Y/N POV:

I find it really fascinating how the time appears to slow down when you're anticipating something. A few minutes feel like hours as your mind pulls a [Za Warudo] on itself. That was a pretty accurate description of how the afternoon period of my second day felt. Ever since the end of lunch, I found myself counting the seconds for the tutoring session. And after a little over 8100 of them (2 hours and 15 minutes to be precise), the torture that was our organic chemistry lesson finally came to an end.

After the bell, I packed my things and booked it out of the classroom. Fuutarou sent me the address of the Nakanos. The plan was to meet him there.

Keyword: was. 

I got off at a nearby bus station, then walked two blocks to the meeting point. When I arrived at the building, I managed to catch a glimpse of quite an entertaining scene: Fuutarou had just bypassed two of the sisters who I couldn't identify from a distance and was now sprinting toward one of the elevators.

I approached the building at my own pace. Since I saw Fuutarou missing his elevator ride, I didn't really bother to run after him. And would you know, as soon as I finished that thought I saw the idiot taking the stairs to the 30th floor. I have no idea why he is in such a rush. The plan was precisely to wait for me so that I could moderate the interaction between him and the quints, but he is in a hurry apparently.

I let out a sigh. I guess I'll be meeting him at the apartment proper. The sisters were already inside of the building and were now waiting at the elevator. In the meantime I calmly made my way inside the lobby, greeting the security guard and properly announcing who I was to the receptionist. I told him that I was with the guy who had just run past everyone, and surprisingly he let me in.

I got to the elevators just as the sisters had entered one, though another one had come only instants later. After a rather long trip to the 30th floor, I arrived just in time to see the girls berating Fuutarou as they got inside their apartment.

*Clap, clap, clap*

Fuutarou turned to me with an annoyed expression.

"I just heard them call you a stalker twice. What in the hot crispy Kentucky fried fuck did you do?"

"It's... complicated," he said.

Fuutarou then explained to me that in the process of trying to apologize to Itsuki, he accidentally stalked her in order to find a moment where she would be alone.

"The whole point of bringing me here was so that I could make the interaction between you and the quints a little less thorny. Then why did you charge ahead without waiting for me?"

"It felt like it was the best thing to do. I wanted to apologize to Itsuki at least before our session began."

"Mhm... and how's that going on for ya?"

He looked at me with a frustrated expression.

"Y/N, quit being so condescending. I need to figure out a way to get on their good side... fast."

"That's right. And I'm here to help you brother," I put my hand on his shoulder, "Not all is lost just yet. The door is unlocked. Let's go inside."

And so we did.

The quints didn't live in a mere apartment. They lived in a penthouse duplex. Both Fuutarou and I stared in awe at the luxury of it all. To think that those five girls have this beautiful place all for themselves... the whole situation sounds like paradise to me.

Although it wasn't paradise yet. We arrived at the living room expecting to see the girls reluctantly sitting around the coffee table while waiting for the tutoring session to begin. But the first floor of the apartment was emptier than the 'Cats' movie premiere.

"Why is there no one here?!" Fuutarou exclaimed.

"I take that they're hiding from the stalker in their respective rooms," I said, looking at the balcony of the second floor.

Indeed the situation was far more complex than I initially expected. I thought that since they had a tutoring session scheduled, they would at least be present for it. But apparently, we have to convince each one of them.

"Hi hi! I'm here!" one of the quints said as she slid past us, coming unseen from the kitchen.

If my memory does not fail me, I have not met this one before. She had chin-length hair and a green bow. Judging by the pitch in her tone, I'm guessing that at least she is willing to attend our lesson.

The girl was carrying a tray with a glass of water. Fuutarou took it, slightly startled by her sudden appearance.

"You're Yotsuba, right? The one who got a zero?" he asked.

Yotsuba chuckled awkwardly: "Yes, that's me. And who is your frie-" she turned to me, her expression turning to surprise as our eyes met, "You're that guy Nino was talking about! L/N-san, wasn't it?"

Point for me.

"Indeed. It's pleasure to meet you, Yotsuba-san. I'm here to help Fuutarou with the tutoring."

"Nice to meet you too! Do you want some water? I'll go get it for you."

"No need," I said, "I got my own bottle with me."

