Futaro: "Quintuplets!? I-Is it true, Nakano-san, that your daughters are quintuplets?"

To confirm the situation, he immediately calls the client, Nakano's father.

It seems Futaro is starting to process the situation as well.

Nakano Father: "Yes. They are genuine identical quintuplets. They may already be there, but together with a student named Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, I want you to guide all five of them through to graduation. Of course, I will pay you for all five."

I see.

I thought the pay was good, but if we’re teaching five people, that’s the appropriate rate.

Well, with the two of us, maybe it’s still manageable.

That’s only if all of them are motivated.

Futaro: "I understand. A-Ayanokōji-san is here with me as well."

Nakano Father: "If you lack confidence, we can pretend this conversation never happened."

Futaro: "My confidence is overflowing. I’ll make sure your daughters graduate safely."

Nakano Father: "I see. I’m counting on you. Could you let Ayanokōji-kun speak for a moment?"

The phone is handed to me.

For now, I should give a safe, standard greeting.

Kiyotaka: "I was listening beside him, so I have a general idea of the job. I look forward to working with you."

Nakano Father: "Good. I’m relying on you. By the way, are my daughters there?"

This is bad.

They’re not all here.

How should I answer?

Kiyotaka: "They’re all studying very diligently right now."

I end the call.

Futaro: "Was it okay?"

Kiyotaka: "Yeah. More importantly, where did they go?"

Yotsuba: "They all went back to their rooms."

That’s... Yotsuba.

The one with the zero.

Futaro: "Can you try furrowing your brows?"

Yotsuba: "L-Like this?"

When she furrows her brows, Yotsuba’s face looks very similar to the angry expression Itsuki showed yesterday in the cafeteria.

Kiyotaka: "Setting that aside, aren’t you going to run away?"

Yotsuba: "T-That’s rude! Of course I’m staying to take your lessons. I was worried some scary teacher would show up, but if it’s you two classmates, it sounds fun."

Futaro: "Yotsuba, can I hug you? L-Let’s go call the others."

He changed the subject quickly.

More importantly, there’s something else.

Has Yotsuba met Futaro before?

From the way she talks, she seems far more aware of him than of me.

If it’s because I have a faint presence, that explanation might satisfy me, but with only two of us here, is it possible for me to fade into the background this much?

There’s still too much I don’t know.

I’ll observe.

Yotsuba: "From this side, it’s Itsuki, me, Miku, Nino, and then Ichika."

Futaro: "So first we gather all five."

Kiyotaka: "Yeah... right."

Since we’re closest to Itsuki’s room, we start there.

It feels like she’ll be the most troublesome.

Futaro: "Whoever loses rock-paper-scissors opens the door and goes in first."

I lose.

Kiyotaka: "It can’t be helped... I’ll open it."

Yotsuba: "It’s okay. Itsuki is serious, so unless it’s something major, she’ll cooperate."

There are things we need to apologize for and other matters to address.

But once the door opens, that’s when the real battle begins.

Itsuki: "No."

Kiyotaka: "I haven’t even said anything yet..."

Itsuki: "You’re here about the tutoring, right? I’ll handle my own studies. And please forget about yesterday."

Kiyotaka: "No, just hear me out—"

Itsuki: "Why does it have to be you two, our classmates? Are there no proper tutors in this city?"

Bang!!

The door slams shut.

There’s nothing we can do today.

Telling a girl she’ll get fat or that she eats too much was clearly out of bounds.

Futaro: "That’s one down already... Want to switch?"

Kiyotaka: "I’d appreciate that."

Yotsuba: "Ahaha... Let’s go to the next one. Miku is the smartest among us. She might get along with you two."

* * *

Miku: "No. Why is it you two classmates? Are there no proper tutors in this city—"

Futaro: "I get it! I just heard that!"

So far, we’re just getting torn apart verbally.

Aside from Yotsuba, is anyone going to agree to study?

Yotsuba: "L-Let’s go to the next one. Nino is really good with people. She has lots of friends, so you’ll get along quickly."

It sounds promising, but given the pattern so far, we’ll probably just get shut down again.

There’s no choice but to try.

Half resigned, I open the door.

Kiyotaka: "She’s not here..."

That was unexpected.

Yotsuba: "Umm... Shall we go to the next one?"

Kiyotaka: "Yeah. And since Nino wasn’t here, I’ll take the lead again."

Futaro: "Alright."

At this point, nothing will shake me.

That’s what I think as I open the door.

What spreads out before us is a garbage-filled room that looks uninhabitable, like something you’d see online.

Futaro: "Someone lives here?"

Kiyotaka: "This is my first time seeing a room like this."

Ichika: "I’d rather you not treat my room like unexplored territory."

The futon at the back moves.

She’s in there?

Ichika: "Fwaaah~ Good morning. You’re still here?"

Yotsuba: "Geez, we just cleaned up recently."

Recently?

Futaro: "There’s nowhere to step..."

