Bodies, gasps, screams, and occasional shrieks from the lady guests who came to Rose Cafe to enjoy the delectable coffee, delicious pastries, and the mouth-watering sight of a waiter that is Yuuji filled the premise from the moment it opened until afternoon. 

 

The moment they saw Yuuji, their eyes immediately sparkled in awe and excitement, and many started taking photos of him and posting them on their social media. Some even tried their luck to ask him for a photo, which he refused. However, it didn’t stop them from secretly taking his pictures and taking selfies with Yuuji in the background. 

 

The pictures they shared in their social media blew up instantly, with many wondering if the extremely gorgeous man in the picture was an actor they’ve never seen. And those who were in the area couldn’t help but come to Rose Cafe to see him for themselves. 

 

As a result, the cafe was packed virtually from the moment they opened. And soon after, a long line had formed outside the cafe. 

 

At first glance, many passersby would’ve guessed that the line, which was almost completely filled by women, was a line for a cosmetic or fashion event. Only to find out that it was a line to a cafe. 

 

Aika and her staff had expected this to happen. But they were still overwhelmed regardless of the sheer number of guests. Thankfully, Yuuji was there. Although he was the source of the massive crowd, he was also the one who had done the most untiringly, getting orders after orders and managing the floor flawlessly. 

 

Things would get done without the others even realizing it while they’re focused on their tasks. All they would feel was how smooth everything was going even though there’s this many customers flooding the cafe. 

 

They soon sold out their pastries. Even with the stock they had ready, it didn’t even last them until an hour past lunch time. And to an extent, it was… also Yuuji’s fault. 

 

Yuuji would give his recommendations when he was asked while he was taking orders, just like any good waiter. But to his shock, many of the girls would buy everything that came out of his lips, even if he recommended six to seven different pastries for their choice of drinks. 

 

And on that day, Aika learned her lesson. 

 

She can’t simply bring out her greatest weapon so easily. She’d need to prepare first and arrange his shift days in advance so she could prepare her stock of ingredients and perhaps even add the number of staff she has currently. 

 

The number of customers that came today was double the number of customers that came the first time he worked here. And next time… it might even double once more. So, she would need to be extra prepared. 

 

With the pastries sold out and his time to tutor the quintuplets approaching, Yuuji excused himself to Aika and left stealthily from the rear exit, leaving the battlefields to his comrade in arms, who still hadn’t realized he had left. 

 

He apologized to all of them in his mind… and promised to treat them to a japanese barbecue or something later on.

 

With a box in hand, filled with 5 different cakes and pastries he had bought and set aside from the cafe in advance, Yuuji made his way to the quintuplet’s apartment.

 

Tsubakihara Yuuji: “Hey, Yotsuba. I’ve arrived in the lobby.”

 

Nakano Yotsuba: “Hey Yuuji~!! Roger that! I’ll be there in a sec!!! (≧∇≦)/”

 

Yuuji waited in the lobby of the apartment, standing near the wall in front of the elevators. 

 

Everytime an elevator rang and opened its doors, Yuuji couldn’t help but look up from his phone to see if it was Yotsuba. 

 

It happened a few times, and the ones who came out predominantly families or teens dressed for outings. And when they saw Yuuji, no matter if they were male or female, they would always take a second look as they walked past him as he returned his gaze to his phone.

 

Soon, he heard a familiar bright and excited voice greet him the moment the elevator door opened.

 

“Yuuji~!!! Welcome~!!!”

 

He looked up to see Yotsuba, smiling ever so brightly and her eyes curving into crescents as she ran up to him. 

 

She waved her hand energetically as she ran, causing her chest to visibly bounce up and down despite wearing a loose, white, long-sleeved cotton blouse. Her green, bunny ribbon and long, black and gray skirt also swayed wildly as she approached him with visible excitement and energy. 

 

“Hey, Yotsuba. You seemed so excited to learn, huh? Oh, by the way, I brought cakes from my aunt’s cafe. It’ll be you girls’ rewards if you do well today!”

 

Yotsuba looked at him in a daze for a moment and began staring him from top to bottom. 

 

It was her first time seeing Yuuji in casual clothing and… he looked so amazing! And also, her eyes naturally gravitated towards the beautiful white necklace he wore around his neck. 

