Side Note: This chapter will not have Itsuki or Y/N confess. I would like for that to happen once they become third years. Just wanted to address that. Apologies if that is what you were expecting in this chapter.

Anyway, onward with the chapter.

---

It was the next day, Y/N was having a bit of a hard time sleeping in his bed. His mind was pondering about the time he was taking care of Itsuki, who was sick with a fever. But by now, she should be fine and ready for when testing rolls around, which was just in a day. However, that wasn't the reason why he was a bit stressed whilst lying in bed.

No, it was about the fact that he had essentially confessed to Itsuki while she was sleeping. However, unknown to him, she was awake the entire time, pretending to be asleep so she heard everything, essentially. But still, the conversation of what happened yesterday was weighing heavily on his mind, so he called a friend to talk about it. However, it wasn't Fuutarou.

"Y/N-kun?"

"Nn..." Y/N groaned.

The voice spoke again, ever-so cheerful. "YYYY/NNNN-kkuuunnn!~"

Y/N opened his eyes, albeit lazily and groggily. In front of him was his green-haired friend, Lubbo. The green-haired boy merely waved at him with a smile, seemingly without a care in the world.

"Good morning, Y/--N-kuunn!?!?"

Freaked out by the sudden appearance of his friend, Y/N had reeled his leg out and kicked him in the stomach. Lubbock drops to the floor, writhing in pain as he squirmed, holding his chest. Meanwhile, Y/N raised himself up, his blanket dropping onto his bed as it revealed his tattooed chest. He casually looked out of the window, like nothing happened.

"...A dream, huh?" It was an invigorating morning for him, looking to the clock on his wall. "What time is--Waugh! Six!?"

Lubbo coughed as he stood up, shaking, "This was not the deal...!" He looks at Y/N, betrayed. "You asked me over, L/N! You sent me a text saying, 'I need to talk'!"

A tick mark appeared on Y/N's face. "Nobody said to be here at the crack of dawn. Use common sense, would you...!?"

"Oh! Hey, I haven't had breakfast yet."

"Oh, yeah?" Y/N opened the door to the hallway, speaking nonchalantly. "Is tiramisu okay? I'm having bread."

"Why's mine way too rich?"

Yes... An invigorating morning, indeed.

--: Chapter 18| Realizations :--

After getting his breakfast items, getting two sliced bread and some jelly, and a glass of milk for the both of them, Y/N brought it back to his room. Lubbo thanked the black-haired teen, grabbing a butter knife and using it to spread some jam onto his sliced bread. Y/N then sat down, resting an elbow on his leg as he entered a relaxed position.

"So? How did you get in?"

"Ah. I ran into your mom this morning. She let me in before she went to the shop this morning," Lubbo said with a carefree smile.

Y/N looks at him with straight face, eating his bread slice. "Huh. You really are a pain in the butt."

"How many times do I have to say it? I'm here 'cos you asked me to come...?" Lubbock deadpanned. "By the way, L/N. You've got a guest over. You could, y'know... Put some clothes on."

"What? You're a guest, Lubbo? Sorry, my bad. You crack me up."

"Heeeeeey. You're gonna make me cryyy," he whined. Y/N was so comfortable in his own home that he kind of forgot that he was half naked.

Lubbo then cleared his throat. "Well, what's up? What did you want to talk about...?"

Y/N flinches slightly. "Oh-! Uh..."

He then stayed silent, hugging one of the pillows used to sit on. Lubbock narrowed his eyes before he giggled with a grin. 

"Oh, lemme guess. 'Nakano-san.' Am I right?"

Y/N didn't say anything. Only a small blush came to his face as he looked away for a bit, letting out a low sound. It only confirmed Lubbock's suspicions, the green-haired teen gaining a curious, but also smug grin.

