Asahiyama High cafeteria…

"Yakiniku menu, please," a student with dark blue hair, with a couple of upright strands over his head, requested in a serious tone.

"Coming up! Please enjoy!"

The food already served on his tray, said student left a few coins to pay and headed for his habitual place to eat in the cafeteria, in the middle of the mumbling from the others, who mockingly commented how he (again) sat to have his lunch alone. Of course, he couldn't care less about it.

The name of this student was Fuutarou Uesugi, seventeen years old and a second-year in Class 2-1. He was considered the top student grades-wise, but he'd never been particularly sociable, as he saw that as a distraction for his studies. While everyone thought he was an arrogant and grumpy loner, he had his reasons: Fuutarou lived with his family, which consisted of his parents and younger sister, and they made a living with a small bakery they'd opened a few years back, which was rather popular among the locals. Even though they managed relatively well, they were still paying the last debts of the starting loan, and until they weren't fully cancelled, he wouldn't be at ease.

Thus, Fuutarou took to study as hard as he could, hoping to secure a good university and eventually a good job. The sooner he could become economically independent, the quicker he'd stop being a lad for his parents, and then he'd be able to start helping them and his little sister. For that same reason, when he wasn't studying, he'd search for part-time jobs to take his own loaf of bread to the table, or if possible, give his sister a little treat by buying her gifts or taking her somewhere she could have fun.

But none of that mattered now. As he ate his yakiniku lunch, the boy pulled from his pocket a small notepad he used for reviewing. To him, every second was important, and since nobody wanted to eat lunch with a "grumpy nerd" like him, that way nobody would bother him.

At least, until that day…

"Coming through, excuse me!" a female, high-pitched voice suddenly said.

Fuutarou didn't pay any mind, since half his brain was focused on eating, and the other on reading his notes, until the steps came closer and the metallic sound of a tray went off from his own table, catching his attention.

He saw it was a girl, whose uniform looked different from the one worn at his school, thus he deduced she was probably a recent transfer student. At first glance he could have called her attractive: she had a well-endowed figure, blue eyes, and orange shoulder-length hair adorned with a green ribbon like a pair of bunny ears. If only she wasn't smiling like a fool for no apparent reason.

"Hehe, sorry, cafeteria is full." She scratched the back of her neck, still with that annoyingly silly smile of hers. "You don't mind, do you?"

"So long as you don't interrupt me, do as you will," he laconically replied.

"Thanks a lot. Let's dig in!" the girl said as she begun to eat herself.

Still focused on his own meal and his notepad, Fuutarou couldn't help but take a quick peek at the girl's lunch, and mentally calculated the cost. It was a similar menu to his, though her rice bowl was much fuller up top, adding a pair of gyoza and a pudding for dessert, which made a total of about 950 yen. Fuutarou usually saw that only in students who attended sports clubs and needed the extra energy, and wondered if this girl was one of them.

'Who cares?' he thought. It wasn't his business anyway.

He wasn't in a rush, but the girl seemed to eat like there was no tomorrow. Better that way; the sooner she finished her meal, the sooner she'd leave and stop invading his personal space.

"Say, Uesugi-san," she suddenly said, but he ignored her. "Uesugi-san. Uesugi-san!"

"What?" he said dryly after her repeated insistence.

"Hehe, you finally looked up." The girl still had that silly smile in her face, which was starting to become irritant.

"What's up with you, think you're so funny?" he asked, and then he realized something else. "And how the hell do you know my name?"

"Hehe, that's an excellent question." Next, she held up a pair of score test sheets. "Did you happen to drop this zero-point exam, or this perfect-score one?"

Fuutarou wanted to facepalm, how could he be so careless to drop his exam? Well, at least she was court enough to pick it up for him, though she could have given it at once.

"The right one, obviously." He pointed at the one-hundred sheet.

"Haha, that's great, you're honest!" the girl replied. "As a reward, you can have both."

"And what do I want the other for? Whose it is, anyway?"

"Mine, of course," she said, as if it was something to be proud of.

Fuutarou didn't see any case with this girl. He decided to finish his meal as fast as he could so he could give back the tray, and get away from her to study, but as soon as he stood up, she did the same and for no apparent reason began walking behind him, following him like a shadow.

"You know, my first impression of you if that you're a gloomy loner with no friends," she said as they walked upstairs to the second floor. "But you also seem someone very smart, maybe a genius."

The boy would have thanked her for the compliment, if she weren't stating the obvious. He tried to ignore her, but she continued to trail behind him, following his footsteps close. When he went to the dressing room to change for P.E. class, he noticed her standing on the door, glaring at him like a stalker.

Ignoring him didn't seem to work, especially since the rest of the boys in the room began muttering or glancing at her for her physical assets. Since she wouldn't leave, he decided to confront her.

"How long do you plan on following me? What do you want o me?"

"You still haven't thanked me," she replied as if it was obvious.

"Say what?"

"When someone returns something you lost, the normal is to say thanks, isn't it?" She placed her hands on her hips as she pouted. "A genius like you doesn't know that?"

Fuutarou wanted to protest, but looking at it from the other side, he realized she had a point there. Still, he was too proud to just say 'thanks' like that, so he pulled from his pocket the zero-point exam and handed it to her.

"Well then, I thank you. Here's yours, are we even now?"

Suddenly, the girl's pouty face brightened, again with that silly smile. "Oh, thanks a lot! Hehe, truth be told, I meant to ask you a favor. As you can see, I'm not a very good student, and I clearly need help."

