TWO MONTHS OF STRAIGHT UPDATES?! I AM THE ACE OF THIS ARCHIVE, AND NO ONE CAN TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME! I'LL CARRY THIS ARCHIVE FOR AS LONG AS I HAVE TO! Yes indeed, ladies and gentlemen, it's been two months since this fanfic has started and things have changed so much! Back in Chapter 30, this story only had 200 faves and follows and now we have 200 more for each! It wouldn't be possible without all of you, guys! Please continue to support me, because I will make sure that GOTOUBUN FLUFF WILL REIGN SUPREME! Last chapter was crazy, because Itsuki just dug her grave by revealing more than what she was supposed to, and now her sisters have surely concluded that she has a crush on Fuutarou. This isn't gonna end well for her, so what's gonna happen here? Let's not waste any more time and find out!

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

Fuutarou let out a deep breath after closing the door behind him, allowing a moment's peace that he managed to get Itsuki and by extension, himself, out of the situation inside before it could blow up into an even bigger problem. Other than that, he finally got away from Miku and he won't have to worry about her until tomorrow! He felt a massive burden being lifted off his shoulders, which was reflected on the outside through the small smile that appeared on his face.

No need to worry, if she was somehow mad with him today because of how he kept on ignoring her, he'll just make it up to her tomorrow! After all, he was a man of his word and all that he wanted was time until tomorrow before he's fully comfortable with looking at Miku.

With how things had quickly escalated earlier, he could only imagine what would have happened if he had given in and just made eye contact with Miku earlier. There were a lot of factors too, like Yotsuba and Itsuki leaning their heads against him, Nino reminding him about their little activity on Saturday, and those were just two of them.

Who knows what else could have happened if he and Miku felt the shock beforehand?

Shaking his head, Fuutarou decided to get back on track and focus on what's next on his to-do list. He was still hoping that he could find a pizza place along the way home but before that, he noticed that Itsuki was just standing in her place, her hands tightly linked together out of nervousness. Her face was still red from embarrassment, although it was considerably weaker than her earlier state, showing that she had calmed down… somewhat. It probably had something to do with them not being inside the penthouse anymore.

Hmm, she might not respond to him if he tries to create a conversation between them, because it would be blatantly obvious that they're only trying to avoid talking about what happened inside. Therefore, the most appropriate solution would be going straight to the point!

"Well, that was interesting. You do know that you just got yourself in deep trouble after saying those things in front of your sisters, right?" he grinned as he walked towards her, attempting his hand at creating some dark humor to try and get Itsuki to snap her out of her little trance.

The girl blushed deeper for a moment upon hearing his statement, but managed to push herself into giving an answer. His plan to get her out of her funk was a success, then.

"Y-Yes, I know… I'm sorry, Uesugi-kun. I… didn't know what came over me. For some reason, h-hearing Ichika and Nino tease me like they did while I was… h-h-hugging you, I… I began feeling irritated with them that I wanted them to stop," she said meekly, moving her gaze towards the floor when she noticed that he was standing just in front of her.

"Forget it. It doesn't matter now, because they literally got a front-row view of you hugging me. Not to mention, those two things that you told them about…" he chuckled in a sardonic manner, while already anticipating the possibility of his soulmates interrogating him for answers tomorrow about what Itsuki said regarding him.

Another crazy day of school was happening to him tomorrow, then, not that he didn't see it coming.

His answer caused Itsuki to look at him in concern, the blush on her face still visible until now. "A-Are you not worried about my sisters and what they might upon knowing all of this…?"

"Oh, don't worry, I know what they're going to do. In fact, I'm pretty sure that your sisters are gonna hound you for answers once you get back inside. Hopefully, you won't say anything more than that, okay?" he explained with an all-too innocent smile, as he pointed to his cheek repeatedly.

Itsuki's face then turned into the same shade of red from earlier, because she knew what exactly he was referring to when he was pointing to his cheek. Oh dear, if her sisters knew about that… she won't be able to face them for at least a week by locking herself inside her room. Of course, that's just an exaggeration because everyone knows that Itsuki can't last more than three hours without something to eat.

