Chapter Text
Wedding bells chimed. After so many years, today was the day. He was going to marry the love of his life. Despite all the problems they had been through, it was all worth it just for this moment that he would treasure for the rest of his life.
Or at least he would, if it wasn't for the fact he was currently seeing the past due to a spell.
Fuutarou Uesugi was practicing his offensive magic, fittingly, at the magic academy's target practice area. He may have been an expert-level magic user, but it couldn't hurt to get as much practice in as possible, right?
He raised his wand at the target that he had just set to an appropriate level of durability and size, a giant circle seemingly made out of wood, but as with many things in magic, you couldn't tell just from a glance whether something was tough or not just based on how it looked.
Fuutarou concentrated, willing a fireball to materialise out of his wand and shoot the target. The tip of his wand sparked, before a small ball of fire began to build. He let the fireball grow in size until it was about the size of a basketball, before releasing the fireball towards the target with pinpoint accuracy.
The fireball rushed through the air, hitting the target swiftly and effectively. The target, having been struck by significant force, moved down towards the ground. A black scorch mark covered half of the target's centre, a red dot that was the equivalent of a bullseye.
So close, Fuutarou thought to himself. With a sigh, he put his wand down and grabbed the food he had brought with him from the cafeteria. He wanted to get the fireball exactly the right size as the red dot, and to hit it perfectly so that the black dot fully eclipsed the red one. He just needed to eat in order to replenish his energy.
He was glad that staying in the cafeteria was not a requirement during meal time. There were too many people, he could never focus on magic with so much noise, not that spells were allowed in the cafeteria anyway. Besides, he didn't really want to sit with anyone anyway. His classmates were friendly, but he didn't know any of them well enough to call them friends.
Not that that would stop some of them.
"Heeeeeeey Uesugi-san!" A new presence said. It was a boy with blonde hair and... actually, he wasn't sure what the boys eye colour was. It seemed to change every now and then thanks to some sort of spell, and he had forgotten what his biological eye colour was. Currently though, his eyes were a light blue. This boys name was Kazuki Inoue. Kazuki walked up to Fuutarou with a smile on his face.
"Still out here practicing? You're the best in our class, if not the entire school!" He said. "I'm good with magic because I practice this much, Kazuki," Fuutarou said. "Well, you do you, Fuutarou," Kazuki replied.
Kazuki pulled his wand from out of his pocket. "While I'm out here, mind if I have a go?" He asked. Fuutarou simply nodded and stepped aside. Kazuki walked up, and after a brief pause, the target rose back up and adjusted in size to become smaller. The black mark disappeared, and the red dot transformed into a plus sign. Once it had finished adjusting, the target began to move, going higher and lower, left and right in a circle, clockwise.
Kazuki raised his wand, aimed carefully, following the target as it circulated. Little sparks started to come out of the tip of the wand, and sounds of electricity were emitted. In a flash, a bolt of lightning struck, just barely missing the target. The bolt stayed there for a brief few moments before fading away.
Kazuki sighed before putting his wand away. "Better than last time you tried a lightning spell on a moving target," Fuutarou noted. Last time, the lightning bolt had kept going until it had nearly zapped a flock of birds. Continuing his assessment, "This time you managed to control how far the bolt went, you just need to hit the target with appropriate force." Fuutarou said.
"Thanks for the feedback, Uesugi-san." Kazuki said. "Are you sure you don't want company out here while you eat?" Kazuki asked. "Thank you for your concern, but I'll be fine on my own," Fuutarou said. Kazuki then walked off, back towards the cafeteria.
Now, what was Fuutarou doing again? Oh, going to sit down with his food. There was a singular table out at the target practice area, and it practically belonged to Fuutarou at this point, as he used it far, far more often than any other student. In fact, he was pretty sure that nobody else had ever sat there.
Fuutarou began walking over to the bench, oblivious to another new presence that had walked out of the cafeteria, and was headed for the same bench. Somehow, this person was as blind to him as he was to her. The two of them approached the table and attempted to put their food down.
Their food trays collided. They both looked up to see who they had just bumped into. Fuutarou's blue eyes met with the eyes of a girl with red flowing hair that seemed to twist, turn and loop back around behind her head. Two yellow stars hung from her hair, just beside her eyes. They both simply stared in shock for a few seconds before she snapped out of it.
"I found this table first, I think you should move!" She said, not loudly, but with enough emphasis to be considered rude in Fuutarou's eyes. What in the world was this girl thinking? This was his spot!
