Y/N POV:
The days got colder the deeper into autumn. Despite being a couple of weeks since the end of summer, the chilly climate only really hit me on this particular morning. And as much as I'd like to watch the soft rain falling outside from my cozy little apartment, I, unfortunately, had to go to school.
I got out of bed and shook off the sleep with a little bit of stretching. After proceeding through my morning routine as usual, I made my way to school. The streets were cold and quiet under a bright cloudy sky. The commute, though short was always pleasant.
I arrived, said hi to Fuutarou, then got to my classroom. Nino's material was at the desk in front of me, but she was chatting with some friends at the back of the classroom. I simply sat down, put on my hood, and closed my eyes, I had about two songs of time before the class started, and I intended to make full use of them.
Amazingly I didn't get interrupted this time, but when I opened my eyes once again I could see a rather menacing message written on the blackboard.
"MIDTERMS", underlined and all.
I mean, it was to be expected that we'd have midterms eventually. It's just that it never feels good get on with this clusterfuckery. Exams aren't a big problem to me, but I can see them being a nuisance when we have to juggle studying and tutoring the quints. Granted, it's the same subjects, but my and Fuutarou's pace is radically different from theirs.
Speaking of which, I only now noticed a pair of blue eyes staring at me from the desk ahead. Nino looked mildly infuriated, her arms crossed.
I simply stared back without saying a word, and after some long 15 seconds, she finally spoke:
"Are you not saying good morning to me today?"
I couldn't help but chuckle a little, "Really?"
"What do you mean 'really'? The correct answer is: Ah, I'm sorry, good morning Nino! Did you sleep well?"
"Oh well, it's good to know that I matter so much to you that you get grumpy if I don't say hi to you every day."
"That's not what I meant!"
"What else could you have meant then?"
"Uh..."
"Nakano-san, L/N-san, please remain quiet while I'm explaining the exam schedule." Our teacher said.
"I'm sorry, sensei." Nino replied, quickly turning to me and sticking her tongue out in a demeaning way.
I simply shrugged, leaning back on my desk and watching the rest of the explanation.
The exam would take place on Wednesday next week. Considering how little we covered with the quints, if we are to make them pass the exams, we need their full attention and cooperation. I spent a good part of that class plotting our studying schedule, going over the subjects we've been taught and what would be the most optimal way to approach each of them. If starting today, we have a session every day until the test including weekends, we would have 9 days, or approximately 18 hours of studying in total. That gives us roughly 3 hours and 30 minutes for each subject. And with a good balancing between theory and exercise depending on the subject, we should end up with...
"L/N-kun." Nino called me, interrupting my thought process.
"Huh? What?"
"Do you want to or not?"
"Dafuq you talking about?"
"The activity the teacher passed us. Do you want to form a pair with me?"
I glanced at the blackboard and sure enough, we've had been assigned to write an analysis a short story of a book we're reading.
"Sure. Though I thought you'd rather pair up with one of your friends."
"You are one of my friends, dumbass."
Not gonna lie, that caught me a bit off guard. I was expecting her to say something about how she's just pairing up with me because she wants good grades. But I like this answer is much better. I just gotta make her change 'dumbass' to 'dummy' and then we're golden.
Along with the overall cacophony of desks being dragged around, I placed my seat next to Nino's table. Quickly shuffling through the items in my backpack, I retrieved 'The Legends of Tono', a collection of Japanese folklore. National literature isn't exactly my specialty, and the flowery writing is particularly tough to decipher considering that Japanese isn't my first language. Nothing we can't handle though.
"Aight, pick a random number from 1 to 119." I said as I flipped through the pages of the book.
"Don't you want to choose the one you like the most?"
"The one I liked the most? Do I look like I read this sort of shit?"
"Aha! So you're not as good a student as you claim to be!" Nino proudly declared, as if she had just made a scientific breakthrough.
"Yes I am. I just happen to not be very particularly interested in traditional Japanese folklore." I picked my phone, "Hey Siri, pick a random number from 1 to 119."
"It's 15."
"15 it is." I opened the book index to look for the selected tale.
"If you're not reading the books the school demands, you're being a bad student." Nino said.
"And who tf are you to tell me what it means to be a good student." I responded playfully.
"Your employer. As your student, we can't have someone unqualified teaching us."
"Fuutarou is always an option."
"It's tough to choose the least anoying of you two."
"Shush. I gotta read this."
Nino crossed her arms and faced away. I sped read through the tale, proceeding to grab a piece of paper from my notebook to begin the analysis. It was as interesting as one would expect. There are a few cool tales in Japanese in this book but this particularly one was kinda wack.
