One month later...
Stopping at a traffic light that had just turned on its red light, a luxurious piano-finished black Rolls Roice automobile stood out from the crowd of vehicles stationed on one of the city's main streets. Taking advantage of the brief free moment, the rather peculiar-looking chauffeur glanced at his smart watch, spotting an urgent notification.
"Sir, the results of the national simulation exams that were conducted last month have finally arrived." Announced a tanned, blond-haired older man to the only other passenger in the vehicle. "I've already sent them."
"Very good." With a firm motion, Nakano Marou picked up a tablet located on the seat next to him, unlocking it and making a couple of motions on the touch screen to access the information provided by his closest assistant.
"There seem to be slight variations, but despite that their scores have improved drastically compared to last year." Said the driver, Ebata, as he himself looked at the results with the device on his wrist. "Judging from the results, the decision to hire a tutor was right. Of course, the effort of his daughters also played a role."
Marou had to admit that Ebata was right about that. A year ago, his daughters' grades had hopefully reached 30 points, and that in only one subject each. Compared to the average of 60 to 75 points per subject now, it was an improvement that definitely could not be overlooked. And while this was worthy of celebration, Marou was not as interested in them as...
"Takeda-sama has achieved the incredible feat of reaching eighth place nationally. A most commendable feat just like Kuruma-sama, who took 2nd place...and finally..."
With a desperation rarely seen in someone as stoic as the chief director of one of Japan's most prestigious hospitals, Marou slid his finger down the screen, scrolling up the ranking of students in search of a certain name.
100,089
84,281
43,839
1921
679
200
89
34
10
7
6
5
4
3...
"Uesugi Fuutarou-Sama took first place in the national ranking." Ebata couldn't help but glance in the rearview mirror at his friend and employer, trying to guess what he was thinking. "I'm sure this is a regrettable result for you, sir. But it is just as he stated."
"Hmm, it seems so." Marou replied in his usual serene tone before setting the tablet aside. "Uesugi Fuutarou-Kun...has been an obstacle every step of the way. Whenever he's involved my plans go to pieces. It's seriously annoying, even more so with that Kuruma-kun girl, backing him up."
After the traffic light changed to green, Ebata sped up.
"Just as determined and stubborn as your father. You're just as annoying as him." Marou muttered as he reached into the inside pocket of his suit to pull out his cell phone.
"First place..." Eyes wide as saucers, the hand Fuutarou used to hold his score sheet trembled. "I still can't believe it."
"Then believe it." Placing a hand on his shoulder, Takebayashi winked at him. "This is a product of your effort. And of course, a little of mine as well. Your Sensei is very proud of you."
"Now that I know the result I feel like I'm going to faint from exhaustion." Fuutarou said folding the sheet to put it in his back pocket. "I spent the last week really tense about the result. The wave of relief I feel is overwhelming in a bad way."
"Are?" Placing an impressed hand near her lips, Ichika teased Fuutarou. "Doesn't that mean you were afraid you wouldn't see us again? How cute!"
"Eh? Don't worry, Uesugi-san! Even if you hadn't made it, we definitely wouldn't leave you alone." Yotsuba said cheerfully while giving a fist in the air.
"Good to know, I guess." Fuutarou said with a bitter frown, a bit terrified just imagining what kind of silly plan these bimbos would have come up with to keep him as their tutor.
"Come on. You should be more cheerful, you know? Now Papa must keep his promise and accept that you are now our guardian with no ifs or buts." Nino said as she puffed out her chest even more haughtily. "Haha, I'd like to see his face right now!".
"He must not be too happy. Although yes, Father is a man of his word, so there should be no hiccups now. Or at least I hope so." Itsuki said as she took a sip of a bubble tea she had bought a while ago on her way here. "Added to our own results, it should be strong proof that Uesugi-kun is more than fit to be our tutor."
Fuutarou sighed.
"Well, the hardest part is over. We'll figure out what comes next." Fuutarou said after a sigh. "Now, can you tell me what the heck are you all doing in my house!?".
Indeed, at this moment, our group of protagonists was sitting in the living room of the Uesugi residence. The latter had already given up all hope of helping the girls review the wrong answers they had on their exams once they had practically forced him to cancel that day's study session with the excuse that they wanted to accompany him home for reasons unknown to him.
"What? Are we not welcome at your house?" Nino said with a characteristic frown. "It's not fair thinking that you're always at ours."
"It doesn't bother me that you're at my house, it bothers me that we're not studying..."
"Come on, just for today, Uesugi-san! Don't you think we deserve even a day off after knowing that we passed all the exams?". Yotsuba said with cheerful logic.
