Chapter 2
"What an ugly girl! Look at her glasses! They're ridiculous!"
"And what's with that blue hair? It's so strange!"
"Hey girl, don't you have anything to say or you're just able to cry?"
Those were the offensive words launched from 3 bullies against a poor young girl with long blue hair and glasses that was crying, tormented by them.
"P-p-please, leave me alone…", she begged with teary eyes.
"So you're able to speak. If you want us to cut it out, then give us your lunch money!"
"What you will receive is my punch in your stupid face instead.", said a new voice from behind the bully, who turned around and got punched in the face, falling some centimeters towards the other 2 idiots.
Shocked by what just happened, the bullied girl looked at her right to see a young boy with messy black hair and golden eyes like the ones of an angry tiger that were glaring at her tormentors.
"Ow, my face! Who the heck are you?!", shouted the punched bully while nursing his face.
"I have a better question: why don't you 3 get out of my sight before I beat you up? I hate bullies like you, and the fact that you were making a poor girl cry really enrages me.", replied the black haired boy, getting closer to the bullies while cracking his fists.
"Oh no…T-this guy…I know him! It's the ace of the swimming team! Uesugi Fuutarou!", screamed a bully with horror in his eyes. The other 2 started to tremble at hearing that name while the girl's savior smirked.
"Oh, so one of you knows me. Then you know what to do before it turns bad, right? Get lost."
And the 3 bullies quickly ran away out of terror, finally leaving the blue haired girl alone. Now, in the park where everything happened, there were only the boy known as Uesugi Fuutarou and the bullied girl. Fuutarou, after smirking once again for scaring the idiots away, turned around and walked towards the girl. He placed his right hand on her head and asked, "Hey, are you ok? They went away, so you're safe."
The girl, at first amazed by what happened in front of her eyes, started to cry again. "T-thank y-y-you, I-I w-was scared t-t-that they w-would hurt me."
"But that didn't happen thanks to me. Say, why were those idiots bullying you?"
"T-they said t-that I'm ugly b-because o-of my glasses and t-t-that my h-hair color is so strange. B-b-but my m-mok a-always told me that I w-was b-born with b-blue hair and i-it's n-not m-my no-fault i-if m-my eyesight is not very good.", she replied, with other tears falling from her eyes.
"Then they're really a bunch of assholes! What's wrong with blue hair and using glasses? Nothing! Your hair is beautiful as it remembers me the sea, and your round glasses are very cute!", he told her loudly, patting her head.
"R-really? Y-y-you really m-mean it, U-Uesugi-kun?"
"Yep haha. I totally mean it! And be free to call me Fuutarou because from now on we will be friends! What is your name?"
"H-Haruka.", she said, blushing.
"Well, nice to meet you, Haruka! I'm happy to make friends with you!", he told her with a grin, making Haruka smile happily and stop her tears.
The two new friends then exited from the park as Fuutarou wanted to bring Haruka at home all safe and fine. She agreed, so the young boy took her hand and accompanied her. She was embarrassed to hold his hand, blushing profusely, but his grip gave her a feeling of safety and comfort that made her smile blissfully.
During their walk, Fuutarou asked her about her hobbies and what kind of games she liked playing, with the young girl saying that she liked drawing and reading and her favorite games were board games like Cluendo and Monopoly. The golden eyes boy talked then about his own passions, especially swimming, since he was the top swimmer in their school. He even told her that he was well known as the "Furious Tiger" because he never went easy in beating bullies who picked on weak and innocent people, and his golden eyes always looked similar to a tiger's when he was angry. In fact, the 3 bullies that tormented just got lucky.
Haruka, even if she wasn't one for violence, giggled shyly to hear Fuutarou's interests and heroic acts, seeing in the young boy a very kind person. And finally, the two kids reached Haruka's house.
"So this is your house, Haruka? It's almost big like mine!"
"T-thank you, F-fuutarou-kun. I-I-I'm really grateful for w-w-what you did for me."