"This is the table I sit at every day. You'll just have to find somewhere else!" He said, refusing to back down. The girl looked at him with frustration, and while he couldn't tell for sure, he thought he saw a little bit of astonishment in the girls eyes, as if she couldn't comprehend him not listening to her.
"It does not matter if you sit here every day, I found this table first, and I believe it is first come first served!" The girl said angrily. She really wasn't going to just give this table up. He decided that he didn't really care who this girl was, he was going to sit down. He pulled the chair out, and did just what he planned.
She looked at him with annoyance before breathing out audibly and pulling the other chair out and sitting down as well. Really? he thought. All of that fuss, just to sit down anyway? "I sat down first, and as you said, first come first served. Why are you still here?" He asked.
"I've been walking around all day, and my feet are tired. So, too bad for you." She said with finality. Fuutarou just sighed and accepted that they were both going to sit there. At least no one else was going to show up-
Right on cue, somebody else walked out. Fuutarou turned to see the class rep, a girl with orange hair, with a side ponytail. She had baby blue eyes. What was this orange-haired girls name again? Tsubaki or something? He was too irritated to dwell on it much.
"Are you absolutely sure you want to be alone out here, Uesugi-kun?" Tsubaki started to speak before noticing the girl sitting across from him. She immediately walked back, muttering something to herself about not wanting to interrupt.
Well, that was just great. Now there were going to be rumours. Fuutarou turned back to see the red-haired girl looking more embarrassed than anybody he had ever seen. She's all red! He thought. Well, whatever. He needed to start eating if he wanted to be done in time to have more practice.
"Well, you do you." He said, getting chopsticks out. He internally smiled at his meal, which he was unusually proud of. He had found a loop in the system ages ago, which allowed him to get more food by taking the yakiniku out of his yakiniku set order. For whatever reason, it was rice plus some other bits of food, for the same cost as a rice order! As a bonus, he could just generate water from his wand if he was thirsty, so there was infinite water for free! Take that and add it to the fact it was quiet out here, and it was the perfect setup!
The girl had stopped looking like she was trying to become a tomato and put her hands together. "Time to eat," she said. She got chopsticks out and was about to start eating, but paused. She set her chopsticks down and got out her wand, aiming it at her food.
"Wind," she quietly whispered as a gust of air swept over her food, and rather inconveniently, Fuutarou as well. The air flowing by him carried a piece of paper out of his pocket, which he barely caught before it went too far away. By some miracle, neither of them had lost any food from this.
"You do know that you don't have to say the name of the spell you are trying to cast, right?" He asked. She just looked embarrassed and did not respond. Well, he might as well take advantage of this. He got out a pencil and started to review the paper, which just so happened to be his results from the last test.
"That's a little bit rude, don't you think?" The girl said, "Studying in the middle of eating?". "I'm reviewing my test, leave me alone," He said, irritation really starting to get to him. Speaking of eating, he glanced at the meal this girl had ordered. To his surprise, this girl had dropped 1000 yen on lunch.
The girl started to smirk in a way that could only be described as smug. "Wow, you must be pretty screwed if you're studying at lunch," she said, hand ready to take the paper so she could see. "Can I take a look?" She said, not even waiting for an answer before taking it out of his hands. "Hey!" he said. She ignored him. "Let's see... Mr Fuutarou Uesugi-kun, you got a..." Her eyes widened. "A perfect score!?" She said, shocked.
"Is this real?" She said sheepishly. Fuutarou simply took out his wand, charged a lightning spell, and struck the target dead in the centre, causing the target to start lowering down, finally putting an end to its rotating journey.
"I hate to admit this, but I envy you. I could only ever dream of using magic like that," the girl said. "I have an idea," she continued. Wait, was she really about to ask him to do something for her? After how rude she had been? Fuutarou was reaching new levels of annoyed.
"Please teach me-" She started, but got cut off by Fuutarou standing up. "Thanks for the meal," he said. He was going to just walk away, but she spoke up one last time. Was there no end to her antics?
"You're done already? You didn't eat much." She said. Her face turned surprisingly friendly, with a warm smile appearing, though he couldn't tell whether it was a real one or just to get him to stay and do what she wanted.
"If you want more, I'd be happy to share mine." She said. Fuutarou at this point, had just about had it. She had annoyed him for half of lunch, and now there was this tonal whiplash? Like hell if he was going to be polite.
That is how Fuutarou came to a decision that would cause him many, many more frustrations in the very near future. A decision born from dealing with a girl that didn't seem to know just how rude she had been.