Ten minutes and twenty-two lines later, I finished the essay, signing mine and Nino's name on it. She glanced at the sheet of paper, frowning slightly in confusion.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Why is it written so formally?"
"It isn't. I just added a few difficult words for a lil' razzle-dazzle. This teacher loves it."
"Hmpf. If you say so." She shrugged.
"Don't you wanna review it?"
"Nah, I trust you with this one."
"Then I'll hand it over..."
I got up and handed in the essay. From what I noticed, we were the first group to finish. There was still half an hour before break but the teacher said we were dismissed. That being the case, I relayed the information to Nino, got my phone, wallet, put on my earbuds, and proceeded to leave the classroom alone.
My original plan was to go to the lounge or the library to catch up on some reading or to plan the rest of the tutoring schedule – or even just take a nap. But as I was making my way through the corridors, I was pleasantly surprised by the sound of rapid footsteps echoing through the empty hallway.
"L/N-kun, wait up!"
"Hm? What is it?"
"My friends are still going to take a while before they're done and since I don't want to be alone at the class, I decided to come with you."
"Oh cool. Well, you're always welcome to join. In that case, do you wanna go for a walk around school?."
"Yeah, I guess we could do that..." She said, hiding her hands on the sleeves of her sweater.
The both of us began a little stroll through the empty corridors. The cold morning air seeped through the open windows, giving us a chilly but pleasant feeling. As we were descending the stairs to the ground level, Nino nudged me lightly on the shoulder.
"Hey... L/N-kun?"
"Yes?"
"Can I listen to your music with you? I'm curious to know what you're always listening to."
"Sure. Can't guarantee you'll like it though."
Sharing the same earbuds meant we would have to walk in slightly closer proximity. I wonder if that was her intention all along. I took off the one on my left ear and handed it to her. She huddled closer to me, putting her hands on the pockets of her thin black sweater.
I quickly selected a song I thought more suitable to her likes and we continued our walk, this time heading outdoors to stroll around the courts.
The rain had ceased, giving way to a distant rainbow. Couple that with the smell of wet grass and the chilly morning breeze and we get one of the most pleasant and peaceful moments I've felt in ages.
The song ended as we got to the school's track. There was a class having P.E. there, so with plenty of time to kill, we sat on the bleachers to watch them.
"What's your verdict?" I asked.
"I like it." She smiled succinctly, "It's exactly the type of stuff I thought you'd listen to... but I can't help but feel like you picked one from a genre you knew I'd like."
"Is that so?" I said, unlocking my phone and handing it to her, "I'll pick one at random then."
"Before that, let's switch earbuds."
"Why?"
"Because since we're talking, I want to have the ear that is closer to you free."
"Hmm. Good point."
We switched earbuds and she hopped a little closer to me. As the song started I caught her smiling discreetly, but as soon as she noticed, she faced away from me.
"S-stop staring."
"You were smiling tho."
"Yeah! It's because I know this song. Just shut up and don't make it weird."
"Shut up? Bruh you literally just said you wanted to talk to me."
"It's a mode of saying! You know what I meant."
Gosh, she's adorable. That little reluctant smile she gives me is my weakness.
The hooligans from the other class were now forming teams, and I'm pretty sure Yotsuba is one of the leaders. Whatever sport they'd be playing would probably look far more badass to us because of the music.
"Do you know who's the smartest teacher in this school?" I asked Nino.
"Um... probably the science teacher. Maybe our math teacher comes in a close second."
"Neither. It's actually the P.E. teacher cuz he's getting paid the same amount to play dodgeball all day."
"When you put it that way, I guess you're right. His class is the only one I actually understand."
"You say that and you still had the audacity to say I'm a bad student."
"C'mon, I was just teasing you."
"That's my job," I replied.
"And I'd say you're pretty good at it considering how you're constantly pissing me off, I'm just fighting back."
"Constantly? You can't say that. We've had a few good times together."
"Only a few."
"I guess I gotta hang with you more then."
"Maybe... but don't forget that you're just my tutor."
"We've known each other for a month already. You can drop the tsundere act."
"What?"
"Forty minutes ago you told me that I was your friend, but now I'm just your tutor. Make up your mind."
"Well, you're both! I'm just trying to make sure that you don't-"
"gEt THe wRoNG iDeA!" I imitated her voice, "C'mon tsun. I've seen this song and dance before."
"Hey, my voice doesn't sound like that!"
