"The girl I met yesterday is the girl we're tutoring?!"
"Yea. It matched the name Raiha gave me, her name is Nakano Itsuki. She just transferred into my class, I tried talking to her but she totally ignored me." Fuutarou revealed.
Well, duh.
After being checked up on by the Nurse I continued through out my day. After classes ended, I met up with Futtarou who said he had something urgent to tell me.
"What a coincidence. Does she know we're her tutors?" I asked
"I don't think so. I mean I couldn't even talk to her."
"I see. Well I'll just tell her tomorrow." I breathed a sigh of relief. "Everything seemed to work out in the end."
"Not really. How am I supposed to teach her if she continues to hate me?"
"That's your fault. You should learn how to respect a women." I stated the obvious. "Don't worry about it, I'll help out. I'm sure if you apologize sincerely, she'll forgive you."
After thinking about it, Fuutarou understood what he needed to do. As for me, I wanted to see the face Nakano-san makes when she learns I'm her private tutor.
__________________________________
Once it was lunch time I immediately headed for the cafeteria.
It can't be that hard to find Nakano-san, I mean with her pink hair she should be able to stand out.
I scanned the entire room looking for one color until I saw something unexpected.
"What the..."
I saw her...but there was more of her. 5 girls that had the same colored pink hair. They looked like exact clones of each other with some minor differences. They might be related.
Assuming will get me nowhere, I'll just go talk to Nakano-san.
"...Hey." I said while waving my hand to get her attention.
Hold up, when did I get so bold?
Think about it. I just went up to a group of girls and said hello...events like this one just don't happen in real life.
While I was thinking of how brave I was being, each of the girls eyes locked onto me. For a few seconds they acknowledged my presence but then most of them turned their head away.
Am I that unappealing?
"Ahh! It's...Tutor-kun." She smiled once she saw me but then she quickly returned back to having a straight face.
I think we're both feeling a little uneasy for completely different reasons.
"Hmm?" A girl next to Nakano-san spoke out. "Who's this Itsuki-chan!?"
"H-Huh!? It's my friend I met yesterday."
"The super nice one you mentioned? The one you wouldn't stop talking about!?"
"W-What are you saying!? Stop saying things that would give people the wrong idea!"
Well...she seems lively. This girl has short pink hair and a sweater wrapped around her waist. She gives off ara ara energy, so she must be older than Nakano-san.
"Why don't you sit with us? There's one seat leftover for you." short hair girl offered.
"Umm, sure thanks." I accepted.
"I like you're blue eyes. It's kinda like ours."
"Oh, really? I guess that's something we have in common then." I replied.
That's the first time someone has complimented my blue eyes. Woah that makes 2 compliments within 2 days...I'll cherish these moments.
As I sat down the other members of the table started looking at me, 3 other girls.
One had a green ribbon that had 2 ears that stood up like a rabbit.
The one next to her had blue headphones resting on her shoulders, and her hair is slightly covering her right eye.
The last one had butterfly ribbons on the side of her hair, and she was looking at me like I was dirt. Scary....
"Izumi?"
"Huh?"
I looked over to see who called me and it was Fuutarou standing there with his tray of food.
For a second he looked at Nakano-san and they made eye contact. It looked like he was just about to say something but...
"Sorry. All these seats are taken." she said in a condescending tone.
He looked quite shaken up from being looked down upon. He realized that it wasn't the right time to apologize.
"I'll join you later, let me just clear things up." I told Fuutarou.
"Sure."
He walked away towards our usual table.
"So you're name is Izumi?" The short hair girl asked.
"That's right and you're..."
"Ahh...I'm Ichika." she revealed. "Oh! This is Yotsuba, Miku, and Nino. I'm sure you know Itsuki's name." Ichika pointed to each of them as she called them.
Finally I know all their names.
"Oh! I've never actually told you my name. Sorry Izumi-kun!" She said while placing her hands together.
"It's alright. I did the same thing after all."
"Wait hold up! Why did you tell him my name?" Nino said sounding upset.
"Because he's Itsuki's friend. Which makes him our friend too." Ichika concluded.
"The hell it does! For all we know he could be a huge creep!"
Where did that even come from?
"Uhh...sorry to interrupt but are you guys related?"
Not only do they look identical but they're voices are the exact same. If I closed my eyes I wouldn't know who was talking.
"That's right! We're quintuplets!" Yotsuba blurted out.
"Quintuplets?"
"Yea. That means we were all born on the same day." Itsuki clarified.
"Ehh?"
Of course I've heard of twins, even triplets are something I know about. But Quintuplets? I didn't even know that was possible.
