Chapter 1

A/N: Yo, everyone. I'm new here, but I'm a writer of QQ and Rent a Girlfriend on Fanfiction.net, where I have various stories that I started there. I've recently decided to post this story on this website too and I hope you will like it. I write mainly for fun and I don't have an update schedule, but don't worry; I don't abandon my stories. Anyways, let's go with the beginning!

It was Sunday evening and Uesugi Fuutarou was busy with studying as usual to keep being the top student of Asahiyama while his father and Raiha were watching the TV. The little family had dinner only an hour ago, and the young man had decided to go to study, even if his father and Raiha told me to not overdo it.

But the reason he was studying at the moment was also the fact that he was trying to think of a way to make friends with the second oldest quint of the Nakano sisters, Nino. In fact, between the 5 sisters, the butterfly ribbons girl still didn't fully trust him and didn't want to be helped in her studies; though, compared to before, she was fine with him giving tutoring sessions at the Pentagon and even helped him to keep his job after the midterm exams.

'I'm still thankful to her for helping that time, but I want to find a way to make friends with her for real.', he thought while resolving some math functions on his notebook with ease. Despite she had drugged him the first time they met, Fuutarou understood that Nino simply disliked strangers and was very protective of her family. After all, he was the same, since the times he fought against bullies that wanted to hurt Raiha in the past were many.

He was aware that he looked scary by behaving like that, especially because he looked just like his father by dying his hair blond. Though, even if he looked scary, he had some friends during his younger days, but he didn't hear about them anymore after he graduated from elementary school.

Counting also the fact that he focused mainly on his studies after that famous Kyoto trip, he had become asocial and more rude towards people, who were also afraid of his aggressive face. But meeting the quints started to change his social relations, bringing him also to care a lot about the 5 sisters, which was the reason he wanted to make friends with Nino at all costs.

The young man continued to study for 2 hours, after which he started to get sleepy. So he took off his shirt and pants to wear his blue pajamas to go to sleep in his futon, closing his eyes. Raiha entered in the room after some minutes, and when she saw him, she smiled and laid down in her futon next to him, clinging on her dear brother.

'You always give your best to help our family with the debts, Onii-chan. If Itsuki-San or one of her sisters becomes your girlfriend, the lucky girl will be very happy to have you as boyfriend hehe.', thought the young girl, mentally giggling while closing her eyes to sleep for the next day. As if he heard her thoughts in his sleep, Fuutarou smiled and hugged Raiha, making the girl smile more.

The following morning, Raiha got up and woke up her brother before going to the kitchen to make breakfast, finding Isanarri asleep on the table with empty beer cans on it. Fuutarou saw him too after he changed in his school uniform, so he sighed and shaked the blond man. "Dad, wake up. You have to go to wolk, idiot.", said the golden eyes boy, managing to wake up Isanari.

"Hmm? Oh, good morning, son. Yeah, I know haha. I guess that I drank too many beers yesterday."

"Breakfast is ready!", exclaimed Raiha meanwhile, bringing 3 portions of rice and some tamagoyaki to the table. The whole family started then to eat, with Isanari teasing his son about girls, specifically about the Nakano sisters.

"W-would you stop it? I'm not interesin romance or stuff like that.", said Fuutarou, annoyed and blushing.

"You may say that, but I'm sure you will end up falling for one of those sisters.", replied his father, grinning.

"If you make Itsuki-San or one of her sisters your girlfriend, you can then go on a lot of dates with the lucky one, Onii-chan. Me and Dad know that you find them cute, after all.", said Raiha instead, teasing her brother too.

The young man blushed more and frowned, preferring to not retort while his family chuckled; he didn't want to get teased more, so he continued to eat silently. Once they 3 of them were done with having break fast, Isanari left to accompany Raiha to school and to work then while Fuutarou left to go to Asahiyama.

As usual, the young tutor started reading his pocket notes while walking, making sure to not bump into other people and watching out for cars while crossing the road. Still, his mind was more focused on finding a way to make friends with Nino than on what was written on the notes.

'Itsuki forgave me when I apologized to her before the midterm exams and we're friends now, but Nino still doesn't fully trust me. She'sx fine with me being inside their apartment for the tutoring sessions, but she hasn't joined them yet. Huff, she's complicated.', thought the boy, sighing na and smiling. The social butterfly wasn't easy to understand for him.

