We are back in another daily dose of fluff, ladies and gentlemen! Last chapter, it was just full of quintuplet interaction with Ribbonmania and Meatbun Monster Rampage getting most of the spotlight while the Nino Train is still running ahead. We also saw Miku pull off a Kaguya Shinomiya because, well, Fuutarou is an idiot. He's gonna regret not looking at her when this new development comes to bite him in the ass. It all ended with Itsuki being as fluffy as she can be with that hug she gave Fuutarou right in front of her sisters, which we will see unfolding in this chapter. A quick note, by the way. I got a massive wave of support from both family and friends after putting up that page, and I am determined to keep it strong by continuing to write as much as I can. I won't be stopping anytime soon! With that being said, let's now head into this chapter!

(Link is more visible on mobile compared to desktop)

Discord link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]

link (for early access to the next chapter and those willing to donate): [https : / / www . . com / lancesennin]

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

Miku stood frozen in the kitchen, clearly shocked with what she saw just when she was about to rush back and prevent Fuutarou from leaving. When she saw him stand up from the couch and pick up his bag, the girl immediately realized that he's getting ready to go home, which she doesn't want to happen.

Nope, it's not because she liked him or anything like that!

It's simple, really. If he leaves, she'll lose her opportunity to make that guy look at her, and it's been bothering her so much! There was literally nothing wrong with her after thinking about it, and he didn't seem to have a problem with her, either. If he did, they wouldn't be able to have a civil conversation with each other but that's exactly what happened between them every time!

He just didn't want to look at her for some hidden reason, and she wanted to say screw that! She'll make that guy look at her because she felt disrespected! A true warrior has the dignity to look in the face of anything, even death! If Fuutarou can't even look at her, then he doesn't deserve her respect!

There's no way she can fail this. All she needed to do was to make him look at her before he leaves! After that, he can get the hell out of here and she can simply confront him about it tomorrow. After all, she only wanted him to look at her!

…well, at least until she saw Itsuki wrap her arms around Fuutarou in a hug.

"And I thought I already saw everything…" Miku thought as she took a step back out of instinct, her jaw slowly dropping. "I was wrong, I don't think Itsuki has a mere crush on him… I think she wants him to be her b-boyfriend, or something…!"

How cute.

Apparently, in Miku's eyes, this is so much more than what happened in the elevator earlier today. It was a bit of a reach but nonetheless, what Itsuki did managed to distract Miku from her main goal, since she was too frozen to even do anything else.

This definitely wasn't going her way at all…

Among the other girls who were also shocked from Itsuki hugging Fuutarou right in front of them, Ichika was the first to recover from her trance. After blinking a few times to make sure that she wasn't dreaming or anything, her usual smirk appeared on her face. This was definitely the perfect time to tease Itsuki!

"Fufu, I think Itsuki-chan really wants him to herself and she's been showing her claim on him this whole time~" she mused, covering her mouth with her free hand.

Nino, recovering from her speechless state, simply deadpanned at her older sister. "…really?"

"I mean, buying him ice cream? Sleeping on his shoulder in the elevator? Now she's going with him when he's about to go home? Don't even get me started on the fact that our own sister hugged him in front of us! I'd say Itsuki-chan is being possessive without even realizing it," Ichika explained while shrugging.

The second quint groaned loudly, having enough of Ichika's teasing, even though she wasn't the victim. It's understandable, considering that she always takes things out of proportion just for the fun of it. Also, it didn't help that just earlier, Nino was planning to confess to Fuutarou during the festival so hearing Ichika say such a thing didn't really click well with her right now…

"Don't you think you're taking this too seriously? We all know Itsuki wouldn't trade her studying for boys even if the world was ending. In the slightest chance that she does get a boyfriend, I'm pretty sure the guy would be a bit weirded out because of how she loves studying. That's just how Itsuki is."

Ichika adopted a thinking pose, taking Nino's words into consideration. "Hmm, I guess you do make a point…"

"I can hear the both of you, you know? Do you mind telling me what's wrong with what I'm doing for Uesugi-kun, Ichika? Friends buy each other food from time to time, in case you aren't aware. I treated Uesugi-kun to some ice cream because he is my friend, is there anything difficult to understand regarding it? Unless of course, you mean to tell me that I actually know more about making friends than you?" Itsuki pouted at her sisters, all while she was still hugging him, before moving away from the young man a few seconds later.

