Chapter 3: Rooftop Confession
Hey everyone I'm back with a new chapter. I'm glad all of you enjoyed my last chapter and I'm thrilled to say this story now has over 50 followers and favorites! Thank you all for your support! I also heard that Quintuplets is getting a new anime project and I'm very eager to see what it's about. Hopefully I can use it to help with this story, but in the meantime Please Review and Enjoy.
We find ourselves back at the Nakano Residence as Riku stands in front of the Quintuplets who are sitting on the couch across from him with the exception of Ichika who is lying on Yotsuba's lap.
"I'd like to thank you all for gathering," Riku said.
"All we had to do was come downstairs." Yotsuba points out.
"I kinda figured you would have given up." Miku assumes.
"Like I told you already, we don't need some know-it-all tutoring us," Nino said looking at her phone.
"If you're so sure why don't you girls put your money where your mouth is?" Riku challenges getting their attention.
"Excuse me?" Nino asked as Ichika lifted her head.
"You heard me." Riku said putting some practice tests on the table. "You think you're good enough to pass on your own, well if you pass this test I'll walk out of this apartment right now and never speak to any of you again."
Hearing this the Quintuplets were surprised, he was giving them a chance to get rid of him, right now.
"Is he serious?" Yotsuba gasps.
"What test?" Ichika yawns waking up.
"I don't even care, so why should I take it?" Nino asks.
"Spoken like a girl who's too scared to try." Riku challenges looking right at her.
"Excuse me?" Nino glares.
"All right, fine. I'll take it." Itsuki said taking out her glasses case.
"You can't be serious," Nino said looking at her sister.
"I just need to get a passing grade and I never have to deal with you again." Itsuki declares putting them on.
"Oh yeah! Let's do it!" Yotsuba said excitedly.
"Sounds easy enough." Ichika agrees.
"Define passing grade," Miku asks before giving her answer.
"Hmm, I'd say if you can get at least 50 that should be enough," Riku states.
"We don't need to prove ourselves to you, but it's time you learned not to underestimate us," Nino said eager to shut him up.
As the 5 of them sat down to take the practice exam, Riku sat down and waited patiently.
Looking at their faces, Riku saw their cocky attitudes quickly fade away. Eventually, they all finished and turned their tests in for Riku to grade.
Taking out a pen, they watched as he marked the right and wrong answers.
"Well girls, I gotta say these scores were not what I expected…" Riku sweat drops reveal that Itsuki got 28, Nino got 20, Miku got 32, Ichika got 12, and Yotsuba only got 8. "They're worse. Combined you all got 100."
Needless to say, all their cocky attitudes had long passed revealing looks of embarrassment and shame.
"You girls…are pathetic." Riku declares.
"Run for it!" Getting up, the 5 girls immediately ran up the stairs to their rooms before Riku could make them learn anything.
'No wonder I'm getting paid so much. All 5 of these girls could fail.' Riku realized in horror.
This job just got a million times harder.
The next day, Riku was walking to school letting out a yawn.
"Ugh between tutoring and doing my own homework on top of everything I barely have any time to breathe." Riku groans when a stunning black limo pulls up right in front of him. "Whoa, who rides a limo to school?"
To answer his question, Riku sees the door open revealing Itsuki and her sisters.
"What's your deal?" Itsuki glares. "Stop glaring and move aside."
"Morning Riku!" Yotsuba calls out.
"You again?" Nino rolls her eyes.
"Oh hey, Riku." Ichika waved while Miku said nothing.
However, Riku noticed them moving particularly fast.
"Hey get back here! We need to talk!" Riku calls out.
"Don't trust him. He might try and teach us something." Miku said.
"I just want to talk," Riku said catching up with them as they came to a stop for him.
"Look I'll admit each of us has our shortcomings." Itsuki starts.
"That's putting it mildly." Riku mutters rolls his eyes.
"But we can manage just fine without any help from you." Itsuki finished.
"We don't need a chaperone to help us study," Miku said.
"What she said." Nino agrees.