And while he was thinking about Nino, the young man reached his school, passing through the gates to go inside the building. It was also the moment that his eyes were covered by 2 hands, catching off guard.

"Who am I?", asked the voice, sounding feminine and pretty familiar.

"Yotsuba, is that you?", he asked. The hands covering his eyes retracted, so he turned around to see the smiling bunny ribbon quint.

"Correct! Good morning, Uesugi-San!", she told him, full of energy as usual.

"Good morning you too. Where are your sisters?", he asked her, since he didn't see the other quints.

"They overslept a bit, so they will arrive in some minutes. I got here just now and saw you, so I thought of greeting you with a surprise.", she replied, with her ribbon moving like it was moving.

"I see. Well, I hope they make it in time before the lessons start.", he said. He and Yotsuba went then towards the school building, chatting together about studying and general stuff and greeting each other before going to their respective classrooms. Fuutarou heard some people talking about Yotsuba and him, which annoyed a bit, since he hated pointless rumours.

He walked towards his classroom and entered inside of it, ignoring the other students and taking place to his seat. Some minutes later, also Itsuki arrived and greeted some people, smiling when she saw Fuutarou.

"Good morning, Uesugi-kun. How are you?", she asked him, sitting at the desk next to his.

"Yo, Itsuki. I'm fine, thanks. I met Yotsuba earlier, and she told me you and the others overslept a bit.", he replied, making her blush embarassed.

"A-ah, let's say that we w-watched a movie until late yesterday hehe.", she said, looking away.

"Got it. Well, I hope you stay focused during the tutoring session later; you and your sisters managed to pass only a subject each one during the midterm exams, so I have to help you to do better than that.", he told her, unconsciously patting her head.

Itsuki was surprised by the gesture and blushed more while he saw what he wa doing and retracted his hand. "S-sorry, I did it without thinking.", he told her, touching his bangs.

"I-It's ok, i-it didn't bother me.", she assured him, looking down to hide her flushed face.

'I l-liked being patted on the head by him, it feels so nice.', she thought, smiling. Their classmates saw Fuutarou's gesture and Itsuki's blushing face, remaining stunned and starting also to come up with some rumours in their minds about the boy and the girl.

The  math teacher arrived after some minutes and started the lesson, so Fuutarou got ready to take a lot of notes as he was used to. His mind thought about the headpat that he gave to Itsuki, causing him to blush pretty evidently.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Uesugi-kun? Why are you so red?", asked him the teacher, who noticed it.

"Ehh? N-nothing, I'm fine, Sensei. D-don't worry.", he answered nervously, with some of his classmates smiling.

"Your face is too red, so it's evident you don't feel well. Go to the nursery and rest a bit, Uesugi-kun."

"B-but I'm fine. I don't-"

"No buts, I won't have one of my students feeling sick.", insisted the woman like she was his mother. Fuutarou sighed and complied, so he left the classroom while the teacher smiled.

Itsuki was flushed too, since she was sure that the boy was still flustered because of the headpat he gave her earlier. Still, she and other female students smiled at seeing the top student flustered; he was very cute, after all. The ahoge girl also took care of taking notes for the boy, since he was willing to do his best to help her and her sisters with their grades.

Meanwhile, a frowning Fuutarou was walking towards the nursery, annoyed that he couldn't follow the lesson; he knew that the English teacher could worry a lot about her students like she was their mother, but it wasn't like he had a fever or something.

'All because I was still flustered for giving Itsuki a headpat…Huff.', he thought, huffing indeed while walking. He also then looked outside of the window, and saw some figures in the courtyard.

Curious, he focused his gaze on those people, who looked to be some students, but when noticed a girl with long hair and 2 butterfly ribbons, his eyes widened; that girl was Nino, whose expression was showing fear while the other students, 3 boys, were looking at her with bad intentions.

'T-that's Nino? What's up with her? She doesn't seem her usual self; she's scared. Those guys look also to have bad intentions...', he thought, feeling some anger towards the boys that were cornering Nino. In a rush, the boy didn't care about going to the nursery and started to walk faster to reach the courtyard.

"Come on, Nakano-San. Forget about school and come with us.", said a boy to the social butterfly, who was agaisnt the wall without way of escape.

"L-leave me alone! I don't want to go anywhere with creeps like you! Go away!", she exclaimed, trying to sound aggressive but with unmistakable fear in her voice.