"Yeah, that can be seen from kilometers," he laconically said.

"So I thought, maybe you could help me as a tutor? I can pay you very well, I just…"

"No thanks." While he'd normally appreciate any job, he didn't think there would be a fee high enough to help such an annoying girl. "And if you don't mind I have another class to attend, so get out of the way, will you?"

…

The P.E. class went as it normally would. Since this one required a bigger physical effort as opposed to mental, it was his least favorite. Everyone always made fun of him because, when it came to run laps around the field, he'd always end up dead last, though at least they couldn't say he never finished them. He felt a great relief when the teacher finally blew his whistle and declared that the class was over.

As he picked up his stuff, his phone began ringing. The ID caller revealed it was his mother's number, so he quickly answered.

"Hello?"

"How are you, honey?" a maternal voice replied from the other side. "Having a good day?"

"Like always," he replied nonchalantly. "P.E. class left me beat, but other than that, and a stupid girl stalking me in the cafeteria, I guess it wasn't half-bad."

"Oh, a girl stalking you?" the woman asked with interest. "My son is finally attracting female attention? Your father will be happy to know that."

"Mom, please don't start. You know I'm not interested in that."

"Come on, son. There's nothing wrong with bringing a nice girl for dinner sometime. And Raiha would be happy to have a big sister to play with, you know that."

Fuutarou wanted to roll his eyes and reply, but he knew he'd be trying to win a lost argument, so he might as well save it. His parents and Raiha always reminded him that he should get a girlfriend, but why hurry? He didn't have plans to get married until he was economically stable to sustain a family.

"But well, I was calling you for another reason," his mother continued. "Your father met up with an old classmate who moved close of here, and it seems he wants to offer you a job."

"Really?" he said. Now that had his interest.

"He's looking for a private tutor for one of his daughters. From what I was told, she was suspended from her old school for bad grades, so he arranged for her to be transferred to your class. It'll be a job at home, and he wants you to start as soon as you can."

"Hmm… what about my payment?" Fuutarou wanted to skip straight to what really mattered.

"He says you'll be paid per hour, and if you give good results, you might get an additional bonus."

Fuutarou couldn't help but smile at that. If that was the case, then he'd have to ensure this girl passed with flying colors. Well, considering that he was the top student in his school, how hard could it be?

"Ah, by the way, Raiha wants to say hi."

"Onii-chan, I love you so much!" the voice of a little girl exclaimed in a cheery tone.

"I know, I know, I love you too, Raiha," he replied. He could be a serious guy and proud of it, but his little sister was one of the few people capable of making him smile. He adored her and would do anything for her.

After ending the call, he packed his stuff and headed out. It was the last class for the day, so he had to go back home and dine with his family and then have a good rest.

However, upon crossing the school's gates, he had the weird and uncomfortable sensation of being watched, and upon turning around, he could almost swear he saw a green ribbon sticking out above the entrance's walls. He hoped he was just imagining things; he didn't want to deal again with that cheery and stupid girl from the cafeteria.

----------------------------------------

At sunset…

On the walk back home, Fuutarou frequently passed by his family's bakery store. Whenever he had some spare money and had an urge for a snack before dinner, that was the best place to go. While he could have used family leverage to get some bread for free, he'd always refuse, save for special occasions like his birthday.

Normally, the Uesugis' bakery would get at its fullest at noon, as a lot of people walked by during lunch break to eat something quick before going back to work. And everyone agreed on something: his mother's bread was the most delicious in the entire city.

"Welcome! Ah, Onii-chan!"

A tiny figure with a high-pitched voice quickly came over to greet her. It was his little sister Raiha; a sweet eleven-year old with long dark blue hair like his, with a long strand raised over the head held by a pink bow. She was dressed on a denim overall and a color-striped shirt, looking as cheery as ever.

"How was the day, Onii-chan?"

"Same old, I guess," he replied, trying to smile. Raiha was one of the few people capable of lightening his mood with her sole presence. "Where's Mom?"

"She's on the back looking for some change, so I watch the place meanwhile," the little girl said with pride. "You want the usual?"

"No thanks, I think I'll take a look around for something different today," he replied.

"Okay, take your time," Raiha said before going back to the front desk, leaving her brother to take a look.

Their bakery was never short on variety, so he could take his time to pick. Besides, in that moment, there weren't too many people, save for a girl who looked about his age filling up a tray.

Fuutarou stared at her for a moment. Her appearance was oddly familiar, though he wasn't sure where he'd seen her before. She had long, bright red hair that fell about halfway down her back, with a little curved strand above her head, and she adorned her temples with a pair of yellow star-shaped hairclips. It seemed she'd come here right after school like him, since she was in uniform.

The girl turned around as soon as she noticed she was being glanced at. "Excuse me, you've been staring too much at me. Can I help you with something?"

"No, it's nothing, I just thought…" Thinking up fast, Fuutarou figured it'd be better to deflect the topic to avoid an uncomfortable situation, and as he searched for something, his eyes locked onto the tray she carried.

Said try by the way was full beyond its capacity. Fuutarou thought this girl had probably filled her order with at least one of every type of bread they sold. Calculating by the size, it had to be worth somewhere between four to five thousand yen.

"You plan on eating that all by yourself?" he asked. He then felt like facepalming upon realizing how that sounded.

"Oh, are you hungry?" the girl said suddenly smiling. "I can share some with you, if you can't afford it."

