This little section from Horimiya comes in much later, around Volume 2: Chapter 10. But I thought it would be fitting to put it in this chapter, and a bit earlier on.

Anyway, you don't have to listen to my little ramblings here. Go on and read the chapter.

...Had no idea what to title this chapter. :p

---

It was grade school for the young Y/N L/N, the young boy was standing at the back of his class. His teacher had wandered in and called for her students to come up to her.

"Listen, class. When we go outside, form pairs and hold hands, okay?"

The other students began to go to each other and form pairs.

"Hey, hey! Let's form a pair!"

"Yeah, let's be together."

"It looks like everyone's decided," she said before looking to the back of the room. "...Oh? Are you alone, L/N-kun?"

Y/N only nodded shyly. "Yes..."

"That's because L/N is dark..." One student says.

Another one then says something. "He's weird."

"He's darrrrk!" Another one follows up.

Fast forward to a much older Y/N in junior high, he sat in front of his mirror. He then looked down at his hand, holding a safety pin. Unclipping it, he lifted it up to his ear and punctures the skin in his earlobe, making him grunt in pain. 

Y/N then stood up and stared at himself in the mirror, letting go of the safety pin and seeing his ear. His earlobe was covered with blood, dripping onto the floor.

"L/N... Huh..." One student says.

In Y/N's junior high class, some students were gathered to the side and bunched up together. They seemed to be murmuring things about him as Y/N sat in a chair on the other side of the room, his eyes dull as he could hear everything.

"He's not a bad guy, but he's a bit dark..."

A girl then spoke up, "His hair... Even though he's a guy, he let it grow... I have no idea what he's thinking..."

Soon, the rest of his science class entered in with the teacher walking to the front. Once all the students were seated in their chairs, the teacher then looks to them.

"Today, we're doing an experiment, so please form groups of five," he says. He then notices Y/N was left over once all the groups had been formed. "Ah, someone's left over."

"Heeeey, somebody let him join you," a boy says.

"Ugggghhh..."

Y/N soon found himself lying down on his bed in his apartment. A safety pin that was bloodied was on his desk near the futon he was lying down on.

"'Ugggghhh,' huh?"

He then got up and grabbed the safety pin again. He had already added piercings onto both of his ears, but now he lifted up towards his mouth. Piercing his lip, he let out another grunt of pain as he pulls out the safety pin, blood now dripping out of the wound.

'...School is difficult...' Y/N thought to himself.

He soon walked out of his room to wash his face. After getting out of the bathroom, a towel in hand to dry his face, his mother was walking down the hallway with a laundry basket in hand. She then notices the various piercings on his ear and the piercing he made on his lip.

"Y/N you..." His mother then sighed. "It's fine if you want to buy piercings, but stop staining your pillow. Since from tomorrow on, you're in high school. Do your best."

And just like that, Y/N was already in high school, his first year. He stood in front of his wardrobe and picked up his glasses, staring at it for a moment. He was already dressed in the Asahiyama uniform. All that's left was for him to set off towards the school.

He arrived at his class, already sitting down. He sat near the front of the class, and already, he could hear the murmurs of his classmates. The same murmurs he heard from junior high. Of course he could hear them, but by this point, he was used to it by now. The teacher had told their class that their assignment was to pair up with someone alphabetically.

As Y/N sat in his chair, fumbling around with something, someone walked up to him.

"What are you doing?"

Y/N jumped in surprise, looking up to see it was a boy his age. He had black hair, it being stylized into a bowl cut with two strands of hair sticking out from the back. He had yellow eyes, staring down at the L/N teen with a questioning gaze.

(A/N): I'll be using Fuutarou's second season appearance. 

"N-Nothing much..." Y/N was able to let out that much.

"Are you hiding something?" The boy pressed on.

The black-haired teen goes to hide it, but it was soon flung out of his hand and landed on the floor, a clinking sound being made. A look of fear spread onto his face.

