Chapter 4
During a simple school day at Asahiyama, every student was enjoying some free time during lunch break either in their class, at the canteen or in the courtyard. But in a precise classroom, what the students were enjoying was the interaction between Fuutarou and Nino.
"Why are you sitting on my lap?", he asked her, blushing and frowning.
"What's wrong with that? I like being so chummy with you hehe.", she replied, snuggling her face into his chest while he sighed.
It passed just a day or two from when they had their "date" at that time she met him together with his little sisters, and since then she got much clingier than before. For example, when she saw him first in the morning, she didn't hesitate to greet him with a hug, blushing like him and giggling.
Their classmates were surprised by how much affectionate they were, even if it was the social butterfly the one to show affections in reality. And to the ace student's shock, she revealed that he kissed her twice during their "date", even if he pointed out that they were on the cheek.
"Hahaha, your girlfriend is sure attached to you, dude!", said a male classmate.
"We're proud of you, bro!", said the others, giving him various thumps up while he sweatdropped.
"You and Nakano-san are so cute.", were the females' words instead, with Nino giggling happily and hugging him tighter.
"Do you really have to cling on me this much?"
"But I know you love it, Fuutarou-kun. Besides, I adore hugging you.", she retorted, still smiling.
Her words made him blush more while their classmates chuckled, so he frowned and decided to hug her back as payback, surprising her.
"I'm simply reciprocating your hug.", he pointed out, looking serious but still blushing. Her blue eyes widened and she got redder, enjoying the hug even more and getting surrounded by various hearts.
In the little time she knew him, she understood that her dear tutor and classmate wasn't very social but he was very kind, as he took care of his twin little sisters dearly and helped her and her own sisters at his best. Besides, if he really disliked her affections, he would push her away and not reciprocate them like at the moment.
During their supposed date, he even told her that she was already pretty cute to him and she didn't have to try to hard; that was enough to increase further beyond her great liking towards him, especially due to the kisses he gave her.
"Fuutarou-kun, how about you give me a kiss?", she suddenly asked him, making everyone stunned.
"Huh?", was his reaction on the other hand.
"I'd like to have a kiss like during our next date too hehe.", she added, giggling.
"Let's just go to have lunch.", he instantly said, taking her hand, making her get up from his lap and going together to the canteen.
'Oh my! He's so assertive.', she thought, giggling again and hugging his arm before everyone else. He just blushed and frowned because of her gesture, but he didn't say anything and just walked with her through the corridor.
He knew that his new classmate liked him very much, so he got used to how overly clingy she was towards him. She really surpassed his sisters in terms of being too affectionate.
And speaking of sisters, Nino's greeted them when the two of them arrived to the cafeteria, with Ichika teasing him instantly.
"My sister is totally over heels for you, Fuutarou-kun."
"Even too much maybe.", he told her, sweatdropping.
"You two must be more considerate of where you are.", said a flushed Itsuki.
"You're just jealous because you want to hug him too.", said Nino, making the ahoge girl redder.
"W-what?! That's not true!"
"Then I will hug Uesugi-San hehe.", said Yotsuba, hugging his left arm and making Nino pout.
"Fuutarou can't eat if you hug both his arms.", said Miku, sweatdropping.
"This is the perfect occasion to feed you my bento for you, handsome!"
After saying that, the social butterfly took a pink lunch box out of her bag and opened it, making his eyes widen in front of the delicious food that contained. But he was more shocked when she took a piece of omelette to offer it to him.
"Fuutarou-kun, say "Aah"", she told him sweetly.
"I can eat by myself.", was his deadpanned reaction, making her pout.
"Don't you like being spoiled, Uesugi-san?"
"I don't feel the need.", he replied, eating the food offer and surprising every quint and student.
"It's delicious."
He quickly began to eat that food, smiling because of how good it tasted. Nino blushed and giggled before that, overjoyed that he adored her bento; she had made it exclusively for him, after all.
Her sisters, except for Itsuki, were surprised by how eagerly he ate everything. His appetite seemed to rival that of the youngest quint, who felt prompted to eat happily too by watching him.
Also the other students were surprised by how different was his behavior in comparison to the usual attitude he had; they believed that after meeting the butterfly ribbons girl, he was gradually changing day after day. Some girls even found cute how happy he was while eating, feeling attracted to him.