"You don't believe us?" Ichika asked while smiling.
"I do...it's just kinda hard to imagine 5 babies being in one stomach."
"Pfft!"
"Ahaha, you're a funny one!"
As Itsuki and Ichika were laughing at me, Yotsuba stood up and picked up a piece of paper from the ground. She then made a shocked expression and quickly ran off, looks like the same direction Fuutarou just went.
I wonder what that's about?
"Umm, Izumi-kun..." Itsuki called out. "I'm sorry! I know you accepted to tutor me, but my father just recently hired a private tutor.
Oh! Now I started to get excited.
"Well here's the thing...I've also just been recently hired to teach a certain someone named Nakano Itsuki."
"..."
It took a few seconds for her to process my words.
"Wait what?!" Itsuki shouted. "No way! You're the one that's going to be teaching us?!"
"That's right."
Wait...did she say us?
"Huh?! Why is it this guy?! Are you even qualified?!" Nino couldn't believe it.
We'll be teaching all 5 of them?...Not 1 but 5...5 not 1...
This job might be a lot more difficult than I thought.
"...Uhh, to be honest no not really. But remember the guy from earlier? That's my friend Fuutarou and he is, regardless I'm sure both of us will be at great service to you all."
"""2 tutors?!"""
All three of them were perfectly in sync.
"That jerk is going to be our tutor?" Itsuki asked.
"Sounds like you have history with him, Itsuki-chan."
"He called me overweight! Can you believe it?!"
"I mean, he's got a point." Nino whispered.
"W-What'd you say?!" Itsuki hit the table.
I couldn't help but let out a little laugh at Itsuki's embarrassment.
I guess it would be confusing to call them each "nakano-san" since they all share that last name. Their first names will have to do.
"I-Izumi-kun?! Why are you laughing?!"
On that day Itsuki's new nickname, Eatsuki was born.
_________________________________
The final bell rang, indicating that the school day has ended.
Honestly I thought High School was supposed to be a lot more exciting for teenagers, well maybe it's just me that feels this way. It's probably because it feels like I'm reliving the same day repeatedly.
Nothing interesting ever happens, and it's not like I have other friends to talk to. It's safe to say that I don't have that much of a social life...but it's not because I can't talk to people. I actually can, it's just that I feel like everyone has already established their own friend group.
At this point if I tried to join a random group of friends I just don't think I would have any sort of chemistry with them. Like what if I somehow joined and I found out I didn't have anything in common with them, that would just put me in an awkward situation. And there's nothing I hate more than being in an awkward situation.
I guess I got lucky that the quintuplets are fresh faces and I can easily slot myself inside their little circle. Well, because of circumstances I was pretty much forced into their lives. Anyways, with this new tutor job I might actually have something to look forward to.
As I exited the school building I saw Itsuki-san and her sisters chatting. Since I didn't know where they lived, Itsuki-san thought it was a good idea for all of us to walk to their house together.
I'm not sure where Fuutarou is though. He hasn't responded to any of my text messages I sent him.
"Oh! It's Izumi-kun, let's start heading home now." Itsuki said.
"Thanks again for guiding me to your house."
"I still don't see why we have to bring this guy home." Nino folded her arms.
"You know why Nino. Dad hired him to be our tutor, if he didn't know how to get to our house then he can't do his job." Ichika informed.
"Alright! Let's go home!" Yotsuba sounded cheery.
We finally began leaving the school grounds.
After a while I began to notice something. We were all walking together but we didn't have the same walking pace as each other.
You could tell who was the fastest and who was the slowest. All the way in the front, it was Yostuba who was basically leading us. In the middle it was Itsuki, Ichika, and Nino. All 3 seemed to have similar walking speed.
In the end of course was me. My athletic abilities have never been that good, I'm more of a save your energy type of guy.
But...there was one more person walking next to me.
Her name is Miku, right?
She's the only one I haven't talk to. I haven't even heard her talk yet. To be honest, when I look at here she kinda gives off some mysterious vibes.
She might be one of those shy types of girls that won't talk to you unless you talk to them first. Alright, let's give it a try.
"I don't believe we talked yet. I'm Izumi, nice to meet you, Miku-san."
"..." not even a glance.
Ouch, okay. Feels like I just got rejected.
"...uh, I noticed that you're wearing those blue headphones. Do you like to listen to music?"
"..."
Nothing again. But this time she stopped walking. She turned to look at me, it felt like she was eyeing me down.
"...You don't talk much, huh." I said.
I get it that she might be an introvert...I mean that's relatable but she's on whole new level.
"There's a stalker watching us." She finally spoke out and pointed behind me.
