Kotoko Strikes Back! 

Chapter 6 – The Battle

" Kotoko, please don't go. Don’t leave me alone!" Naoki pulled Kotoko into his arms.

" But, I have to prove to you I can forget you." Kotoko sadly looked into Naoki's eyes.

" Forget about that kiss. Let me show you how passionate a kiss can be." Naoki assured and brought his face closer to Kotoko.

" Irie-kun…" Kotoko closed her eyes, waiting to receive the passionate kiss that Naoki has promised.

"Baka!"

" Huh?" Kotoko opened her eyes and saw Yuki's face instead of Naoki's.

" Yuki-kun? What are you doing in my dream?" Kotoko asked.

" Dream?" Yuki wanted to tear Kotoko into thousand and thousand of pieces if he was able to do so.  In the meantime, he would have to stick to his old method. That is by painting a distorted Kotoko on a piece of paper and then shedding it into pieces.

" It's already 10 a.m. and you are still in your bed dreaming? Mama asked you if you are ready for your BATTLE? Your ENEMY would arrive in about an hour's time."  Due to Mama's earlier persistent pleading, Yuki had to repeat every word that Mama has told him.

" Battle? Enemy?" Kotoko was getting confused again.

" Haiz~~" Yuki sighed.

" Cake? Reiko? Do these ring a bell?" Yuki hinted.

" KAAA!! I almost forgot! I need to bake a cake today!" Kotoko jumped up.

" She's definitely awake now." Yuki shook his head before walking away.

" It's already 10 a.m. and that baka is still not awake?"

Even though Naoki was holding on to the morning paper, his mind wasn’t in the content at all. In about an hour’s time, or perhaps even early, Reiko would arrive. Suddenly, loud footsteps could be heard from the stairways.

" Oh, she's finally awake."

Naoki smiled to himself before he started reading his newspaper though he had been holding it for the past 1 hour.

" Ohayou!" Kotoko rushed into the kitchen.

" Are you ready for the BATTLE?" Machiko asked excitedly.

" Hai!" Kotoko replied.

" Then, let's start! Ganbatte!" Machiko announced.

For the next one hour, Naoki could hear a lot of screaming and cranking of the utensils coming out from the kitchen.

" Ding~ dong ~"

" Kotoko." Michiko hissed when she heard the doorbell ringing.

" Eeekkk! Burnt again!" Kotoko was still busy with the melting of chocolate, looked like another failed attempt.

" Kotoko!" Michiko leaned closer to Kotoko.

" Hai!"

" ENEMY is here." Michiko informed.

" Reiko-chan is here? *ICK…my chocolate!!!!!!!!!!"

Another failed attempt.

" You remain here until the chocolate is done, don't worry, I've got tons of chocolate right here. See!"  Michiko opened the cupboard and inside the cupboard

Kotoko could see boxes and boxes of chocolate stacked neatly on the shelf.

" Obachan!" Kotoko was touched by Michiko's effort in helping her through this ‘battle’.

" I am sure your cake would be the best today! Now you continue trying while I make sure that girl won't get too close to Naoki. Ganbatte!"

" Hai! Eeekkk!!! It's burnt!"

Yep, yet another failed attempt.

" Konnichiwa!" Reiko greeted as Naoki opened the door.

" Konnichiwa." Naoki greeted back.

" Well, you didn't tell me what flavours you like so I made two. Strawberry and chocolate!" Reiko rose up two boxes of cakes and passed it to Naoki.

" Wow! It's so beautiful!" Everyone excluding Michiko exclaimed when Reiko opened the cover of the two boxes.

" You are really good in baking. I am sure it would taste good." Papa praised.

Machiko quickly went over the couch [meant for two people] and squeezed herself into the limited space between Reiko and Naoki, separately the two people.

" Are you sure you made these by yourself? I thought I have seen similar design in some cake shop." Machiko commented coldly.

" Mama! Don't be so rude!" Papa intervened. Machiko glared back. There was a short moment of silent.

" Well, why not we try it first." Sai tried to break the awkward situation.

" Good idea!" Papa seconded it.

Meanwhile, in the Irie’s kitchen…

" Eeekkk!! How can I forget about the time again?"

Kotoko turned off the stove and threw away the burnt chocolate before taking the 6th box of chocolate from the cupboard.