He grinned, "No need to mention it. I couldn't stand seeing those idiots making fun of you. I just did what was right."
The blue haired girl blushed and smiled nervously at him before hugging him shyly, surprising the young boy.
"Haruka?"
She widened her eyes and quickly broke off the hug "I-I-I'm sorry! I-I-I don't know w-w-what came to me to do that."
Fuutarou chuckled, "Haha, it's fine. My little sister often gives me hugs so it didn't bother me. Also, I don't see anything wrong in a friend hugging me."
Haruka blushed profusely and bowed to him, "T-t-thank you, F-F-Fuutarou-kun! S-see you again!"
And she quickly entered in her house, leaving Fuutarou behind with a smile.
'I see, so Haruka is very shy and gets embarrassed easily. But I can understand her since those idiots made her think that she was inferior to other people, which obviously is bullshit. I'm sure that Takebayashi and Sanada will be happy to make friends with her, and maybe I can come to her house to play together haha.', he thought, grinning at the idea that he came up with and because he was happy to have made a new friend.
In the following days, Haruka met Sanada and Takebayashi too and easily made friends with them thanks to Fuutarou that introduced her. The blue haired girl gained new friends in this way, and she was very happy to invite them to her house to play together. But whenever Fuutarou looked at her with his nice grin, Haruka would get shy and blush intensely, struggling to look at him in the eyes. The young boy thought that her shyness with him was due to the fact that he was a boy, but with Sanada she didn't behave in the same way. Fuutarou was also the only one that she would hug, which made her blush like a tomato.
But after Fuutarou and his family went to Kyoto for a family trip and the death of his parents' teacher Rena some months ago, Haruka noticed how Fuutarou had often 5 identical girls with long reddish hair and blue eyes clinging on him everytime she went to meet him at his house.
In fact, during her first encounter with those girls, one of them looked at her with a frown and asked Fuutarou, "Fuu-niichan, who is she?"
"Oh, she's a friend of school. Her name's Haruka."
Haruka was perplexed, "Huh? Fuu-niichan?"
Another and more cheerful girl said, "Hehe, Fuutarou-niisama is our beloved brother since his parents adopted us!"
"A-ah, I s-see. Nice to m-meet you everyone t-then.", greeted Haruka politely.
But the girl who was frowning started to glare at her and clang on Fuutarou tighter. 'I don't trust this girl! She surely likes Fuu-niichan and wants to take him away! I won't let you do that, homewrecker!', she thought, staring daggers at Haruka without being noticed.
"Nino, what's wrong?", asked her stepbrother, who noticed her clinging on him more tightly.
"I don't like that girl, Fuu-niichan. I feel that she wants to bring you away from us!", she replied, looking at him with a determined face.
Fuutarou chuckled and patted her head, "Haha, what are you saying, Nino? I promised that we would be family, didn't I? There's no way that I would abandon you. And don't be rude to Haruka, ok? She's just a friend."
His gesture made Nino smile and giggle, attracting the attention of the other quints who wanted a headpat from him too. Haruka watched their whole interaction with amazement; she was surprised to see Fuutarou being able to distinguish each girl from another despite their identical appearance.
'Fuutarou-kun is amazing; he can tell which sister he is talking to without mistaking them. He' s really a wonderful person with a kind heart. The very same person that I fell in love with.', thought Haruka, feeling a hint of jealousy while watching Fuutarou interact with the quints.
The young girl in fact saw in the golden eyes boy more than just a friend; she always found him very handsome, and his kindness towards her was enough to pierce her heart like a Cupid's arrow. Plus, the fact that he was willing to protect innocent people from bullies made him look a hero that was also considered the strongest boy in their school as he never lost a fight with one of those wicked bullies.
So, in the days following her first encounter with the quints, Haruka started to walk to school with Fuutarou by holding hands. The young boy didn't mind the gesture and grabbed her hand confidently while Haruka was always red when they did such a thing. She was happy to hold his hand, but it was too embarrassing!
