Kotoko Irie checked her phone again.
You have 27 missed calls...
She huffed in dejection. Clearing the history, she received another notification.
You have 53 unread messages...
She cleared the notification again, not even bothering to read one of the messages. She already knew who it was from. She gets these sorts of notifications every day so she knew who it was from. Well technically, the messages weren't just from one person.
"You okay there, Kotoko?"
"Yeah," Kotoko turned to her friend, Keita. "...just super."
Truth be told, Kotoko felt a little bit bashful. After the events of last week, she had agreed to Keita's offer to stay in his apartment. Here she was, a married woman, and yet she was staying with a man she was not wed to. Of course, they're not anything more than friends. But still, she couldn't help but worry at what others may think of her. Despite her many faults, Kotoko Irie was not an adulterous woman.
"You sure? You seem to have been dozing out all day since this morning." Keita remarked, taking a seat next to her. "You sure you don't want to go back to the university tomorrow? Everyone in class has been worrying about you."
"Heh, I guess I've been causing a lot of drama lately. Sorry..." Kotoko's eyes were downcast unto the table in melancholy.
"Geez, idiot, what are you apologizing for?" Keita scratched the back of his head. In his mind, Kotoko's reactions weren't completely unjustified. Naoki had not so much as paid her any attention to the point that he was just downright ignoring her for the past few weeks. As to why, well, who knows? He couldn't understand as to why her husband could be such a jerk. Sure, he's been calling in to apologize lately, but what the hell was that all about? Did they have a fight or something? Or was Naoki just that apathetic towards her? Did he even call to apologize at all, or did he just call to further mock her?
But man, did he want to give him a piece of his mind. If only Kotoko had not begged for him to leave the shmuck alone.
Why did she ever marry such a man was beyond him.
"Are you gonna cry again?"
Kotoko shook her head.
"No." She said depressingly. "I'm pretty sure I'm all dried up now."
She sighed.
"No more tears left in these eyes."
Keita really felt sorry for her. He really did. It didn't take a detective to see that she was still hurting deep down inside. And for the most part, he really could not see what Kotoko would see in a man like Naoki. Sure, he was a genius, good looking, and rich, but the man was so damn uncaring for her. It was obvious. He couldn't help but think that she somehow deserved a little of this for being blind.
"Look, I'll go make some dinner for the both of us." He said, standing up and tapping her shoulder to comfort her. "If you ever want to talk to someone, I'm here."
Kotoko smiled, feeling grateful.
"Thank you, Keita. I appreciate it."
"Heh, don't mention it." Keita responded coolly.
"Dear Lord, please don't let anything happen to poor Kotoko!" Noriko Irie screamed into the heavens with her knees on the ground.
"Mother, don't you think you're making too much of a big deal about this?"
"Shut it, Yuuki." Noriko hissed deadlier than a snake. "This is all Big Brother's fault. You are going to fix this, aren't you?" She glared at her eldest son, who was sitting stoically on the couch.
"Hn."
"Don't you 'hn' me, young man!" Noriko stood up and placed her hands on her hips bending forward in Naoki's direction. "Now what are you going to do to get her back, huh?!"
"I'll get her back." Naoki said, staring at the blank television screen. "Don't worry about it."
"What do you mean 'don't worry'?!" Noriko yelled, surprised at her son's apathy. "We're all panicking over here at where she might be, and you don't even give a damn about your own wife?! She could be kidnapped for God's sake."
Just as Noriko was about to continue her rant, Naoki stood up and started walking out of the room.
"I know where she is."
"What?!" Noriko shouted, surprised. "Where?!"
"She's with Kamogari." He stopped walking. "She's been with him all this time."
"Kamogari?! That friend Kotoko brought? She's with him?"
Naoki remained silent.
"How long have you known this?"
"Since she left."
Silence reigned in the room for a few seconds before Noriko shouted.
"You mean you knew you're wife was with another man this whole time, and you didn't do anything, you stupid brat?!"