'This is bad... The clutch for my earring...'

"Anyway, we're partners for the next report," the boy says.

"A-Ah, is... Is that so...uh... Umm..."

"It's Uesugi."

"S-Sorry..."

More murmurs from the other students began to pick up.

"Hey, the other weirdo is talking with L/N..."

"That's kind of amazing, though. I've never kept up a conversation with him..."

Uesugi blocked out the murmurs. "The others were saying you were dark."

"Right..."

"But, you don't seem dark at all." 

Y/N looked up at him surprised. For the first time, maybe in a long time, someone didn't call him dark. The next thing he knew, Y/N found himself working with Uesugi on the report.

He couldn't help but find Uesugi as a weird person. A weird person that just randomly started talking to him due to being partners for an assignment. However, it made Y/N feel happy. The next thing he knew, he became friends with Uesugi. Things didn't feel... Lonely. 

But... Y/N didn't know what was waiting for him later on his life. Another person that would be important to him.

--: Chapter 5| Game Center Shenanigans :--

Ever since that whole situation with the picture and judgement session, Itsuki had noticed that Y/N had been avoiding them, or rather, her in general. He never came to their apartment again, and as soon as she tried to talk to him, he would find some excuse to leave or he'd hurry himself away.

She was confused. It was the first time she was seeing him act this way. She then thought back to that night, remembering how Y/N left after Nino ran away and out of the apartment. So after school, asked her sister of what happened. Nino was debating whether to tell her or not, but she told Itsuki either way. Needless to say, Itsuki wasn't pleased of what she was told. She was mad, angry even. Angry that her sister had turned one of her friends away all because he knew Fuutarou and was mostly coming with him.

However, she was also a bit angry at Y/N, because of his response. 

"It's more like she's just being nice to me."

Those words of his echoed in her mind, vividly. One of the many reasons she began talking to Y/N, wanting to be friends with him, was because of his "secret" side. At school, he was always noted to be dark, creepy, and gloomy. Someone who had an anti-social personality and didn't wish to attract attention to himself.

And yet, when he was out in public, he was quite different. His appearance was different, as was his personality, it showing to be kind and more laid back. Either way, she still wished to be friends with him. She wanted this kind of relationship to keep going. She liked it when Y/N shared this side of him to her. She needed to talk to him.

It was the next day, Y/N was currently walking to school, his head down as he minded his own business. However, he paused when he sees shoes in his field of view, looking up but only to jump slightly.

Standing in front of him was Itsuki Nakano, a cute pouting face on, but as well as a look of anger.

"L/N-kun. I need to talk to you," she ordered. Y/N could tell it wasn't a request.

The two then moved to a more secluded area to talk among themselves. They still had quite a bit of time before school started.

"Er... What... Is it?" Y/N asked.

"Nino told me," Itsuki began, anger only rising in her voice. "Am I supposed to believe you really meant it when you said we aren't really friends?"

"E-Eh? Um, huh?"

"'I--just--I'm just being nice to you'--Am I supposed to believe you actually said that?" Itsuki yells at him.

"Er--More importantly, what about Nino-san?"

"I don't care about Nino right now!" Itsuki then grabs him by the front of his blazer. "Did you say that? Did you, L/N-kun, say that?"

Soon enough, Itsuki lets go of his blazer and waited expectantly. Waiting for an answer to leave his mouth. He rubbed his neck for a bit before he looked down.

"I... Did."

"Is--Is that what you thought it was this whole time... Is that what you were thinking when you came over!?"

"It isn't!" Y/N quickly stops her. "...It isn't. Nino-san's right when she says I'm dark and creepy. I was just worried... That I might make you look bad... Or causing you problems. So I really didn't mean it--"

Y/N soon stops himself when he hears sniffling noises. Looking up, he sees Itsuki on the verge of tears, or rather, she was trying to contain them. 

