The story
starts at 2 years ago when it was the first day of
senior high school. Aihara Kotoko is running along
the corridor with her friends Junko and Satomi along
the corridor because they are late for the opening
ceremony. Just then, in Kotoko's haste, she bumps
into Irie Naoki and their lips meet. Kotoko looks up
in embarrassment. She feels attracted to the handsome
Naoki and apologises to him about her rashness.
However, Naoki puts on a disgusted look and remarks
that Kotoko's kiss is very dirty. He then walks away
but Kotoko is unaffected by his remarks and likes him
even more.
At the
opening ceremony, Naoki represents the whole cohort
of Year 1s to make a speech while Kotoko looks on
with admiration. Meanwhile, the scene shifts to
Kotoko flipping the pages of her photo album which is
full of Naoki's photographs. She then relates how
great Naoki is. In the history of their high school,
Naoki is the first person who has an IQ of 200. His
results are often at the top of the cohort and
he's equally good in sports.
On her 18th
birthday, Kotoko decides to give Naoki a letter so as
to express her feelings for him. However, Naoki
rejects the letter and insults Kotoko by saying that
he doesn't like girls who are not clever. In the
meantime, Naoki's classmate, Matsumoto Reiko looks on
happily at what's happening. Kotoko is stumped by
Naoki's reaction. Junko and Satomi tries to convince
Kotoko that Naoki is not such a great catch after all
but Kotoko keeps finding excuses for Naoki's
behaviour towards her.
Reiko
asks Naoki why he didn't accept Kotoko's letter. He
replies with an indignant answer of he wasn't
interested in Kotoko. Just then, Kotoko spots Naoki
and Reiko together and this makes her feel more
terrible.
Kotoko
goes home feeling unhappy about her rejection by
Naoki. Just then, she discovered that her house is
burning down. When she finds her father unscathed,
the two hug and cry bitterly about the loss of the
house which they moved in only three days ago. Having
nowhere to go, Kotoko and her father can only go to
the restaurant that her father owns. Just then, her
dad's high school classmate Machiko comes looking for
her dad and wants him to move in with Kotoko to her
house.
Kotoko
comes to school the next day to find her friend, Kin-chan
asking for donations on her behalf. She feels
embarrassed by this and hangs her head in shame. When
Naoki walks past, Kin-chan questions Naoki why he has
made Kotoko unhappy. Naoki walks away without a word
while Reiko tries to donate to Kotoko. Kotoko stops
her from doing this because she does not appreciate
Reiko's gesture. Reiko then says that by not donating
to Kotoko, she will have nothing to do with the bad
luck that Kotoko is experiencing.
Kotoko
and her dad comes to Machiko's place to stay at her
and her husband's request. Actually, Machiko and her
husband are both high school friends of Kotoko's
father and Machiko addresses Kotoko's dad as Shin-chan.
When Machiko's elder son comes home, Kotoko is
shocked to see Naoki and realises that she is going
to stay with Naoki under the same roof.
Kotoko
occupies Yuki's room (Naoki's younger brother) and
this makes Yuki extremely unhappy. Naoki sees Kotoko
laughing to herself and tells Kotoko that he dislikes
her very much.
Kotoko
goes to school with Naoki the next day but Naoki
seems to dislike the sight of Kotoko. He makes Kotoko
stay at least 2 metres away from him and tells Kotoko
that she is stupid. However, this does not deter
Kotoko in getting close to Naoki.
At the
train station, Kotoko is harrassed by some gangsters
but Naoki walks away without helping Kotoko. Kotoko
kicks the gangsters in frustration while Kin-chan
tries to fight off the gangsters alone.
Kotoko
asks Naoki why he didn't save her at the train
station but he rebukes by saying that there was no
need to save somebody like her. Infuriated by Naoki's
remarks, Kotoko boasts that she will be in the top
100 even though she's from the 'F" class.
Kotoko
regrets promising Naoki that she will get into the
top 100 because she's not somebody who has studied
hard. She then finds out from Machiko that Naoki is
such a genius that he never studies. When Machiko
offers to get Naoki to help her, Kotoko declines.
The next
day, Kotoko discovers one of Naoki's childhood
pictures in which he was dressed as a girl. She
threatens to disclose the picture to the whole school
and wants Naoki to teach her in her studies.
When
Naoki gets down to coaching Kotoko, he finds that she
is very weak and is exasperated by her. Kotoko then
becomes extremely hardworking to amazement of those
around her. However, Naoki si extremely exhausted
after coaching Kotoko for many days. Machiko shoots a
picture of Kotoko and Naoki when they both fall
asleep together. Machiko then gives the picture to
Kotoko, telling her that it is a lucky charm for her.
When the
results come out, Naoki as usual gets the top spot
while Kotoko gets the 100th place. However, as she is
from the 'F" class, her name is omitted from the
board. Kotoko is extremely disheartened and drops the
photo that Machiko gave her.
The photo
of Kotoko and Naoki is put on the school's notice
board and rumours say that Kotoko and Naoki are an
item. Kotoko is questioned by her friends while Reiko
persistenly asks Naoki what has happened....
-Erin
Lee
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