You guys don't know how happy I am that you're all enjoying this story so much that it's now the top 5 of all the Gotoubun fa,nfics on this site! Thank you for the support, and please continue to do so! The next story to beat is my own Quintessential Maids, and I will not stop until this thing reaches the top spot! FLUFF WILL RULE THIS PLACE, I TELL YOU!

Anyway, nothing happened much from the last chapter, apart from everyone else finding out that Nino is now completely cool with Fuutarou and even spent lunch with him. Ichika and Miku will have a lot of ground to cover if they want to catch up to their three sisters! Speaking of which, it looks like the next route is gonna be opened soon from the ending scene of the previous chapter, but which one will it be? Ichika's VIP show or Mikuism? Let's find out together!

Discord link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]

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

"Wow, Uesugi-san… your home is really far from ours!" Yotsuba exclaimed, taking in the new environment that she was in. She was walking beside her newly-approved tutor and Itsuki, on their way towards Fuutarou's house.

The three have long passed the station, and were about to reach Fuutarou's home at any second. During their little journey, Yotsuba would either look around her in wonder, run ahead of her two other companions to get a feel of the neighborhood, or ask her tutor questions regarding this place. Both her and Itsuki [who was dumbfounded that she only noticed this now] then learned that despite not being an outdoor person, Fuutarou knew his way around here enough to answer their questions.

"Is that so? I suppose that's why Itsuki only asks me to accompany her to the station and not the whole way," Fuutarou raised an eyebrow at Yotsuba for a moment, before sending a little smirk at the fifth quintuplet with an ahoge on top of her head.

"Absolutely not! I-I'm not asking you to accompany us all the way to our home after our tutoring sessions…!" Itsuki crossed her arms and quickly turned her head away with a pout. "It will only be dangerous for your own health if you go the whole way just to get me back home right after tutoring Yotsuba and I…"

"You could've just said that you live very far to where I am the first time, because I would have understood nonetheless. Of course I know that there's no way for me to walk that far…" he sweatdropped, causing Itsuki to hang her head in defeat.

"I am sorry."

"Looks like you forgot to tell Uesugi-san about that, Itsuki…" Yotsuba laughed nervously at their little exchange, before a light bulb appeared on top of her head. A bright smile then formed on her face before she spoke again, raising a finger like how intelligent people would. "Wait! I have an idea!"

Both Fuutarou and Itsuki turned their attention towards the ribbon-wearing girl, who turned towards them happily.

"Tomorrow, why don't we have Uesugi-san come over to our apartment, Itsuki? He can tutor us there too! That way, we won't have to go all this way and then walk back again to the station after studying," Yotsuba told her sister, before turning her attention towards Fuutarou, putting on an apologetic smile. "No offense, Uesugi-san, but it's also for your own good! That way, you'll only have to go to our apartment and once we're done with the tutoring, you can go home and you won't have to walk back to the station again!"

While Fuutarou was left staring at Yotsuba after her statement, Itsuki's eyes lit up like stars out of delight as she clapped her hands together. "That's a great idea, Yotsuba! It would save all three of us the time and energy for a more productive study session!"

Yotsuba nodded eagerly. "Yep! That way, we can have more time studying, right?! Uesugi-san won't have to walk all over the place and tire himself out too!"

Itsuki nodded slowly, picturing the idea in her mind. The more she pictured it, the more she could see it happening. The more she could see it happening, the more she was being comfortable with it.

"Yes, I can see that. Oh, and now that I think about it, since Uesugi-kun will be teaching the two of us from now on, I don't think his home would be enough for all three of us to have our tutoring sessions. There's still Raiha-chan and Uesugi-kun's father, whom I haven't met until now, as a matter of fact. If Uesugi-kun holds our tutoring session at our home instead, we'll have a lot more room to ourselves and be able to study without any risk of interruptions!"

"Yeah! Plus, Ichika, Nino, and Miku already know Uesugi-san, right? It's not like we'll be letting a stranger into our home! Only Ichika and Miku haven't met him in person yet, right? What do you say, Itsuki?" Yotsuba grinned as she closed her fist tightly, barely able to hold in her excitement.

