"Uesugi-kun."
"..."
"Uesugi-kun."
"..."
"..."
"Uesugi-kun."
"What the hell do you want!? In case you can't tell, I'm busy." Grunting in annoyance, Fuutarou turns his head in the direction of the newly arrived presence who had positioned himself at the urinal next to him while he urinated.
"Must be difficult, huh?" Ignoring his annoyance, Yuusuke Takeda looks at him with a smile. "Being the Nakano's tutor."
"And how do you know that?" Fuutarou asked cautiously.
"I heard it from his father." Takeda said. "That he hired tea for being the student with the highest grades in the school ranking to teach his daughters to keep them from failing."
"And how do you know her father?".
"My father is on the school board. He has been good friends with the Nakano's father." Replied the blond boy proudly, causing an annoyed grunt from the red-haired boy.
Damn bourgeois network.
"You have another part-time job too, though, don't you?". Takeda asked with a wink. "It must be difficult, but relax, I can take your place if you want, yes? Why don't you think about it?".
"However, I'm an employee of the quintuplets, it's not in my power to decide."
"Hmm?". Takeda...turned around. "So convinced you're that they won't let you go, I see."
"Hey, hey! Look straight ahead, you're going to get me wet!". He shouted in annoyance pulling away a little.
"But you must not have time to go on about it, do you?". Ignoring him once again, Takeda readied himself by zipping up his pants. "After all, there must be something more important for you to focus on."
"Now what are you talking about?" Fuutarou asked.
"I'm disappointed." Takeda said walking past Fuutarou to wash his hands before leaving the bathroom. "I have no more to talk to someone with no spirit like you. Now if you'll excuse me."
Leaving Fuutarou with more questions than answers, he could do nothing but sigh before finishing his business.
Once out of the bathroom, Fuutarou headed to his classroom to retrieve his backpack. The bell indicating the end of lunchtime and the end of the school day for the tutor's class had rung for some time during his little encounter with that fellow in the bathroom, so after a message from Yotsuba indicating where everyone was, Fuutarou left the school and headed to the courtyard, quickly locating 6 girls casually chatting with each other as they waited for him.
"Fuutarou, there you are." Takebayashi said once the black-haired girl saw Fuutarou approach the group. "You took too long in the bathroom."
"Sorry, something came up." Fuutarou said.
"I see. If you want next time I can go into the bath with you and hold it for you to keep you from getting splashed." Takebayashi said with a smirk causing the others to look at her dumbfounded.
"Yeah sure, you do that and I'll break your teeth. I don't care that you're a girl."
At the scathing response, the group lapsed into a tense silence before it was broken by the causers, letting out an amused snort before bumping fists.
"What was that?" Ichika asked sweating a drop.
"Just a joke, don't worry about it." Calmed Takebayashi. "Anyway, what will you guys do now that we're leaving early?".
"Uhm, I guess we'll go home to study for a while before the others go to work.". Answered a doubtful Itsuki who was still somewhat disconnected. "Right, Uesugi-kun?".
"Yeah, we should take advantage of this opportunity." Fuutarou nodded. "You what will you do, Takebayashi?".
"Uhm...nothing really. I'll be staying home alone again." She replied with an indifferent shrug.
Fuutarou only sighed softly. Apparently, that matter hadn't changed.
"I see, in that case-". Fuutarou is suddenly interrupted by one of the girls.
"Hey, I have an idea!". The one in charge, Yotsuba, stepped forward to speak. "Kuruma-san, how about you come home with us to hang out? Sure, if you don't mind."
At that proposal, everyone's eyes widened, especially...
"Ah!? what are you talking about?". Nino exclaimed putting her hands on her hips. "Why would she have to come to our house?".
"And why not? it could be fun! Personally I had a lot of fun the last time we studied together." Yotsuba explained without losing her smile. "Besides, where there's room for six there's room for seven."
"In our apartment we can barely fit!". Snarled the second one.
"Are you inviting me to your place?". Takebayashi asked pointing a finger at herself. "Me?"
"Yeah, dummy!" Ribbon smiled back. "What do you say?"
"I wouldn't want to disturb them."
"Nonsense, don't be shy! Yotsuba has a point, it'll be fun." Ichika said cheerfully. "So, what do you say Takebayashi-chan? Are you coming?".
