Chapter 7 - Normal Day

"Huh... a kid?"

"Oi! Pudding!"

"Ugh... another rich brat?"

Murmurs grew in volume all around Fugo.

It wasn't unusual. Such a thing had happened since the day he joined the university. 

No matter how much he looked up to some people, they saw him as a kid and refused to acknowledge him. The only one to "accept" him...

"His parents must have bought his way into here."

His hands holding the backpack tensed. That one comment stung the most.

'They don't do anything for me...', He blinked the tears away. Class would soon start and he barely got in the building.

"Huh?", He wiped some drool from his mouth, noting his anger sniked too fast.

Cleanliness was important... right?

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Fugo sighed, another restless night having hit him. It was starting to become a common occurrence.

At least it helped him cover some material for today.

His desk was scattered with open textbooks, detailed notes, and printouts of practice problems, meticulously organized by subject. The quintuplets' academic progress - or rather, lack thereof - had been a major source of frustration for him. Teaching one student who was behind could be challenging; teaching five who each had their unique struggles was an entirely different beast.

He ran a hand through his hair, glancing over the stack of flashcards he had made to drill them on basic vocabulary for English, a subject that especially troubled Itsuki.

"Five students... five different methods.", He muttered to himself, writing down his notes as ideas popped into his mind.

Yes, five. He will give it his all for Nino to attend as well. No matter what, he was hired to teach them - not just that anymore, but they don't have to know that.

The first subject he'd be covering with them was Mathematics. His first plan was a crash course in basic algebra, the type of math they should have mastered in their first year but were sorely lacking. He started putting together a series of exercises, starting with simple linear equations to assess where each sister stood specifically. He'd learned by now that he couldn't assume they were all at the same level, and though he'd already tested them informally, he felt the need to go deeper.

While calculating example problems, Fugo's mind wandered to each sister that he had met individually. Their reactions varied.

Ichika seemed to have grasped the material, but her mind was elsewhere. Both unconsciously and consciously, she seemed to take it as a game. He should look into that job of hers soon.

Miku was too quiet, although he knew of her success in History. Perhaps giving her questions on the side about Japanese figures would build her confidence to respond more.

Fugo frowned for a second. He hopes he didn't destroy the image he had built because of his reaction yesterday. His emotions were a mess so he only managed to inform Miku that he wouldn't tutor then look around his apartment in case of a possible attack and crash on his bed. Anyway...

Yotsuba was focused, but even a breeze of air could take her out of the test sheet and cause her to zone out. He would have to handle that issue.

Itsuki was hardworking yet overwhelmed, she often got lost in details and would panic over small mistakes. Fugo decided to reinforce foundational skills and teach her to break down unknown areas with general knowledge to ease her anxiety.

He smirked as he finished writing a sample algebra problem, setting it aside for Yotsuba, and penciled in a note for Miku's flashcards. He knew he'd have to keep a firm hand with them, but he didn't want them to give up - or worse, to lose faith in him as their tutor. Fugo knew all too well how hard it was to face failures. 

'Do you? You're still running.'

Switching subjects, he focused on English for a while. Japanese schools expected students to have a strong foundation in English grammar and vocabulary by the end of their first year, and he knew the quintuplets were woefully behind. He started creating vocabulary cards, choosing words they'd likely seen on past exams.

Fugo glanced out the window at the colorful sky, muted gray beginning to change to streaks of sunrise. He hadn't realized how late it was.

The weight of exhaustion pressed down on him, but the thought of staying with his nightmares made him get up. He organized his notes for the day, stacking each packet and labeling it with a name, his hand lingering on Nino's shorter stack a little longer as he wondered how to get her to participate easily.

As he finished up, he placed the materials into his bag with a careful sense of pride and closed 'his' notebooks on the desk, mentally preparing for another day of school.

Normal school.

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"Thank you, Mitaka!", Yotsuba beamed while moving some left equipment on the running track behind the school.

She didn't expect help after getting asked by the P.E. teacher. She briefly wondered why she was even here.