"Oh, don't be like that. I promise you will have lots of fun.", said another one, smiling in a dirty way.

He and the other 2 started to get closer to Nino, who was feeling more afraid and started to cry. Compared to her usual harsh behavior, she was fragile and felt in danger and hopeless.

"Oi you 3, what the hell do you think you're doing?!", shouted an angry voice from behind the creeps. Nino looked behind them as well, remaining shocked at seeing her and her sisters' tutor.

"U-Uesugi?", she mumbled, with her eyes widening at the angry expression on Fuutarou's face.

"Piss off, asshole! It's none of your business!", exclaimed a creep, glaring at Fuutarou.

"As if I let some bastards like you doing something horrible to her. You should piss off, scumbags.", replied the young man, glaring more menacingly with his golden eyes.

Angry to be insulted again, one of the perverts ran towards Fuutarou to punch him in the face, but the boy ducked and retaliated with a right punch in his gut, taking the breath out of him and making him fall on the ground in pain. Nino and the other 2 were shocked by that, but the other 2 quickly ran towards Fuutarou to hit him.

The first tried to kick him, but his leg got blocked by Fuutarou that threw him on the ground before getting punched on the face. The second smirked at that, but he trembled when Fuutarou glared at him with angry tiger like eyes.

The young tutor returned the punch in the the face with one much stronger, making the idiot fall to nurse his nose that was now bleeding. Fuutarou then walked towards to the one he threw on the ground, taking him by his shirt to make him look at him.

"I warned you to get lost, but you bastards didn't listen to me. If you don't want me to beat you worse, I suggest you to get out of my sight. Don't even dare to tell anyone about this or I will make you pay, got it?", he told him, threatening the jackass with his voice and aggressive golden eyes.

The creep and also the other ones couldn't help but tremble in fear before that while Nino was still afraid and shocked, touching also her abdomen. Understanding that the top student wasn't kidding at all, the 3 creeps quickly ran away, leaving the school out of fear.

Fuutarou watched them running away in disgust, touching also his left cheek where he got punched; it hurt a bit, but not enough to annoy him all the day. He then turned around to look at Nino, who was still trembling in fear and touching her abdomen.

"Nino, are you ok? They didn't hurt you, right?", he asked her, walking towards her with a worried expression.

He also noticed that her expression was still full of terror and fear, totally different from the serious and confident one he always saw on her face; it was like she wasn't herself.

Seeing how she kept holding her abdomen, Fuutarou thought she was wounded on the stomach, so he put his hands on her shoulder and asked her, "Nino, did they hurt you in the stomach? Answer me, please."

The girl shaked her head, refusing to answer while still being scared. But the young man couldn't stop worrying about her, so he insisted. "Nino, show me your wound. I'm really worried about you, so let me help you."

Nino lifted her eyes to see those of Fuutarou, which showed great concern and worry for her. After seeing that, she nodded and lifted her shirt with trembling hands, showing him her stomach and shocking him; the boy could see scars on it, which looked to be quite old.

"W-What a-Did they hurt you like this way earlier?! I swear I will-"

"N-no, it's not them that h-hurt me. I-I have these scars since I was at K-Kurobara.", she said, starting to cry while stop lifting her shirt.

"W-what?", he asked her, getting more worried. His bigger concern for her brought him to ask how she got wounded during the time she was attending Kurobara, and seeing that Nino felt afraid of doing that, he placed a hand on her head to pat it, telling her that he wouldn't tell anybody about it.

The gesture and his kind words made her blush a bit, and seeing he was honest, she started to tell him about her past. The girl started by telling him that years ago, she was a victim of bullying since her and her sisters' elementary school days, as she was fragile before.

Due to that, she and her sisters had changed school often in order to make sure that she didn't get bullied anymore. But even like that, Nino had to deal with other new bullies often. Her sisters tried to defend her, but they got mocked along her.

Fuutarou was shocked by what he was hearing, but his shock turned into rage when she told him that,while she was at Kurobara, some girls tormented her and even threw a little mirror against her to prank her. Nino had barely dodged it, but some pieces of glass wounded her in the stomach and brought her to go to her father's hospital to treat her wounds.

After that incident and counting the fact that she and her sisters had to struggle to study at Kurobara, they changed school to go to Asahiyama, where Nino started to behave differently from the fragile girl she was to elevate her social status and make sure to not get bullied again.