The young man, on the other hand, wasn't so affected by the gesture because he was used to holding hands with Raiha and his stepsisters whenever they went to play at the amusement park in the weekend. Isanari was often the one to accompany the kids there, taking turns sometimes with his wife.
But the reason why Fuutarou wasn't embarrassed was also because he wanted to make sure that no other bully would harass Haruka again and make her cry. If they saw the Furious Tiger with her, they would surely think twice before try to make her cry. That was their only option if they didn't want solid punches in their guts.
Unfortunately, Haruka wasn't in the same class as Fuutarou, Takebayashi and Sanada, so she could meet with them only during lunch and after school. The blue haired girl was a little sad, but Fuutarou always assured her by headpatting her and telling her, "Don't worry, Haruka! Even if we 're not in the same class, that doesn't mean that you cannot meet us. As your friends, we will never abandon you!"
Hearing such words from her crush did nothing if not increasing the love that Haruka felt for Fuutarou and making her a little more determined in trying to win his affection.
One day, inside his room, Fuutarou was reading a manga on his bed until someone knocked on his door.
"Come in.", he said, and one of the quints entered with a bunny ribbon in her hands.
Looking at her and the ribbon, Fuutarou asked out of curiosity, "Yotsuba? What's with that green bunny ribbon?"
"I wanted to try an accessory to be more recognizable to other people. They often mistake me for one of my sisters while Fuutarou-niisama can always tell exactly who I am.", she replied with a bright smile.
"Oh, that's a pretty good idea. So you're going to wear that ribbon from now on."
She looked down and asked shyly, "F-Fuutarou-niisama, d-do you think i-it looks good on m-me?"
The young boy grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. "Of course! You're very cute with that."
Yotsuba then got on his bed and hugged him tightly. "Hehe, Fuutarou-niisama is the best! Thank you so much!"
The boy blushed because of her sudden hug, but he hugged her back and patted her head lovingly, making her giggle.
After this, Yotsuba started to wear a green bunny ribbon everyday, and when her sisters asked the reason behind her accessory, she told them why and that Fuutarou told her that she was cuter with that. Hearing that made the other 4 quints pout out of jealousy, and as they didn't want to lose in having Fuutarou's affection, they started to choose some accessories and change their hairstyles, asking for their beloved brother's opinion.
Nino kept her hair long and started to wear two butterfly ribbons, Ichika cut her hair short and said that she would wear a right earring in the future, Miku cut her hair a little and wore a pair of blue headphones while Itsuki wore stair hairpins and an ahoge started to be noticeable on the top of her head.
Seeing these changes in the 5 sisters made Isaanari and Shizuku smile because now they could distinguish them like their son could do, and the same went for Raiha. But hearing that they decided those different hairstyles because Fuutarou liked them made the 2 parents laugh and tease a little their son.
"Haha, so you told your sisters that you liked their accessories and new hairstyles? Nice job son!"
"Hehe, Fuu-chan really loves his sisters."
The young boy blushed and pouted. "S-shut up you two."
"Fuutarou-nii told me that he likes my headphones the most!", said Miku while holding her brother's left arm.
"Fuu-niichan prefers my butterfly ribbons!", shouted Nino, clinging on his right arm.
"N-no, Fuu-niisan likes my star hairpins!"
"Hehe, he told me that I look very good with short hair."
"Fuutarou-niisama finds my bunny ribbon very cute."
And so the quints started to argue on which style Fuutarou liked the most, clinging on him all the time with Raiha giggling and their parents watching everything with amused smiles. Fuutarou, from his part, felt a little annoyed by the argument, but he didn't mind the quints' affections at all. They were his family after all.
Later, during the evening, Fuutarou heard someone knocking on his bedroom's door, so he got up from his bed and went to open it. He was met by Nino that was holding a cushion in her hands.
"Nino, what's up? Can't sleep?"
She blushed and answered, "Y-yes, Fuu-niichan. I have some troubles with sleeping alone. C-c-could I sleep in your room?"