Takebayashi, somewhat dubiously, gave a glance to Fuutarou who looked just as puzzled as she did, shrugging his shoulders as if telling her to do whatever she wanted.
Clearing her throat, the black-haired girl sat up. "Well, if you all agree. I'd be happy to accept your invitation."
"I don't agree!". Nino said. "Miku, help me out here."
"If Fuutarou agrees, then so do I." She replied simply with her usual bored expression.
"Tsk." Nino clicked her tongue before looking away after remembering something, deciding to simply give in before crossing her arms.
"Well, like Uesugi-kun said, we'd better get home as soon as possible to study as much as possible." Itsuki said enthusiastically. "We can buy something to eat on the way home!".
"Something tells me you have your priorities." Fuutarou said. "But I guess you'll need energy, after all, we still have a lot to do to make up for the time we didn't study during the vacations.".
After leaving the place and walking for a while, the group finally arrived at a rather modest apartment complex. Entering the reception lobby, the young men proceeded to take off their shoes with some difficulty due to the cramped space in it before wandering into the living room.
"Cute" Complimented Takebayashi honestly as she inspected the place with her eyes.
"Hehe, it's somewhat small, but it's cozier than it looks.". Ichika said. "Please make yourself at home."
"I appreciate it." Said the black-haired girl as she set her red-colored cloth backpack on the side of the low table, mimicking the rest of the sisters.
"Anyway, I'll prepare some drinks." Nino said as she headed to the kitchen. "And before you say it, no, I'm not going to put anything in them."
"Good to know." Miku said with a somewhat nostalgic smile.
"Well, first we'll go over Japanese. We saw a somewhat complicated subject today, so I'll ask Yotsuba to back me up." Fuutarou said sitting down at the table and starting to pull out his material.
"Aye boss!". Said the girl enthusiastically.
After two hours after their group study session started, Fuutarou decided to give them all a mock test to check their progress, including Takebayashi, who requested an additional test to measure their performance.
"Geez, this feels pretty weird." Miku said as she wrote. "At this hour we'd barely be getting out of school."
"True, but it feels good to have this cushion of time." Nino said leaning her cheek on her hand. "For now it's easy to carry the part-time job with school since we just started, but soon I doubt we'll even be able to all study together like we do now."
"You have to work today too, don't you Ichika?". Yotsuba asked.
"Indeed, in a couple of days the test screening is released. I'll see if I can get some tickets so I can go." Said the first sister with a wink.
"That would be great!". Yotsuba said cheerfully at the idea.
"By the way, what's up with Itsuki's part time job?". Miku asked looking at her youngest, who since the topic came up had been looking at her exam with an embarrassed blush on her cheeks.
Hearing her name, the fifth bristled her stifle all the way up as she swallowed nervously.
"Are? You still haven't found one, Itsuki-chan?". Ichika asked.
"P-Please give me a little more time." She said in a shaky voice, causing Ichika to feel a little bad for being the cause of her situation, however, she was fully confident that her sister would pull through.
"Less talk, more study!" Fuutarou exclaimed with a frown. "It's almost time for the national mock exam, you must be ready."
"I'm done." Nino said, crawling around to go around the table and stand next to Fuutarou...perhaps too close to him. "Here, check my answers, Fuu-kun~".
The girl offered him the sheet of paper with a shy but flirtatious expression, however, she was interrupted by another sheet of paper sliding in front of her face.
"I'm done too." Miku said in a serious tone and with a pout dedicated to her immediate. "You're in my way."
"Huh?" Nino arched an eyebrow at her sister. "I finished first!"
"But my answers if fine."
"Wow, these simulation exams are actually kind of complicated, uh?". Yotsuba said as she checked her answers.
"You're right." Murmured Itsuki concentrating on finishing answering hers. "But it's not like I feel worried about it."
"I know, right?" Ichika nodded. "We made it through the final exam, so this doesn't seem like a big deal anymore."
"Confirm, the way things are going I can already see myself graduating!". Yotsuba said with a fist gesture near her chest.
Fuutarou blinked at that. So, that goal that at first seemed so distant and impossible, getting these girls to graduate, was finally knocking on his door...?
Takebayashi, who until now had been silent simply gave him a thumbs up, causing the tutor to make up his mind to go on with his work.
"Well, let's see those answers!". He exclaimed encouragingly, causing a collective cheerful okaaay from all present.
