Disclaimer: The Quintessential Quintuplets (Goutoubun no Hanayome) and all its characters are the intellectual property of Mr. Negi Haruba. All rights reserved.
Tokai, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Saturday, October 14th, 2017. The Pentagon
In the last few days of the school week, the gang settled into their new routine. Which, frankly, was not that far from their previous one. With a few exceptions. For starters, during lunch, Inejiro successfully managed to help Nino and her two closest friends from school, Yamada and Otori, which earned Fuutarou some breathing room with the one quintuplet that is almost certainly not gonna participate in a collective tutoring session before the day of the midterms. If she ever will at all. Either way, those lunchtime mini-tutoring sessions have been going as well as can be expected. Some progress is made, but Nino is far behind. In any case, there's only so much a human being can do with the time that is left.
On the regular tutoring sessions, the work intensity was somewhat decreased and breaks were allowed, though the usual constant distractions have been reduced. It seems that establishing more regular 'official' breaks, so to speak, helped with that. Miku and Ichika seem somewhat improved, and Yotsuba, well, she tries. Not much to say there, really. Itsuki, on the other hand, has been continuing to push forward by herself, it not being the right course of action notwithstanding. She did promise to talk to Maruo about the conditions he had imposed on Fuutarou, but if she did talk to him, there's nothing indicating that said conditions have been modified. As long as neither she nor Fuutarou make a move to repair relations, this is the way it will stay.
All in all, a certain status quo was established, that mostly worked, as well as it possibly could. Still, it goes without saying that no wise betting man would place any money on all five of the quintuplets passing their midterms. It seems an almost impossible task. Now it's Saturday, and a break from the established routine is coming. The gang is supposed to spend all day cooped up in The Pentagon, studying. For now, it's early morning, and Inejiro just arrived at the Nakano's apartment. He is…not at all surprised to find absolutely no one in the living room. It seems they're all still sleeping. To be expected.
Seeing as none of the girls are around, he headed to the kitchen to make them some sort of breakfast. And Fuutarou too, in case he wants any. It's a well known fact that Mr. Nakamura is far from a virtuoso in the kitchen, so 'make them some sort of breakfast' basically means that he served them each a glass of milk and some toast. Beggars can't be choosers and all that.
A few minutes later, the bell rang. Most likely, Fuutarou calling up through the intercom. Inejiro went to answer.
"Yeah? Nakano residence".
"Nakamura? Ugh…they're asleep".
"Yeah yeah quit whining and come on up", Inejiro said as he buzzed him through. Just a couple of minutes later, Inejiro heard the elevator doors opening up so he went to let Fuutarou through the door.
"Eh…hi", Fuutarou said, surprised that Inejiro didn't even wait for him to knock.
"Hi, come in", Inejiro said as he hurried Fuutarou inside. "Come on, let's go outside for a bit", Inejiro whispered, trying to not wake up the quintuplets.
"...Fine", Fuutarou replied, a bit too loudly, which earned him a frown. Inejiro just opened the window and hurried him towards the terrace.
"Nakamura, it's cold as hell out here! What is this about?", Fuutarou asked, clearly made uncomfortable by the early morning air as it's felt from the top of a high rise building in the middle of fall. Inejiro just lit up a cigarette, with some difficulty due to the wind.
"I hate it too. But let 'em sleep".
"It's…almost 9:00 AM! We were supposed to study all day!"
"If they don't get their sleep…how can they study?"
"Nakamura. Stop coddling them! How are we going to make them pass like this?"
"Uesugi. Pipe down. Who knows these girls better? You, or me?"
"Eh, you".
"That's right. So calm down. I know what I'm doing".
Fuutarou sighed.
"I…I'll just have to follow your lead, then".
"Yeah. It's only until the midterms are over, you can just…go back to running the show then. But for your sake even, I'm gonna be exercising some executive privileges until Wednesday".
"I noticed that. I hope you're right, Nakamura".
"Still an almost impossible task. But running them into the ground is not gonna do it".
"That was your idea in the first place…"
"I wasn't thinking clearly. Now I am. Clear as day. And this is the way it's gonna be".
"Well…sure. Look, Nakamura, I'm gonna go inside, it's cold as hell! I'll just be quiet. But if by 9:30 they're not up…"
"Yeah, fine. But I'll wake 'em", Inejiro said, as he saw Fuutarou head back inside. Inejiro just kept on smoking, looking towards the horizon, thinking about not much of anything in particular. Soon enough, he does the same as Fuutarou and heads back inside. At the very same time, the first quint seems to wake from her slumber and heads down from her bedroom: Itsuki. Disheveled as usual in the mornings.
"E-Eh…what are you two doing here", Itsuki said as she scratched her eyes, noticing two distinctly non-inhabitants of her house were the only ones seemingly in it.
"Waiting for your sisters. What's up with you being the first one up?", Inejiro asked. Fuutarou tried not to cross eyes with her.
"Ah…it's 14th today. I'll try to go there early, so I have the rest of the day free for studying".
"Oh, yeah, right. I haven't been there in a while…I probably should".
"Only I go every month, don't worry about it, Inejiro-kun".
"Still. Regardless, I made you all some breakfast, go get yours if you like".
"Oh, thank you", Itsuki said as she headed towards the kitchen.