The golden eyes boy smiled and offered his hand to her, which was grabbed instantly by a happy Nino. The two of them then laid down on the bed, with Nino clinging on her brother with a bright smile.
"You 5 really like sleeping in my room, don't you? You always smile like that when it happens."
The butterfly ribbons girl smiled, "Hehe, that's because we know that you're there to protect us, Fuu-niichan. Being so close with you is really comfortable."
Fuutarou caressed her hair. "Like that time in Kyoto, I will punch whatever bully that tries to harm you or make you cry. No one messes with my family."
Hearing this made Nino smile happily and prompted her to give him a kiss on the cheek, making him blush. If hugs were something that Fuutarou was used to, he couldn't say the same thing about kisses. Sure, he didn't mind the sweet kisses that the quints gave him sometimes shyly like Miku or boldly like Nino in this case, but they could always make him embarassed. He was still a young boy after all. But there was something he could do in a similar way.
So he gave Nino a kiss too on the forehead, surprising her and making her blush. "F-Fuu-niichan?"
"That was a good night kiss. It will help you to sleep better.", he told her with a wink.
Such words made Nino smile again and hug her brother tighter, keeping her head next to his chest.
"Thank you, Fuu-niichan. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Nino."
And the two of them fell asleep, with the happy butterfly ribbons girl snuggling to the golden eyes boy.
The next day was quite troublesome for Fuutarou as Nino had told her sisters about the goodnight kiss that he gave her last night, making them so jealous that they wanted a kiss from him too. The young boy managed to get out of his house to meet with Takebayashi and Haruka before getting asked continuously to give kisses to the other quints. And now he was walking with his two friends towards their school.
'Nino didn't have to tell the others about the goodnight kiss. They want one too from now on. Dealing with their jealousy is not easy.', he thought, sighing.
"F-Fuutarou-kun, w-what's w-wrong?", asked him Haruka with concern.
"Nothing Haruka, don't worry. I'm fine.", he told her with a headpat, making her blush.
"Fuutarou, are you worried about the next swimming competition perhaps?", asked him instead Takebayashi.
"Eh? No, why should I? You know that I will make sure to make my team win. I'm not the ace for nothing haha.", he replied with a grin, making Takebayashi giggle at his usual high confidence.
"I-I'm sure me t-too that F-fuutarou-kun will win. Y-y-you're the best.", blurted a very embarassed Haruka, getting a pat from him again to thank her.
Seeing such interaction made Takebayashi slightly jealous; she knew somehow that Haruka had a crush on the young boy, but she didn't like the fact that he gave her headpats so often.
'Moou, it's not fair. I know Fuutarou since a longer time than her and she's getting headpats from him while he gives me them rarely. No fair.', she thought, pouting out of jealousy.
But suddenly, she felt a hand on her head that caressed her hair, so she looked up to see a grinning Fuutarou. "What's up, Takebayashi? Someone made you angry? I can threaten him if you want."
The jealousy that invaded her was replaced by happiness, which made her blush and smile, enjoying his headpat. "Nothing, no one made me angry, Fuutarou. Thank you for concerning about me."
"Hey, friends care about each other. It's my duty to be concerned about you."
His reply made her and Haruka giggle happily because that was another trait of Fuutarou that they liked very much: his willingness to worry about the people dear to him.
Not only the boy was seen as the strong protector of the innocent against bullies at school, but he was also considered as the most caring student from his classmates and his teachers. Beating up bullies was not very good in the eyes of the teachers, but Fuutarou always did that away from their gaze so he never risked anything. Isanari had taught him well on how avoid being caught in the act.
And after meeting with Sanada too, the 4 kids reached their school and attended their lessons. Fuutarou's class had a history test today during the first lesson, but it wasn't anything of difficult for him as he was already rewarded with 100 points while Sanada and Takebayashi received 95 and 90 points. In fact, the black haired boy was both good at sports and studying, making him the strongest and smartest boy at school.
"You got the highest points again, Fuutarou-kun. You're amazing!", said a female classmate of Fuutarou to compliment him.