The time when she first kissed him at the station…

Even though she felt terribly flustered upon remembering that moment, Itsuki mustered up enough courage to take a deep breath before speaking once again. There's no need to worry about such a thing if she was careful enough to make sure not to mention it to her sisters. It's already bad enough that all of them now knew about Fuutarou calling her 'cute'… which was an issue that she'll have to deal with once she goes back inside.

"I won't do it again, Uesugi-kun. I promise."

"What, are you gonna lie or make something up to mislead them? I'm pretty sure that by now, they're thinking that you have a crush on me or something…" he asked, raising an eyebrow out of curiosity before taking her hand as the two began to walk towards the elevator.

Itsuki blushed again, this time from how he just blurted out such a thing like it was an everyday occurrence, before shaking her head slowly. "N-Not exactly… I can simply avoid discussing it, especially if they ask about what I truly feel for you. I…I don't want them to find out about that just yet... nor do I want to lie to my own sisters..."

"Bad idea," he shook his head in return, as he could already imagine the consequences from continuing to hide it even though it was already obvious. It would be worse on Itsuki's part than her sisters', so he should just save her from the impending embarrassment while he still can. "It'll be better if you just tell them—"

"Itsuki."

A cold voice stopped the two teenagers in their tracks, which also forced them to turn their heads towards the source of that voice. Before them stood a stone-faced man with cold eyes that can pierce through almost anyone, and the dead-serious expression on his face looked like it was permanent. He wore a black suit with a grey tie, as he shifted his gaze alternately between Fuutarou and Itsuki in an almost-menacing manner.

"F-Father…"

Itsuki breathed out, the blush on her face disappeared completely while her eyes widened upon realizing who was standing before them. Fuutarou quickly turned to her in surprise, before looking back at the older man with a curious look.

This man was the quints' father, eh? Either he was really young when he attended high school with Isanari, or it's just his natural appearance because he somehow looked like was in his late 20s or something…

Okay, his name was Maruo, from what he recalled yesterday during the little discussion that he, Raiha, and his two students had with Isanari while eating dinner. Remembering his fathers' words in his mind, this man looked exactly how Isanari described him to be, making Fuutarou take a deep breath to ease himself.

He was literally standing in front of his soulmates' father.

He's totally screwed if he tries anything that may tick this man off…

"Is this boy with you?" Maruo asked his daughter after sending the young man a death stare.

Crap! He's already dead! Right after the first sentence, it already felt like he was sentenced to death! No wonder that guard from five years ago immediately ran away even though the only thing Cheerful Rena did was stare at him! These quints must have inherited that look of death from their father!

Fuutarou pursed his lips together in a tight manner, while also taking a glance at the girl beside him. Itsuki! Please don't let him die like this! Don't let your father sentence death on your soulmate!

Luckily, Itsuki managed to snap out of her surprised look after her father asked her that question, as she nodded her head slowly. "Er, y-yes, Father."

Maruo sent another death stare at the young man, who only stood upright and stayed quiet while trying his best not to crack under pressure. No, Fuutarou wasn't nervous because of the glare this man was giving, but rather it's because of the fact that this guy was Itsuki's father! One wrong move and it's over for him!

"Who is he and why is he here?" he asked, turning back towards Itsuki with a look that expected answers. Well, no one can blame him, because any parent who would see their daughter with a guy standing outside their house would surely react in a hostile manner…

At the very least, this man was asking his daughter first and foremost before doing anything else, and he's not like those stereotypical ones who would resort to giving out punishments right away. This meant that he had a good chance at being safe!

After her father spent a few moments of turning his attention to her tutor, Itsuki was able to calm herself and her mind now fully registered the fact that her father was here. Okay, now was not the time to be flustered or anything, that can just come later. She had to answer her father's questions first before any kind of misunderstanding occurs, especially if it involved Fuutarou!

