Volume
7:
"Aihara
Kotoko san, will you go out with me?"
Kotoko was shocked when a very cute guy asked her
this question. Even Zinko and Satomi are shocked
about this. He assures them that he's not joking and
introduces himself. His name is Takendo and he is in
the the first year ie. Kotoko's junior. He even
assures them that he know about Kotoko and Naoki but
as long as they are not officially a couple yet, he
still can ask her out. He then leaves Kotoko by
telling her that this coming Sunday he'll see her
again. Kotoko was in shock as this is the 1st time
such things has happened to her.
Satomi
and Zinko then told Naoki about this. Naoki's
reaction was disappointing to Kotoko who is hiding.
Satomi and Zinko then told her that such reaction is
expected and that this "test" shouldn't
have been done at all.
The
family had different reactions that night when they
found out about this matter. Yuki was unimpressed,
Mama was upset while Papa tried to comfort her and
Kotoko's father was angry because Kotoko has been
asked out by a younger guy. That is he don't approve
of her going out with younger guys.
When
Kotoko met Takendo again in school, he revealed that
he has seen her before. That is he has been to her
workplace only that she didn't notice him. He also
revealed that the reason he noticed her is because of
Naoki. He has always noticed Naoki (BTW. not in THAT
sense...^_^) and by noticing Naoki, he noticed Kotoko.
He is impressed by the fact that Kotoko is very
determined about Naoki and that no matter how Naoki
treated her, she always never gives up. So he said
why not be with him instead since Naoki never seems
to be interested in her.
Before
Kotoko could answer, Kinnosuke came and shouted that
he doesn't approve. He also said something like
"My Kotoko" so Takendo replied, "That's
strange.....Kotoko also had nothing to with you."
Kotoko also said, "You are not my boyfriend"
to Kinnosuke who is of course horrified to hear this.
^_-
Ayako
then comes by. As it turned out Takendo and her are
classmates. He also told her that he and Kotoko are
dating. Ayako hearing this and is of course very
happy as it means that she has one less competition
for Naoki. After, Kinnosuke, Takendo and Ayako left,
Kotoko notices Mama in her disguise. Mama reveals to
Kotoko that she is worried that Kotoko will give up
on Naoki. Kotoko touched by Mama's speech assured her
that she will never give up on Naoki. She then tells
Mama that she is going to turn Takendo down but Mama
advises her not to yet. She told Kotoko to use this
opportunity to make Naoki jealous and win him. Kotoko
at first reluctant, eventually agreed.
During
tennis practise, Reiko and Ayako kept saying that
Takendo is only asking her out cause he is just
trying to be nice. Naoki also seemed to be putting
Kotoko and Takendo down. Kotoko angry started
defending Takendo. She told Naoki that Takendo is
intelligent, kind, etc. Then she heard Takendo saying,
"I'm so happy that Kotoko-san has a good
impression of me." He also complimented her.
He then
asked, "Irie senpai, like this, is it alright if
you give Kotoko to me?" Naoki's reply is, "Giving
this matter has got nothing to do with me. She is not
even mine." Kotoko hearing this made a date with
Takendo.
On Sunday,
Kotoko is waiting for Takendo at Donny's the place
when both she and Naoki works. Even after Takendo
arrives, Naoki doesn't seem to be responding
posistively despite Kotoko's attempt to make him
jealous.
Takendo
then asks Kotoko how long has ske liked Naoki and she
replies 4 years. He then says Kotoko has liked Naoki
and Naoki alone for 4 years and he suddenly appears.
He doesn't expect her to suddenly change her feelings
but he's very happy even when Kotoko notices him a
bit. Kotoko hearing this is very touched. During the
rest of the date, they spent their time in the
amusement park. Kotoko is touched by Takendo's
attention towards her.
Everyone
in school is speculating as to why Kotoko is spending
so much time with Takendo. When Kotoko and Takendo
met Naoki and Reiko in the hallway, Naoki doesn't
seem to care at all. Kotoko is disappointed and
Takendo notices this. When Kotoko tells Mama about
Naoki's lack of reaction, she told her not to give up.
Ayako
confronts (sort of...) Takendo and asks him what does
he like about Kotoko? He tells her that he doesn't
care if a girl is stupid or not etc. but he likes
cute girls. He said smart etc. girls are just not his
cup of tea. Ayako was offended and she hits him when
he started comparing her to Kotoko.
Kotoko is
feeling dejected as Naoki doesn't seem to care at all
about her seeing Takendo. As she stood outside the
window watching Naoki with Ayako, Takendo came over.