Unfortunately the excitement lasted only until Fuutarou finished reviewing the Nakano's tests.
"If this were a real exam they would have failed by now..." He said heavily, inking the atmosphere with pessimism and causing the quintuplets to lower their heads in defeat as a black cloud covered them.
"Don't fuck with me! Their brains rebooted when they advanced in grade? Is that how they were made?" Fuutarou exclaimed in exasperation.
"Ah, I see! That explains a lot!". Said Yotsuba pounding her fist in her hand with realization.
"And I thought I did well...". Miku said sadly.
"This may sound like an excuse, but the new math topics are still hard for me to master." Nino said.
"Hmm, now that you mention it Itsuki-chan's grades in science have dropped a bit...". Ichika commented.
"I'm Sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Itsuki hurried to say with an embarrassed blush.
"Yeh, I take back what I thought, graduation is still down the block." Fuutarou sighed.
"Okay." Nino said in a meek tone as she looked at her tutor with puppy dog eyes. "Show us the parts we have wrong, one by one, please."
The other sisters smiled, being a sign that they were in total agreement with the idea.
"Okay, let's do it." Fuutarou said simply as he walked over to help Miku, who had raised her hand to ask for his help first.
"By the way, what score did you get, Takebayashi-chan?". Ichika asked curiously to the aforementioned. "You've been very quiet for a while now."
"I also failed." She said with a shrug with her cheek resting on her hand.
"Hmm..." Making a sound of hesitation, Itsuki, in a rather familiar scene, reached out to take the sheet from the black-haired girl sitting in front of her to read its contents. "Let's see...the grade, of Kuruma Takebayashi-san, is...EH!? 100 points!?".
"My God, how embarrassing!". Takebayashi said in a shamelessly feigned tone as she turned her face and partially covered it with one hand.
"Deja Vu...". Fuutarou muttered dryly.
"Mooo! You two are doing it on purpose, I know!". Itsuki said with a crimson pout.
"Hahaha, no doubt you're Uesugi-san's tutor.". Yotsuba laughed at the scene.
"Well you sure are Fuutarou's friend...". Miku said narrowing her eyes at her suspiciously.
"Pfff, cool! Fuu-kun girl version." Nino commented with disdain.
"Hmm, prize or punishment?". Ichika said flirtatiously as she winked at both black-haired with a small blush on her face, not disliking the idea at all.
"Anyway, Miku, what do you need?". Fuutarou asked placing himself next to her.
"Ah yes, about this part, Fuutarou..."
DING DONG
While Fuutarou was assisting Miku, the doorbell of the new Nakano residence rang.
"Coming!" Standing up, the fifth sister, Itsuki made her way to the front door to see who was ringing.
The atmosphere was calm, everyone was focused on correcting the wrong answers on their mock tests, with Fuutarou patiently explaining to whoever needed it, while, Takebayashi stayed out of everything but still gladly helped when asked or when Fuutarou was busy with someone else, something that certainly expedited everything.
Though, to everyone's oddity, the air around the room seemed to freeze, as if time had abruptly stopped. The former calm was replaced by a heavy atmosphere that none of those present knew how to explain, though the cause would soon become known...
"Pardon the intrusion."
As if it were a knife cutting butter, that icy cold voice penetrated the ears of the 6 teenagers seated around the low table, immediately turning on red alerts and turning their heads at full speed to verify what they feared most.
Standing just a few steps away was a tall, neatly dressed man with a neatly parted hairstyle and, perhaps his most distinctive feature, a sharp gaze that scanned the souls of all present.
"Father!?" Said in unison the quintuplets 1 to 4 stunned, Itsuki, for her part, stood next to the man in silence, looking visibly nervous just like her sisters.
Although it may not seem like it, the quintuplets had already contemplated that this scenario where their father would come to visit them would unfold sooner or later (later rather than sooner), therefore, they had prepared a sort of speech to defend their position and respond to any counterargument their father had for them. Nakano Ichika, as the quintuplet with the better lip and taking responsibility as the eldest, quickly took the floor to dispatch the situation.
"W-Why all of a sudden...? Besides this apartment...w-well...I..."
Though of course, once it was her turn to speak face to face with her father, the pressure from that man caused the rising actress to forget the entire speech due to nervousness.
Seeing that his daughter had remained mute, Marou decided to take the reins of the conversation, going straight to the point of why she was here.
