Volume
5:
The
family is celebrating the Irie and Aihara household
living together. Naoki asks Kotoko for her exam
results and she tries to change the subject to no
avail. As it turns out, her average is only 38%.
Naoki then says, "I understand...only 38%."
Kotoko quickly says, "No, no....It's 100%."
Mama
brings Kotoko to her new room and Kotoko is impressed
as it is beautiful. But after Mama leaves the room,
Kotoko thinks about what would happen if Naoki
decides to marry another person.
In school,
everyone is looking at Kotoko is a funny way, Zinko
and Satomi decides that it must be something that
Kotoko has done. Kotoko denies it. As it turns out,
it is because of the poster for the anime "Tennisu
no Onna" pasted around school. Kinnosuke then
tells Kotoko that he has lot's of the poster. When
she asks him what is he going to do with them, he
tells her they are to put up in his room. Then
another person calls Kotoko, Kotorin (ThanX, Sang Kim!!!
:) the name of the main character in the anime, she
shouts "What????". As it turns out, it's
Naoki. Kinnosuke gloats to Naoki that he has lot's of
Kotoko's poster. Naoki then tells Kinnosuke that he
doesn't need that kind of thing. He also tells him
that Kotoko at home, when she's going to bathe, she
walks through the corridor at home just like in the
poster. As Kinnosuke confronts Kotoko, the teacher
comes and tells Kotoko to read. While Kinnosuke says,
"Kotoko, do your best!", Naoki doesn't seem
to care.
At the
tennis practice, as Kotoko is watching Naoki train,
she sees a huge dog behind her. She screams. As it
turns out (I seem to be saying a lot of this.....<mumble>),
it's Reiko's pet dog, Chris. Chris seems to like
Naoki a lot and Naoki tells Reiko that he likes dogs.
When Reiko sees Kotoko hiding behind the fence, she
asks her if she is afraid of dogs. Kotoko quickly
says no. When Sudou tries to get close to Chris, she
tries to bite him. Kotoko thinks to herself, that
actually Reiko is right. She is afraid of dogs but
she cannot reveal that because of what Naoki had said
just now.
When
Kotoko comes home, she is shocked bacause now the
Irie family also has a pet dog. Mama tells Kotoko
that the cute puppy has been given by Yuki's friend.
Then Mama noticing Kotoko's expression asks if she is
afraid of dogs. Naoki, who has just come home tells
Mama that Kotoko likes dogs. BTW, the puppy is a St.
Bernard...(is that how it's spelt??) When Yuki asks
Naoki if the dog will get very big, Naoki (after
noticing Kotoko's expression), tells Yuki no. Kotoko
is relieved. Yuki calls the puppy Chibi.
The puppy
rubs against Kotoko's legs and Kotoko has goosebumps.
Mama then tells Kotoko that it seems that Koko likes
Kotoko a lot. Sai, Kotoko's father, noticing this is
confused. As he is about to ask Kotoko isn't she
afraid of dogs, Kotoko quickly covers his mouth and
tells the family that Chibi is cute. Chibi does
everything that Naoki tells him to so Naoki decides
to take charge of training Koko. Kotoko is a bit
jealous with Naoki's and Chibi's close relationship.
When
Naoki tells Reiko about Chibi, Reiko decides to
invite herself to the Irie and Aihara household to
see the puppy. Kotoko is about to protest when the
people from the manga club drags her away.
On Sunday,
Reiko visits the Irie and Aihara household. Papa and
Sai are impressed by Reiko's beauty. Mama is angry
about this. As Reiko tells Mama that she has brought
a cake made by herself, Mama tells her that Kotoko
has already made one.....the result between Reiko's
and Kotoko's cake is obvious.... Everyone decides to
eat the one made by Reiko and Mama is furious about
it.
As Chris
is introduced to Chibi, Chibi barks at Chris,
startling her. Kotoko, who sees this, is very happy.