As Kotoko is about to reject Takendo, Takendo told
her to forget Naoki and tries to kiss her. Suddenly,
Kinnosuke came over and a fight started between
Takendo and Kinnosuke. As they were fighting, Naoki
came and told them it's not use fighting as the one
that Kotoko likes is Naoki. He then tells Kotoko,
"Let's go." Kotoko leaves with Naoki after
apologising to both Kinnosuke and Takendo.
As
Takendo sat feeling upset, Ayako approaches him. She
insults him again but this time she also gave her
handkerchief to him to wipe his face. Naoki also
revealed to Kotoko that he knows that Mama has put
her up to this, ie. to make him jealous. Thought the
plan didn't work, Kotoko is still happy.
=======================
Kotoko is
upset as despite going to work for so many days she
still cannot see Naoki. Sudou then comes by with
information but of course, Kotoko has to treat him
first. He then tells her that Naoki has gone to work
in his grandmother's inn (I think it's like a
traditional holiday resort kind of place). When
Kotoko tells the family, the family decides to go to
the inn too.
The
family gave Naoki a surprise by going to the inn for
holidays. Naoki, of course guessed who gave Kotoko
the information. Naoki and the rest of the family
received another surprise when Reiko and Ayako also
turned up. As it turned out, Sudou also told both of
them. They are not going to stay there though as the
place is too small for them.
As Naoki
walks the family to their rooms, Kotoko tells him
sorry for the trouble but he just calls her silly in
reply. He also calls her miss.
Sudou
reveals the reason why he also told Reiko. Apprently
he has got this plan to introduce her to his parents
but he cannot invite her alone. So that's why he got
everyone to come.
That
night, the family decides to play cards. Mama told
Kotoko to invite Naoki and Yuki wants to come along.
As they walk down the stairs, Sudou's grandfather
scares them. As it turned out he just likes to scare
young girls.
When
Kotoko and Yuki found Naoki, he was being
propositioned by a woman who is staying at the inn as
well. Naoki turned her down in a really cool way,
impressing Kotoko and Yuki. Though Naoki at first
refused to play cards with the family, he eventually
did. He won, of course.....
The next
day, Reiko and Ayako comes along to invite everyone
to a nearby restaurant. When Naoki refuses, Sudou
jumps in and said that they should accept Reiko's
invitation. Kotoko notices that Sudou is injured and
Naoki reveals that Sudou went to see Reiko and Ayako
the day before and is attacked by their dog.
In the
restaurant, Kotoko is surprise when the waiter who
took her order turned out to be Kinnosuke. As it
turned out, her father is the one who told Kinnosuke.
Kinnosuke asks Naoki if he can compare Naoki's love
with Kinnosuke's love. Naoki's reply is something
like, "Cannot compare at all to your love."
Kotoko is
sitting in the woods when Naoki came along. He asks
her if she would like to go for a walk with him. He
then asks her why she came with the family and she
should have come along etc. Kotoko is confused and
asks him, "I am not that important to you, right?"
(something like that...hard to translate in english..;;^^)
He calls her silly and kisses her!!!
Kotoko
shouts, "The second time!!!". As it turned
out it was just a dream. Unknown to Kotoko, Yuki is
standing behind a tree and his face is red.....
Sudou
suggested that the family plays tresure hunt. All of
them were split into 3 teams, Sudou, Reiko and Chris,
Naoki, Ayako and Chibi and lastly Kotoko, Yuki and
Sudou's dog....
Unknown
to everyone, Kinnosuke heard about the hunt and has a
trick of his own to get Kotoko all for himself....
Though
Kotoko and Yuki are not happy about working together,
they continued on the game....one thing they agree on
though is that Sudou's dog is really useless. In fact,
Sudou's dog accidentally kicked the sign that points
to the direction of the inn. Kotoko and Yuki not
knowing this went to the wrong direction.
It's
getting late and both of them are not back yet
causing the family to worry. Also, Kinnosuke is
missing. Naoki realising this seems worried.
Meanwhile,
Kotoko and Yuki ended up in a thick forest. They are
angry with Sudou's dog since he's so useless. They
decided to stay put at one spot and hope that someone
will come and get them. Suddenly wild dogs come out
and guessed who ran away first? Yup! Sudou's dog!
As Kotoko
and Yuki agreed that this is the end, Chibi came out
and attacked the wild dogs. Naoki has found them with
the help of Sudou's grandfather. He asked them to go
back first and continued on with his search for
Kinnosuke.