I followed the direction her finger is facing and see...Fuutarou!
"Izumi?!" He called out.
"Dude...what are you doing?"
Fuutarou was behind one of those photo cutout boards. You know, the cutouts where they usually have a painting of a faceless cartoon character that you can put your head into.
"Listen, I could explain myself."
"I better receive a 5 page essay on this exact moment."
"Look...I was just seeing if I could apologize to Itsuki-chan. I didn't know she would be accompanied by her friends."
"Oh right, you don't know..."
"We're not friends." Miku interrupted.
"What?"
"Fuutarou...what I'm about to reveal to you might blow you're mind so bear with me." I exaggerated. "Okay...so get this, there not actually friends but siblings."
"Siblings?!"
"Yea. Well, actually they're quintuplets."
"Quin...tuplets?"
"Yup. They're identical but if you pay close attention I'm sure you wouldn't confuse them. Here, look this is Miku-san." I introduced her.
"Is this the other tutor you were talking about? Didn't know he liked watching people from afar."
"Yea...." I sighed. "This is Fuutarou."
Fuutarou has earned a gold medal for always having the worst 1st impression when meeting a girl.
"Umm...hello? She looks just like Itsuki to me." Fuutarou said.
I forgot Fuutarou could be dense at times.
"That's a very rude thing to say to someone. I'm offended." Miku said while walking away.
It sounded like she was joking but maybe she actually meant some of it.
"Great. You made her mad." I facepalmed.
"How am I supposed to tell? She's an exact copy and paste of her."
"I guess you have a point. We can talk about this later."
We better get going before we're left behind.
_________________________________
We eventually arrived at the Quintuplets apartment, at first glance it just looked like a tall tower.
When we entered the huge building, everything around us looked fancy. Me and Fuutarou clearly didn't belong here.
"Hurry up! The elevator is here."
"You have to take an elevator to get to your home?" Fuutarou couldn't believe it.
"Huh?! Where did this guy come from?!" Nino was surprised.
"Huh? Is that Uesugi-san? You made it!" Yotsuba welcomed Fuutarou into the elevator.
The elevator doors closed and we began ascending towards the very top of the building.
The doors opened and the only thing in front of us was a squared tiled floor that led to a wall. To my right there was a door that had a label that said "stairs". To my left there was a bigger door that was labeled "Nakano".
"Welcome. This is our lovely home." Itsuki said while opening the entrance to her apartment.
I was mesmerized by the rich aura this place gave out, meanwhile Fuutarou had his mouth wide open.
Sure the living room isn't as big as I thought it was going to be...but the view. There was a glass door that let you go out and enjoy the outside.
"Hey. Is it okay for us to got out there?" I asked.
"Sure. Just make sure not to fall off." Ichika joked.
"Will do! C'mon Fuutarou." I started to push him forward.
"Hey! You don't have to shove me!"
I carefully opened the door and I was instantly blasted with cool air. I welcomed it as I leaned on the railing looking down at the buildings.
"It's beautiful." I whispered.
The clear blue sky was seriously something I've never appreciated until this day.
"It's always been easy to get you in a good mood." Fuutarou noticed my content expression.
"What? Fuutarou, when have we ever seen a view like this? This seriously feels so relaxing."
Fuutarou seemed to agree as he closed his eyes and let out a very calm expression.
"But...seriously. Hey Izumi? You know that girl with the green ribbon right, Yostuba?
"Yup. She is quite the energetic one isn't she?"
"I guess so, yea." Fuutarou agreed. "She actually came up to me during lunch earlier. She ended up giving me back my test paper that I dropped."
Ahh, so that's what Yotsuba picked up from the ground. I guess she just wanted to return it to its owner.
"Really? Did you talk more after that?"
"Kinda. She wouldn't leave me alone until I thanked her for returning it."
"What is wrong with you!? A simple "Thank you" wouldn't kill you."
I don't understand why he's so stubborn when it comes to being nice.
"...."
After a few second of silence we ended up laughing it off.
"Alright, as you enjoy the moment I'll call our boss just to make sure there's no more surprises."
"Sure."
It was nice being outside and feeling free...but then I looked down. It was at that moment that I forgot how high we were. I was beginning to feel like I was going to fall off at any second.
"U-Uhhh, actually I think I'll go back inside."
"Huh? Okay."
Dammit...I'm such a wimp. Honestly...there's even a railing to make sure you don't fall off, what was I freaking out about?
I left Fuutarou and opened the glass door. Back in the living room I noticed something.
Where is everyone?
The sisters were just here weren't they? Maybe they're changing out of their school uniforms.
"Hey." A voice called out to me from the kitchen.