The comment made him take offense: did he look like a beggar? Of course, she had no way to know that place belonged to his family, and even if that weren't the case, he had more than enough money to pay for his share.

"No thanks. I just thought that anybody who eats all that alone can gain a lot of weight."

The girl's smile quickly vanished, being replaced by a frown and puffed cheeks.

"What are you insinuating? For the record, I'm also buying this for my sisters, thank you very much!"

Without missing a beat, she turned on her heels and headed for the cash register to pay. By then, Fuutarou's mother had returned from the back to place some bills and coins in the machine, and Raiha was helping pack everything in the bags.

"Thank you very much, please come back soon!" she said, and after grabbing her bags, the red-haired girl headed for the door as she grabbed one of the breads to eat it on the way out. Raiha quickly turned to him. "Onii-chan, you shouldn't be so rude!"

"I hope that doesn't dissuade her from coming later," Mrs. Uesugi added. "She's the best customer we've had in a long time."

Those words coming out of his mom's mouth, Fuutarou felt a little guilty. Last thing he wanted would be to scare off customers or do something bad for the business, even if they weren't exactly going through economical struggles.

Mrs. Uesugi's name was Kazane, and clearly both her children had inherited their hair color from her side of the family. Despite being already thirty-nine, people usually assumed she was halfway through her twenties at first glance, to the point that the apron and bandanna holding her hair were the only clues that prevented other from mistaking her for her children's big sister, almost looking like a female version of her son, though her hair fell similarly long to that of her daughter over one of her shoulders.

"Anyway, do you want the usual, or something special for today?"

"No, a cream bun is enough for the day," Fuutarou said, paying it quickly so he could start eating. "By the way, about that job Dad got me…"

"Ah yes. He said that you could start next Monday," the woman explained. "Since you'll be in the same class, she'll take you home to start working. You'll get your first pay next Friday."

"Great, in that case I better go home and prepare everything for the study sessions," he said. "See you later."

"Onii-chan!" Raiha called out to him as he crossed the door. "Remember you promised to take me to the arcade next weekend!"

"I know, I know!" he replied. Of course he hadn't forgotten, and he had all the intention to keep that promise.

Although Raiha didn't ask for things often, whenever she did he couldn't say no. Well, if he could do a good job, he'd be able to pay her fun with his own money, and that'd take some worries off him.

However, as he headed for home, he noticed the girl who exited the bakery before waiting by the corner. Right then, a luxury black car came and picked her up. He guessed that, if she was able to pay in cash all that bread she bought before, she'd probably have money to burn, and to afford such transport.

'Even so… why do I feel her so familiar?' he thought.

He finally decided to forget it. After all, unless she decided to stop by the bakery again, it was unlikely that he'd see her again.

----------------------------------------

The next Monday, Classroom 2-1…

Fuutarou was at the classroom on time as usual, and he took his seat to wait. If what his mother told him before was true, today he would meet his would-be pupil. In fact, pretty much everyone was gossiping about it.

"Did you hear? A new female student is transferring to our class today."

"For real? Is she pretty? Which school does she come from?"

"They say so. From hearsay, she comes from Kurobara Academy."

Fuutarou overheard without paying much attention, though the last part caught his interest. Kurobara Academy was a female-only high school for people with plenty of money. That being the case, the family who was hiring him as a tutor for their daughter was most certainly rich, in which case he had to make a good first impression.

"They say she's very athletic too. From what I heard, she was in the track, basketball, softball, volleyball and swimming clubs, and managed to take all of them to the nationals."

"Really? Wow, then we need to recruit her. Maybe she'll help us break this lousy streak!"

Hearing that, Fuutarou couldn't help but snort slightly. Rumors usually tended to expand overboard and exaggerate stories. As athletic as that girl was, there was no way to balance so many sports clubs at once, let alone if she had to spare time for studying.

Though now that he thought about it, if it was true that she'd been suspended for having bad grades, it'd make sense if she only focused on sports. Then she probably was a girl with pure brawn and no brains. She'd need plenty of help from him if that was the case.

The bell to start classes went off, and less than a minute later the teacher came in. After the usual greeting, he proceeded to make the already expected announcement about the new student joining them, and called her to come in to introduce herself.

And Fuutarou felt he paled upon recognizing her.

"Good morning everyone!" she greeted with the same high-pitched and cheery voice from yesterday. "I'm Yotsuba Nakano and I've just moved here! I hope I can get along with all of you!"

'No… you have to be kidding me,' Fuutarou thought. 'A nightmare… a bad dream… she is the one I'm supposed to tutor?'

He was in too much of a shock to focus on what she was saying, and he only came to his senses when she went to take a seat on one of the empty chairs, two rows behind on the column to his right. He instinctively turned to look over his shoulder, only for the girl to raise a hand and wave at him with that stupid smile.

Focusing on the class was going to be very, very hard now.

…

Fuutarou wasn't sure how he managed to go through the entire morning of class. The cheery girl, whose name he now knew as Yotsuba, at least today respected his personal space and didn't try to board him, limiting herself to just smile and wave at him from afar, but he knew they'd have to talk sooner or later. After all, he'd agreed to take that job and he wouldn't be able to take it back, irritating as it was.

At lunch time, he wasn't surprised to see his habitual spot was occupied, as she was there waiting for him. Just as soon as she spotted him, she beckoned her to come and sit, and a quick glance made him realize the rest of the cafeteria was packed, so there weren't any more choices.

"Hehe, we meet again, Uesugi-san," she said, resting her chin on her intertwined hands.

