Disclaimer: I own neither the series nor the characters. The original story is 外典 フー君強くてニューゲーム by いぶりーす. Check em out.

As I sunk into the warm red, I stared up at a dark void.

I felt neither any surprise or pain. Only the feeling of heat gradually leaving my body. In front of me, an illusion of myself in the past, of moments and memories I found infinitely precious, when my eyes still shone with life, appeared and faded before my eyes.

What went wrong?

I looked back on my short life.

I wonder it was because I had met them.

No, that's different. Our fateful encounter wasn't wrong. The shitty me from the past was able to change after meeting them. It was only because of them I was able to grow. They made Uesugi Fuutarou the person he was today.

I don't regret any of it. Even if this was the result of such a meeting, I had no regrets.

If so, then was it our relationship?

It was surely that. I made a mistake with how close we got. That was the cause.

At first, it was just to gain their trust. It wouldn't be possible to serve as a tutor to those problem children with only a student-teacher relationship. Rather than them hating to study, it was more necessary to win over their trust first to see an improvement in their performance.

All to pay back the debt, I needed to continue working as a high income tutor.

For some reason, as i struggled to gain their trust, the began to open up their worries, their future, and even their family's problems. It didn't even matter that they were quintuplets. I'd still have helped whoever came to me, whoever needed me. That was how selfish i was.

I thought that I could do anything to gain the trust of those girls and I was able to overcome many difficulties time and time again.

But one day, I started to notice their feelings.

It was insane for such beautiful sisters to have them for someone like myself. I couldn't have been confused. Mysteriously, the very thought heated up my heart.

But it was too late. Their love was too deep. Their feelings were too big that even they couldn't stop themselves. It was up to the extent that the tight bond between the sisters started to gradually break.

They fought.

They cheated.

They lied.

They did everything they could until I finally had to turn away form their ugly struggle. It may have been because I was tired of all the deceptions and lies that they had put around me...or maybe it was just because I wanted to do something but couldn't. Sisters fighting among themselves was wrong.

The choice I carefully thought out and decided to do was the lowest.

I distance myself from them.

I just left. I disappeared without saying anything. I fell for my own illusion that if I left they'd return to their original relationship. As time would pass, they would forget the few moments i spent with them. Then they'd all return to normal.

Everyone would be happy.

I truly believed such a lie and decided to not look back on my past. It was much like the time I said goodbye to my memories of her back in the river. I tried to walk a new road with new people. I tried to forget them, those girls of my past.

This is my current punishment.

It was all for nothing. The fire I thought was smothered was something they all desperately held onto.

Those girls weren't bad, I was just too optimistic. I forgot that what goes around comes around. Such a phrase fleeted my mind. Even though this is my end, I can't help but accept such an unexpected resolution.

It's a cheap price to pay as long as they could remain happy.

…However.

Just a little.

No, I can't keep lying anymore. I still have regrets after all.

I don't think that a bright future would await those five girls by doing this. Or perhaps they had known such an action would throw away any sort of future? They all deserved it, to have an ending where they all smiled. That was something I had tried in the past but failed.

If I had any regrets, it would be that. I couldn't get it right.

I wanted them to keep their dazzling smiled until the end.

Oh, but it's much too late. My consciousness is already far away.

I can not do anything. I can't do anything. I can't do anything.

... At least, in the end, I'll dedicate a prayer much like I did when I was a child next to her.

For their future and ... repentance for my past sins.

How ironic such an idealistic prayer was done by a person such as myself.

I wish them a happy tomorrow.

And if it comes true, then...

'I'm hungry…'

Just how many times did Nakano Itsuki think such a thing in the past few hours? She was already at her limit.

She stood in the cafeteria of the new school she had recently transferred into with all the paperwork finally being finished this morning. For Itsuki, rather than new student blues, she was more concerned with getting her meal.

It was lunch time, after all. Nothing would stand in her way. She had originally planned to have lunch with her sisters, who had also transferred, but she just couldn't stand the rumbling in her tummy any more. She immediately contacted and told them she would eat lunch ahead of them.

