Disclaimers: I'm not dead.

While there are jokes as to whether or not my fanfics get dropped once again, I would like to inform you that I was merely recuperating mentally.

As we all know, one of the quints won and while it was the one I felt was most deserving of the win, I do feel bad for every other quint.

How the ending really made me feel unfulfilled and how the fan base reacted was pretty annoying.

All you Nino and Itsuki fans really are annoying. So annoying that I almost projected my anger, annoyance and hatred onto them.

Which is why I'm here to tell you all to not get mad at the Quints, any of them. You may all have your feelings, but at the end of the day, remember that regardless of how fans are, don't enforce those feelings onto the girls.

That's why I was gone for… 6 months… To clear my mind and have a fair and unbiased view on how to treat the girls, because when I came into The Quintissential Quintuplets, I fell in love with all 5 girls. Not just Itsuki.

Each and every girl had their own humane characteristics and while I myself got sick and tired of how the actual series ended in terms of writing quality… *cough* Biodad…

Regardless, I still don't own this series.

Back to this fic…

Ichika folded her hands under her chin, keeping her head up as she watched Fuutarou interact with her sisters.

What an interesting guy. It's only been a few weeks and not only had he managed to help them understand things (in her defense, she could get good grades if she had cared to apply herself along with some of her other sisters, but that's besides the point), but helped them improve as a family as well.

It was eerie how impactful he has been to their lives and yet Ichika could not shake off a weird feeling that this was all too convenient.

Ichika had first thought about how maybe he was their step dad's biological child, which means he'd known about them for a long time and they just didn't know about him. Say what you will, but Maruo Nakano is an influential man with looks very appealing to ladies if they're into his type.

Surely there'd have been a girl or two somewhere down the line, but that was stamped out the moment she went to his house.

He has a father who can attest that he is Fuutarou's real dad.

Her next thought was that he was a stalker, but that just didn't seem too likely.

He was technologically inept and from what she understood, had started off with little to no care about them, including in terms of looks.

Ichika changed positions and folded her arms around under her chest, emphasizing their size.

Now even if that's a rather depressing thought that she didn't immediately attract the affection of the young Uesugi, it does stamp out that he would be a stalker.

Lord knows the sister has a growing fanbase where some of their devotees are even starting to be able to tell which one specific sister is them.

They can't differentiate, but in a crowd they can tell which one of their favorite quintuplets is theirs.

Rather disturbing if anything.

Yet Fuutarou here was able to tell who's who on their first meeting.

Ichika stewed over that fact. Even if he had some sort of connection to her and Yotsuba, there's no way he could tell the other three apart and yet he can.

There were other explanations for the situation at hand, but every one of them had something that didn't make sense.

The one that didn't make sense among all was how he was managing to steal the hearts of her sisters and herself.

Yes, that's right.

Fuutarou Uesugi who doesn't even seem to sleep was slowly getting his hands wrapped around each and every one of them without even really trying.

You can argue that the sisters came from an all girls school, so they were more susceptible to guys, but that would hardly be an argument with Nino and herself having gone out and interacted with many guys their age.

Even then it wouldn't explain how he ensnared the many different personalities of the five, though that could be written off as a quintuplet thing.

Though it did seem the young boy had been trying to keep them happy since day one.

That brings her back to now where they were all on the apartment floor together doing homework with the boy in question grading their work.

Ichika's thoughts stewed over as her eyes fell onto the boy.

While some of her sisters would deny their feelings, it was quite obvious that some of them were trying their best to earn his affection.

Ichika held a hand to her chest as she thought about her own situation.

Would it be right for her to follow these feelings? She was the eldest sister and it wouldn't feel right if she were to disregard her own sisters feelings for her own wants.

"Hey, Fuutarou-kun, I don't understand this question right here." Yotsuba was asking their personal tutor.

"Mm? Literature? What's the question?" He asked, looking up from the papers to give the full attention of his blue eyes.