"I-It was because I was scared y-you would hurt me and my sisters that I drugged you on your first day as our tutor, U-Uesugi. I-I feared t-that you would harm me and my sisters, so I tried to make you give up on the job. B-but you showed me I was wrong, and e-even saved me from t-those guys earlier. I-I'm sorry for h-how I treated you when we met.", she told him with a broken voice, her tears falling continuously from her eyes because of the pain and the horrible memory of the incident.

But then, she was pulled into a sudden hig by Fuutarou, bringing her face on his chest. "U-Uesugi?"

"I'm deeply sorry for what you went through years ago, Nino. I hate it that some bastards tormented and even wounded an innocent girl like you until that point. When I saw that those assholes wanted to hurt you and you were afraid, I felt like I had to come up immediately here to save you; I didn't want you to get hurt.", he told her, putting a hand on her head and making her eyes widen.

"Nino, now I understand more why you didn't trust me when we first met and don't worry, I'm not angry with you for drugging me. After what you went through, it's normal you don't trust people outside of your family, but I can assure you that you can trust me. If someone tries to hurt you or makes you cry, I won't hesitate to intervene if I'm around. And if you want to know why, it's because you're a friend for me and I want to protect you from now on.", he said, to conclude his speech and making her cry more, but because she was moved by his words.

The young girl started to sob and cry into his chest, returning his hug while he patter her head and kept her close to him. It was like those times he comforted Raiha whenever she cried for falling on the ground or after she got bullied and Fuutarou beat up the idiots; he saw that Nino was sad and in pain for talking about her terrible past, so he wanted to be there for her and comfort her.

"T-thank you, U-Uesugi.", she told between her sobs, hugging him tighter and feeling safe in his arms. The boy smiled and caressed her head, not caring if he got scolded later by the teacher; he didn't want to leave Nino alone until she wasn't ok.

The two of them kept hugging each other while Nino's sobs diminished and a little smile appeared on her face. Fuutarou was also caressing her head, which she really liked. "U-Uesugi, do you r-really see me a friend?", she asked him, with her face still on his chest.

"Yes, and like I said, I will protect you from whoever tries to hurt you. Being it boy or girl, I don't care; I won't forgive anyone that makes you cry, Nino.", he replied, making Nino happy with his words.

"P-please, d-don't tell anyone about my incident and my past. O-only you and my family know about it.", she begged him.

"I promise you that I won't tell anybody about your past, don't worry.", he said to assure her, making her smile in relief. Nino was feeling safe in his arms and didn't seem to want to stop hugging him.

"Are you feeling better, Nino?", he asked her.

"Y-yeah, I feel a l-little better. Thank you, Uesugi.", she replied, lifting her face to look at him with a smile.

Seeing some tears still falling from her eyes, Fuutarou cleaned them off with a finger, making Nino blush. "Here, now you look totally better.", he said, smiling at her.

Moved by his gesture, the butterfly ribbons girl kept hugging him, refusing to cling on him. For the first time, she met a person outside of her family that cared for her and was willing to protect her at all costs, so she was very happy.

"I better go back to my class to not make the teacher worried. You should go the same, Nino.", he suddenly told her.

"C-can you accompany me towards there, Uesugi?", she asked him, continuing to hug him. Fuutarou smiled gently and nodded, so they started to walk to leave the courtyard, entering inside the building and going towards Nino's class.

The social butterfly was holding the boy's hand during that, blushing and smiling. She felt a feeling of safety like that time he took her hand during the fireworks festival. Plus, she was flabbergasted when she saw him fighting against those perverts and scaring them away; he looked really cool and brave.

"Oh yeah, now that we're friends, I think you can call me by my first name, Nino.", he suddenly told her.

"Ehh? W-well, then c-can I call you F-Fuu-kun? I w-want to call you in a personal way.", she asked him, blushing and holding his hand tighter.

"Sure, I like it. It's the first time someone calls me like that. Well, it looks we reached your class now. See you later, Nino.", he replied, stopping to hold her hand.

The young girl frowned when they stopped holding hands, but then she patted her head and assured her again that he would be there for her before going to his own class. Nino smiled at his words, happy to have finally found a true friend that cared so much about her.

Once in his class, Fuutarou got asked by the English teacher if he was feeling fine, with him replying that he felt better and wasn't sick at all. He was also glad that the punch received in the face by one of the idiots didn't leave any mark, so he didn't have to explain anything about it.

