Y/N POV:

Nino and I didn't have the slightest intention of wasting time, even if we have a lot of time to waste now that the finals are over.

After we met up with the others, I was dragged along to their apartment so that tsun could dress up for our long-awaited date. It was a bit frustrating for me since my clothing options are a bit limited by our school's dress code. Even though I'm already pushing a few boundaries with the way I dress to go to school, it's still not the same as proper "going-out" clothes. But whatever. It's not like we're going to some fancy restaurant or something... I hope.

I was once again sitting on that couch I got so familiar with as tried to ease my mind after the exam.

I'm not gonna lie, I was feeling a bit out of it during that early afternoon. I don't know if it's because I used up too much of my mental energy during the exam, but I was working on low power mode. A symptom of that is thinking that when my vision suddenly went dark, instead of having someone covering my eyes, I was having an aneurysm or something.

I did get a hold of myself pretty quickly, and it was all the more evident that my brain was just fine when I heard a voice coming from behind me.

"Guess who?"

It wasn't Obama last time... it was Nino. So maybe this time...

"John F. Kennedy."

"Close."

Judging by the playful reaction and the voice...

"Sorry. I mispronounced your name, Ichika."

"Bingo!" she uncovered my eyes, "Been a while since we last talked, hasn't it?"

"I guess. Take a seat. I doubt Nino will be getting ready any time soon."

She did just that, hopping over the couch and sitting by my side.

"So, what's up?" she said, "Why are you still wearing that jacket? It's not that cold anymore."

"Drip."

"Oh really?" she said with a challenging look.

"No, it's because I'm dying of hypothermia in the middle of a painfully mild day. Of course, it's because of drip,"

She narrowed her eyes, "But that's not all... is it? Hmm.... what about this!"

She quickly reached her hand and grabbed the collar of my shirt and jacket, then pulled on it, revealing a hickey on the lower part of my neck I had been trying to hide. Normally I would have been able to get out of reach before her hand could reach me, but then again, low power mode.

As soon as she saw the aftermath of my night with Nino, her eyes began to glow as if she had just discovered America or something.

"HA! I knew it."

I slapped her hand away, readjusting my clothes.

"Pretty respectful of other people's privacy, aren't you?"

"Ah, spare me. You are our collective bestie. We have the right to do this sort of stuff to you. Besides, I was the first one Nino sent a message to after the deed."

"She fucking what?!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!! Come on, you don't need to make such a big deal out of it."

I leaned back on the couch, letting out a sigh. And as I did, I felt Ichika's finger poking my cheek lightly.

"Heyyy..."

"What?"

"You've been dating for a while now. And we've all seen the chemistry you have with her. Did you really really think that we wouldn't suspect you were up to something when you two got some time alone?"

"The fact that you were actively wondering about what the two of us were doing is rather concerning."

"Ah, get over it already," she said, giggling, "Teasing you is my job."

"Aight nee-san. If you're curious about it, why don't you find someone to experiment on?"

She turned her face away, blushing slightly, but ultimately taking it in good faith.

"Who would I even 'experiment' on? All the guys I know are either already taken or have someone gunning for them."

"By 'all the guys', you mean me and Fuutarou, right?"

"I guess," she chuckled," I daydream a little bit about being with someone... but I guess that's all of us, right?"

"Damn straight. But you girls have a lot going for you. It won't be long until you find someone."

"Maybe... and while I don't, I can always dream, right?"

"But there are a few people around. What about that gentleman who asked you for the bonfire dance? What was his name again?"

"It was... um... I forgor."

"Maeda!"

"Was it?"

"I don't know. I hope my advice worked for him."

"Me too. He seems like a nice guy, even if he has a bit of a questionable fashion sense."

"Oh, I'm glad someone else thinks that. I thought I was just being a judgmental asshole."

Ichika giggled, "No, not by any means. Dude's got no clue on how to dress properly. If anyone has authority to judge how someone dresses, those would be you and Nino."

"I heard my name."

We turned to see Nino coming down the stairs, downing a lovely white dress with a black leather jacket over it.

"Case in point," Ichika said.

Nino smiled proudly, "Do you like it? It's a simple combination but I think it goes together really well."

"Just like us," I said as I stood up.

"Hey! We're not a simple couple!"

"I was talking about the latter part, dummy."

"What, are you two supposed to be a complex couple then?"

"It's better than being simple, I guess," Nino said.

"Only if you associate simplicity with superficiality, which isn't the case considering our respective choice of partner," I said.

"Did you really compliment the two of us at the same time?"

"Maybe. Anyway, I think there's beauty in simplicity."

"Yeah, how so?"

"Three words: I love you."

Nino covered her face with her hands, letting out a flustered yet excited little squeal.

"See? As simple as it gets, it conveys the message pretty well."

