We're so Back. Enjoy :)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"F, F, F, F aaaaaaaaaand, F" you groaned, falling backwards into your seat as a hearty sigh left your mouth at the sight of the Quintuplets' pitiful scores.

Fuutaro seemed even more distraught than you did. "All... F's..." he mumbled. "DO YOUR BRAINS RESET WHEN YOU ADVANCE A GRADE?, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!?"

"I thought that went pretty well..." Miku frowned, lowering her head in shame.

Nino stuck her hand up. Fuutaro pointed at her so she could speak. "This might sound like an excuse but, I haven't been studying as much because Y/N always wants to spend time with me"

Fuutaro shot you a look, and you shot him one back that signalled. "Don't believe her shit"

"Oi, what's with that look?" Nino raised her tone, standing up and walking towards you. "Did you want to say something?"

"Oh, of course not my wonderful girlfriend! You keep getting those F's!" you sarcastically smiled which seemed to tick her off.

"I'm gonna punch him" Nino announced as she rolled up her sleeve.

"And ruin your boyfriend's perfectly good face? Oh, the horror!"

"I'll show you Horror!"

"No. I'll show YOU horror!" You lifted up her exam sheet and held it out right in front of her face. "This is true horror. What happened to all the studying progress we've made over the past 6 months?"

Fuutaro had his head in his hands, he looked as defeated as everyone else, despite the teachings we've done, since Third Year began their grades had plummeted yet again.

Nino backed off. "I'm...sorry" she frowned. She turned to look back at her sisters and sat solemnly with them. Seeing them like this you felt terrible for berating them, clearly, they were trying, it's just that something wasn't clicking.

"Fuutaro" Ichika spoke up. "We're all trying but something just isn't clicking. We don't share that stamina for studying you or Y/N have"

"But Y/N doesn't have much for stud-" Itsuki was interrupted by Nino lightly elbowing her in the ribs.

"What I'm trying to say is." Ichika stood up and approached Fuutaro, looking him directly in the eyes and making sure he was looking straight back at her. "I think we're drained. Ever since we started this grade, our grades haven't improved."

"To be honest Fuu, I hear what she's saying" you chimed in. "As much as I'd love for them to be getting A's on every exam we give them, I think right now that just might not be possible"

"Fuu..?" Nino tilted her head.

The rest of the girls nodded. "I hate to admit it but even I kind of feel the same" Yotsuba bashfully rubbed her head much to Fuutaro's surprise.

"I- I didn't realise," He said looking around. "I'm sorry"

Ichika shook her head, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "No need to apologize, Fuutaro" Her shoulders slumped in defeat. "I guess we just need a break. A chance to recharge and refocus our energies. Maybe then we can come back stronger and do better in our studies!" The tone of Ichika's voice was nothing but filled with determination, she really cared about this with everything she had.

You could see the determination in her eyes and you couldn't help but admire her somewhat.. "I'll do everything I can to help, Ichika. We'll figure something out together," you say, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"Then... I think we should leave it here for today" Fuutaro said, scratching his neck. "Clearly we just all need a bit of time before we do any more"

"Fuutaro? Resigning from Studying!?" Nino said with an obviously faked shocked expression. This time, Itsuki elbowed her in the ribs.

"I'm gonna head out first then, Y/N you coming?" Fuutaro turned and asked. You shook your head in response to his question.

"I'll probably hang around for a little while"

"Oh, alright then. Well, if you guys are up for studying tomorrow, let me know" His smile was slightly weak-looking as he turned and left through the door.

The sky was already turning a dark shade of blue as Fuutaro stepped out of the Quintuplets' apartment, the door clicked shut behind him.

"It's 4pm Y/N" Miku called out.

"Good shit girls!" you cheered.

"We actually managed to pull that off" Ichika laughed. "I'm honestly kind of surprised."

You couldn't help but have a big stupid grin on your face, "And that's why I let you handle the convincing big sis. That acting of yours came in super useful"

"Yeah! Great Job Ichika!" Yotsuba hugged her.

"I feel sort of bad though..." Miku admitted. "It felt like we were deceiving him to leave early"

Itsuki stared at the door where Fuutaro left. "Me too. Y/N, was purposefully failing those papers you guys gave us really the only way we could have done this?" she asked.