"Oh really? If you're so confident then I guess that means you all reviewed the tests by yourselves?" Riku asks and instantly all 5 froze up. "So can any of you name the warlord who defeated Mori Motonari at the Battle of Ikushima?"
As Itsuki turned to him, he thought she was about to answer, but instead saw an embarrassed look on her face with big puffy cheeks.
'ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!' Riku snaps internally.
As the girls walked ahead, Riku looked at a text from his uncle.
"You can't quit just because they don't know the material. As a tutor, you have to help them at least try to understand what you're teaching." The text from Tenma read making Riku growl.
'Easy for you to say, uncle. These girls hate studying almost as much as they hate me for some reason.' Riku groans taking out his notebook.
He had to find a way to get them to study.
If he couldn't get them all at once, he would have to take them down one by one.
As he scanned the answer page, he made he was surprised to see one of them actually answered that question correctly. 'Wait a second…Miku got that answer right?'
Looking up at her, Riku saw Miku glaring at him before she walked away. But that confused him. If she knew the answer then why didn't she answer?"
At lunch, Riku decided to pursue her. See what he could find out.
"Hey Miku," Riku calls out getting her attention. "Can we talk?"
"What?" Miku asks turning to him and Riku notices on her lunch tray is Matcha Soda.
'Matcha Soda? I've never seen anyone like that stuff.' Riku thought before turning his attention. "Listen I noticed something about that question I asked earlier."
Once he brought that up, Miku gasped nervously.
He was about to inquire more details when suddenly.
"Hey, Mr. Tutor!" Yotsuba said hugging him from behind making Riku almost making him spill his food.
"Yotsuba?" Riku turns.
"Sorry, we ran off earlier. Don't take it personally." Yotsuba said.
"Hard to not take it personally since you were running from me," Riku mumbles turning his attention back to Miku. "Listen Miku I..."
Moving in between them, Yotsuba took out a piece of paper.
"Check out my English homework. I got every single answer wrong." Yotsuba laughed as Riku saw she wasn't kidding. She got a 0 on it.
"That is not something you should be laughing about," Riku said concerned.
Walking over, Ichika grabs Yotsuba.
"Come on, let's give these two some privacy." Ichika said winking at Riku.
"How come? I was just gonna ask him to help me. You should too." Yotsuba suggests.
"Hard pass. I mean why bother? We're all dumb." Ichika said.
"What is with you girls and being happy saying such things? That's all the more reason to study." Riku said annoyed by this attitude of theirs.
"Studying sucks. Do you really want to waste your high school years with your nose stuck in a book? We should be out there enjoying our youth. Falling in love." Ichika asks.
"Love huh? I have enough on my plate to worry about meeting anyone. And FYI you can fall in love but I guarantee you if you fail to graduate that guy will dump you without a second thought. Then where will all that enjoying youth ideals go?" Riku said hitting Ichika where it hurt.
"That was uncalled for." Ichika frowns.
"I'm uh…not really into anyone right now. Even if I wanted to date." Yotsuba blushes nervously. "What about you, Miku? Do you have a crush on anyone?"
Hearing this a blush appears on Miku's face before turning away. "Of course not. Ew no way." Miku said walking away.
"That was a weird reaction," Riku said.
"The way she reacted…." Yotsuba gasps excitedly. "As her sister, I know what that means!"
"No freaking way!" Ichika said excited as well.
"Miku's in love!" Both declared.
'Oh great just what I need? Another reason for her not to study and blow me off.' Riku thought walking away to eat his lunch.
After lunch, Riku went to his classroom.
'I swear it's easier to make my siblings study.' Riku thought when he noticed a note in his desk drawer. It read To Riku, From Miku.
Opening it, the letter read. 'Come to the rooftop after school, there's something I need to tell you. I can't hold it in anymore.'
'Wait…am I the guy Miku's in love with?!' Riku thought with a blush.
Riku had never gotten an actual love letter before but from the way she wrote it, it sounded like she liked him, but he was so confused about how.