Fuutarou of course has no idea what they were just discussing. August 14th is the anniversary of Rena's passing, so Itsuki goes to visit her mother's resting place on the 14th of every month in remembrance. Right in line with her being the one that tries her hardest to emulate her mother and follow her example, among her sisters.
Then another quintuplet came down from her room…this time, Nino.
"Eh? And what the hell are these two doing here?", she said with the usual annoyed voice that tends to accompany her being reminded of Fuutarou's existence.
"Waiting for…eh, don't feel like repeating it. Made you breakfast, you're welcome", Inejiro responded.
"You? Breakfast? Am I in danger?"
"I never poisoned anyone in my entire life. Can you say the same?", Inejiro said. That earned a scoff from Fuutarou, her latest victim. And a middle finger from Nino.
"Yeah, whatever, hope it's edible. And what's up with this other guy? Mouse got his tongue?"
"Just waiting for any of my actual students to come down, Nino", Fuutarou said, not hiding his annoyance.
"Ugh did you need to frame it like that, you fool?", Inejiro thought to himself.
"I thought you were getting paid to tutor the whole five of us. Am I wrong?", Nino asked sarcastically, which got into Fuutarou's nerves.
"Okay, this ends here. Nino, go shove some toast in your mouth and shut up. Uesugi…I don't know, go take a dump or something. I'll go wake up the rest of the girls", Inejiro said as he went upstairs. He went through every girl's room in reverse order. So, given that Itsuki is already awake (and also not part of the tutoring sessions), he went for Yotsuba first. He knocked on her door and Yotsuba opened up right away, already dressed up and ready.
"Hey Uesu…ah, Jiro hi! Where's Uesugi-san?"
"Down there…hopefully not about to engage in a shootout with Nino".
"Oh, shoot! I'll head there right away!", Yotsuba yelled as she ran right down.
"What the hell took you so long if you were so ready…?", Inejiro thought to himself. Regardless, he moved on to Miku's room. He knocked, but got no response. It's strange for Miku to have much trouble waking up in the mornings, and even more so for her not to be raring to go when there's a tutoring session coming. Either way, he assumed she must still be asleep so he went inside slowly. Unsurprisingly, he found Miku strewn out across her bed, snoring softly, with what looked like some sort of book laying next to her. It seems she stayed up late studying, and her body's need for recouping some strength and energy got the better of her.
Inejiro walked into her room slowly and headed towards her. He didn't need to worry about tripping on anything, as Miku's room is perfectly tidy, almost to an extreme degree. As he got next to Miku, he tugged her shoulder gently.
"Hey, Miku, wake up", he said softly. Miku just moved a little and groaned in response. "C'mon, it's morning already", he said as he continued tugging her.
"Eh…I-Ine…jiro?", Miku asked, only half awake, probably.
"The one and only. Come on, we've got a long day ahead. I made brea-"
"Inejiro…", she said in an almost…sensual voice? Which certainly caught Inejiro off guard. "It's still early…come back to bed", she said as she was now tugging his arm.
"What!?", Inejiro exclaimed as he blushed a little, realizing soon after that he had better keep his voice down if he didn't want anyone to come up and end up staring at…this. "Miku, come on, we got midterms prep to take care of, let's go", he said as he shook her a bit more strongly.
Then, Miku did open her eyes fully and saw him towering next to her, though she was still unaware that she was holding his arm.
"Oh. Hello. Sorry I overslept. I…I'll be right down", she said in between yawns.
"Ey, Miku…mind letting me go?", he said, showing Miku how she was holding a firm grip over his arm. Miku blushed heavily when she noticed, which also served to spring her into full consciousness.
"E-Eh!? Oh!", she yelled as she let go quickly. "W-What happened?"
"If you don't remember…I ain't saying". Him not describing to her what just occurred only made her more uncomfortable and she blushed even harder.
"P-P-Please tell me…we didn't…"
"Miku! I just arrived! I came to wake you up, I tugged you a little, you grabbed me and said some…weird things, nothing more".
"W-Weird things…it's…just you here, right?"
"In the room, yeah. Uesugi is down there with-"
"Oh, Fuutarou's already here…if he saw me like this…the travesty".
"Yotsuba probably has him…occupied. Nevertheless, tidy yourself up or something and come down. Breakfast's already done. And I still have the final boss to deal with".
"...Ichika? Just…let Yotsuba handle her".
"I rather Yotsuba keep the peace down there. I'll do my best, I guess", Inejiro said as he got ready to leave Miku's room.
"Inejiro", Miku said softly.
"What?", Inejiro stopped in his tracks.
"I…I think I kinda remember now", Miku said, covering her face with her sheets.
"Well…official version of events is you were having weird dreams. We've all been there. C'mon, don't wanna keep the rest waiting", he said as he finally left. Miku was left with the shock of having revealed both to herself and Inejiro at the same time that maybe, those feelings she once had for him, were not so much in the past as she had thought. As if there weren't enough confused fools running around here.
"Jiro! Is everything alright? You stayed with Miku for a bit. Is she coming?", Yotsuba yelled at Inejiro from down below as she saw him exit her sister's room.
"Yeah, she's coming. Everyone alive down there?"
"Yeah…of course we're alive, why would you ask?", Yotsuba asked curiously.
