Itsuki 1

Things have been very eventful for Itsuki recently. She finally decided on a career path—to be a teacher like her mother. Then she met her biological father and immediately had a conflict with him. Then the war between all four of her sisters finally ended with a very unexpected conclusion.

At the first day of the culture festival, Fuutarou suddenly announced that he loves all five of the Nakano quintuplets. That made Itsuki feel very strange. She decided not to think about that strange feeling, because she knew it would only cause problems.

Fuutarou said he would give 'an answer' at the end of the festival, and Itsuki assumed that that meant that he would finally put a stop to the competition for his attention once and for all. That made Itsuki feel very relieved, but that relief was short lived when Ichika had the idea of forcing Fuutarou to choose a single girl by separating into different rooms. Itsuki was outvoted, and thus the conflict would not be ended. It fact, it would only get worse.

When Fuutarou did make his choice, it was perhaps the worst possible one for all involved, since even the girl that he chose, Yotsuba, wasn't happy with the arrangement. When Yotsuba fled, Itsuki felt relieved, hoping that that would put an end to the choice. But Fuutarou showed surprising determination.

Itsuki certainly gave some thought to the possibility that Fuutarou could have come to her room. She never showed interest in him, but neither did Yotsuba, so the possibility couldn't be discounted. How would she respond if he came to her? She's still unsure. He slowly gained her respect after a horrible start to their relationship, but respect is not the same as affection.

She had never been in love, so she didn't have much of a frame of reference. After hearing the way that Yotsuba talks about Fuutarou, she felt confident that she didn't have the same kind of feelings. In fact, Itsuki had noticed Yotsuba's feelings long ago. Itsuki still wonders whether she should have pushed Yotsuba harder to confess her secret and her feelings to Fuutarou, or possibly even forced her to. When the time came for Fuutarou to choose, and Yotsuba still hadn't confessed at that point, Itsuki felt very bad for Yotsuba. She thought that Yotsuba had lost her chance. She was completely blindsided when Fuutarou chose her.

Itsuki had a feeling that Fuutarou might have had some kind of feelings for Yotsuba. She always seemed to be his favorite. But with the way that the other sisters were fighting so hard, and especially as pushy as Nino had been, Itsuki couldn't imagine Fuutarou defying all of them to choose a girl that had never expressed interest in him. He turned out to have more of a backbone than Itsuki gave him credit for.

Several weeks have passed since Fuutarou's choice, and the fallout is far from over. Yotsuba's emotions have been on a rollercoaster, trying to fight herself to learn to be happy. Ichika has been bottling up her feelings the most, and she might be the one that Itsuki is worried about the most, since Ichika has been pretending like she's unbothered by the choice, and she has even been trying to give support to the other sisters. Nino is Nino, and is behaving exactly as Itsuki would have expected. Miku is the surprising one. Rather than being the most devastated out of all the sisters, as Itsuki would have expected, Miku actually seems to be less bothered than Ichika and Nino. It seems like Miku has developed a strength that no one expected.

Itsuki just received a strange message. Fuutarou asked her to have dinner with him. He says he wants to 'discuss things'. Itsuki has dinner with Raiha at least once a week, so it's strange for Fuutarou to formally invite her.

Itsuki is embarrassed with herself because her first thought is that she is being invited on a date. Maybe Fuutarou really meant to go to her room after all. Maybe Yotsuba is trying to get him to go out with her sisters because she still feels too guilty. Maybe Fuutarou is going to cheat on Yotsuba. But of course those thoughts are quickly brushed aside.

This isn't a romantic dinner. Right?

—

Itsuki is seated at the Uesugi residence, eating with Raiha and Fuutarou. She has been doing this every week, but she feels strangely nervous this time. Itsuki wore nice clothes and put on some makeup, and then was embarrassed with herself for dressing up. She has been nervously silent since the dinner started, waiting for Fuutarou to reveal his true intentions with this dinner.

"So," Fuutarou says, "How have things been going since the festival? That run-in with your biological father must have been rough for you.*

"Oh, I'm not too worried about it. I knew that guy was a piece of garbage, so I'm not too bothered. I'm more bothered by all the drama between my sisters." She looks at Fuutarou awkwardly, trying to get a measure of his reaction.