"Well.... probably not, but it was the easiest way I thought of, and besides, all of you were doing a pretty good job at acting. But now comes the real part. We go shopping for his birthday gifts in the time available!"

Nino approached you from the side and lightly jabbed you in the ribs. "Don't ever shout at me like that again got it?" She turned away slightly. "That sarcasm of yours really pisses me off..." Nino pouted like a baby, you gave her a hug to calm her down.

"So what happens now?" Ichika asked.

You let your grasp on Nino go for the moment. "Okay, girls. It's showtime, get yourselves ready, we leave in 10 minutes!" you shouted like an army commander as all the girls pumped their fists into the air and dashed off to their own rooms.

----

5 minutes passed and Itsuki had made her way downstairs, freshly changed into some new clothes.

"Looking Sharp!" you cheered, much to Itsuki's embarrassment as her hands immediately tried to cover her reddening face.

"P-Please Y/N..!" Itsuki blushed.

"Sorry, It's one of my favourite things in the world to tease you" Itsuki took a seat beside you on the sofa. "You're the first one down here so that obviously means you're the most excited to go shopping"

"N-No it does not!" Itsuki asserted her ground. "I just didn't want to keep everyone else waiting..."

"YOU? Keeping your sisters waiting? Have you met your sisters? Miku and Yotsuba are okay but Nino and especially Ichika take forever to do anything." you grumbled, reminiscing on many occasions you'd been waiting for Nino to finish getting ready and how many times Ichika had delayed plans by taking years to get dressed for any occasion.

Itsuki looked like she agreed judging by the sentimental expression on her face but she didn't want to say it outright. "Glad you agree"

"I never said I did..."

"But you're thinking it right?"

"How are we even getting there?"

"As hilarious and dangerous as it would be to fit all 6 of us on my bike. I think we should take the bus. OR, you get Ebata to pick us up"

"I'll request Ebata" she interrupted as she began scrolling through her contacts on her phone.

Another door slammed shut upstairs and out came Nino as she walked down the stairs. "I'm ready let's go-" Nino took a look around and only saw you and Itsuki there. "Wow, I'm not the last one here?" she said reaching the bottom of the steps and walking over to the two of you. "I don't always take long~" she hummed as she nestled against you.

"For once you didn't. Good job" you pat her gently on the head.

Itsuki was still on the phone some distance away. "Hey, are you free to go out next week on Tuesday?" Nino asked.

"I have practice, unfortunately"

"Thursday?"

"Practice..."

"Sunday..?"

You looked away,

"Why the hell are you practising for a school baseball club on a Sunday!?" she raised her voice slightly.

"It's not practice. I just agreed to tutor Miku that day..."

"Miku?" Nino suddenly got more serious and folded her arms under her boobs which unintentionally made them look way bigger, but somehow you had something bigger to worry about, and that was the irritated look on Nino's face.

"Why are you privately tutoring Miku?"

"Who mentioned private tutoring..?"

"You just did!"

"It's not a big deal she just-"

"Then I'll be there next Sunday!" Nino demanded.

"Why?"

"Because I want to!"

You looked to see if Itsuki was done on the phone and luckily she wasn't, so you grabbed Nino's hand and pulled her into the kitchen.

"I'm going to help her with her Fuutaro situation" you whispered in her ear. Nino put her hands to her mouth as she'd completely forgotten about Miku's feelings for Fuutaro.

"The way you phrase it, you sound like you don't want me to be there though"

"I'd love to have you, but yes. Miku requested we just have a 1 on 1 study session and I want to respect her wish"

Nino's expression conveyed her frustration pretty well, but she ultimately let out a sigh. "Fine. Do what you want."

She did not sound fine with it at all...

"Look, I promise we'll spend some time together soon. I can just swing by here after school one day or you can always stay over at my house"

"...Really?" Nino turned towards you slightly.

"Really" you hugged her and kissed her forehead. "I feel bad that after we went to grab sushi we haven't done anything, but between my part-time job and school AND baseball practice, my schedule looks pretty packed"

Nino went quiet and looked down, uncrossing her arms. "Okay, I'll just have to get used to it I suppose" She looked back up at you. "You better make some time for me though" she grinned.

Two more doors opened upstairs, and Miku and Yotsuba skipped downstairs.

"What a surprise..." you groaned.

"I'll go and check on Ichika" Nino offered as she walked up the stairs. She blew you a kiss as she passed Miku and Yotsuba.