"Never mind, that's good".
"Oh, wait, do you need any help with Ichika?"
"Nah, stay down there. I'll…do my best. I'll whistle loudly if I need you".
"Okay!", said Yotsuba as she went back to eating her breakfast and pestering Fuutarou with nonsense. At least that's how he'd define her chatting, surely.
Now, Inejiro had to shift his attention to the hardest of the quintuplets to wake up in the morning: Ichika. The challenges are very varied. First of all: her room is basically a maze filled with obstacles, which could lead to even some minor injuries if you're not careful. Second of all: she sleeps completely naked. For unaware people like Fuutarou that might not matter, but Inejiro wants nothing with invading one of the sisters' privacy like that. Or anyone's, really. So he'll have to wake her up from afar and not staring in her direction. And lastly, as if to make that last point even harder…she's a heavy sleeper. Waking her up takes some doing. However, it's not the first time Inejiro has had to do this. It might require brute forcing the operation a little though.
Inejiro opened the door to Ichika's room as loudly as he could, pressed the light switch immediately, and started clapping loudly.
"ICHIKA! MORNING! WAKE UP! TUTORING TIME!", he yelled loudly as he clapped. That did not elicit much of a response from her, only leading her to move around slightly in her bed. Meanwhile, from downstairs, the other sisters and Fuutarou could hear everything perfectly well and looked up with interest. Fuutarou, in particular, who had no idea of the rituals necessary for Inejiro to wake Ichika up.
Inejiro then started grabbing some random clothes she had laying around and throwing them at her face and other random points of her body.
"COME ON! PUT ANY OF THIS CRAP ON AND COME DOWN!"
Being bombarded by several items of clothing, she seemed to slightly come into consciousness.
"Ugh…what is this?", she mumbled as she moved her arms around, trying to get rid of the clothes all over her. However, the bombardment continued. "Stop! Who the hell…?"
"Who else? Come on, get your shit together, your sisters are waiting and so is Uesugi".
"Jiro! Why must you always wake me up so rudely!?"
"Because I can't just tug you until you wake up, for several reasons. Number one, I run the risk of tripping on some of the crap you have lying around in this trash heap and breaking my neck or something; number two, you're bloody naked".
"Oh? Is that a problem? You know I don't mind".
"Yeah well, I mind. I'm not Uesugi".
"Jiro! Really? One stare at my naked body…would make you forget all our years of friendship? How bold".
"You're already talking shit, cool. So you're well awake. Get dressed and head down already. Save that energy for studying".
"Just…help me find something to wear".
Inejiro looked down and saw a long-sleeved green shirt close to his feet. He grabbed it and threw it at Ichika.
"There you go".
"How brutish", Ichika said as she removed the shirt from her face.
"Horrific, I know. Get dressed and come down", Inejiro said as he left the room. Ichika grinned devilishly, already plotting in her mind some ways to take revenge on him later.
Inejiro headed downstairs and was greeted by the attentive stare of everyone. Except for Miku who, although had already come to the kitchen, was averting his gaze.
"She IS coming…I imagine", Fuutarou said.
"Never underestimate her ability to fall back asleep…but I think she will", Inejiro responded.
"Well, I'll go get dressed and…I'll be going", Itsuki said, before bowing in appreciation for the meal silently, and heading upstairs. Everyone except for Fuutarou nodded knowingly.
"And what about you, Nino? What are you gonna do?", Inejiro asked.
"Oh don't even think about telling me to join you", Nino said.
"Suit yourself. But, the fact that we don't have our own private session today, DOES NOT MEAN that you shouldn't study".
"Blah blah blah, I know what a school exam is. Chill out".
"Do you want me to go study with you in your room? Or wherever".
"And w-why would I want that!?", Nino yelled. Everyone else looked at Inejiro curiously. Fuutarou, in particular, was interested in the results of this negotiation.
"BECAUSE YOU NEED HELP", Inejiro said firmly.
"S-Shit, man…I'm not doing that bad".
"You're doing better. Because with our mini sessions, I make sure you study".
"Bleah. You just do those lunch sessions so you can hang out with-"
"US. ROOM. NOW", Inejiro said with as stern a voice as he could muster, pointing straight at Nino's room. The other girls watched with their eyes wide open as they saw a side of Inejiro they had not seen in a long while. That's the kind of commanding authority he used to reserve for playground bullies and the like back in the day. He's done playing around it would seem. He's really making sure to try as hard as possible to give each girl the best possible chance to pass. Fuutarou knows why, but Miku and Yotsuba (and Nino herself) don't.
"Look at this guy, he thinks he can order me around now", Nino said…before taking one look at Inejiro's stern prison warden-like look, standing tall over her with his arms crossed. "E-Eh…sure, fine. But because I want to, not because I'm scared of your ass", Nino said as she swiftly headed back upstairs. "Well, are you coming or not?", she yelled as she stood in the middle of the stairway.
"Yeah, coming", Inejiro said as he turned to leave. On his way to Nino's room, he ran into Ichika, who had just finished getting dressed.
"Oh, Jiro, I heard that…you must be…in great need", she said with her usual devious expression.
"I'm in great need of full employment, Ichika. And let's leave it at that. By the way, your breakfast is still available, though your toast is probably cold by now".