That they completely understood was something she wasn't sure she should feel insulted by or not.

Whatever the case, she needed to eat!

Just as she tried to sit down with a tray containing plates of udon and tempura she was looking forward to eating, she bumped into a tall male student who tried to sit in the same seat she had chosen.

Of course, she had sat down first. He should look for a nearby vacant seat!

The boy actually looked surprised when he saw Itsuki...No, that was wrong. His face twisted with complicated emotions Itsuki couldn't express in words. Had she really been that intimidating? Before she could wonder any more, the expression disappeared as he then moved aside. Itsuki was relieved as she sat down, thankful he had given the seat up.

She wanted to thank him however he looked like he was about to leave without even sparing a glance at her.

...That was something she couldn't allow.

Although she was the youngest of her five sisters, it was unacceptable for her, who wanted to be their mother, to do nothing about the situation. In the meantime, the vacant seat across her was ignored. He was probably trying to find another seat.

"There doesn't seem to be any other seats. Why don't we eat together?"

As soon as she suggested that, the boy's expression scrunched up as if she had pointed a loaded gun at him.

Did he think of her as a strange woman because she offered companionship right after yelling at him? As she anxiously looked at the boy's expression, he looked to consider her offer for a moment before taking the seat accross Itsuki with mild reluctance.

That was good. That made lunch easier for her. As Itsuki started on her cooked udon, she soon began to hear the voices of the students around her. Whispers buzzed in the air that were clearly not just directed at her but more on the boy across her.

"Uesugi-kun is eating with a girl?"

"Why didn't Uesugi-kun eat with me today?"

It seemed his name was Uesugi. She gave a quick glance to the boy, somewhat curious, and at the food he was eating.

"Well, is that enough?"

She had to ask out loud. It couldn't be helped after all. Having only rice, miso soup, and a few vegetables was something Itsuki couldn't begin to imagine. Even if she ate that twice, she wouldn't be satisfied. She was surprised such a simple set was even on the menu. Was there really such a demand for it?

"... I'm on a diet"

That was an absolute lie. If this thin-limbed boy named Uesugi needs a diet, most girls in the world will need a diet. Itsuki then tired to offer a piece of tempura to him but he refused.

"You bought that for yourself because you were hungry, right? Just eat without worrying about me."

"...Hai."

If the person himself said such a thing, she'd have no choice but to withdraw. To think the first person she'd meet in this school was this confusing. While Itsuki felt bad, it was true that she was hungry. She stared at her udon and tempura with narrowed eyes.

"You must be really serious if you're studying during lunch break."

Instead of eating, she once more spoke up to the boy in front of her. It was hard to ignore how the boy looked to be studying as he ate. It would be a lie to say it didn't make things more awkward for Itsuki. With his answer sheet on the table, he looked up from his flashcard booklet. He turned his gaze back up to her, suspicious.

"What's wrong? You haven't eaten yet."

"I'm just curious."

For some reason, he seemed to think that she was a woman who gave priority to eating before anything else. It was something she couldn't deny but it's a bit embarrassing to be thought of in their first meeting. To save face, Itsuki decided to talk about something else.

"Anyways, it's amazing that you got a perfect score."

Glancing at red number written on the top of the paper in between them, Itsuki gave some praise to the boy. She couldn't remember getting such a score even back in elementary school

"I'm actually really jealous. I'm not really good at studying, you see."

Even if Itsuki took such a test, she knew she wouldn't be able to reach even a fifth of that score. It was something she was worried about in her new school life. She had even heard a tutor would be coming the next day but was there really a person who could take care of the five problem sisters? Her worries were even more on if the class would be effective than if her grades would improve.

She felt sorry for her dad, but if she were being honest, she didn't expect much. Besides, she didn't want to rely on her father's power or on a tutor but she wanted to find a way to improve by herself. However, it was a fact that self-studying didn't improve her grades at all. She couldn't keep up in classes because she didn't even know the basics.