"If anything, you ordered way too much food," He said. "Don't get fat.".
The girl actively recoiled at that statement. "What the?!" She said. "I think you might be the rudest person I've ever met! I'm not sharing anything with you!" She said, turning around and going back to her food.
Fuutarou walked away, still annoyed because now he couldn't even stay here to train because he was sure this girl would still find a way to bother him, unaware of the severity of the words he had just spoken to the girl. Wait, he still hadn't even found out her name? Whatever. He didn't care.
Just then, his phone buzzed in his pocket. His younger sister was calling. Fuutarou immediately headed to the bathrooms, ignoring the blonde-haired kid that was constantly yammering about rivals and scores. Of course, his younger sister knew he was unlikely to pick up, so he opened up the text messaging app.
Raiha Uesugi: Hey big bro! Guess what?
Fuutarou Uesugi: One of your classmates spells went haywire again?
Raiha Uesugi: Nope, dad found a job for you! This could be a chance to pay off our debt!
Fuutarou Uesugi: A chance to pay off our debt? Really?
Raiha Uesugi: Yep! It turns out that a super rich family just moved here, and is looking to hire a tutor. What do you think?
Raiha Uesugi: You would get to work in a nice, fancy house. The pay is five times the going rate.
Fuutarou Uesugi: Sounds like a sketchy deal if I'm being honest.
Raiha Uesugi: Well, selling your kidney is sketchy, too, but you only need one to live.
Fuutarou Uesugi: What are you suggesting?
Raiha Uesugi: It's a joke. But if you do do it, then you'll be able to afford some actual meals. It's worth a try.
Fuutarou's stomach rumbled. He did wish he could have eaten more, despite having rejected the girl's offer. Now that he thought about it, it was a little bit ironic that he had just turned down an opportunity to tutor someone, and now he was accepting another. He told Raiha that he'd do the job.
Fuutarou Uesugi: So, do we know anything about who I'll be tutoring?
Raiha Uesugi: About high school age? In fact, I'm pretty sure he said that you were gonna be classmates. I think their name was Nakano?
Fuutarou Uesugi: What about what they need me to tutor them for? Magic, regular studies, or both?
Raiha Uesugi: I think just magic, although their grades aren't nearly as good as yours.
Fuutarou Uesugi: Well, I'd better head to class. I'll see you at home, Raiha.
Raiha Uesugi: See you at home!
Fuutarou got up from the toilet seat, washed his hands, and made his way to his classroom. People were still in the hallways, muttering and gossiping. He wished they would be quieter. Nobody needed to know about how they thought it would be funny to summon a moose during class. He heard another conversation. Something about how there was going to be more transfer students tomorrow? He had no time to stop and ask what they were talking about.
The bell rang to signify class starting.
"Before we begin class today, I'd like to introduce you to the new transfer student." The teacher said. The girl with red hair and star hairpins walked in. Fuutarou's heart sank. Was she really going to be his new student?
"My name is Itsuki Nakano. It's so nice to meet all of you!" Itsuki said, smiling at the class. Immediately, a quiet chatter started. "A new girl. She's cute!" was a common topic. Itsuki's wand tilted so it was visible from her pocket as she began to walk down the classroom. The wand had golden bands on it, something only a rich family would get. That confirmed Fuutarou's worst fears.
A rich transfer student with the name Nakano. Itsuki was absolutely going to be Fuutarou's student... and was absolutely going to hate him. Fuutarou didn't even bother trying to smooth things over. What was an awkward "Hey," going to do?
Despite his inaction, Itsuki glared at him briefly before continuing walking. "Mind if I sit here?" She asked to the person next to the empty seat she had found. "Not at all," Tsubaki said. Class went on. Today's subject was alchemy, which Fuutarou found to be one of his easiest subjects.
Itsuki, on the other hand, was struggling. She was barely able to tell which potions were which. It did not help that people around her were talking instead of listening. They just kept yammering on about "Did you hear this," and "I can't believe that happened,". The only kid aside from her and Fuutarou she could see being quiet was another kid with black hair and glasses. She stopped focusing on looking around the class and got back to work.
The next day, Fuutarou was walking in the cafeteria when he saw Itsuki. He had to patch things up, before the first tutoring session began. However, as his life loved and still loves to mess with him, multiple issues popped up. First was Kazuki, as always.
"You know Uesugi-san, this is the longest I've ever seen you hang around the cafeteria!" Kazuki said. Fuutarou needed to get Kazuki out of the way. Now. "Sorry Kazuki, not right now," Fuutarou said as he hurried along. Kazuki stood there, looking at Fuutarou as he walked, failing to notice why Fuutarou was in such a hurry.