Then Sudou arrives with his dog, telling them that he
is on the way. Kotoko and Reiko laugh as they notice
the resemblance between Sudou and his dog. He reveals
to Kotoko that actually he's here because he knows
that Reiko will be here. As Sudou introduces his dog
to Chris, Sudou's dog falls in love and is ignored by
Chris. Mayhem ensues when he chases after Chris.
In the
evening, Naoki decides to take Chibi for a walk. He
also asks Kotoko go. Kotoko is given the duty of
holding Chibi's leash but when Chibi tries to run to
Kotoko, Kotoko afraid, relases the leash thus Chibi
runs away. Kotoko and Naoki could not find him.
Kotoko decides to continue the search until she finds
him. When Naoki returns home, he sees Chibi playing
with Yuki. Meanwhile, Kotoko is still searching. As
she is walking, she notices someone is behind her.
She quickly runs only to be tackled by Chibi. As it
turns out it was Naoki behind her.
On the
way home, Naoki shows a full grown St. Bernard and
tells Kotoko that Chibi will become like that. Kotoko
is horrified and Naoki teases her. As it turns out,
Naoki knows that Kotoko is afraid of dogs, but he
tells her nope.
==========================
Chibi has
gotten bigger within a month to Kotoko's
consternation. Papa asks Naoki if he is going for T-Dai
university entrance exams this time but Naoki didn't
answer him. Mama is unhappy with Papa for suggesting
such thing. Kotoko asks Naoki if he intends to go for
the exams again, Naoki tells her no.
The
university is having a festival. Kotoko sees this
poster about the festival queen (Something like the
prom queen title). She is interested and so is Reiko.
The
tennis club opens a stall that sells food. There are
a lot of customer because lot's of girls wants to buy
Naoki's food. Kotoko is very jealous about this.
Then,
Kinnosuke then opens a stall right beside the tennis
club's. As time passes, no one buys anything from
Kinnosuke except for an old lady. Reiko and Kotoko
are working as waitresses. Reiko is praised by a
couple of guys who promises her that they'll vote for
her for the queen title. She brags to Kotoko and is
confident that she will win. Then someone asks for
Kotoko. Kotoko is very happy until she sees who asked
for her. It's the people from the manga club. Bacause
of Kotoko, the people from the manga club come to buy
food from the tennis club's stall. The coach is
impressed by the crowd's generated by Naoki's and
Kotoko's presence. Naoki tells Kotoko that it's not
bad since she has lot's of admirers. When Kotoko asks
Naoki where is he going and that she wants to come
along, Naoki tells her okay. As it turns out, Naoki
is going to watch the anime screened by the manga
club.
In the
anime, Reiko and Sudou are portrayed as the bad guys
and 3 of the guys from the manga club portrays
themselves as Kotoko's character handsome and
dashuing rescuer. To Kotoko's humilation, in one part,
Tennisu no Onna's clothes was destroyed by Sudou's
character. Naoki bursts out laughing at this part.
After the
anime ends, Kotoko and Naoki meets Papa, Mama, Yuki
and Sai. Mama then enters Naoki and Kotoko into one
of those quiz. In the quiz, Naoki refuses to answer
any of the questions despite knowing the answer. So
Kotoko presses the buzzer each time after the
question and asks Naoki to answer the questions. In
the final question, the oppenent answers wrongly and
the question thrown to Naoki's and Kotoko's team.
Kotoko gives the correct answer. They win the quiz.
The prize is a trip.
When
Kotoko and Naoki returns to the tennis club's stall,
Sudou is angry because they come back after 3 hours
when they are only allowed 1 hour break. He decides
to punish them both but Reiko intervenes for Naoki's
sake. Sudou gives in and only punishes Kotoko.
Kotoko is
left alone to clean up. As the table is too heavy for
her, she topples it over end ended up under the table.
As she is lying trapped under the table, Naoki comes
back. When Kotoko asks him if he comes back because
of her, he tells her it's because he has got no
interest in the night program.