He soon got flustered. "Geh! Nakano-san...?" 'Aaah! What do I do!? I want to cry too!'

"Why..." Itsuki says in between tears, covering her face with her hand. "Why do you care whether or not it makes me look bad!? Don't just decide it does and be fine with that!" Itsuki's sniffles only increased. "Don't ever say that again... Baka..."

"I'm sorry, Nakano-san," Y/N apologizes, trying to calm her down. "I'm sorry..."

Soon, a visible tick mark appears on her head. "Aaagh! Just remembering it makes me angry!" Itsuki then headbutts him in the chest, Y/N letting out yelp as he falls on his rear.

Y/N then looks up at her with fear, "Er-Um... Nakano-san...!?"

"If you stopped coming over..." Itsuki began with, curling her hand into a fist. A rising aura began to emanate around her, signifying her fury. "Who would wake me up when I fall asleep from studying too long..."

"Eh, uh..."

"If you stopped coming over..."

"What...?"

"We'd end up with way too much food!" Itsuki yells, punching him on the top of his head. Y/N yelped in pain due to the suffering blow he was inflicted.

Although with what she said, it kinda contradicted her about when she eats. Considering out of her siblings, she's the one with the biggest appetite.

---

The current date was a Sunday, September 30th. Fuutarou Uesugi was currently in his room, dozens of papers in his hands as he held a pencil.

A grin was on his face as he went through them, a radio near him was telling the news.

"Sunday, September 30th. Today there will be a fireworks festival in Higashicho--" The radio says.

'Sunday. I have been looking forward to this day. Today is a complete vacation! I won't be stressed by those quintuplets, I can relax and focus on my studies!' Fuutarou thought.

"Um..." Y/N says, raising a hand with a dumbfounded smile on his face. "Uesugi-san, why am I here again?"

Fuutarou only deadpans at him. "Knowing you, you'd skip out on all the homework we're assigned. And you're behind as it is. You're not leaving this room until you finish it."

"Eh???" '...I want a latte.'

Sucking it up, Y/N went back to his work and continued on with the homework that was assigned for the week. Seeing Y/N work, Fuutarou nodded and went back to his own paperwork, until he realized something. He then propped open a few books and looked through a few of his papers, grinning and laughing to himself like he was a creepy old dude.

"This formula is not in the textbook, but it would be good if I could teach them it. Moreover, this exercise is written logically. Yotsuba will be able to understand this." Fuutarou lets out another creepy laugh, "Miku will be really happy with these."

"Uesugi-san--"

"What the heck am I doing!?" Fuutarou yells, tossing the papers into the air. The sudden action made Y/N jump in surprise. "Trying to be a good tutor!?" 'Because of them, I didn't even have time to study. Even when they are not here, they still interfere with my studying.'

"Um, Uesugi-san, are you okay...?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure," he sarcastically replies.

"Was that a sarcastic remark?" Y/N asks quizzically.

"Ah, wow, you did it. You figured out I used sarcasm. Hooray," Fuutarou says, his tone monotone. "Go on back to work. I'm trying to focus."

"Hai..."

Not even a second later, the doorbell rung. Y/N was about to get up and get it himself, but Fuutarou only held his hand out towards him, signaling that he was going to get it himself. Standing up, Fuutarou went towards his front door.

'The debt collectors...? This house doesn't even have anything left.' Fuutarou then opened the door. "Yes?"

He was expecting for it to be debt collectors on his front door, yes. But the person at the front door was someone he wasn't expecting at all.

It was Itsuki, her distinct ahoge at the top of her head shining in the bright sun. She stood there with a nervous expression, shifting slightly as they continued to stare at each other. However, it all ended when Fuutarou shuts the door on her, prompting Itsuki to grow an agitated expression and banging and slamming her fist on the door.

"Why did you close the door? Open it!"

Fuutarou sweat drops as he opens it back up. "Sorry, just an autonomic reflex... So you know where my house is, but why did you come here suddenly?"