As it
turns out, Kinnosuke has accidentally fallen over a
cliff and is hanging on to a branch. As he's about to
give give and let go, Naoki rescued him. He asked
Naoki not to tell Kotoko about this and Naoki agrees.
This has made Kinnosuke very grateful to Naoki.
The
family is returning home. As Kotoko says goodbye to
Naoki, she has tears in her eyes. Naoki's reply to
this is by asking her what is she crying for. As
Kotoko is wiping her tears, Sudou's grandfather
sneaks behind her and says, "Both of you are
very compatible."
As they
family drives home, Kotoko's memory of that place is
that the dream that she had despite not having an
improvement in her relationship with Naoki. The dream
where Naoki kissed her....
===========================
Kotoko's
20th birthday is coming and Mama decides to have a
party to celebrate it. Though Mama tries to keep it
from Kotoko, she finds out about it. Mama drags
Kotoko to asks Naoki to come home at this day. Naoki's
reaction is slightly negative. Though with Mama's
"persuasion", he couldn't say no either.
Mama also
invites Satomi and Zinko. But as they are accepting
the invitation, they also reminded Kotoko that they
have an exam the next day after the party. Despite
that, they decided to attend the party.
During
tennis training, Sudou tells the team that there's a
competition in a month's time. To Kotoko's surprise
she made it into the team as a back-up that is. Reiko
seems to be in a bad mood. It turns out that Naoki
and Ayako are going to be a team in the doubles match.
Kotoko is
trying to study in the library without success that
is. She then sees Naoki and approaches him. He at
first tried to ignore her without success. She asks
him if he's studying for the exams which he is not.
Then she asks what he's reading and he tells her that
she won't understand anyway. After looking at the
book Naoki is reading she is shocked. Naoki wants to
be a doctor. He denies it and tells her that he's
reading it for interest.
As Naoki
is telling Kotoko to be quiet, Ayako approaches them.
She asks Naoki about her school work and Kotoko is
lost when they started discussing the work. After
that, Ayako and Naoki talks about the tennis
tournament. Kotoko tehn tells Naoki that she is in
the back-up team and Naoki tells Ayako not to get
injured. Kotoko asks him what does he mean by that.
Naoki and Ayako ignore her. Ayako then asks Naoki to
tutor her the day before her exams and she tells him
it's on the 28th.
Kotoko
says no vehemently and Ayako asks her why. Kotoko
couldn't seem to answer. Naoki agrees to do so and
both of them blithely ignore Kotoko. Kotoko hurt,
left with tears in her eyes. The 28th is her birthday.
After Kotoko leaves, Naoki seems thoughtful...
Zinko is
telling Kinnosuke about the party and tells him that
Mama says he can come but Kinnosuke doesn't want to.
The reason why he doesn't want to go is bacause he
couldn't face Naoki. As he was thinking about how
Naoki rescued him, he hears someone saying, Set A. It's
Naoki. He tells Naoki it's okay, I'm a gentleman etc.
while Naoki just wants his lunch. The aunty at the
cafeteria tells Naoki to excuse Kinnosuke because he
is sometimes very weird.
After
getting his lunch, Naoki approaches Takendo. Takendo
asks about Kotoko and Naoki says something like
nothing has changed. Takendo replies that it's
because Naoki never seems to notice her. Naoki then
asks him for a favour. He asks if Takendo is free on
the 28th.
On the 28th,
Mama decorates the house and gives Kotoko's presents
in advance. She then made Kotoko wear the dress and
the make up she has given to her. As Kotoko looks at
herself in the mirror, she feels like a different
person and wished that Naoki can see her like this
but he won't be coming...
When
Zinko and Satomi arrives, they brought their
boyfriends along. Kotoko is a bit upset that they
have never told her about their boyfriends. As the
party progresses Mama wonders about Naoki but Kotoko
tells her that he won't be coming. When it's time to
make a wish and blow the candles everyone knows what
Kotoko is wishing for. ;;^^
It's time
to open the presents. Satomi, Zinko and their
boyfriends gave her this diaphanous nightgown. :)
Yuki gave her a bracelet. Her father gave her a
beautiful kimono fabric. He then tells her that no
matter the cost, he doesn't mind because she is 20
now and she has grown up. He says, he's sure her
mother in heaven will be very happy. Kotoko is
touched to hear this.
