Chapter 2
It was a sunny Wednesday and Fuutarou was walking as usual towards school, reading some pocket notes as well. Still, a young girl with long red hair and butterfly ribbons was able to catch his attention.
"Good morning, Uesugi. You shouldn't read while walking, you could trip and get hurt.", told him a very familiar voice, which made him look in front of him to see a smiling Nino.
"Oh, good morning to you too, Nino. Why are you here? You didn't go to school with your sisters?", he asked her, curious on how she wasn't with her sisters.
The social butterfly blushed while playing with a length of her hair, "I-I just thought of walking together with you, Uesugi. S-Since you told me that you trust me and w-we get along now, I w-wanted to walk with you."
Upon receiving such response, Fuutarou's eyes widened while a little smile appeared on his face. "Is that so? Then, let's go, Nino?", he asked her, keeping his smile.
'H-his smile is really too cute.', she thought, blushing and nodding to him while starting to walk by his side towards school. She also smiled, as she was glad that she could go to school together with him.
"You know, it makes me glad that you and I get so along now. I didn't like the fact that you disliked me and considered me an outsider, but I'm happy that you trust me now as I trust you.", he told her during their walk, making her blush more while keeping her gaze down.
"I-I'm sorry again for how I treated you when we met the first time, I'm so protective of my sisters that I c-caused you problems for nothing. Still, you didn't have to lie to me by telling me that you lived in the Pentagon.", she said, glancing at him with a pout and blushing.
"Y-yeah, I didn't have to do that, sorry. I wanted to apologize to Itsuki immediately that time that I ended up to create some misunderstandings between me, you and your sisters.", he told her, touching his bangs while blushing.
"Hehe, it's ok, Uesugi. I'm not annoyed by that anymore; I s-saw the good person you are, so I totally trust you.", she said, giggling and smiling at him.
"And obviously, I'm glad for that.", he told her, smiling back at her and making her blush again. She really loved his smile and she preferred if he smiled only at her.
Some minutes later of walking and talking with each other, the two students arrived to Asahiyama where they had to go to their respective classes. Nino wished to be in his same class; she wanted to spend more time with the person that understood her like she understood him. Though, she knew that she could see him later at lunch and after school for the tutoring session, so she greeted Fuutarou with a smile and a wink before going to her class.
Once she reached her class, the young girl greeted her two best friends and ignored the glances thrown at her by the boys. She didn't care if they were interested in her; they weren't her type and she didn't care about them. But the reason she didn't like them was also for how thay spouted some rubbish about Fuutarou after they saw how she had been protective of him when her friends called him a study freak.
Nino couldn't stand that someone said bad things about a person that struggled to help his family and another one like Nino's, so she didn't hesitate to look at her male classmates with an icy glare that made them look away. Her friends noticed this and were sure that it was due to something regarding the top student of Asahiyama.
In Fuutarou's class instead, the young man took seat at his desk and started to revise some of his notes before the start of the lesson, until an ahoge girl approached him.
"Hehe, you're always so studious, Uesugi-kun.", told him Itsuki, smiling.
"Oh, good morning, Itsuki. Well, what do you expect? I have to if I want to achieve great grades and help my family.", he replied, lifting his gaze to look at her and smile back, which made her blush a bit.
"I-I'm glad that you care so much for your family, but you shouldn't overdo it with your studies.", she told him, looking down a bit embarassed.
"I know. I'm aware of my limits, but thank you for worrying about me."
She blushed upon receiving those words from him, wondering on how the rude boy she met on her first day at Asahiyama became nicer. 'T-the fact that he and Nino started to get along with each other didn't change just her, but him too. I'm still curious what exactly happened between them when they were in her room.', she thought, telling Fuutarou that he was welcome while sitting at her desk.
Their homeroom teacher arrived some minutes later, but instead of starting the lesson right away, he talked about the incoming school trip on the mountains that would take place on Friday by explaining the main activities. He also asked if someone wanted to take care of the test of courage, but as he saw that no one offered to do that, he pointed at Fuutarou and said, "Uesugi-kun, you will take care of the test of courage."
The boy was shocked and exclaimed, "Huh?! But why me, Sensei?"
"You're my best student, so I'm sure you will do a great job with that. Plus, no one of your classmates seems interested to take care of the test of courage.", replied the teacher nonchalantly, making Fuutarou frown and sigh.