"Um... Yotsuba, why are you here?" Fuutarou asked.

"What? For the lesson obviously."

All the grimace on Fuutarou's expression suddenly vanished. A proud smile taking its place:

"Yotsuba..." he chuckled, "Can I give you a hug?"

Bruh...

"Okay! Let's go get the rest of them!" Yotsuba excitedly said.

The girl dashed toward the stairs to the second floor, me and Fuutarou following behind.

"A little tip for your future interactions..." I discreetly told him as we ascended the stairs, "Don't identify people by their mistakes and flaws."

"What do you mean?"

"The one who got a zero?" I quoted him, "If I were her, I wouldn't want to be remembered for my bad grade."

"But that was like the first thing she showed me when we met," he refuted.

"Still."

"Okay, here we are!" Yotsuba said as we got to the top of the stairs, "Our rooms are respectively: Itsuki, me, Miku, Nino, and Ichika."

"Do I really have to go out of my way to get all five of you?"

"Don't you want that dough, boy?" I patted him on the back, "Let's go."

"It'll be fine," Yotsuba said, "Itsuki is very studious. It shouldn't be a problem to get her to come with us unless you really upset her."

She knocked on Itsuki's room, and just as soon as the door opened...

"No way!" Itsuki said.

"I-Itsuki, wait!" Fuutarou said, but Itsuki simply raised her hand, signaling him to stop.

"I am not going to have this guy as my tutor. For God's sake, how can he be our tutor if he's from our year!"

"Please! I said that I was going to help you study. I'm here now."

"Not gonna happen," she then turned to me, "And who are you?"

"I'm basically a secondary tutor. I'm here to help you guys to study and um... get acquainted with each other."

"Dad told me that there was only going to be one tutor."

"Yes he did, but you got two for the price of one," I gently stepped forward, "Listen, Itsuki-san. If the problem is with Fuutarou specifically, I can be your primary tutor at least until you make amends with each other."

"I'm sorry. I'm not gonna join you if he is here."

"You don't even have to look at his face. Worst case scenario you two will have to coexist in the same room, but other than that, no interaction."

"...What is your name?" she asked me.

"Y/N L/N."

"Ok. I'm sorry L/N-kun. I really am. But I won't join him regardless of the condition," her voice sounded angry before, but that last phrase sounded more reluctant. Even melancholic. She closed the door, locking herself in her room.

I turned to Fuutarou, who was looking at me with discontentment stamped all across his expression.

"What the fuck happen between you too?" I asked as we made our way to the next room. He, however, didn't respond.

Thankfully, getting Miku and Ichika to join was easier, Though the former was quite reluctant, and the latter wanted to take a bath and get dressed before the session. That's at least a delay of 30 minutes, according to Yotsuba.

Curiously though, when we went to get Nino, the door to her room was closed and she wouldn't respond to any knocking.

"Maybe she isn't inside." Yotsuba said.

"Where would she be though?" Fuutarou asked, "This place is big but I don't think there are many places to hide. Plus we probably would have noticed if she had left the apartment."

"Alright, while you two try to find her I'm gonna get the things ready for the session."

I walked past them as I began to make my way back to the first floor. However, Miku had left her room and was now standing in my way. I tried going around her and while she didn't block me, she kept staring at me like she wanted to say something.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"I have a red tracksuit from our old school."

"...Cool."

"I can't find it."

"Um... ok? Do you need any help looking for it or-"

"Did you take it?" she asked.

"Look at my size. Now, look at yours. Take your own conclusions."

She pouted, looking at me while clenching both her fists: "What about him?"

"Fuutarou? Don't think so. Why would he take it?"

"I had it with me until you two arrived..."

"Well, you bolted to your room just as soon as we arrived. Perhaps you left it in the living room."

"Girls! I've made some snacks!" Yelled a voice that I recognized. Miku and I both looked at the first floor. Down there was Nino, wearing a red tracksuit and carrying a tray of cookies. I looked at Miku with a smug smile. She simply returned an even poutier pout.

"Are there enough for everyone?" I asked.

"Y-Y/N?! What are you doing here?"

"Secondary tutor, yada yada." I dismissively replied as I began to descend the stairs.

