After the clamor died down, Kotoko not too graciously invited them to the Irie house. Naoki walked ahead to warn his mother. In no time at all, Mrs. Irie assembled beverages and snacks for the highschoolers.
Kotoko scowled. "They don't even deserve a glass of water. Following me like that! As if they couldn't trust me."
"Well, you didn't tell them the truth," Naoki pointed out.
"And you only made it worse by calling me 'darling'. What in the world possessed you to do that?"
"Would you believe the devil made me do it?"
Kinnosuke moaned when he viewed the arm pounding she gave him for the remark. "They are way too close and comfortable with each other! I bet he's poisoning her mind against me!"
"And that would make a difference—how?" Satomi asked satirically before she and Jinko approached Mrs. Irie to make polite conversation.
"I suppose it will be all over school tomorrow," Kotoko sighed when they sat down in her bedroom for a study session.
"Didn't your friends promise to keep our living situation quiet?" Naoki inquired.
She made a face. "All it takes is for one person to spill the beans, and Class F students aren't known for keeping their traps shut."
"They managed to hide you from me for two years," he riposted.
Yuuki, who had been following the conversation as if watching a tennis match, broke in, "What does that mean, Onii-chan?"
"Um, nothing." Naoki lowered his gaze to the textbooks. "Okay, tonight we'll concentrate on your English pronunciation. Yuuki, you might want to take notes."
"Hmph!" he snorted. "She can't even say words in Japanese correctly. Goodness knows how she'll massacre English!" He easily dodged the teddy bear flung at his head.
"So, which one of you let the cat out of the bag?" Kotoko asked her friends four days later. "All I hear when I walk by people is 'Irie' and 'living together'."
"Not us," Jinko quickly denied.
"Believe it or not," Satomi said, "that idiot Kin-chan went on a rampage at an oden stand, complaining at full volume, according to Gintaro. He didn't notice that some Class A members were just a few meters away taking pictures. They made a mini-movie and posted it online."
"Did they?" Kotoko pulled out her phone. "What site?" A few minutes later she groaned. "Now I'll probably be bullied by all of the girls crushing on him."
"It doesn't look that way," Satomi said slowly, giving Jinko a knowing glance. "It seems they believe that you are no competition and are simply an unfortunate burden that 'poor Irie-san has to bear'."
"Dang," Kotoko groused. "Now I kind of feel insulted."
"It's a lucky break for you, though!" Jinko patted her on the back.
"But honestly, Kotoko," Satomi moved closer on the other side, "aren't you in the least bit tempted to take advantage of your position?"
"My position?"
"You're living in the same house as the boy most girls would die to date."
"How close is his bedroom to yours?" Jinko asked salaciously.
Kotoko gave her an outraged stare. "Right next door, but you aren't seriously suggesting that I…" she trailed off.
"Yes, we are," Satomi stated definitely. "I know you had a phobia about him seeing you, which meant that you never really looked at him. Honestly, he is extremely easy on the eyes."
"I guess I never thought about it much. I mean, most of the time he's trying to shove facts and figures into my head, and that's not the least bit romantic."
While Jinko cackled, Satomi hissed her displeasure. "And you have the nerve to declare yourself a woman!"
"That doesn't mean that I have to be man-crazy!" Kotoko protested.
"Look, with you playing hide-and-seek, you haven't really given anyone a chance to date you," she pointed out.
"And with Kin-chan saying she was his, no one really dared," Jinko added.
"I suppose I have pretty much wasted my high school life, as far as love goes," Kotoko mused. "Oh, well," she grinned, "there's still college."
"Even closer," Satomi said with a wink, "there's summer."
"Huh?"
"Well, just about everyone in our class except you has summer school. So that means you can spend some quality time with tall, dark and dreamy."
"But—"
"C'mon, Kotoko," Jinko pleaded, "thanks to taking care of you, our high school love life has been nonexistent as well. At least let us enjoy some romance second-hand!"
"But—"
"Look," Satomi placed both hands on her shoulders, "we're not saying you have to seduce him."
"I dunno. That sounds like fun," muttered Jinko.
"Just look at him without thinking of your crazy history, and if you like what you see, make a move."
"I don't know how to make a move," Kotoko pointed out.
"I've heard that it comes naturally," Satomi assured her, "so just go with the flow!"
"Aargh! Why is everyone pestering me about this?!" She waved her arms and marched off in high dudgeon.
Jinko whispered to Satomi, "If she'd just let Mrs. Irie take control, it would be easy-peasy!"
She nodded. "That woman is bound and determined to match those two up, isn't she? When we visited her house, Ikky was too busy acting the lovesick fool to hear her comments about how good they look together."
"We would have seen fireworks if he had!"
"I don't know," she tapped her lips with a finger, "I'd back Irie-san's mother against Kin-chan any day!" She huffed out a breath. "And do you know the worst part of it? Those two do look good together!"
Jinko nodded in agreement. "If only Kotoko could see that!"
Kotoko was thumbing through a fashion magazine at the kitchen table when Naoki returned from tennis practice the first day of summer break. "This is a strange thing," she commented, "me at home during summer and you having to go to school. How was it?"
He grunted. "Boring. I know every move my teammates are going to make, having played with and against them for almost six years."
She stood to get him some cold water. "So, not much different from school, huh?" He had shared how frustrating it was at times to sit through multiple explanations of a concept which he comprehended at first introduction. Not that she understood how that felt…
"Thanks," he said, taking the drink from her. "Where are Mom and Yuuki?"
"At the market," she said, seating herself again and turning a page. "Yuuki needs a notebook for a summer project, and we're having stir-fry vegetables tonight. I'll be helping her prepare them later."
"When you say 'prepare', what exactly do you mean?" Naoki eyed her over the rim of the glass.
She wrinkled her nose at him. "Slicing them. I think she has finally given up on me adding heat to perfectly good food." Indeed, Mrs. Irie had decided that three house evacuations due to billowing smoke was enough and had limited Kotoko's 'help' in the kitchen to measuring, washing, and cutting up the ingredients.
Snorting in agreement, he finished his water and took the glass to the sink. "Good. Then we have several hours to work on your summer homework."
"What?!" she squawked. "It's my holiday."
"So? I had to go in today," he pointed out. "Don't think you're getting off scot-free during the break."
"But yours was for tennis club," she wailed. "Plus, I usually just do it the last day of vacation."
"How has that worked for you so far?" he asked sarcastically. "You want to keep your grades up and get into college, don't you?"
She stuck out her bottom lip. "I suppose so," she admitted reluctantly.
"Okay, then. Let me take a shower and we'll get right on it."
Kotoko watched his departure with narrowed eyes. "Evil man. I don't know what Satomi was thinking!"