"Well, I have something to give to you," Itsuki says, her tone signaling that she's annoyed.

Footsteps could be heard behind Itsuki as someone was coming up the stairs. Raiha Uesugi soon comes into a view and smile makes it onto her face as soon as she spots the red-haired girl. She instantly runs over to her, hugging Itsuki from behind.

"Itsuki-nee chan. Are you here to hang out?" Raiha asks, pulling Itsuki into the home. "Come in!"

"H-Hey..." Fuutarou says, giving off the look that he doesn't want Itsuki inside.

However, Itsuki only obliged, as she couldn't say no to the young girl. The three of them soon walked in to the Uesugi household's living room, Itsuki looking surprised as she sees who's in the room.

"L/N-kun!?"

Y/N only smiled and waved. "Hey, Nakano-san."

"Y/N-nii!"

"Hello, Raiha."

Fuutarou cleared his throat. "Anyway, what are you trying to give?"

"Ah."

They soon situated themselves at the low table.

"It's not something that can be given outside," Itsuki says. She then took out an envelope, sliding it over to Fuutarou. "This is the salary my father is giving, Uesugi-kun."

Raiha smiled and clapped. "Wonderful, he worked really hard."

"Good job, Uesugi-san," Y/N says with a small nod.

"But I just went there only twice..." Fuutarou deadpanned. 'Don't expect too much.'

The oldest Uesugi was a bit nervous at how much he earned, despite not expecting much. He felt that he really didn't do much to teach the girls, considering that most of the time they were trying to avoid the sessions. However, when he opened up the envelope, both he and Raiha were surprised at the moment. Well, more like in disbelief of how much he just earned. Even Y/N was surprised at the amount.

"5,000 yen multiplied by five people per day."

Fuutarou was sweating profusely. "So, the total for two days is 50,000 yen."

"Thanks to onii-chan's efforts, Yukichi has come to our house!" Raiha then looked to a picture frame of their mother. "Mom, look, onii-chan did it!"

"If it continues like this, the debt will be paid soon," Fuutarou mutters.

"That's great, Uesugi-san!"

However, Fuutarou immediately shuts the envelope, sliding it back over to Itsuki. "I can't take this."

"What?" Itsuki was confused.

"It's true that I have come to your house twice, but... I did nothing."

Itsuki stared at him for a moment before she looked the other way. "Really? Didn't you sexually harass one of us?"

"Onii-chan!?"

"Aaahh! Nakano-san! It was a misunderstanding! Misunderstanding!"

"H-He's right!" Fuutarou says. "That misunderstanding was sorted out."

"I don't think that you did not help anything. You have changed something in all of us, bit by bit," Itsuki says with a smile, catching Fuutarou off guard.

"...The quintuplets..."

"Oh, I was wrong, only four of us. To conclude, I won't take this money back. Your salary, your decision," Itsuki says, sliding it back towards him.

Now, Fuutarou was left to figure out what he was going to do with his new well-paid salary. He had entered many thinking positions, crossing his arms while lowering his head, lowering his head even more, but in the end, he couldn't think of anything. Fuutarou would then look to his little sister.

"Raiha, do you want buy some toys?"

---

"Oh great! So these places really exist?" Raiha says, a huge smile on her face.

Currently getting out of their house, Fuutarou took Raiha to a building that had many crane games, and other things for enjoyment. Fuutarou laughed as he watches his sister's smiling face, but it soon morphed into a frown and annoyed expression, turning his head slightly to Y/N and Itsuki, who were smiling at the young girl as well.

"Why did you two also come?"

Itsuki looked away. "It couldn't be helped," she says, Y/N nodding his head to agree with her.

Flashback - A few minutes ago...

"I want to go to a game center!" Raiha exclaimed, turning her head to Y/N and Itsuki with a puppy dog expression. "How about going together, Itsuki-nee chan, Y/N-nii? Is it ok?"