Fuutarou blinked in surprise, seeing that Itsuki wasn't stuttering in embarrassment as she stepped away from the hug. Okay, maybe he was wrong. Itsuki was actually prepared for this? What a pleasant surprise…

Yotsuba stayed out of the argument, but stood in between her sisters to try and defuse the situation before it became any worse.

"Uhm, everyone…? I think we should let Uesugi-san go home already…"

Unfortunately for her, Itsuki only continued to pout at both Nino and Ichika, before walking closer towards them with a serious demeanor. She was clearly expecting an answer to her earlier questions, even if she asked too many. Ichika flashed her usual smile, while Nino returned her expression with a serious look of her own.

"Uh, yeah, point taken…" Ichika chuckled nervously, while rubbing the back of her head.

Actually, Itsuki forgot to mention two details in her explanation, which was her sleeping on Fuutarou's shoulder while they were at the elevator, but she could already tell that it won't work. It's better not to mention what happened earlier at the elevator, or things will most likely escalate. The other one was her obvious crush on Fuutarou that everyone here knew about, but that will lead to an even bigger dilemma considering the possibility that Yotsuba might be interested in him…?

Eh, it's confusing, so… it's better to just stay quiet about it.

"And Nino, what exactly do you mean by 'that's just how Itsuki is'?" Itsuki turned her attention to the second quint, as she was satisfied with Ichika's answer. "I'll have you know that Uesugi-kun has once called me cute! He was even delighted at the fact that I study hard and that he likes people like me, if I may add!"

...

*incoming Jojo reference*

...

TOKI WO TOMARE!

...

*end of Jojo reference*

...

It was at that particular moment that Itsuki realized what she just said, making her widen her eyes as well before slapping her hands over her mouth. Her face immediately burned up in embarrassment, to the point that steam already started coming out of her ears.

Too late.

Time seemed to stop in the apartment, as everyone else was left in shock once more after hearing those words from Itsuki. It wasn't even a minute after she hugged Fuutarou in front of her sisters and that particular action already left them in a state of shock! This only added to it and if their jaws were already on the floor earlier, then it only got worse after hearing what Itsuki said.

"WHAT HAVE I DONE?!" Itsuki screamed in her thoughts in alarm, already regretting what she did. The moment she turned her head to look at Fuutarou, he only shook his head which further sent the girl into panic that she could collapse at any moment.

Never mind, she's back to her normal self. It turns out she wasn't prepared for this, after all.

"At least she didn't say anything about our time at the station on the day we met…" he thought, a deep sigh escaping his lips as he got reminded of her apparent confession. Fuutarou let himself have a moment of peace before focusing on the problem again, as he remembered the day that changed his life forever.

He'll never forget how Itsuki confessed her feelings to him, which was also the first time he experienced such a thing. Never before did he feel happy and content without the presence of his family.

In any case, it's a good thing she didn't say anything, because that would make things a lot more awkward than they already were. Plus, it would likely end with him getting kicked out of here instead of him leaving the place on his own. Nope, he wanted to keep holding his tutoring sessions here, thank you very much.

Anyway, back to the girls, Fuutarou noticed that Ichika managed to snap out of her shock first, but she looked incredibly confused above all. Nino and Yotsuba were still frozen in their places, and he simply didn't want to see Miku's reaction.

"Eh… w-what did you just say, Itsuki…?" Ichika asked slowly, as if she couldn't believe what she just heard.

Itsuki blushed deeper, if that was even possible, after Ichika asked her that question. Yep, it was obvious that she's not going to any longer from being subjected to so much embarrassment. Her eyes turned into swirls and her legs became wobbly that she was starting to lose her balance, meaning she could fall over at any moment. Fortunately for her, Fuutarou was able to move quickly and save his student before something worse happened!

"We'll be going now," he said flatly, grabbing Itsuki's hand and pulling her with him as they quickly walked out the door together. Good thing she already had her shoes on, by the way… otherwise, he would have looked like an idiot after saying those. Before truly leaving, he poked his head inside to give the other quints a smile, although it didn't take a genius to figure out that his expression was fake. "Once again, I give my thanks to all of you!"

With that, he left and closed the door behind him, leaving the four remaining quints just standing in their places, speechless for the next few moments. Their reactions were justified, since the events of the past minute happened so fast that their minds were taking too long in realizing what went down. It remained this way until it was Ichika who broke the silence once again.

"What just happened…?"

Nino's look of shock slowly turned into a serious frown, her mind finally coming to terms with what she just witnessed. "I think… we need to have a talk with our little sister when she gets back," she murmured, before turning towards her other sisters. "Itsuki has a lot of explaining to do about Uesugi-kun, and she can't talk her way out of this one."