"It asks here about the moralityyyyyyy." Yotsuba trailed the last syllable as if she was trying to sound out the word, clearly not too used to it.

"Yes, that's how you say it." He motioned her onwards.

"It asks about the morality of this lady's actions." She finished.

The boy took the paper and gazed over it for a moment before he gave it back.

"This is more of a personal question. It's asking you about how you felt about what she did. You have read the book have you?" He explained before asking.

"O-oh, yeah! She was so smart, but the things she did were really mean." Yotsuba answered, nodding her head.

"Yes, the question is asking how you felt about what she did and would you agree with it." The boys voice gave no hint of annoyance and he was patient.

"Ah, what do you think?" Yotsuba asked, her intent clear.

"If I told you, you'd copy what I say for the answer, won't you?" He immediately saw through her question causing her to chuckle, rubbing the back of her head guilty.

"N-no! I'll do things myself, but I was just curious!" She defended herself.

"Mmm. While some of the things she's done were questionable, I can't disagree with things. She wanted the love of the prince and did whatever she could within reason to get him. She could have killed the other girls or worse, but she kept her self control. All's fair in love and war and she still managed to keep the moral high ground." Their tutor answered, as he began marking the paper he was grading.

"Ohh, I see. That's a logical way to see it as usual, Fuutarou-kun." She smiled, before returning to her work. "Thank you! This isn't so hard."

Ichika having observed the interaction that was way too convenient and creeply jarring as to how it came up right there, was then reminded of her past.

She was the eldest sister and the other quintuplets never argued that.

She didn't know when, but ever since they were young, the sisters would follow her lead usually even if someone like Itsuki or Nino were the types to take charge. Nowadays, that was true when they need an adult, but overall, they didn't need her for that too often.

As such, she can recall all the times she prioritized herself with getting what she wants first. She was greedy and selfish as a child if what she remembers was correct, but not in a terrible way.

In the normal way you'd expect from her age at the time.

And here she was, now close to being an adult and thinking almost the same way.

The only difference is that she doubted she could exercise seniority over her sisters for this.

The sisters were now fully their own people and can push back if she tried to exercise her oldest sister rights.

He isn't aware of your history.

Her inner thoughts came to the surface.

Back in her old school, before Yotsuba failed, the quintuplets had their own group of friends.

Everyone except her and Miku, but the latter was just naturally antisocial.

Ichika wasn't disliked or being bullied or anything, but everyone was wary to be near her.

Her sisters weren't aware of this because none of their friends were going to explain to them why they don't like being near one of their sisters while Ichika herself always explained that she was just too lazy and tired for friends.

It wasn't like there was an incident or one big thing she did that had people stay away from her. It was just what everyone knew what she was capable of.

She wasn't some super genius sociopath capable of manipulating people, but human nature was rather easy and she can easily get things to go her way.

She was an actor now after all, so it wasn't strange for her to know how to act the part and swing something in her favor.

Of course, with all things, rumours went around and despite having never done anything to hurt anyone, people started avoiding her.

Not that she could blame them since she wasn't afraid of lying or playing whatever role she needed to suit her own needs.

This culminated in poor ol' her being called a snake or the devil or whatever else people's view of her was.

How cruel, it's a good thing she was so nice, otherwise she'd have felt petty. Alas, she did try to dissuade such thoughts since at heart she was just a normal girl and who wouldn't lie or act if it benefits them? It just so happens that she was better at it and probably wouldn't get caught.

The nail in the coffin was when she gave in and became the image people saw of her and just like that, she played the image of the aloof sleepy elder sister to her siblings while keeping the appearance of a dangerous snake to other people who know her.

She couldn't help but be this way, she lost her true self long ago and all of her friends got pushed away because a caricature is all they know.

Ichika's thoughts broke from the rumbling darkness by Fuutarou's voice.

"-chika. ICHIKA!" Fuutarou finally yelled, dropping a textbook on top of her work.

