me all the way to the station everyday and from now on, Yotsuba will be joining us too!"
Ichika flashed a coy smile, going from responsible older sister mode into 'ara-ara' nee-san mode. "Hmm, with how many times you talk about Uesugi-kun, I'm getting more and more suspicious about your real relationship with him. Are you sure you haven't confessed to him yet, Itsuki?"
The youngest quintuplet immediately blushed an incredible shade of red in response to that. Even after hearing the same words from Ichika day and night after she learned about her tutor, Itsuki still wasn't immune to her sister's teasing and would always turn red at the slightest implication that she and Fuutarou were in a relationship.
"I-Ichika...! Please don't say things like that! My relationship with Uesugi-kun is strictly student and tutor right now!"
"'Right now'? So that means you want your relationship to be more than that in the future! Ara, Itsuki-chan~" Ichika put a finger to her chin, looking like she's in deep thought but was clearly overexaggerating it. "I never thought that I'd see the day where our youngest sister is the first among us to have a boyfriend! Oh, what a world…"
"Ichika! P-Please stop taking things out of context…!" Itsuki cried, flailing her arms about in desperation. No matter what happens, she just can't tell anyone about her crush on Fuutarou, not even her sisters even if they think she does! The only thing she could do was deny and avoid talking about it, but it was becoming increasingly harder with Ichika's teasing!
"Huh? You have a crush on him, don't you?" Ichika asked innocently.
"Ehehe, Ichika… I think you should stop already…" Yotsuba chuckled while rubbing the back of her head, a bit worried that they would take too long and Fuutarou will start wondering where they were.
Miku shook her head at Ichika's usual antics, before turning towards her two other sisters. "Teasing aside, you two better not take too long and make us worry. Send us a message or something when you're about to head home."
In a move that sent shockwaves towards everyone else, Nino put a hand on Miku's shoulder and shrugged her shoulders. "Nah, come on, Miku. These two want to study, so let them! They don't have to text us or anything, because they're already old enough to know what they're supposed to do."
The other Nakano quintuplets could only stare at Nino in both shock and wonder, while wondering if there was something wrong with their sister today. Did she just imply that there's no need for them to worry about Yotsuba and Itsuki? That can't have been true, right? Nino wasn't like that! Heck, when Itsuki was gone the first time a few days ago, she wasted no time and chewed out her sister the moment she got home! Not only that, she went straight for Fuutarou, who was the very reason why their sister got home late and warned him to stay away from Itsuki. If that wasn't enough to say that there was something going on with Nino right now, the fact that she had a smile on her face was enough to say that there was indeed something going on with her!
Ichika was the first to speak up, putting on a look of concern but not making it too obvious in case her sister suddenly goes into denial mode. "Nino? Are you okay?"
"I'm perfectly fine, what's the matter?" Nino answered, looking towards Ichika as if there was nothing wrong with the world.
Ichika's look of worry became more obvious, while taking a glance at her other sisters. They only shrugged their shoulders, looking equally confused as she was. "You just said… Yotsuba and Itsuki don't have to text us where they are…"
"I did, so what?" Nino crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow curiously.
"Well, aren't you the one who normally worries about this thing? When Itsuki got home from studying with Uesugi-kun, you basically interrogated her for answers and when she told us about him, you tried to tell off the guy the following just for doing his job," Ichika explained with a calm voice.
Nino sighed and rolled her eyes. She should have known that they were talking about this. "Jeez, you're still hung up about that? I talked to that guy already, remember? We're pretty even now."
"But during lunch the other day, you still seemed somehow angry at Uesugi-kun… did you talk to him again?" Itsuki pointed out, remembering when she and Yotsuba came across Nino sitting on the same table. Even though she already spoke with Fuutarou to clear up misunderstandings at that point, she was still displeased with his presence for some reason. The only way to explain Nino's words was that if she had another talk with Fuutarou, but that would be too far-fetched, right? After all, she didn't like being around him…
Nino didn't hesitate to nod her head. "Yeah, earlier. We had a little talk and ended up eating lunch together."
Well, that got thrown out of the window real quick. As expected, her sisters' reactions were instantaneous, which made the scene very similar to the day when Itsuki met Fuutarou and told the others about her tutor during dinner. Only this time, it got a more intense reaction from everyone else because this was Nino they were talking about…
"Ara, does Nino have a crush on Uesugi-kun just like Itsuki? Oh my god, this has gotten even more interesting than before!"
"You ate with him? So that's why you weren't with us earlier…"
"You ate lunch with Uesugi-san?! Why didn't we see you two? We could have eaten altogether, Nino!"
"W-Wait, when we met outside of my classroom and you told me to go on ahead to the cafeteria without me… did you speak with Uesugi-kun afterwards?"