"Well," Fuutarou says, "now that Yotsuba was finally honest about how she feels, you are the only one that hasn't shown some kind of interest in me. It's kind of a relief, to be honest. It makes it a lot easier to talk to you, and I worry less about you."

"Wait, what?!" Raiha exclaims. "Four of the quintuplets like Onii-chan? There's no way that's possible."

"I know what you mean, Raiha, but somehow it seems to be the case. And of course your brother had to go and choose the most problematic sister out of all of us."

"Wouldn't it be more problematic if I chose you?" Fuutarou asks.

"Of course it would!" Itsuki's face turns red. "I would have slapped you and sent you to another room. I'm not dating a boy that called me fat!"

Raiha laughs out loud, almost spitting out her drink.

"Well that's not what I wanted to discuss," Fuutarou says. "I'm trying to check in with all of the quints individually and invite them to a study night before finals. I want to hash out all the drama. You're the second one I've spoken to, after Yotsuba."

"Well I definitely like the idea of hashing out the drama," Itsuki says, "but it's not going to be easy."

"So are you interested in a dedicated study night before finals? I was hoping to try for two nights, and plan for snacks and maybe some short breaks for board games."

"I wanna come!" Raiha says.

"Hmm…Well it might be alright for you to come for a few hours when we are taking a break."

"I'll make some snacks to bring!" Raiha bounces excitedly. "And I'll convince you to let me stay the night so I can be in the slumber party too."

"No, you can't. You'd be too much of a distraction."

"We all know you won't be able to say 'no' to me, Onii-chan."

Itsuki laughs.

"You're welcome to make some snacks too, if you want, Itsuki. But I figured it would be you and I doing the eating and we leave the cooking to the other girls. You're much better at eating than me though."

"Are you calling me a pig?"

"No, no, I learned my lesson a long time ago," Fuutarou says. "I just meant that you are an expert and I barely know anything about food besides Raiha's curry."

"Then you'd better finish college and get a good job, Onii-chan, so you can buy better food for us!" Raiha says. "But I'll still make my curry sometimes!"

"I'd be heartbroken if I couldn't eat your curry again," Fuutarou says.

"Do you really think I'm an 'expert' on eating?" Itsuki says.

"Yeah, you would be great for one of those shows where they travel around and sample food at famous restaurants."

Does he know about my food review blog? It has a lot of hits lately, but surely he wouldn't know about something like that.

"Itsuki-san!" Raiha says, suddenly excited. "You should make a YouTube! I have seen videos of people reviewing restaurants and stuff and they can be pretty popular. That way you can be a professional eater!"

"Well I want to be a teacher, so I don't have time for that."

"It wouldn't hurt to dip your toes into different things," Fuutarou says. "You might change your mind about being a teacher or you might not make the grades you need. You are dumb after all."

"Onii-chan! You can't just call people dumb! I don't know how you managed to get a girlfriend with how mean you are."

"Oh, I call Yotsuba dumb every day. She just laughs."

"It's fine, Raiha," Itsuki says. "I already know your brother is an asshole. I've slowly built up a tolerance for it. For some reason, Yotsuba seems to like it."

"Onii-chan, you need to work on your communication skills," Raiha says. "So Itsuki-san, I really think you should make a YouTube. You're so pretty that it would be easy to get views."

I already have a food blog, so maybe making some videos wouldn't be a bad idea. It would be embarrassing if anyone I know saw it though.

"So," Fuutarou says, "Are you in for the study night?"

"Sure, why not. I've already been studying nonstop anyway, and I'm definitely not going to turn down some snacks."

"Well I have a special favor to ask you," Fuutarou says. "Please help me keep an eye out for drama at the study night. I want to avoid it at all costs, and I'm sure you're tired of your sisters' drama."

"That's an understatement. I'm afraid this drama will still be going on at you and Yotsuba's wedding." Itsuki sighs, before shoveling down another mouthful of curry.

[Author's note: Itsuki becomes a big time YouTuber and goes to war with another channel to protect her sisters' cafe. That storyline is coming in a sequel series coming soon.]