"Now hold on, Yotsuba. You make very valid points with your idea, but the decision to follow it remains with our tutor," Itsuki raised her hand to put a temporary halt to her sister's excitement, before she turned her attention to their tutor. "Uesugi-kun, what do you think? We wouldn't mind holding our sessions in our home, if you decide to give it more thought. You are already acquainted with three of us, right? Would it be a problem for you to meet Ichika and Miku as well?"

Fuutarou closed his eyes for a mere three seconds before opening them, sending a serious look at his two students. "There is no need to think deeply about this. I wouldn't mind holding our tutoring sessions in your home because, as you have said, it will make our time spent to studying more productive than before and in my personal view, it would be a much more convenient method for me because I wouldn't have to waste time walking around everyday."

While he didn't like the idea of meeting his two remaining soulmates at the same time in their home because of what might happen afterwards, perhaps he could avoid it in a way that he'll be able to meet one of them first before the other one. Itsuki and Yotsuba did make very good points if they hold their tutoring sessions in their home instead of his. Truth be told, it was already a big enough effort to tutor Itsuki in his home, but now Yotsuba was also in the picture.

Things will be harder not only for him, but for everyone else too.

Once again, his family's financial status wasn't good and there's still a few days left before he would get his first salary in this little job he had since his pay was weekly. Itsuki already assured him that she sent her father a message about her situation, so he wasn't worried about not getting his pay. There was also the fact that they have to walk all this way from school just to get to his home and then do the same afterwards after their sessions. However, at that point, he would only be tiring himself out because the two sisters have a ride back to their home while he had to stick with walking.

Yeah, it would be better if they just hold their tutoring sessions in the home of the quintuplets. He'll worry about his two remaining soulmates, Ichika and Miku, later and how he plans to meet each of them. If he plays things right, he wouldn't have to encounter the two of them at the same time. The bigger issue right now was answering his students' offer.

"Does that mean you want to?" Yotsuba asked, becoming slightly confused from his answer to Itsuki's question.

"Do you need me to give you a clear answer? Yes, it would be better for us to hold our tutoring sessions in your home," Fuutarou shook his head in amusement, before raising a finger as if he was lecturing them at this moment. "However, I will have to make a few things clear, first and foremost. When the both of you arrive at your home later tonight, ask the rest of your sisters if it would be okay to have our sessions in your home tomorrow and for the coming days. You have to be absolutely sure that they are fine with me coming over to tutor the two of you. If they agree, then we start holding our sessions in your home tomorrow. Should they choose otherwise, there is no need to persuade them. I will continue to tutor you in my home," he shifted his attention from the both of them to solely Itsuki, and the girl with star-shaped hair clips blushed slightly from this. "Itsuki shall tell me their response through a text or a call since she already knows my number."

Yotsuba's eyes brightened upon hearing that her sister had Fuutarou's phone number, before she quickly decided that she wanted the same. Wait, that's not selfish of her, is it? It would be easier for them to contact one another if they knew each other's contact details, so it would be a good advantage to exchange numbers!

"Oh, oh, let me have your number, Uesugi-san! I'll put my number in your phone too!" Yotsuba exclaimed, already bringing out her phone and opening her contacts.

While Fuutarou brought out his own device and handed it over to the energetic girl, Itsuki looked like she was deeply buried in her thoughts. "I see the logic of your plan. Although, I don't think you should be worried about our sisters not agreeing. Ichika already sees you as a good person, Miku respects you to a degree, and Nino doesn't seem to harbor any ill feelings towards you anymore. I am sure all of them will have no problem letting you come over to our home to help Yotsuba and I in our studies!"

As soon as Yotsuba was finished punching her number into his phone, she returned it to its owner with an amazed look on her face. "Yeah, you should've seen Nino earlier, Uesugi-san! She doesn't look angry anymore when we talked about you, so is it true that you talked with her again?"

Itsuki gasped, remembering the conversation between sisters that took place earlier. Man, seeing Nino with a sudden change of attitude had caught them all off guard and they even doubted her words that she was now on even terms with Fuutarou. If that wasn't enough, Nino also revealed that she spent lunch with the young man which was the reason why she didn't show up at their supposed table earlier!

"Oh, yes! I want to know as well! What did you and Nino talk about during lunch? I know that I wanted her to get along with you but I never thought that she would forget her anger after only a single conversation! What happened after I left the classroom? Nino told us that that was the moment where she decided to talk to you," Itsuki asked curiously.

