Mash-Up: Anything for Money

Hearing Yotsuba's words, Hakuto instinctively gave a thumbs up.

He had to admit, she had a sharp eye. Throwing money at problems—well, that tactic worked on him before, and honestly, it still had its effects even now!

After all, money—well, the more the better. If there's money to be made, why not make it?

"Money is one of those things—the more, the better. But in a way, I'm not exactly short on it."

"True. After all, even if you went to work construction, you'd still make loads of money…"

Hakuto paused at that: "Construction? Moving bricks??"

You want someone with supercomputing powers like me to go carry bricks at a construction site?

Soon after, Nino came down, and it was Miku's turn to go up.

The five sisters went one after another, each being pulled aside by Nakano Maruo for a one-on-one conversation.

But the more he talked, the more Nakano Maruo felt like coughing up blood!

He didn't understand why! 

Every one of his daughters began the conversation with the exact same line: "Dad, you don't understand him at all!"

Nakano Maruo was about to explode! 

If not for the composure he'd built up over years in high-ranking positions, he would've been swearing up a storm!

The five sisters now stood in a neat line. Hakuto was still crouching behind them. If he got spotted, he could just activate his ability and escape.

Nakano Maruo took a deep breath, looked at his five daughters, and spoke.

"Since you've chosen to be honest with me about this, then it must mean you want to know my stance on the matter, right?"

The sisters nodded slightly.

"You really think I'd hand over all five of my daughters to one guy?"

This wasn't the apocalypse, nor was it some ancient royal court. Was he, Nakano Maruo, too poor to provide for them? 

Too weak to live?

Nakano Maruo had already spoken to each of his daughters. Every single one of them had responded with firm conviction.

And what was most maddening—they all gave the exact same answer, without exception!

Nakano Maruo shook his head. As a father, he respected his daughters' choices, but he also had to fulfill his role as a parent.

From his perspective, this was a road that should never be walked. 

To put it nicely, Hakuto was romantic. To put it bluntly, four of his five daughters were about to become mistresses!

Given the situation, how could a father possibly agree?

Nakano Maruo didn't want to dig into Hakuto's family background. Though the boy had swept away all his daughters, Maruo still genuinely saw him as a talented young man.

"I still don't understand why you're all willing to go this far for Hakuto."

"Hakuto is amazing, Dad. Can you find anyone better than him?"

"No matter how amazing he is, he's still just one person—not five…"

"Well, to me, it's not even close. I doubt you could line up fifty guys and find one who matches Hakuto…"

Nakano Maruo wondered what kind of spell his daughters had been put under.

He took a deep breath and continued speaking.

"You're all… serious about this?"

The five sisters nodded in unison, and even Hakuto behind them followed suit.

Nakano Maruo shook his head. He was in a dilemma—he had to respect his daughters' wishes but also view this issue as a responsible adult.

After thinking it through for a long while, Nakano Maruo decided to take a middle-ground approach.

Love isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Sure, it starts out that way, but as time passes, problems inevitably arise.

Even in a one-on-one relationship! Let alone one man with five girls!

With that in mind, Nakano Maruo raised his head and sighed.

"Alright then… I'll ask you again when you graduate from high school. If your answers are still the same by then, I won't oppose it anymore."

Two years. 

That was plenty of time for all kinds of things to happen. If they couldn't make it through two years peacefully, then forget a lifetime.

When the five sisters saw that Nakano Maruo had relented, they were momentarily stunned, then beamed with joy.

Regardless of the conditions attached, at least their father was no longer a roadblock!

From the sidelines, Hakuto smiled too. 

He understood exactly what Nakano Maruo was up to—he just wanted time to test whether their feelings were real. 

After all, a lifetime is a long, long time…

But Hakuto wasn't worried. Other than being a bit too romantic, every other quality he had was top-tier!

"Then it's settled. After we graduate, you won't oppose us anymore, Dad."

"Let's talk about it after high school graduation." Nakano Maruo shook his head. 

"Alright, you five go out first, and on your way, tell Hakuto at the door to come in."

Hearing this, the quintuplets instinctively turned to look behind them, only to see that the figure of Hakuto had long since disappeared.

Seeing this, the five sisters exchanged glances but said nothing. They silently left the office.

As it turned out, Hakuto was leaning against the wall near the office door.

The moment Yotsuba saw him, she instinctively leaped forward.

"Wow! Shiratori-sensei! Dad agreed!"

"I know, I was listening inside just now."

"I can't believe Dad actually agreed. I thought we'd really have to fight."

Seeing Yotsuba's optimistic expression, Itsuki beside her shook her head.

"Yotsuba, Dad hasn't completely agreed yet..."

"Eh? But didn't Dad say that after we graduate, he won't interfere anymore?"

"That's why—after graduation, who knows if Dad will change his mind. But at least we've come clean to him now."

Itsuki actually knew what kind of plan her father had in mind, but she also knew that Nakano Maruo's intentions were going to fail.

Hakuto shrugged. "I already said, as a father, he still respects his daughters' choices..."

"Alright, you all head out of the hospital first. I'll come find you later."

"We were supposed to go out and have fun today..." Nino grumbled.

"Then just take another day off tomorrow," Hakuto suggested.

"I'm afraid Tomori-san will come knocking on the door looking for me."

"No matter what, at least things are moving in a good direction now!"

...

Afterward, Hakuto chatted with Nakano Maruo about family matters.

Nakano Maruo also asked Hakuto a lot of things, like his future plans—whether he would pursue higher education or start a business.

Hakuto planned to go to college, and upon hearing that, Nakano Maruo subtly tried to steer him toward studying medicine.

After all, even though Nakano Maruo still resented Hakuto for seducing his five daughters, he did acknowledge Hakuto's excellence.

And given his daughters' relationship with him, Nakano Maruo naturally wanted Hakuto to study medicine.

But Hakuto only smiled without answering. 

What to study was a side issue—he just wanted to enjoy campus life a bit longer.

With that, Hakuto's journey to persuade his future father-in-law came to an end. Even if it wasn't a 100% success, it was still a fairly good outcome.

For the rest of the day, Hakuto accompanied the five sisters as they went shopping. 

Perhaps because they had received their father's approval, they were more excited than before.

"Woohoo! No fight~ no fight~"

For some reason, Yotsuba seemed particularly concerned about the possibility of a fight. No, it was more like she had feared Hakuto would beat her up from the beginning.

Even though their relationship had changed now, Yotsuba's attitude hadn't shifted in the slightest.

Because the five sisters were in such high spirits, Hakuto ended up even more exhausted than before.

He didn't know why, but he felt like he had become a dress-up doll, walking into one clothing store after another, sweeping through one jewelry store after another.

"This dress-up doll thing, I've wanted to do this for a long time!"

"Hakuto-sensei is wearing the same hairband as me right now."

"Couple bracelets!... It's just a shame there aren't any six-person versions..."

That kind of thing... is probably too niche...

"Then let's custom-order it. It's not even expensive."

According to incomplete statistics, Hakuto changed into over thirty outfits today, wore ten necklaces, five bracelets, and even changed out dozens of earrings!

What could Hakuto do? As long as his girlfriends were happy, he didn't mind.

"Why does Hakuto only have one ear pierced..." Miku complained.

Each of the five sisters had a different sense of aesthetics—or rather, they all wanted Hakuto to wear the earrings they picked.

At this point, Hakuto started to feel like getting that piercing in the first place was a mistake.

But there was nothing he could do about it. Was he supposed to get four more ear piercings?

No wait—if there are already four, shouldn't he get two more to make it six?

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