"Jeez, take her to the date already."

"Good idea," I turned to Nino, holding out my hand toward her. "Shall we?"

...

It's been a while since we last went on a date like this. Our decision ultimately came to whether we would go for a stroll around the park, or for a little shopping trip to the mall. Since we hadn't had lunch, we went with the latter.

Supposedly, I should be feeling at peace now that school was finally over. No more worrying about grades, no more stressing over endless sessions. Now I could just enjoy Nino's company in a calm, stress-free environment without any obligation. Maybe the boredom could get to me, but tsun was sure to give me a ton of work, and consequentially, a ton of entertainment during this period... but I don't feel bored or entertained in the slightest. The feeling of plenitude I was expecting after the exam wasn't hitting me either. I just felt... off... all day long, to a point where, at the end of it, I feared I couldn't hide it anymore.

After we had lunch, we went on a bit of a shopping spree for new clothes. I mostly accompanied her to whatever fancy clothes store she wanted to go to, but that's not to say she didn't want to take me to see a few options for myself either. Since we have relatively similar tastes in male and female fashion, picking something that is to our standards wasn't too much of an endeavor.

Then finally, we went on one last stroll around the mall, replicating that time we first met accidentally down to a tee. We went to the pet shop so that she could play with the bunnies a little bit, then set in the atrium to watch the sunset, holding hands as she rested her head on my shoulder.

"It's kinda surreal to think that we had a whole ass exam earlier," she said, "We sure did a lot today."

She caressed my hand lightly. "Are you ok? You've been looking a bit out of it today."

"What? No," I said, sounding a bit more defensive than intended.

She turned to me and gave me a 'really?' look.

"Sorry... it's nothing really. I'm just feeling a bit stressed, but I don't want this to affect our date."

"Shhh... it's ok. Come here... you can tell me."

Soon I felt her arms wrapping around my body in a comforting embrace. Even if we are in a public space, this isn't an opportunity I'll let slip by. Just briefly, I allowed myself to melt in her arms.

"What's bothering you? Is it the exam?"

"...Yeah. I... I don't think I did well enough."

"Of course you did. These things are never a challenge to you."

"I know. And indeed, they aren't... but the thing is that I don't think I did well enough.

"And what do you mean by enough?"

I held her hand a little tighter, weighing my options.

"It's... nothing. You're right. This isn't something that I should be stressing about."

"You know that I don't like to see you bumed out, right?"

"I know... but as I said, I really don't want this to get in the way of our date. This is supposed to be a fun time."

She frowned a little bit, then closed her eyes and rested her head on my shoulder once more.

"I'm always having fun when I'm with you."

Ahh... right in the feels.

"...I'm not sure if told you this or not... but essentially, Fuutarou and I absolutely need to be ranked the highest in our grade to keep our positions as your tutor."

"Hmpf. Once again, nothing to worry about."

I wrapped my arm around her, feeling a slight sense of relief. I'm... glad she believes in me.

"What do you plan to do during our vacation period?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Many things... and you're included in almost all of them."

"Almost?"

"Yeah. In about a week and a half from now, the girls and I are going on a small trip with my dad. It's nothing too big. We'll just be out for about three days."

"Good for you guys. Where are you going?"

"Just to a small resort owned by our grampa. You know that I'd bring you over if I could, but since my dad will be around, I'm not sure it's the best idea.

"Don't stress about it. It's not like I won't have anything to do while you're not around. Be sure to enjoy it ok? You're always wanting to spend time with me, but remember to leave some love for your sisters."

"Of course I will. You five are the most important things in my life. I just happen to... 'demonstrate' my love to you in a more... intense way," she winked.

"I sure do hope familial love and romantic love are different concepts for you."

"So nitpicky... of course they are."

"Good, good. Anyway, don't spend all your time there trying to text me. Enjoy the time you'll have with them, even if you're pissed off about Itsuki."

"Yeah, that one is gonna be a bit rough... still, I'll be sure to enjoy it. But I'm going to miss you lots though!"

"That's the bare minimum I'd expect from you."

...

Nino's POV:

Our school was pretty fast with correcting the exam. By Monday, we could already go and collect our results – which is exactly what we did.

I called Y/N and Uesugi so that we could all meet up at school and reveal our scores together. We had agreed to gather in one of the empty classrooms by midday.

The last one to arrive was Uesugi, who entered pretty unceremoniously into the classroom.

"Alright. No need for suspense," he said, "Let's go with the usual order. Ichika..."

Ichika took a deep breath, opening the small envelope. The relieved smile on her face was all we needed.

"274," she announced.

I was up next... I wasn't as nervous as I was nervous as last time, but I still felt a rush of adrenaline when opening the paper with my eyes closed. Upon opening them again, the rush of emotions was indescribable.