At the collective nod from all present, Fuutarou had no choice but to relent, sighing heavily before scratching the back of his head.
"Well, I guess it's okay if it's just for today. But what are we supposed to do? I don't even have a television."
"About that, how about a game?". Takebayashi proposed while clapping her hands with an idea in mind.
"That sounds suspicious."
"Come on, it'll be fun Fuutarou. I promise."
"Very suspicious..."
"Agh, god! Why are you so distrustful? Just say you'll play and that's it. We're not going to kill you or anything." Nino said impatiently before pulling something out of her school bag.
With a nod from Yotsuba, who gave them a thumbs up after looking at something on her phone, Nino washed up from her place and stood behind Fuutarou, who didn't know whether to be alert or not.
"What are you doing?"
"Quiet." With a quick movement, Nino used one of the green ribbons that was part of her repertoire of disguises to blindfold Fuutarou, who at this point had resigned himself to whatever was coming.
"How many fingers do you see?" Ichika asked as he leaned slightly over the table to show Fuutarou her index finger.
"I don't know. 4? I don't understand what the purpose of this is."
"Good. Now count to 10, Uesugi-kun." Itsuki said as Fuutarou, with his sense of hearing sharpened after having his eyesight blocked, could hear the girls get up from their places.
"1, 2, 3..." As he counted, Fuutarou could hear the sound of the front door opening and closing quickly.
"Quick quick, it's almost over."
"Everyone got it?"
"Get ready everyone, you too Raiha-chan."
Plus multiple hurried whispers coming from various parts in front of her that after a few seconds seemed to go completely silent almost in unison.
"7, 8, 9, 10..."
"Good, you can take off your blindfold now, Fuutarou." A calm voice that had been noticeably absent for quite some time was present in the room announcing the next move to be made by the tutor, who placed his hands behind his head to undo the knot of the bandage Nino had placed on him, and once he removed it...
"Surpriiiiseeeeee!".
He could see the 6 girls in front of him with their arms raised in a gesture that perfectly complemented their dialogue. Not only they were there, behind them could notice Raiha and his father smiling warmly at him.
"Happy birthday Onii-chan!". Raiha said cheerfully.
"Happy birthday Fuutarou." Said his father with a thumbs up.
Fuutarou blinked a couple of times before arching an eyebrow with a genuine expression of confusion painted all over his face.
"...Excuse me?"
"See? I told you I wouldn't remember." Takebayashi said shaking her head as she placed her hands on her hips. "Geez, Fuutarou. We're here because it's your birthday. Or well, actually it was a month ago."
Fuutarou still felt puzzled for a moment before nodding.
"Oh, right. I have a birthday in April, don't I?".
"Hehe, we didn't want to interrupt your studies so you could concentrate on passing the exam. But since everything went well, we decided to celebrate as soon as possible." Yotsuba said encouragingly before pulling something behind her back, being an indicator for the others to do the same. "We also agreed that we would give this to you!".
Ichika, Nino, Miku, Yotsuba and Itsuki presented five items for him to take.
"They're your birthday presents." Miku said with a small blush on her cheeks. "I hope you like...Fuutarou."
"Here, take it! You better like it!" Nino said with wide eyes of an excitement that was erased when she felt it being pushed away by someone to her left.
"Fufu, here. Onee-san hopes this is to your liking, Fuutarou-kun"
"Happy birthday, Uesugi-kun. Please accept it." Itsuki said as Raiha ran to hug her from the side.
"Isn't it great, Onii-chan? They all brought gifts! This plan was a success, Itsuki-san!"
"Wait a minute, you two knew?". Fuutarou asked his family.
"Hehe, yes. I asked Raiha-chan to please keep quiet about your birthday so that we could all celebrate it together when the time came." Itsuki replied patting the little girl's head.
"Looks like she also convinced Uesugi-san to play along with us." Ichika said in a contrasting polite tone as she addressed the adult in the room, bowing her head slightly. "Thank you for that."
"Hahaha!". The aforementioned simply burst out laughing while waving a hand to play it down. "It was no problem. That brainiac wouldn't even know that Christmas is in winter if it didn't come in a homework question."
"What are you trying to say, old man?" Fuutarou asked in an annoyed tone as the girls covered their lips to avoid showing the smile on their lips.
"That you're so boring! You should enjoy youth more." Isanari said crossing his arms before letting out a lopsided smile. "Though I suppose in a way you do. Even when I was your age I wasn't so bold as to bring a bunch of pretty girls home, you know. Your mother would have slit my throat if that were the case. You're a big man now Fuuta-".