"Ebata said he can pick us up in 10 minutes." Itsuki re-joined the group.

"Great, now we just have to hope big sister is ready in time..."

It took an extra 10 minutes until Nino and Ichika emerged from the latter's room,

"Sorry, I'm late everyone!" Ichika cheerily waved as she and Nino fast-walked down the stairs.

Yotsuba and Itsuki were already waiting at the door. "Come on! Ebata's waiting for us!" she called out and because she took so long, we all rushed out of the apartments, cramming ourselves in the elevator and in the back of the car with Ebata.

"Kinda cosy in here huh?" you joked, as the 6 of you squeezed into the back.

"Where are you all heading today?" Ebata turned and asked from the driver's seat.

"The Mall please!" Itsuki answered. "And if possible can we go as quick as possible?"

"Alright, put on your seatbelts everyone!" Ebata said as he started the car and zoomed towards the mall.

------------

The Mall was relatively quiet at this time of day, considering it was a few days' before Fuutaro's birthday, everyone hoped to get whatever they wanted on this trip alone.

"We have 3 hours before Ebata comes back to pick us up" Itsuki reminded us all as we strolled through the mall, glancing through windows.

There wasn't a shared consensus between everyone on what you all wanted to get for Fuutaro, knowing the girls they all had completely different ideas.

It was another outing where you were being stared at for walking around with 5 beautiful girls, this happened so much that it was starting to annoy you rather than embarrass you, as you were lost in your train of thought, Nino suddenly squished herself against your arm.

"Hey! I think we should go with something relaxing for him. Like a candle set, what do you think of that?"

"A candle set? Nino, think bigger I'm thinking we all just get him a gift card so he can choose what to buy for himself" Ichika suggested.

"That sounds kinda lazy..." you said in dismissal. "Plus, you know Fuutaro. He won't accept monetary things like that"

"Why don't we just start with something simple? Like a cake for his birthday!" Yotsuba chimed in.

Miku raised her hand timidly. "Ummm... actually I wanted to..." she trailed off while looking away from all of us. Nino looked up at you and you looked back at her.

"You wanted to bake a cake for him Miku?" Nino finished off her trail of thought. "That's actually not a bad idea. We can handle that once we get back home, as long as we buy the ingredients of course"

So that was Miku sorted out at the very least... now we had 4 more people to decide for not including yourself.

We all spent the next hour walking around the mall, and various ideas and types of gifts showed up. Somehow though we'd not ended up in the clothing section of the mall.

"Maybe there will be somethin' over here!" Nino pointed to a feminine-looking clothing store in front of us.

"At a women's clothing store?" you stared at her with half-closed eyes. "If you want to shop for clothes be my guest but I'm not coming in there"

"A-Actually... while we're here it couldn't hurt to pick up something..." Itsuki added it was obvious the tides were about to turn against you. I turned to my strongest soldier, Yotsuba.

"Yotsuba... you don't want to go shopping for clothes, do you? You still have to look for a gift-"

She had already left you and began following Nino before you could even finish your sentence.

"I'm finished..." you sighed in defeat, sitting down on a bench outside the store. Miku plopped herself down beside you as Ichika left her and ran off into the store.

"You're not shopping too?" you asked. Miku shook her head.

"Don't really want to. I'm sure you know how Nino is when she shops for clothes" Her words made flashbacks hit me like a grenade.

"Unfortunately I do"

Miku laughed at my misfortune. "I hope I can bake this cake for Fuutaro"

"Nino can help in any case... but knowing you, you want to do as much of it on your own as you can right?" Miku nodded in response. "Thought so. Well you don't have all the time in the world so you should probably get started after we go back to the apartments"

"Are you going to stay the night?"

"I can if you guys want. It's no big deal"

Miku for some reason kept her gaze on me, so much so that it made me feel a bit awkward. "What is it? Do you not want me to?"

Miku smiled and shook her head. "It's not that. Nevermind. I'm looking forward to making the cake." She stood up from the bench.

"Don't tell me you're going in... Miku please..."

Miku left.

"For god's sake..."

----

We arrived back home hours later, it took some time but everyone managed to pick out some semblance of a gift for Fuutaro. We still had about 2 days to make small corrections or additions that we wanted but for now, this seemed okay.