"Sure, sure. I'm just saying that is you're trying to get closer to someone, you'd probably be more successful if you stopped playing hard to get."
"But I'm not playing hard to get."
"So you admit you're trying to build intimacy with me."
"No!"
I just kept staring at her.
"Okay! I am. I admit it. But not that type of intimacy. I'm just doing this cuz I'm curious about what you're getting from the tutoring." She begrudgingly said, "Jeez, see why I said you piss me off?"
"There you go playing hard to get again." I chuckled, "I will tell you once I trust you enough. Be patient."
"You don't trust me?"
"Not enough yet."
I could see a little bit of disappointment on her face. She looked down, interlacing her fingers together.
"Let me explain it in a way that you can understand," I said, "Who's your crush?"
She turned to me, astonished. Her complexion quickly rosing up with embarrassment.
"I'm not telling you that!"
"See what I mean? It's not information you'd just disclose to anyone. Once we're comfortable enough to share that sort of stuff, I'll tell you. But until then, you just gotta wait."
"Ugh. Guess I do have to hang out with you a little more."
I flicked her on the forehead again.
"OW WTF! Again?!"
"We've already settled that it's fun to hang out with me. We're over that." I playfuly said, "Congrats on the f-bomb tho. Means you're comfortable enough to swear around me."
"I've sworn around you before." She said, rubbing her forehead.
"Now you just gotta do it consistently, like yours truly. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you abo-"
That's when I saw her hand quickly approaching my face, and sooner than I could react, she flicked me back.
"HA!" She looked so happy to get hit on me, "Be glad that I didn't slap you this time."
"Slaps are for sobering. Flicks are for demoralization. Know when to use each one."
"I'm pretty sure I got this one right." She proudly said.
"Yeah, this time you did. But I'm going to be paying attention from now on."
"I'm not gonna slap you anymore. This is much more fun."
We both chuckled. That pride and sense of accomplishment she emanated made her look so cute. That and the smug smile stamped on her face just made me wanna squish her.
"Speaking of fun, you noticed that we're having midterms, right?"
And just like that, her joyous expression deflated into annoyance.
"Yeah..."
"And what are you planning to do about them?"
"I'm guessing that's a rhetorical question."
"It is. You're studying with us and you're gonna pass them."
"How exactly am I going to do that? You've seen our grades, we're pretty much a lost cause."
"Tough luck. I'm not giving up on you that easily." I said, "If we make efficient use of our time and with your full cooperation, we can absolutely make all of you pass."
"How can you be so sure about that?"
"Each one of you has a different strength. On that test Fuutarou gave you, each one of you passed in a different subject."
"And by that metric, if one of us can achieve something, the others can do so as well."
"Bingo."
I wasn't going to say that exactly. I have no idea if identical quintuplets actually do have the exact same potential, but it's probably not an outrageous claim. I'm not trying to be literal, I'm just trying to encourage her. And the reluctant but unmistaka smile on her face told me I was on the right path.
"If that is the case, I guess I'll give it a try. But if I get bored during one of the sessions I'm out."
"Deal."
"And... thank you for putting your trust in us. That's something I really appreciate."
"Anytime. Now let's go back indoors. I want to steal some snacks from the teachers' lounge before they're back from classes."
"Now that's undeniable evidence that you're a bad student."
"Nay. I'm a delinquent. My grades are still intact. Anyway, are you coming? I'm not getting anything for you if you don't."
She stood up with me, smiling confidently, "I am."
...
A/n
There you go bois. Hope you enjoyed this one. The next chapter is probably going to involve that sleepover episode so look forward to it. Anyway, I'm just gonna ramble on here for a little but it's nothing important.
I noticed when writing this chapter how it can be hard to write an insert character. I kept struggling with trying to give him a nice personality while at the same time not giving any identifiable traits so that anyone could see themselves as him. So if in case the MC starts to be come a bit too unrelatable, please let me know. (Also, in case there are any japanese readers, just ignore the accent part lol)
Second thing is that I'm planing to begin two new stories. One is a collection of one-shots/episodic chapters with all the quints, probably in setting of their new game (yes I bought the game and no I don't speak japanese). The second one is a story of my own creation with a medieval dark fantasy setting with a few sci-fi elements (makes sense once you read the synopsis). It's one I'm really passionate about and that I've been worldbuilding for years now. Idk, it will be a fun experience to work with two radically different settings and writing styles.
But fear not, if I go through with these plans, it won't affect the frequency of updates from this one.
Anyway that's enough rambling, isn't it? Have an amazing week guys. See you next time!