(AN: join my patreon to get early access to chapters and monthly illustrations, link in my profile.)
The days that followed passed by without anything particularly unusual happening. Everyone went about their daily routines as usual, though the majority of their time was now devoted to studying for the upcoming exams.
Those who had kept up with their studies from the beginning were having a relatively easy time, while those who had procrastinated until the last moment were struggling to cram everything into such a short period. Fortunately for the latter, the first midterm test would only cover a handful of chapters from each subject, sparing them from having to memorize the entirety of the material at once.
And just like that, five days passed, bringing us to Saturday—only two days away from the test if we count today as well. Though, considering it was already afternoon, I wasn't sure today should really count.
"Are you guys going to study?" I asked as we stood near the school's main gate.
Miku nodded. "What other choice do we have?"
Nino let out a tired sigh. "Exactly."
"Well... I was thinking..." I began hesitantly, rubbing the back of my neck. "Can I join you guys?"
"You want to study with us?" Miku asked, her face lighting up.
I nodded.
"That would at least make studying less boring," Ichika said, clapping her hands together in delight.
"Are you guys okay with me joining?" I asked, glancing at the others just to make sure.
"If you insist," Nino replied, looking away with her usual tsundere attitude.
"Sounds fun! Let's go!" Yotsuba exclaimed cheerfully.
"I don't mind either," Itsuki muttered calmly.
With that settled, I joined them at their house for the study session. However, only a few moments later, Fuutarou arrived for their tutoring session.
"Ugh... I totally forgot about him," Nino muttered with a groan, her displeasure plainly written across her face. She made no attempt to hide it.
Meanwhile, Fuutarou's gaze shifted toward me, his expression suggesting he was wondering what I was doing there.
I simply waved at him with a polite smile before getting to my feet.
"Welp... you guys continue. I'll step aside for now."
My intention was to sit on the sofa and wait until their tutoring session was over. I didn't want to recive his teaching for free, not that I particularly needed them in the first place.
"Wait. I'll join you."
Miku suddenly reached out, grabbed my wrist, and stood up as well.
"Are you sure?" I asked, just to make certain.
She nodded softly.
I gave Fuutarou another reassuring smile. "Don't worry. She won't fall behind."
In the original story, Miku was the first of the five to develop romantic feelings for Futaro. But now, instead of staying by his side, she had chosen to accompany me.
Not that I was trying to compete for her affection or anything...
Sigh.
Okay, I was.
But that's beside the point.
What mattered was that my insecurities had eased up a little. Seeing Miku choose to stay with me instead of him was reassuring in a way I couldn't deny.
Still, I wasn't going to let my guard down.
I had to keep working hard to make sure things stayed this way.
And not just with Miku.
I intended to win the affection of the others as well.
...Yeah I have to admit.
That was an absolutely scummy mindset.
.
.
.
.
.
Their tutoring session lasted for about two hours.
"All right, we'll stop here for today. Make sure you don't slack off, and keep up the good work," Futaro said, giving them a few words of encouragement before wrapping things up.
Nino simply waved a hand dismissively.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Now go away if we're done."
She was practically shooing him out the door.
Talk about being mean....Though, honestly, I kind of liked that about Nino too.
There might actually be something seriously wrong with me.
Futaro didn't seem particularly interested in sticking around either. He simply picked up his bag and prepared to leave. Before walking out, however, his eyes briefly flickered toward me.
A fleeting glance.
I wasn't sure what that was about.
"Ah... He finally left."
Nino let out a sigh of relief before slumping over the short table. Ichika and Yotsuba quickly followed suit, clearly exhausted after two hours of studying.
Itsuki, on the other hand, remained sitting upright, looking completely unfazed. She was probably used to this kind of studying by now.
Miku was different.
She was quietly reading through the notes Fuutarou had prepared, casually leaning against my shoulder as though she were enjoying the best moment of her life.
I made sure not to shift my body and ruin it for her.
I trained my body every day for moments like this, after all, looks like all those morning exercises were finally paying off.
"Good work, everyone," I praised them from the sofa.
Nino tiredly pushed herself back up.
"I'm going to grab some drinks. What does you guys want?"
"Orange juice."
"A cup of coffee for me."
