Yoichi stood before the penthouse door, keycard in hand, frozen in a moment of tactical analysis. He ran his thumb over the card's glossy surface, feeling the slight ridges of the embedded chip. His storm-gray eyes narrowed.
Strategic evaluation required. Two options present themselves.
He slipped the card halfway toward the scanner, then paused. His mind raced through potential scenarios like a chess player seeing twelve moves ahead.
Option A: Use the keycard. Enter without warning.
His mind conjured the likely outcome with startling clarity:
A girl wrapped in nothing but a towel, eyes widening in horror, mouth opening to scream. Security guards charging in. Police sirens wailing. His own bored expression as he sat handcuffed in a detention room.
A woman on the street pointing him out to her child: "That's what happens when you don't study hard, Masao. You become a pervert who breaks into girls' apartments."
He slid the keycard back into his pocket.
Option B: Announce presence. Gain tactical advantage of preparation.
His finger pressed the doorbell.
Ding. Dong.
The melodic chime faded into silence. One second passed. Two. Three.
A muffled thump came from the other side of the door, followed by the sound of quick footsteps. Then multiple female voices talking over each other in a rising cacophony.
"I'll get it! Everyone stay back. I need to see what kind of delinquent father sent to live with us."
"No fair, Nino! I want to meet him first! Do you think he brought food? I'm starving after practice!"
"Can we all just calm down for two seconds? We can't just ambush the poor guy at the door. Let's at least try to look like normal human beings."
"Ichika is correct. We must present ourselves with dignity. He is our brother after all, we need to make a good impression."
"Step-brother. With our luck, he's some fat, ugly otaku slob who smells like cup noodles and his mom's basement. I'm setting ground rules the second he walks in."
Yoichi's eyebrow arched slightly, the only indication that he'd registered the insult. His expression remained neutral, almost bored, as he continued to listen to the chaos unfolding behind the door.
The argument raged, a chaotic symphony of accusation and denial, until a fifth voice spoke with perfect clarity.
"...I wonder if he can hear us."
The cacophony stopped instantly. The silence that followed was so complete that Yoichi could almost hear the mental gears grinding to a halt in five identical heads.
After several seconds of painful silence, a soft thud sounded against the door, as if someone had pressed their face directly against it.
"Umm... hello? Person outside?" The bubbly voice asked hesitantly. "Can you... hear what we're saying?"
"Yup."
He paused, allowing a moment for the horror to sink in. The corner of his mouth twitched upward in the ghost of a smile.
"Every word. Especially the part about the cup noodles."
The resulting explosion of sound was immediate and chaotic.
"You idiot!"
"I told you he could hear!"
"This is your fault, Nino!"
"Why is it always MY fault?"
"Because you're always TALKING!"
The door suddenly flew open with such force that it slammed against the wall. Five girls tumbled forward in a tangle of limbs and identical faces.
At the front stood a girl with waist-length pink hair and butterfly ribbons, her face flushed crimson with mortification and rage. Her hands were balled into fists at her sides, and she looked ready to either scream or throw a punch.
Behind her, a girl with short hair and an oversized green ribbon peered around, her blue eyes wide with curiosity rather than embarrassment. Her mouth formed a perfect 'O' of surprise.
To the right, a girl with shoulder-length hair and a pristine blue blazer adjusted her glasses with a shaking hand. Her spine was ramrod straight, but her face betrayed her horror at the social disaster unfolding.
Partially hidden behind the others, a girl with headphones around her neck watched silently, her expression guarded but observant. Her bangs covered one eye as she studied Yoichi with quiet intensity.
Leaning casually against the doorframe was the fifth sister, her short hair framing a face that quickly transitioned from surprise to interest.
For a moment, no one spoke. The ribbon-wearing girl was the first to truly look at him, her eyes widening further as she took in his height, his lean build, his handsome face.
"Woah..." she breathed, her voice filled with innocent awe.
The short-haired sister recovered next. A slow, sly smile spread across her face as she straightened up and deliberately looked Yoichi up and down, from his scuffed boots to his storm-gray eyes.
"Well, well..." she purred, loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Nino. About that 'fat, ugly otaku slob' comment..."