Flashback End

"You two should have refused!"

Y/N sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "But, Uesugi-san..."

"We can't, she's too cute!" Itsuki responds.

"I know," Fuutarou responds, repeatedly nodding his head.

"Onii-chan," Raiha calls out to her older brother. "Let's play this!"

Fuutarou only smiled. "To like these games, she's still childish."

---

"Weird..." Fuutarou says. "This is not theoretical physics! It doesn't fall down with this one shot. I will try this one more time..."

"Onii-chan, give up!"

The four of them had went over to a ball game, the whole basis of it was to throw a ball and knock something down. However, something seemed to have frustrated Fuutarou and the basis of the game seemed to have went against the laws of physics, causing him to want to attempt it multiple times in order to prove it wrong or see if the laws of physics was at work.

However, both Y/N and Raiha began to pull him away from the game with the red-haired Nakano only giving a deadpan expression towards the oldest Uesugi. But Fuutarou refused to give up.

"Itsuki, you still have coins, right?" Fuutarou points towards the game. "Put them in and continue the game! We have to expose the trick of the game."

Itsuki's deadpan expression only increased. "Why me? Even if you say that, it's too small..."

Walking up to the game and entering some coins to play the game, she then grasps the plastic gun to launch the projectiles and knock down the things she needed to. However, it seemed she was struggling a bit, prompting Y/N to let go of Fuutarou's arm to go and assist her.

And surprisingly, he seemed to figure out how the game worked. Walking up to Itsuki, his left hand gently grasped her shoulder and the other grasped the handle of the gun, helping Itsuki guide it and aim it.

"You put the barrel in the right position and calculate the shooting range, Nakano-san. Here, let me help."

The red-haired girl blushed when Y/N came to her side. He was surprisingly close, maybe a bit too close. But she didn't seem too bothered by it. She looked at him and eyed his facial features, mentally admitting to herself that he was quite good looking.

'His bottom eyelashes are really long...'

Y/N notices Itsuki's gaze, tilting his head slightly. "Nakano-san? Is something wrong?"

"E-Eh? N-No! Nothing at all! ...Um, what do I do again?"

The boy only chuckled and once again explained it one more time, Itsuki nodding her head as she understood a bit. 

Soon after the game, they went around some more and playing around with a few more. The first one the went to next was a air hockey game. Raiha wanted to be on a team with Itsuki, leaving the two boys to be on a team themselves. 

Long story short, the boys lost. 

And throughout their time there, they continued to go around some more machines and games, trying their hands at the various crane games there. Needless to say, Raiha was clearly enjoying herself, a bright big smile on her face as she watched the three teens argue between each other, but they too seemed to be having fun as well.

Soon after they finished the crane games, Raiha was running through the building, pointing in another direction.

"Next, we'll go to this side!"

"Raiha," Itsuki began in a concerned, but stern tone. "It is very dangerous if you don't look ahead when you are walking."

Y/N began to increase his pace and walked up to the girl to make sure she didn't get hurt while bumping into someone. Fuutarou was watching all this occur and smiled a bit, looking down at Itsuki.

"Sorry for making you guys come with us," he says, Itsuki looking at him confused. "Raiha always works hard for the sake of her family. She definitely wants to try more things than these games. I want to fulfill all her dreams."

Itsuki looked at him wide eyed slightly before turning back to Raiha and Y/N. The girl had grabbed Y/N's hand and began to drag him around, Y/N trying to calm her down while the Uesugi sibling laughed. Seeing this sight, it only caused Itsuki to smile as well.

Raiha soon stopped, having spotted something. She then turned around and pointed somewhere, calling out to the other two.

"Onii-chan, Itsuki-nee chan. Let's play this and then go home."

Fuutarou choked on his spit. "Oh..."

Looking to see where Raiha was pointing, they see it was a photo booth with a woman on the cover. This was something Fuutarou didn't want to do, so he looked elsewhere, pointing in that direction.