" What took that baka so long?"

Naoki started eating the second piece of cake that Reiko has offered him. The cakes were tasteless to him even though they were so delicious and Papa, Sai and Yuki kept having many serving despite getting several glares from Machiko.

" Eh…where's Kotoko-chan?" Reiko asked.

" Oh! Kotoko is baking a cake ESPECIALLY for her Naoki." Machiko informed.

" Oh, I see." Reiko replied while looking at Naoki, but Naoki just concentrated on the cake in this plate.

" I better go and see how Kotoko is doing."

Machiko was starting to get worried about the long waiting.

" Yuki! Come over here." Machiko called out.

" What?" Yuki reluctantly got up from his seat.

" Sit here while I am gone." Machiko instructed.

" No way! It's not comfortable to sit in the between." Yuki protested.

" I said SIT HERE!" Machiko glared at Yuki.

" Mama used to be so gentle in the past. It's all that baka's fault."

Yuki reluctantly squeezed himself into the seat between Naoki and Reiko after Machiko left for the kitchen.

" Urghh!" Kotoko sat on the ground, feeling very helpless and hungry because she hasn't had her breakfast.

" I can never do it! Irie-kun is right. I am really a baka!"

Kotoko was very disappointed with herself for not even manage to melt the chocolates.

" Kotoko!" Machiko rushed towards Kotoko.

" Obachan…I don't think I can fight the battle."

" Why?" Machiko asked, feeling sorry for Kotoko.

" See." Kotoko pointed at the cupboard, it's already empty.

" I've burnt all the chocolate!" Kotoko wanted to cry out.

" Don't worry, we don't need any chocolate when we have so much Kotoko's love." Machiko comforted.

" We will bake a cake using only KOTOKO'S LOVE FOR NAOKI!" Machiko continued.

" Obachan…" A glisten of hope shone into Kotoko’s heart.

One hour later…

" Done!" Kotoko retrieved out a freshly baked ‘sponge cake’ from the oven.

" It's a cake with Kotoko's love for Naoki! Hooray!" Kotoko shouted out happily.

" Ahh…" Machiko didn't have the heart to tell Kotoko that a cake was supposed to be round in shape, at least for a basic cake like a sponge cake.

" Well, yes. Let's bring it out!" Machiko suggested.

" Hai!" Happily, Kotoko put the cake on a big plate and brought it out to the living room.

" What?" Everyone couldn't believe that the thing they saw on the tray is actually called a cake.

" Irie-kun! Have a piece." Kotoko quickly cut out one piece of the cake and passed it to Naoki.

" No thanks, I am full." Naoki rejected and got up from his seat, he was feeling a little disappointed at Kotoko’s skill.

" Naoki! You should at least taste it!" Machiko protested.

" I don't want to end up with a bad stomach." Naoki replied.

" Reiko, didn't you said you want to borrow some CD from me? Let's go up." Naoki continued before walking away.

" Hai!" Reiko quickly got up from her seat and follows behind Naoki.

" Irie-kun…that was a cake made using my love for you." Kotoko mumbled softly to herself, she was feeling very depress over Naoki’s reaction.

" Don't worry, Kotoko, we will eat it." Machiko said.

" Huh?" The rest of the members (including Sai) started staring at Machiko.

" It's okay. I know this thing is not edible. I am tired, I need to go back to my room." Kotoko replied sadly.

" Phew!!"

Kotoko was standing outside Naoki's room listening to the laughter coming out from the room.

" Maybe they belong to each other. Maybe I should go."

" Irie-kun, I love you." Kotoko whispered softly outside Naoki’s room before going into her room.

Naoki stopped laughing.

" What happen?" Reiko asked.

" Nothing." Naoki replied.

" Baka! I love you too."

Chapter 7 – The Baka and The Tensai

Dear Diary,

Finally, that baka is gone! But her father is still living with us. Anyway, it's okay since he is always not in the house.

However, dinner seemed so quiet without her…only niichan and I were having dinner.

Yuki drew out a happy face of himself and a Naoki with very sad statement.

" …Don’t worry about me, I will be fine. I will come back after I have sorted out my feelings for Irie-kun. Gomen nasai…Kotoko."

Sai crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it into the dustbin.