Once he finished the bento, he put down the needles and gave a headpat to Nino. "This is just to thank you.", he said, blushing and looking away.
Of course, she loved the gesture and enjoyed it while the other quints had mixed reactions; Miku and Yotsuba wanted a headpat too, Itsuki was flustered and Ichika found them adorable. The oldest quint had also an idea.
"You should kiss my sister too to thank her.", she told him with a big smile.
"Huh? No way."
"What? You don't want to give me kisses anymore? You meanie.", complained Nino, hugging him and looking into the eyes.
"I-I didn't say that.", he said, looking away embarassed.
"Then can I have my kiss?"
Seeing her smile along her bright eyes made him blush once again, so he sighed and planted a kiss on her cheek, coloring it in red while everyone got shocked or speechless. "Y-you can't do that a-at school!", exclaimed Itsuki.
"You're just jealous because Fuutarou-kun gets along with me and not with you.", retorted her older sister, snuggling her face into his chest another time. She really had a knack for that.
"I-It's not like that mouu!"
"So Itsuki likes Uesugi-san too?"
"I said it's not true!"
Her scarlet red expression along her words made everyone laugh wholeheartedly, even the young man that burst out laughing. After kissing Nino on the cheek in front of everyone, someone expected him to be embarrassed, but it seemed that it wasn't like this. Maybe he liked giving her kisses.
When the bell rang, it was time to go back to class, so Fuutarou and Nino greeted her sisters before going to their class, with her latching onto his arm all the time. Despite his evident blush, he didn't tell her anything about her clinginess and let her do. Considering that she clung onto him ever since they met, someone could say that he got used to it.
Another thing he got used to was helping to take her notes during the lesson, not minding the fact that she joined their desks together to lean on his shoulder while smiling. He simply frowned at that action, but if he had ro be honest, her happy expression was really adorable.
'I still don't understand what makes you like me so much, but you're pretty cute.', he thought, showing a little smile. His classmates noticed it and smiled as well, getting more convinced that he liked the clingy redhead as well.
During his elementary and middle school days, he didn't have a girl that he liked or that liked him, so having one so much interested in him was really something new. He didn't dislike the situation ot course, as he could admit that Nino's affection for him made him smile, even if it was exaggerated.
Remembering also how she adored his kind gestures, he brought his hand to her head and caressed it, catching her off guard and making her blush. She enjoyed the headpat anyways and leaned much closer to him while their male classmates were proud of him again. Instead of being envious, they were amazed by how he made a beautiful girl like him so much, so they saw him as a great man.
Following the end of the afternoon lessons, the top student and Nino joined her sisters at the gates to get in their limousine together to reach the Pentagon. Inside the car, the butterfly ribbons girl took the occasion to cling onto his arm once again while he sweatdropped for the umpteenth time.
"What will we study, Fuutarou-kun?", asked him a curious Ichika.
"Well, I thought of revising some maths and Japanese literature for this time. You 5 lack in all subjects, so we have to study each one."
"I will study on my own anyways, Uesugi-kun.", told him a serious Itsuki.
"That just means he can focus more on me.", said Nino, smiling happily. Her words made him sigh while Ichika and Yotsuba giggled, except for the ahoge girl that pouted. Somehow, she didn't like that he ignored her.
While driving, Ebata took a glance at their interactions and smiled; he thought that having a guy of the same age of the quints was a great idea, especially because said guy was very liked by Nino. She acted exactly like she was his girlfriend already.
"Could we study some historical events too, Fuutarou?", asked him Miku that sat next to him.
"Sure we can.", he replied, smiling. That reply and his expression made her blush, so she thanked him bashfully.
Nino pouted obviously out of jealousy, so she did something of unexpected: she laid her head on his lap. "Hey, what are you doing?", he asked her, blushing.
"Fuutarou-kun's lap is so soft hehe.", was her answer accompanied by a giggle.
"Fufu, you two are already at that stage. Are you going to ask my sister out next?", teased him Ichika, making him look away another time.
"Shut up, sleepyhead."