"I'll have coffee too."
Nino nodded before turning her attention toward Miku.
"I'll have some matcha soba," Miku said casually, still resting against my shoulder.
"We don't have that weird stuff at home!" Nino immediately complained about Miku's rather... distinctive tastes.
"Then some matcha tea."
Miku quickly compromised.
Nino then looked at me. "What about you?"
"I'll have some matcha tea as well."
Nino nodded and headed toward the kitchen to get the drinks.
Technically, it was still only evening, but I figured I shouldn't overstay my welcome. After finishing my tea, I decided it was time to head home.
------------------
Sunday morning.
Time for my weekly morning run to the park.
This was the one day of the week when I could go for a proper run without having to worry about school or sacrificing precious hours of sleep. I didn't really have any plans for today, either.
After seeing how seriously the Nakano sisters had been studying yesterday, I didn't want to disturb them. So, I figured I might as well spend some time studying more myself.
But...
Studying first thing in the morning?
That had to be one of the most boring ways to start a day.
I shoved the thought to the back of my mind for the time being and focused on the run instead, enjoying the cool, refreshing morning air.
As I stepped out of the shower after finishing my exercise routine for the day, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
This was a modern, two-story house, yet it had been years since I'd last gone upstairs.
There simply hadn't been any reason to.
After my parents divorced and Mom moved out, Dad gradually started coming home less and less. At this point, I wouldn't even have been surprised if he suddenly announced that he'd started a new family somewhere else.
Of course, that wouldn't be happening anymore.
Not in this world, anyway.
I still wasn't entirely sure how any of this worked here when it came to legal guardianship. The whole situation was confusing enough as it was.
After Dad had practically stopped coming home, I'd moved into a room on the first floor. There was no reason to keep climbing the stairs when there was an empty room right there, especially when I was living alone.
Besides, this house was simply too large for one person.
As for the second floor...
It had been abandoned for years.
The rooms up there were probably nothing more than dusty, forgotten spaces filled with old belongings—or perhaps useless junk that nobody had bothered to throw away.
But today, for some reason, I found myself thinking about it.
Maybe it was time I finally cleaned the Second floor up a little.
When you make a decision, it's better to act on it immediately rather than putting it off until tomorrow or regretting it later.
So, I equipped myself with all the necessary cleaning supplies—a broom, duster, and, of course, my battle gear: an apron, gloves, and two pieces of cloth wrapped around my head and mouth.
"Ta-da! Soldier ready to enter the battlefield!"
The second floor had three rooms, two on either side of the corridor, with another room at the very end. In total, the house had five bedrooms.
Five bedrooms for a family of three.
Why did we even need this many rooms?
I had no idea.
All I knew was that my father had inherited the house from his parents—my grandparents. They had both passed away before I was born, so I never had the chance to know anything about them.
There might be some pictures of them in my father's bedroom, but I wasn't interested enough to go rummaging through his things.
For now, I had a much more important battle to fight.
The dust.
I started with the room farthest down the corridor.
When I opened the door, I was relieved to find that it was completely empty. Unfortunately, it was also covered in a thick layer of dust and countless spiderwebs.
The first thing I did was open the windows, allowing sunlight to pour into the room that hadn't seen it in years.
"Let's begin."
Feeling strangely motivated, I got to work.
I swept away the dust, cleared the cobwebs, and slowly began restoring the forgotten room to something resembling a livable space.
By the time I noticed, it was already past lunchtime.
I was only halfway finished, but I decided to stop at that.
There was no need to rush. I could take my time and clean the rooms little by little.
After lunch, I sprawled out on the sofa and put on a documentary.
As I watched, a question suddenly crossed my mind.
Who was paying my bills?
I certainly wasn't.
Back in my previous world, my father had taken care of them, but here... I had no idea.
Maybe that god had somehow taken care of it.
Still, as long as I wasn't running into any problems, I wasn't going to complain.
A few moments later, my phone buzzed.
I picked it up and saw a message from Miku.
"We're going out to get some fresh air. Do you want to come?"
I had said I didn't want to disturb their studying, but if they were the ones inviting me to hang out...
"Sure. I'd love to."
I arrived at the meeting spot and spotted them waiting for me in the distance.