"Huh? Oh, Itsuki-san. Good to see you, where's everyone else?"
"They locked themselves in their rooms."
"What? Why would they do that?"
"They ran away from you guys!" Yotsuba appeared from upstairs.
"Sorry. I guess they just don't want to take your lessons." Itsuki apologized.
I get it now. I thought I made a good first impression but I guess I have to do more than that.
"Wait so both of you aren't going to run away?" I asked.
"I wouldn't dream of running away!" Yotsuba confessed.
"I'm only here because I trust you to be our tutor, but your friend is someone I really can't stand."
Dang, he really needs to apologize quick before it gets worse.
"Thanks a lot, it seems you two are the most reasonable out of the sisters. Alright I know what I have to do, I have to convince them to join us."
"Good idea! Want me to guide you to their rooms?" Yotsuba asked.
"That would be helpful yeah, thanks."
"Good luck. I'll stay and setup everything for the session." Itsuki said.
I followed Yotsuba-san up the stairs and once we reached the next floor I saw 5 doors.
"These are our rooms. Since Nino's and Ichika's rooms are at the end, we'll start at Miku's." Yotsuba informed me.
Yotsuba knocked on Miku's door and after a few seconds she opened it.
"Yea?" Miku peeked through the slightly opened door.
"Miku-san. We're about ready to start the tutor session. I would like to get to know you better, how about you join us?" I proposed.
"..."
Seriously. Her being the quiet type is really not working for me right now.
"Itsuki-san and Yostuba-san will be there." I added.
"...I refuse."
"Huh?! Why?!" Yotsuba responded for me.
"Why does it have to be you two?" Miku asked. "Students from the same highschool as us."
That's...actually a good question.
"Isn't there someone more qualified to be our tutor?" She continued.
"I'm sure there is, but we were told both of us were specifically hired to be your tutor."
"Hmmm...?" Miku had a puzzled look on her face.
"I can guarantee that it'll be worth your time. For example...ahh, you could decide what subject you would like us to go over."
For a split second Miku's face lit up like she was happy about my offer.
"...I'll consider it." She finally said.
"Okay, great. We'll be in the living room if you decide to join."
The door closed and Yostuba and I began walking to the next room.
"Wow, Izumi-san that went really good. Are you a master negotiator?" Yotsuba was impressed.
"Nah, Fuutarou could have done better than me...maybe."
Next to Miku's room was Nino's. Yotsuba knocked just like before but this time no one responded.
"Looks like she isn't here, hehe." Yotsuba laughed it off.
"Cant do anything about it, last room is..."
"It's Ichika! Ah, but her room..."
What? It can't be that bad right?
The door was already unlocked so we just entered. One step inside and my foot instantly touched a piece a clothing that was on the ground. One good look inside this room and you could easily see that...
"...It's really messy in here." I realized.
"Really Ichika? I just cleaned this room." Yotsuba sounded tired.
"Sorry this is just my lifestyle. What are you guys up to?" Ichika said under her blankets.
Was she sleeping? We just got back, how can she already be this tired?
"Remember the part where you found out I was your tutor? Well, we're all ready for you to get downstairs so we can begin." I said in the nicest tone I could manage.
"Ugh...I kinda just want to lay in my bed forever." Ichika stretched her body.
"In any other situation I would agree with you, but I have a job to do so..."
"You're so eager for me to study. Don't you want to take a peek of what I'm wearing under here?" Ichika slightly lifted her blanket.
"...I rather not."
Seeing Ichika being risqué did something to me and I don't mean that in a sexual way.
"!"
Sudden pain struck my heart and I was beginning to have trouble breathing.
No...I need to get out of here.
"Yostuba-san...I'll leave it to you. I need to step out."
"Aww. Why are you leaving so soon? I was just joking." Ichika smiled. "I didn't know you were such a wuss."
I ignored her and quickly left her room so I can catch my breath.
This is bad. I'm glad I was able to withstand it before...
"Izumi?"
"Huh? Oh, Miku-san. What happened?"
"You okay? You look a little pale?"
"It's nothing. Ichika was just pulling a little prank on me, I was just surprised." I deflected her question.
"Oh. I have question for you then. I'm missing a red track suit. It was here earlier before you and you're friend came over. Did you..."
"No. Why would I take it? I'm sorry but I have more important things to do, I don't have time to take a track suit from a girl I just met." I said bluntly.
Crap.
That came off a lot more rude than I wanted it too. My emotions are all over the place right now.
"..."
"Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Maybe one of your siblings took it." I told her. "Raiha always ends up using my shirts without asking because she knows I won't get mad."
"Raiha?"