"Fine, I will do it. Can I at least ask someone from other classes to help me?"
"Sure, there's no problem with that. Good, since the camp's subject has been taken care of, we can start the lesson.", said the teacher, telling his students to open their textbooks.
Fuutarou was still a little annoyed for having to organize the test of courage while Itsuki giggled silently; she found his expression a little funny. She knew that the boy didn't want to deal with organizing the test of courage alone too, but she couldn't help him, as monsters, ghosts and darkness scared her.
The two hours of History went on fine for the whole class, with the golden eyes boy concentrating on taking notes for himself and his students and answering the questions of the teacher, but without sounding arrogant or too prideful. His classmates noticed that and asked themselves what happened to the once full of pride top student.
'I will do my best in my studies not just to help for myself and my family, but also for those quintuplets.', he thought, smiling and feeling more determined than ever. He also thought about a certain butterfly ribbons girl, who sneezed in her class and asked herself what it was.
'M-maybe Uesugi thought about me?', she wondered, blushing a little while the image of a smiling Fuutarou appeared in her mind. Since he opened up himself with her about his past and they started to get along, Nino had often some moments in which the young man's face appeared in her mind, making her blush.
Her friends noticed her expression and smiled; they were sure that she thought about a certain golden eyes boy of whom she was very protective. They didn't know the reason, but they had understood when she glared at them for badmouthing Fuutarou that he was important for her. But maybe he was even more important for their friend than they could think.
In fact, they saw how Nino left the class when it was lunch time and started to walk by Fuutarou's side, smiling at him. There were also her sisters, but their attention was more on the social butterfly and the top student, who were talking with each other.
"Eh? They assigned you as organizer of the test of courage?", asked Nino to Fuutarou.
"So it is. As no one in my class volunteered for that, my homeroom teacher decided to choose me for that role. At least he told me that I can have someone from another clas to help me.", he replied, sighing.
"Scaring people, huh? Sounds very funny, so would you like me to help you, Uesugi?"
His eyes widened and he looked at her to see a gentle smile on her face. "Are you sure, Nino?, he asked her.
"Of course I am. Y-you and I are friends, so helping you is not a problem for me.", she replied, blushing.
"Thank you, Nino.", he told her, smiling at her genuinely and making her blush more.
'I can't help it, I really like his smile. And I want to be the one he smiles at the most.', she thought, smiling back at him while her eyes looked a bit strange, but the boy didn't notice it.
Meanwhile, her sisters observed how Nino and Fuutarou were chatting together once again, not missing the blush on her face. While Yotsuba and Itsuki were glad that Nino and the boy were now friends, Ichika and Miku felt a bit jealous; they liked the fact that the social butterfly saw Fuutarou as a friend, but they didn't like how she seemed interested in him instead.
They were so focused on the two of them that didn't notice the whispers of some students about Fuutarou and the butterfly ribbons, who heard them and especially something that really annoyed her.
"Tsk, that loser is happy just because he spends time with 5 beautiful girls. I don't understand what they see in a bookworm like him.", was what irked Nino. Her blue eyes were once again strange while she glared at the idiot that insulted her tutor.
'Why you idiots can't mind your business?! Stop insulting Fuutarou!', she thought, wanting to make the jackass get expelled and blushing upon noticing that she mentally referred to the young tutor with his first name.
She considered then that she could call him by first name, as he and she were friends and trusted each other, so she didn't hesitate to ask him if she could call him Fuutarou. The young man was surprised by the question but smiled, telling her that she could if she really wanted and making her blush and giggle.
Once the two of them along Nino's sisters arrived to the cafeteria, each one of them took a lunch tray, with Fuutarou taking another complete yakiniku dish thanks to the social butterfly that paid for it and sat down next to him then.
"Uesugi-San, are you looking forward to the school camp?", asked him Yotsuba with her signature smile.
"It's been a while since I took part to something like that, so yeah, I'm kinda excited. Still, all of you 5 don't have to neglect your studies meanwhile.", he replied, swallowing a piece of meat of his dish.
"Fuutarou, don't worry, I will study more. Let's think instead about how to scare people during the test of courage.", told him Nino, putting a hand on his arm.
"Ehh? Did you just call him Fuutarou, Nino?", asked her Miku, shocked like the other quints.
