"Nakano-san, may I ask what you need from me?"
Fuutarou Uesugi, who had been called out by his classmate, frowned as he looked at the employer's daughter in front of him, who had asked the classmate to summon him.
Even though the Nakano quintuplets looked very similar, their respective hairstyles and hair accessories allowed others to distinguish them easily.
Through the butterfly hair accessories tied in the girl's hair before him, Fuutarou Uesugi easily identified that the girl was Nino Nakano, who had pretended to treat him to cookies yesterday but then drugged him and had him "packed up" and sent back.
Judging by her terrible attitude last night, her seeking him out today couldn't possibly be for anything good.
Fuutarou Uesugi watched Nino Nakano's every move vigilantly, as if he would run away immediately if she did anything out of line.
Accusations from women against men were hard to guard against. If the accuser happened to be a beautiful girl, the mud stuck even easier.
When Nino Nakano actively sought him out, all the students in the class looked over here, with the expression of enjoying the drama written all over their faces.
"Uesugi-san, I came to apologize to you."
"About last night... Sumimasen!"
Nino Nakano couldn't stand the atmosphere of the students around constantly looking over here either. She just wanted to finish apologizing quickly and return to her own class.
Oh no...
As soon as Nino Nakano apologized, Fuutarou Uesugi knew something was wrong. He subconsciously tried to grab Nino Nakano's wrist to pull her out of the classroom range and have a proper talk with her.
Taking two steps back to dodge Fuutarou Uesugi's hand, black lines appeared on Nino Nakano's forehead. Her eyes, which originally held a hint of apology, turned into a gaze looking at trash.
"Uesugi-san, I think it is very rude to make such a move towards a lady."
"My apologizing to you doesn't mean you can do whatever you want to me."
With Nino Nakano's explanation that wasn't really an explanation, Fuutarou Uesugi breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. It seemed she really came to apologize and hadn't come up with other malicious tricks.
Seeing that it wasn't drama about a romantic dispute, the students who were enjoying the show dispersed, gathering back into their own small groups.
These students, bursting with hormones, only liked to consume gossip involving men and women.
"Nakano-san, what about the tutoring?"
Fuutarou Uesugi didn't care about those people; he only cared about whether he could continue to be the tutor for the Nakano quintuplets.
Relying solely on part-time jobs outside to make money, he didn't know how long it would take to pay off the family debt. The tutoring wage from the Nakano family, which was five times the usual amount, was obviously an excellent job.
Tutoring quintuplets together was definitely better than taking on five tutoring jobs at different time slots.
His father at home could die for all he cared, but his little sister, Raiha Uesugi, must not suffer any grievances.
For the sake of his dear sister, Fuutarou Uesugi selectively overlooked the fact that he was drugged and sent home by Nino Nakano last night.
"You're overthinking it, Uesugi-san. I won't participate in your tutoring sessions. I will talk to Papa about this later."
"However... regarding Itsuki, you can give it a try. As long as Itsuki accepts you, it's fine."
Nino Nakano first sternly rejected Fuutarou Uesugi's delusion of wanting to tutor her as well, stating that she would discuss hiring a tutor for her with her father after going home.
This merely indicated her resistance to studying. Knowing that Itsuki Nakano wanted to pursue a career as a teacher in the future, Nino Nakano gave Fuutarou Uesugi a slight hint.
Nino Nakano herself could choose not to accept her father's goodwill for the sake of her dream and reject Fuutarou Uesugi as a tutor.
But she wouldn't deny Fuutarou Uesugi on behalf of her other four sisters. At least... from the current look of things, Itsuki Nakano really needed a tutor to help improve her grades.
"Is that so? Thank you anyway, Nakano-san."
Recalling Yotsuba Nakano's hint from last night, Fuutarou Uesugi understood that Nino Nakano wasn't toying with him, so he thanked her as well.
Learning that Nino Nakano would go back and discuss it with his employer herself, Fuutarou Uesugi also dismissed the plan to continue seeking Nino Nakano to discuss make-up lessons.
Not blindly rejecting him, but instead stating her future plans in a very organized manner—this meant that the decision Nino Nakano made was well-thought-out.
Naturally, Fuutarou Uesugi wouldn't pester Nino Nakano relentlessly for the commission.
Many things are just that simple; as long as they are talked through, it's fine.
"Mhm. Uesugi-san, goodbye."
Having completed the apology mission, Nino Nakano was about to leave immediately.
"Nakano-san, goodbye."
Watching Nino Nakano leave, Fuutarou Uesugi returned to the class, picked up his handmade vocabulary cards, and began reviewing words while analyzing the currently available intelligence.
Judging from the current situation, Nino Nakano probably wouldn't need tutoring. Yotsuba Nakano had a supportive attitude towards him. Itsuki Nakano currently needed a tutor for make-up lessons very much.
The situations of Ichika Nakano and Miku Nakano were still unclear. With the precedent of Nino Nakano, Fuutarou Uesugi planned to observe a bit more.
After Nino Nakano went home and discussed it with the employer, Ichika Nakano and Miku Nakano couldn't possibly remain unaware of this matter. He would see what plans they had then.
...
Teacher's Office.
Shizuka Hiratsuka was still wearing her unchanging white lab coat, looking at the two students standing in front of her.
Habitually taking out a cigarette pack from her pocket, she thought for a moment, then placed it on the desk without taking out a cigarette.
So cool.
A small silver metal lighter shuttled frantically between Shizuka Hiratsuka's fingers, dazzling Hachiman Hikigaya and making him extremely envious.
It was one thing that he wasn't as cool as Katsuragi Ren, but how come Shizuka Hiratsuka played it so cool too?
Thinking that he could only twirl a ballpoint pen, while Shizuka Hiratsuka was twirling a lighter that looked expensive just from its appearance...
Hachiman Hikigaya secretly wondered if he would have a chance to snatch Katsuragi Ren's lighter in the future.
Presumably, the lighter of that filthy rich Katsuragi Ren wouldn't be worse than Shizuka Hiratsuka's, right?
"Hiratsuka-sensei, if there's something, can't you just say it directly?"
Compared to Hachiman Hikigaya, who was envious of Shizuka Hiratsuka's coolness to the point of drooling, Saki Kawasaki, standing beside Hachiman, was much more impatient.
When she rushed back to the classroom, the bell for the end of class happened to ring...
Shizuka Hiratsuka, who had originally planned to only call Hachiman Hikigaya to the office, brought Saki Kawasaki along as well.
So annoying. If I had known, I might as well have continued sleeping.
Saki Kawasaki, who missed the class and got caught by Shizuka Hiratsuka and brought to the office, muttered to herself.
Running into the classroom panting as soon as the bell for the end of class rang was obviously more serious than skipping the entire class.
Saki Kawasaki didn't need to think to know how angry Shizuka Hiratsuka was.
Snap.
The lighter in her hand stopped spinning. Shizuka Hiratsuka looked calmly at the two "good students" in front of her.
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