Naoki didn't answer and continued walking upstairs to his room.
"Young man, get back down here! Do you really want to lose her that badly?!"
Slamming the door to his room shut, Naoki Irie slumped down against it. Sitting down on the floor with his back against the door, he could still hear his mother shouting all the way from downstairs in what he assumed to be a heavy argument with his father, who was probably trying to calm her down.
His mother didn't know anything. Could she really think of him as so apathetic that he doesn't even give a damn that his wife if with another man? Contrary to what people thought, he was very conscious at what Kotoko might be doing right now at Kamogari's. Could they have fallen in love? Were they whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears as they cuddled? Has Kotoko forgotten about him already?
Naoki chuckled grimly.
No. That's not possible. He thought, leaning the back of his head on the wooden door. That idiot, she could never love anyone but me. I just know it.
He sighed as he stared into the ceiling.
...but what if I'm wrong?
The thought made a surge of fear run through his body. He knew that Kotoko would always be in love with him, but deep down inside, he knew there was always the possibility that the idiot would fall for someone else. And it scared him. It scared him a lot. The possibility of having life without Kotoko gave him a fear of loneliness and isolation.
"No, no, that's not possible." He murmured to himself, clutching his forehead. "She's incapable of loving anybody else but me."
Suddenly an image of Kotoko and Keita naked on the bed and cuddling flashed through his mind for a millisecond. It was only a brief image, but every detail was enough to be memorized by him.
SLAM!
Before he could stop himself, anger had made him slam his fist into the wooden drawer left of him. The impact of the force making a loud noise throughout the room.
"You love me don't you, Kotoko?" He said to the empty bedroom. "You wouldn't fall for anyone else, would you?"
Although Naoki Irie hid it well, he was going crazy each passing second without her. The past week made him realize how much empty his life was without Kotoko and how much he wanted to beat the living crap out of Kamogari. Unfortunately, he had not been able to find the latter no matter how much he searched in the university. Plus, he knew that harming the guy would only make his wife angry at him so violence obviously wasn't an option.
He still wanted to make him pay though. Somehow.
Standing up, Naoki walked to their bed and picked up the pillow Kotoko laid her head on. He smiled at it before hugging it into his chest firmly, inhaling her scent just like he does every night for the past week without her before he sleeps.
Naoki was at his breaking point.
He needed his wife...now.
And he would be getting her back, even if he had to drag her here all the way.
"Kotoko, I know you love me. You can't love anyone but me."
"Huh? A divorce?"
"Haven't you ever thought about it, Kotoko? I mean, I'm not pushing you but if you really want my advice I'd at least consider it."
"I don't know, Keita. I've been fighting for his affections for so long, and to just throw them away like that?"
"So you're saying that he loves you? Are you sure about that?"
"..."
"Ah, Kotoko, look...I'm not saying to rush it and demand a separation. I'm just giving you some advice to take it slow and ask yourself what it is that you really want."
"I want him to notice me."
"And how long have you been fighting for him to notice you."
"Since freshman year...in high school."
"And have you gotten even a tiny hint of his attention?"
"He's shown me some. But he's usually cold to me by default. He's really a master of mixed messaging."
"Wow."
"..."
"..."
"Do you really think I should divorce him, Keita?"
"Just try to talk it out with him. I don't wanna ruin your relationship or anything, but you two really need to clear out this relationship. Find out what you really are to him."
"And what happens after?"
"Up to you..."
"..."
"Still, if you can repair the relationship, all the better. I just think that you deserve better than to be treated like a stranger by your own husband."
"...you know something, Keita? You're right."
"And – wait, I'm right? Yeah, I guess I am. Wait, right about what?"
"About finding out what I really am to him."
"And then?"
"Try to find out what our relationship really is."
"You might have a hard time answering this, but what if you don't like his answer?"
"I...I guess I'll end it there and then."
Keita sighed.
"I got a bad feeling about this."