The eldest sister flinched as she looked up towards him as he glared down at her with those blue eyes.

"It's not time to daydream. You haven't even finished half your work yet." He growled as her thoughts slowly came together.

Oh, right, was she just sitting there daydreaming? At this point, being sleepy was just in her nature and that was no facade.

"Oh, sorry. I'll get right to it. I've just been really tired lately." She gave a lame excuse, knowing he wouldn't accept it, but would have to let this moment go anyways.

"You're always tired. Nothing's changed since the day I first met you troublesome sisters." He cut her excuse in half like she expected.

"Hey, she's been tired now that she has an actual job, just let her nap for a bit, Fuutarou." Yotsuba came to her aid.

"Urgh… Fine, but that means i'll have to be here longer to make sure you know what you're doing." He stood his ground, not giving an inch in terms of letting her slack off fully.

"Oh my, so i'll get Fuutarou-kun all to myself for the night?" Ichika teased and that got the same responses she'd have expected from everyone paying attention.

Nino glared, be honest with your feelings already, sis…

Miku pouted, poor girl, maybe that was a little too on the nose, maybe she should push her in the right direction.

Yotsuba blushed and looked away, don't try to act prude, Yotsuba, I know why you've taken up my offer to share panties.

Itsuki was hard at work as usual, her attention fully on her work, what a good girl, it's sad how hard she works to no avail. She used to get such good grades.

Fuutarou on the other hand merely paused for a moment. It was a brief pause where he stood still almost completely and then would respond.

It was a bit of a weird quirk, but nothing too bad.

"If I have to stay here until the suns sets, that means you've really been slacking off with your studies and I'll need to go harder on you." He growled, not recognizing the innuendo he made so easy to take.

She would've made another response, but decided to let it go.

Smiling, she resumed her work and things fell back into place for the afternoon.

It was funny how they've all gotten so used to this routine already.

Line Break

Fuutarou left late as he said he would, having caught Ichika up with everything.

As the sisters were about to finally go do whatever they felt like doing, Ichika got a call on her phone.

It was from Raiha.

Was she asking where her brother is? He is going home rather late after all.

Pressing the answer button, she held the phone to her ear and gave her usual "Hello?"

"Ah, Nakano-san! I-I wanted to ask you for something." The cute voice came over the phone.

"Oh? What is it?" She asked, curious.

"It's my brother. I hadn't noticed it before, but ever since he got the job, I don't think big bro has been getting actual sleep or he's been getting less than 6. I'm not saying it's you guys, but I was wondering if you could try to convince him to relax more. My brother's always been too much of a hard worker." She explained, getting Ichika to raise a brow.

Fuutarou isn't sleeping? That can't be right, even a robot would need to recharge and he never looked tired as long as physical activities weren't involved.

"He looked fine to me today. Is it really something to worry about?" The eldest sister asked.

There was a long pause on the phone, before Raiha spoke again.

"No, but it's always safe to be careful right? Big bros not the type to let these things show, yknow?"

Sounds about right.

There wasn't much she could do about this, since she doubted Fuutarou would listen to her to take a nap.

If anything, that'd be even less likely to make him rest, since he'd assume they were trying to trick him into something.

Nino kind of ruined the image of the sweet innocent and beautiful angels that they were after all.

Nonetheless, Ichika did have an idea.

"Okay, Raiha. I can help, but you'll have to listen to me on this plan, okay? Tomorrow, we'll be getting Fuutarou to stay the night." She began.

And that's that. I figured I could take some liberties with this, since the quints middle school days is largely unknown, so i'll be adding things here and there. Though I doubt that i'm fleshing them out in a way I like. Ah well. I started with Ichika here. Nino should be next and the orders go on.

Assuming I keep my motivation.

Regardless, hope you like this chap even though the game elements weren't really prominent here, since it's basically Ichika's point of view.

Au revoir.