"She's right, you're really incredible! Nee, can you help us with our homework sometimes?", asked him another one.
"Sure, when I have free time from my swimming training.", he replied with a thumbs-up, making them giggle and thank him dearly. Takebayashi watched everything while talking with some friends and frowned out of jealousy.
"Fuutarou, why are you so popular? I'm so jealous.", asked Sanada, who was sitting to the desk next to Fuutarou's.
"I'm just friendly and nice with everyone, Sanada. Also, you should try to be more energetic and confident if you want to attract attention. And since I don't like that long face, here's a tickle attack for you!"
And the young boy started to tickle his friend, making him and everyone in the classroom laugh. "Hahaha, ok, I-I got it hahahaha. S-S-Stop please hahahaha!"
"Not a chance. You need to laugh a little more!", replied Fuutarou, continuing to tickle him.
And this went on for a while until the pause ended for the beginning of the last lesson. Sanada's laugh was so contagious that everyone in the class was still chuckling softly; the golden eyes boy was very good at bringing such fun in class, and his classmates felt lucky to have him.
During lunch time, Fuutarou, Sanada and Takebayashi went to eat outside with Haruka, who was waiting for them near a tree in the courtyard. And it was in this moment that Haruka noticed something of particular in Fuutarou's bento.
"F-Fuutarou-kun, is-is that a heart inside your rice?", she asked him.
"Oh this? Let's say that one of my sisters helped Mom to make me bento and I found out that she made a heart in the rice. Cool don't you think?"
His reply made Haruka think about something. 'Fuutarou-kun seems to care a lot about his stepsisters; one of them is even making him a bento. Maybe I could try to prepare something for him me too. I'm sure he would love it.'
Takebayashi, on the other hand, pouted a little when the top student mentioned again his sisters, but she tried to change the subject anyways. "Fuutarou, which school will you go to in the future?"
The young boy turned to her and smiled, "I decided that I will go Asahiyama Highschool. I heard that they have a pretty good swimming club there, and the exams are pretty easy too."
Hearing such reply made Takebayashi a little sad, as she didn't expect that Fuutarou chose a different school to hers. Going to different schools meant that they couldn't see each other so often as before.
"I-I s-see. That's a nice choice, Fuutarou. What about you 2, Sanada, Haruka?"
"I think I will go Yakishi High School. I heard they have good math teachers there.", replied Sanada, not knowing that he chose the same school as Takebayashi.
Haruka instead lowered her gaze and said, "Umm, I-I w-will go to A-Asahiyama like F-fuutarou-kun. I w-want to go to an e-easy school."
The other 3 were surprised by her choice, but Fuutarou quickly grabbed her hands and said, "Really? That's awesome, Haruka! I look forward to attending Asahiyama with you."
The eyes of the young girl sparked behind her glasses and a huge blush appeared on her face. Hearing such words from her crush made her hear beat faster and a happy smile appeared in he face while she nodded to him.
Takebayashi frowned at the scene before her eyes, as the fact that Haruka was going to the same high school of Fuutarou made her jealous. Sanada simply clapped his hands instead because he was glad that the shy girl would have the golden eyes boy to protect her at Asahiyama. Even if, unbeknownst to him and the 2 girls, there were other 5 people who would attend Asahiyama like Fuutarou.
After his day ended and he greeted Haruka and Takebayashi, Fuutarou reached his home and stepped inside saying, "I'm home!"
In a blitz, five girls appeared and ran towards him to hug him. "Fuu-nii, Fuu-niichan, Fuutarou-nii, Fuutarou-niisama, Fuu-niisan!", they shouted in unison, clinging on him.
"Hey girls, how was it at school?"
"It was good, Fuu-niisan! The cafeteria's lady gave me 2 free delicious meat buns!", replied Itsuki, giggling.
"Always eating Itsuki, eh? You're really a glutton.", said Nino to tease her, making Itsuki pout.