Fuutarou saw the next obstacle coming. Tsubaki, the class rep, always tried to make sure everyone was included, disregarding her own opinions. He purposefully took the long way around just to make sure she didn't see him.
Finally he caught up to Itsuki... right as she was sitting down. With four other girls. She noticed he was there, and with a sweet, sweet smile on her face that was dripping with passive-aggressiveness, said "Oops, it looks like we don't have any room left for you. Sorry."
Fuutarou sighed. Nothing I can do about it now, he thought. As he walked away, he heard a chair moving. And somebody walking up behind him. "Hey wait, don't just leave!" the person said.
Fuutarou turned around to see someone that looked very much like Itsuki, only with extremely short hair and no star hairpins. A closer look revealed a earring on her right ear. "You're after Itsuki-chan, aren't you?" She said, a playful smile growing on her face.
"No, I'm not after her." Fuutarou said. The girl, undeterred, simply gasped with excitement. "Oh, so she is the one that you like!" She said. Not missing a beat, she kept talking. "So what is it about her that you're attracted to? Let me guess, it's her serious side!" By that point, it became obvious to Fuutarou. This girl... loved to jump to conclusions. "I know, I'll go tell her to come over!" She said.
The girl began to turn around, but before she could go anywhere, Fuutarou grabbed her arm. "No." he said, plain and simple. The girl seemed taken aback by the sudden contact. "I don't need anyone's help. My problems are mine alone to solve." He said, letting go of her arm.
It took the girl a second before snapping out of it. "Wow, that was so manly! You know, for a nerd." She said, lightly hitting him on the back. "But if you ever do need help, you can always ask your big sis Ichika!" She said, before running back to her table, where only three other people were sitting.
The fourth girl, who had very long hair, walked back to the table and sat back down, looking a little bit down. Fuutarou took notice, but decided to walk away. What Fuutarou did not notice however, was that his test results had fallen out of his pocket.
The test paper did not go unnoticed by all. A girl with a green ribbon picked the test paper up. She read the paper, seeing the perfect scores. Then her eyes drifted to the top of the page, where his name was written.
She looked back up to see where the boy was going. A target practice area? She could tell he was dedicated to his studies. She briefly listened to what her sister had to say, something about a boy she'd talked to but hadn't become friends with and dungeons, before walking off to talk to Fuutarou.
Fuutarou had walked back to his table in the target practice area, sitting and thinking about what he should do about this situation. This isn't good. I'm supposed to meet that bratty girl as her tutor today after school. Fuutarou thought. That seemed to repeat a lot.
"Uesugi-san! Scuse me? Hey! Uesugi-san!" a voice said. What now? Fuutarou thought. He looked up... to see yet another girl that looked a lot like Itsuki. And she was right in his face. The girl giggled. "You finally looked up!"
"Whoa, who the heck are you?! And how do you know what my name is?" Fuutarou was baffled at the energy of the girl sitting across from him. The girl simply laughed softly before continuing, "Those are both excellent questions." She slipped her shoes back on. "Did you lose an exam paper with a perfect score? Or perhaps one with a zero score?"
She presented the two papers to him. Fuutarou took a brief glance at the papers before realising one of them was his. "You have my exam? But how?" He said. "You dropped it when you were walking by. I noticed it, and decided to come and give it back to you!" She said. "And now, here we are. So, which one is yours?" She held both papers up.
"This one." Fuutarou pointed to the paper with perfect scores. "Wow, you're such an honest guy! I'll give you both as a reward." She gave him both papers. "That's okay." Fuutarou was starting to feel concerned about the intelligence of this girl. "What idiot got a zero?"
"You're looking right at her!" The girl grinned. "And you're not even embarassed?" Fuutarou was astonished at how shameless this girl was. He had his paper back, so he started to walk off. The girl followed him, chatting away. "You know, when I first saw you, I thought you were nothing but a grumpy, boring old loner." She didn't seem to notice he was trying to get away from her at all.
He went upstairs. She followed. "Now I know that you're all that AND a super genius!" He went into the bathroom to avoid her incessant chatter, emerging moments later to find her still there. "That was quick." She continued to follow him around.
She even decided to follow him to the changing lockers, although she did not step foot inside. The other boys in the room looked on in confusion at the girl standing in the doorway, looking irritated. Fuutarou turned around. "Are you STILL following me?"