Fuutarou's mind quickly went back to that particular moment earlier, when Nino gave him a bento which eventually led to the two of them sharing a table in the cafeteria. Man, that sudden shift in Nino's personality was something that he never saw coming, and he didn't know whether he should feel amazed or confused by it. Either way, he wasn't going to complain about Kami-sama being gracious enough to give him a once-in-a-lifetime gift.

"Nothing much, we just had a conversation about what we thought about each other on our way to the cafeteria. She asked me about what my intentions are as your tutor and if I was after anything else, whatever the hell she meant by that. After that, Nino's mood changed out of nowhere and she even asked if she could join me for lunch. While I was shocked that she would ask me such a thing, I saw no problem with it and agreed. I have to admit, it was way better than the last time we sat at the same table," Fuutarou lied smoothly, not wanting to tell them about the fact that their sister presented him with a homemade bento, asked if she could eat lunch with him, and gave him a nickname that he was completely fine with!

He could already tell that Kami-sama didn't tell her sisters about it, so he wasn't in any place to reveal it to them as well, even if they were his students!

After his explanation, both Yotsuba and Itsuki were left staring blankly at the young man with unreadable looks on their faces. It was unclear if they were either amazed, confused, shocked, or a mix of all three. Eventually, he got worried about them after about twenty seconds of their expressions remaining the same through and through. Fuutarou rubbed the back of his head and started to wonder if he said something wrong.

"Uh, did I say something—" he tried to say, but was immediately interrupted by Yotsuba's voice that was radiating with energy.

"Wow, Uesugi-san! You're amazing!" she exclaimed while looking at the young man in deep admiration.

Well, it looks like they were fine all along. He shouldn't have been worried in the first place. Why was he worried again? Oh yeah, he was becoming soft around these girls, or his soulmates… whether that was a good or bad thing…

"I'm not," he deadpanned, remembering how Itsuki said the same thing about him.

Yotsuba shook her head, retaining her big smile that made Fuutarou blush slightly. "No, it's true, Uesugi-san! After only having one talk with Nino and she doesn't hate you anymore? I don't think anyone else can do something like that!"

"Yotsuba, I think you are overexaggerating a bit because this isn't the first time they spoke to one another, but nonetheless," Itsuki said to her sister, before turning towards their tutor with the same look of admiration as Yotsuba. "I know that I have already said this before and you are most likely tired of it, but you truly are amazing, Uesugi-kun. I thought Nino will continue to feel unaccepting of you as my tutor or rather, our tutor for some time but you changed that. She's not angry with you anymore, which was something that none of us expected after she only met you several days ago!"

"Yeah! Knowing Nino, she would be angry with you for weeks… maybe even months! But you quickly changed her opinion of you, Uesugi-san!" Yotsuba agreed with her sister, before flailing her arms wildly as if this was something that she never saw happening before.

Well technically, yes.

Fuutarou sighed and shrugged his shoulders in defeat. It would be pointless to continue debating with these girls about whether he was 'amazing' or not. Why do they even overestimate his abilities? He wasn't anything different from any other guy out there. The only thing he's doing that makes Itsuki and Yotsuba think this way is being dedicated to what he's supposed to do as their tutor.

Hm, it must be the soulmate bond that's making them think this way…

"Whatever, think what you want of me. I'm just going to focus on what we're going to do when we get to my home."

With those words, Fuutarou walked ahead of the two, causing the girls to look surprised for a moment. Why did he look angry for a moment? Was he frustrated or something? What did they say that could have angered him? They had no idea what could be the answer that they were looking for, but there was only one way to find out. Both Yotsuba and Itsuki quickly looked at each other and came to a single decision.

Yotsuba quickly ran after the young man, as she quickly gave him an apologetic look. "We're sorry, Uesugi-san! We didn't mean to make you angry! We didn't mean to!"

Fuutarou looked at her as though she had grown a second head. What was Yotsuba talking about now? Why would he be angry? He didn't even yell at them, or anything. "What the hell are you talking about? I'm not angry at any of you."

"But you looked like you were… did we say something wrong?" the girl asked with a worried expression, still feeling that she and Itsuki did something to make him feel this way.

He sighed and shook his head again. "No, you didn't… I'm just a little weirded out from the two of you calling me 'amazing' when I'm not. Itsuki and I already had a talk about this, as a matter of fact."