"What's wrong? H-he told me that I can call him by first name, and so I will do.", replied the butterfly ribbons girl, keeping her hand on the boy's arm.
"Fufu, do you like Fuutarou-kun by any chance?", teased her Ichika, making her blush and frown.
"I-I c-came to see him as a friend, that's all!"
" C-changing topic, we can ask the drama club to lend us some masks and costumes for the test of courage, Nino. Do you want to go to that club with me later?", said the young man, blushing while looking at her.
Nino's blush didn't disappear, but she smiled at him and nodded. Their nice interaction made Ichika and Miku pout in jealousy while Itsuki and Yotsuba were surprised once again by how well the young tutor got on with Nino.
"Oh, does someone of you know about the bonfire dance legend?", suddenly asked Yotsuba.
"You mean that legend that says that if a couples dances together at the bonfire, they will be together forever like they're tied to each other by a red string of fate, right?", asked her Ichika with a smile, getting an eagerly nod from the cheerful girl.
"Yes, that one! I find it pretty romantic!" said Yotsuba while Nino blushed and glanced at Fuutarou.
'It sounds a bit childish as legend, but it's very romantic. If I ask Fuutarou to dance with me, will he accept? He and I are friends now, but I always think about him and I am very happy whenever I spend time with him. Maybe Ichika is right, I like him.', she thought, tightening her hold on the boy's arm.
"Hmm? What's wrong, Nino?", asked her the boy, noticing her tighter hold.
"Ehh? N-nothing, don't worry.", she replied, looking down to avoid eye contact.
The young man raised an eyebrow and suddenly touched her forehead with a hand, making her redder. "W-what are you doing?!", she exclaimed, totally flustered.
"I'm just checking if you're ok. N-nowadays it's easy getting sick with a flu, so I'm making sure you're fine.", he replied, blushing as well and unconsciously caressing her head, which made her smile.
"Fuutarou, you should finish to eat. Lunch time is about to end.", told him Miku, pouting in jealousy.
"Yeah, you're right.", he said, removing his hand from Nino's head and starting to eat his dish completely. The social butterfly frowned in annoyance, as she wanted to be patted on the head by him a little more; she liked receiving that gesture from him.
Some minutes later, lunch time ended and everyone got back to each own class, with Fuutarou reminding Nino to join him to go to the drama club together before studying in the library for the tutoring session. The girl smiled and nodded to him, looking forward that.
Back to his class, Fuutarou followed the math lessons carefully by taking a lot of notes, most of which were to help his students. He knew that Itsuki still wanted to study by herself, but he wanted to help her anyways to keep his promise to make the 5 sisters graduate with flying colors. Itsuki struggled instead to follow the lesson, but the boy passed his notes to her once in a while to help her, looking away and blushing.
That made Itsuki blush and smile, liking how he cared for her. 'I still want to study on my own, but I like how he helps me like he did before the midterm exams.', she thought, finding cute how he avoided eye contact with her to hide his blush.
When the rest of the lessons ended, Fuutarou left the class to walk towards Nino's and joined her to walk towards the drama club's room. Once there, he explained why they were there and received a box of masks and costumes before leaving.
"It looks like we have a vast choice inside this box, Nino.", he said to the social butterfly, showing her the content of the box.
"This killer clown mask would look very good on you, Fuutarou. If you combine with-", she cut herself off when she saw that he put on a blond wig.
"With this blond wig you mean, right?", he asked, smiling.
"Y-yeah, that one. Y-you look very good with blond hair instead of that bowl haircut.", she replied, blushing and looking away.
"Oh, t-thank you. Let's say that this haircut is the only one that Raiha can do for me. My economical situation doesn't allow me to go to a hairdresser."
Nino frowned sadly upon hearing again about his situation, so she changed the topic by asking him what costume would look good on her for the test of courage. They walked together towards the library by checking the other masks inside the box, with him suggesting to Nino to dress up like a vampire, telling her that she'd look both scary and beautiful at the same time.
His words made her heart beat faster while a smile appeared her face, accompanied by another blush that was noticed by her sisters when she and Fuutarou entered in the library.
"Ara, Fuutarou-kun said something that made you blush again, Nino?", teased her Ichika.
"It's not your business.", was the short reply of Nino, who crossed her arms and sat down again next to the boy.