The current sanitation felt rather hopeless.

Unless...

If she couldn't be taught by an adult, what about having a classmate teach her instead? For example, a smart student who had the perfect score in front of her. It must have been fate that they sat together. Plus, it was her first step in making new friends in a new environment.

"That's right!"

"… What?"

The boy, Uesugi, retrieved his answer sheet as Itsuki clapped her hands together.

"Would you like to study together and help teach me?"

If she thought about it, such a proposal would be normally refused especially if it was asked by a person he was meeting for the first time. Yet, his mouth relaxd and an odd look of nostalgia spread through his face.

It was an expression Itsuki would never forget.

That was her first contact with Uesugi Fuutarou.

Looking back, it was a slightly embarrassing encounter. Itsuki had been hungry and in a bad mood yet he didn't seem to mind at all. Her first encounter with Uesugi Fuutarou had left an impression on the girl. He even turned out to her her classmate as well as her new tutor, her new partner. Although, she wasn't too interested in the opposite sex, Itsuki had always been a romantic.

The initial accidental meeting with him made her feel like they really were fated to meet one day.

Itsuki's pen suddenly stopped. Fuutarou who was sitting next to her, turned to face her noticing her expression was serious.

"Why did you stop? Is there something you don't understand?"

"Oh, uh, here..."

"You just need to apply the formula you used earlier. First, you..."

It had already been a few days since it was revealed that he was their tutor. His classes were easier to understand and he was politer than any teacher Itsuki had ever met. Most of the time, she didn't know why she didn't understand something which only made solving problems harder. She had a hard time keeping up in class but when went to ask the teacher later, there were many occasions where she still couldn't get it.

However, he was different. He seemed to know when she didn't understand something or why she couldn't solve a problem. He then taught her in an easy-to-understand manner. For the first time in her life, Itsuki felt like she was able to meet a person who understood her besides her sisters.

'It's not just in studying ... Uesugi-kun is watching me'

She was reminded of the first day of tutoring when he had met with the others.

The reactions of the other sisters who knew he was their new tutor were all different: quiet, rejected, indifferent, cooperative.

Nino, the one who rejected him the most, had immediately taken steps to eliminate him from the first day. However they ended in failure so she tried another plan.

Seeing that he trused Itsuki, she had dressed up as the youngest sister during the next study session in order to get him removed. For her, or really any of the sisters who'd know about it, such a plan was fool proof.

However, it had only taken him a glance to recognize that the disguised Itsuki was a fake.

"You're not Itsuki."

Nino's attempt failed once more and she had retreated with a regretful expression.

It was only later when May learned about such an event and scolded Nino. However, at the time, she couldn't feel any scathing emotions at her older sister due to her heart being elsewhere at the moment. Her mind had been filled with more complicated thoughts than actual anger.

The Nakano sisters were quintuplets who shared the same face. It was such that it would be almost impossible to identify between any of them if they had just met and it's even harder if they tried to pull off a disguise unless one had known them for a long time. The only people able to do so were their deceased mother, their father, and their grandfather.

And it was their grandfather who always said a person needed love in order to distinguish the sisters from each other. Those same words were passed on from the grandfather, to their mother, to the sisters themselves. All the sisters believed that "love" was necessary to truly distinguish themselves.

In other words, the reason he was able to recognize it wasn't her was because...

'No! I'm thinking about it again!'

After hearing about how he instantly exposed Nino's disguise, a strange delusion about her new tutor had started to grown within Itsuki, one she found herself not entirely disliking. But then again, they were just tutor and student. Or classmates. Or friends. They weren't in such a shameful relationship. Haven't they only known each other for a few days? What kind of stupid delusions was she having?

Besides, as her mother said, one should watch men carefully. Itsuki still didn't know anything about him. She did feel sorry for taking up his time to help her out with her clumsy studying, even though today wasn't a tutoring day so he wasn't being paid to help out an idiot.