His rude and embarassed reply made her pout while everyone else giggled at her expenses, even if Nino kept resting her head on his lap; it was like she really adored doing that. She didn't keep any space from him either when they arrived to the Pentagon and while reaching their apartment with the elevator, hugging his arm very often.
"I know you adore being clingy with me, but I want you to focus during the tutoring session.", he told her seriously despite his blush.
"Don't worry, I will do my best. You promised that you will take me on a date if I passed all my exams."
Needless to say that her last sentence made him and her sisters gasp instantly. "Uesugi-san a-asked you out?!"
"Ara ara, so you like my sister very much."
Miku and Itsuki were instead flushed, even if the cute glutton frowned while looking at him. "Huff, that's true. I promised her to take her out in that case, ok? Now let's start the tutoring.", he said annoyed, sitting down next to the table and opening the books.
All the quints, except for Itsuki that went to her room, listened to him, with Ichika and Yotsuba giggling while Miku was still shocked. They surely didn't expect that he made such promise to the social butterfly, but that gave them the idea that perhaps he liked her too. If he wasn't interested, he wouldn't have promised her a date.
Of course, he was visibly bothered that Nino dropped the bomb like that, as he preferred if she didn't say anything about it. Though, he noticed that she was doing her best to resolve some maths exercises he gave them to do, which made smile a little.
'The idea of dating me makes you so happy?'
He smiled also when even the other three quints gave their best, although he noticed some smoke coming out of Yotsuba's head due to overthinking. "Hey, what's up? What are you struggling with?", he asked her, getting up and going close to her.
"Eh? Umm, I-I can't resolve this.", she replied bashfully, as his face got very close to hers. His lips were very close in particular.
"Hey, don't think about kissing him!", exclaimed Nino jealously.
"Ehh?! I-I didn't!", was the bunny ribbon's flustered answer instead, blushing deeper and lowering the gaze.
"You don't have to get angry. Fuutarou's not your boyfriend.", said Miku neutrally.
Sighing again, the young man went to sit next to his classmate and didn't hesitate to give her a kiss on the cheek, coloring it in red and surprising her sisters. "The only o-one I kiss is you, so focus on your studies.", he said embarassed, caressing her head too.
That kiss and his words made her eyes shine, so she enveloped him in a hug and snuggled her face into his chest while an aura made of hearts surrounded them. That lovely hug made him sweatdrop, but he reciprocated it regardless, with the other 3 quints finding the scene adorable.
The young man was visibly flushed for what he was doing, but at least he defused a futile discussion that would only be an hindrance. "Let's return to study.", he said, still hugging Nino and looking at her sisters that nodded like her.
So they refocused on their maths exercises, but this time the social butterfly was leaning her head on his shoulder and smiled blissfully. He really caught her off guard with that kiss and his words only filled her of joy, bringing her liking towards him to increase more.
She even wished that he kissed her on the lips, still she thought that maybe he would do that when they were alone. Maybe he wasn't in love with her yet, but the fact he kissed her on the cheek so often meant surely that he was attracted to her.
Anyways, the tutor and his students continued to revise maths before passing to Japanese literature, where Yotsuba demonstrated to have good comprehension abilities. Thanks to the mock tests he made them take, the boy knew which were the subjects were each quint was good in, despite their grades were very low that time.
Itsuki still didn't want to study together with him, but perhaps he could convince her if they talked alone without other people around. It would be impossible with Nino being present and clinging on him all the time.
Ichika, Miku and Yotsuba got along already with him and thankfully they didn't show any interest towards him, even if the green ribbon girl didn't hesitate to hug him sometimes. He guessed that she was just very affectionate.
Raiha and Reina gave him various hugs since they were 3, always competing to be his favorite little sister. He never understood why they competed that much, as he loved them both dearly and was always protective of them against some bullies. Though, he admitted that their competition was pretty funny.
His eyes also glanced at the social butterfly's notebook, and he could see that she still didn't answer to a question. "You can't find the answer?"
"I'm trying to, but it's difficult."
"Let's see: the question asks you to reread the text and find all the metaphors inside of it. It's not that difficult.", he told her, looking at the sheet.
"Hehe, thank you. You're the best, handsome.", she told him, snuggling her face on his chest again.