As they
clean up, Kotoko accidentally drops a hammer on a
lamp. Naoki saves her by shileding her from the
flying glass. Kotoko thinks that Naoki is dead since
he's not moving and she cries. Naoki wakes up and
tells her to stop shouting. Naoki scolds her for
being careless.
Kotoko
puts the band aid on Naoki's forehead but Naoki says
that he'll do it himself. Kotoko feels upset because
she feels responsible and that was also the first
time she has ever touched Naoki's face. Then suddenly
Naoki tells Kotoko to bring her face closer. He then
puts the medicine and band aid on her face. Kotoko is
touched because Naoki's hand has touched her face. As
it seems as if Naoki is coming closer (at least it
looks like that to me...), Zinko and Satomi barges in
and tells Kotoko to go with them. As it turns out,
Kotoko wins the title of queen of the festival. It's
because of the anime by the manga club.
When
asked to pick her king, Kotoko chooses Naoki even
though Kinnosuke has been shouting, "Pick me!
Pick Me!" Mama is upset because Sai ran out of
tape in his video camera during this moment.
======================
Naoki is
urged by one of his teachers to re-take the exam (I
presumed it's the T-Dai exam). When Kotoko asks him
what he and the teacher spoke about, Naoki tells her
it's nothing and anyway it's none of her business.
Kotoko then tries asking him if he wants to go on the
trip that they won from the quiz. Naoki look annoyed.
Kotoko
decides to give the ticket to Mama and Papa instead.
But Mama suggests that the whole family should go
together. Mama then tells Kotoko to asks Naoki. Naoki
agrees but after Kotoko leaves, he seems lost in
thought.
When
Kotoko tells her friends about the trip, Kinnosuke
objects but Satomi and Zinko manage to convince him
that the reason why Kotoko keeps chasing after Naoki
is because he plays it cool while Kinnosuke seems to
desperate to be with Kotoko. They tells him to
pretend not to care so that Kotoko will be attracted
to him. He agrees and tells Kotoko to enjoy the trip.
During
the trip, when in the bath spring Mama keeps on
saying what a great body Kotoko has laoudly to make
sure that Naoki, who is in the men's section will
hear. While Kotoko is embarrassed, Naoki is annoyed
and Papa, Sai and Yuki are embarrassed also to hear
such things.
At dinner,
Kotoko notices that Naoki is very quiet. When he
tells the family that he is going for a walk, Yuki
wants to join him but Mama stops him and asks Kotoko
to go instead. As Kotoko and Naoki sit by the beach,
Kotoko notices that Naoki seems very quiet and she
wonders why. That night, Naoki and Kotoko could not
sleep in their room respectively.
The
family are playing tennis. Mama tries to pair Naoki
with Kotoko but then Yuki takes offence with the idea
so Papa decides that they should pick a lot. Mama is
paired with Papa and Kotoko is paired up with Yuki
though Yuki and Kotoko are not happy about it. When
Kotoko tells Yuki that he should make sure that he
won't make her lose, Yuki tells her that he should be
the one saying that.
During
the first serve, Kotoko accidentally hits the ball at
an angle causing it to hit Yuki. Yuki complains to
Naoki who is the referee. As the game progresses,
Yuki and Kotoko team is not doing well. Sai who is
videotaping the game and Naoki speaks about Kotoko
and dreams. Sai tells Naoki that he likes making food
for people that is why he opens a restaurant.
After the
game ends, Kotoko asks Sai what he and Naoki talked
about. He replies that they were talking about life.
In school,
the photo from the family vacation is displayed on
the school board. Reiko is unhappy and annoyed with
the fact that Naoki and Kotoko were together.
Kinnosuke is not happy either and confronts Zinko and
Satomi. They try telling him that there are many
girls out there but he says no. He has already
decided that Kotoko is the one. Kotoko then sees him
and tells him happy new year. He runs away crying
though Kotoko is confused why.