Nino grew a tick mark on her head, annoyed at how her sisters bombarded her with continuous questions. Yep, she was already starting to regret telling them about this. Why did she choose to tell her sisters again? Oh yeah, because she was in a really good mood just a while ago. Well, that mood was already gone thanks to this and she was back to her usual indifferent look.
"Oh, for the love of—! I'll answer you one at a time, so keep it down!" she shouted, clenching her fists in annoyance. Her other sisters immediately mimicked a zipper motion on their mouths in response, making Nino nod. "Good. Alright, to answer you one by one," she turned towards Ichika first. "No, I don't have a crush on that guy, Ichika. We just had a little talk, that's it."
"Hmm, I doubt that it's just any little talk…" Ichika mused with a smirk, showing her doubt on Nino's words. Oh, something definitely happened between her sister and Fuutarou, she could already tell! As the eldest among them, she can somehow sense when her sisters are trying to lie about these kinds of things!
Perhaps she's just a sucker for romance.
"Yeah, I asked him if we could eat together and he agreed, that's it. None of you could have seen us since our table was near the door and I think you guys were near the waiting line. Sorry if I didn't tell any of you about it, but I suppose I was too focused on talking with the guy." Nino explained, feeling a lot calmer now and even bowing her head in apology upon remembering that she wasn't able to join her sisters for lunch.
Itsuki hummed in deep thought, seeing the reason behind Nino's actions. However, she still found it strange how Nino was outside her classroom just when she was about to leave for the cafeteria. It seemed too much of a simple coincidence for them to cross paths at that moment!
"So does this mean you planned on speaking with Uesugi-kun when you appeared outside our classroom earlier?" she asked.
Nino turned towards Itsuki and shrugged. "After I told you to go on ahead and meet everyone else, talking to Uesugi-kun just came to my mind out of nowhere. I decided it's nothing serious if I talk to him again, that's all."
Like Itsuki, she had secrets of her own and Nino had to keep it to herself. The girl knew that she was treading on thin ice by now, but she couldn't tell everyone else that she made a bento for a boy and gave it to him for his lunch! She had no idea how exactly her sisters would react to this, but she can tell that they won't let her live it down. There's also the fact that Itsuki had a crush on Fuutarou, being the first time that she was ever attracted to a boy, so there was no telling how she would react to Nino having feelings for the same guy!
"And from that talk that you both had, you've warmed up to Uesugi-kun now? It would explain why you're not worried about Yotsuba and Itsuki even though that's two of our sisters going out on their own, which is definitely something that you normally worry about," Ichika concluded after hearing her sister's explanation.
"You could say that," Nino shrugged and turned her head to the side, a ghost of a smile appearing on her lips when she thought about the heartfelt conversations that she had with him earlier, when they left his classroom and in the cafeteria. "Yeah, I guess I misunderstood Fuu-kun at first, but I'm glad that we talked about it already!"
Ichika put on a thinking pose for a few moments, thinking if there was something else to her sister's words but there wasn't any. She then shrugged and turned to look at everyone else since Nino was already done speaking.
"Well, it appears that Nino has had some interesting development with the guy who's tutoring you both but anyways, shouldn't you two go on ahead?" she asked, sending Yotsuba and Itsuki a knowing look. "I'm pretty sure your tutor is starting to wonder what's taking you two so long."
The two youngest of the quintuplets blanched, being reminded that they were supposed to be having their tutoring session with Fuutarou right now. "Oh, right! I can't believe I almost forgot about that! I'll have to apologize to Uesugi-kun once we see him!" Itsuki widened her eyes in panic, before quickly turning towards her ribbon-wearing sister. "We have to get going, Yotsuba!"
Yotsuba nodded eagerly. "Yeah! Uesugi-san must be getting tired of waiting for us, we better not make him wait any longer!"
With that, the two began to walk away, but not before they looked behind and waved their arms happily in farewell. "We'll be back before dinner, everyone! Have a safe trip home!" Itsuki called out with a big smile on her face.
"Take care, you two! Don't forget the things I told you, Itsuki!" Ichika reminded them even from a distance, and her two sisters only giggled before turning around and continuing on their way. "Hmm, I wonder if we could get Yotsuba to tell us about how Itsuki acts around Uesugi-kun..."
"What for?" Miku spoke up, looking at Ichika in slight suspicion.
Ichika shrugged. "Nothing serious. I just want to know what Itsuki-chan is like when she's around her crush. I mean, you saw how she was acting during dinner on our first day, Miku. You can't expect me to believe that you weren't interested in knowing what made our dear Itsuki-chan act like a girl in love."
"Sure, but if that's the case, shouldn't we be looking at the guy instead of how our sister is acting?" Miku countered, as the three remaining sisters continued on their way, since they had nothing left to do in this place.
