Naoki was getting ready to leave for school when there was a commotion outside of the classroom. He sighed. It didn't take a lot to figure out who was causing trouble again.

Who else?

Naoki was out of the classroom when he saw some guy he had never seen before talking to Kei. He was a guy in his classroom but he had never given a lot of thought before now. Maybe just maybe Kotoko was in the middle of this one. One could only hope. The guy looked like trouble. He was just in jeans and a black shirt but he looked like he could cause trouble and that was the last thing anyone around here needed.

"She was born to cause trouble," Naoki heard the guy say.

Naoki sight and leaned against the wall outside his classroom to see how this would all play out. Somehow Kotoko was involved in this and if he didn't make sure that she came out of this one piece, his mother was going to have his head.

Naoki was pondering certain death that would come to him when Kotoko came flying down the hallway.

This was going to be good. Hopefully he wouldn't be in the middle of it. He could only have such dreams…

"Kenta, what are you doing here?" Kotoko looked more distressed then she usually was.

The guy didn't look in a really big hurry answer her. He just sorta smiled like he knew something everyone else didn't know. He looked like he caused trouble so Naoki couldn't help wondering what he knew that put the smile on this guys face.

"It would seem that you're the center of attention again," he said finally.

Kotoko looked exasperated. "That would because your here and no one knows you and your talking to me."

More smiling. "Then don't talk to me."

"It's not my fault."

"Somehow I'm thinking I'll find a couple of people who think otherwise."

Irie didn't know why but he was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the situation at hand. He preferred to believe that it was because he was obviously missing information on what was going on. Kotoko scowled at the guy in front of her but she didn't do much of anything else.

Kenta looked at Kotoko. "I talked to your father."

"Of course you did."

Kenta shrugged, "If you want to come live with us then we're more than happy to have you."

Irie's chest tightened just a little and he had no idea why. He didn't do anything. He just continued to observe. Kotoko looked as shocked as Irie felt. Although Kotoko expressed it better.

"What are you talking about?" Kotoko asked.

The guy coughed. The hallway had gotten unreasonably quiet and you could tell. "Listen, I know that we're not each other's biggest fans. But you live with a guy who berates you daily. You're always in the middle of some kind of gossip. You have daily arguments with Irie daily from what I here. Plus I'm pretty sure that at my house you'll get someone to help you with your homework. You would think that with someone so smart living with you that your grades would have gotten better. "

Naoki guessed that was supposed to be a direct hit to him, but he really didn't feel it. You couldn't ignore facts. Although it wasn't thrilling hearing some facts out loud cause they made him out as a jackass. Sadly, there were some facts that couldn't be ignored. If Kotoko's father was okay with her leaving then he wasn't going to stop her.

"I could get help," Kotoko said defensively, "I just want to prove that I can do it on my own."

Irie raised an eyebrow. Kenta didn't look like he bought it either.

"Really?" The guy said dryly.

Kotoko couldn't lie to him. "No."

The jackass turned to Naoki. He knew that he was going to end up involved at once point or another.

"Do you want her there?"

"It's up to her." There was no way he was answering that. Naoki wasn't sure he could answer that.

"Do you want her there? I'm a jackass, but you beat me by a mile. Do you want her there? Cause if you don't well take her home and treat her better."

"Who are you again?" Irie had been itching to ask that since the beginning.

"I'm an old friend. Now answer the question. Do you want her there?"

"I would guess that whether I want her there or not is beside the point." That was as good of an answer as he could come up with. "If Kotoko liked it at my house then no one is going to kick her out."

The guy smirked. "You should be in politics."

Irie would be good at it to he was sure.

"Irie-" Kotoko started she looked softer after Irie had spoken.

She must have thought that Irie would say that he didn't want her in his house. Irie wasn't sure why he was shocked by that he had never made a move to show that he wanted her in his house. He wasn't sure if he did.

Kenta looked annoyed he touched Kotoko's arm. "Don't take crumbs Kotoko."

The three of them had ended up in the middle of a circle. Kotoko and Naoki were in the center of attention just like they were accustomed to being so they didn't really notice the other people, but the people were staring.

Kenta turned to him. "I'm not asking you to do anything. I'm not asking you to treat her better. I'm not asking you to change. I'm just asking a question."

For the life of him Irie didn't know the answer and so he said nothing. Kotoko looked hurt but she didn't look surprised. It was a sucky feeling for Irie but he knew he deserved it. Kotoko looked like she was thinking something over and then she seemed to get mad.

"Listen, I'm not going to say that I liked being ignored. I understand that you people think I'm stupid and can't make up my own mind, but I have." Kotoko started.

"I don't like that Irie leaves for school and he leaves me behind. I don't like that he doesn't open doors for me. I don't like how he insults me in front of other people."

Kenta snorted, "He's got a lot of redeeming qualities. I can see why you like him."

Naoki wasn't sure why but that made Kotoko so mad.

Kotoko growled. "I can't tell you why I like him! He's an ass. It's hard to miss!"

If the hallway could have gotten anymore silent…

It just did.

Kotoko paused, "Look I can only say that I do like him."

Irie felt himself warm at that and he wasn't proud at himself for it. She had no reason to like him.

Kotoko continued. "He's not going to hurt me and in a strange was he looks out for me. I know how I feel. I know what I want. I know I'm stupid but let me make my own choices."

Naoki had called her stupid more times than he could count but he couldn't explain to himself why he didn't like hear it come from her.

Kenta seemed on the verge of going off again but something seemed to click and he stopped and paused.

A sigh. "I guess I'm not so much better than him after all. You're not stupid. I am going to stop. Call me when you need someone to kick his ass."

And then just like that they guy was gone. And Naoki was left feeling unsettled because until that moment he had thought of himself as the better man but Kenta had been able to say what Naoki wasn't able to bring to words.

Kotoko wasn't stupid.

A/N: Another random fic I typed up while trying to work on other things that are about ten times harder then something completely random that I can come up with in about an hours worth or work. It really doesn't have a point other then to take Naoki down a peg or two. I've written a couple like this because for as much as I like the show I can't stand that she never does anything about his comments and stuff. So anyway, here it is. Believe it or not the original character is not totally random and he's a character I've created for a much bigger story that I have in mind, but I have yet to work out the kinks on the one and get it on to paper. I don't know if I'll ever be able to do it either. In this story I think Kotoko is a little out of character and whenever I try and write up the story with the two of them in it then it gets worse. I hate when I write people who are out of character therefore I doubt the idea I have for this guy will ever be, but I like to put him in when I can. And now that I've confused you all completely I'm going to go. Hope you all enjoyed.