"Well yeah, you haven't said 'thank you' yet." That's why she was following him? "What?" Fuutarou was confused as to why someone would go so far just to hear him say thank you. "When somebody picks up your stuff, you thank them. You'd think a super genius would know something like that."
Fuutarou grabbed the girl's paper and handed it to her. "Here, I picked this up for you. Now we're even." This didn't even put a dent in the girls attitude. "Yeah! Thanks so much for your help!" She said. "Don't thank me for that." Was she going to leave him alone now that she had her paper?
Kazuki walked up. "You know, just because you're a girl, doesn't mean its ok to be a creep." He said, facing the girl. "I'm not being a creep, I'm just talking to Uesugi-san." She said. Kazuki looked at her, trying to determine whether she was lying or not. "I'll take your word for it. Uesugi-san, I'm preparing to do a dungeon, want to come with me?" He said.
Fuutarou politely declined. As Kazuki walked off, a thought occurred to Fuutarou. "Do you know Itsuki?" He asked the girl. She nodded. "Could you tell her that I'm sorry for what I said?" He said. "I don't know what you said, but wouldn't it be better to tell her yourself?" She said, before walking off.
He really doesn't remember me… she thought. But he kept his promise.
Fuutarou was watching Itsuki walk home. What he didn't anticipate, however, was the fact that she was walking home with friends. One seemed to be the disappointed girl from earlier, and the quiet one that hadn't done anything yet.
"Itsuki, aren't you eating a lot?" Disappointed girl said. This was met by an indifferent reaction from Itsuki as she prepared to bite her meal. "It's not much, this is only my second one." The meatbun's fate was sealed mere milliseconds after the words had left her mouth.
Itsuki didn't get to enjoy her meal for long, as disappointed girl reached for Itsuki's stomach. "Look out, it's the bun monster!" she taunted. She grabbed Itsuki's stomach and squished it. "Woah! Hey, get off of my case!" The two girls ran around as if they were in a comedy show. "You're going to scare all the boys away!" Disappointed girl said.
Itsuki looked a little uneasy before she decided to try and prove the girl wrong. "Not true! Just yesterday I sat with a boy at lunch!" She said. Fuutarou was surprised. Was she really going to try and use him to brag?
Disappointed girl's face LIT UP. "OH MY GOSH! TELL ME EVERYTHING!" She said. "His face, his hair, hell, I'll even take his initials!" she kept rambling on and on, before sighing. "I thought I saw someone who was my type, but he only had the looks, none of the attitude."
Before Fuutarou could keep watching this madness, he was interrupted by the quiet one. "Is it fun being alone?" She asked, or threatened. He couldn't tell, she was difficult to read. Another Itsuki look-alike? If they keep getting in the way, how am I ever going to apologise? He thought.
"It's not bad. This is my hobby." He said, desperately trying to get himself out of the situation. "I see. Staring at girls is your hobby, huh? Just one moment." She pulled out her phone and began to dial someone, likely the police. "Please, don't call the cops on me. And also, please don't tell your friend Itsuki." He said.
The quiet girl lowered her phone, stopping her attempt to call the cops on the soon-to-be-tutor. "Fine, I won't." She said. She began to walk away, putting her headphones on. She stopped one last time. "Also, that girl is in no way my friend."
Fuutarou noticed that while they were talking, Itsuki and the disappointed girl had moved on, just barely visible in the distance. He kept walking, determined to get his job done no matter what he had to deal with.
Eventually he arrived at a tall building. Yep, definitely rich people. Fuutarou thought. He was about to go in the building when the sound of a shoe hitting a sign filled his ears. "What are you, a stalker or something?" The latest Itsuki lookalike to interfere with him said. It occurred to him that he couldn't keep calling them disappointed and quiet, as they surely would not be like that all the time. He decided to look at her accessories, which were two butterfly ribbons on either side, although with quite an odd shape.
At the ribbons girl's side was the quiet girl, who he noticed was wearing headphones, with an image of three triangles stacked as a pyramid on the side. How did she get there? Can she turn invisible? He thought. Fuutarou really wished he could use magic outside of school or private property. Unfortunately for him, students were forbidden from using magic outside of those two settings.
"State your name and business or get lost." Ribbons girl demanded. The headphones girl said nothing. "My business has nothing to do with you." Fuutarou said. The ribbons girl stubbornly said "I'll decide that," before taking her foot off of the sign and walking up to him.
"Listen, nobody likes you. So go home already, scum." She poured an extra bit of venom into that last word. She looked like she was trying to burn a hole into his soul with her eyes. Fuutarou was unnerved, but nevertheless continued his disaster of a quest.