"Dad, don't you have to go to work? It's getting late" After a stomp from Raiha, Isanari squealed before his youngest daughter practically dragged him from the scene so he wouldn't ruin the moment. "Don't worry, we'll probably save cake for you."
"I-I'm coming! W-Wait, not from the ear!".
Despite the seemingly innocent joke, Isanari's comment had left a tremendous mess behind him, with the quintuplets wiping their smiles and turning a crimson hue on their cheeks and Fuutarou grimacing somewhat uncomfortably. Seeing this, Takebayashi opted to dispel the mood with a welcome change of subject.
"Anyway, why don't you open the presents after you eat some cake, Fuutarou?".
"Eh? Did you bring cake too?" The tutor asked.
"That's right!". Nino replied almost instantly as she ran to the kitchen (which was practically in the same room) to bring, indeed, a relatively delicious chocolate cake. "I made it in the kitchen at work. The boss offered to give me one as a gift, but I wanted to make it with my own hands."
"I decorated it." The word "relatively" was because, while it looked like a chocolate cake, the decoration, consisting of a rather thick and uneven layer of cream, along with 18 candles practically cut out like a Pinhead head, gave the cake a rather unappetizing appearance. "I wanted to help prepare it, but Nino wouldn't let me do it..."
"I told you, decorating it was the safest thing you could do without messing it up." Nino said carefully placing the cake in the center of the low table while Miku pouted at her.
"You didn't have to..." Fuutarou said with a mixture of relief that he was sure this cake was biologically safe, and somewhat frustrated that he was sure his boss would cut his pay to pay for the ingredients Nino had used.
"It's not a party without a cake, so blow out the candles Uesugi-san!". Yotsuba said after everyone sat around the table again and Takebayashi used a pocket lighter to light the candles, ready for the birthday boy to officially declare the start of his special day. "Don't forget to make a wish first!".
Fuutarou, before doing anything, gave his surroundings a glance, watching the eyes of the girls looking at him expectantly before returning his gaze back to the cake before making a decision.
After blowing hard, Fuutarou managed to blow out each and every candle, causing those present to clap vibrantly.
"What did you order, Uesugi-san!?". Yotsuba asked bowing full of curiosity.
"No! It must be a secret Yotsuba-san!". Raiha hastened to intervene. "If you say so then it won't come true, right Onii-chan?".
"Yes. Though it's nothing more than a superstition product of this foreign tradition. My wishes are never fulfilled." Fuutarou said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Could it be because Fuutarou-kun makes somewhat disproportionate wishes?". Ichika mentioned sweating a drop.
"You didn't ask to be a millionaire or something, did you?". Miku asked with her typical bored expression.
"No. I asked for your IQ to increase. That way it would be easier to teach them."
"Well, hopefully your wish will come true Uesugi-san. That would certainly make everything easier." Yotsuba said being all smiles as Raiha passed from place to place offering a small bowl for everyone to eat from.
"You're lucky it's your birthday or I wouldn't give you cake." Nino said with a frown after returning from a short trip to the kitchen to get a knife with the intention of sectioning dessert for everyone present.
"Ah! In that case you can give me his slice!". There was no need to say who had made that comment, already presenting her plate to her eldest as a waterfall streamed down her lips.
"You don't think of others!". Nino replied, this time making even Fuutarou smile at the absurd situation.
Once a good portion of the cake had passed on, everyone was finally able to move on to the main event of the afternoon.
Time to open the presents.
"Here, open mine first, Fuu-kun!". The second sister shouted animatedly, practically jumping on her tutor with a medium-sized box wrapped with decorative paper and a bow.
Doing as requested, Fuutarou opened it to inspect its contents, which turned out to be something rather fluffy.
"A pillow, huh?" Fuutarou said inspecting the object, squeezing it a couple of times between his hands to gauge its fluffiness. Let's ignore the fact that it emanated a scent quite similar to Nino's shampoo.
"Knowing you, I figured you'd sleep on a pile of newspapers, so I wanted to give you this as a gift so you can get a proper night's sleep. You really look terrible when you don't sleep, so you might as well wear it."
Fuutarou remained silent, as he could not deny that the first statement was partially true. The pillows in his house were pillowcases stuffed with thousands of leftover pieces of felt they had gotten from a local business.
"I actually think this pillow is too soft for me. But I think Raiha could use it instead of me." Fuutarou said looking at his younger sister who simply sighed with a smile. "Thank you, Nino."
"...E-Eh, yeah it's fine. It's your gift so do whatever you want.". While that wasn't something she expected, the boy's thanks still managed to make Nino stagger, looking a bit embarrassed though she managed to hide it well enough.
