Volume
12:
Kotoko is
dreaming about how her life as a teacher will turned
out. The students will love and respect her...that is
some students...some will be jealous of her. Even the
other teachers will respect and think of her as
wonderful with the students. On the last day, her
students will cry because she will be leaving and
they'll miss her......
Naoki is
wondering why Kotoko is crying. Kotoko tells him
nothing but he tells her that he knows what she's
thinking about just by looking at her face. He tells
her since today she is going to start teaching, she
doesn't have time to think about such things and he
tells her not to be late for the first day. Kotoko
insulted says, she knows and after Naoki leaves the
room, she thinks that when she shows to Naoki her
ability as a teacher he'll be shocked....
Over the
breakfast table, Yuki warns Kotoko not to tell people
that they are living under the same roof and Kotoko
retorts that she won't do such things but Yuki might
go and tell people that that teacher is his sister-in-law...Yuki
says impossible and even if he is beaten he won't say
it..;;^^ then Kotoko blushes and Yuki asks why and
she said that Naoki had said something like that to
her before...;;^^
In school,
I mean school as in the school Kotoko is going to
teach in, the teachers are shocked to see her as she
is one of the worst students and she had become a
teacher...;;^^ Then the teachers spoke among
themselves saying that it's must be a joke etc...;;^^
Kotoko is insulted. Then the teachers said that in
the new teachers list there's no "Aihara"
name....Kotoko smugly tells them that he name is no
longer "Aihara" but she is married last
year and her name is now "Irie Kotoko" The
teachers are shocked and asked her if she and "that
genius".....impossible.....Kotoko then replies,
Yes her husband is Irie Naoki.
Kotoko is
assigned to 1st level A Class. As she was writing her
name on the board she spelt Irie wrongly and the
students makes fun of her. ;;^^ She then takes the
class roll and she calls out, "Irie Yuki"
and she hears a "hai!" Kotoko then says
"It's so great!!! I can't believe that I'm
assigned to your class!" Yuki is angry, in fact
burning...;;^^ Kotoko apologises cause she forgot.
Yuki's classmates teases him and he quickly tells
them that he does't know her.
As Kotoko
is teaching the class, the students, including Yuki
kept asking her these difficult questions and she
couldn't answer them and one of the student asks if
Kotoko was from the A-class and she told them no F-class.
They laughed at her.
In the
teachers' room the other trainee teachers are talking
about how wonderful their classes were etc and
started asking Kotoko about her class and why they
heard laughing from her class. Kotoko is losing
confidence about her ability of being a teacher.
That
night when Naoki comes home, Mama tells him that
Kotoko has been in the room since she came back.
Naoki looks for Kotoko and looking at her tells her
that he has already told her that she is not suitable
as a teacher. Kotoko quickly tells him that her day
was great and the pupils were cute etc....she then
pushes him out of the room and tells him that she
needs to prepare for tomorrow's class. When Naoki is
outside, Yuki tells him about what happened in the
class that day.
Meanwhile,
Kotoko regrets asking Naoki to get out cause Naoki
was about to help her but she then decides that she
won't ask for his help and that she would try to this
on her own....
In school
the next day, Kotoko is again having a hard time in
class and Yuki is the one who makes it hard...;;^^
Mama suddenly appears and tells Yuki of for talking
that way to his sister-in-law and then starts telling
him off...;;^^ The observer teacher tries to calm
Mama down and she turns to him and tells him off to
and then she tells off the rest of the class for
making things difficult for Kotoko. Then one of the
students timidly asks Mama what's the relationship
between Yuki and Kotoko and she tells them that Irie-Sensei
(meaning Kotoko) is Yuki's brother's bride and that
they are actually in-laws. Everyone in Yuki's class
is shocked and Yuki tells Mama to go home and before
she leaves, Mama warns Yuki if he still makes things
difficult for Kotoko she won't spare him...;;^^ Even
though Mama has already left, the whole class was
stirred because they now know about Yuki's
relationship with Kotoko...;;^^ Yuki is firing up
again and tells Kotoko to remember this...;;^^
Kotoko is
teaching the F-class and she feels right at home
about it...;;^^ Outside, Yuki is having his PE class
and he was doing a high jump but not doing it well
and Kotoko laughed about it. The she notices a girl
in the F-class who kept watching Yuki and and her
friends tells Kotoko that Konomi has liked Yuki since
primary school and Konomi quickly denies it and
apologises to Kotoko for not paying attention in
class. Instead of scolding her, Kotoko clasps Konomi's
hands and tells her to come and look for her later.