'I mean I'm not gonna lie I'm flattered that she sees me this way but we only met 3 days ago. I'll talk to her but maybe I can say I need to get to know her better before I say anything. Yeah, that could work.' Riku thought when Itsuki walked in and noticed the look on his face.
"What's with that look on your face?" Itsuki calls out.
Snapping out of his thoughts Riku tucks away the letter and looks up to see Itsuki had a sauce stain on her lip.
"I swear you look so dumb." Itsuki mocks.
"If anyone knows anything about looking dumb it's you." Riku counters.
"Excuse me!" Itsuki snaps.
"And FYI, you look even dumper with that stain on your face," Riku said gesturing with his fingers.
Blushing bright red, Itsuki covers her face embarrassed. "You suck!" She said running out to deal with it.
'Maybe it's just Miku pulling a prank. These girls will do anything to mess with me, but if I don't go and she wants to meet me I'll look like an asshole.' Riku thought.
In the end, when the school day ended he decided to go up to the roof to meet Miku.
Standing up there, Riku waited and waited until the door opened revealing Miku with her headphones over her head.
"Thank goodness. Hi, I'm glad you came." Miku said dropping her headphones around her neck. "I actually wanted to tell you back in the cafeteria but I didn't want to risk anyone overhearing me." She said approaching him.
"Why's that?" Riku asks unsure if he liked where this is going.
"Riku it's just…I knew. It was Sue Harukata." Miku declares leaving him confused for a second.
"Harukata?" Riku asks.
"There. I did it." Miku smiles.
"What are you talking about?" Riku asks still confused.
"The question you asked us this morning. That was the correct answer." Miku said turning to leave.
"Wait a second? You called me up here just for that? Why couldn't you say earlier?" Riku asked but she just put her headphones back on and took out her phone. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"
Reaching out to grab her shoulder, Miku's phone dropped out of her hand and fell.
Cringing in worry, Riku feared he had broken it, luckily there were no scratches but when she went to pick it up Riku saw a crest on the cover with the Kanjis for Swift as the Wind, Silent as the Woods.
"Wait is that…the Takeda crest? Yeah, Takeda Shingen's crest." Riku recalls.
"You saw it?" Turning around Miku was glaring daggers at Riku scaring him.
"Uh well..yeah, I kinda did." Riku gulps.
He expected her to be pissed at him like Nino or Itsuki but instead, she just covers her face embarrassed.
"Oh god. I'm so embarrassed. Please. Don't tell anyone I like Sengoku Period Warlords." Miku admits.
"You don't say?" Riku said not expecting this.
"It all started with a game I borrowed from Yotsuba. I became obsessed with the ambitious warlords and read a lot of books, too. But the other girls at school are only into good-looking guys: actors, models, you know, that type. And I like old hairy men. I'm weird." Miku explains.
'Wait a second. History is a key subject.' Riku realized. "There's nothing wrong with enjoying what you like. Everyone has hobbies or things they're passionate about. You know on my last Warlord History test I got an A." Riku points out getting her attention. "If you let me tutor you I'll teach you everything you want to know about Warlords. Maybe some stuff you didn't know."
Instantly that smile went away. "Not a chance. There's no way you know more about Warlords than me." Miku glares taking that as a challenge. "Alright let's see how well you do with a pop quiz."
"Wait what?" Riku said not expecting one of these girls to give him a test.
"It's a commonly told story that Nobunaga used to call Hideyoshi a monkey but historians say this is a false claim. What was his actual nickname?" Miku asks quickly moving closer to him.
Pausing Riku took a few seconds to grasp everything she said. Looking at Miku, he saw she had big annoyed puffy cheeks. He had to answer these questions.
"I think it was…bald rat." Riku guesses.
"That's correct," Miku said stepping back.
"Phew." Riku breathed relieved. However, Miku was just getting started.
He was forced to listen to everything she had to say about Warlords.
'This might be the only way to get her to study.' Riku thought.
"One more." Miku insists.
"Sorry, but it's getting late. I really need to get home." Riku said much to her disappointment.