 

She couldn’t see the jewel since it was inside his shirt, but the chain was still enough to bring attention to his neck and clavicle. 

 

And for some reason… it looked mouthwatering. 

 

“Heh, you’re drooling already huh? But you can’t eat them if you don’t do well later, so you should focus and do your best!”

 

“E-Eh?! A-Ah, yes!!! I-I’ll do my best!”

 

Flustered, Yotsuba’s face began to blush redly as she quickly snapped out of her daze and shook away those dirty thoughts from her mind.

 

“L-Let’s go to our unit now!”

 

“??? Sure.”

 

Yotsuba quickly turned around and ran towards the elevator in a hurry. It was as if running away from something. 

 

It was a bit confusing, but Yuuji simply brushed it off and followed after her. 

 

The elevator arrived fairly quickly and they immediately headed to the floor of the Nakano residence. 

 

Arriving in front of their unit, Yotsuba opened the door in excitement and announced their arrival loudly. 

 

“Girls~!!! Yuuji’s here~!!!”

 

“Please excuse me… Eh?”

 

Yuuji followed Yotsuba and entered the apartment unit. But, he quickly froze in place at the foyer when he saw the absolute state of the apartment right now…

 

From where he was, he could see Ichika laying on the couch, dressed only in a tank top and hot pants, reading fashion magazines. 

 

Nina was playing with her phone while sitting on the floor and leaning against the couch. 

 

Miku was reading manga with her headphones on. And Itsuki was snacking on some chips while watching TV lazily. 

 

There was no semblance of them being ready to study… 

 

The only thing he could see was a set of stationery, textbooks, and notebooks on the coffee table which Yuuji recognized to belong to Yotsuba. 

 

The moment Yotsuba made her announcement, the girls all looked up towards the entrance and similarly froze when they saw Yuuji. 

 

““...””

 

An awkward silence filled the room as Yuuji couldn't help but look at all of them in shock. 

 

He… He truly didn’t expect the ever so popular quintuplets to be this… sloppy in their home. 

 

“Ah~ Yuu-kun~ You finally came~!”

 

Ichika closed her magazine with a clap and sat up, greeting him with a bright smile. 

 

“You’re finally here! We were tired of waiting, you know? I had plenty of questions I wanna ask yesterday, but you didn’t come!”

 

“...Welcome.”

 

The girls all “greeted” him in their own unique way… Ichika with her “bright”, flirty greeting. Nino being tsundere. Miku greeting him with the softest voice. 

 

And Itsuki who… didn’t actually greet him, but instead was busy cleaning up the crumbs from her potato chips and putting them away. 

 

Yuuji just smiled helplessly and shook his head. 

 

“Hey girls. I’m sorry for canceling so suddenly yesterday. I had something important that came up suddenly.”

 

“Fufu~ You don’t need to mind something so small~”

 

Ichika waved her hand nonchalantly. In fact, she was relieved that Yuuji didn’t come yesterday, since she was still quite tired from the previous session. 

 

“Oh~? What’s that~?”

 

Ichika pointed at the box in his hand as her eyes began to sparkle. It was a box from Rose Cafe. She couldn’t be mistaken. After all, it was an extremely famous cafe that became even more popular recently. 

 

“Ah, i brought you girls some cakes from my aunt’s cafe.”

 

“Eh?! Your aunt? So your aunt owns Rose cafe?!”

 

Nino exclaimed in surprise as the girls, aside from Yotsuba, all looked at him in shock. 

 

“Hm? Yes. Yotsuba, have you never told them?”

 

“A-Ah, A-Ahahaha… Well, it never came up in conversations so…”

 

Yotsuba rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed. 

 

“Wow~! That’s amazing~ That means, whenever we want some pastries or cakes from Rose, we can just ask you to save some for us, right~? Hehe~ And don’t worry, we’ll of course pay in full~”

 

The quintuplets could rarely enjoy the delicious pastries, cakes, and drinks from Rose Cafe not due to its price. The cafe was actually very affordable considering its quality. 

 

The most difficult part was actually getting there before everything was sold out. 

 

The cafe was always full during the weekends, especially recently. And during weekdays, they could only come after school. By then, their favorites, which were also the most popular items, would’ve been sold out. 