Nino stood frozen, her mouth slightly open, her face turning an even deeper shade of red that clashed violently with her pink hair and ribbons.
"You—" She sputtered, pointing an accusatory finger at Yoichi. "You weren't supposed to hear that!"
"Clearly." Yoichi shifted his duffel bag to his other shoulder. "If it helps, I don't smell like cup noodles. Today, at least."
Nino's face contorted through five distinct emotions in the span of seconds.
The girl with the glasses stepped forward, her back impossibly straight. "Please accept our apologies for this unprofessional welcome. I am Itsuki Nakano, and we are—"
"The quintuplets," Yoichi finished for her, his eyes scanning each face with clinical detachment. "Five identical copies with surface-level variations. Fascinating."
Itsuki blinked rapidly, thrown off her prepared script. "Yes, well... We are the Nakano quintuplets, and—"
"And now that introductions are over," Ichika cut in smoothly, pushing past her flustered sisters. "Why don't we let our brother actually come inside? Unless the plan was to interrogate him in the hallway."
She stepped back with a sweeping gesture, her smile never wavering. "Welcome to our humble abode, Yoichi Tanigawa. Please ignore my sister's... colorful first impression."
"I didn't know!" Nino protested, finally finding her voice. "How was I supposed to know he'd be—" She caught herself, cheeks flaming again.
"Tall? Handsome? Not smelly?" Ichika supplied helpfully, her eyes dancing with mischief.
Yoichi stepped through the doorway. The air inside was warmer, thick with the scents of five different floral shampoos and the faint, sweet smell of something baking. The girls parted before him like a reluctant sea.
"For the record," he said without looking at any of them, "I'm not your brother."
Five pairs of identical blue eyes blinked in confusion.
"But Father said—" Itsuki began.
"Your father," Yoichi corrected, his tone cooling several degrees, "sent me to live here because my mother died and he's legally obligated to house me somewhere."
He dropped his duffel bag on the spotless marble floor with a dull thud. "I'm not here by choice."
The silence that followed was heavy and awkward. The quintuplets exchanged glances, some confused, some suspicious.
Yotsuba broke the tension, stepping forward with a bright, determined smile. "Well, we're happy to have you anyway! I'm Yotsuba! The energetic one! That's Ichika, the oldest, and Nino, who's actually super nice once you get to know her, and Miku who's quiet, and Itsuki who's—"
"I can introduce myself, thank you," Itsuki adjusted her glasses. "As I was saying, I am Itsuki Nakano. I hope we can create a productive environment despite these... unusual circumstances."
Nino crossed her arms, her initial embarrassment hardening into defiance. "Just because you're attractive doesn't mean I trust you. This is our home, and we have rules."
"Rules?" Yoichi raised an eyebrow. "Such as?"
"Such as knocking before entering," Miku spoke for the first time. "And not judging people before you know them." Her eyes flicked briefly to Nino.
Ichika clapped her hands together. "Well! This is going fantastically already. Why don't we show Yoichi to his room and let him settle in? I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to establish the house rules over dinner."
Yoichi picked up his bag again, his expression unreadable. "Lead the way."
As Ichika turned to guide him, Nino stepped directly into his path, her eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.
"One last thing," she said, her voice low and intense. "Don't think for a second that just because our father dumped you here, you're part of this family. You're a guest. A temporary problem. Nothing more."
Yoichi looked down at her, his storm-gray eyes meeting her fiery blue ones without flinching.
"Trust me," he replied, his voice so soft only she could hear it. "The feeling is mutual."
Their staring contest might have continued indefinitely if Yotsuba hadn't bounced between them, grabbing Yoichi's free arm with surprising strength.
"I'll show you around! Your room is upstairs and it has an amazing view and there's a bathroom with a super huge tub that fits all of us at once but not that you'd be in there with us that would be weird I just mean it's really big and—"
As Yotsuba dragged him away, Yoichi caught a glimpse of Miku, standing back from the chaos. Unlike her sisters, she wasn't speaking or moving. She was watching.
Their eyes met for a brief moment, and Yoichi had the unsettling feeling that of all the quintuplets, she might be the most dangerous one.
Interesting. Five identical faces, five completely different challenges.