Kotoko
then meets Sudou who tells her that Naoki is
intending to move out. He also tells her that Naoki
may re-take the exams. Kotoko tries to look for Naoki
in his class but she is told that he has already left.
At home,
when Kotoko is told by Mama to put Naoki's laundry in
his room, she took the opportunity to find out if
what Sudou has said is true. She sees circled
advertisements for jobs. Then Naoki asks her what she's
doing and if she finds something good in his room.
She asks him about what Sudou has aid and he tells
her is true. When she tries to argue with him about
his decision, he tells her that he wants to change
clothes and pushes her out of the room.
When
Naoki tells Mama and Papa, Mama is upset and refuses
to let him move out but after Naoki tells them that
he has grown up and that he wants to be more
independent, Papa tells him to go ahead and try.
Kotoko who is outside, overhears the conversation and
is upset.
=============================
Mama,
Yuki and Kotoko is upset when Naoki moves out but
Mama tells Kotoko that he'll soon be back.
Zinko and
Satomi are wondering why Kotoko has been looking down.
Kinnosuke on the other hand, kowing the fact that
Naoki has moved out is very happy. At the tennis
training, Sudou tells Kotoko that he knows where
Naoki is working but to get that information, she has
to buy him a treat.
Sudou
brings her to Donny's. As they want to order the food,
Naoki comes to take the order. Kotoko is very happy
though Naoki acts as if he don't know her. Kotoko
asks Sudou where Naoki lives but he tells her that he
don't know.
When
Naoki comes back with their order, Kotoko asks him
about his well-being. She asks him if he's angry with
her but he tells her that he knows sooner or later
she'll come anyway. He tells her not to tell Mama
though.
Then
Kotoko sees a poster lokking for a waitress. She
decides to apply for the job but is beaten by Reiko.
As it turns out, Sudou has told Reiko about the fact
that Naoki works in Donny's. Kotoko, feeling betrayed,
tells Sudou thank you for the treat and gets up and
leaves. Before leaving, she asks Naoki if it's
alright for her to come by tomorrow. He tells her no
but knowing Kotoko, he knows that she'll come anyway,
he tells her not to tell Mama.
However,
when Kotoko comes home, Mama asks her why she's not
eating dinner. Kotoko then tells Mama that she has
eaten at the place where Naoki works. Mama and Yuki
then decides to tag along with Kotoko the next day.
The
customers are Donny's are impressed by Naoki's
ability to remember a lot of orders with accuracy.
Mama, Yuki and Kotoko comes by incognito though in
vain as Naoki recognises them anyway. Reiko also
comes by to say hello to Mama though Mama remains
cold to her. Mama then tells Naoki not to notice
Reiko, also to come home. Naoki just ignores what she's
saying and terats her as one of the customers. Mama
then turns around and tells Kotoko not to lose to
Reiko.
Kotoko
comes to see Naoki again. When Naoki is serving
Kotoko, Reiko comes and tells Naoki that she'll take
care of Kotoko. When asks what she wants to order,
Kotoko says anything so reiko orders the biggest
portion for Kotoko. Kotoko could not finish it.
Kotoko asks Naoki if she can doggie-back it. She says
it's for Chibi. Naoki tells her unfortunately no. He
asks about Chibi and she tells him that he has grown
bigger. Naoki, before walking away tells Kotoko the
answer to her homework that she's doing in the
restaurant. Kotoko then decides to push her luck and
asks another answer for another question, annoying
Naoki.
When
Kotoko pays for the food, she discovers that the food
that Reiko has ordered is not only the biggest but
also very expensive. The guy at the cashier also
gives her a box and he tells her that it's from Naoki.
As it turns out, Naoki has packed the left-over food
for Kotoko. Kotoko touched decides to wait for Naoki
until he finishes work.
As she
waited in the cold, she sees Naoki and Reiko walking
home together. Kotoko is heartbroken because she
thinks that Naoki and Reiko are co-habiting.
-Jennifer
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