"299!" I said.

Y/N just looked at me with a proud smile, while the others gawked at my performance.

Next was Miku, who rushed to open the envelope with no hesitation.

301.

Then Yotsuba, who although looked a bit tenser than Miku, opened her results with the same haste.

266.

Finally... Itsuki. She had been sitting quietly by the blackboard as she watched each of us with a reluctant smile. When her time came, she carefully removed the envelope from her handbag, holding it in tremulous hands for a few moments as she took one last breath.

She opened it slowly. Very slowly. And breathing unsteadily as she did. Then after that long process, she slid the paper out of the envelope and stared at it for a good few seconds with an ambiguous expression on her face.

"Itsuki?" Miku asked.

Her hands started to tremble even more, and her eyes began to water. At that point, Y/N walked over to her, then glanced at her results.

"Pfft," he chuckled.

"W-What was it? Itsuki... did you pass?"

"414..." she said.

"Fifth highest score in our grade," Y/N added.

Needless to say, that quiet little room became very loud, very quickly. The girls all looked so happy when receiving the results... our results. The hard-fought fruits of our labor. It was impossible to contain the smile, and I'll be the first one to admit that.

Or at least, that's what I thought.

Y/N had been smiling for a moment when he heard of our test results, but as soon as Uesugi called him aside, that beautiful smile of his gradually receded to a cold, numb expression.

I backed away from the girls to go check out what exactly was going on with them. Discretely I made my way over to them, but Yotsuba had noticed the commotion as well, and soon called the attention of the others.

"What's wrong, you two?" Yotsuba asked.

Uesugi was seated, leaning forward and holding his exam score in his closed hands. Meanwhile, Y/N was standing up, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. His eyes darted over to Yotsuba, then to me...

Uesugi cleared his throat. "This is not what I was expecting."

"Y-Yes, but you still managed to do well, right?" Itsuki said.

He tightened his lips.

"No, way. You passed, at the very least, right?" Ichika said.

"Of course he did! " I said, "This is Uesugi we're talking about."

"I did... but my score wasn't nearly as high as it should have been."

"Who cares!" Itsuki said, "We all did our best and we all passed with flying colors. What matters is that you were an effective tutor."

I noticed Y/N raising one eyebrow in estrangement at Itsuki's statement.

"That would have been the case normally," he said.

"Stop with the suspense already!" I said, "How much did you score?"

I could see just from the way he was seated that he felt as if there was something heavy perched on his shoulders. That tired, defeated look he had on his face was only accentuated once he looked up to us. He handed me the paper...

"472... ranked... third highest in our grade."

I immediately looked at Y/N. Just from the look, he gave me, I could already start deducing the situation.

"...How much did you score?" I asked Y/N.

"491. Second highest."

Oh... oh no...

"Really, Fuutarou-kun? You're just bummed because Y/N beat you to it this time?" Ichika said mockingly.

"If that were the case, I would be talking shit to him right now, wouldn't I?" Y/N said.

"But what's wrong then?"

"Time to come clean, big man," Y/N gave Uesugi a light tap on the shoulder, to which he responded with a sigh.

"I... had a bit of an argument with your father a while back... and uh..."

"It goes back even further, actually," Y/N said, "The condition for us being your tutor is being ranked first and second in our grade, doesn't really matter who's who, so long as we're the best."

"Okay... but even if you're not the best, the student in the first place must still want to be our tutor."

I looked at Y/N. "Goldilocks?"

"Yeah."

Uesugi sighed, "I never thought someone of as low a caliber as that guy would ever become a problem. I got too careless."

"D-Does that mean that he's gonna replace Fuutarou?" Miku said.

"Not if he doesn't find out about it."

"Oh, he will," Y/N said, "Takeda already has your father's contact if I'm not mistaken. It won't be long until he calls you guys with some bad news."

"Even so, that doesn't mean he would necessarily be a better teacher than Uesugi," I said, turning to Y/N, "I promised this to you before, and I'm going to reiterate it again. I am not allowing Uesugi to lose his job as our tutor."

"Is that even up for you to decide?" Uesugi asked

"Maybe not entirely, but we certainly have a say in it. Besides, having a higher score doesn't necessarily mean he's going to be better at teaching."

At that moment, almost on cue, my phone started to vibrate.

The caller was our father. 

...

A/n:

Hi. My inconisitent ass is back to being consistent for at least 6 weeks. I'm so sorry for the long ass time I took to update this story, but I had to make sense of all the silly little numbers and letters my professors keep writing on that stupid  whiteboard. The good news is that I passed and that I'm back to posting "consistently"

Glad to see you again Kings. Hope you guys enjoyed this one.

ps: I hope you guys realised that my estimation for when a chapter is coming out is completely full of shit lol