"Wow, Yotsuba. Keep it up!" Fuutarou gave a thumbs up at Yotsuba during recess after the girl had showed him that she got half of the questions correctly on a mock test.
"Hehe! It's all thanks to you, Fuutarou-kun!" She deflected the praise. Fuutarou chuckled a little as he continued to eat. In all honesty, Fuutarou felt like he didn't do anything special. It was the girls that put in the effort after all.
"Hey, you guys ironed your yukata already right?" Nino asked her sisters. That question caught Fuutarou's attention. He remained silent, listening as the girls answered.
"Yup, I'm definitely not missing the festival. I bet the fireworks are going to be absolutely amazing for this year's Musashi Festival." Itsuki nodded. Ichika smiled, then glancing at Fuutarou.
"How about you, Fuutarou-kun? Are you going to the Musashi Festival with your family tomorrow Saturday?"
"Hmm, I'm not sure. My dad's pretty busy with the bakery recently and I'm not sure my sister wants to go or not. So if she doesn't want to go then I'll have to stay home and accompany her." Fuutarou explained. Ichika pouted.
"Aww... And here I thought I could invite you to a date." Ichika stuck her tongue out, a bashful expression on her face as her sisters looked at her in shock, Yotsuba especially.
Fuutarou chuckled. "Who knows, maybe you'll get that date. I'll have to ask my sister first."
" Yayy~" Ichika cheered, grinning at him. Yotsuba silently pouted.
'Crap, I lost to Ichika again! C'mon Yotsuba, you need to be brave too! Maybe at the festival! Yeah that's it!' Yotsuba nodded to herself, regaining confidence. Meanwhile, Fuutarou was conflicted, thoughts swirling in his head.
'This is getting risky quick. Not only is their safety in jeopardy, if they somehow find out my identity... Geez...' Fuutarou sighed yo himself. Miku noticed his small grimace and tapped him shoulder.
"Hmm?" Fuutarou looked at her. Miku tilted her head, a look of concern on her face.
"I'm okay, Miku. Nothing to worry about." Miku pouted a little, not buying his excuse at all, but decided not to push him.
The stakes had become much higher for him now...
...
It was the next day. Fuutarou and Raiha were enjoying their breakfast before the doorbell to their home rang. Fuutarou with Observation Haki, sensed that it was one of the quintuplets that was outside of his home. But which sister is it?
As he went to open the door, he was met by Itsuki who was standing nervously, even more so when she met his gaze. Fuutarou smiled, stepping aside to let her in.
"Hello, Itsuki! Please, come in." Itsuki smiled politely. She took her shoes off and placed it in the shoe rack, before stepping into the living room like she stepped into a new world.
"So what brings you here?" Fuutarou asked, letting her sit on the couch. Itsuki fumbled around her bag and took out and envelope, handing it to him.
"Here's your payment. For a month of teaching us, you salary is 100,000 yen." Itsuki explained. Fuutarou smiled gratefully, staring at the money filled envelope. At that moment, Raiha entered the living room.
"Woah, big bro! Who's that? Your girlfriend?" Raiha asked, a smirk on her face. Itsuki stammered at the accusation while Fuutarou grinned.
"It's something like that." Itsuki turned to look at him, a baffled expression on her while Fuutarou just laughed. Raiha rolled her eyes.
"C'mon big bro, who is she actually?"
"This is Itsuki, one of the quintuplets that I'm teaching." Fuutarou explained.
" You must be Raiha, right? Fuutarou talks about you a lot." Itsuki smiled at Raiha who grinned, rubbing the back of her head.
"I sure he bad-mouths me a lot, right big sis?" Raiha asked.
'B-big sis?' Itsuki blinked, surprised at how fast Raiha warmed up to her. She shook her head at Raiha's question.
"No no, he does the complete opposite. He constantly praises you." Raiha raised an eyebrow at her.
"Are you just saying that to make him look good?"
"N-no! I'm not!" Itsuki quickly denied, repeatedly shaking her head. Raiha laughed at her expression.
"Relax I'm just playing with you. So why are you here?" She glanced at the envelope her brother was holding. Fuutarou handed it to her and she opened it.
"Wow.... That's a lot of money..." She whispered before instinctively walking towards a prayer altar, with a portrait of her mother placed on it.
"Mama... Look at how much big bro made... Are you proud of him?" Raiha whispered.
Itsuki looked at the potrait with a sad expression. Fuutarou didn't talk much of his family life, with Raiha and his father being the only family members he constantly mentions. She had her suspicions and tried to remain optimistic, but the truth was now revealed right in front of her.
"Raiha loves mom a lot, even though she doesn't remember much of her." Fuutarou commented. Itsuki glanced at Fuutarou.
"It must be hard..." She whispered. Fuutarou shrugged.
"The sadness is there, sure, and it would definitely never leave. But mom wanted us to be successful in life, with or without her, so want it or not, we still have to move on."
"Well, there is something we can relate to at least..." Itsuki whispered, looking at Raiha still at the prayer altar. "I'm sure you can already tell from the day you stepped in our home that our mother isn't with us anymore."
"I miss her, me and my sisters all do. But mama wouldn't want us to mope around and do nothing. Well we kinda did for a while, but thanks to your appearance, I think all five of us have set our sights on what we want again. So thank you, Uesugi-kun." Itsuki smiled warmly at Fuutarou who smiled back.
"Don't forget to pat yourself on the back, Itsuki. Yes I was there to guide you, but I'm only just that, a guide. It's through your efforts that you managed to improve. So chin up and make your mom proud, okay?"
"Mhm! I will!" Itsuki nodded, a confident aura around her. Raiha was in front of them again, now smiling like a Cheshire cat.
"Loving the flirting here guys~" She teased. Fuutarou chuckled while Itsuki looked away, embarrassed. This is one smart 13 year old that's for sure.
Fuutarou then had an idea. He took the envelope in Raiha's hands and grinned at her. "Say Raiha, why don't we go try that new arcade that opened up? I've heard good things about it." Fuutarou suggested. Raiha nodded, stars in her eyes.
"Yeah! My friends can't stop talking about it. I wanna see what's so good about it too."
"Well come on then." Fuutarou stood up while Raiha followed him to the door. Itsuki, unsure of what to do, blinked as the two stared at her.
"What are you waiting for, Itsuki? The arcade isn't far, you just need to walk a little, I'll buy you something to eat along the way." Fuutarou raised an eyebrow at her.
"Come with us, big sis! It's gonna be fun!" Raiha cheered. Itsuki fiddled her thumbs.
"I-I don't know... I don't wanna intrude on your family time—Woah!" Itsuki gasped as Raiha pulled her out of her seat, laughing as she dragged her towards the shoe rack.
"When big bro invites you somewhere, you have to say yes, big sis! You're gonna regret not joining otherwise!"
The journey to the arcade begins...
To be continued...