"Now mine, Uesugi-san!". Yotsuba said as she handed her tutor not one, not two, but three plastic bags containing, at his sight, a huge amount of origami cranes. "Happy birthday Uesugi-san, may you have many more years! I wish you all the success in the world!".
For some reason Fuutarou saw it coming, however, he couldn't help but take a couple out of one of the bags to appreciate it more in detail and while he really didn't know what to do with so much folded paper, knowing that Yotsuba had taken such care made them special in a way. Besides, Fuutarou had to admit it was great to see her so animated.
"Thank you, Yotsuba. You did well making so many."
"Shishishi!".
"My turn." Miku said as she handed Fuutarou a blue origami envelope with "Quick Steps" written on the back. Opening it Fuutarou could see a pair of gym passes.
"Y-You mentioned that time you wanted to increase your strength, didn't you?". Said the girl looking visibly embarrassed, though she didn't seem to have any intention of taking it back. "I thought we could train together at the gym that's in the mall..."
Fuutarou sweatdropped. While sports were not his favorite thing in the world and would probably be at the bottom of his list of resolutions, he could understand that if he wanted to increase his condition, he would have to work on it the only way there was: the hard way. Besides, no matter how foolish Fuutarou was, he couldn't say no to Miku with that face.
"I-If you don't want to it's fine! It's just an idea..."
"No, Miku. It's great. I think it'll be fun to do it with you. Thanks." Fuutarou said sincerely with a nod.
"W-W-What? W-Well, you're welcome." Miku said, bursting into a crimson blush as smoke billowed out of her head like a forge. "Excuse me, can I use your bathroom?".
"Sure, Miku-san. It's through that door." Little Raiha said as she ran to point the direction to her guest, who simply went there without saying anything with her head down.
Itsuki could see that some girls, specifically the more mature one of the group, had a mischievous smile after hearing the boy's choice of easily misunderstood words.
"I guess it's my turn." Said the fifth and last sister as she approached Uesugi-kun with a small box in her hands. "It's no big deal, so I hope it's to your liking.".
Inside the wrapped gift, Fuutarou found...
"A stuffed animal?" Fuutarou asked a bit puzzled by Itsuki's peculiar choice. He identified it as a stuffed toy of a character named Kirby, same that Raiha liked quite a lot, since he remembered that she used to play with a lot of enthusiasm his video games when they went to the arcade that time.
"You had mentioned that you wanted to rest better and have more energy, am I right? I was researching and I read that stuffed animals have therapeutic and relaxing effects." Itsuki held her opposite elbow with a somewhat unsure hand. "But if you don't like it you can throw it away, I don't mind...W-Why are you looking at me like that?".
After returning her gaze, Itsuki spotted Fuutarou staring at her for a few seconds before he started exchanging glances between the small stuffed toy in his hand and the quintuplet in front of him.
"Is something wrong?"
"...Can I borrow your hairpins for a moment?". The sudden request from his tutor caused not only Itsuki, but the rest of the people present to arch an eyebrow and look at each other in confusion.
"W-Well." Not having a reason to refuse, Itsuki relented, handing her iconic star-shaped pins to Fuutarou, who held them in his hand for a moment before placing them on either side of the little Kirby's face before turning to show her.
"Itsukirby."
"MOOOOOOO! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!"
Everyone in the room burst into thunderous laughter after hearing Fuutarou's joke, causing the pout and color that had formed on Itsuki's face to grow even bigger, reaffirming her resemblance to that character. Itsuki kicked a couple of times in a tantrum as she quickly snatched the stuffed toy from Fuutarou to remove her hairpins.
"Forget it, you fool! Your stuffed toy is confiscated until further notice!. Until then Raiha will keep it." Itsuki said as she approached Raiha to give her the item, causing a great joy in the girl who jumped with excitement to thank Itsuki.
"Calm calm, it was a joke." Fuutarou said trying to reassure Itsuki while pointing to something on the table. "You can have another slice of cake as compensation.".
"Hmph! It's the least I deserve." Itsuki's expression immediately disappeared once the opportunity to taste the cake again was put on the table, keeping her angry appearance as a facade as she already headed for the last existing piece of cake like a shark to its prey.
"Fufu, looks like the best for last." Said one of the last two girls remaining to present their gifts to Fuutarou, who approached the young man with flirtatious movements as she pulled something out from behind her back. "Here you go Fuutarou-kun."
"Eh? What is this?" Fuutarou asked once he opened the gift card coming from Ichika's hands only to find a wad of bills. "Money? Why?"
"Isn't it obvious? Your Onee-san gives it to you so you can buy whatever you want with it. So buy yourself something nice, yes?". She said with her flirtatious expression.
Fuutarou didn't want to seem mean or anything, but taking another look at the contents of the envelope, the tutor really couldn't understand it.
