"So if I'm seeing this right, you knew this but you changed it at the last second, is that correct?" Miku silently nodded as Fuutarou's pen was on an answer he noticed she had erased twice. He'd made it clear to them before the review that right now their scores don't matter to him, what matters now is how they failed.
"No worries, this happens to a lot of people, more than you think. But here's the thing, you can't change your answer unless you find a real mistake. If you trust fear more than evidence, you'd lose precious marks. Got it?"
"Y-yeah..." She whispered. 'How did he know?' Her tutor must have secret invisible eyes around his head if he was able to find out how each of them made mistakes. For the past hour, Fuutarou had been more like a coach rewinding game footage, asking them why they picked this answer and have them walk him through the reasoning. Half the time, their mistakes exposes itself mid-sentence.
He'd take a wrong answer that two sisters chose for different reasons and make them both explain. Noticing that Ichika had answered a math question correctly while the rest didn't, he had her explain it to them. "Oooh hehe, so that's how you did it? I didn't know you could use that method." Yotsuba laughed as Ichika explained the answer to a certain math question to her. Ichika smiled, a little pride in her eyes.
This process repeated over and over. It might look boring, but it really isn't. It only became more and more interesting from the start because the content changed every time. Their respective problems pointed out by Fuutarou were obvious, so obvious that it was uncomfortable often times than not, but the girls are learning things about themselves they've never named before.
Essentially, what Fuutarou wants to do is debug the girls from big mistakes to subtle patterns. In the future, he hoped that with his teachings, every session would produce visible change. From his own experiences, people are wired to stay engaged when feedback loops are tight and progress is obvious, so he hoped he was able to produce that effect on them.
But for now, he will start slow, gather their trust in his competency first. "Do you girls get it?" He asked, a smile on his face. They all nodded, even Nino did. Despite her initial intentions, Nino found herself focusing on the lesson.
"Oh but look at the time...My session is already over." Fuutarou muttered, glancing at his watch.
"Whaat?! But I was starting to understand everything!" Yotsuba whined. She'd never felt this smart before. Fuutarou must be using some type of magic during this session because she found her completely engaged unlike how she was in class.
"It certainly did feel like only minutes have passed by. But Uesugi-kun needs to rest too." Itsuki added, already planning to study more on her own, but this time with the review, she would do things a little differently.
'I need to do my daily commisions.' Miku was already planning to rush to her PC as soon as Fuutarou was gone. But she can't deny, it was fun learning with him. She hadn't felt this way in a while.
"I mean I could go for longer, but since this is just our first session, I'll cut it short for now. And here..." Fuutarou handed them some more practice questions.
"Please do this on your own time. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me at school. And uh Nino..." He looked at the girl who jumped a little at being suddenly called.
"Can we talk outside for a moment? It's something important." Fuutarou requested. Nino narrowed her eyes at him.
"And why should I agree to this, Uesugi?"
"It won't take long. Just a small chat."
"Ceh...Who said you can order me around..." She grumbled, but followed him out of the apartment anyways.
"Thanks for having me, I look forward to our next session." He waved at them. Yotsuba and Ichika waved at him. Itsuki smiled politely at him.
As he and Nino exited for their chat, Ichika looked at her sisters. "So are we gonna do the exercises he gave us?"
"Is this all handwritten?" Miku muttered, looking over the paper again. She noticed a small note on her piece of paper, she saw that the others had different personalized notes too.
"He must've wrote these after reviewing with us..." She commented about the note. For Miku, he had set her a rule that she wasn't allowed to erase or change answers, testing her commitment.
"Fuutarou-kun, you really do know how to guilt grip a girl huh... You already know that I'm lazy..." Ichika whispered, staring at her own personalized note, telling that she wasn't allowed to skip questions, targeting her avoidance directly. But seriously, that much effort just for them?
Itsuki sighed. For her special task, he required her to write explanations of why the method works, not just the answer. If she couldn't explain it cleanly, she hasn't finished yet. Well, she would have to get started soon, after dinner of course.
Miku stared at her room, she could just go to her PC now. But this day's lesson had her curious. She felt like she'd improve a bunch, but just when she still had the energy to continue, Fuutarou stopped. Maybe a few hours on the questions would be good, it's not like she goes to bed early anyways.
"Well that settles it! We're doing the questions!" Yotsuba declared. Itsuki hummed.
"How about we do it together? More brainpower the merrier right?" Itsuki suggested.
"Too many cooks spoil the soup." Miku mumbled. Itsuki laughed. Ichika hummed as she looked at the door.
"I wonder what those two are talking about... Oh yeah, Fuutarou-kun was wearing a Rolex. Wonder where he got that from?"
"So it's not just me who noticed?"
...