Nino went with the candles, Ichika decided on the gift card. Itsuki opted for a... really unique shirt with a calculator on it. Miku was currently making preparations for the cake and Yotsuba seemed to be making something in her room.

"Don't look so down Y/N!" Ichika poked your chest with a grin on her face. The stark contrast between her emotions and yours was as wide apart as possible.

"If we ever go out again, and shopping is involved. I'm leaving" You folded your arms and took a seat on the sofa.

"But you got to see all of us in all types of cute clothing!" she continued making the choice to sit beside you. "You always complain but a big brother has to take care of his little sisters" she nudged up against you.

"You're not his sister yet" Nino appeared from behind the sofa and chopped her hand down onto Ichika's head. "Stop trying to use that as an 'out' Ichika!"

"Sorry sorry..." Ichika slumped her shoulders.

Itsuki walked over to the three of us. "Oh, here she comes... calculator girl..." Nino laughed.

"Calculator girl?" Itsuki furrowed her brow, she seemed like she had a comeback for Nino but instead let out a deep breath and seemingly dropped her rhetoric. "I came to ask, Y/N what did you get Fuutaro?"

"What I got him?"

Nino put her hands on your shoulders. "That's true. You haven't told us"

"It's nothing special that's why... I was going to just get him a bunch of study stuff."

The three girls all narrowed their eyes at you, you couldn't even see Nino doing it as she was standing behind you but the feeling of it was there.

"What?"

"Y/N that kinda..." Ichika scratched her arm.

"Kind of..." Itsuki stammered.

"Lame as hell" Nino bluntly finished off their train of thought.

"YOU BOUGHT HIM CANDLES!" You stood up and turned to face Nino. She stepped back in shock for a moment before regaining her ground again.

"HEY!" She put her hands on her hips. "I told you not to shout at me again!" Her index finger jabbed against your forehead, her colourful nails digging into your skin slightly. "Apologize!"

You weren't argumentative. Not that you'd just back down and let her walk all over you, in this context anyway, if you had a point you'd follow it but not start an argument. However, after losing a lot of patience from the earlier escapade at the mall, it kinda blew out of you.

"Look" you looked her dead in the eye and grabbed her face with both of your hands, trying to lock her eyes into yours too. "After the mall. I would really appreciate it if you didn't get on my case for my choice of birthday present."

"Still... you didn't have to shout..." Nino blushed at your sudden touch and averted her eyes. "I'm coming to your house tonight."

"What about Miku and the cake?"

"We have a few days, we can start later. Plus making the cake now would probably be to its own detriment."

"Well, then you should probably go and tell her that" Calculator Girl spoke up.

You released Nino and you all turned to see Miku in the kitchen donning an apron and tying her hair up in a ponytail.

"Shoot..." Nino said as she hopped away from the group and went to go and tell Miku. Your attention was turned back to Ichika and Itsuki.

"Woah, I'm surprised you shouted at her like that" Ichika began as soon as you looked her way.

"Well, I didn't mean to." You took a seat back on the sofa, adjusting the pillow behind you so you could lean backwards in comfort. Itsuki now took a seat on the other side of you.

Itsuki asked with some clear concern in her voice. "Do you guys argue often?" Considering these were the girls who asked you about another sister liking you, this situation was starting to feel a tad weird.

"No. Small things sure but nothing big scale. We piss each other off a lot but I know how to wind her down after winding her up for so long."

"What is she, a Jack in a Box?" Itsuki frowned.

"Sort of, plus I can't really be bothered to deal with arguments, she knows this so if we ever have a dispute we try and sort it out in the moment rather than let something fester in time apart"

"Wow," Ichika seemed taken aback. "That's pretty mature of you both I have to admit" Ichika looked slightly downcast after she said that. She turned her attention from you to Itsuki. "Do you ever get a twinge of... jealousy looking at their relationship?"

The younger sister blushed and seemed to flinch back at that question. "W-W-What!?"

"I don't mean about jealous of Nino for having Y/N specifically. I mean the idea of a relationship like theirs'"

"O-Oh..." Itsuki composed herself. "I guess so." Her eyes looked away as if she didn't want to look at you. "The idea of dating isn't exactly at the top of my mind!" she corrects herself upon realising how her body language could represent her.

"Hey. I told Miku and we'll start another day" Nino announced as she joyfully marched back over to the group. You took that as a cue to stand up.