"I guess so. Nakano-san, that's your name, isn't it?"

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Oh, you can call me Yotsuba, no problem," she said nonchalantly. "After all, you're going to be my tutor soon, right?"

Suddenly, that little 'approach' from last Friday made a bit more sense. Her father probably told her about it, and if he was indeed a former classmate of Fuutarou's dad, he might have even given her a physical description to identify him. The weird thing was, while he tried to be cold and even rude to drive her way, she was acting like that didn't happen. Heck, she was even asking him to call her by her first name, that was saying a lot.

"Alright… Yotsuba." He then prepared to eat, and noticed she hadn't even touched her own food, beginning only when he did. Had she been waiting for him a long time?

Neither of them said a word for a while as they ate, though Fuutarou could hear the whispers from everyone else around. It wasn't too strange: seeing him sit with the same girl for lunch two days in a row was probably enough for everyone to start gossiping and getting wrong ideas. Though it didn't make it any less annoying.

Well, there was another way to drown out the mumblings from the other students. Since they were going to see each other a lot, in and outside of the school, he guessed it'd do no harm if they got to know each other, if only to get a view of what kind of student he'd be dealing with.

"So… your dad hired me to help you. Is it true then, you were expelled from your old school?"

"Hehe, yeah it is." She tapped the top of her head as she stuck out her tongue, though immediately took a more serious expression afterwards. "It couldn't be helped. I got into so many sports clubs I had no time to study later. I thought I could handle everything if I worked hard, but…"

"Hey, you can't try to bite more than you can chew," he told her sternly, once his suspicions were confirmed. It seemed the rumors weren't as exaggerated as he assumed. "If that test you showed me is any clue, we have a lot of work to do."

"I'll do what I have. I know you can help me, you're a genius after all," the girl assured with determination, before bowing slightly at him. "In advance, thank you so much."

"Don't thank me for anything, until you've passed," he replied. "Besides, I'm not doing this for you; I'm doing this because I'm being paid, are we clear?"

"Crystal clear, Uesugi-sensei!" she replied making a military salute gesture, which quickly attracted some looks and giggles from the nearby curious.

Suddenly Fuutarou was starting to regret having accepted that job. What did he just get himself into? Would they payment be worth teaching this girl?

…

Fuutarou was used to walk home alone, but that day after class, Yotsuba dragged him so they could go together. Since he still didn't have the address and having no clue where the girl's family lived, he figured it couldn't be helped. Although there was the fact that, just like in the cafeteria, everyone could see he was walking home with an attractive girl, and he couldn't shake that uncomfortable feeling anymore.

He wasn't blind: inside he admitted Yotsuba was a very beautiful girl, but his type of women was far from being a brainless beauty like her. Shallow teenagers who'd just look at the physique before the personality (or in his case, intelligence) ended up crashing into disappointment, and he refused to be one of them.

Every once in a while he'd look to the side and realize that Yotsuba always kept that big smile in her face, as if she were happy for walking side by side with him. While the idea was a little weird and even uncomfortable, he couldn't feel but feel flattered about it, though he quickly shook that thought off, since it wasn't like she was giving him any special treatment. During the whole day he saw Yotsuba quickly earning the class' attention with her cheery and happy-go-lucky attitude, so it wasn't hard to tell she just was that way with everyone. Even with those who were asocial and distant like him, apparently.

They walked quite a bit until they reached a huge apartment building, whose name in the entrance said "PENTAGON". At first glance, Fuutarou estimated it was probably thirty stories high, giving him a slight sensation of vertigo. Not just because of how high it was, but also that it probably costed a fortune to live in that place.

"Wow…" he said, in awe of the building.

"Hehe, impressed much?" Yotsuba said, with clear amusement at his open jaw.

"I admit I am," he acknowledged.

"Hold on for a moment, I need to let everyone know I'm bringing a visit." Yotsuba then approached the entrance door, while he was still admiring the building, still a bit shocked to be in such a place.

He never imagined he'd be in a luxury building like this. If the Nakano family could afford an apartment in a complex like this, then they probably weren't joking about paying him handsomely for being Yotsuba's tutor.

"Excuse me, can you step aside? You're in the… YOU?!"

He turned around upon hearing that voice, only to be surprised as he saw face to face the redhead he saw in the bakery. What were the odds?

"Well, if it isn't Miss Glutton," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that! And for the record, I live here, Mr. Jerk!"

"Well, I'm here for a job, alright?" he defended himself.

"Job? What kind of job could someone like you have here?"

"Thanks for waiting, Uesugi-san!" Yotsuba called out as she returned. "Okay, we can finally get in and… ah, Itsuki!"

"Yotsuba? Excuse me, I need to give a piece of mi mind to this jerk here."

"Well, too bad, because I have nothing to say to you. Like I said before, I'm here for a job."

"And you expect me to buy that tale?"

"Er… Itsuki, actually Uesugi-san is…"

"What, you mean him?" the redhead said, and now he knew her name was Itsuki. And then, her angry expression changed in a heartbeat, as if she just realized something. "No… don't tell me he is…"

Meanwhile, Fuutarou had just frozen. These two knew one another? What were the odds of that? Even more for them to live in the same building?

"Well, well, this city is clearly smaller than I thought," the girl said, trying to break the tension. "Never thought that you and this glutton here were friends."

"Hey!" Itsuki yelled, clearly annoyed at the appellative.

"Um… well, we're not exactly friends," Yotsuba scratched the back of her head, looking from side to side as if trying to find a way to mediate in the hostilities.

