(Past)

Yosh !Today is the day! Today is the day i will change history, i'll prove all my doubters wrong, i'm going to make it to the top 100 list and prove that i'm not just a stupid girl from class F! Today's the day all that studying and irie-kun's hard work will finally grow justice! Yes, i WILL pass those tests and i'll make it to that list! Yeah… you got this kotoko, you've done your best and now all you have to do is believe in yourself, and trust irie-kun! Yeah!

I take a deep breath to calm my nerves, i was getting all fired up but i didn't want to get ahead of myself. I don't want to jinx it.

I was going over my reviewers in the hallway on my way to the classroom when i notice irie-kun on the other end of the hall.

I know im not supposed to talk to him in school, he already made that crystal clear.

But still- i wanted to thank him

I tried to act normal but i can feel my throat getting dry

"Thank you" i managed to choke out, i said it in such a small voice im not sure if he heard it or not, everything was happening in slow motion and i could hear my heart racing

Irie-kun seemed like his normal cold self, his eyes not moving from his view of the hallway clearly ignoring me.

See? He doesn't ca-

"Goodluck"

Wait- what? I stopped walking but naoki kept walking

I stood there frozen, i could feel my cheeks blushing, with just two words i feel like i can accomplish anything, for once he actually talked to me in school, without being mean, i can't stop myself from smiling, my heart felt nothing but joy.

Nothing can stop me now, i clenched my fist, God is on my side today!

When class finally started, everyone went to their seats, the bell had rung and everyone in my class started to whine and complain right when sensei gives us the permission to start.

I blinked several times "woah!"

These questions look like the ones from irie-kun's practice tests!

The answers just kept coming to me , i've never felt so confident my whole life! For the first time in a long time, i knew exactly what i was doing, i was in control!

I could feel some stares coming from my friends but i had no time to waste, i was too busy solving equations and answering questions.

Before i knew it, finals was over.

"That was exhausting!" i sighed in relief, i placed my chin down on my desk to rest. A restless smile stayed on my face as my friends congratulated me on studying so hard.

Now that everything was over, i can finally hang out with them and celebrate!

I was a bit sad though, this meant no more study sessions with irie-kun

But oh well, we live in one house so i still get to see him anyway!

After school, i spent the rest of the day hanging out with my friends

It's only been a week but man did i miss them, i guess highschool isn't as bad as i thought.

As the last bell rings. Most of the students got out of the campus happily with their cliques, naoki and watanabe watched from afar as kotoko and her group of friends skipped happily to the gates, naoki couldn't help but feel an itch of irritation when he spotted kinosukes arm around kotoko

"Hey isn't that the girl that lives with you? Why is she with that guy…"

"I don't know, they can both be stupid together"

"Hey now don't get jealous, it's probably just one sided"

Naoki rolled his eyes "like i care"

"A bunch of the guys from class A are celebrating to go to check out this new coffee shop, you said next time you'd come? So…"

"Today? I can't, i already made plans"

"Just what i predicted" watanabe sighed "well, it didn't hurt to try, i'll see you tomorrow then"

"Have fun"

Watanabe gave naoki a pat on the back as he headed off leaving naoki all alone.

After the irie-aihara household finished dinner, naoki finally arrived.

He informed his mother that he was going to be out to eat dinner with a friend,

Since kotoko was out as well, she didn't protest.

the adults sat to watch the movie right after dinner, it was a movie noriko picked out, kotoko excused herself since she said she wanted to get some decent sleep and so did naoki, finally a night without studying, the two made their way to their separate bedrooms as noriko giggled with how the progress in their relationship has been getting better.

Last night when they fell asleep while studying, she took pictures of them so tonight she was content and happy even if the two were absent for the movie. Yuki tried to use the same excuse but noriko wouldn't let him go, so he stayed with the adults to watch the movie with terrible acting and slurred english.

Meanwhile upstairs kotoko couldn't sleep with all the noise the adults were making downstairs, both her father and shigeki-san laughed so loud, but no one laughed as hard as noriko. This kept kotoko awake.

Then she heard a faint knock on her door. She got up and sat straight

"C-come in ?"

She was expecting it to be someone like yuki or noriko, but it was irie-kun.

"Did i wake you?"

He asked as he entered her room and closed the door behind him

Kotoko shook her head

"Nope, couldn't sleep"

"Same here"

A moment of silence passed, the atmosphere seemed really awkward.

"Here, now that you know how to properly study, i thought you deserved a reward"

"Eh?"