"Really?" Miku asks.
"Sorry but if you want I can make Japanese History the topic of our next tutoring session?" Riku offers.
"Well…I suppose." Miku said liking the sound of that.
Smiling grateful, Riku finally thought he had made some progress. But just as he was about to make his way down, Miku noticed a vending machine near the staircase.
"Wait up," Miku calls out paying for a drink.
"Yeah?" Riku turns around to see Miku holding a matcha soda for him.
"For you. As a token of goodwill." Miku said holding it out.
"I think I'm good," Riku said remembering the last time he accepted a drink from these girls.
"Oh come on, it's not like it has any of my snot in it." Miku insists.
'Snot? What is this girl talking about?' Riku thought.
"What's this? Did I stump you? Guess you don't know this one after all." Miku said pulling back the drink. Looking up Riku saw an evil smirk on her face. "I thought you were smart. Guess you're all talk. I have nothing to learn from you. Farewell." Miku declares walking away.
Hearing this Riku growls in anger and tightens his fists.
At Neokya, Riku was helping Tenma clean up after closing up shop. Even though they didn't go to another world on this night Riku needed someone to talk to.
"I hate those girls so fucking much! Just when I think they're going to give me a chance they do something like this!" Riku snaps throwing the trash out and slamming the door shut.
"Wow, so this time the tutor got stumped? That's a first." Tenma chuckles from the kitchen after hearing Riku's story.
"Oh, I'm so glad the hell these girls are putting me through is amusing to you. I have half a mind to walk away and let those brats fail. No amount of money is worth dealing with all this crap." Riku growls.
"That's not you, that's your anger talking," Tenma said turning to him.
"And it's about to tell me that I should rip those stupid headphones off Miku's head and throw them off the roof." Riku growls.
Seeing that Riku was on the verge, Tenma had to step in and stop him before he said or did something he would regret.
"Okay, you need to sit down." Walking out, Tenma forces Riku to sit down at the counter.
Entering the kitchen, Tenma worked on something chopping up some vegetables, marinating meat, and boiling noodles
Walking out, Tenma places a delicious bowl of noodles with marinated ground meat, fried tofu, and vegetables floating in a red and orange broth.
"Eat this. It's my special Tan Tan Ramen." Tenma said giving it to him.
"Uncle I'm not in the mood for—" Before Riku could deny it, Tenma held up his hand stopping him.
"I listened to you, now it's your turn to listen to what I say. I don't want to hear one more word out of you until you finish that bowl." Tenma said pointing to it.
Seeing his uncle wouldn't budge, Riku grabbed some chopsticks and started slurping the noodles.
Tasting the warm noodles mixed with the hot spicy broth Riku took a sip of water before grabbing the spoon and eating the vegetables mixed in. From the crunchiness of the corn, cabbage, bean sprouts, and bok choy and the soft seaweed and green onions added. reaching for a tofu square, Riku took a bite and tasted some of the broth it had absorbed giving it extra texture. With each bite and sip, Riku felt his anger from earlier melt away.
Lifting the bowl, Riku slurped down the remaining contents.
"Feel better now?" Tenma asks as Riku lowers the bowl to reveal a soft smile.
"A little bit. Thank you." Riku said as Tenma took the bowl back.
"You're no good to anyone when you're hangry," Tenma said putting the bowl in the sink. "You ready to listen?"
"Yes." Riku nods.
"Riku, this is not rocket science. If you want to prove to this girl, you can teach her just do some research. Research as much as you can about the subject and show her that she has more to learn." Tenma suggests.
"You think that'll work?" Riku asks.
"You said it yourself when you claimed to know a lot, she tested you. People are often defensive over their passions. If someone tries to challenge them, they will retaliate." Tenma points out.
"I guess it couldn't hurt to do some reading," Riku admits.
"That's the spirit," Tenma said patting Riku on the head. "I know this isn't easy, but you can't be so quick to give up just because it's not easy. Nothing good in life ever comes easy."
"Huh, mom used to say that," Riku said.