"Oh if you made it I'm sure it's…edible. By the way, you're gonna leave us at Fuutarou-kun's mercy again, aren't you?"
"Needs must. You'll be fine", Inejiro said as he finally headed upstairs and into Nino's room, who had left her door half-opened.
"Close it", Nino said, pointing at the door. Inejiro obliged. "Now, you will explain something to me".
"Oh sure. What do you need help with?"
"Okay. Let's see. Since this whole tutoring crap started, I have never seen you take it seriously in the slightest. You're always sitting around doing nothing while Uesugi does all the work. And now all of a sudden you're all gung-ho about it. Why?"
"You mean 'why am I doing my job'? 'Why am I trying to make sure you get out of high school when you're 18-years old like any other japanese teenager'?"
"Yes. That. Explain".
"It doesn't require an explanation. It answers itself".
"You know as well as I do that NONE of us are getting expelled just for failing these midterms. We can always make up for it in the finals. So, there must be another reason. I want you to tell me said reason.
"Look, Nino, to be honest, I don't need to tell you anything. This crap is driving me crazy enough without your inquisitorial bullshit, so keep it".
"You're hiding shit, as usual. And I will find out, as usual. And I'm really getting tired of you hiding shit from me".
"Oh yeah? Well, how about you tell me why you kidnapped Uesugi's student handbook? What did you make him come up here to do?"
"I just wanted him to…help me pierce my ears".
"I overheard some of that, yeah. Why him, though?"
"You're liable to tear my whole ear off if I let you try to do that, so no".
"Hey I'm not THAT much of a brute".
"Stick to spouting useless trivia and sports, that's what you're good at. Leave anything requiring fine motor skills to others".
"Hey I wouldn't be any good at sports if I had no motor skills!"
"Fine motor skills. You don't need that much of those to hit a ball really hard or to stand in the way of the opposing player, do you?"
"Fine, fine. But still, why him and not one of your sisters?"
"None of them know how to do it. Not even Ichika".
"And what made you think Uesugi would?"
"Just a hunch. And I had to try".
"So what happened? Did he refuse?"
"Nah, the idiot tried to take his handbook away from my pocket while I was distracted, so I kicked him. Somehow the handbook fell, and it opened on a page with a picture in it".
"Oh yeah, the picture. Uesugi is really protective of it".
"It's a photo of a relative of his. It's…", Nino blushed heavily as she discussed it. "I-I can't believe those two guys are related".
"You fell in love with a picture of some relative of Uesugi?", Inejiro asked as he chuckled.
"Moron! I didn't 'fall in love' with it. It's just…his cousin or whatever he is seems like a really cool, good looking guy".
"Does he look like Uesugi?"
"Not at all! In that picture he had his hair dyed blond, his left ear pierced, and he just had a look of…soooo cool!"
"Hair dyed blond? Kinda like his dad".
"His father must be really good looking then. How he produced such…offspring is a mystery. Oh not Uesugi's sister though, she's cute too…it's just him".
"But wait. How old does…'Uesugi's cousin' look in the picture?"
"I don't know. Like…13?"
"Interesting tastes, Nino".
"And what was that supposed to mean!?"
"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all".
"It didn't seem like nothing!"
"Relax, Nino, I'm joking. Still…is he that protective of an old photo of a relative?"
"What the hell do I know? Guy's a creep, who knows what he keeps the picture for".
"It's…did it seem to you like Uesugi actually knew how to pierce ears?"
"He was about to do it before he took a swipe at the handbook. He seemed to know how to use the piercer, but he may have been faking it, anything's possible with that guy".
"Alright. Let's put a lid on this for now".
"You're up to something! I know it!"
"Up to making you study".
"Nah, I told you all that. Now you're telling me why your change of attitude. Or I'm not studying at all".
"Fuck, Nino. Look…I'll tell you. BUT. First, swear that you WILL NOT use this information for ANY improper acts".
"What the hell do you mean, 'improper acts'? It sounds shady as hell".
"Swear it on the soul of your mother".
"What!?"
"Else I'm not saying shit. I need some guarantee. It's really important, Nino".
"Fine, FINE. I swear it. If it's that important…".
"Your father says that if any one of you fails your midterms, he's firing Uesugi".
"Eh!? That's…so he's not gonna be here for long, is he?"
"If I can help it, he will. With this information, you could fail on purpose just to get him out of the way. You SWORE not to do this. I'll trust you".
"But…why the hell do you care so much? He's not firing you! It's just him!"
"He has a family to take care of, Nino. And shit, you don't like him, I get it, but he works his ass off. So this conversation is over, we're back to studying".
"You just…for that guy", Nino said, before letting out a loud sigh. "I even thought at one point you'd be the first to try to run him off. Shows what I know".
"We'll discuss that later".
"Nothing to discuss. You're helping a guy who you don't even know, and letting him get entangled with our family. I don't think you even really know what the hell you're doing".
"Nino. What the hell do you even mean?"
"If he left…everything would go back to the way it always was. Don't you want that? Do you want to compete with that guy?"
"Compete?"
"Yeah, compete, dumbass. Exactly as I said it".
"You think I think he's 'gonna steal you girls away from me' or something?"
"Not me. But fat chance you'll ever be into me in the first place. And shut up, I see shit, I hear shit. I live with these girls in this house. I don't know exactly what's going on but I can take a hint. So don't deny it".