"Aw, c'mon! What, did you fight? Oh, I know! I bet you made her mad, you and your foul mouth! You said something weird to her, didn't you? That's gotta be it! And? And? And? Is it over? Are you breaking up? How many months have you been going out? When are you calling it quits? I'll watch over you from the shadows and all. Oh, but if you split, we'll have to scrap our double date travel plans--" Lubbock suddenly exclaimed, running his mouth with all sorts of word vomit.

Y/N simply scowled and grimaced, interrupting him. "We're not going out."

"Say what?"

Lubbock held a poker face.

A small time explaining, Y/N was seating on the floor, his back against his bed whilst Lubbock sat on it. The green-haired teen hummed, nodding his head at the boy as he seemed to understand Y/N's current situation. The situation regarding his relationship and dilemma with the Nakano girl.

"Huh. Wow, okay. Gotcha." He had bluntly replied. Lubbo soon laughs, "You shoulda told me sooner, man!"

"You weren't listening!" Y/N blushes in embarrassment.

"Well, whatever. Why are you asking me, anyway? What about the guy who was with you... Um... Uesugi-kun? Wouldn't he be better?"

"...I can't... Talk to Uesugi-san about this."

Lubbo wiggled his eyebrows. "Oooh.~ So that's how it is." He got closer. "So!? How'd you confess!? We're you all 'I love!'!? Whoo-hoo!"

"No," Y/N replies.

Lubbock had grunted in pain, Y/N quickly raising his fist and hitting him with the back of his palm. The green-haired teen fell backwards, Y/N continuing on like nothing happened. Y/N then smiled slightly.

"I didn't ask for an answer. I just sorta... Let it fly..." He answered truthfully. "That kinda thing... But I was scared to hear what she would say. I'm a wuss, huh?"

The green-haired teen rubs his stinging chin. "Nah, I'd say you put yourself pretty far out there. So much so, it hurts. Well. Here's what it comes down to... What do you want to do with Nakano-san?"

The question made Y/N perk up. Looking to his friend, he stares at him curiously, Lubbock rubbing his chin in a thinking manner. He then begins to bombard Y/N with a plethora of questions.

"Do you wanna be glued to her all day? Do you wanna walk hand in hand? Do you wanna brag to everybody about her? Do you want her to say she likes you? Do you want to bother her? Do you not want anyone to take her away? Do you want to keep her shut up in a box? Do you want to have sex with her?"

"...Huh!?" Y/N whips his head to him with a blush. Took him a minute to realize what he said.

Lubbock only smiled gleefully, "Well, that's key stuff. Did you tell her how you feel 'cos you wanted to get it on with her?"

Y/N deadpans. "I don't think that's it."

It was soon quiet for a moment.

"But..." Y/N started, "That part about not wanting anybody else to take her from me... Might be on target."

"Oooh... Well, then. You've already got your answer. Just tell her that."

"...Can I say something that's gonna tick you off? If I were a girl, I wouldn't even consider going out with 'L/N,' you know? I'm gloomy, boring, and weird. Everyone totally hated me in middle school. And it's not even like I'm especially good in school. I'm below average. Then there's Nakano-san. She's always surrounded by people. She's like the sun. She may not be smart, but she's certainly brighter than me. She's funny, more popular than me... A guy like me is no match for--wha!?"

Y/N jolts forward. Lubbock had stood up and kicked the back of his head. Rubbing the back of his head, he turns around and looks up at Lubbock, seeing him pant heavily as he had one leg up.

"That one's from me!" He begins to kick again, although wobbling. "And this one's from Nakano-san..."

"I'm begging you, put it all into one attack," Y/N says, sweat dropping. "You look like you're gonna fall over."

"Is that your way of being nice to Nakano-san?" Lubbock asked, raising his voice in slight anger. "You're so off the mark man! Just now, when you put yourself down, you put Nakano-san right along with you."

"Why do you care about my reputation!?" 

"Don't just assume stuff and decide to live with it!"

Her words echoed in his mind.

"Don't be quick to say stuff like that would hurt the person you care about if she heard it. Quit running!" Lubbock yells.