At this point, Kotoko's eyes were starry...;;^^
Later,
Kotoko reveals to Konomi about her and Naoki's
history. Kotoko then asks Konomi what she likes about
Yuki and she lists all Yuki's "good" points.
Kotoko then compares Yuki to Naoki and tells Konomi
that Yuki's nothing compared to Naoki (or something
like that...;;^^) then Konomi says that at least
compared to Yuki, Naoki is more silly or gullible.....or
something like that....don't really know how to
explain this bit...Kotoko is not happy about this...;;^^
But despite this, Kotoko and Knomi finds a common
ground...so Kotoko decides to help her and first they
are going to find out if Yuki knows about Konomi's
existence....
When
Kotoko asks Yuki about Konomi, he tells Kotoko that
he doesn't know her and he doesn't even know the
girls in his class even. Kotoko then says how can a
genius' brother not remember girls' names and Yuki
retorted that what would he want to remember such
things and then he warns her not to speak to him in
school and that tomorrow he will ask more questions.
Konomi is dishearterned but Kotoko tells her not to
give up and that she will help her and at this point
Kotoko's dressed up as Mama....;;^^ even with Mama's
evil look.....
That
night, at home, Kotoko kept asking Yuki questions
like what presents he likes and what type of girls he
likes etc..annoying Yuki. The next day Kotoko is a
bit dishearterned and thinks that Yuki is too much
like Naoki. Then one of the teachers gave Kotoko the
A-class test papers and asks her to mark them. Konomi
then comes along and tells Kotoko that she is going
to confess to Yuki today and Kotoko tells her that it's
too soon but she goes ahead anyway....
Konomi
goes up to Yuki and introduces herself and tells him
that she wants to be friends. Yuki is shocked and his
face is pretty funny....;;^^ Yuki then recovers and
tells Konomi that if she wants to be friends with him
she must be in the top 100 list in the next exams.
Konomi is hurt and runs crying....Kotoko then tells
Yuki off. He tells her that he has no interest in
girls and that if Kotoko has time to care about
others, she should care about herself....Kotoko
thinks that Yuki is very not cute....
That
night Kotoko is distracted by what happens and she is
helping Mama in the kitchen when she suddenyly
remembers about the test papers and she quickly ran
to look for it and she couldn't find them! So that
night dressed in black she went to the school to look
for them and she got caught. Naoki got to pick her up
from the police station and he's not happy about it.
Kotoko apologises to him and tells him that she
wanted to solve the problem on her own that's why she
didn't aks for his help...Naoki then tells her that
she should tell the school the truth..
The next
day, every students laughed at Kotoko and she also
got told off by the other teachers and as she was
explaining things, the teacher who gave her the test
papers tells her that he took the papers and kept
them cause Kotoko left it on her desk the other day
and let's just say at this point Kotoko wants to go
for the man's throat...;;^^
Kotoko
meets Konomi and apparently because of Kotoko's
scandal, everyone forgot about Konomi's rejection by
Yuki. ;;^^ Konomi then tells Kotoko that she is
giving up and Kotoko tells her not to and tells
Konomi to face Yuki's challenge and they both decides
to work together.
Kotoko's
plan is tutor Konomi for the upcaoming exams. Yuki is
shocked to see Konomi coming to his house, and Mama
is delighted at meeting Konomi. Kotoko tries to tutor
Konomi but she herself could not answer the question....yes
A question...the first question....;;^^ Naoki then
comes home and questions Kotoko's ability of teaching
Konomi but Kotoko rebuts and tells him not to disturb
them. When Naoki walks out of the room he finds Yuki
outside the door. Yuki tells Naoki that he's just
walking by and Naoki tells him that Konomi has a
better chance if Yuki tutor her instead of Kotoko but
Yuki tells him that if she really made it into the
top 100, he's going to be in trouble. Then Naoki
teases him by saying I see....so there's that reason...or
something like that....As Yuki walks away, he looks
annoyed and a little worried....
Kotoko
fell asleep while teaching Konomi and Naoki walks in.