"We heard it from the same person." Tenma chuckles. "These girls are tough Riku, but you're probably not the first tutor they've had. If they're so used to the idea of failure they might not know the feeling of academic success. You need to remind them of that feeling. And who knows maybe sticking with girls can be a good thing for you as well."
"Somehow I doubt that, but I plan on helping them. I still need to get my revenge for that day." Riku said while Tenma shook his head.
'I guess it's a start.' Tenma thought amused.
Going to the school library, Riku checked out every book he could on Japanese Warlords.
For the next 2 days, Riku read everything those books had on the Sengoku Period until finally, he sent a letter to Miku to meet up with him.
"What do you want now?" Miku asks.
"You got the jump on me last time, but not this time. Let's see you really show me your intellect." Riku taunts.
"Excuse me?" Miku asks.
"You call yourself a Sengoku Trivia Master. Prove it right here and now. Quiz me." Riku orders.
"Not interested. I'll just embarrass you." Miku denies but Riku just smirks.
"Of course, you would say that. Scared I'll know more than you at the ONLY thing you're good at. Spoken like a True Trick Pony." Riku mocks.
Narrowing her eyes Miku walks up to him.
"In Takeda Shingen's Furinkazan which phrase refers to the wind?" Miku asks giving him back his letter.
"Really? That's an easy one." Riku smirks.
"The answer is as swift as the wind." Getting on the rails Miku slides down them and runs away.
"Oh come on! Again?!" Riku thought jumping down and running after her.
As he turns a corner, he accidentally bumps into what appears to be Yotusba.
"Oh Riku?" She gasps.
"Yotubsa?" Riku said surprised.
"You should watch where you're going," Yotsuba said.
"Did you see Miku run this way?" Riku asks.
"She went that way." Yotsuba points behind her.
"Thanks," Riku said running ahead but to his surprise the door opened revealing the real Yotsuba.
"Riku, what's the rush?" Yotsuba asks confusing him.
"Yotsuba? Wait. If you're here, then who's?" Turning around Riku noticed the so-called Yotsuba's hair seemed to be longer. Slowly taking off the ribbon and putting on headphones Riku saw it was actually Miku disguising her hairstyle and her voice to resemble Yotsuba.
"Oh hey, it's Miku." Yotsuba said as Miku ran off.
"That's it!" Riku snaps having enough of this garbage. Taking a stance, Yotsuba was surprised as Riku sprinted after Miku.
"Whoa, when did he get so fast?" Yotsuba said amazed.
As Miku kept running she was suddenly grabbed from behind and forced against the wall.
"Gotcha." Riku declares pressing his arms against her shoulders surprising her.
"How did you catch up with me so quickly?" Miku gasps not expecting this.
"I used to run Track and Field. You girls had me distracted all those other times you ran off but this time it's just you. You can run, you disguise yourself, you can try to avoid this as long as possible, but I will catch you." Riku declares making Miku freeze up.
"Listen here you—" Miku starts.
"No you listen!" Riku interrupts startling her. "I have listened to all your bull crap but for once you are going to shut up and listen to me. I put in days of studying just so I could talk to you as an equal. You keep thinking I have nothing to teach you well you won't give me a chance. Well, now I want my chance. Ask the questions." Riku said determined.
Looking into his eyes, Miku saw the fire in them. He wasn't going to budge or move until this was over. And it was pretty clear now that he wouldn't let her get away this time.
"Warlord Shiritori…Ryuzoji Takanobu." Miku starts.
Hearing this, Riku smiles. "I know this. Fukushima Masanori, from the Battle of 1583. He was the most prominent of the Seven Spears of Shizugatake."
For the next hour, Miku asked Riku many questions until the sun was beginning to set. However, both hadn't budged from their spot. Not even as the hot sun beamed down on them.
"So satisfied? Or are you gonna try to run again?" Riku asks.
"No running. You're lucky I'm the slowest runner in my class." Miku admits with a hint of dryness in her voice from asking all the questions.