"Be quick about it Uesugi, I have to dinner to make." Nino crossed her arms, glaring a little at Fuutarou wearing his shoes. Fuutarou stood up, clutched the white paper bag and his black bag with one hand before looking at Nino.
"You do know I can sue you for pulling that stunt with my water, right?" He started, catching her extremely off guard.
" Wh-what do you mean? Hahaha...." Nino backed up nervously. Fuutarou raised an eyebrow as he stepped closer to her.
"Oh don't play dumb now, Nino. You drugged my water."
"N-no I didn't... St-stop assuming things..." Nino looked away, unable to look him in the eyes. She couldn't, because she knew she's been caught. She had admitted to it without saying a word. Fuutarou sighed and scratched the back of his neck.
"You're lucky I didn't get knocked out by that. I get that I'm a stranger, I understand that you feel threatened and wanted to protect your family, but that really doesn't excuse what you did to me, not even the slightest."
"Y-you don't even have proof in the first place that I drugged you!" She stubbornly tried to fight back. By now, she was backed against a wall with Fuutarou close to her. The man grinned before placing his hand on the wall, performing the kabedon while staring straight into her beautiful blue eyes.
" Oh I'm sure your sisters would be great witnesses. I should probably go ask them—"
"W-wait, don't you dare—"
"I'm sure your father would be very happy to hear what his daughter's been up to. He expects a report from me about my first day. I'm sure he'd be delighted to find out what his daughter's doing behind his back." He then held up his phone, grinning all the while.
"N-no, st-stop—"
"You'll probably get expelled, sued, or maybe get thrown in jail for a couple of years for assault. That sounds fun right Nino? I'm sure the prison food is scary."
"D-don't.... U-uesugi... P-please... I'm s-sorry..." Fuutarou blinked at the shaking voice and the sniffing noises. He looked down to see Nino had tears falling down her glassy eyes, her body shaking uncontrollably from fear.
She thought she was acting in protection, in control, but Fuutarou calmly stripped that illusion away. No yelling, no shouting, just the blunt recognition that her actions were unacceptable. That's crushing for someone like Nino, who's used to dominance and emotional armor.
He sighed in defeat, placing back his phone in his pocket. "It's scary right, Nino? Your actions always have consequences, and emotional justification doesn't erase them."
He gently wiped away her tears with both his thumbs as Nino kept sobbing. "Here's the thing Nino, you don't get to decide what happens to other people just because you think it's for their good."
He continued, now gently patting her head, stroking downwards. "I get you wanted to protect them, but you risked hurting everyone including yourself instead. That's the difference between protecting and controlling see?"
"I'm not your enemy, Nino. I'm just someone who wants you to graduate with dignity and smiles on your face. Did you really think I'm here to destroy your family? You're so silly, Nino." He chuckled. She slapped his arm.
"B-bastard! You made me cry and now you're laughing at me? A-apologize!"
"Hey you're the one who poisoned me, and now I have to apologize to you for making you face reality? Are you seriously that spoiled?" He raised an eyebrow at her, amused. She sniffed in response. And it seems her tears hadn't dried up.
"F-fine! I'm sorry okay? I won't do that again!" Nino begrudgingly apologized. The boy rolled his eyes in the half-hearted apology. Well, he'll take what he can get.
"You better hold on to that cuz if this happens again, I'm gone. No discussion, no compromise. That's the boundary. You don't want to flunk out of school now do you, Nini?" Fuutarou smirked, his face now close to hers, intentionally calling her that nickname he made up.
"N-N-NINI?!" Nino shrieked in pure horror. The last time she had been called that atrocious nickname, she'd insulted that person back out of pure embarrassment. Fuutarou just smirked at her as she pointed a shaking finger at him. "Do you want me to poison you again, Uesugi?! I'll use cyanide next time!" She threatened. He laughed.
"Try it if you dare, Nini."
"WHY YOU—" Nino paused her shouting as she was offered something by Fuutarou. It was a bouquet of pink and red flowers, also with chocolate bars stuck inside.
"Whaaaa???" Nino looked at the flowers, then at Fuutarou, then back at the flowers before looking back at Fuutarou again, wondering if this was a joke. He gently shoved it into Nino's hands before walking away.
"See you at school tomorrow, Nino. I look forward to teaching you again in our next session. Please complete the exercises I gave you." She watched as Fuutarou entered the elevator.
It was silent again, the now puffy eyed Nino looked back down at the flowers. How did he know that this was her favorite color? Had he been stalking her? She gritted her teeth, a blush forming on her face.
"Damn you Uesugi... making me cry and giving me flowers like nothing happened..." She then smiled. "But they're my favorite color, so I'll let you off this time..."
"You're super weird, Uesugi. But maybe, just maybe, I can tolerate it..."
To be continued.....