He also thanked Itsuki for taking some notes for him, patting her head again but this time willingly. The young girl got flustered again because of that, but she couldn't deny that she liked the sweet gesture. Fuutarou then proceeded to follow the lesson, smiling; he didn't care about the little rumours about him and Itsuki, as he was glad that he made friends with Nino.

'I'm still shocked to know that she got tormented that much until that point... To know that some bastards hurt her that much really makes me angry, and that's why I will do my best to protect her.', he thought, smiling out of determination. His smile caught also the attention of Itsuki, who was curious about what it was due to.

Once the morning lessons ended, Fuutarou left his classroom not to go to the cafeteria, rather to Nino's classroom. In fact, he walked through some corridors before reaching her class, seeing the social butterfly chatting with her friends with a smile. His presence was noticed by the other students, with Nino seeing him too and blushing a bit.

Fuutarou walked towards her and her friends and said, offering his hand to her, "Let's go to have lunch, Nino."

The young girl blushed more for this and she took his hand instantly. "Y-yes, let's go, Fuu-kun.", she told him, holding his hand tight and shocking her classmates with the way she called him.

The golden eyes boy smiled and proceeded to walk with her towards the cafeteria, attracting various glances from the other students. "I see that you're feeling better compared to this morning. I'm relieved.", he told her.

"I-It's thanks to you, Fuu-kun. You comforted me and even promised to protect me, s-so I'm happy to have a friend like you. S-still, it was a little embarrassing being seen holding hands by my classmates.", she said, blushing and pouting a bit.

"I don't care about what other people say, rumours are just bullshit. Besides, I'm g-glad too that we're friends now.", he told her, blushing too and touching his bangs. Nino smiled at hearing those words, so she leaned her head on his shoulder and enjoyed his comforting warmth.

They continued to walk together towards the cafeteria, where they took their lunch trays. Seeing that he asked for a yakiniku dish without yakiniku to save money, Nino asked the cafeteria lady to put the meat on his dish, as she would pay for both of their lunches.

"Don't worry about paying me back, Fuu-kun. Y-you're my friend, after all.", she told him, blushing.

"Then, will you let me help you to study as your friend? I know that you hate studying, but I don't want that you and your sisters risk to not pass your exams again.", he said, smiling at her.

"A-after you showed me how much you care for me, I will study with you and my sisters from now on.", she told him, smiling back at him and making him happy.

He did it, he managed to make friends with all of his students in the end. Though, coming to know about the terrible past of Nino made him care more about her, to the point he would be more aggressive with those that tried to hurt her. Plus, the fact that he and she were closer to each other was something that the other quints noticed instantly when the two teenagers reached their table.

Fuutarou and Nino didn't tell them about what happened in the morning, so they simply said that they made friends with each other and that the social butterfly would study with him and them too, since the boy showed to care deeply about them. Obviously, her sisters were glad to know that, even if Ichika teased Nino and Fuutarou about the nickname she gave him and that she paid for his lunch.

"S-shut up! F-Fuu-kun told me that I can call him by first name, so I came up with the nickname because I-it's my personal way to call him!", snapped a blushing Nino, with Miku feeling jealous of her.

"Oh, so Fuutarou-kun wanted to call him by his first name? You like Nino, Fuutarou-kun?", teased Ichika, making he sister and the boy blush.

"S-stop it, I j-just thought that she could stop calling by my last name, since she's my friend. That's all.", he replied, stuffing a piece of meat in his mouth.

"W-well, if Uesugi-kun says so, I agree with him.", said Itsuki instead, pouting a bit to see how Nino leaned her head on the boy's shoulder.

"Hehe, studying all together later will be funny!", exclaimed Yotsuba, making everyone smile and nod.

Meanwhile, Nino was still leaning her head on Fuutarou's shouder while eating, ignoring the jealous frowns of Miku, Ichika and Itsuki. After so long, she finally found a person that wouldn't make fun of her and that she could fully trust. Fuutarou was also willing to protect her and threaten any asshole that wanted to hurt her, just like he did against those 3 creeps.

Plus, being that close to him gave her a very comforting feeling of safety, so she liked clinging on him. He also didn't mind it, as he was the one that hugged her first after he saved her. He was like a ray of light that would erase the dark memories of her past, and she was truly glad for that.