Taking in his words, Y/N widened his eyes. But they would soon relax, a small smile coming to his face. He wasn't wrong. If Itsuki were to hear what he said just now, she'd be angry at him, yell him, and probably beat the living shit out of him. She didn't like it when Y/N talked about himself like that. She cared for him. Itsuki cares for him so much, even if he doesn't see it entirely.

But now... He does see it. He knows that he cares for her as well, wanting to be with her always. To never let go of her. His smile only grew wider.

'"Quit running,' Y/N monologued. 'When he said that to my face... I realized for the first time that I had been running.'

Y/N nodded at his friend. "Lubbo. Thanks. The stuff that comes outta the mouth of first year repeaters sure is in a class by itself."

"Whoa, whoa, whoooaaa! I told you not to say thaaaaatt! I was all touched that you were being nice for a change, y'know!"

Y/N only laughed and smiled that his friend, the green-haired teen's annoyed expression soon softening up into a smile as well. He was glad, truly.

Y/N was truly glad that he had friends like him, like Fuutarou, the quints. But most importantly. He was glad to have met the girl known as Itsuki Nakano.

If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have gotten this far. Truly, he wouldn't have.

---

Yotsuba bowed her head onto the floor of her apartment. "I want to express my apology for causing all the troubles this time..."

"Um... Yotsuba-san..." Y/N sweat dropped.

A few days had passed, and things had gone to normal. Nino and Itsuki had made up and were now on good terms again, Nino even cutting her long hair to show her newfound resolve. She even accepted Fuutarou as her tutor, which surprised Y/N. And much to his surprise, she had even apologized for her behavior she had been projecting up to him up until now. Of course, Y/N only denied and said it was quite alright, finding no blame in her to do so. Heck, when she had pointed out that he was dark, gloomy, and creepy, he had told her that she was right about that. But even still, Nino only saw it was right to apologize for the way she had been acting.

Now that she had apologized, Itsuki smiled at it. After all, she did like L/N teen and enjoyed it whenever he was happy and smiling. It was precious to her. So much had happened since then, and just being around him got her heart to beat faster. Even the mere thought of him made her heart beat faster. But the thought of confessing to him hadn't crossed her mind, and if it did, she found it difficult to even tell him. For now, she wanted to focus on the finals that would proceed them into being third years.

However, at the current present day, Yotsuba found herself kneeling, her head so close to the apartment floor whilst she sat in the foyer. Though, as she spoke, no one was really listening to her except Y/N, who was giving her a sweat dropping expression the whole time.

Ichika stretched, letting out a relaxed moan. "Phew! This morning sure is rowdy!"

"Yeah, and it's really early in the morning, so we haven't even gotten a chance to eat breakfast..." Miku replied.

Oh, right. They had a plan to get Yotsuba out of the track and field club because she had volunteered to help them, which ruined a partial part of Fuutarou's plans for studying. And it didn't even help at all when the track and field students, especially the captain, didn't care about studying, even saying that it was a "waste of time" and declared that training for their race was more important. 

So, Fuutarou's plan was to have Itsuki disguise as Yotsuba to have her withdraw, while Fuutarou himself would lure Yotsuba away from them. And Y/N being himself, and how he didn't like talking to new people, he held back and watched from afar, with Ichika having run off to assist Miku, who at the time was trying to convince Nino to come back. The plan seemed to have failed when the captain saw through Itsuki's disguise, terrifying the poor girl when she was being intimidated. But luckily, and surprisingly, Nino had come to her aid and pulled it off, even giving the track and field captain a good scolding about studying. 

And now, here they are now.

Yotsuba continued to speak like everyone was listening to her, "If it was not because of this humbleme's carelessness, I wouldn't have become this big--"

Y/N interrupted her. "Um, Yotsuba-san--"

"Why didn't we think to buy something on our way home?" Ichika asked Miku, interrupting Y/N.

"It's okay, we have our chef with us today," Miku replied.