Before Fuutarou could ask what she meant by not being friends, Itsuki stormed off stomping angrily towards the entrance door. At that distance the boy caught that she entered the elevator, probably to go to their apartment. Better that way so as to not to deal with her anymore.

"What do you mean you're not friends with her?" he asked. "It's clear you two know each other, don't you?"

"Well… I think I forgot to mention that I have sisters, did I?" Yotsuba chuckled nervously. "We're five, actually. I'm the fourth, and Itsuki is the fifth."

"Five?" Fuutarou asked raising an eyebrow.

He suddenly remembered: when his mother mentioned the tutoring job the first time, she said that his father's friend hired him as a tutor for one of his daughters. Daughters in plural.

Suddenly a thought came at his head, and he needed to be sure. "Hey, can you frown for a moment?"

"Huh? Like this?" She did as she was asked, and in his head he superimposed the image to Itsuki's face. Side by side, and leaving out the long hair and different accessories, they were a perfect match.

'God save me, they could be twins,' he thought. They probably were, so he wouldn't bother to ask.

"Well, I guess it's time for us to enter, right?" she added, snapping him out of his thoughts.

After she used her key card to open the door, both headed for the elevator, where Yotsuba pressed the button for Floor 30. The boy swallowed at the thought of having to walk up all those stairs in case there was a blackout or it got busted, as he didn't believe he could do that. Physical effort had never been his forte after all.

With both of them alone in the elevator and with nothing else to do, he guessed it wouldn't hurt to converse with her for a bit, if only to kill some time. And to clear his mind off of the little argument with Itsuki.

"So… I heard you used to study at the Kurobara Academy," he said. "What was it like?"

"I guess it wasn't too bad. Though being in a female-only school had its disadvantages, like not being able to meet handsome boys and that. I had plenty of good friends in the sports clubs, though, and of course my sisters."

Fuutarou thought that, if all the other sisters were anything like Itsuki, they probably weren't easy to get along with, but he didn't say it out loud. Better keep away from that topic, at least for now.

"You know, I have a little sister myself."

"Really? She must be really cute, isn't she? I always wanted to have a little sister, but that's tough when you're the fourth out of five."

"I would imagine." He nodded. If one of them seemed hard to deal with, what would the others be like?

"But well, the bright side of that is that I never feel alone. I'm sure you'll like to meet them. Even Itsuki, I assure you she can be very sweet when you get to know her better."

Fuutarou didn't dare to refute that, but she doubted they could get along. He'd rather minimize the treatment, not just with her, but with the others to avoid problems and unnecessary distractions.

The elevator reached its destination and both walked towards the door at the end of the corridor. A golden plate had the name "NAKANO" in occidental letters written on it, and Yotsuba immediately opened the door for them to enter.

At first glance, the apartment was fairly impressive. It was Western-styled with two stories, the lower of which was composed by a huge living-dining room with a large water tank filled with multicolored fish, comfy-looking armchairs around a study table, next to another dining table for five people, and he could also spot a kitchen, with a set of stairs going to the upper level where Fuutarou assumed the bedrooms would be.

"I'm home!" Yotsuba announced.

"Welcome," a female, bored-sounding voice, answered her. There was a girl, whom Fuutarou assumed was another of Yotsuba's sisters, was lying on the couch as she fiddled with a tablet.

"Hi, Miku," Yotsuba greeted. "Hey, isn't that the game I lent you? When are you going to return it?"

"When I finish it," the sister named Miku answered. "I still have about 45% of the campaign mode to do."

"Hmm." Yotsuba pouted slightly. "Where are the others, by the way?"

"Nino's making dinner. Itsuki went to take a bath. Ichika said she'd arrive a bit later."

"Ah, too bad, Uesugi-san!" Yotsuba exclaimed like it was a tragedy. "It'd been great to introduce you to all of them at once!"

"Does that really matter?" he said. "Don't forget what we came to do."

What could be so special of meeting all five sisters at once? Outside the fact that two of them were apparently twins, he doubted there was something interesting about them.

"Hehe, sure, sorry!" Yotsuba said. "Do you want to drink something before we start?"

"I guess some water would be nice, after that long walk," he replied, wanting to get started soon in order to earn his pay.

"Okay, wait for me here! Meanwhile, you and Miku can get to know each other!"

Fuutarou didn't have much interest in that, but he guessed it wouldn't hurt to take a seat, so he picked one of the armchairs before the table.

However, upon seeing Miku face to face, he was in for another surprise. Maybe at first glance the reddish brown tone of her hair made it hard to see the family resemblance, but leaving that aside, and having it longer than Yotsuba and shorter than Itsuki, Miku had the same face and the same blue eyes, though the look in them was rather disheveled, like she was sleepy or depressed. Very different to Yotsuba's constantly cheerful attitude, and Itsuki's irritation. Her choice of dressing seemed to reflect that too: she wore a simple sweater, her legs were covered in dark leggings, and wore a large pair of headphones around her neck.

"So you are Yotsuba's tutor," she said, with the same inexpressive voice from before.

"Fuutarou Uesugi," he introduced himself. "And… your name is Miku?"

"Itsuki looked rather angry when she came in before," she replied without answering his question. "Was it you?"

"I… guess so," he replied. He didn't see any reason to lie after all.

"I hope you have a lot of patience. You have quite a lot of work ahead of you with Yotsuba."