"Mouuu, you're rude Nino! I just like eating some good food."
"Don't fight or I'm won't play with you two later.", told them Fuutarou, not wanting them to argue.
"Hehe, ok Fuu-niichan!"
"Sure, Fuu-niisan!"
Their replies made them earn headpats from him that they really appreciated, but the other 3 sisters wanted the same affectionate gesture. So Fuutarou patted even their heads, making all 3 of them blush.
"Fuu-niichan, you met that Haruka girl right?", asked him Nino with visible jealousy.
"Yes, I went to school with her and Takebayashi and ate lunch together to then walk the way aback at home together. What about it?"
"D-do y-you like her in a special way?", she asked him with uncertainty, making the other sisters interested in his answer too.
The young boy didn't expect a question like that, but that didn't mean that he couldn't answer it. So he placed his hand on Nino's head to pat it lovingly. "Haruka is just a friend, Nino. I don't have a special girl or something, but remember that I always care a lot about all 5 of you. Never forget it!", he replied with his nice grin.
Such reply made every quint smile blissfully and hug him again, this time giving him some kisses on the cheeks that made him blush.
And it was in that moment that Shizuku appeared from the kitchen. "Ara, Fuu-chan is back and his cute sisters are showering him with their love. How cute hehe."
"Mom, d-don't giggle.", said Fuutarou, embarrassed to be seen by their mother while the quints kissed him.
"Hehe, ok Fuu-chan. I baked some bread some minutes ago. Do you want some?"
"Of course Mom! Girls, let's eat together!", he told his sisters, making them nod happily.
So he and the quints ate some bread while sitting on the couch in front of the TV to watch some anime with Raiha joining them. While watching the TV, Fuutarou was in the middle of the couch with Ichika and Itsuki to his right and left and the other sisters around. Raiha sat near Yotsuba.
The swimming ace was totally used to the clingy side of his stepsisters in this case too, so he didn't mind it. What concerned him was how the quints seemed very jealous when they saw Fuutarou with another girl, even if she was just a friend.
He knew in fact how Nino and Miku could get jealous when he talked about Haruka or Takebayashi, and the same went for the other 3, even if it was less noticeable. Still, he was glad to pass some nice moments with them like this. He enjoyed passing the time with the quints after all.
At a certain point, Ichika asked him, "Fuu-nii, at school they asked us if we have chosen already a highschool for the future. Did they ask you the same thing?"
"Yep, and I said that I will go to Asahiyama; it has a good swimming club and the exams there are easy for you 5."
"F-for y-you 5? W-wait, you mean…"
He grinned, "We promised to go to the same highschool, right? And it shall be Asahiyama. In this way I can punch whoever tries to make one of you cry."
"Fuu-niisan is the best!", said Itsuki while hugging him, being copied by her sisters. Even Raiha joined the group hug, with Fuutarou retuning the gesture.
From the kitchen, Shizuku could see the lovely affection that her stepdaughters had for her son, and the thought of telling them what she and Isanari would suggest them in the future made her giggle. She was sure that it would make the quints very happy once they knew it. And certainly Fuutarou too haha.
A/N
And here we go with the 2nd chapter! Oh yep buddies, I introduced the first rival of the quints for the love of Fuutarou, and her name is Haruka. The girl met Fuutarou earlier than his meeting with the quints, saving her like a hero by some stupid bullies. This action of his and his kindness were enough to make Haruka develop a crush on him, that was noticed by Takebayashi that likes Fuutarou too somehow. Still, the quints' jealousy towards the other girls has already appeared, and it could create some funny shenanigans in the future haha.
As you saw, Fuutarou is both smart and strong, and in fact he's a talent for swimming. The quints also started to wear their signature accessories to avoid being mistaken by other people , even If Fuutarou was able to recognize them before thanks to the "love" method haha. From next chapter I will start already with the beginning of their first year at highschool and I will even introduce what Isanari and Shizuku want to suggest to the quints and Fuutarou. What could it be? Stay tuned to find out.
See yaa!