"Come on, Uesugi-kun," came Itsuki's voice as she walked up to his other side, causing Fuutarou to turn towards her. "Why are you not giving yourself credit? I remember your words well, but I think you are simply being hard on yourself, regardless of what you told me. As I have said before, what exactly is wrong with receiving praise?"

"There's nothing wrong with it, alright? Fine, you can say what you want about me, but I'm not giving it any acknowledgement whatsoever. I stand by my claim that anyone else can do the same as I did, so I don't deserve this much."

Deep down, while it was flattering for Itsuki to describe him as someone 'amazing', hearing it too many times was slowly making Fuutarou feel that he was undeserving of it. And now, Yotsuba was saying the same thing and it was making him frustrated. In truth, the only reason why these girls must be thinking of him this way is because of that soulmate bond they have. While he wasn't as unaccepting of it as he was back then, Fuutarou couldn't help but feel that it was a bit overwhelming for him, especially with this. Long has he looked at himself as someone average with no special traits or qualities, because all that he's ever done was study and keep things to himself.

Until he met Itsuki on that fateful day.

He was brought out of his musing when he felt someone hug his left arm lovingly, and when he turned his head to see who it was, he wasn't surprised to see that Itsuki was the one doing it. However, what made him blush from embarrassment just now was the fact that she was leaning her head directly against his shoulder, not caring about how close they were to each other.

"You do deserve it, Uesugi-kun. Remember what I said about my grades being horribly low even if I dedicate most of my time in studying? You changed that in a matter of days, Uesugi-kun. Now I'm able to answer questions in class and take quizzes without much difficulty anymore, and it is all thanks to your efforts in tutoring me. You deserve some praise for what you've done for me. I believe I might even have a good chance at passing my exams this year, so I'll be counting on you to help me, Uesugi-kun!" she spoke, leaning into the young man more while smiling in bliss.

"Itsuki…" he muttered, unable to say anything when he was feeling both embarrassed and taken aback from her words at the same time.

"Me too!" Yotsuba exclaimed, latching onto Fuutarou's other arm and leaning her head into his shoulder just like how Itsuki did. "I know this is just the first day that you'll be tutoring me but if you can teach Itsuki, then you can do the same for me too, Uesugi-san! We're quintuplets, and we can do what each other is capable of doing! When Itsuki showed us her test scores the other night, we were all shocked to see that she almost passed! Then she told us it wouldn't have been possible without you, so I thought that you were someone amazing for helping my sister in her studies! I thought it would be nice if I could do better too, since I have the lowest grades out of all of us. That's why I asked you to be my tutor too! Since I'm here, I guess I'll be counting on you to help me as well, Uesugi-sensei!"

The young man could only stare at Yotsuba in wonder, while the red hue on his cheeks also became deeper than before from the way she nuzzled into his arm as if she was seeking his warmth. Overwhelmed with both their actions and words, Fuutarou could only look at the two sisters back and forth several times, before finally sighing in defeat.

"Alright, fine… I'll accept a little praise from the both of you. Is that alright?" he asked in an annoyed tone, while also doing his best to hide the smile that appeared on his face just now. Ah, these girls were really making him soft… which wasn't entirely a bad thing...

"That's fine with me! Uesugi-sensei is the best!" Yotsuba cheered on with a grin, before bursting into a fit of giggles as she started to become too comfortable with hugging Fuutarou's right arm that she wasn't aware of her own actions.

Meanwhile, Itsuki remained quiet from where she was, but not because she had nothing to say. She was too focused on staring at Yotsuba, raising an eyebrow at her sister in confusion because of the way she was hugging Fuutarou's arm which was very similar to hers.

"I think I am getting worried over nothing. This is nothing different from how Yotsuba would normally act," she thought to herself, removing the thought of Yotsuba developing some kind of attraction towards Fuutarou out of her mind.

Was Yotsuba really acting like her usual self, though?

Looks like meeting the next soulmate is looking more and more inevitable for Fuutarou now, because they'll be holding their study sessions in the Nakano apartment after this! Other than that, it seems that we'll be shifting our focus back to Ribbonmania and Meatbun Monster Rampage for now, not that there's anything wrong with that! Ohoho, that ending tho... Itsuki is starting to get suspicious of Yotsuba, hehe. I wonder what's gonna happen? Will there be a Yotsuba vs Itsuki rivalry? Let's find out in 24 hours! :P

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

-Lance