"There's…I can't talk about that now".
"Yeah, yeah. While you're here locked up with me, that guy, he's down there, building trust with my sisters. You want my advice? I know your 'solidarity' schtick, so don't start. I know you're kind. But leave some space for not being an absolute idiot. You don't wanna wake up one day and figure out that while you weren't looking, everyone you ever cared about ran off after some other guy".
"That's how you felt about Natsumi, I take it?"
"Y-Yeah…a little. But that's…it is what it is. Now go back down there, I can study by myself".
"I told you I would help you and I will".
"Do you ever listen to anything anyone says!?"
"My grandpa, sometimes. When he's not rambling".
"Man, I fucking swear…do you need me to repeat everything again?"
"No. You said your piece. I wanna help you, that's all".
"Shut up. It's about Uesugi".
"Do you think I hate you? Well, I don't".
"You should".
"Well, I don't", Inejiro repeated, with more emphasis this time.
"You know what? You want to be a blind idiot SO BADLY, be a blind idiot. I don't care anymore. Yes, I could use some help studying. There you go, I said it".
"Maaan, finally. We wasted a good half hour on this nonsense. We'll need to make up time".
Nino shook her head, while she let out a smile that she tried to keep from Inejiro's sight.
"There's no saving you from yourself".
"If someone told me two months ago that the two of us would be alone in your room having a conversation like this, I'd told them to fuck off, no way that would happen. So…I'd say I'm doing alright for myself".
"OKAY, THAT'S IT! KEEP THIS UP AND I'LL BEHEAD YOU".
"Whoa, behead me. You can't reach my head".
"I'll break your legs and make you kneel".
"Nice fantasies there".
"I will…pretend that you didn't mean what I THINK YOU MEANT".
"I meant nothing".
"Yeah, sure. Now sit your ass down here if you want to study so much", said Nino, pointing at one of the two chairs that lay next to her desk. "Hope your fat ass doesn't break it".
"You'll just make Maruo pay for a new one. Big deal".
"Just…shut up", Nino said angrily, while Inejiro laughed.
Hours went by, with Nino and Inejiro studying together in her room, while the actual tutoring session went on downstairs. Itsuki went to pay her respects to Rena's final resting place, but came back not long after, and locked herself up in her room. Close to midday everyone served themselves some leftovers but went on studying while they had lunch. It wasn't until about the late afternoon that Nino and Inejiro decided to call it a day.
"Man…I'm tired as hell", Nino said as she stretched in her chair.
"So? Feeling better prepared?"
"A little bit, I guess…in English, in particular, I'm feeling more confident".
"Yeah, I noticed. Gotta do well in more than English to pass, though…"
"I KNOW. I'll try to do my best, but I won't kill myself studying either. I need a break now".
"And I should probably go see what they're up to down there", Inejiro said as he got up, stretched, and headed towards the door.
"Inejiro. Th-Thank you for this", Nino said, looking away.
"Don't mention it. Remember, I trust you'll do your best. And…don't spread that around either. Don't wanna pressure the girls".
"Is it that or do you not want them to get angry at dad?", Nino asked, now having stood up and staring straight at Inejiro.
"They'll be plenty angry anyways if he does fire him", Inejiro said, turning around to face her.
"Yeah, and you'll find a way to justify him, as always".
"'As always'?"
"A lot of the time, yeah. I get he's your boss, but…"
"It's not that".
"Then what the hell is it?"
"I'm not gonna argue about your father now, Nino. Don't you want a break?"
"Yeah, weasel out of it. Nice. I do want a fucking break. In fact, I've got shit to do", Nino said as she left her room. Inejiro followed suit. He found Fuutarou by himself downstairs sitting by the living room table writing on some papers, probably grading some tests. Neither of the girls are anywhere to be seen, even Nino, who Inejiro saw leave her room.
"So, how did the session go, Uesugi?", Inejiro asked as he stood next to the tutor, who sighed heavily.
"Nakamura…they have been improving. But…it's not enough. It's never gonna be enough!"
"You said they're improving. Take what you can get".
"Yeah…I guess. Still, it's not enough! And you say they need to take breaks too…but they need more studying!"
"They do need a rest, yeah. Give 'em at least an hour off, if not more".
"Eh!? So we're done for today? It's not enough!"
"Uesugi…gimme a few minutes", Inejiro told Fuutarou as he headed back upstairs, and knocked on Ichika's door. The elder quint opened relatively quickly this time.
"Oh! Jiro. I'm on a break right now…"
"I need to talk to you about something. No studying, promise".
"Oh, sure. Do you wanna come in or…?"
"Nah. I'll go outside for a smoke. Come join me".
"Okay then", Ichika said as she left her room and followed Inejiro downstairs.
"Hey, Fuutarou-kun. How did we do?", Ichika asked as she walked past Fuutarou.
"Just…fine", said a frustrated Fuutarou.
"That's great then! Isn't it?"
"Fine is fine. Not great".
"Leave him to his work, Ichika. Come on", Inejiro said as he gestured to her to head out to the balcony.
"So, Ichika", Inejiro started saying as he lit up a cigarette. "You like to plot, don't you?"
"Jiro! What is that supposed to mean?", Ichika asked with fake indignation.