Fuutarou wanted to reply that, with that zero-point exam, it was very much obvious, but he saw no need. Mentally, he superimposed Miku's image to Yotsuba's and Itsuki's, playing puzzle by mixing and matching their hairstyles. They weren't twins, could they actually be triplets? It'd be the last straw if the last remaining two also looked the same.

Not wanting to think about that, he pulled out his pencils, books and notebooks to get started at once, placing them on the table. As he did so, he peeked through the corner of his eye at Miku's tablet, noticing that she was playing a game he knew, which recreated historical battles of the warlords from the Sengoku period.

'A good game to learn of history, if I ever saw one,' he thought.

"Thanks for waiting!" Yotsuba came over skidding on the floor, carrying a tray with a glass of water that she immediately handed to him. "Here you are, Uesugi-san!"

"Thanks." Fuutarou downed the glass in almost a single gulp, noticing also that another of Yotsuba's sisters came behind her, and looked at him with a distrustful glare for some reason.

'Oh no,' he thought upon seeing her, holding the glass in his hand without finishing the rest of its content.

This sister, whose name he heard before from Miku's mouth as Nino, could only be told apart thanks to her long magenta-colored hair, much longer than Itsuki's and adorned with a pair of black butterfly-shaped ribbons. She had the same face and blue eyes as the others, though at the moment her scowl made her look notably different.

"What are you looking at?" she asked.

"Huh? I, nothing, I just…" he involuntarily looked at Miku, and then Yotsuba "I couldn't help but notice that…"

"Yeah, anyone can notice our resemblance, genius," she interrupted. "We're quintuplets after all."

"Quintuplets?" Fuutarou exclaimed in shock. "So that means the last of you…?"

All of a sudden, Yotsuba wanting to introduce all of them at once made more sense. She probably wanted to cause a bigger first impression, one much bigger than he evidently had just by seeing them one. And he still had one more to meet.

"Exactly." The long-haired girl came closer and kneeled down to glare directly into his eye. "And listen well; I know Papa hired you to help Yotsuba with her studies, so you better don't try anything funny with her, got it?" she added, poking him with her finger threateningly.

"Hey, who do you think I am?" he exclaimed.

"Nino, don't be mean to Uesugi-san," Yotsuba defended him. "Sorry about that, she's not very fond of strangers, that's all. Can we get started?"

"Sure, gladly," Fuutarou said. "If you guys don't mind, can you leave us alone? You know so we can concentrate."

Miku didn't give a verbal response, but stood up from the couch and left without a single word. Nino took a bit longer, though she shot one last glare at Fuutarou that gave him the chills, as if trying to say "I'll be watching you", before she spoke to Yotsuba.

"Dinner's in the fridge. There's for our 'guest' too, if he gets hungry." She then added, like it wasn't important. "And don't worry, I didn't poison it."

Fuutarou swallowed hard as he saw her walk upstairs. What was wrong with her? Her concerns were ludicrous, not to mention completely unfounded. Yotsuba wasn't even his type for him to want to take her away or do anything.

And speaking of Yotsuba, she was smiling as ever, so it was probably a daily thing and decided to stop caring about it. First things first, he gave her a blank mock exam for her to solve, so as to determine how bad she was. Girl grabbed the pencil and began working on it without hesitation.

'At least she's putting interest on it. Good sign,' he thought as he watched her.

Based on the mock exam's result, he could evaluate which areas she needed help on, and thus know where he should emphasize more during his tutoring sessions. Nevertheless, until she finished, he had nothing else to do but perhaps admire the place a little.

To the naked eye, Fuutarou calculated that the living room's area alone was probably enough to hold the small apartment where he and his family lived. That without counting the fact that each of the quintuplets probably had her own room, judging by the number of doors in the upper level (six in all, and the last one he assumed would be the parents' dorm).

By contrast, his own residence only had two dorms, and they had to pay some construction arrangements to expand one and then split it in two, so that he and Raiha could have individual rooms. Fortunately, they didn't get any more debts for that, even though it felt a little cramped in there sometimes. He'd gotten used to it, but he admittedly wouldn't mind some more space for himself.

Landing back from drifting on his thoughts, Fuutarou focused on Yotsuba again, as she seemingly was about to finish her exam.

"Done!" she exclaimed, handing him the sheet. "How did I do?"

Fuutarou grabbed the paper and checked the answers. Fifty varied questions, each one worth two points. At first glance, the good news was that at least it wasn't a zero like the one she showed when they first met. The bad news, out of a hundred points she only got…

"Eight… eight points?!" The boy needed all of his willpower to hold back the urge to crumple the paper in his hands and then slam it against the table. "Also, why the hell did you mark option four in almost all questions?"

"Well, don't they say in multiple-choice questions, the fourth option is the most likely to be the right one?" The girl placed her hands behind her head as she said it.

"Who told you that?" he asked. Probably someone who had the idea that in a true-false exam you could pass by marking all answers true to get half of them right.

"I'm really sorry!" Yotsuba put her hands in a begging position. "Sometimes it's just so confusing, and I have no choice but to gamble and hope for the best!"

Fuutarou frowned; though in light of her situation, that seemed the most viable option to at least get something right. She clearly needed a lot more help than he initially thought.

Well, this did solve a question: if she was that bad on every subject, it didn't matter where they started. He grabbed the math book to begin there, explaining the easiest equations before going for the more complex ones.

Despite the slow advance (Yotsuba seemed to have trouble getting the procedures, and she made many factorization mistakes), he at least gave her credit for not getting distracted, and when she didn't get something she asked about it without hesitation. Then again, it was a bit annoying having to repeat the same step in a problem three or four times, but he'd compromised on teaching her at any cost, and he wouldn't step back now.