I'd gone with something relatively casual—a simple blue hoodie—and the girls were dressed casually as well. Yet, somehow, they still managed to look absolutely beautiful.
"Thanks for inviting me. So, what's the plan?" I asked as I approached them.
"We don't really have a plan. We just thought we'd go for a stroll," Nino replied.
I smiled. "That sounds nice too."
And so, we simply walked around, chatting about whatever came to mind.
Next week would be busy with exams, so today was one of those rare opportunities for us to spend some time together without worrying about.
After walking for quite a while, I glanced at them.
"Are you guys thirsty?"
"I was just thinking that," Miku replied.
The others nodded in agreement.
"Wait here. I saw a vending machine over there."
Without waiting for a response, I headed over to get some drinks, and my confident butt forget to ask for their preference.
When I handed everyone their drinks, a few of them looked slightly surprised, though none of them said anything.
I mean, getting one person's preference right could've been a coincidence, but how did I somehow guess everyone's exactly?
Coffee for Ichika.
Plain water for Nino.
Matcha soda for Miku.
Cola for Yotsuba.
And passion fruit and pomegranate white tea for Itsuki.
I had gone with plain water for myself.
We were either standing around or sitting on a bench by the roadside when the distant sound of drums suddenly echoed through the streets, accompanied by several other instruments.
Our attention immediately shifted toward the noise.
"What's that?" Yotsuba was the first to voice her curiosity.
"Looks like a parade..." Itsuki replied.
One side of the road had been cleared under the supervision of several authorities. A massive group of people was making its way down the street, carrying an entire shrine on their shoulders while shouting enthusiastically.
Behind them followed an even larger crowd, some cheering along while others played various instruments.
We simply stood there and watched.
Though we weren't the only ones.
Almost everyone nearby had stopped whatever they were doing to watch the procession pass. Some even clasped their hands in prayer, seemingly asking for good fortune or blessings.
It took roughly ten to twelve minutes for the entire procession to pass by.
Once the street had returned to normal, we decided not to go any farther and simply headed home.
While waiting for our train at the station, Yotsuba let out a tired sigh.
"So tomorrow is the day... I'm feeling nervous."
She was, of course, talking about the exams.
"Let's just study a little more before going to bed," Itsuki encouraged her.
I couldn't help but smile inwardly.
They really were supportive of one another.
"Time went by so fast," Nino remarked.
"Yeah. I wish we had a little more time," Miku added, clearly dissatisfied that the weekend was already coming to an end.
If you asked me, I wouldn't mind spending every moment by their side.
As soon as she heard everyone talking about it, Ichika suddenly clapped her hands together as though she'd just had a brilliant idea.
"You know what this calls for?"
She paused dramatically.
"A study night!"
She then turned toward me with a grin.
"Want to join us?"
"That's an awesome idea!" Miku was the first to show her enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, Nino's expression immediately changed.
"W-What?! Are you crazy? How can a guy stay the night at our house?!"
"Don't you trust him yet?" Miku asked.
"T-That's different... Ugh! Fine! Do whatever you want!"
In the end, Nino gave up rather than continue arguing.
Ichika turned toward the other two.
"What about you guys?"
"I don't really mind," Yotsuba replied casually.
"This... is a bit much," Itsuki said hesitantly. "But I can accept it if it's Ren."
"Heh... Itsuki, what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Ichika teased.
Miku, standing behind her, stared at Itsuki with a blank expression.
"I-I meant that I trust him!" Itsuki hurriedly corrected herself.
Ichika then turned her attention back to me.
"There you have it. Are you coming?"
I absolutely want to.
Still, there was a tiny bit of hesitation.
"U-Um... Would that really be appropriate?"
I mean, a guy spending the night in a house occupied by five sisters—one of whom happened to be my girlfriend—didn't exactly sound like the most normal situation.
"What are you thinking?" Ichika whispered with a teasing grin. "We're only going to study."
Miku looked at me with slightly saddened eyes.
"You... don't want to?"
My heart immediately skipped a beat.
Blood rushed through my body, and before I could even think twice, I bowed deeply as though begging.
"Please let me join!"
I mean, we're just going to study and sleep. What could possibly go wrong?