"T-That's more interesting," Fuutarou says, sweating profusely.

Itsuki grabbed his shoulder, while also sweating profusely. "Didn't you say that you will do everything...?"

Before he could retort, he jumped when Y/N grabbed his shoulder, a nonchalant smile on his face as he begins to drag him over.

Entering inside the photo booth, the program telling them to choose one. Once finished, it tells them to give big smiles, Raiha giving a big one and making both her hands into a "V." On either side of Raiha was Itsuki and Fuutarou, who were sweating and doing their best to hold up a smile, avoiding the camera. Y/N was next to the red-haired girl and held a small smile himself.

Raiha looked up at the two. "Both of your faces look too stiff!"

"I-I'm not used to taking pictures," Itsuki struggled to get out.

Fuutarou tried to escape. "Well, why don't you guys continue?"

"You can't run away!" Raiha exclaims, grabbing his arm. "You too, Itsuki-nee chan."

"O-Ok."

"Nakano-san," Y/N begins, looking at her with a smile. "Just smile. Okay?"

"R-Right..."

Raiha had them hold hands, the girl holding onto her brother's and Itsuki's, the red-haired girl grasping the L/N teen's hand as well. The camera shutter clicked, taking a picture of the group.

It felt like they were taking a family picture, is what Raiha thought. 

---

The photos were printed out and were presented to them. Raiha had added in filters to photos.

Fuutarou let out a fake laugh. "That face you just made, it's so funny!"

"Yours looks just as bad as mine," Itsuki says, an agitated expression on her face.

Y/N looked his copy of the photo and only smiled. "This photo... It's a good one."

Itsuki looked at him in disbelief. "E-Eh? Really, L/N-kun?"

"Yeah... It looks like that everyone is happy. That's why it's a good one," he quickly responded.

Hearing his response, Itsuki nodded with a small smile. Raiha then walked up to Itsuki and offered her more copies of the photo.

"Here you are, Itsuki-nee chan."

"I-I will take this for the moment."

Raiha then looked to her brother. "Thank you, onii-chan. I will consider them as my treasure for the rest of my life!" She then looked to Itsuki and Y/N. "Itsuki-nee chan, Y/N-nii. Thank you for coming with us today."

The two only smiled and nodded at her, Y/N leaning down and patting the top of her head.

Exiting the game center, Raiha began to walk in the direction of her home with a happy and joyful expression. Y/N's and Itsuki's were quite normal, but Fuutarou looked drained and spent, tired and exhausted.

"Well, finally, Sunday is over," Fuutarou mumbled. "Ah, no, I still have night... All of you remember to study."

Itsuki froze. "...Ah. I still have work that needs to be done."

Fuutarou instantly became intrigued. Knocking out of his trance of being exhausted and such, he marches towards Itsuki and began to follow her.

"What works? Are they some evil plans? There was lots of homework, right? Have you done them?"

"Please stop following me!"

"Uesugi-san, you're bothering Nakano-san again," Y/N says, some sort of fury rising within him.

"Onii-chan, Y/N-nii, there are four Itsuki's," Raiha says.

"...Eh?" Both Y/N and Fuutarou say.

They turn around to see the "four Itsuki's," only to see it was the other four quintuplet sisters. There were mixed reactions among them. A surprised expression on Yotsuba's, a teasing look on Ichika's, a small smile on Miku's, and a look of disbelief on Nino's. 

"Everyone is here. Let's hurry up and go to the festival," Miku urges.

"Sorry for interrupting your date," Ichika says teasingly.

"Itsuki! Why are you here with them!?" Nino yells.

Yotsuba runs up and crouches in front of Raiha. "Who is this? Are you Uesugi-san's sister? Let's go to the festival, come with us!"

"Ah! What about the homework--"

Raiha interrupts her brother. "Is it not ok?"

"...Of course, it's ok..." 'Sunday is officially gone," Fuutarou thought.