"Yeah yeah. I need to use your superpowers for good for once".
"Oh? Is that so? What do you need big sis for?"
"I need Uesugi to stay the night here, somehow".
"Eh? That's…that's not what I was expecting at all!"
"You girls need to study more. And SOME of you only do it when he's around. It's true that you need a break now…but you need to go back to studying later. It'll get late, keeping him here is the most efficient way to go about it. He'll be here tomorrow morning already as well, so, two birds in one stone".
"And what do you intend me to do exactly? …That you'd go so low to sell my body for the sake of a test, Jiro. For shame", Ichika said in her usual teasing tone.
"That would actually probably not work".
"Eh…you're not wrong".
"I don't know just…find a way. You're the only one who can do it. Any of the other girls can't…for wildly different reasons".
"You can, Jiro".
"It's not my house, is it?"
"It might as well be. You have keys to the place. Isn't that how it works? You give someone keys…it might as well be their home too".
"Oh, you know about that too. I'm shocked. Even when she's in Europe she finds time to gossip".
"There's always time to gossip, Jiro. And I wanna imagine you two have been talking as well".
"Not that much…I mean, she's busy, don't wanna be annoying or anything".
"Jiro! Call that girl!"
"We have texted and everything. But you know…not only is she busy I'm bloody busy too as you can see!"
"Oh my God! You're so dumb!"
"Bah. Yeah, of course I should call her. And you should make sure Uesugi stays over".
"Of course I will! I love your idea!"
"Then…all that arguing…for nothing".
"I wasn't arguing. But really, don't be silly, this is your home too. In fact, you could move in if you wanted to, I doubt any of us would disagree".
"Nino might".
"You spent the whole day with Nino, Jiro. That stuff is over".
"Well…thank you, I guess. I'll keep it in mind if I ever can't pay rent. First guy in the world to be evicted from his apartment only to move to the most luxurious one in town".
"Dad pays you more than enough for you to live elsewhere".
"I could live elsewhere and have to be cautious with my 'discretionary spending', so to speak. Or live in my place and do whatever the hell I want with my money. Easy choice. Also, I'm a single man living alone, don't need more space than that".
"We'll see how long that lasts".
"Unless Nagoya suddenly becomes a hub for the fashion industry, it's rather unlikely to happen".
"Could be Natsumi. Could be someone else. Who knows…?"
"Okay we're done talking, you know what you have to do. Devil woman", Inejiro said as he headed inside, and Ichika stuck her tongue out at him playfully, before following him.
"Jiro! Ichika!", yelled Yotsuba as she ran at them with a box in her hand. "Let's play a board game!"
"Board game…? How long is this break gonna be?", asked a still frustrated Fuutarou.
"Uesugi-san, you too! Come on! Miku is playing too".
"I'm grading your mock tests, Yotsuba".
"Uesugi, anything I can help you with there? You can take a break too, if you want", Inejiro said.
"Oh, actually…I had English and Japanese left, so yeah".
"Good. Join them while I take care of this then", Inejiro said as he picked up the papers from Fuutarou and went towards the dining table, where he would be more comfortable.
"Oh Jiro, so you're not joining us? It's The Game of Life!", Yotsuba said.
"Someone has to do this. So let's allow Uesugi a rest".
"Well, okay. Ichika, you're playing right?"
"Of course! Wouldn't miss a chance to play a game with Fuutarou-kun, would I?", Ichika responded.
"Have I even agreed to this?", Fuutarou asked.
"Oh. So Fuutarou is playing too. Cool", Miku said as she came back from her room.
"I guess I am…"
"Fuutarou playing games and Inejiro grading tests…the world has turned upside down".
"Shut up, Miku. By the way, from what I can see…your English REALLY could be better!", Inejiro responded.
"Who cares? I don't live in America".
"You live in what's debatably, an American protectorate, filled with American troops. So…"
"Well we can just kick them out someday".
"Attagirl. Wait, no, you still should improve your English!"
"Got you there. I'm on a break now, either way", Miku said as she approached the living room table and sat down on the floor, while Yotsuba set up the game. She did so, and the three quintuplets as well as their tutor started playing. Fuutarou's mind was wandering wildly of course, the threat of him getting sacked making it difficult for him to chill out for a while.
"Uesugi-san! I just got married! Gimme money please!", Yotsuba exclaimed after landing on a particular tile. Asking Fuutarou, the man selected to be in charge of these financial endeavors, to hand her a reward.
"Oh, right", Fuutarou replied as he was shaken off his inner thoughts, and handed her the fake money.
"You get paid for getting married in this thing? What kinda message is it sending to young girls?", Inejiro asked from afar.
"Inejiro, you have played this game many, many times. And you always make the same comment. Very unoriginal", Miku said.
"And shouldn't you be paying attention to the tests you're grading?", Fuutarou asked.
"I'm almost done, Uesugi. Chill".
"And what do you know about getting married, Jiro? Know-it-all", Yotsuba said.
"I know that in a best case scenario it does not involve a monetary exchange".
"Jiro believes in love, Yotsuba. As should we all!", Ichika said.
"Ugh, here we go again…", Fuutarou said.
"Doesn't matter. It's my turn", Miku said as she went to roll the dice (it's more like a roulette in this case, but we'll roll with it).