As Itsuki tried to get back into the problem, she heard the sound of a book closing.

"Would you like to take a break?"

"Eh? But..."

"Your pen hasn't moved for a while."

"Oh, sorry ..."

"Don't worry about it. "

Itsuki couldn't help but be embarrassed at his words of concern. She felt as if she wanted to enter a hole. He was worried about her but still didn't give up on her even when she couldn't concentrate on studying. It was almost the same concern of a father and a child. They hadn't talked too much but her tutor always felt older than he looked. Such maturity was something Itsuki found touching and comfortable yet at the same time it was like there was a wall between them.

"Um, Uesugi-kun"

"What?"

"Uesugi-kun, have you ever taught someone to study?"

The break was longer than she expected so Itsuki decided to talk to him to change the mood. There was also a part of her that wanted to know him a little more. Although he was her classmate, there was unexpectedly little opportunity to talk with him. She had seen him in the cafeteria today so she had asked him about something she didn't understand in class but, in truth, she had wanted to invite him out to eat.

"...Why do you think so?"

"Because Uesugi-kun, you are very good at teaching. Did you have a part-time job like this before?"

"..."

He looked to have found answering her question difficult. His mouth closed as he put his hand on his chin, thinking. Itsuki hoped she hadn't said something rude. After a moment of anxiety, Itsuki spoke up to apolgize but was beaten by Fuutarou.

"... I've done a similar job before."

"So something like a tutor?"

"Oh ... well ... I guess it's pretty close."

"That's why you're used to teaching people! "

"If you say so."

"Did you teach elementay or middle school students?"

"Same as you."

As soon as those words left his mouth, Fuutarou looked like he just swallowed something awfully bitter. However, other thoughts were on Itsuki's mind. She hadn't expected that he'd have taught high school students like them. She had first thought having a tutor of the same age was odd but it seemed that it was rather common. It couldn't have been rarer than quintuplets anyways, right? Maybe, he was chosen by her father as a tutor because of such achievements?

Still Itsuki continued asking Fuutarou.

"So the same as us...do you mean a girl?"

"I didn't say anything like that."

"That's no good. Please tell me!"

"Why should I?"

"I want to know!"

"I refuse!"

"I won't study unless you tell me!"

"..."

At first, Itsuki had thought she had done something wrong as hard eyes stared back down on her but, eventually, her tutor released a deep sigh."

"...she was stupid."

And so, he told her about his "Previous student".

At first, they didn't get along. She was ridiculously clumsy yet also had awful grades. From the first time they had met, the two butted heads with one another over and over again.

The words spoken from his mouth were bitter. There were also many times the word "idiot" was thrown out.

But the tone he used was nostalgic yet oddly kind.

Just hearing him speak, even Itsuki could feel that their relationship was more than student and tutor.

Somehow, when she thought about that, the back of her chest grew dull.

Why? She didn't want to hear him talk about this "past student." That person was already in the past. His current partner wasn't her but Itsuki. The youngest sister was surprised just how much unreasonable frustration was growing within her.

At that moment, she couldn't help but feel more frustrated than the problem in front of her.

I didn't think I'd get a second chance.

To be honest, I think I'm somehow still dreaming. However, it was a dream that I wanted to see. It was something I wouldn't mind never waking up from.

Because, this time, I'd make sure they'd graduate with a smile.

But, I won't fall into the same trap.

I'll make sure to keep an appropriate distance and graduate with them as a tutor. It may be a more difficult path than before, but it shouldn't be impossible. Because I have experience and wisdom.

However, I can't just rely on these past memories and lessons. There was a possibility of them getting suspicious some day.

Today, in my conversation with Itsuki, our previous experience and wisdom were misrepresented as a "the previous student", but it seemed to worked out unexpectedly well.

Then let's make good use of this "Previous student" to help my current ones.

TN: There are many many "Fuutarou gets sent back" fics out there in pixiv but this one is the one that really stroked my fancy.