'It might be a slow advance, but at least we're going forward.'

"Yay! I did it, look, Uesugi-san!" the girl exclaimed, showing him the solved problem.

Yeap, the problem was perfectly solved, without omitting a single step on the procedure. Problem was, she was stuck over half an hour on it before succeeding, and he had to drop some clues every time she got frozen up. He had to work on getting her to make things faster, if she was to survive the exams.

"Good job," he deadpanned. "Now let's move on to the next one."

As they began, the apartment's door opened again, a female voice announcing herself. By then, Fuutarou was no longer surprised upon seeing it was the quintuplet he had yet to meet. She could be told apart from the others as her hair was dyed pink, and quite a bit shorter than Yotsuba's, with just a few bangs falling down her temples and slightly longer on the right side.

"Well, well, we have a visit today?" She approached them. "Oh, you must be the tutor Dad hired to help Yotsuba, aren't you?"

"Obviously," he replied. "Yotsuba already introduced me to the rest of your sisters, you were the only one left."

"Oh? So what impression you have of us, hmm?" the sister said, with a coquettish smirk. "Have you found any of us interesting?"

"At all." He then looked away. He hadn't come to flirt, but to study after all.

"Really? That's too bad, I think you're even cute." The girl giggled before looking at their subject of study. "So you're studying math. Do you want some extra help? I'm good with numbers, you know."

"I can manage, thanks very much," he replied dryly. With less people in the living room there would be less distractions.

Especially since the pink-haired girl seemed to be leaning forward intentionally to show off her cleavage, and he had to hold back the urge to glance in that direction. Why did they have to be so damn attractive?

"Alright, as you wish. But if you need something, just give me a shout. Ichika-oneesan will be pleased to give you a hand whenever you want." She winked at him before walking upstairs to her dorm, leaving the boy completely in shock with her attitude.

"Oneesan?" Fuutarou asked as he glanced at Yotsuba, who just chuckled.

"Ichika is the eldest of us five. Just for a few minutes of course, but she loves to rub that on us whenever she can."

"I see." Fuutarou nodded. So she was the eldest sister. Right then he began to think and noticed the pattern in their names: if Ichika was the first, and from what Yotsuba told before about her and Itsuki, that meant Nino and Miku were the second and third respectively. A rather convenient way to name them, he had to admit it.

The rest of the session went on without major difficulties. Despite Yotsuba's slow progress, Fuutarou had to acknowledge that at least the girl was working hard and he decided to capitalize on it. He tried to be as fair as possible while still being stern, but at least, even if he took forever, he succeeded in getting her to internalize every exercise before moving on to the next one. He intentionally gave her several similar ones to check if she was able to realize and apply what she learned on the next ones. It wasn't much, but at least in everyone she took less time to find the solution, and in the last one he didn't even have to say a word to her.

By the time they finished, it was almost seven and night had fallen. Before he left, Yotsuba insisted that they should eat something first, and although Fuutarou had his doubts about eating whatever Nino left in the fridge for them, he was so hungry after that session that his suspicions were quickly erased. And admittedly, the food was pretty good. Yotsuba later told him Nino was the better cook among the five of them, and even left a bag of cookies for dessert. Fuutarou decided to keep some of them for his sister.

Having finished, the fourth sister went down with her tutor to the building's entrance, and despite his objections, she called a taxi to take him home.

"You don't have to do this, I can go home myself," he said.

"Just being careful," Yotsuba replied. "What will we do tomorrow?"

"We're moving forward to English, if you're fine with that. Even so, you'd do well to review today when you have time. I'd hate it if you forget it."

"As you say, Uesugi-sensei!" the girl exclaimed with enthusiasm.

"Stop calling me that, okay? We're of similar age."

"Sorry… Uesugi-san," Yotsuba apologized. "Hey… thanks again for helping me. I hope I didn't cause you much trouble."

"No more than I already expected, in any case," he said. "Still, don't get distracted even while I'm gone. You still have a long way to go."

The taxi arrived a few minutes later, and they both boarded it. While money wasn't an issue for her, he was weirded out that she wanted to accompany him all the way back home. She argued that she needed to know where he lived, especially to deliver his fee and in case she couldn't do it at school. Taking that as a valid reason, he accepted it, although he didn't speak a single word for the rest of the trip.

"Thanks for escorting me here, but I can walk the rest of the way myself."

"Aw, you're such a meanie, I invited you to my home and you don't invite me to yours?" Yotsuba said as she made a pouty face, but he could tell she was just playing.

"Hey, you know I only went there for the job, besides…"

"Onii-chan!" a voice he quickly recognized as Raiha's called out. And sure enough, his little sister came running at him. "You finally returned, Mom and Dad were waiting for you so…" She then turned towards the taxi, where Yotsuba was still seated, and she shoved him aside to look at her. "Ah, you must be Onii-chan's student, are you?! Do you want to have dinner with us?"

"We already ate at her home, let's go inside," Fuutarou held Raiha by the shoulders and tried to take her back home.

"Onii-chan, don't be so mean, let me meet her! Mom and Dad want to meet her too!"

"But, Raiha…"

"Please, you can't?"

Right then, Raiha resorted to using her ultimate weapon: the puppy-dog eyes, which always made him unable to say no. And while he was there paralyzed, said eyes also had effect on someone else.