Konomi tells Naoki that Kotoko is too tired ans she
better goes home. Naoki asks her how many questions
have they done and as it turned out they've only done
1 question after 3 hours. Naoki then takes over and
tells Konomi that he will tutor her. Konomi says that
she is very stupid etc but Naoki tells her that he
has taught even stupid ones...;;^^ He then tells her
that he will teach her but she cannot tell Kotoko
bcause Kotoko has already worked hard....
Konomi
made into the top 100 and she is ranked 97. She is
very happy and Kotoko is very happy too though she
tells Konomi that she always fell asleep so she's not
much help but Konomi tells her that no such thing
cause of Kotoko she made it. :) Yuki comes by and he
tells Konomi that now they are friends. ^_^ Konomi
cries cause she is too happy....
That
night Kotoko bragged to Naoki and she kept saying
teaching is her calling but Naoki just said good
night and went to sleep...;;^^
As usual,
Kotoko is having problems with the A-class with Yuki
asking questions all the time. That day she also
discovered that they are going to have a teacher
inspector tomorrow to see how she carries out her
teaching and she got the A-class.
That
night, Naoki woke up and realises that Kotoko is not
asleep yet. As it turns out, she is practising for
the day's class. She even made up questions that Yuki
will probably ask and on how to answer them. Yuki
also woke up and he and Naoki observed Kotoko's
practise and Yuki says to Naoki that he won't asks
easy questions like that. As they were talking
outside the room, Kotoko starts over again with her
mock class. Naoki then tells Yuki not to make things
difficult for his wife while Yuki softly says that
Kotoko is pretty stupid. Then both of them went to
sleep leaving Kotoko to practise.
The next
day in class, Kotoko is very nervous and the other
students expected Yuki to make things difficult. They
asks a lot of questions and Kotoko couldn't answer
them and Yuki tells them the answer and says that how
can they not understand such simple things. Then Yuki
asks a question. He asks a question that last night
Kotoko has used for her practise and she managed to
answer it. After the whole class is over, the
observing commitee thinks that Kotoko is "okay"
and the other students asks Yuki why he did that in
class. He tells them sometimes even geniuses has
times when he wants to try and annoy people. Or
something like that.....
That
night Kotoko tells Naoki about her day and how she
managed to guess what he wants to asks etc..She then
tells him that tomorrow is her last day and she is
happy that this time sha has done everything on her
own without bothering and asking Naoki for help. ^_^
Naoki then says that she is a happy girl (huh!? I
know sounds weird here..;;^^) and Kotoko asks him
"Hn?" he says nothing and Kotoko hugs him
from the back and he just smiles and continues
reading his book. :)
The next
day, Kotoko got flowers from her students but instead
of telling her that they'll miss her etc, they tell
her not to be a teacher otherwise her students will
go down the wrong path. ;;^^ Konomi also gives her a
present but she also tells her that she is not
suitable as a teacher. Konomi then turns around to
Yuki and shouts "Let's go home together!"
Despite
everything, Kotoko is happy and when the other
teachers tells her that there's a party, she didn't
want to go. She goes to look for Naoki cause she
wants him to be the first one to know how she feels
that day.....^_^
=============================
Naoki
decides to take Kotoko to this place (which I couldn't
seem to translate....I checked the dictonary so many
times yet I only managed to find the first character
"Kyuu") for the summer break. Mama when she
hears this seems a bit weird, she also wanted the
rest of the family to go but Naoki tells the rest of
the family that this time the trip is only for Naoki
and Kotoko. Kotoko is very excited about the trip. As
they leave, Mama tells Kotoko that is anything
happens, she should come home immediately. Kotoko
doesn't understand and tells Mama not to worry but as
they leave, Mama stood outside looking worried.....
During
the train trip, Naoki is annoyed because Kotoko is
acting like a child as she exclaims over everything
she sees. She kept quiet after he tells her to until
the lunch cart came...;;^^ As they eat their lunch
Kotoko tries to guess what they'll be doing over the
two weeks but Naoki just tells her to wait and that
she'll like that place. Kotoko is very happy and
excited with the prospect of spending 2 weeks alone
with Naoki.
When they
reached their destination, Kotoko wonders if they got
off at the wrong station.....they are in the middle
of nowhere....Naoki assures her that they are in the
right place and proceeded to make her walk for 30 min....;;^^
Suddenly a "Yuki" appears out of the bushes
shocking Kotoko. Then a "girl" version of
Naoki appears...ie this girl looked like Naoki when
he was dressed as a girl by Mama. As it turns out
they are Naoki's cousins.....and the place that Naoki
has brought Kotoko to is Mama's home. (Not good way
of saying but how do you say it???? O_o) Naoki wants
to introduce Kotoko to Mama's relatives. The girl,
Miki (who looks like the girl version of Naoki) then
remarks that if Kotoko is the type Naoki likes, then
he has bad taste and then she ran ahead to catch up
with Naoki who was in front. Kotoko is angry when she
hears this.