"Get your stuff together"

"I'll just wear some of your clothes~" Nino smiled.

"I can never win can I?"

"Not with my cards on the table" she winked mischievously.

The both of you said goodbye to the other girls as you left the apartment.

Making your way down to the lobby you were greeted by the security guard and receptionist.

"Good Evening you two!" The receptionist waved.

"Evening!" you and Nino both responded.

The Security Guard approached the two of you.

"Hey man!" you fist-bumped him.

"You alright little man?" he returned the fist-bump. "Taking your Girlfriend on a date, isn't it kind of late for that?"

Nino smiled. "I'm just staying over at his place tonight"

The Security Guard looked stunned, he looked over his shoulder to the receptionist who simply giggled to herself. He looked back at you, he was a decent bit taller so she bent down a little and whispered in your ear.

"You doing it?"

"Not yet. When we were both 18. About a month from now"

He gave you a firm pat on the back. "Good luck in there brother"

You laughed at his support, waving the two of them goodbye as you and Nino headed outside.

"I'll cook when we get home"

"What?"

"I'll cook for you" Nino reiterated. "I can wear an apron... cook a meal just for you... feed you even..." that lustful look in her eyes told you all you needed to know. If this situation was happening a month in the future, you'd have to go and shop for a new bed tomorrow morning"

"You enjoy doing this to me while you can don't you?" you laughed.

"A little. But I expect to be rewarded heavily someday~"

------------

A few days later - Fuutaro's Birthday

After an evening of Nino sending you live text updates about how making a full-blown Birthday cake with Miku was going. It was finished.

Knowing Fuutaro, he didn't give two shits about his birthday and instead just cared about the mock exams. Luckily over the past week, you'd all flown past the mock exams. Only being mocks they were pretty easy compared to a lot of other exams so we all blew through it. Now the only thing standing between us all and the Field trip was time and the Quintuplet Birthday... god that's going to be a pain to organize...

You flushed the toilet as you snapped yourself out of your thoughts. Currently, there was a study session going on at the apartment, well it was more of a celebration. We already had the results of the mock exam with the quintuplets managing to scrape another set of passes out of themselves but their scores had overall risen since last time so they were steadily making progress.

"Took you long enough! What were you doing in there?" Nino called out from downstairs as you exited the bathroom.

"Wouldn't you like to know" you smugly replied as you made your own way downstairs.

Everyone was crammed around the living room table, and spirits definitely seemed to be higher compared to last time, with the burden of exams out of the way it meant everyone could have a real chance to relax.

"As I was saying. I'm... surprised at your scores on the mock exams" Fuutaro began, he folded his arms and seemed to look away from the group slightly. "Good Job" he earnestly praised the girls, it seemed to make the likes of everyone happy including Nino.

"I gotta say too. We've been through the mud a few times but seeing you guys pull through gives me and I'm sure Fuutaro too, good hope in you guys." You looked towards Fuutaro who seemed to nod in agreement.

"Thank you for teaching us!" Yotsuba smiled happily.

"I get we're in trouble sometimes but we do appreciate it from you both" Miku added.

Nino flipped her hair back and crossed her arms. "Thanks..." she shied away. My little Tsundere is so adorable.

Itsuki looked over at her score, a semblance of a tear welling up in her eye as she did so. She clutched the paper to her chest and smiled at the both of us. Ichika gave her a supportive pat on the shoulder. "Even for someone like me... my grades have risen thanks to you both"

"Even with your acting gigs, I'm honestly surprised you're keeping pace" you responded. Ichika chuckled.

"Maybe if I quit, I'd be miles ahead, what do you think Fuutaro?" she directed the conversational flow towards Fuutaro who seemed to not understand her subtle attempts at flirting.

"Looking at it statistically, maybe so" he scratched his chin. His obliviousness and lack of ability to play into her hands were very amusing for both you and Nino who always got to sit back with the popcorn in these situations.

Ichika pouted, but before she could continue speaking your phone rang out loud in your pocket.

"It's your dad," you said to the girls. "Wait, did I always have his number?" you shook away that thought quickly and answered the phone.

"Hello, Mr.Maruo. It's been a little while, everything okay?"

"Things are fine on my end. I called about my daughters' recent results"

"Oh, do you want me to put you on speak-"

"There's no need." he interrupted you. "I just wanted to give you and Fuutaro my thanks. That is all."