"I heard that it's almost time for the national mock exam and...Uhm?". Marou interrupted his speech once he noticed a strange presence sitting in the corner of the low table. "And who might that be you, miss?".
His attention was fixed on the black-haired girl, Takebayashi, who offered him an elegant smile as she stood up to introduce herself.
"A pleasure sir, my name is Kuruma Takebayashi. I am a friend of Fuutarou and a classmate of his daughters." She said topping it off with a polite bow.
"Kuruma, you say?" The man arched an eyebrow. "Did you...?"
"That's right, my parents own the Mors Mutual Insurance company." She smiled brightly, causing the quintuplets to look at her in astonishment.
"What!? that famous car insurer!?" Yotsuba asked with a gasp. "Impossible! Why didn't you say so before, Uesugi-san?".
"Isn't that where daddy sends the car to when it breaks down?". Ichika asked trying to lighten the mood. "It sure is a small world."
"I see, it's nice to meet you. Kuruma-kun. I am Doctor Nakano Marou." Ignoring his daughters reaction, Marou bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement. "Now that I recall, I was fortunate enough to meet your parents some time ago, and on that occasion they had mentioned something about your transferring to this school. It's good to see that you get along well with my daughters."
At the mention of her parents, the girl's countenance soured slightly as she averted her gaze slightly.
"Damn bourgeois network." Fuutarou blurted out upon noticing this, partly to encourage his friend and partly to express his own annoyance at the upper echelons of society. Upon meeting Marou, Fuutarou was able to confirm that familial neglect was probably a trait that members of the elite shared.
"Anyway, I think I've strayed from the main reason for my visit." Marou said calmly. "I heard that it's almost time for the national mock exam. Specifically, at the end of this month. So, I came to introduce them to all of you, the sooner you start, the better. Come."
At the confused look of all the occupants of the room, Marou directed that last word towards someone else, someone who after hearing the signal, walked into the living room from the foyer.
"Sorry for the inconvenience. It was not my intention to come uninvited." Bowing as he plastered a smile on his face, a blond-haired boy announced his presence.
"And you are?" Miku asked. "What's wrong?"
"Eh? Th-That's the dumb one..." Nino said puzzled.
"Takeda-kun?" Ichika asked.
"I'm completely lost!". Commented the ribbon girl with spirals in her eyes at the mental strain developing in her head.
"What now?" Fuutarou growled having a bad feeling, same that was confirmed by the doctor's next words.
"Takeda-kun will be your new tutor from now on".
"What!?". As one, all the sisters shouted in unison as they stood up.
"Father, what does all of this mean?". Itsuki asked. "Please explain."
With a nod, the man turned to the main topic of discussion.
"Uesugi-kun. You showed great results during the last exam and showed me that being taught by an exceptional classmate is effective against my daughters' poor academic performance." He said in his typical serene and bored tone.
"Then there's no need to replace Fuutarou!". Contrary to all odds, Miku's tone rose slightly as she took a step forward.
Nino, grasping the situation quickly with a certain piece of information in her memory, could only widen her eyes in panic.
"That would be if he was exceptional." Marou said squinting his eyes towards the third sister, making her tremble. "Unfortunately, Uesugi-kun's grades dropped in all subjects since the last exam taken and consequently, his rank also dropped with them."
The quintuplets along with Takebayashi, gave Fuutarou an incredulous look, a look...of concern. Fuutarou simply averted his gaze as if downplaying it while Nino simply held his elbow dejectedly.
"And now, he is the student at the top of the school ranking." The man continued as he looked at the blond who had stood next to him. "Which means he's the most fit to be your tutor."
.
.
.
.
.
"Fuu..." The silence that followed that statement was broken by an unfamiliar laughter.
"FuuFuuFuuFuuKukuku..." Takeda was trying to contain a nascent guffaw before raising his head with the most euphoric look of joy and determination those present had had the misfortune to witness in recent memory.
!I did it! I did it! I WON! OOH YES OOH YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!". Gesturing in the air in an attempt to dismiss his happiness, those present arched an eyebrow at his sudden behavior. "Uesugi-kun, our long fight as rivals finally comes to an end today! I've finally bested you! HAHAHAHA!"
Pointing an inquisitive finger at him, Fuutarou could only feel deeply confused.
What the fuck was going on with this madman? Everyone was probably wondering that.