"I'll be honest. Your gift is the only one that really strikes me as odd." Despite being a lover of money most of the time, Fuutarou really didn't feel very comfortable with being given money out of thin air.
"Come on, accept it! You can spend it on whatever you want, like books or stuff like that."
"Even if you tell me that..."
"Exactly, what were you thinking Ichika-san?". Appearing from behind the aforementioned, Takebayashi approached to give a smug look at the contents of Fuutarou's envelope. "Pfff 10,000 yen? Hopefully it'll be enough to pay for a subway ticket."
"Hey, Takebayashi..."
"Ara? What does that mean?" Fuutarou's attempt to stop Takebayashi's comment was undercut by the sudden pressure exerted by the first sister.
"Don't you think Fuutarou deserves a little extra bonus for practically working for free for you guys?". Without taking her eyes off her, Takebayashi pulled a gift card from her shirt pocket and handed it to Fuutarou, "Happy birthday, Fuutarou."
"W-What's this?" Fuutarou asked fearfully, having a feeling that the answer...
"200,000 yen cash. Use them as you please."
"W-What!?" Nino shouted dumbfounded. "That's too much money!".
"K-Kuruma-san, what are you-?". Before Yotsuba could finish her sentence, Ichika let out a small laugh.
"What? Is what I see some kind of challenge, Takebayashi-chan?".
"I'm just giving Fuutarou what he deserves for so much effort. Nothing more."
"Hey..."
"Fufu, what? your plan is supposed to be for me to try to match such an amount?". Ichika said placing her hands behind her back. "Could it be that you didn't know what to give Fuutarou-kun and that's why you're resorting to money?".
"Won't that be your case?". Takebayashi matched her stance, both without a hint of tremor in her tone.
"Nope, my gift is definitely considerate of Fuutarou-kun's tastes." Ichika took a couple of firm steps to plant herself in front of her.
"Fufu. Same here, though after all, I am her childhood friend." Takebayashi said, and with her back as straight as an arrow, she matched the amount of steps taken by the quintuplet Onee-san to be practically face to face with her. Both girls were of equal height, however, their closeness caused certain areas under their clavicles to collide with each other, pressing together in a marshmallow party. While Ichika's and, consequently, her sisters' imposing 88 cm were enough to earn the envy of the girls in the class, Takebayashi's 63 cm were by no means negligible.
After the eternal silence that had formed in the atmosphere following this clash, both girls simply smiled before walking away.
"Fufu, so that's how it is. Interesting." Ichika said with a smile.
"So it seems. Not bad." Takebayashi said likewise. Both turning to talk to Fuutarou.
"Nee, Fuutarou-kun. About my gift, maybe if you use it to buy something for Raiha-chan, she'll be happy. How about that?" Said the red-haired girl to her tutor before giving a wink to the little Uesugi.
"And as for mine, consider it as payment for all the time you've been teaching the quintuplets for free. There shouldn't be a problem with that, should there?".
Fuutarou was about to protest, but in fact, that sounded fair enough, so much so that he had no choice but to nod.
"Fantastic, that's certainly helpful girls, thank you." Fuutarou said gratefully before stashing both envelopes in a nearby drawer.
"So that option could also be..." Grumbled Nino with her arms crossed with a deep frown of distrust.
"Anything interesting happen?" Miku asked, re-entering the scene after the girl suddenly stopped hearing any kind of sound for several seconds from her small safe place in the bathroom.
"Looks like Ichika and Kuruma-san are getting along well now." Yotsuba said without losing her expression. "Anyway, what do we do now?".
"Uhm well, girls?". Fuutarou said averting his gaze a bit, causing the girls to pay attention. "I guess I should say thanks for doing this, you know."
"Awww, look, Fuutarou-kun is trying to thank us!" Ichika said in her classic playful tone. "Isn't it cute?".
"Don't make it harder!". Fuutarou growled a little red. "I'm not used to these things, so I guess I should at least say that.".
"Shishishi!". Yotsuba laughed. "You're welcome, Uesugi-san! But it's still early, and this is just getting started!".
"I know! Why don't we play snakes and ladders?".
"Sounds good to me." Miku confirmed, to which they all agreed. So the little Uesugi ran to her room to get the board.
Fuutarou parted his lips, and before the proposal that they should use the rest of the day to study came out of his mouth, as if it were a divine mercy for the redheads, Fuutarou's old phone rang with the sound of an incoming message. After unfolding the device to read it, Fuutarou's stomach suddenly began to contract with discomfort.
Nakano Marou: I'll see you next week at the park at noon. Take Kuruma-kun with you.