"Eh, Itsuki-chan might get jealous if we get too close with her tutor, you know? I can already tell from how clingy she is around him, ehehe…" Ichika rubbed the back of her head, laughing nervously at the thought of meeting Fuutarou right when Itsuki is with him.
"Why would Itsuki be jealous if you're just going to see what Uesugi is like? I don't think Itsuki is like that, unless…" Miku frowned in confusion, before her eyes widened and pointed towards Ichika like she was a lawyer exposing a criminal in court. "…you're planning to get close to him because you have a crush on that guy yourself!"
"M-Miku, I wouldn't do that to Itsuki-chan! This is the first time that she had a crush on a boy and I can feel it that Uesugi-kun sees her in the same way. I wouldn't ruin our youngest sister's happiness like that!" Ichika shook her head furiously and blushed, embarrassed at the thought of having a crush on the same guy that her sister liked. "I just want to know what is it about him that makes our dear Itsuki-chan act totally different when he's around. What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing. I was messing with you," Miku shrugged and went back to normal, a ghost of a smile appearing on her lips before she chuckled to herself.
Ichika sweat-dropped, before her face fell in embarrassment because of everything that just came out of her mouth. "Oh, Miku… what did Onee-san do to you to deserve this…"
"Why don't you two just go and talk to him if you're so curious? Isn't that what you told me back then, Ichika?" Nino spoke up, the smile on her face earlier having returned and she didn't seem annoyed anymore.
Nino's intervention quickly got the attention of Ichika and Miku, with the former looking surprised for a moment before she assumed a thinking pose and thought about what her sister said. Miku, however, raised an eyebrow at Nino in slight suspicion.
"You've been quiet up until now, which is a bit strange. Did hearing Uesugi's name have an effect on you?"
"I can be quiet if I want to and you're one to talk about strange, Miku, so shut up. And no, I don't get what you're trying to say about hearing that guy's name. I'm just trying to help Ichika here since she did the same for me a few days ago," Nino argued back with a calm voice, not having any time for arguments as she looked towards their eldest sister. "What about it, Ichika? You were the one who told me that there's no harm in talking with the guy, weren't you?"
Ichika continued to think about it for a few more moments, before she shrugged her shoulders. Oh, well. Nino did make a point that she was the one who suggested that talking it out was a good way to satisfy her sister's curiosity a few days ago.
There should be no harm if she tries talking to the guy as well, right?
"Alright Nino, suppose that I listen to you and give your plan a try, how exactly am I going to find a way to talk to him? Unlike you, this will be the first time that we'll meet and I'm not planning to apologize or anything. Plus, Itsuki is always with him and you can add Yotsuba to that now. I don't really want her to know that I'm meeting her tutor just to see what he's like."
Nino sighed and shrugged her shoulders, feeling that her sister let the answer to her own question fly right above her head. "Isn't it obvious? Go talk to him someplace where Itsuki can't be with him," she explained.
"And what place do you suggest we use?" Ichika crossed her arms and continued to press on, which was a move that surprised Miku and caused her to speak up.
"Wait, Ichika. You're really going to talk with him?" she asked.
"Yeah, sure. What's wrong with a little talk? I just want to see what he's like and what makes Itsuki-chan cling on to him so much," Ichika explained nonchalantly, before sending a wink at the third quintuplet. "You can come too if you want to, Miku. Maybe it's you who'd gain a crush on him if you two meet."
"N-No, thanks…" The headphone-wearing girl shook her head and looked away, much to the amusement of Ichika who began to giggle at her sister's embarrassment.
She knew that that was just Ichika's rebuttal for how she got teased earlier, and yet Miku couldn't stop herself from blushing slightly at the thought of having a crush on Fuutarou Uesugi, the young man who was also Itsuki and Yotsuba's tutor.
No! Bad thoughts! She can't do something like that! Itsuki was clearly into that guy, and she would never betray her sister like that!
Oh, if only a certain old man didn't mess up in his own job, things would be easier for you and your family, Miku…
Well, well, well, it appears like the next chapter will focus on Itsuki and Yotsuba once again! Two in one, huh? How do you like that? I mean, the past five chapters have all been about Nino and her unstoppable train, so it's only fair that we check out her two other sisters. Other than that, the rest of the girls take notice of how Nino is less hostile towards Fuutarou now but hoho, they have no clue about what exactly happened between Kami-sama and our boy! But that's not all! ICHIKA WANTS TO SEE WHAT FUUTAROU IS LIKE! ARE THEY GONNA MEET SOON? ARE THEY GONNA TALK? WILL IT BE THE ICHIKA VIP SHOW ROUTE THAT OPENS NEXT? OR WILL IT BE MIKUISM BECAUSE OF THAT ENDING?! Guess you should just tune in, guys!
Goodbye... and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture*
-Lance