"I thought the stalker was going to be the one tutoring us. What was his name... Uesugi?"

"Yeah, he's here as well."

Nino was standing in the middle of the living room. I could almost hear the cogs in her head turning as she tried to process the situation. I walked up to her, picking a single cookie from the tray. We stayed silent looking at each other's eyes for a few heavenly moments. Once again I used all of my volition to avoid getting flustered by the situation. I've been acting so smoothly up until now... I can't let a nervous burst of laughter ruin this.

Just as I was about to break composure, I was saved by the bell. Or rather, by Miku:

"Nino," she called, "Why do you have my tracksuit?"

"I was baking. I didn't want my clothes to get dirty."

"So you took my clothes instead?"

"These are super old and unfashionable. I see no problem in using them."

"You could have at least asked me first," Miku said, beginning to get annoyed by her sister's attitude.

Time to score a few more points.

"Girls, there's no need to get frustrated over this misunderstanding," I interrupted them, "Nino-san, is this the only tray you've made or are you baking more?"

"I'm making more," she said, "And you can just call me Nino."

"Ok. In this case, give the tracksuit back to Miku-san. You can borrow my jacket."

"W-what? Are you sure?" she said.

I didn't even reply. I simply took my jacket off and handed it to her, gently taking the tray she was carrying.

"I'll put these in a bowl for us," I said.

I made my way around the kitchen counter, reaching down into one of the cabinets and retrieving a properly sized recipient. When I got up again I saw that they were both completely still, looking at me in a catatonic state. Fuck... did I accidentally activate my stand again?

"Are you guys ok?" I asked, slightly startled by their gaze.

"Y-Yeah!" Nino said. She quickly took off the tracksuit and threw it at Miku, covering her sister's head. She then proceeded to bolt upstairs without saying a single word.

I have no idea what the hell just happened. Maybe I've slipped up. Was I being too forceful? Maybe I shouldn't have given them instructions when a) They barely know me and b) I'm a guest in their house.

Miku took the tracksuit off her head, chuckling to herself.

"Did I upset her?" I asked her as I poured the cookies into the bowl.

"Hehehe... No, you didn't," she said as put on the tracksuit. She then looked at me, giving me a smile so sweet it could give diabetes to a bottle of insulin, "Here, let me help you with these."

Third Person Perspective:

Nino had dashed up the stairs in record time, going so fast that she didn't even pay attention to Fuutarou and Yotsuba standing by Ichika's room.

"Ah, Nino. I'm glad to see that you'll be joining-"

"Not now, Uesugi," she said, shutting herself in her room.

The whole situation was slowly being processed in her head. She sat down against the door holding Y/N's jacket in her hands. She looked at it as her face became red as a beet.

"Oh no... he's hot," she said in a flustered tone.

"Who's hot?"

Nino jumped, banging the back of her head against the door, "I-Ichika?! What are you doing here?!"

"I'm looking for that moisturizer you bought. My skin is a bit dry so I wanted to use it after my bath. Anyway, who's hot? Is it Uesugi-kun?"

"What?! No!"

"Then who?"

Nino did not respond, instead burying her face in the jacket in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. Ichika came closer to her, kneeling by her side.

"C'mon... you can tell your Nee-san," Ichika comforted her, running her hand through Nino's hair, "Is it L/N-kun then?"

"Mhmm..." Nino's reply was muffled by the jacket.

"What was that? I didn't quite catch it."

"...mhmmhmm..." still muffled.

Ichika took the jacket from Nino's hands.

"Hey! Give me that back!"

"Not until you tell me." Ichika teased her.

"Fine! It is him!" she finally admitted, "Now give me that back."

"Is this his jacket?"

"Yes," Nino took it back from Ichika's hands, "I hadn't seen him without it yet... he is toned. Like model levels of toned. And he's wearing such a neatly fitting t-shirt..."

"Ara ara... Nino-chan got quite lucky moving to this new school, don't you think?"

"Shut up!" Nino stood up, clutching the jacket in her hands.

"Well, what are you doing here then? He's waiting for you downstairs, isn't he?"

"I can't go down there looking like this. I need to change into something more presentable."

"For a tutoring session? You already look fine."