" You two went to the drama club to get the masks? Did you decide how to dress up for-Aaah!", asked Yotsuba before screaming at the sight of a blond killer clown.
"Haha, it's me, Yotsuba. Your reaction was pretty funny.", chuckled the young tutor, removing the mask while Yotsuba pouted.
"Hehe, scaring other people during the school camp will be even funnier, Fuutarou.", told him a giggling Nino.
"Both of you are evil.", said Miku with a deadpanned voice, making everyone chuckle before the librarian scolded them.
After that, they started to study by using the notes that Fuutarou for them during the lessons and by having him help each quint with some difficult assignment. During this, the social butterfly pouted whenever Fuutarou got up from to check her sisters' assignments, not liking how too close he was to them. Still, her expression changed into a smile when he gave attention to her and patted her head to praise her.
'These two aren't just friends, they're too nice with each other. Does it mean that Fuutarou and Nino like each other?', wondered Miku, pouting at seeing the young man and her sister like that. Her curiosity about what happened between them that made them so close to each other was bigger now.
While she thought about that, Ichika caught her attention by whispering something in her ear and giving her a wig without being noticed by the others, except for Fuutarou that saw the wig.
'Why did she gave a wig similar to her hair to Miku?', he thought, raising an eyebrow. His curiosity was so big that after the end of the tutoring session, he greeted the quints before faking to go to the toilet in order to see what Miku was about to do with the wig received by Ichika.
He saw then how she entered in the girl's toilet and came out of it dressed up like Ichika. 'Why did she dress up like Ichika? What's happening?', he thought, following Miku without being noticed.
He saw then that she entered in a classroom where a young man with brown hair and a delinquent face was waiting for someone. Fuutarou leaned near the door to observe what was about to happen.
"Maeda-kun, right? What did you want to talk about alone with me?", asked Miku to the boy, sounding like Ichika.
"N-Nakano-San, I wanted to ask if you'd like to dance with me at the bonfire during the school camp.", replied Maeda, blushing.
"O-oh, I see. I'm sorry, but I have already someone to dance with.", replied the girl, making Maeda gasp.
"W-what? Who is it?", he asked, approaching Miku and making her uncomfortable.
At this point, Fuutarou intervened and opened the door, getting closer to a shocked Miku and taking off the wig from her head, which made Maeda's eyes widen.
"W-What's happening here?! And why are you here, Uesugi?! I don't understand!"
"F-Fuutarou?", mumbled Miku, blushing and looking at Fuutarou with widen eyes.
"Maeda, I fear that Ichika didn't want to break your heart and she asked to Miku here to dress up like her to answer to your invitation in her place. I'm sorry.", explained the young tutor, making Maeda gasp while Miku hung her head in embarrassment.
"Damn it! I guess that Ichika-San found me so ugly that she didn't want to deal with me directly.", said Maeda with an aura of depression around him.
Sighing, Fuutarou walked towards him and put a hand on his shoulder, making Maeda look at him. "Idiot, don't think like that. There will surely be a girl that would like to dance with you, so don't get depressed or anything, ok? Just try to ask another girl.", he told him, looking very serious. Miku was amazed by Fuutarou's words.
"Y-you really think so?"
"Yes, so stop beating yourself and try to ask another girl, ok? Giving up immediately is useless.", replied Fuutarou, smiling.
"Alright, I will do like you said! Thank you, Uesugi!", exclaimed Maeda, smiling and leaving the classroom while greeting Fuutarou and Miku.
Now that they were alone, the headphones girl was flushed and embarrassed after Fuutarou saw what she did and understood the reason behind it. She was unable to look at him in the eyes in fact.
"If you want to know why I was here, it's because I saw Ichika giving you a wig similar to her hairstyle during our study session. So after I greeted you and your sisters, I followed you and saw that you went to the toilet and got out of it while being dressed up like Ichika. I'm not angry or disappointed with you, Miku, don't worry.", he told her, keeping his arms crossed.
"I-I'm sorry that y-you saw me like this, Fuutarou. I-It's just like you said; Ichika didn't want to deal with another l-love confession and asked me to answer to Maeda by dressing up like her. P-please, don't be angry with Ichika for this.", she said, totally embarrassed and still looking down before she felt a hand patting her head.