Satomi
brought some books (I think they are like a horoscope
books kind of thingie). They then decides to see if
Kotoko and Naoki are compatible. As Satomi reads one
she tells Kotoko that Naoki and her are as compatible
as water and oil. This is a blow to Kotoko and Satomi
quickly tries to assure her not to be upset. As she
reads on, Kotoko is dealt more blows. Suddenly, Naoki
surprised everyone by reading out the book that
Satomi was holding.
Kotoko is
happy to see him but Mama starts hitting him and
asking him why he's late etc. Naoki then looks at
Kotoko and tells her Happy Birthday. He also tells
her that she looks beautiful. Mama is pleased about
this.
Naoki
tells Kotoko that his present must be given to her in
private and her suggests going to her room and
everyone is surprise to hear this. Both fathers
looked horrified and Mama is very happy.
Kotoko
follows Naoki to her room and to her surprise, his
present is tutoring her for the exams. As he's
tutoring her, she asks about Ayako. Naoki tells her
that Ayako is smart so she doesn't really need his
help. He tells her also that he has asked someone who
is 10X smarter to help Ayako.
Kotoko is
very happy with Naoki's present...unknown to both of
them, everyone is against the door trying to find out
what is going on in the room....
======================
Kotoko is
feeling happy as she has done well for her recent
exams. She shows Naoki her results and tells him that
all the question that he has thought her has come out.
He then tells her all questions then how come that
her results is only that much. He's not impressed and
left.
Zinko and
Satomi cornered Kotoko and asks her about her first
time etc. Kotoko not knowing what to say tells them
it's not much but it's great. ;;^^ Kotoko quickly
tries to leave and satomi and Zinko assume that she
is just to shy to talk about it.
Kinnosuke
who overhears about Kotoko's "first time"
is angry and disappointed and tries to confront Naoki
but he's dragged away by the cafeteria aunty.
Kotoko
who is hiding behind the pillar is depressed as there's
nothing at all between her and Naoki. She also thinks
to herself that both of them has never even held
hands. She also thinks that nothing like this would
ever happen between them.
During
tennis training, Sudou and Reiko lost to Naoki and
Ayako and both of them are not happy at all. While
Naoki is practising, Kotoko is behind him miming his
every move and this irritates Naoki. Kotoko tells him
it's because she's a back-up and in case if Ayako
gets injured (this irritates Ayako), she will have to
play. Thus she just wants to know more about Naoki's
style. Naoki tells her off by telling her that she
can never learn his style. He then tells her to go
off.
As Kotoko
is walking away she and this other girl from the
tennis club spoke to each other. The girls tells
Kotoko that if she's Kotoko she would have given up
etc..
Kotoko is
feeling sad after training as Satomi and Zinko seems
closer to their boyfriends than her. They always
spend their free time with them.
On the
day of the tournament Mama tells Kotoko not to be
nervous etc though Kotoko tells her that she may not
even be playing. Meanwhile, Ayako and Reiko leaves
their house separately. Reiko in her car and Ayako
using the public transport. To her horror, the train
that she's on blacked out.
Everyone
in the team is worried as Ayako still haven't arrived.
They looked at their replacement player ie. Kotoko
and feel depressed. Sudou tells Kotoko that she has
to play and Kotoko refused to but Naoki manages to
talk her into it.
Meanwhile,
Ayako is now off the train but she couldn't make it
in 20 min to the tournament. She then meets Takendo
who gives her a ride on his bike.
Before
the tournament begins, Naoki gives Kotoko some
pointers while Sudou tries to scare the opposition by
telling them about supposed rumours about Kotoko's
skills.
As Kotoko
and Naoki takes their places, the opposition becomes
nervous as they see Kotoko's expression. Naoki then
tells her to keep that expression while playing.
During the whole game, all Kotoko did was dodge the
ball and looked fierce. They won the 1st round.
Meanwhile,
Takendo and Ayako made it but Takendo collapses in
exhaustion. He tells Ayako to go despite her
hesitations. When she meets Reiko, she has already
seen Naoki and Kotoko playing. She tells Reiko that
there's no need for her to be here already and leaves.
She went back to Takendo with a drink and they talked.
It seems as if they have become closer than before.
Meanwhile,
Kotoko is continuing her dodging when Naoki missed
the ball. Ironically, Kotoko who is trying to protect
her face from the ball with the racket manages to hit
the ball back to the opponents' court.
They win.
Kotoko loses her fierce expression and starts tearing
up in joy. :) Sudou then tells them that both of them
are a team now. Naoki is not happy about this but
Kotoko is very happy. That day ends with a picture of
Kotoko and Naoki holding the trophy.
-Jennifer
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