 

“Well, I don’t mind. I won’t promise anything, though. After all, I can only ask my aunt for a favor.”

 

“Yaay~ Thank you, Yuuji~!”

 

“I’ll go grab the plates!”

 

“I-I’ll make some tea.”

 

Itsuki and Miku quickly stood up from their seats. But as they were about to head to the kitchen, they were stopped by Yuuji.

“Ah, before you go.”

 

The two stopped and turned towards him, confused. 

 

“I did bring this cake for you girls… But! You guys can only eat it if you finish your homeworks and pass a small quiz I’ll be giving you at the end of our session!!!”

 

The girls all froze in shock as Yuuji suddenly dropped the bomb. 

 

They all looked at him with despair, fear, and nervousness in their eyes as Yuuji smiled widely. 

 

“Well then, shall we start our session?”

At this moment… The quintuplets thought the same thing.

 

He’s a demon… 

 

And thus, they spent the next four hours toiling on their studies under the watch of the demon king.

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

Silence filled the Nakano residence as Yuuji quietly checked the quiz papers the quintuplets had done. 

 

Although there was still a big room for improvement, he was quite satisfied with the improvements they’ve made in all their subjects. 

 

On all the subjects, Ichika obtained an average score of 68/100, Nino obtained 65/100, Miku 76/100, Yotsuba 65/100, and Itsuki 70/100. 

 

Albeit barely, they all miraculously passed. And it was a massive improvement from their previous scores, which were all below 40. 

 

He let out a soft sigh, and as he was about to congratulate them, he looked up and saw them all looking at him. 

 

“H-How did we do?”

 

Nino asked with her lips pursed, her eyes looking at him sharply, filled with nervousness. 

 

The others were no better with their nervousness. Even the normally nonchalant Ichika seemed anxious about her score. 

 

No matter how much they dislike studying, no one would be happy if the results of their hard work were not up to their expectations. And they worked very hard. 

 

Although they knew they wouldn’t receive a high score, they all hoped they would at least pass the quiz. 

 

And to their delight, Yuuji smiled and announced their scores.

 

“Congratulations. Thanks to all of your hard work, everyone passes!!! And as your reward, we’ll be celebrating with cakes!!!”

 

““Yaaaay~!!!””

 

The girls celebrated as Yuuji went and prepared some tea and plated the cakes he brought for them to enjoy. 

 

And they enjoyed it immensely. 

 

Soon after the celebration, Yuuji took his leave and Yotsuba accompanied him to the lobby. 

 

“Alright, I’m good from here. Thank you for walking me down.”

 

“N-No, it’s fine! We should be the one thanking you for helping us study.”

 

Yotsuba quickly waved her hands and laughed shyly, her cheeks tinted with red. 

 

“After you began teaching us, I had a much better time while studying, although it’s still very tough… My sisters were also beginning to not hate it so much! So… Thank you!”

She bowed her head, expressing just how grateful she was for his help. 

 

A few days ago, she wouldn’t have imagined that she and her sisters could get a mark even higher than a 40. 

 

But now… they could pass a test, although it’s only a quiz Yuuji made.

 

It gave them the confidence and the drive to continue improving and finally see hope in themselves!

 

“You’re very welcome. You girls are improving tremendously, even more than I expected, all thanks to your hard work. And if you keep improving at this rate, I’m confident that you’ll be able to easily pass the upcoming tests.”

 

Her eyes shined brightly and Yotsuba nodded in excitement.

 

“Uhn! I’ll do my best!”

 

Yuuji responded with a smile and a nod. 

 

“Mm. Then, I’ll be going now. I’ll see you in monday.”

 

“Yes~! Bye bye~ And thank you, once again!!!”

 

Yuuji turned around and began making his way back home as he waved his hands back at Yotsuba. 

 

And as he began walking further and further away, Yotsuba continued to watch him with moist eyes and blushing cheeks. 

 

She placed her hands on her chest, and blushed even more when she realized just how much her heart was beating. 

 

She stood there, looking at the direction where he left in silence. And it was only after a night wind blew past her that she snapped out of her daze and quickly went inside. 

 

That night, the wind that touched her skin felt much colder than usual, even though it was still spring.