"Jeez, you don't have to hug me for everything."
"She just likes you very much, Fuutarou-kun. She also looks forward to her date with you after the exams fufu."
"First she has to pass them. And the same goes for you: I will make sure that all of you pass them.", he said seriously, showing a great resolve that amazed them.
Nino's eyes shined and she kept hugging him blissfully. "Aww, you're so cool and kind hehe."
He just sweatdropped and scratched his head, blushing because her sisters started giggling too. It was inevitable that he ended up getting flustered in every place he went to, especially because of the clingy redhead that liked that much.
But after she stopped hugging him, some water fell onto him because Miku stumbled and made her glass fall. "F-Fuutarou, I'm sorry.", she said, bowing apologetically.
"It's ok, don't worry. Just my hair-"
He stopped his sentence because Nino was staring at him, blushing profusely and mouth agape. "What's with you now?"
"Y-you're so hot with wet hair.", was her reply, accompanied by a smile while he deadpanned.
"Give me a towel, please.", he told her, getting a nod while she went to the bathroom.
He also saw that Miku was still sad because of what happened, so he put a hand on her head and caressed it, surprising her. "Don't worry, I'm not angry with you. It was just an accident.", he assured her, smiling.
Such kind words along his gesture made her blush and smile, enjoying the headpat even more. Yotsuba and Ichika were flabbergasted by that interaction, still blushing because they found him more handsome too with wet hair but also wishing a headpat.
"Don't flirt with him!", exclaimed a jealous Nino, arriving with a pink towel in her hands.
"I-I'm not doing that. Besides, I like his headpats.", retorted the Sengoku era lover, twiddling her fingers. Such sentence surprised her sisters even more, with the social butterfly frowning more.
"Huff, let's just finish to study."
After he said that and dried his hair, the group went back to focus on the tutoring, starting to revise also some historical events which Miku knew very well. Knowing that she liked his headpats surprised the young man, though, he didn't think that she was attracted to him now and preferred it stayed like that; having already a quint over heels for him was enough.
So the tutoring session went on for other 2 hours, after which he got ready to go back to his house. "Can't you stay a little more?", asked his clingy classmate with puppy eyes.
"You girls have studied enough for today, so I will go home. Besides, you will see me the other days too.", he told her, blushing and patting her head, which made her smile.
"See you and revise everything well, idiots.", he told them, making them frown but giggle too before he left.
Taking the elevator, he reached down the ground floor and exited from the building, ready to walk back towards his house. Walking from Tokai's center towards his neighborhood was a long road, but that was some good exercise for his body due to his lack or sport activities.
'I-I'm sure she wanted me to stay more even for the night. That girl would cuddle with me at first occasion.', he thought, flushed. Nino's clinginess towards him increased for real since their supposed date, as arriving to sit and rest her head on his lap was totally a girlfriend's behavior.
Considering that his family and the whole school saw him and her as a couple, he was sure that her affection was going to grow even more, arriving to give him kisses like he already did. Of course, he didn't hate the fact that she liked him so much, as after meeting her, his days got much happier.
His classmates started to be friendly with him, despite he was irked by their teasing about him and Nino being lovers. He wasn't in love with her, but the interest and the great affection she showed him made him like her more basically every day. Besides, the kisses he gave her along the hugs were a proof that he was getting interested in her, and that was enough to make her extremely happy.
Anyways, his main objective was still to make the quints pass their exams and to get paid for his job, so he could help his family to get rid of some debts. And of course, he looked forward to have a nice dinner with his father and his little sisters, even if he knew that Raiha and Reina would compete for his affections. Just the thought of it made him sweatdrop for the umpteenth time but also chuckle wholeheartedly.
A/N
And chapter 4 is here, everyone! Well, well…It looks like Nino got much clingier towards her dear tutor, arriving to sit and rest her head on his lap happily. She also revealed the fact he promised her a date if she passed her exams, which only made Fuutarou more flustered.
Itsuki still doesn't want to study with him, but he's determined to convince her just as he looks forward to make all the quints pass their exams. He just hopes to not make another quint like him, as having the social butterfly interested so much for him is pretty enough haha. What's going to happen next? Will Nino start giving him kisses too? Stay tuned to find out.
See ya!