"It all started 2 years ago..." Having calmed down after his outburst, Takeda began to explain himself. "I aspired to become the highest position of all until-".
"Really, who are you?" Fuutarou stood up and walked over to stand in front of Takeda to question him, interrupting him abruptly. Startled by this, Takeda sweated.
"Eh? Well, I'm Yuusuke Takeda. I was always below you in the second place ranking..."
To the others, that certainly explained a lot, though...
"So that's why you were screwing around so much." Fuutarou stated dryly with an expression somewhere between irritated and disinterested. "I had no idea until now. Since I've always gotten perfect grades, I've never paid attention to anyone rank two or below."
"Rank two or below!?" Takeda exclaimed in shock, as if those words had pierced his pride, and indeed, it did a little.
Although no one verbally expressed it, everyone had to give Fuutarou the point while feeling sorry for poor Takeda who was playing a single player game this whole time.
"I understand." Itsuki's voice overlapped. "If you think only the most exceptional student is fit to be our tutor, it's perfectly understandable from my side. Though I presume that's not your only motive...".
Walking bravely to plant herself in front of her father, the younger quintuplet spoke with determination.
"However, I have my own thoughts about that." Itsuki placed a hand on her chest to point to herself. "I'll get the best grades out of all the third-year students!".
"Eh?".
"Eh?".
"Eh?".
"Eh?"
"I see." Marou said. "Alright."
"W-Wait a minute!". Ichika hastened to interfere. "It doesn't matter what daddy says. We are Fuutarou-kun's employers. You have no right over him!".
"That's true!" Supported Nino from her side. "You've ignored us for so long and now -".
"Notice it now!" Takeda interrupted her by raising his voice. "Getting Uesugi-kun to stop teaching them is for their own good."
Takebayashi arched an eyebrow curiously.
"It's his fault, girls." The blond continued. "Uesugi-kun is wearing himself out for you guys, can't you see that? That he's lowered his grades should be proof enough to see that you guys have turned him into someone ordinary."
"In case you didn't know, he has a life too." Marou stressed in a voice as calm but at the same time as icy as the arctic. "Why don't they let him live?".
"B-But...Ugh."
The quintuplets began their tirade in the face of such an absurd argument, however, once the 5 mouths present were unable to utter a word for several seconds, slowly but surely they all realized that they were, in fact, right.
The memory of that time in the Pentagon apartment, a week before the second midterm and the day of that fight between Nino and Itsuki, surfaced in everyone's mind. They had all been aware of the effort Fuutarou had put into getting them to learn in order to pass their exams, heck, writing 5 study guides by hand, each about 200 pages long and completely by hand made the point quite clear. God knows how many times Fuutarou had struggled through them and probably getting little or no sleep in the process. And that's not counting on every personal problem in which they end up dragging him into.
Miku cringed with irritation at having no way to defend herself. Nino clenched her teeth and fists in frustration. Ichika looked down in anger. Itsuki frowned in reflection and Yotsuba lowered her head in sadness and embarrassment.
They were a nuisance.
Maybe and they were right, this was probably for the best and-.
"So what?" The heavy silence was broken once again by Fuutarou, who began to express his point of view. "Honestly, does that matter at this point?".
"Uesugi-san..."
"I must say that they are taking all of this out of proportion. But what they're saying isn't all bad...if I hadn't taken this job at all, I wouldn't have been able to become ordinary." He said lowering his gaze to the floor a bit as he spoke softly.
Takebayashi had simply leaned further forward in her seat with her chin resting on her palm, absorbing every single thing with absolute attention.
"I thought I would know everything if I was able to memorize textbooks from cover to cover. But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that idiots like those five morons existed in this world...or also, how idiotic I was." Fuutarou turned to look determinedly into Marou's eyes. "As long as they want me, I'll be here. It's fine if I chain myself to them and yield my freedom to them."
"You're not obligated to go that far." Marou said in a monotone voice.
"I already went too far the moment I first stepped foot in your apartment." The tutor stepped between Marou and the girls. "And as such, I plan to go all the way, because my pride tells me I'm the only one who can do this task."
The girls blinked at his words, feeling the determination that permeated his voice, gradually smiling and blushing softly as a result.
"I will not allow your grades to drop again. I'm sorry to have troubled you with my drop in grades but I will show you all what I am capable of by regaining the title of the best student in the school..."
