On Saturday, Okabara Kyogumichi arrived at the apartment building where the Nakano family lived for the first time.
Kyogumichi stood in front of the door, taking a deep breath, a folder containing test papers in his hand, feeling somewhat nervous. After pressing the doorbell at the agreed time, there was a rush of footsteps from inside, along with the sound of something falling and a girl's gasp.
"Coming!" The door was gently pulled open, and Nakano Itsuki, dressed in loungewear, stood at the entrance, looking a bit flustered.
"Welcome! Please come in, Okabara-san!" The living room behind her was a mess, with scattered books and cushions piled everywhere. There was also a small clear space, evidently hastily tidied up.
Kyogumichi walked into the entryway, changed his shoes, and looked around. All five sisters were home as agreed.
Nakano Ichika leaned against the doorframe, a playful smile on her lips, her eyes scanning him up and down; Nakano Nino stood in the center of the living room with her arms crossed, her brows tightly furrowed, her black butterfly ornament swaying, her face clearly showing "resistance"; Nakano Miku wore blue headphones, staring down at her phone, as if everything happening had nothing to do with her; Nakano Yotsuba, on the other hand, was energetically waving her hand, appearing very enthusiastic.
"Hmph, so it's another tutor here to brainwash us, isn't it?" Nino was the first to speak, her tone clearly hostile. "Let me tell you, don't think sweet talk will make us obedient."
"Nino! Didn't we agree..." Itsuki quickly tried to stop her, then apologized to Kyogumichi, "I'm sorry, she doesn't mean anything by it."
"It's alright." Kyogumichi smiled and shook his head, placing the test papers on the coffee table. "Today is just a simple test to understand everyone's basics, which will help in creating a tutoring plan."
Ichika suddenly leaned closer, her breath like orchids: "Okabara-san is so excellent, does he have a girlfriend?"
Her finger deliberately traced over Kyogumichi's folder, with a clear hint of teasing, revealing her cunning personality.
"Ichika!" Itsuki, blushing, pulled Ichika away, "Don't flirt with Okabara-san!"
Yotsuba enthusiastically brought over a chair: "Okabara-san, please sit! I'll go pour some tea!"
"No need to trouble..." Kyogumichi hadn't finished his sentence when he heard the sound of a cup breaking from the kitchen, followed by Yotsuba's apology.
Miku silently sighed, her eyes still fixed on her phone screen, though her headphones had slipped down slightly. When Kyogumichi looked over, he inadvertently saw that her phone screen displayed historical events, clearly not a game.
"Alright, let's start the test." Kyogumichi took out five test papers and distributed them to everyone. "You have ninety minutes. Don't be nervous, just do your best."
Nino took the test paper and immediately threw it on the table: "Who wants to do this boring stuff? I don't want to be judged by others."
"Nino!" Itsuki was almost in tears, "Didn't we agree to work hard?"
"I didn't agree to anything." Nino turned her face away, but seeing Itsuki's reddened eyes, she reluctantly picked up the pen.
After the test began, only the rustling sound of pen tips on paper remained in the living room.
Kyogumichi sat on the sofa, observing the five sisters, able to notice details without disturbing them as they took the test.
Itsuki bit her pen cap, diligently working through each problem; Yotsuba frowned, occasionally scratching her head; Ichika appeared to be taking the test, but her eyes wandered; Nino deliberately tapped her pen loudly, but was secretly copying Itsuki's answers; Miku's pen moved the fastest, but stopped when she encountered certain problems.
Ichika suddenly raised her hand: "Teacher, I don't know how to do this problem, can you teach me?" She deliberately pointed to the simplest multiple-choice question, her eyes twinkling with a smile.
As Kyogumichi walked over, Nino scoffed: "What's with the act? He can't even do such a simple problem, she's clearly just making an excuse."
Ichika stuck out her tongue, smiling.
Ninety minutes quickly passed, and Kyogumichi collected the test papers to grade them.
The results were even more disappointing than expected: Itsuki was diligent but had weak fundamentals; Yotsuba made a complete mess, not grasping many basic concepts; Ichika clearly didn't take it seriously, guessing all the multiple-choice questions; Nino copied half the answers, and the rest of the questions were blank; only Miku's score was somewhat salvageable, with history being close to excellent.
"It seems everyone has very severe subject imbalances." Kyogumichi said, looking at the report card.
"I told you, doing this kind of thing is useless." Nino threw her pen down, "Anyway, I don't want good grades."
"Don't say that!" Itsuki stood up excitedly, "Didn't we agree to work hard together?"
Nino turned her head, silent. Kyogumichi sighed, feeling a sense of gloom about the tutoring progress.
He collected the test papers and said seriously: "Starting next week, we'll have tutoring twice a week, focusing on humanities basics and math formulas. What do you all think?"
"I have no problem!" Itsuki immediately agreed, and Yotsuba nodded vigorously: "I'll do my best!" Miku took off her headphones and softly "hmm"-ed, which counted as an agreement.
Ichika smiled and waved her hand: "I don't have time to play house." Nino, even more direct, turned and walked towards the kitchen: "Who wants to participate in such a boring activity."
By the time Kyogumichi left the Nakano household, the sun had already set. He looked back at the closed door, as if he could still hear the commotion inside.
His phone vibrated gently in his pocket; it was a message from Itsuki.
"Okabara-san, I'm sorry, Ichika and Nino didn't mean to target you. In the past, Dad found us many teachers, but after seeing our grades, they all shook their heads and said, 'You're not cut out for studying,' that no matter how hard we tried, it would be useless, and that our dreams were impossible to achieve... Since then, Nino hasn't wanted to trust any outsiders, and Ichika just hides her sadness with jokes. But I believe in you, and I believe we can definitely do it!"
Looking at the text on the screen, Kyogumichi gazed in the direction of the Nakano home, silently making a resolution in his heart.
He brought up the system panel and looked at the newly added bond progress:
"Character: Nakano Itsuki"
"Bond Progress:15%"
"Character: Nakano Yotsuba"
"Bond Progress:13%"
"Character: Nakano Miku"
"Bond Progress:60%"
"Character: Nakano Ichika"
"Bond Progress:5%"
"Character: Nakano Nino"
"Bond Progress:3%"