"What are you looking at?"
Nino glared at him with sharp eyes, then said, "You can go out, and next time I'll do it by myself."
"Okay, thank you for your hard work."
"..."
As Haruto left the kitchen, Nino pursed her lips, with a slight smile at the corners, and her mood suddenly lifted a bit.
"That perverted Kuromori, hum hum..."
More than half an hour later, Nino came out of the kitchen, "Itsuki, Miku, stop sitting around and come help right away."
"I'm coming."
At those words, Itsuki's hair stood on end, and she immediately stood up and happily walked toward the kitchen.
As expected from a foodie.
Nino placed the dishes on the table, looked at Haruto, and said, "You don't need to go into the kitchen. This is yours, come here quickly."
Haruto: "😐"
Why did it feel like Nino was taking care of him?
Not long after, the four of them sat down.
Nino's cooking was served in separate dishes, including a vegetable salad, tempura, fried shrimp, green peppers, grilled fish, as well as some pickles and radishes.
There were many varieties, and it all looked quite rich.
The colorful dishes with a tempting aroma were enough to whet anyone's appetite.
In addition, rice and miso soup, essential for three meals a day, were served as well.
Haruto picked up his chopsticks and was about to eat when he suddenly felt three pairs of eyes staring at him intently.
He probably understood why. In this country, many people had a habit of saying "Ittadakimasu" before eating.
But actually, it was optional.
Some people said it, and some didn't.
As for the reason people said "Ittadakimasu" it likely expressed gratitude to others for the hard-earned food and politely reminded everyone that it was time to eat.
In more traditional families, sometimes the head of the family would move their chopsticks first, and only then would the other family members follow suit.
Haruto didn't have this habit when he was alone.
Compared to saying polite words, he valued practical actions more, like protecting the environment, caring for animals and plants, not wasting food, and so on.
However, out of respect, he also said it.
"Ittadakimasu."
"Hmm~"
Itsuki blinked, "I thought Kuromori-kun didn't have this habit."
Nino said, "It's okay. It doesn't matter whether you say it or not. Even if many people say it, they still waste food."
One thing that needed to be said was that Nino's food was truly delicious. It wasn't Haruto's first time eating her cooking. The first was the bento Nino made, and this was the second time.
But of course, freshly made food tasted better.
The only problem was the green peppers.
Haruto looked at the green peppers on his plate and felt dizzy.
People in this country preferred lighter food, and many green peppers were simply boiled in water. Additionally, the green peppers here were bitter.
The smell was truly unpleasant.
It's safe to say that many people have been resistant to green peppers since childhood. For example, Shin-chan in a certain anime or Nobita in another with a certain cat, they'd fight their mothers' logic just to avoid eating green peppers.
This wasn't just anime fiction but a real phenomenon.
Itsuki looked at Haruto and said seriously, "Kuromori-kun, please don't be picky about food!"
Nino bowed her head and said, "Green peppers don't taste good when made like this. If you don't like them, don't force yourself."
Saying that, she looked at Miku and raised her eyebrows, "Miku, don't push aside the green peppers and eat them all!"
Miku said weakly, "If Kuromori doesn't have to eat them, I don't want to either."
"Who said I wouldn't eat them?"
Haruto firmly said, "It's shameful to waste food. I'll eat them now."
Miku: "😐"
After lunch, after studying a bit more, Itsuki fell asleep, but Miku was even more direct, lying on the table and sleeping soundly!
In the end, only Nino stayed awake, clinging to her phone.
Haruto rubbed his forehead. He had told them to take a nap first, but they didn't listen.
One slept more soundly than the other.
Haruto sighed and looked at Nino sitting on the sofa.
Nino turned toward Haruto, flashing a sweet smile.
"Why, are you disappointed that I didn't fall asleep?"
'You're overthinking it. To destroy your whole life in just a few minutes, what kind of nonsense goes through your head to make you do something like that?'
Haruto propped his chin on one hand and looked at her, "Nino, don't you want to graduate?"
Nino took a deep breath.
Graduate school or whatever.
But considering her sisters' situation, if they all wanted to graduate successfully...
"I don't want to."
Nino lowered her head and continued playing on her phone. However, this time, she couldn't focus on her phone at all.
She was really upset.
She probably understood why Haruto asked that because when they chatted, she promised to participate in the study sessions, but in a moment of anger, she clearly didn't think that way. However, when her mind got heated, she couldn't control herself.
Haruto glanced at Nino, stood up, and said, "I'll head back today and come back tomorrow."
Nino had a tough exterior and cared about her pride, wanting to shoulder the consequences.
Clearly, she cared a lot but still pretended not to.
When they all passed the exams, Nino would be the only one who didn't.
If it really came to that point, this Nino would probably hide in her room alone and cry, right?
So, it's quite troublesome.
But as their tutor, Haruto couldn't just let this slide and earn money easily as he said before.
It would undoubtedly be irresponsible!
Plus, he'd actually put effort into this job.
He didn't have to worry about Yotsuba and Itsuki. Miku, on the other hand, accompanied him to the mall, using this as an opportunity to get her to study obediently.
It was purely a coincidence that Ichika was there, but he took advantage of the opportunity to bring her along.
Finally, there was Nino.
After several chance encounters, meeting the police, and an incident where her hair got stuck on a train, Nino had voluntarily joined in.
As a result, she still wanted to save face and bear the consequences.
A good hand played poorly.
If all five of the quintuplets made no progress, or if one of them failed, it would be embarrassing for him!
Could it be that without his "superpower" Haruto was powerless and had no choice but to ask Mr. Nakano to terminate the contract?
No matter how thick his skin was, he wouldn't be happy if he wasn't.
Haruto sighed, stopped, turned around, and looked at her, "Nino, let's meet tomorrow. Otherwise, in the end, it'll be tough being the only one left behind, right?"
Nino: "..."