Ichika only nodded dumbly, since she was also confused with Itsuki's actions and was clearly in need of answers. However, the other quint who was with them didn't share the same sentiment, choosing to remain quiet instead of saying anything.

"This sure isn't what Itsuki wanted to happen…" Yotsuba sighed, remembering the talk that she had with her younger sister last night. She agreed to keep the fact that Itsuki really had feelings for Fuutarou as a secret, but it turns out that her sister revealed all of it herself. They also weren't planning to keep it hidden forever, but it came out in the open too soon.

She could only hope that she won't suffer the same fate, hehe.

Still… she never knew that Fuutarou called Itsuki in such an affectionate manner, nor did she know about him telling her sister that he liked people like her. Itsuki wouldn't lie about such a thing, even if it was to save herself from further teasing, which only meant that it was true because Yotsuba had no reason to doubt her.

And if it was true, then… it also means that Itsuki had more of a chance than her to win his heart.

...

No, she can't falter now! She gave her word that she would confess her feelings at the festival, and she would do just that! If Itsuki can do it, then so can she! Once that happens, it's a fair game between them… it'll be up to Fuutarou to choose. Of course, she wasn't expecting him to give an answer right away. Like what Itsuki said, Fuutarou was likely focused on being their tutor and thus, he didn't have time for a relationship. Yotsuba felt the same, because being with Fuutarou held no meaning whatsoever if she can't even fulfill the promise she and her sister made with him years ago!

Still, that wouldn't stop her from admitting her true feelings to him at the festival. Once she did that, the only thing left for her to do was focus on her studies. All her worries would be finally put to rest after she confesses, and then she can only focus on improving himself afterwards!

"I'll definitely confess, no matter what Itsuki says about… about Fuutarou-kun," Yotsuba said to herself, steeling her resolve for what was to come.

Similar to Yotsuba, the last quint who was still standing by the kitchen was left to her thoughts, especially now that Fuutarou wasn't around anymore.

"Darn! I wasn't able to figure out anything because I was too distracted!" Miku thought to herself with a pout, keeping her head low in frustration. "I didn't want to go out there and tell him to stay, since it would make me look like I have some kind of crush on him and I'm sure Ichika would tease me about it, but now I missed him! I can't go out and chase after him, either…"

Miku huffed at her current situation, before she went to get a glass of water for herself. Perhaps it would calm her down from being frustrated that she didn't get her chance to make Fuutarou look at her, just when she internally declared war on the guy. It's not that she hated him, but he couldn't even do one simple thing that it got to her nerves.

"I still don't know what's his problem with me," she thought grimly as she drank from her glass. "This is so confusing… that guy has no problem looking at Nino, of all people, but he can't look at me? I think this may be even harder than actual studying…"

It's funny, really. The one who wanted Fuutarou not to trouble her ended up being the one who bothered him over one simple issue that she couldn't let go of. Whether it's because she thought it was disrespectful of him even though they already know each other or she was trying to figure the very exact reason why Itsuki likes him, both of them had the same end desire for Miku.

To get Fuutarou Uesugi to look her way.

Well, no matter. He may have gotten away from her today, but she won't let Fuutarou run free for very long! Besides, it's not like she won't see him again, right? Fuutarou also said it himself earlier as well. He was going to come back tomorrow for another tutoring session, and she'll put her plan in motion after he helps her sisters with their studies!

"We're just getting started, Fuutarou…" she muttered, almost slamming her glass near the sink as a sign of her determination to win this war.

As a wise narrator once said, love is war!

...

...

...

Okay, it may be too early for that in Miku's case…

Aww, jeez... why would you reveal such a thing, Itsuki? You may have been a bit brave when you hugged him, but you're too unaware of your own actions. I think you just dug your own grave along with Fuurarou's, girl. You basically admitted that you have feelings for Fuutarou and the same goes for him! You're in so much trouble now, even if Fuutarou did pull you out the door. Your sisters will obviously just wait for you to return, duh... well, aside from Itsuki screwing up, we saw Yotsuba and Miku's reactions to what they heard from their sister. Yotsuba feels more determined than ever to confess, while Miku may have missed her chance to put her plan into action, she still has tomorrow, either at school or at home. After all, Fuutarou will come back to tutor her sisters again. What's gonna happen with Itsuki now that her sisters are now aware that she really does have feelings for Fuutarou? What about Miku's plan? Find out next chapter!

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

-Lance