In the
house, Kotoko is introduced to the rest of the family
and she is overwhelmed cause they are so many people
and names to remember (I will attempt to add them to
the characters page...). Then some of Naoki cousins
commented that they don't understand why Naoki likes
her...she doesn't look like she is intelligent and
looking at her firgure also doesn't seem much...;;^^
Then
suddenly, Naoki's grandfather makes an appearance.
Kotoko wanted to laugh cause she now knows how Naoki
will look like when he is old. Naoki introduces
Kotoko to his grandfather. He doesn't look impress
with her. He commented that she is not pretty enough,
ooking at her he knows that she is clumsy and looking
at her figure, she cannot bear children easily....(the
best way I can put it...;;^^) He also then says that
it seems like Kotoko doesn't like him and at this
point Kotoko is backing away from him. Then Naoki's
grandma stops him and scolds him. But Grandpa keeps
continuing and saying that only he knows what type of
person will suit Naoki and he decides to mould Kotoko
to become the perfect wife for Naoki within the 2
weeks....Kotoko couldn't say anything, turns to Naoki
for help but all Naoki said was, "I'm sure you
will not lose easily, Ganbatte ne!"
Kotoko is
trained by Grandpa by doing back-breaking work.
Kotoko realises why Mama worried at the first place
and also realises why Naoki and his brothers/cousins
behave a certain way.....they got it from Granpa....;;^^
Mama
calls and Kotoko tries to complain but Grandpa
snatches the phone away and assures Mama that
everything is fine etc. Kotoko is having trouble
adjusting to her two weeks life...;;^^ She couldn't
bathe in the traditional bathroom setting either...and
that's just the 1st day......
Naoki
teases Kotoko by saying that he is only doing what
she requested by taking her to this place (she was
the one who wanted the holiday at the first place).
Kotoko is annoyed but then Naoki also said that he
wants to take her to the place where he was born....then
as they were about to kiss, Naoki's cousins interupts.
They also want to teach Kotoko something as they also
want her to become the perfect bride, Kotoko touched
goes off with them. Naoki tells them to have fun.
As it
turns out, they are going to tell Kotoko the family
ghost stories. ;;^^ And it involves a bride too.....so
that night Kotoko is terrified of sleeping....and she
had to go to the bathroom and when she asked Naoki is
he can go with her he tells her to go alone cause she
is not a child...(hidoi ne.....;;^^)
Kotoko
made her way to the bathroom and she was really
really scared when this person go up to her and asks
what's wrong...it was just Grandpa......(only he has
a mole on his face now.....) He accompanies her to
the bathroom and he seems nicer than Grandpa during
the day.....but as she went into the bathroom she saw
someone or rather something hanging, and she screams......
As it
turns out, Naoki's cousins put that thing up to scare
Kotoko. Kotoko starts packing to go home. Naoki then
says that if she wants to go then he cannot do
anything but this is the place where he was born and
that to Grandpa he is the first born grandson. He
explains that since young his grandfather already has
set ideals of Naoki's wife but since they got married
in a hurry, Naoki wants Kotoko and his grandfather to
meet etc....and he also says something like Kotoko is
a bride chosen by Naoki etc...Kotoko hearing this
decides to stay and work hard.....at this point I
wonder if Naoki actually tricked Kotoko into staying
cause while Kotoko is passionately giving her speech
of determination, Naoki is at the back with his
tongue out...;;^^
Early in
the morning, Kotoko is made to wake up very early and
do chores such as praying to the ancestors, moping
the floor and then finding out Naoki's cousin had
played on it again with mud....;;^^ and collecting
eggs despite being attacked by the chickens....;;^^
and cooking, with little mishaps.....By the time
Naoki wakes up, Kotoko looks like an old woman....;;^^
Kotoko
couldn't remember which cousin is which and she got
their names mixed up....;;^^ Grandpa isn't impressed
with Kotoko yet. Later that day, Grandma shows Kotoko
the family album. Photos includes pictures of when
Naoki was just born and she told Kotoko how happy
Granpa was when Naoki was born and how angry he was
when he found out that Mama dressed Naoki as a girl....Kotoko
listening to Grandma realises how close Naoki and
Grandpa are.....