"Even in a game, I'm poor…", Fuutarou lamented as he looked at the fake money he had at his disposal. "Wait…WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS! BREAK'S OVER!", he stood up and yelled, as being reminded of his financial situation seemingly cut his patience for the girls goofing off abruptly short.
"Eh? But we already studied a lot today…", Ichika lamented.
"My head's about to explode", Yotsuba said as she hung her head down, with her ribbon, which seemingly has a life of its own, mimicking her.
"It's not good to overdo it", Miku stated matter-of-factly.
"That's true, but…", Fuutarou said nervously.
"Fuutarou…you seem more desperate than usual, are we really that far behind?", Miku asked him worriedly, as the three girls stared at their tutor.
"Speaking of which", Inejiro said as he stood up and headed towards the group. "I just got done looking at this. At least in these subjects, I can see some progress. Everything's not so bad. There are some areas that need significant improvement though, so no excuse to slouch", he continued as he stood next to them.
"Y-Yeah…something like that", Fuutarou said.
"Hah! So, you're not even studying, you're just playing games! I'm in", Nino said as she came back from…wherever she was. "Switch spots with me", she said to Fuutarou.
"If we're doing a little better, why do you seem so desperate, Fuutarou?", Miku asked.
"E-Eh…well…it's nothing!", Fuutarou stuttered, not sure what to say. Especially now that Nino's around. In Fuutarou's mind, she doesn't know that he'll get fired if they all fail, and if she knew, it would spell disaster for him. Thankfully, Inejiro already took care of that. But, again, Fuutarou doesn't know. The other girls know nothing at all, not even Ichika, Inejiro's co-conspirator.
"Do you want to join us?", Nino asked as she turned around to face Itsuki, who had just come down from her room.
"Itsuki?", Fuutarou asked as he also turned to face her. "About yesterday, I…", he tried to say to her, seemingly now trying to apologize.
"I have to study", Itsuki said as she turned to head back upstairs.
"Need help with anything?", Inejiro asked her.
"No", she said coldly, as she left.
"And you are done tutoring for the day, aren't you? Go on, go home!", Nino said as she tried to push Fuutarou out of the apartment, as he protested. Inejiro stared straight at Ichika, with an expression that clearly spelled 'DO SOMETHING'.
"Hold on, Fuutarou-kun", Ichika said as she stood up. "That's not what you promised. You said you were going to stay overnight to help us study".
"WHAT!?", both Fuutarou and Nino yelled in unison, while Inejiro smiled.
"I, myself, think it's a good idea!", Inejiro said. "Miku, Yotsuba, you don't have a problem with it, do you?"
"N-No", Miku stated shyly.
"Yay! Sleepover!", Yotsuba yelled happily. "Jiro, you're staying too?"
"The logistics of that might be a little bit complicated. I once again do not have my futon with me", Inejiro said.
"Have I no say in this!?", Nino yelled.
"Democracy at work, Nino", Inejiro said.
"Bleah, I hate this shit", she said as she headed towards the kitchen.
"I didn't agree to it either…", Fuutarou said.
"Uesugi, we need to get more studying done, so it's the best possible solution", Inejiro said.
"Yeah, and it will be fun!", Ichika said.
"I hopefully have not unleashed some terrible evil upon this household by letting Ichika run loose", Inejiro thought to himself.
"I suppose Nakamura's not wrong. But we WILL study", Fuutarou affirmed sternly.
"Still…the logistics", Inejiro said.
"What is a 'logistic'?", Yotsuba asked.
"And all my hopes for the midterms…gone", Fuutarou said.
"All I know is that I'm not sleeping with Yotsuba again", Miku said.
"Then you can sleep in my room, Miku", Ichika said. "And have Fuutarou-kun sleep in yours. It's the most tidy one, after all".
"I have no problem with that".
"What about Jiro, though?", Yotsuba asked.
"I must repeat again that I'm perfectly able to sleep on the couch", Inejiro replied.
"But…that sucks! This couch ain't comfy for sleeping at all. And your legs will stick out!"
"Well I don't see Nino or Itsuki cooperating in this operation…"
"I'm not!", Nino yelled from afar.
"There you go. It would be necessary for either some combination of the remaining three quints to sleep together so I get my own bed. Or…for me to share a bed with one of you".
Nino stormed back from the kitchen.
"AIN'T NO WAY THAT'S HAPPENING. WITH ME, OR ANYONE ELSE. PERIOD", she stood and yelled before heading back to the kitchen again.
"I wasn't gonna agree with it anyways", Inejiro replied.
Yotsuba stood quietly, with her face flushed.
"So, it's either I sleep on the couch. Or I go back to my place".
"Em…I can sleep on my futon and…Jiro can take my bed again", Yotsuba said.
"Him? Sleeping with her in the same room? No way!", Nino again yelled from afar.
"You'd make your sister sleep in the living room of her house?", Inejiro asked.
"I'd make everyone sleep in their own room in their own house!"
"Me going back to my own place is still an option".
"But Uesugi would still stay here! No way, if he's staying, you're bloody staying".
"Strange comment", Miku stated, with a slightly surprised expression.
"Well, well…what is going on here?", Ichika asked with her usual trollish tone.
"NOTHING. I said what I said", Nino yelled, again.