He throws something on her face and she flinches

"Goodnight" naoki then slams the door as kotoko froze

What just happened she thought

Her eyes landing on her sheets as she sees a small paper bag her eyes lit up

She looks at the contents of the paperbag, and smiles when she sees 3 highlighters that matched as a set. It was packaged all together in such a feminine style and a post it was stuck behind it, she read what it said 'use these to highlight things you need to study for'

Kotoko could feel her jaw hurting, she knew she was smiling too much that now it's hurting her mouth. But she couldn't help herself. She just felt so happy, it was the best set of highlighters any girl could ask for ! her heart raced as she squealed with joy. Making sure no one in the house heard of course. That night she slept soundly with a pack of highlighters under her bed. Kotoko felt like she was the luckiest girl in the world.

The next day the list was posted, kotoko gripped tightly to her blazer, the only thing on her mind was naoki, she was worried since he spent so much time teaching her, maybe he didn't have time to study, she was aware that he was a genius, but what if this time she has caused him to get a lower rank? Kotoko held her breath as she pushed herself to the front so she can clearly see who scored number one. She made one last prayer before opening her eyes and sighed in relief after seeing her dear irie-kun's name on top of everyone else. She smiled, little did she know on the opposite end of the board stood naoki, who looked for her name and found it, they both stepped away from the huge crowd and walked behind it, bumping into each other.

Kotoko knew she wasn't allowed to talk to him in school so she looked around hoping that no one was watching. Everyone was too busy searching for their name so the coast was clear

"Congratulations" she gave him a big grin ,

"You too" naoki's lips curved ever so slightly kotoko missed it

She was too lost in his captivating eyes

"For what?"

"You didn't see?" he raised an eyebrow

Kotoko froze, then went back to the other side of the board on the opposite side to make sure he wasn't playing a prank on her.

Irie naoki didn't lie. Her name was there!

"100th!?" she gasped

She quickly returned back to where naoki was.

"Thank you!" she was ecstatic, naoki resisted the urge to smile, but her smile made him feel good in a way, he just didn't know what.

"Now give it here" he holds out his hand,

Kotoko's smile was still there, she couldn't contain her excitement and instead shook the hand in delight

Naoki pulled away giving her a serious face

"Not that! The you-know-what!" he demanded

"Oh! That!"

Kotoko reached into her blazer pocket and showed him the picture

"Don't flash it around!" naoki snatched the picture from her small hands

"Remember what i said right? Don't talk to me in school, you got what you wanted so leave me alone" he said in a demanding and firm tone

Kotoko was still in cloud 9, not even irie-kun could ruin her day now.

She giggled still gazing at his eyes, naoki started to walk off and kotoko once again opened her mouth to say another 'thank you!'

With his back turned he walked his way back to class, but he couldn't help but smile at how stupid kotoko looked 'that baka, i can't believe she was more worried about finding my name than hers… how dumb'

(Present)

Naoki and the rest of the interns stood patiently by board as they waited for their morning meeting with their resident. Funatsu held a coffee cup and was fidgeting around while naoki raised his brow in suspicion, he knew funatsu was weird but he didn't think he was mentally unstable.

"Funatsu can you stop that, your freaking me out!" kou yelled out. He was one of the interns assigned to kotoko, kou was a tall charismatic guy, he was popular among the nurses and was mostly loud whenever he was allowed to.

"Sorry, it's just that i got aihara-sensei a latte and im not sure if she'll like it or throw it in my face"

"Wow, how dare you bribe her on the first week, your so ambitious"

Nami smirked, she was the only female in the group, tall but petite, apparently she went to medical school in canada, and returned home to be closer with her family.

"It's not a bribe! I just want to be in her favor"

"I guess that's fair, considering how popular she is in the hospital"

Naoki couldn't help but slip a chuckle

"Woah, i didn't know irie-san laughed"

"Gomen… i just thought you said that kot- aihara-SENSEI was popular"

Nami gave naoki a look as they all had no words to say

"Don't you know who she is ? she performed a surgery that saved a prime minister just last year! I read that article online and instantly she became a role model of mine !

"Yeah irie-san, i thought you read alot? She's part of the 'best surgeons in japan' list! As of now she's the first female person to make it to the list!

"I don't read those kind of things, i'm more interested in the medical books" naoki answered in a slightly arrogant tone.

"What are you interns doing just standing there? Come on, we have patients to take care of, walk while you listen" kotoko stood with such posture as she motioned her interns to the other hallway

He was lost in thought as funatsu began talking to kotoko

'No way she's that good...this is all just a dream, right?'