"Aw... thank you future pops"

The line went quiet for a moment as both the call and the room went silent after that comment.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. Goodbye Y/N, give my daughters my regards"

He hung up.

"Future pops? Are you an idiot?" Nino sighed in disappointment.

"So what did Papa call about?" Itsuki asked.

"He thanked me and Fuutaro, and wished you all well. You know how straightforward he is"

"That sounds like him alright...."

"Well... now what?" Fuutaro asked everyone, we all turned to him in confusion. "Well, shouldn't we celebrate or something..."

Your eyes then flickered over to Ichika who at your signal stood up.

"Well. We did it guys! Another test under the belt... so why don't we celebrate!?" That seemed to pump up everyone.

Now was the time to celebrate Fuutaro's birthday. Slowly, we'd been offering him more glasses of water in the hopes of him needing to take a piss soon enough. This time there weren't any sleeping drugs in the water, you made sure to oversee the water.

Fuutaro awkwardly stood up. "Bathroom, excuse me," he said before walking upstairs and going into the bathroom.

"Alright girls!" you clapped. "Grab your gifts from your room as fast as possible. Nino grab mine for me and Miku I'll help with the cake"

"Alright!" A harmony of cries from the girls sounded out as Nino, Itsuki, Ichika and Yotsuba all rushed upstairs as fast as they could.

You went and closed the curtains, leaving the apartment shrouded in darkness but just enough light to actually see where you were walking.

"Y/N!" Miku called out from the kitchen as she grabbed the cake and put it out on the counter. Multiple doors and pairs of footsteps were heard and soon enough all the girls were downstairs.

"Good shit everyone" you pat each of the girls on the head while taking your present from Nino.

"I hope he'll like this..." Miku murmured.

"He will," Nino assured her. "And if he doesn't, he'll see to me"

"Don't punch him on his birthday please..." Itsuki sighed.

Suddenly we heard the flush of a toilet and soon after the unlocking of a door.

Miku carefully lit the candles as we all hid in the kitchen.

"Hello..?" Fuutaro called out from above as he cautiously descended the stairs of the apartment. Nothing but the sound of his footsteps on the flooring made any noise.

He slowly approached the living room. "Did you guys get robbed and killed?" he called out to no answer. "Okay..."

You looked to the other girls and gave a countdown signal with your fingers, you saw Fuutaro standing in line of sight with the kitchen.

3...

2...

1...

You sprung up, which made Fuutaro flinch. The other girls all stood up beside you as Fuutaro's eyes adjusted on the light source emanating from the birthday cake's candles.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!"

Fuutaro stood shocked at the scene of all of you surrounding Miku who was in the middle of everyone holding a cake. She slowly walked towards him.

"Happy Birthday, Fuutaro" she tilted her head and smiled at him.

"Miku..." he was blown away by how good the cake looked. Miku set it down on the table in the living room as the rest of us piled onto the sofas.

"Make sure it's a good wish!" Nino told him. Fuutaro looked at her and then smiled, amused by her pushiness for once.

He knelt down and blew out the candles on the cake. At the same time, Itsuki opened the curtains letting light shine into the room once again. A particular ray highlights the expression on Fuutaro's face. It was like he didn't know what expression he should have right now but beyond that awkward mix of emotions, a clear smile broke through even though he seemed reluctant to show it.

"You idiots..." He sighed but the smile was still present on his face. "You didn't have to do anything like this you know"

"We thought you'd say something like that..." Yotsuba awkwardly laughed, but we wanted to do something for you anyway." her blinding grin rivalled the light pouring in from outside.

"By the way..." Fuutaro took a minute to inspect the cake in front of him. "Miku did you..?"

Miku nodded. "Yeah... with a little help," she looked over and Nino who proudly smiled.

"Miku did 90% of it" Nino added. "I just touched up some messier parts."

"Well... thank you Miku"

Miku blushed, she tried to hide it but it was beyond obvious, you handed her a cushion from the sofa and she buried her face into it.

"Oh, I have a present too!" Yotsuba called out, pulling out a paper crane from her pocket. "I didn't really know what to get specifically but I always make these when my mind drifts off when studying so I made one especially for you"

Ichika presented her gift card next. "It's nothing fancy but I thought you'd be a better pick for what you'd want rather than me getting you something wrong you'd have no use for."