Nino looked a bit offended, retorting with, "And what do you mean by that!?"

Yotsuba STILL continued to talk like everyone was listening to her. "I am sorry from the deepest of--"

Miku then cuts her off. "But first..."

---

"We're back!" Ichika cheerfully exclaims.

Both Nino and Itsuki were at the entranceway that led to the living room.

"What are you waiting for?" Itsuki asked.

"You go first," Nino urged.

"Then at the same time, okay?"

"1... 2..." Nino paused the count down and looked to Itsuki, annoyed, "Why didn't you move!?"

"You didn't either, Nino!"

Miku deadpanned. "It's been a while since our house was this noisy."

"Yeah! Alright, then let's--"

"Study for the final exam, right?" Fuutarou interrupts Ichika.

The two girls let out a cough as they halted.

Silence for a moment before Y/N spoke up. "Uesugi-san. Your expression is kind of scary."

"Just shut up and get in, dumbass." Fuutarou looks to the rest of the quints. "I hope you girls didn't forget that we only have two days left before the final exam starts. Do you have any complaints?"

"O-Of course. I was about to say that too, right?" Ichika sheepishly laughs.

Yotsuba stood up, fed up with them not listening to her. "Geez! Everyone! I'm seriously apologizing here--"

Fuutarou looks to her, confused. "Huh? How long do you want to stay in that pose? Hurry up and get inside."

"Yeah! Let's go, Yotsuba-san!" Y/N cheerfully calls out to his, essentially, best friend.

"Then you're going to cook our breakfast, Yotsuba," Miku says to her in her usual neutral tone.

"Come on! Let's go!" Ichika began ushering them inside.

The girl with the green ribbon faltered slightly but soon smiled. They were calling out to her. How could she say no?

She got up and began making her way in with a smile. "Yeah!"

Heading in, Yotsuba did as she was told, cooking breakfast for the five of them. Y/N was waiting patiently on the couch, with Fuutarou staring into the city by the large window in some sort of thinking position. The five sisters were talking among themselves as they ate.

"So what happened with the track and field club after that?" Ichika asked.

"I properly talked with them, you know," Yotsuba replied, remembering the captain's displeased expression. "And we decided that I will only help them with the tournament and quit afterwards."

"I think it's better if you refuse to go to the tournament too, though," Fuutarou interjected himself.

Yotsuba only smiled. "Well, I already accepted that, so it's not a good idea to go against my word, right?"

"Even still, it's good that you're helping them, Yotsuba-san," Y/N says with a smile. "If you were to stop helping them and go against your word, you wouldn't be Yotsuba-san anymore."

"Yeah... You're right, L/N-san." The dumbest Nakano was very appreciative of her best friend's words.

Itsuki only sighed in exasperation. "Besides, I don't think that club president will give up that easily..."

"Well, just tell me if she says something to you again," Nino says to Yotsuba, her overprotectiveness coming to light. "I'll make sure to properly 'educate' her next time."

"Thanks, Nino," Yotsuba says, nodding with a sheepish smile. "But I will do it myself this time!"

"Oh, fine then."

Fuutarou soon cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, now, let's talk about the main issue, shall we?"

Their attention was drawn to the huge stack of paper that was at the coffee table. By now, the girls had finished their breakfast and were now looking at the stack.

"For now, seems like all of us have already finished the worksheets that you gave us before," Miku voiced, her tone neutral and monotone as usual.

Ichika sweat dropped, "Were we able to level up, I wonder...?"

"Well, we started from villager level, after all," Miku replied. "And now, we finally rose to the point we were able to beat small fries."

"But will it be enough for us to defeat the final exam now...?"

As they kept talking, Y/N couldn't help but imagine it was some sort of video game scenario. In his head, he imagined all the quints in an 8-bit format, seeing them energetically bounce up and down as they were facing a giant monster of sorts. 

Fuutarou sighed as he rubbed his temple. "Then we have no choice but to raise all of your levels today, I guess... Besides..."