"Shit, you're right!" she hit the palm of her hand with her fist, a wicked smile forming in her face, "I need to deal with Uesugi."

...

Y/N POV:

At this point, Fuutarou, Yotsuba, Miku, and I were gathered on the couches around the central coffee table. The girls were attacking the cookies made by Nino while Fuutarou tried (and failed) to explain to them the fundamentals of arithmetic and geometric progression. The sun was already looming over the horizon. With the night quickly approaching, I doubt that we'll be able to get much done in this first session.

I would occasionally check the time on my phone. Ichika and Nino had been upstairs for quite some time now. I'm reluctant to go check on them, but at the same time if they don't come down we will have wasted this entire session. And worst is that my interaction with Nino today would be resumed to like two minutes at most. Well... baby steps I guess.

"Hey, Miku," I asked, "Do you mind go checking on the other two?"

"Why don't you go check on them?" she teased, emanating an aura so smug that I couldn't help but wonder if she was in on something I don't know.

"Because I don't live here. And I wouldn't want a stranger barging into my room all the sudden."

Miku sighed, adjusting the headphones around her neck: "Fine, I'll go get them."

She then stood up, making her way upstairs ever so slowly. I exchanged eye contact with Yotsuba and Fuutarou for a few moments until the latter finally broke the silence:

"This is not how expected this session to be going..."

"Hey, cheer up king. At least we got Yotsuba here with us."

"Don't worry Uesugi-san! I'm studying hard!" Yotsuba said.

We looked at her notebook which was completely empty with the exception of a small doodle in the upper right corner of the page. The room was filled with the sound of our dual facepalm.

Fortunately though, when I looked up again I saw the three sisters coming down the stairs. And Nino was dressed differently. More... nicely. Why did she change?

"They're here L/N-kun," Miku said.

"Ah, great!" Fuutarou said, "Please come sit down with us. I was just explaining how-"

"I need to finish baking first," Nino said, "I'll catch you later."

Well... this is inconvenient. As much as I want to go talk with Nino, I promised Fuutarou that I would help him with the tutoring.

Ichika sat down on the same couch as I, and Miku sat on the adjacent. Fuutarou continued his explanation on whatever subject he was giving.

I would occasionally sneak glimpses at Nino. She was indeed wearing my jacket over her clothes, though I doubt she was paying any attention to what Fuutarou was saying.

Ever so often I would notice Ichika hopping closer to where I was sitting. The couch was for three people, and neither of us were occupying the middle seat. Over a period of about two minutes, Ichika had fully closed the distance between us.

"Nice forearms..." she said.

Bruh^2

"That is an uncomfortably specific compliment, but thanks," I replied, "Do you have any questions about what Fuutarou is explaining?"

"Not really. Everything is pretty clear to me so far..."

"Then can you tell me the formula for geometric progression?"

Ichika leaned back against the couch, chuckling and scratching the back of her head: "Ah, you can't just ask me this all the sudden, L/N-kun."

"So things aren't clear then... come here, let me explain it to you."

With that, we both leaned closer to her notebook. She was quite close to me, to the point where I could feel her body heat.

"This is the formula: the 'r' stands for the common ratio of multiplication between the terms, and the 'n' stands for the term you're working with."

A quick glance at Nino proved that my strategy was working. She was flustered, maybe even envious. That assumption was further confirmed by seeing her facing away just as soon as I caught her looking.

"Ugh... why would someone put letters in an equation? Math was better when it was just numbers."

"It's not hard. Complex math is just a bunch of simple mathematical concepts stacked upon each other. Here, let me write an example for you..."

"L/N-san, I need some help here!" Nino yelled from the kitchen.

Based on my vast, vast experience with tsunderes gathered from veridic sources (and definitely not a shitton of anime), the best way to deal with them is to make them envious. Not much, but just enough to show them that they have to run after you. They can call you a b-b-b-b-b-baka as much as they want, but when you play their game, you'll almost certainly come out on top. I'll admit that it's a bit of a risky strat since I'm not sure if she's pissed at me or not. I'm going with it anyway. 60% of the time, it works every time.

"Why me?" I yelled back.

"Just come here already!"

Might as well try to bring her here while I'm at it. I turned to Ichika, "Did you understand it this time,