Nino held back a laugh as you watched Itsuki present Fuutaro the shirt with a Calculator on. "H-Here..." she stammered, holding the lime green shirt in front of him. He looked, unimpressed but appreciative nonetheless. Seeing it held up against his body made you realise it definitely suited him.

"Here" Nino held out her candles. "Take some time to relax okay?" she said in an uncharacteristically concerned voice when it came to talking to Fuutaro. "You work hard and stuff... don't collapse on us."

Finally, you turned to him. "It's not much man but here." You gave him a small box containing a watch. "I don't even know if you need something like that, but I thought it'd be better than a couple of textbooks or something.

Fuutaro seemed overwhelmed with the shower of gifts. He took the time to thank everyone in his own roundabout and unusual ways.

"You guys... really didn't-"

"Didn't have to do this much, Blah blah blah" you cut him off. "You're the birthday boy. We're your friends so we're celebrating. If you say it again I'm taking the watch back"

"How about we cut the cake?" Nino suggested as she left to get a knife from the kitchen, she swiftly returned and cut a nice big slice of the cake. "Here, it's your birthday so you get the first try" She offered a slice to Fuutaro.

Miku watched with bated breath as Fuutaro took a bite of the wonderous cake in front of him. He swallowed it and a new glow appeared on his face.

"Woah... this is seriously good Miku. You made this?"

Miku blushed. "Y-yeah..."

"You REALLY made it?" he asked again seemingly not believing her.

"Yes. I did." Miku pouted which turned into a soft smile.

"I can vouch" You put a hand on Fuutaro's shoulder. "It took a lot of effort but she did make it herself"

"Thank you Miku" Fuutaro smiled, fiddling with his hands. He seemed to want to do something but instead continued to eat his cake.

Miku seemed pleased with herself judging by the warm smile plastered on her face, even if she looked downwards in an attempt to hide it. Ichika on the other hand looked a little restless, maybe she was regretting her gift, love is war after all.

We all took turns grabbing slices of the cake and all around the reviews were positive. Nino may have slightly undermined her involvement in the cake though. You knew her cooking and this screamed Nino but there wasn't any need to spoil the moment so you let it go.

All of you talked and laughed together for hours, Fuutaro had seemed to have gotten in real birthday spirits which was a nice sight to see.

"Oh, we should probably tell you" Nino spoke up. "Those tests we took here a little while ago, where we scored really bad"

"Those ones..." Fuutaro grumbled.

"We faked it"

"You faked it?"

"On purpose, it was Y/N's idea to get you out for that day so we could go and shop for gifts" Nino pointed over to you, Fuutaro stared at you in confusion.

"Yeah... sorry about that man" you awkwardly scratched the back of your head.

"So your scores were terrible on purpose?"

"Yep" Nino assured him. "Come on, do you really have that little faith in us?"

Fuutaro looked away from her oppressive question, opting not to answer her.

"Hey! Answer the-"

"S-So... are you guys excited for the trip?" Fuutaro asked in an attempt to change the subject as fast as possible.

"Of course we are!" Yotsuba cheered.

Fuutaro sighed. "We have to do the work, you realise that right?"

"Ahhh, the joys of being Class Rep" Ichika smugly but sarcastically said. "I think you guys do a great job"

"I wish I didn't have to..." He sighed. We all shared a laugh at his misery, but despite that, Fuutaro seemed happier than you'd seen him in a long while. You stood up and quietly made your way to the kitchen to refill on water.

He was always standoff-ish and kept in his bubble a lot but seeing him being genuinely enjoy a day surrounded by people who care about him gave you a weird feeling in your chest.

"What are you staring at him for?" Nino poked your cheek, looking at you with half-closed eyes.

"I'm not"

"You are, and you're happy for him aren't you" she leaned against you as she read you like a book.

"How could I not be? He's my best friend. I'm glad he has you guys"

"He has you too idiot" Nino exhaled against your neck as she spoke. "I think this birthday surprise was a good idea on your part"

"You think so?"

"Don't try and act modest!" Nino scoffed, and her expression slowly turned soft. "You did well babe" Those comforting words resonated with you and between that and Fuutaro seeming less stressed for once, tonight turned out okay.

More time passed and the night sky made itself known.

"I'll drop you back man" you said to Fuutaro as you grabbed your jacket. "It saves you taking the bus or whatever at this time"

Fuutaro had been spammed by Raiha messaging him for the past hour or so for him to come home so she could spend some time with him before she got too tired.