"Okay, so it's settled. Yotsuba, I'm sorry I can't take your futon, but…you know", Inejiro said.
"Yeah, you're a big dude and you don't fit", Yotsuba said. "Still, sleepover on top of a sleepover! Cool!"
"Hold on. There is an issue. I have no clothes to change into for the night", Fuutarou said.
"I have SOME spare clothes of mine here if I recall", Inejiro said.
"I DID NOT know that", Nino yelled once again, being a consistent part of the conversation despite a seeming refusal to communicate in a more efficient and less loud manner.
"I do your laundry more often than not. That gives me special privileges".
Fuutarou gulped at that comment. The implications of Inejiro doing their laundry, which include him handling some of their more private items of clothing, disturbed him slightly. The reality is, more often than not, one of the girls takes care of that part. But he doesn't know. Still, there's the general paternalistic relationship they seem to have which only gets weirder with every new set of information Fuutarou receives.
"But Jiro, Fuutarou-kun can barely wear your clothes like a dress. Not that it wouldn't be an interesting sight…", Ichika said.
"I have clothes he can use. That won't be necessary", Miku said.
"There. Solved", Inejiro said.
"And…Fuutarou, you can use our bath if you like".
"A-Are you sure that's alright?", Fuutarou asked.
"Of course it's alright. I'll go get you a change of clothes and a clean towel", Miku said as she left.
"And I'll go change into my PJs! Oh wait, we should watch a movie later!", Yotsuba said enthusiastically.
"You're meant to study, Yotsuba", Inejiro said.
"W-Well we can watch something educational!"
"Go on and change…"
"Hmph, boring. Ok, be right back!", Yotsuba yelled as she ran back upstairs, while Miku came back down.
"Okay, here you go", she said as she handed Fuutarou the clothes and towel. "This should fit. Do you know how to use the bath?"
"How different can it be from the one at home…?"
"This one's big. Meh, you'll be fine. Just shout if you need anything", Inejiro said. "And I, ME, will help you out. Got it?", he further stated, now staring at each of the girls.
"Yeah. Eh…thanks", Fuutarou said as he headed inside the bathroom, and locked the door.
"There will be NO disturbing Uesugi while he's taking a bath. Is that clear? Or do I need to stand watch outside the bathroom?"
"Jeez Jiro, calm down. We won't molest Fuutarou-kun", Ichika said.
"Yeah. I know strange things happen in this apartment. I wanted to make that clear".
"I'll go change as well", Miku said. And Ichika followed suit. Inejiro headed towards the kitchen, where Nino had been all this time.
"And, Nino. I expect at least peaceful coexistence with Uesugi".
"Shove off", she responded, dismissively.
"What are you even doing?"
"Just got done arranging the groceries I just bought. Or where did you think I went when I left my room?"
"I got kinda busy right away. Didn't see you leave OR come back".
"Paying very close attention, I see. I hope no one dares sneak into the bathroom…"
"NINO!"
"What? I'm joking".
"Sure you are".
"This whole Uesugi staying over thing…it was your idea, wasn't it? I'm sure of it".
"Shhhh. Don't spill the beans".
"I knew it. Make your bed all you want. I'm done warning you".
"But I'm not done warning you. No disturbing Uesugi. Got it? I'll be watching".
"Gah! I was just gonna go change, dumbass".
"Yeah. Go do that".
"Annoying son of a bitch", Nino said as she left.
Inejiro went and took a seat in the living room couch. It seems there's a moment's peace for him for the first time in the whole day. And this last stretch has been pretty hard, between classes, teaching Nino and her friends during lunch break, followed by the regular tutoring sessions, he's hardly had a moment to relax. Never mind that he'd probably need to be doing more studying himself. Although all the tutoring-related activities have helped his own learning, still.
Despite his already stated need to stay alert for any shenanigans the girls might cause, he nodded off for a few minutes. Let's imagine for a second that Nino might have indeed snuck into the bathroom and revealed to Fuutarou that she already knows he might get fired if they don't all pass their midterms. If that had happened, Inejiro wouldn't know. For now, at least…
A/N: Hey there, how are you all doing? I've got a couple of things to say. First: sorry if this chapter is a bit smaller than the rest, but I needed some to pick some sort of decent cut off point in order for it not to be too big. So I had to cut it off there. Not a big difference, but still, somewhat shorter than what I've got y'all used to. Also why the chapter name has that '(1)' next to it. It's supposed to be two parts of the same chapter. Couldn't put 'Part 1' because of pesky character limit. Boo.
Next, I decided to start mentioning what day of the week it is in those time and space things I put when a new day starts. I don't know if the lack of clarification on which day of the week we're in has confused any of you, but it had started to confuse me lol. It's a miracle I've been getting them right so far. Paying attention to the chronology of the original canon is something I try to adhere to, so that's most of the explanation. I might go back and add it to older chapters if I ever don't feel like a lazy bum (unlikely).
Last but not least, analytics are back, and apparently despite my absence the number of readers is pretty stable from September of last year, when I stopped getting data. In fact, I'm getting a few MORE readers than before. You guys rock! Thanks for the continued support.
Well, I said everything I wanted to say, hope you've enjoyed the chapter, and as always, reviews, messages, anything that gets me to think about my writing, massively appreciated. See ya around!