Ichika: "So you two are our tutors, huh? That’s why you were watching Itsuki-chan. Though maybe Kiyotaka-kun had other reasons."

She says it with a teasing grin.

What a troublesome one.

Kiyotaka: "Sorry. I just needed an excuse to talk to Itsuki."

Ichika: "Oh? So that’s it."

Futaro approaches the desk—if it can be called that.

Futaro: "You should at least clean up a little. When was the last time you studied at this desk?"

From under the futon, only her limbs stick out.

Ichika: "You came to a girl’s room and all you can talk about is studying?"

Futaro looks flustered.

We don’t have time.

Kiyotaka: "We’re here as tutors."

Ichika: "Fine, fine. Yotsuba, can you pick up the clothes lying around?"

Kiyotaka: "We’ll wait outside, then."

Futaro: "Yeah. But will she really come?"

Kiyotaka: "Yotsuba was motivated from the start. It’ll be fine."

As I expected, the two of them come out shortly after.

Ichika: "Then let’s sit on the sofa—"

Miku: "Wait. The tracksuit that was here earlier is gone."

What is she talking about?

Yotsuba and Ichika are looking at us with slightly wary expressions.

Ichika: "Study freak and quiet one... I didn’t expect you to be that kind of pervert."

Kiyotaka: "That’s not it. Yotsuba was with us the whole time."

While we’re trying to clear up the misunderstanding—

Nino: "I made too many cookies. Want some?"

Miku: "This isn’t the time—"

Kiyotaka: "Wait. Isn’t that tracksuit yours?"

* * *

Futaro: "Alright, that’s four. Itsuki isn’t here, but let’s begin. I want to know your ability levels, so take this short test."

Ichika: "Mmm, these are good. What flavor are they?"

She happily eats snacks.

Beside her, Nino and Miku are still talking about the tracksuit.

Will this really work?

Yotsuba: "Don’t worry. I’m doing it."

At least she’s writing her name.

Ichika: "I’m getting sleepy after eating."

You were just sleeping earlier.

Futaro: "You were sleeping earlier!"

Futaro: "Miku! Now that the tracksuit issue is settled, just take the test!"

Miku: "I never said I’d study."

That’s true.

Nino: "It’s pretty much the weekend. Want to go out instead?"

Without Yotsuba, I would’ve given up.

Nino: "Don’t like the cookies?"

Futaro: "No, it’s just not that kind of mood—"

Nino: "You don’t have to be cautious. There’s no drugs in the cookies. If you eat them, I’ll study."

Her tone has changed.

It’s suspicious, but the cookies are on a large plate.

If something happens, it can’t be helped.

I brace myself and eat one.

Still, the way she phrased that earlier felt off.

Nino: "What kind of promise did you make with Papa?"

Kiyotaka: "Nothing in particular."

Nino: "Yeah right~ You’re not the type to go this far."

She’s not wrong.

Nino: "Honestly, we don’t need a tutor. Just kidding. Here, some water."

Futaro: "O-Oh."

She hands water to both of us.

This is obviously suspicious.

But if we refuse, she may refuse to study.

As I’m thinking that, Futaro drinks it.

Nino: "Bye-bye."

Futaro collapses asleep.

So that’s it.

Sleeping pills.

We don’t have time today.

We’ll have to leave.

But there’s one more thing I need to do.

Nino: "Your friend’s asleep. What about you?"

Kiyotaka: "We’re out of time today, so I’ll head back. But I have something to do, and my house is in the opposite direction from Futaro’s. Can I leave him to you?"

Nino: "Huh? Why would I—"

Yotsuba: "It’s fine. I’ll send him by taxi."

We could end it like this.

But—

Kiyotaka: "I’m a bit worried. Could we ask Itsuki, who’s upstairs, instead?"

When I call out to the hidden Itsuki, she looks startled.

Itsuki: "O-Okay... I’ll take him."

We leave the room together and get into the elevator.

This is important.

Kiyotaka: "I’m sorry."

Itsuki: "For what?"

Kiyotaka: "About yesterday. I said something rude."

Itsuki: "That? It’s fine."

Kiyotaka: "Then starting tomorrow, let’s—"

Itsuki: "But I refuse the tutoring."

Not that easy.

Well, I’ll leave the rest to Futaro.

Itsuki: "This is my stop."

Kiyotaka: "Yeah. See you at school tomorrow."

'Futaro’s side proceeds as in the original.'

* * *

A lot happened today.

What will happen with the tutoring?

If Itsuki learns about Futaro’s family situation, she won’t fire him.

If he’s safe, I won’t be fired either.

There’s no reason for only me to be dismissed.

Futaro doesn’t talk much about his family circumstances.

Today’s job was a disaster for both of us.

I pushed the apology just in case.

Maybe that was the right move.

She didn’t seem to hate me as much as at first.

Thinking that, I cook dinner following my usual recipe book.

Today I make a simple stir-fried vegetables dish and eat.

When you cook for yourself, you really understand.

Those cookies earlier...

"They were good."