Fuutarou raised a hand in the air, pointing towards the stars.
"And by achieving the highest rank in the national mock exam!".
As usual by now, once again silence ruled the air around everyone once the tutor uttered those words. Once they understood his meaning, the quintuplets lost the color in their well-sculpted faces, rushing at full speed to surround their friend.
"Fuutarou-kun!" Ichika shouted, covering his mouth with one hand to prevent him from continuing to mess everything up at the same time as the others held him by the arms to immobilize him.
"Getting the highest rank at the national level is impossible!". Shouted Itsuki sweating profusely in panic as the youngster tried to speak again to no avail.
"Be more realistic, Fuutarou." Miku said with hurried concern.
"Mmgsrh!".
In a sudden move, Fuutarou stuck out his tongue to lick Ichika's palm so that Ichika would let go, which worked quickly after a squeal from the older girl before wiping it on the fabric of her pants.
"But being number one is nothing different from how everything has been so far, right?".
"Just listen!" Nino shouted.
"Sounds good to me."
Splitting the air like a fired bullet, Takebayashi's peaceful voice reached the eardrums of everyone present. The presence of the black-haired girl, so far so still and silent had made those present even forget for a moment that she was there, so it was a surprise to see the girl stand up and walk slowly to Fuutarou, causing the quintuplets to instinctively turn away from him.
"Fuutarou will be number one in the national mock exam." She said with an elegant smile, which, given the circumstances, was frankly unsettling except to Marou, who didn't even blink.
The quintuplets became upset.
"What are you doing!?" Nino spluttered.
"Kuruma-san, stop it!". Yotsuba said without understanding what the heck she was doing.
"Uesugi-kun can't do that, that's crazy!". Itsuki said sweating.
"What?". Takebayashi asked looking at them with her hands behind her back. "Don't you guys trust him?".
"Of course we trust him, but being the number in the national ranking is a completely different league than being the best in school." Ichika explained.
"He'll be competing with around 200,000 students, by the way." Takeda commented, causing Nino to point in his direction in a "see?" pose.
"Fufu, I see. That's it." Takebayashi laughed. "Despite how long they've known him, they still haven't figured it out."
"What are you talking about now?" Miku asked arching an eyebrow.
"Fuutarou is ridiculous." She said simply, causing even Marou to feel confused at the direction this conversation was taking.
The aforementioned, for his part, gave him an expressionless look. "Should I be flattered or offended?".
Ignoring him, Takebayashi continued.
"I don't think anyone here is aware of what Fuutarou is really capable of. Which is only natural, after all, I'm the one who has known him the longest. Although, probably improving the Nakano's grades should be a sign of how capable he is."
With a move that froze the blood of everyone present, including Takeda , Takebayashi planted herself in front of Marou fearlessly.
"If Fuutarou says he will get first place in the national mock exam, then he will get first place in the national mock exam." She sentenced in a calm voice. "It's already a fact."
"As long as I don't have the results of those exams in my hands, your statement will have to have a question mark in my eyes." Marou replied, returning his gaze to her.
"Then, I understand that if Fuutarou achieves such a qualification, you will recognize him as someone fit to be your daughters' tutor, correct?".
"Exactly."
"Good, then you have a deal." Takebayashi held out her hand so the doctor could shake it, which he did shortly thereafter.
"I've only known you for a few minutes, Kuruma-kun, and you've already made a better impression on me than Uesugi-kun." He stated in a dry voice, causing Fuutarou to make a poker face. "Well, since that matter is cleared up, I'll take my leave. Take care, my dears."
The man said a simple goodbye to his daughters and left the apartment being followed by Takeda, who apparently still retained his triumphant smile to the end.
"What the hell did you do, asshole!?". Nino shouted angrily as she grabbed the girl by the lapels of her school blazer, something that didn't faze the black-haired girl. "Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you got Fuu-kun into?".
"N-Nino, calm down." Yotsuba intervened by putting an arm between both girls to separate her sister from her, definitely the Itsuki and Nino incident had made her learn the lesson of intervening before something exploded.
"How do you want me to calm down? Fuu-kun's job is in danger!". Nino said letting go of her with a shove.
"Calm down, Nino." Takebayashi said without losing her confident expression. "What, you don't trust Fuutarou's abilities?".
"We already said it's not that, but what you intend for him to do is a bit..." Itsuki hesitated.