"Oh. That's just my little sister. Step-sister if we're being technical."
It's not like we have a ton of shirts, or clothing for that matter to go around for the four of us. Most of my clothes came from Fuutarou so sharing stuff has never been a problem for me.
"Hey!" A voice came from the 1st floor. "I made too many cookies. Want some?"
"Nino? You can bake?" I asked.
"She's usually the one that makes us food." Miku revealed.
"What's all this noise? I want to go back to bed." Ichika whined while being pushed out of her room by Yotsuba.
"Wait a minute. Look at what Nino's wearing." I pointed out.
Nino had a track suit that fit Miku's description. If you closer, on the top left side "Miku Nakano" was written on it.
"She has it." Miku sounded ticked off.
"Alright everyone downstairs." I ordered.
"Can someone else push Ichika..." Yotsuba sounded desperate.
It was barely the first day and it was already this chaotic...
Where did it all go wrong?
_________________________________
"Good, now I got all of you down here." I said. "So where the heck are Itsuki-san and Fuutarou!"
Itsuki-san wasn't in the living room and Fuutarou wasn't outside. All that effort and both of them aren't here. I'm so exhausted. My head already hurts from earlier. Phew...
I need to calm down.
"Don't look so down Izumi-san. Look I've already started." Yotsuba tried to cheer me up.
"I appreciate the effort, but you only have your name written on your paper."
I'm not trying to assume anything, but isn't Yostuba kinda an airhead? That should be considered a compliment...it really adds to her character.
"That was so good Nino. Ahhh, all that food made me sleepy." Ichika yawned.
"Didn't you just wake up!"
Nino had brought out a tray of cookies for everyone to eat. She placed it in the center of the living room table so we could reach for them.
She then went back into the kitchen and brought a single cup of water and placed it right in front of me. I was going to ask her why she only brought me water but she said something like "my treat!" and sat back down.
Huh? I thought being friends with Nino might be tough due to her personality, but maybe I was wrong.
Right before I was going to take a sip, Miku approached Nino with an angry looking expression.
"Why did you take my track suit?"
"I didn't want my clothes to get dirty so I used this." Nino answered.
"Take that off right now." Miku demanded.
"Hey! Cut it out!"
Miku pulled on the track suit to try to take it off of Nino. Nino was slapping away Miku's hand as it reached her. It got the point where they both stood up and they were on top of each other pulling each other.
They were fighting.
I know most siblings usually have arguments, even Raiha and I have fights that last only a couple of seconds but this was way different. They look like they seriously hate each other.
"💤 . 💤" Ichika was snoring while resting on a nearby couch.
"Are you seriously asleep while this is happening?!"
"Ahahahaha! Miku's and Nino's daily fights are always so funny! Ahahaha!" Yotsuba got up to get a better view.
"This happens everyday?!"
Why is this happening? Why are they acting like...children?
"!"
My heart rate spiked up again.
They're so loud. Those two fighting is noisy enough, but accompanied with Ichika's snoring and Yotsuba's extremely loud laughter makes it worse.
My ears started ringing. My vision was turning blurry. My body feels like it's getting weaker...my consciousness is fading away..........
.....they're so......annoying.....
_________________________________
Meanwhile Itsuki and Fuutarou have just returned to the living room.
"Thanks for showing me where your bathroom is. I'm surprised, I thought you wouldn't show me." Fuutarou thanked Itsuki.
"It looked like you were about to wet yourself, so I had too."
They soon noticed that everyone was here, but something was wrong. First of all Miku and Nino were practically hitting and pushing each other.
"What the heck is going on?!" Fuutarou shouted out.
"Hey! What happened to Izumi-kun?!" Itsuki asked.
By the table in the center of the living room laid Izumi's head like he was knocked out.
"Wait...don't tell me..." Fuutarou trembled.
"Let's go help him!"
"No! You can't!"
"Huh? Why not?!" Itsuki turned to look at Fuutarou.
"Becau-"
Thud!
A loud noise was made by someone hitting the table with all their strength.
Everyone was startled by the sudden sound, so they all looked to it's source.
It was Izumi.
"Why are you hitting our table so hard?! You'll end paying for it if you break it!" Nino snapped.
"...Shut up...." He whispered.
"Huh?! What was that?!"
Izumi looked up and it was the first time the Quintuplets had seen him so angry. His bright sharp red eyes looked at each of them with hatred.
"I said....shut the hell up!" He yelled with a deep voice.
They were all shocked by his sudden outburst that none of them could think of anything to say.
In that moment they thought of Izumi as I normal kind hearted teenage boy....but clearly they didn't even scratch the surface of who Izumi was.