"I'm not angry with her, don't worry. I'm merely disappointed with her behaviour. Also, I understand that you just wanted to help your sister, so you don't have to apologize to me, ok?", he told her, caressing her head and smiling.
His words and his gesture made Miku blush more and smile as well; she was glad that he wasn't upset about what happened and for how he helped Maeda. "T-thank you, Fuutarou. I-I'm happy to know it.", she told him, lifting her face to look at him with a smile.
"You're welcome, now go home or your sisters will be worried. See you tomorrow, Miku.", he told her, patting her head another time.
"Yes, see you, Fuutarou.", she replied, leaving the classroom with a smile and a blush on her face.
'Huff, those quintuplets don't think well enough about the consequences before doing something. So Ichika received a lot of confessions but rejected them all? That's strange, someone like her wouldn't have any trouble to find a boyfriend. I hope at least that Maeda finds a girl to dance with at the bonfire, even if I don't believe in that childish legend.', thought the young man, sighing while leaving the classroom.
Since he and the quints had their tutoring session in the library, the boy could go home directly this time. Still, a young girl with butterfly ribbons that was leaned against the wall surprised him.
"N-Nino? Didn't you go home with your sisters?", asked her the young man.
"I-I saw that Miku wasn't with me and the others, so I stayed here at school and saw what happened with that brown haired guy. T-Thank you for helping Miku, Fuutarou.", she replied, keeping a serious face and blushing.
"I guess that helping you and your sister with other things and not just with your studies became an habit since I tried to reunite all of you at the fireworks festival. You girls must have a knack to get into troublesome situations or something like thet haha.", he said, chuckling while Nino giggled.
"Perhaps, but we have you to help us to get out of such situations in the end.", she said, walking towards him.
She then looked at him in the eyes and asked him, "F-Fuutarou, will you dance with me at the bonfire?"
Such question caught him by surprise, making his eyes widen while his cheeks got red. "Huh? Y-you want to dance with me at the bonfire?"
Nino blushed more and frowned, "Y-Yes, of course I want! Y-you know that it's very embarrassing saying something l-like this!"
"Ok, ok, y-you don't need to get annoyed. Anyways, I-I don't know, I can't give you an answer right away. Can you give me some time to think about it?", he asked her, hiding his flushed face with a hand.
Nino smiled after hearing that, "Ok, I will wait for your answer, but you have to accompany me to my house in exchange."
He sighed before smiling. "Fine, I will take you home. Let's go, Nino.", he told her, getting a nod from her and starting to leave together.
'T-this was unexpected…Nino invited me to dance with her at the bonfire? I didn't think that she would get affectionate to me to this point. It's better I talk about this with Dad before answering to her invitation.', thought the young man, blushing.
He didn't know that his blush was noticed by Nino, who smiled; she liked how he was still flustered due to her invitation, as sign that it looked like she confessed to him. After the boy told her about his past and that he felt connected with her, Nino thought that he considered her as someone special and dear to him, which was why she started to be very protective of him in the case someone badmouthed him.
'I can't help it, I really like Fuutarou. That's why I get jealous when my sisters get close to him and angry when some idiots spout rubbish about him. That legend may sound childish, but I really want to dance with him.', she thought, blushing while her blue eyes looked darker. The young man didn't see it, as her eyes went back to normal when she looked at him and talked together during the way. This was a sign of how her interest started to grow already in something very particular.
A/N
Chapter 2 for you, everyone! Thank you for the reviews on the first chapter, I'm glad you like this idea of mine. As you can see in this chapter, Nino and Fuutarou got so close to each other to the point that she walked to school with him and also decided to help him with the test of courage during the incoming school camp.
The scene with Maeda was particular because Fuutarou decided to cheer up the boy to not give up already on finding a girl to dance with at the bonfire, making Miku see again how kind her tutor is. Said tutor got also invited by Nino to dance with her at the bonfire, asking her to give him some time to give his answer.
This shows that her interest for him changed into something bigger and it could evolve in something more during the school camp. Of course, she won't become a crazy bloody murderer or worse; she will be the manipulative, overprotective and possessive type of yandere, so don't think that I'm going to make her be like Gasai Yuno or like one of the girls of Higurashi.
Anyways, what will happen during the school camp? Stay tuned to find out.
See ya!