"You set the bar too high Takebayashi-chan." Ichika said trying to use her typical playful tone, though she was actually dying of nerves but she knew how to hide it well enough.
"I agree, Kuruma-san!". Yotsuba said with concern. "We trust Uesugi-san with our lives, but this is like asking someone to go to war with a nail clipper!".
"At least with that you can stab, it would be more like going to war with a toothbrush." Complemented Miku with a frown at the girl for the statements towards her father. "It would have been better if you had lowered it to the top 10."
"I see, you're saying there are 9 others that are better than Fuutarou?". Takebayashi asked arching an eyebrow.
"No! I...". Miku sweat nervously as her cheeks blushed and she brought her hands up to her face to partially hide it. "I-I think F-Fuutarou is the best..."
Miku said that last sentence almost whispering, though thanks to the relative silence in the apartment, it was perfectly audible to the others.
"That's what I'm saying." Takebayashi shrugged as she walked to stand next to the only male present. "Besides, I literally didn't say anything. He was the one who set that goal first, and as far as I'm concerned, he's not alone."
Takebayashi hugged Fuutarou's shoulder and glued her body to his in a friendly pose, causing Ichika, Nino and Miku to frown while Yotsuba and Itsuki clenched their fists at their sides, each with different motives.
"Hmph." Nino walked over to hug Fuutarou's opposite arm as she tugged on it a little. "Of course he's not alone, I'm here with him, or not Fuu-kun?".
"I'm here too." Miku said pouting trying to hug Fuutarou...though all she could do was grab a handful of his grey sweater nervously.
"Also, Kuruma-san, what exactly do you mean by not alone? I imagine you don't mean we're keeping him company." Itsuki pointed out.
"Isn't it obvious? I mean Fuutarou has us to help him study." She said raising a fist excitedly. "7 heads think better than one, right Fuutarou?".
Releasing his grip on the females who fell gracefully. Fuutarou let out a tired sigh.
"I guess. Also, don't bother Takebayashi, girls. As you say, I was the one really responsible for putting the noose around my neck with what I said to your father."
"Why did you do it Uesugi-san?".
"I admit that maybe the heat of the moment made it go to my head a little bit, but...". He said scratching the back of his neck before looking them all in the eye. "Your Father wants the best student for the private tutor vacancy for your daughters? Getting first place in that exam will be something even he won't be able to ignore."
"You had it all planned, eh?". Ichika said with a wink. "How manly, you impress your Onee-san~ However, your opponent is Takeda-kun.".
"You know him?" Fuutarou asked. The others looked at her as well.
"We were in the same class last year. It seems he was still a celebrity back then."
"Will you be alright, Fuutarou?". Miku asked with concern.
"Yes, Miku. Don't worry." Fuutarou said giving the girl a determined smile, which made her blush a little. "I'll take the responsibility. I have no intention of losing. We'll continue studying until the day of the exam, so be prepared."
"I-It's that so...?"
"Don't worry, Uesugi-san!" Yotsuba exclaimed. "We'll all study together and that exam will be a piece of cake! We'll show dad that there's no one better than you to teach us."
"They're right, if we all prepare together for this exam there shouldn't be any problems." Itsuki stated with a smile, more and more convinced.
"Yes, Fuutarou, what kind of a lost big sister would I be if I don't give you a bone?". Takebayashi said, causing a certain girl to arch an eyebrow.
"Ara Ara. Big sister, uh?" Ichika sketched a smile. "I see, Takebayashi-chan is right. As your older sister I should be the one to take care of you."
"Are? Ichika?" Takebayashi looked at her smiling. "I think you must be tired after all that studying. You'd better sit down or you might fall down."
What the heck did I get myself into?
Hello everyone! Takebayashi showed a bit of his true colors and what he thinks about Fuutarou. We can see a hint of what his presence might impact on future events and believe me, here Takebayashi was just playing around.
By the way,I want to take this A/N note to inform that next week I will be returning to classes at the university, so I can't assure an exact date as far as updates are concerned. But rest assured that I will continue writing and polishing my drafts to publish as soon as possible.
Thank you all so much for reading and leaving your follow/fav Don't forget to leave your review sharing your opinion!
I hadn't understood how to answer them until now on this site and I didn't feel like doing it here as I didn't want to bother anyone, but I'll be answering you all privately! :D