Disclaimer: I don't own The Quintessential Quintuplets.

The Uesugi family apartment was dark and quiet with only the sound of Futaro's pen scrawling away to break the silence. Raiha was asleep under the bedding spread out on the floor while their father had just left for work. The young man was not keen to retire to bed as his little sister had done, preferring to use the peace and calmness of the night to do what he did best. After a busy day of tutoring the Nakano Quintuplets, he was glad to get a chance to do a bit of studying.

Futaro finished the last problem of the maths sheet he was answering before he put down his pencil. He lifted his gaze - and sighed at the sight of the cheerful face right in front of him. His golden eyes softened as he lifted a finger, running it gently across the other person's smiling lips.

"It may have been five whole years…" he murmured. "But that hasn't changed how I think of you."

Propped up on Futaro's desk was his student handbook. It was opened up to reveal a certain old photograph he kept there at all times.

Smiling at him from the picture, as beautifully and amazingly as he remembered, was the mysterious girl he had met during his class trip to Kyoto.

Futaro's lips curled upwards. The sight of his old friend was able to bring a genuine warm smile to the grumpy-natured boy. He gazed longingly at the girl who stood joyfully in the picture next to his younger self.

"If only you could see me now…" he whispered. "I am who I am today because of you. I'm a dedicated studier and a better person - thanks to you!"

No answer came from the girl. She was as silent as she usually was in the photograph. Futaro wished he could once again hear her sweet, cheerful tone that she had spoken to him with back in Kyoto.

"Not only that … but I would love to see what I am doing these days; I'm a tutor! I'm a long-suffering tutor to a bunch of five identical quintuplets - who are all completely dumb idiots!"

Futaro folded his arms as he pictured the Nakano Quintuplets. The faces of Ichika, Nino, Miku, Yotsuba and Itsuki appeared inside his head. He imagined them circling the face of this strange girl. A chuckle escaped him in his confidence that his five ditzy students weren't anything like his old friend.

"I wonder what would happen if you met those five?! Anyone would be able to see you're nothing alike! There's no way a person like you could be as stupid any of them!"

Futaro snickered - then his gaze softened as he gazed at the girl in the picture once again. His golden eyes twinkled a little - in how much he ached to see her again.

"Seriously though, I really do have you to thank for who I am today. If you hadn't inspired me to become a better studier, I could never have taken this job as a tutor. With a bit of luck, I'll be able to finally clear all my family's debts - then my little sister can act like a kid again, because of you."

Pausing, Futaro looked away from the picture to peer through the dark room towards his little sister. He saw Raiha laying still as she slumbered peacefully under the bedding. He was glad his younger sibling was sound asleep. He did not want her to overhear his wistful conversation with a photograph.

Sighing once again, Futaro turned back towards the girl in the picture. She was still smiling at him as brightly as she had the moment the camera had captured the two of them back in Kyoto. The young man smiled in return at her. He was glad to have had this talk with her - even if she could not speak back to him.

"I hope we will meet again… Then when we're done catching up, we can take another picture of the two of us, five years later… See you again someday…"

Still smiling, Futaro picked the student handbook and closed it up - causing the girl to disappear from view. He placed it into his pocket before proceeding on with his studying work. The apartment was filled with only the sound of his own scrawling - while his head was still flooding with thoughts of his old friend.

He truly did hope that the girl he had met in Kyoto could one day come back into his life…

…not knowing that she already had.

Little did Futaro know that she happened to be one of the Nakano Quintuplets - and that she would one day graduate from being one of his five air-headed students - to his one and only loving bride.

The end.