"Aww, Uesugi-san! How can you deny something to your cute little sister!" Somehow Yotsuba had gotten out of the taxi, and grabbed Raiha into a cuddle. "Alright, since you're asking me to, I'll stay for dinner with you guys."

"You're gonna get fat like Itsuki," Fuutarou muttered under his teeth, though that didn't dissuade her one bit.

Meanwhile, the taxi driver complained about being left there waiting to be paid, so Yotsuba used a card to cancel and told him he could leave, she would later call another to go home. Great: his first day as a tutor, and his student was already meeting his family.

…

He didn't know how (or maybe he did), but somehow the five of them were sitting around the table. Aside from Raiha and their mother, the family's father, Isanari, had joined them as well. Unlike his son, he had a well-built and athletic physique, and wild blond hair with a pair of sunshades over the head. Out of the family members, he seemed the most excited one over his son bringing a girl over for dinner.

"Hahahaha, I was starting to think I'd never see this day!" he said. "My son's always being an antisocial who only thinks about all study and no play. Totally different from me!"

"Dad!"

"Darling, please don't embarrass Fuutarou that way," his wife lectured. "Even if you're technically correct on that. Fuutarou, if you weren't so serious you'd be more popular, like your father."

"You too, Mom?" Fuutarou rolled his eyes. Yotsuba also seemed to be amused at the embarrassment they were submitting him to, as she was laughing along with them. "I'd expect being made fun of by her, but all of you, my family?"

"Uesugi-san, why so serious?" Yotsuba gave him a pat on the back, with enough strength to almost slam his face on the table. "Really, you should smile more, it'd make you look better."

"That's what I'm always telling him!" his father agreed. "See? Even your cute student agrees with me?

"Thanks for waiting!" Raiha came over bringing the plates. "Here, for Yotsuba-san, Mom, Dad, and Onii-chan! Curry and omelet Uesugi-style!"

"Oh, this looks great!" said Yotsuba. "Thanks, let's dig in!"

They all began eating with a lot of appetite, and Fuutarou saw that gluttony wasn't probably limited to the fifth sister, but rather it'd be a family thing. Even after eating at Yotsuba's home, Raiha's curry was too good to waste.

As they ate, the conversation topic quickly came up for everyone:

"By the way, Onii-chan, how was your first day as a tutor?"

"I guess…" he glanced sideways at Yotsuba, "it wasn't too bad. She didn't give me too many troubles. Though it's gonna be hard."

"Well, you'll have to be constant," Isanari said. "But you can't complain; anybody would kill for having such a pretty student like her."

"Aw, shucks, of course not," Yotsuba said, waving off the compliment. "Uesugi-san prefers other kinds of girls, doesn't he? I'm too dumb for him."

"Don't be so modest, sweetie," Kazane said. "I can see you're a really nice girl, though with how stubborn usually is, maybe he'll take a while to see it."

"Yeah, he's got a thick head! Look!" Raiha gave him a few hand taps on the back of his head.

"Hah! I'd rather be thick-headed instead of air-headed. Like someone else here…"

The boy shot a stealth look at Yotsuba upon saying that, but unfortunately the gesture didn't go unnoticed by his little sister, who raised the tray and smacked him on the back of the head with it.

"Ouch! That hurts, you know?!" he complained as he rubbed the pained area, while the others laughed and made him roll his eyes. Why did he have to be the target of all jokes?

"Yotsuba-san, I know my brother is a grump, selfish and rude at times," Raiha said as she turned to Yotsuba. "But he also has many good things, even if he doesn't like to show them."

"Are you trying to insult me or defending me?" Fuutarou asked.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he does," the ribbon girl said cheerily. "Moreover: as a reward for helping me study, I'll do my best to make him smile more. How do you like that?"

"Truly?" Raiha exclaimed, her face brightening with excitement. "You promise?"

"Of course!"

"Hahahaha, that's the spirit!" Isanari said. "Really, son, you should learn from her as you teach her!"

Fuutarou wanted to snort, but there was no point in trying to contradict them. What could he learn from an idiot like Yotsuba? Did they forget he was the one who had to teach her, and it clearly looked like it'd be an uphill battle?

At least they, especially Raiha, seemed to be content. He had promised to himself he'd make the girl pass, and he also wanted his money's worth as due. He had a future in sight and he wanted to achieve it at any cost, no matter how he did.

Right then, Fuutarou didn't imagine how much his life would change, just for having met Yotsuba and her sisters. Something was for sure: he'd never get days of boredom ever again.

----------------------------------------

Flashforward, five years in the future…

I'd fallen asleep at the church's dressing room, dreaming about that day. The bells ringing woke me up, along with the voice of one of the attendants telling me the bride was about to arrive. I looked at myself on the mirror, and fixing my hair and the wrinkles in my suit, I immediately walked out. The time had finally come.

I still remembered it like it was yesterday, the day we met for the first time. Back then, I never imagined I'd end up falling in love with someone like you. But that was because I didn't see you the way you were, what you kept hidden beneath that first impression. My parents were right. It took me a while to see how wonderful of a person you were.

And here we are now, under the altar, about to bond together for the rest of our lives. The path was long, full of ups and downs, laughter, spats and sorrows, but I don't regret my decision. And now that I see you, more beautiful and radiant than ever before with that white dress, I'm more convinced about it. Even if I was your tutor, you taught me many more important things, things I'd never have learned from anyone else.

This is the story of how I met the woman I fell in love with, her sisters, and everything we went through since then. To understand the present, you need to know the past, especially how we came to this point.

To be continued…