"Sorry I have to leave early" he bowed to the girls.

"It's no worry, It's Raiha after all. We understand" Itsuki waved in dismissal assuring Fuutaro that the decision was okay.

Yotsuba ran over to Fuutaro. "We got to celebrate your birthday, that's all that mattered today. Tell Raiha we all said Hi! and that we should do something after the school trip."

"Totally" Nino agreed.

"Sounds like it could be fun" you added. "It's been a little while since we all did something huh?"

"It has. But we've been busy" Miku returned from the kitchen after putting the plates in the sink.

Ichika looked over at the kitchen and then all of us. "So... who's doing the dishes?"

The 5 girls all looked at one another seemingly looking for one of the others to step forward.

"We take it in turns obviously," Nino said.

"R-Right..." Ichika side-eyed the numerous plates left in the path of edible destruction.

"I'll see you guys back in school. We can take it easy for a little while but that doesn't mean to start slacking!" Fuutaro crossed his arms as he approached the door.

"We'll see you guys later" you waved as you opened the door to leave.

"See you guys in school!" Ichika waved.

"Bye-bye" Nino said.

"Take care" Miku held a hand to her heart.

"See you soon!!" Yotsuba cheered.

"Get home safely you two" Itsuki smiled.

With the goodbyes of 5, you and Fuutaro left the quintuplets' apartment and made your way to your bike. Once outside, you both jumped on.

"Ready?" you looked over your shoulder and asked.

"Ready," he said, moving his hands around your waist.

"Woah there tiger. Nino's the only one allowed to grab me like that"

"Wha-"

You laughed, at his flustered face. "I'm joking. Hold on tight!"

The roads were quiet tonight, leading to the both of you having a nice smooth drive through the city. The various lights of the streets illuminated the path back to Fuutaro's house. For whatever reason that happy feeling in your chest never went away.

Soon, you arrived at the Uesugi Household.

"Here we are," you said, taking off your helmet.

"Yeah..." Fuutaro said, jumping off of your bike. "Hey, thanks for today"

"Don't mention it, man. You deserve celebration for all the work you've done for us all so far"

He didn't try and hide his smile from you like how he did with the girls earlier. "I don't feel like I really deserve it"

"Oh don't give me that crap" you huffed. "If it weren't for you. None of us would be close. Sure us two would still be friends and obviously, the girls would still be sisters but you were the bridge." you told him sternly.

A cold breeze blew between the two of you as Fuutaro's long hair waved above his eyes, but they never wavered from looking at you.

"You're my best friend man, of course I'd try and do something like this for you" you smiled at him.

Fuutaro let out a small chuckle. "Yeah... I guess you're right. Thank you" he replied.

You held out a fist, and he fist-bumped you back.

"Get some rest. Enjoy the rest of your night with Raiha and your pops"

"I will. See you in school." Fuutaro grinned.

"Sayonara!" you put a hand up to wave goodbye as you put back your helmet and started up your engine again.

One last time you turned to Fuutaro and saw the watch on his wrist that you bought him and couldn't help but crack a smile.

The engine whirred, and you and your bike steadily created distance from the Ueusgi house, beginning the journey back to your own house to get some well-needed rest.

---------------------------------------------------

Long one this time :) Wanted to make it a tad longer than usual to make us for the absence this year. As I've said on my page, blame work. I hate being a working adult in society. I miss being a NEET and writing this but even when I was I wasn't even too consistent so it probably wouldn't change much.

In any case it's been a while so I hope you're all well and stuff. I've been trying to get back into the swing of things as pretty much all my hobbies slowly stopped when I started work but I'm making more of an effort to start them back up including writing obviously. Persona 3 Reload took over my free time most days in February otherwise this chapter may have been finished a couple of weeks back... my bad.

I had someone ask me this in these couple months but don't be afraid or whatever to DM me here if you want, I really don't mind. They seemed hesitant to ask me something in DM but it's fine with me.

Well, hope you're all good. Head up Kings, we're in March now. I may be slightly stressed with work nowadays but I'll always come back here even if it takes me a little while.

Thanks for your patience. I'll see you guys in Chapter 40... Which is surprise surprise. Another birthday. But it's the last one, and you know who's birthday it is now ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

See you guys then!