"Didn't you say that you have a super secret plan or something?" Miku asks him.

Hearing her ask that, he gains a grin, his face darkening a little. Soon, another image had popped into his head, an image of an 8-bit chest opening.

"This is a cheat item that will make villagers like you be able to defeat the last boss without breaking a sweat... This cheat sheet!"

He held up a small paper that was rolled up. Miku and Nino merely deadpan at him, Ichika sweat dropping while Itsuki, Yotsuba, and Y/N were quite shocked. For someone who was quite studious, they didn't think he'd present that of all things.

"I never thought you will resort to that kind of trick..."

"Furthermore, there's no point if we get good grades by relying on that thing."

"Then study harder!" Fuutarou retorted. "I will make you girls good enough to not rely on this thing in these last two days! Prepare yourselves!" He then made a small glance to Nino, looking a bit unsure. "And that's how I planned to teach you girls... Is this alright?"

"What's this? After you did everything you please all this time, you're asking for my permission?" She looked at him like she was an idiot before she sighed and looked away. She was even blushing a little, "Sure, I'll do it. I'll be counting on you."

"Then let's start," Ichika says, the first one to initiate. "Tidy up the table."

"Okaaay!~" Yotsuba shot up to her feet.

As the five sisters began to tidy up the table to get it ready for the study session, Fuutarou stared at them. He was... Surprised. So surprised.

When did it get to like this?

Beforehand, none of these girls wished to study at all. And now, they were actually wanting to put in the effort to do so. What changed them? He wondered that so much, especially because he was now remembering what each individual Nakano girl had said to him.

"I didn't get a single one right. Ahahahaha!"

"You said you're smart, but I guess you're only this much."

"Why do you care so much?"

"I definitely won't ask you to teach me!"

"You shouldn't have come to our lives from the start!"

It felt so long ago that the five of them, well except Yotsuba, didn't really want him there. But now... They were really looking to him as their teacher and tutor, to help guide them and succeed. What changed them, really?

Y/N soon came next to him. "Isn't this great, Uesugi-san?"

"Huh?"

"They're back together again... And they're also studying. Everything's finally coming together for you, right?" He offers him a smile.

The yellow-eyed teen stared at him for a moment before he let out a low, small chuckle. He then pats Y/N's shoulder, smiling a little. Y/N looks at him confused.

"Nah. We're just starting."

"Eh? Uesugi-san?"

He laughed again. "It's nothing, Y/N. Come on, let's go. You're not escaping this session either."

"Eeeeehhhhh?"

Hearing his voice, she couldn't help but perk up. Itsuki looked to Y/N, who was seemingly arguing with the Uesugi teen, but they looked happy. He looked so lively that her heart only warmed up even more than it was before. That smile... She adored it.

She smiled as she soon heard those words again. The words of his confession.

"Do you really mean 'Where are you going?' I think maybe you're trying to say 'Don't go.'"

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Until you think, 'I don't want you here,' or 'I can't even stand to look at you'... Or, 'Just get lost,' I'll be right here."

"I like you, Nakano-san... Have done... For quite a while..."

'I want to stay like this a little longer, but... I...'

She then remembered her sister's words again. Telling her to trust in herself again. Soon enough, she looked down, her blue eyes gaining a slight, but distinct resolute look in them.

'After this... When I pass... I will definitely. I will definitely tell L/N-kun. And then... And then... Then what will happen!?'

She began to internally panic. 

The finals were just in two days. And the two were slowly growing closer together. What more awaited them?

---

Just wanted to say another thank you for all the support up until now. This book has been filled with nothing but love and support from all of you all and I am glad you all enjoy this book so much.

I can only hope that you all will look forward to more to come and I hope these chapters will be the best they can be so you all may be satisfied with the developments between our favorite glutton and Y/N. Anyway, thank you all for reading this chapter and I hope you look forward to the next one.

Thanks again, people.

Until then.