"His name is Uesugi Fuutarou and he is one of my classmates. I met him during lunch last week, where I asked him if he could be my tutor, and he accepted," Itsuki explained with a small smile, as though she was proud of her decision on the day they met. What's more surprising was that all traces of her earlier embarrassment disappearing as if it was never there in the first place.

...

What form of power is this?

...

While somehow surprised at Itsuki's 180 in her demeanor compared to her earlier state, Fuutarou kept his focus on the man before him, meeting his stone gaze with one of his own.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, sir."

"So you're Isanari's son," Maruo dropped the death stare but kept a serious look nonetheless, which was already fine with the young tutor. Phew. At least, he's safe from the possible death sentence that he would have received had Itsuki didn't choose to speak. "Interesting… I see your father wasn't jesting when I asked him about you."

Both teenagers blinked in surprise after those words, before glancing at one another as if they were agreeing that they heard the same thing. Thanks to Isanari's little storytelling from last night, they were now aware that their parents were close friends years ago. Well, Fuutarou more than Itsuki, honestly. The girl was still a bit skeptical even though she believed that there's no reason for Fuutarou's father to lie.

However, now that she was seeing her father speak about Isanari Uesugi as if he was an old friend, Itsuki realized that everything she learned last night was nothing short of the truth.

"What do you mean, Father?" she asked while tilting her head curiously.

Maruo turned towards Fuutarou this time, an action that surprised the teen since the older man had his attention mostly directed to his daughter until now. "Uesugi-kun, you may not know this, but your father and I have known each other ever since we were teenagers. I called Isanari earlier today for a favor that involves you."

Fuutarou blinked for a few times, in surprise after Maruo said those words. That meant the quints' father needed him for something, right? What exactly could it be? Well, he's going to find out either way!

"Yes sir, I am aware of your relationship with my father. Do you need me for something?" he asked, reverting back to his serious look.

"I am sure Itsuki has told you about their similar problem involving their academic grades, has she not?" Maruo asked, gesturing towards his daughter who looked down in embarrassment at her father bringing up that issue in front of Fuutarou, no less.

There ain't nothing more embarrassing than your parent talking about it with someone else… especially when that person was the one she had feelings for.

He nodded. "I am aware, sir, she told me about that when Yotsuba wanted me to be her tutor as well."

"Yotsuba is the other one you're tutoring? This makes things easier, then," Maruo sounded surprised from hearing that Yotsuba was Fuutarou's other student, even though it couldn't be noticed from his expression since it barely changed.

"Father, what exactly is this about?" Itsuki decided to jump straight into the point, wondering what exactly her father wanted with Fuutarou. It seems like he was going to ask for a favor, but what could it be and did it have something to do with tutoring?

Maruo glanced at his daughter for a moment, before turning back to the young man who was with her. "Uesugi-kun, I have heard from your father earlier that you are already tutoring two of my daughters at the moment, but I want to ask you to do something more than that."

Fuutarou frowned slightly, just enough to show that he was serious about this and wasn't taking this lightly. "What do you ask of me, sir?" he asked.

Itsuki pursed her lips together, feeling slightly nervous on what this was about. How could she not be nervous? This had something to do with Fuutarou being a tutor, and that means it involved her because she was his student. She could only hope that it didn't involve making Fuutarou stop in his tutoring because she was learning so much from him, but that doesn't seem to be the case since her father needed him for something… but what is it?

"I would like you to tutor all of my daughters and help them reach graduation," Maruo revealed with a straight face, much to the complete shock of the two teenagers standing before him.

Oh, Itsuki... you have no way out of this now. You'll have to tell your sisters the truth already, because denying it will only be bad for you! Just face it head-on, and everything will be okay! And shit... Maruo is here and that's not good news at all for our boy! It's a really good thing that he didn't see Itsuki hugging Fuutarou, nor her boasting about what our boy thinks of her. Close call, but regardless, Maruo is here and it appears that he wants Fuutarou to tutor all five of his daughters? Hmm, this situation looks familiar, but will it go the same way as in canon? Or will something happen that can be considered as a problem? Guess we'll find out tomorrow, so see ya guys!

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

-Lance