Slowly letting go, Riku stepped back.
"Find a place to sit down, I'll be right back," Riku said.
Confused Miku watched as he walked away to a vending machine.
Buying a bottle of water and a matcha soda from the vending machine Riku turns around expecting Miku to try and run but to his surprise, she was sitting down.
"Ugh too hot." Briefly taking off her shoes, Miku pulls the stockings off revealing her legs.
"Here," Riku said holding out a drink confusing her. "Don't you like this stuff?" Riku asked but saw she was unsure. "And don't worry I know there's no snot in this one."
Surprised, Miku looks at him wondering if he finally understood it.
"Ishida Mitsunari. I learned that he drank tea with Otani Yoshitsugu's snot in it. I looked through so many books to find that reference." Riku admits handing it to her. "I couldn't find the book but Yotsuba had come by at the time and helped me look it up."
"Yotsuba?" Miku pauses. "Did you tell her I liked Warlords? I told you not to."
"I didn't tell her. I told her I needed to know about it and that was enough for her, but I don't know why you would feel the need to keep this a secret from your siblings." Riku said as Miku wrapped her arms around her legs.
"Because they wouldn't understand." Miku simply states.
"Why's that?" Riku asks.
"They just wouldn't. I'm the biggest loser of all 5 of us." Miku states.
"I wouldn't say that. If anything your grades were the highest of all of them." Riku said.
"You're just saying that to be nice." Miku assumes.
"I wouldn't call that nice. Your score was a 32." Riku mutters.
"I know we're not cut out for this. My sisters can do anything I can. So if this is my best, this is also their best. We are Quintuplets." Miku declares looking at him.
Eyes widening Riku remembers something.
"Just give up, we're not gonna pass," Miku said as Riku opened his bag and took some papers out.
Looking at one he examines it and smiles.
"Or maybe…you will." Riku declares confusing her.
"What are you talking about? We're failures. It took all 5 of us to score a 100." Miku said.
"Oh, I'm not denying that. You girls are failures but you're failures who might have a chance." Riku said taking out the answer sheet. "You said it yourself. You can do anything your sisters can do, but that also means anything they can do so can you. Look at this." Riku said handing it to her.
As Miku gazed at the paper she saw all of them had different scores. None of them got the same answers right.
"Wait…the answers." Miku gasps.
"Exactly. Your average is terrible but you helped me realize you girls aren't hopeless and…with a little help from my Uncle I almost didn't realize that." Riku smiles. "Each one of you even you Miku has the potential to pass. All on your own." Riku said leaving Miku surprised.
"I admire your positive thinking but it's a stretch," Miku said opening the soda and drinking it. "Don't put too much faith in this Quintuplets theory."
"I'm not. I'm putting it in you." Riku declares looking at her.
As Miku looked at him, her eyes moved down, and noticed his compass bracelet and the needle was pointing right at her causing her to look at it puzzled.
The next day, we see Riku at the school library with Yotsuba.
"Once again it's just you out of the 5." Riku sighs.
"I called to let them know where we were," Yotsuba said before noticing something. "Although you might want to rethink that number."
Turning around Riku saw Miku walk in.
"Hey, you decided to come after all?" Riku smiles but Miku walks past him to a bookshelf.
Grabbing several copies we see they were Warlord books. As she opens them Miku smiles.
"Well Riku Kanbara, guess you could say you got to me. I'm starting to think…that maybe I can do a little better too." Miku said.
Zooming in, Miku saw that Riku's name was the most recently checked-out person on the list.
"So. I hope you're worth it. I'm putting my trust in you." Miku smiles looking at him.
Seeing her smiling face, Riku felt a warm feeling course through him. He had actually managed to get through to her. "Count on it." Riku smiles.
Curious, Yotsuba walks over to her sister.
"Miku, are you falling in love with Riku?" Yotsuba whispers causing Miku to blush at the very idea.
But just like in the cafeteria the first time they talked about love Miku shook it off. "Ew. No way."
Riku had managed to convince one sister to study but he still had to convince the others.