"I'd love to, but this building is my home." He said, trying his best to sound convincing. Somehow, fate was on Fuutarou's side for that. The ribbons girl recoiled with embarrassment. "Really? I'm sorry!" she said, moving aside. Finally, Fuutarou could go and apologize-
"One yakiniku set, without the yakiniku. Are you on a diet or something?" the headphones girl said. Fuutarou froze instantly. That was his exact order for lunch earlier today. How did she even find out about that? She was sitting at the table when Itsuki was walking over! He thought.
Fuutarou was finally so fed up that he ran past the two girls. "HEY!" the ribbons girl shouted, trying in vain to stop him. Fuutarou got through the door, in time to see Itsuki walking into the elevator. The door closed before he could get there. Seriously, could this get any worse? He thought.
He looked at the number on the screen. It could, in fact, get worse. She was going to the top floor. Fuutarou's brain, beginning to melt, decided to run up the stairs instead of taking a different elevator.
Fuutarou somehow pulled off something he almost never did in his entire life. Something athletic. He ran up all the flights of stairs, mentally complaining the whole way. This whole thing is her fault! I shouldn't have to apologize for any of this! It's her fault that I'm tired and sweaty from running. It's her fault that these weirdos keep harassing me! It's all... He trailed off as he reached the top floor.
Itsuki was there, staring at Fuutarou as he collapsed out of the doorway. "Hey, you're that guy from school." She said. "What could be so important that you would follow me all the way home?" She went on, oblivious to the tragedy that was about to fall upon her.
"About yesterday…" Fuutarou said, finally catching his breath. "Yesterday? What are you even doing here anyway?" She said. "I told you. You see, I-I was…" He started, before being interrupted. "Never mind, I don't care." She said, starting to walk off. "Wait, listen-"
"No, YOU listen! You're really starting to get on my nerves! If it's really that important, then make it quick because I have a tutor arriving in a few minutes!" She said, losing her temper. "That'd be me." He said.
These were some of the most devastating words in Itsuki's entire life. Easily in the top 10. "What?" She said, in disbelief. "Your new tutor. That'd be me." Fuutarou said. Itsuki immediately let out a weird noise, freezing in place for a few seconds before her fury returned.
"No way, I refuse!" She said, stubborn until the bitter end. "I hate it too! Much more than you do!" Fuutarou said, his patience also at the limit. He began walking towards her, and she in turn started to back away.
"But… I'm still not going to give up. Yesterday, I was totally in the wrong. And I'm sorry. But that changes now!" He said, putting his hand on the wall next to her face. "Starting today, I'm your partner!"
"This can't be right…" Itsuki said, defeated, before collapsing to the floor. "It's not fair! Why does our tutor have to be you of all people…" She said, unaware of the critical hit she had just delivered.
"D-Did you say our?" Fuutarou said, his brain becoming the newest liquid element on the periodic table. The elevator dinged. And out walked the four other nightmares that had been making his day hell. They were talking about a creeper hanging around outside their condo. Life really, truly adored making Fuutarou's a living hell.
Four sets of eyes flashed with recognition as they saw him. "Hey there, Mr Honor Roll!" The earring girl said. "That's him, he's the stalker!" The ribbons girl said. "Huh? Uesugi-san's a stalker?" The singular ribbon girl said. "You're jumping to some pretty serious conclusions, Nino." The headphones girl said, fully aware she had also assumed he was a stalker at first glance.
Fuutarou's brain was so… indescribably strained at the time that he not only failed to consider why the girls were here before asking, but that it really liked to point out how much pressure it was under. "Why are you all here?" He said.
Itsuki sighed before getting up off the floor. "Because we live here, obviously." She said. She pointed to a golden plate on the door next to him, the word Nakano embedded in it. "Oh, I see, you share a fancy condo with all of your girlfriends." He said.
At that point, Fuutarou's brain went nuclear. Overclocked past it's manufacturing limit, came to one conclusion. A dream. This had to all be one bad dream. "We're not friends, we're sisters." Itsuki said. "In fact, we're quintuplets."
Fuutarou snapped out of the spell that had caused him to re-live those two days. That second day in particular, was the unbelievable day. The day that he was assigned to tutor her. The girl he was about to marry.
It really didn't seem like it at the time… He thought. All those years later, he could still see the moment in his dreams, no spell necessary. He could practically already see his beautiful bride waiting for him. And she wasn't just his bride. When he first met her, he never could have expected...
That she was one of five princesses.