"Don't mention. I just wanted to use the track.", Mitaka, a boy with long white hair, spoke with a clear lack of emotion on his face.

"Oh, I see. Ar-"

"Yotsuba!", Her words got cut off as another voice joined the scene, too masculine to be her sisters.

"Oh, Fugo.", A sheepish smile crossed her face. "I forgot about tutoring..."

"Yes, I know."

"Aha.", She laughed a bit, thankful for the understanding. "Then goodbye, Mitaka. May we see each other tomorrow!"

"Hopefully not."

It didn't seem like she heard him though. Unfortunately or fortunately, Fugo did. "Hello, are you in the Track and Field club?"

"Huh, yeah. Why? You want to join?", Mitaka's red eyes glowed for a split second which no party caught.

"No, but still, hello. I am Pannacotta Fugo, a transfer student from Italy this year."

"Oh.", With his shoulders slumped, he went back to his spiritless form. "Hi, my name is Mitaka. A 3rd-year student. And supposedly the president of the Track and Field club."

"I see. Hope to see you around, Mitaka.", He nodded but took off running right after.

Fugo stands still for just a moment.

He joins Yotsuba soon.

In the end, school amounted to nothing today too.

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Although he went to meet Yotsuba, the purpose was simply to tell her he would arrive today at the quintuplets' residence. He saw all of them briefly before they went in the limousine he used when he got to Japan.

Thankfully, no sister made a weird reaction about it. Even, Nino, the sister with long reddish-pink hair that he hasn't seen face to face, didn't glare at him.

Fugo supposed that was progress.

Nodding at the front gate security, he went into the building and, once again, looked through every place accessible. Nanako has promised him some camera footage from the place if he desires.

Unfortunately, that would mean he has to go to the hospital. He couldn't afford to add more information in his exact surroundings, there's no telling what kind of information gathering Stand the enemy might have.

He knocked thrice on the door on the 30th floor, signaling his arrival. 

"Oh, teach. You're exactly on time?", Ichika spoke with a teasing glint, opening the door and letting him. "Is that a fixation of yours?"

"Not necessarily, but it brings me peace.", He looked around to see Miku cleaning some plates, Yotsuba looking at a bird through the glass, Itsuki trying to eat her pen for some reason, and...

"..."

"Hah!", Seeing his silence, Ichika laughs. "Nino is up if you want to try. We can help you."

Fugo glares at her with barely a hint of heat, understanding she just wants to get rid of time for studying. He sighs and goes deeper into the apartment, murmuring greetings to the three other siblings.

Glancing at the barely hidden clues on the doors, he gets in front of the second outermost room. It had a clear sign: "Do Not Open".

So Fugo asked. "Nino, are you in there?"

"..."

"Nino?"

He looked a bit further, the bathroom having no light to say someone was in it so he turned back and continued. This time a bit harsher.

"N-"

"FUGO!"

Fugo's body tensed as if preparing for a blow to come. When it didn't, he realized he put too much force into his grip.

THUD!

The handle came right off.

THUD!

"...Are you okay?", At least the same sound inside jolted him awake.

"I didn't fall! It was my chair! Also, I don't remember letting you call me by my first name!", Her voice came a bit heated, but he paid it little mind.

His mind was still a bit in the fog to a degree. He hadn't heard that voice in years.

"There would be five persons called Nakano then, let alone your father. I believe Nino is the most appropriate way to call you like that for efficiency.", Still, he expected this reaction beforehand.

"...", He didn't hear an argument so he tried to open his mouth to question something else, but she beat him to it. "I got it, I will come in the living room too."

That was a bit surprising.

"Uh... The handle was loosened and came off, just so you know."

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Just a regular dayyyyyyyyyy, nothing to see here.

No trauma. Nor any foreshadowing. No, nope at all.

Nino joining will be explained maybe soon.

By the way, I got a decent amount of the plot figured out.

Problem is the part I have not figured out is the present lmao.

Don't worry about the chapters being updated. Just fixed some types and changed the format at the end so you see the author's note is not the story lol.