That
night Kotoko got up to get a drink and on her way
back to her room she met Grandpa again (this time he
also has a mole...) They sat together to talk and she
explains how the cousins told her the ghost story
about the ancestor who killed his wife and her lover
and wanted to get a new bride etc...he seems funny
when Kotoko was telling him this. Then she also spoke
about the cousins and mixing up their names again and
he corrected her. He then tells her since they also
make fun of him he is going to tell her some things.
The next
day, Kotoko yawns and Grandpa tells her off and she
says it's his own fault for making her stay up so
late but Grandpa doesn't know what she's talking
about.
The
cousins try to make fun of Kotoko again by getting
her to teach them their homework...how course she
could not do it...;;^^ Kotoko takes revenge by
revealing embarrassing things about each of the
cousins but she still gets them mixed up. Beaten,
they decide to help Kotoko is she will keep the
secrets to herself. Naoki is impressed but Kotoko
says everything is due to Grandpa. Naoki seems
confused when he hears this.
That
night some of the cousins tries to talk to Grandpa
letting Kotoko go since she is hardworking. Grandpa
is suspicious as to why the cousins changed their
mind about Kotoko. He then decides to devise a test
to find out why Naoki likes Kotoko.
That
night Grandpa asks Kotoko to go to the back of the
mountain to go and gather this fruit that he wants to
eat tomorrow. The cousins do not agree cause it's
dangerous but Grandpa says that if Kotoko is
successful, he is going to accept Kotoko as Naoki's
wife.
Kotoko
agrees and sets off the next day. As she is setting
off the cousins apologises for their bad behavious
and tells her not to mind some of them even gave her
their favourite toys. Kotoko is confused but she sets
off with a smile.
Grandpa
says that he bet that Ktoko will give up but Naoki
assures him that she won't. Naoki looks very
confident and Grandpa starts to have his doubts...
Kotoko
cries when by nightfall she couldn't find any of the
fruits and she is also lost. Suddely Grandpa (with
the mole) appears and he helped her to find the
fruits. When she found the fruits just now, she asked
Grandpa is he has accepted her into the family and he
replies that she is stupid but she is hardworking etc.
He then says "he" would undestand and
Kotoko asks who is "he". But Grandpa just
asks her to hurry up and collect the fruit. He then
leads her to the way home and Kotoko meets up with
Naoki who has been searching for her frantically and
Kotoko explains that she is alright and that she
managed to find the fruits with Grandpa's help but
she noticed that he has disappeared. Naoki looks
stunned/confused as Kotoko tells him about Grandpa
helping her and leaving first cause he sees Naoki is
here.
The
cousins are impressed because Kotoko managed to
gather so many of the fruits. Grandpa then tells
Kotoko that he has accepted into the family and that
she and Naoki should be happy together. Kotoko happy,
hugs Naoki then the cousins teases them for being
"romantic" inf ront of them. Grandpa says
that young people nowadays are like that. Kotoko hugs
Grandpa and tells him Thank you etc...Grandpa looks
shocked and then asks Naoki if Kotoko is normal.
Naoki then explains how Kotoko told him how Grandpa
helped her. The cousins then say it's impossible
cause Grandpa was with them the whole time. Kotoko
then says it's true cause the person who helped her
looked like Grandpa and that he has a mole.
As it
turned out the picture of that person is on the
family altar and Kotoko tells the family happily that
it was him. The family looked shocked and scared.
Then they tell her that it was one of the ancestors,
and Kotoko asks if that's the one who killed his wife.
Grandpa scolds her cause that is not true. His wife
ran away. The cousins were just pulling Kotoko's legs
when they told her that story. Then Gradpa tells her
that he has already been dead for about 200 years.
All of them are shpocked and scared. But the ancestor's
spirit looked on with a smile.
On the
day, Kotoko and Naoki are going home, the rest of the
family sends them off. Naoki's cousins tells her to
be careful and take care of Naoki (???) and Kotoko
replies telling them to becareful since the ancestor
is always watching them. Then one of the family
members says, "Next time, bring a baby!"
As the
hole family says good bye to Naoki and Kotoko, the
spirit of the ancestor is saying, "Next time,
come again" and waving goodbye.
-Jennifer
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