" What is she trying to do? Didn't I already say ‘no’?"

Sai was angry about Kotoko’s action and yet, he was getting more worries rather than anger.

" Where would she be? She doesn't carry much money."

" Kotoko…" Machiko stared hard at the newly taken photos of Kotoko and Naoki (she kept it a secret so that Naoki would not confiscate them again) while blowing her nose. She had been crying after discovering Kotoko hadn’t been back after going out during one afternoon. It was Naoki who suggested checking out Kotoko's room and discovered that all her clothing were gone.

" Don't cry." Papa comforted. He was feeling very sad too.

" I should have noticed it earlier when I saw her carrying such a big bag. What was I doing?"

Naoki kept turning and tossing about on his bed, blaming himself for not stopping Kotoko.

" I've underestimated her. I am such a baka!"

That was the first time Naoki called himself a baka.

Kotoko was unpacking her stuff in the room when someone knocked on the door.

" Konbawa!" Mrs. Kurozawa greeted.

" Konbawa!" Kotoko greeted back.

" I hope you are comfortable staying in this room." Mrs. Kurozawa asked.

" It's beautiful. I don't think I can afford to rent such a beautiful room if you had not offered me this job." Kotoko smiled.

" This room used to be my daughter's, but she married a gaijin and migrated to Canada." Mrs. Kurozawa explained, frowning a little.

" Why? You did not approve of their marriage?" Kotoko asked.

" Hmm…it had been so long. Initially, I had strongly opposed to their marriage because I wanted her to marry a Japanese. However, she was just so madly in love that that guy. In the end, I was touched by their love and persistence, and I gave in."  Mrs. Kurozawa continued.

" Hmmm…just like me…"

Kotoko started blushing and noticed Mrs. Kurozawa starring at her unreadable statement.

" Wow, that's so sweet of you to do that." Kotoko exclaimed.

" How good it would be if Irie-kun would be touched by my love for him. Haiz~~ he already has a Reiko."

" Well, I just hope my son would not bring a gaijin back when he returns from America." Mrs. Kurozawa joked.

" So, you have not tell me about my job scope." Kotoko decided to change topic.

" Hmm…in fact, nothing much. All you need to do is to keep the place clean. Well, you can use the kitchen and the facilities in this apartment. I just needed someone to look after it since now we don't live here anymore." Mrs. Kurozawa replied.

" Why don't you just sell it off?" Kotoko asked again.

" That's because this was the last present my husband gave me before he passed away, so I want to keep it. We used to stay here for a period of time, but since both my children are not in Japan, I started to feel lonely, so I decided to move back to my old house where all my siblings are living close by, then I won't be feeling too lonely." Mrs. Kurozawa explained.

" But...why me?" Kotoko asked.

" Why you? Hmmm…perhaps it's fated. When you first stepped into my office, I found myself liking you.

That's why I had purposely raised the rental so that you would give up renting the other room."

Mrs. Kurozawa started to giggle while she recalled how the comical statement on Kotoko's face when she had lied to Kotoko about the actual rental amount of the room that Kotoko wanted to rent initially.

" Huh?" Kotoko's eyes turned dotted, not knowing how to respond. Upon seeing her reaction,

" I've been looking for someone suitable to look after this house during the past few years, but I just couldn't find myself trusting those people who wanted to rent it. But when I saw you during that day, you gave me a sense of security. I don't know why. I had a feeling that I could leave my apartment in your care."

Mrs. Kurozawa explained.

" Arigatou Gozaimasu." Kotoko bowed to show her appreciation. Nobody had ever said to her about having ‘sense of security’ in her.

" It's nothing. Okay, I better leave you alone to unpack you stuff. Here are your keys." Mrs. Kurozawa passed the keys to Kotoko before making her move.

" Hoosh! My first day without Irie-kun!"

Kotoko stepped out of the apartment with an empty stomach because she had burnt the only two eggs found in the fridge.

" I must get myself another job by today, a job where I could settle all my meals there." Kotoko decided.

A while later...

" You may start work tomorrow.”  The manager informed.

" Hai." Kotoko stepped out of the office and proceeded to the exit of the fast food restaurant.

" Hahaha…oh Kotoko…you are such a tensai!"

That was the first time Kotoko called herself a tensai.

To be continued....