Chapter 5

Naoki was glad that even for a short time, he had gotten to know Shigeo. He could see why his own father respected the other man so much.

Before his death, Naoki had joined him and Kotoko to visit Kotoko's mother's grave. They had stayed at the local inn where a few villagers had joined the men for a late night of drinking. Kotoko had only been five years old when their family had moved to Tokyo but the villagers had long memories and regaled Naoki with stories of the spirited little girl. After the other men had dropped off snoring, Naoki and his father-in-law sat together in companionable silence, Kotoko having long gone off to bed.

"Thank you, Naoki-kun." Naoki looked up in surprise. He hadn't done anything. "You make my Kotoko happy." Shigeo looked down into his sake cup. "I know she worries about me even though she tries to hide it because she knows I don't want her to. But when you're around, she forgets to be sad about me. You're good for her and that makes this old man really happy." Shigeo had patted his knee and called it a night but Naoki sat with his thoughts a long time after he had gone.

~o~o~o~

Thirsty, Naoki was debating whether it was worth it to run downstairs for a glass of water or just wait it out until morning, when a glance beside him showed that he was alone in bed. He crept down the stairs to see if maybe Kotoko had gone to the kitchen herself. He found her sitting at the end of the dining table, a cup of tea in front of her. She had not turned on any of the lights, but the curtains were drawn and the full moon bathed her in its mellow light.

"Naoki-kun," she greeted when she saw him.

"Couldn't sleep?" He said settling across from her.

"Just thinking." He waited for her to continue. "Would you like some? I boiled enough water for another cup." Without waiting for an answer, she disappeared into the kitchen, reappearing a few minutes later with his tea.

"Thank you."

They sipped in silence for a few minutes before Kotoko broke into Naoki's reverie. "I was angry at first when 'Tousan told me about getting married."

She had never talked to him about the extent of her feelings toward their marriage before and Naoki suddenly felt unsettled for reasons he couldn't name. "I refused and fought him about it. I didn't agree that it was for the best. It had been just the two for us for the longest time and I didn't see why that had to change."

She stopped, frowning into her drink. The air felt stifling. "I finally agreed just to appease him."

She looked up at Naoki, her face sad. "You could say I did it just to shut him up." Her voice was no louder than a whisper. She looked down again and Naoki could see her blinking rapidly, trying to hold her tears at bay.

Unsure, but sensing that he wouldn't be pushed away for it, Naoki reached across the table and placed a hand over Kotoko's.

"Let me tell you something, Kotoko." She stared at their joined hands but she didn't move away. "I know for a fact that 'Tousan was glad that you agreed. I think—no, I know that it allowed him to go peacefully."

She looked at him slowly, as if registering his presence for the first time, her eyes shining with tears. "You gave him that, Kotoko." A tear escaped and ran down her cheek but her smile was genuine.

"Thank you, Naoki-kun."

~o~o~o~

A season had come and gone since his father-in-law had passed away, the summer greens giving way to autumn's red and orange. Naoki was relieved to see that Kotoko was recovering—if that was even the proper word to use after the death of a parent. Talking about her father no longer brought tears to her eyes each time. More often, only fondness from happy memories.

Naoki had changed his major to medicine which he had no regrets doing. His parents had not put up a fight, instead, they were fully supportive, a fact that surprised Naoki. Apparently they understood him better than he sometimes understood himself. The health and medical field was eye-opening for him and incredibly fascinating.

He spent his first two semesters taking extra classes which enabled him to advance further on his second year in the program. However, he was still a semester behind Kotoko who was now a junior. Because of this, despite the couple being the same age, Kotoko's classmates teased that she was married to a younger guy—good natured ribbing which made Kotoko laugh.

~o~o~o~

"Naoki-kun! Funatsu-san!" Kotoko greeted from the second floor when she spotted Naoki and his classmate on the first floor at school one afternoon. They were heading to class and Naoki raised a hand in greeting.

Arriving at the top of the staircase, Kotoko skipped down the steps to the first floor where Naoki and Funatsu were walking. Her classmates trailed along behind her at a more regulated pace. Seeing her approach, Naoki lengthened his stride and reached the bottom step just as Kotoko stumbled. She was only saved by Naoki's grip on her arm.

"You really need to stop doing that, Kotoko," he chided. But he knew it wouldn't make a difference. She would just keep running up and down stairs whenever she was excited about something and he had already resigned himself to being present as much as possible to prevent her from breaking her neck.

He waved goodbye as he and Funatsu continued on their way.

~o~o~o~

Arriving home from school one afternoon, Naoki found the house quiet and almost empty. "Where's everyone?"

"Kotoko and Yuki took Chibi to the park."

"The park?"

Naoki was understandably surprised since Yuki didn't like going to places like parks. He preferred to stay at home reading or playing the occasional video game which made Naoki wonder what made his brother decide to go out.

He heard them before he saw them, the sounds of laughter and yells punctuated by loud barks greeting his ears. If his face was more expressive, a look of surprise would have shown. As it was, he only stared.

Kotoko, Yuki, and Chibi were running around in an apparent game of tag. It wasn't like regular tag though because whenever someone got touched, the "It," simply turned and chased the other down, basically just passing the game back and forth in a continual cycle. Chibi was just enjoying the excitement and ran with whomever was in the lead. Naoki couldn't help laughing when Yuki had to jump over the large dog to avoid tripping over him or when Kotoko hurriedly gathered her long tresses into her fist to avoid Yuki's outstretched fingers.

He was watching for a couple of minutes before they spotted him. The moment she recognized him, Kotoko's face broke out into an even bigger smile—which was incredible considering she was already smiling and laughing before.

"Naoki-kun!" she called to him with a wave of her arm. "Come join us!" "Pass" was on the tip of his tongue when he saw his younger brother's face. It was hopeful but carefully schooled to remain neutral.

Two things struck Naoki in that moment. One, that he didn't spend nearly enough time with Yuki, and two, Kotoko was amazing. He sauntered over to the trio and patted the panting Chibi. Then without warning, he tapped Yuki and swiftly grabbed Kotoko's hand, sprinting away with her as the fourteen year-old froze in surprise.

Yuki grinned and ran after them with a shout, commencing a new round of tag.

It was over an hour later when the sweaty and sore trio collapsed shoulder to shoulder onto the grass, laughter still not totally under control. Naoki glanced sideways at Kotoko, matching the smile on her face. Unintentionally, Kotoko's fingers grazed his as she reached for Chibi and Naoki had no desire to move his hand away. He gazed at Kotoko's flushed cheeks, her eyes closed, her breath still fast and he thought how adorable she looked.

After catching their breath, they trouped back home where Okaasan was waiting for them with freshly squeezed orange juice.

"I've never seen Yuki enjoy himself so much before," Naoki remarked as they helped prepare for dinner. "I'm impressed you got him out to play."

"It wasn't too hard," Kotoko giggled. "I just dared him that I could run longer than him."

~o~o~o~

"What's wrong, Papa?" Okaasan asked during the meal.

"Ahh, I just have this crick in my neck from holding the phone against my shoulder earlier today." Shigeki shrugged his shoulders and turned his head left and right to try and relieve muscle.

"I usually massage 'Tousan's shoulders when he gets a stiff neck. Would you like me to try, Papa?" Kotoko offered.

"It's alright, Kotoko-chan, you go ahead enjoy your dinner—" but Kotoko had hopped off her seat and was behind him in the next moment.

"It'll help, I promise!" she said brightly, shaking out her hands and hyperextending her fingers back to warm them up.

"Okay," Shigeki said, intrigued. "I put myself in your hands." The family observed Kotoko kneed at the muscles around Papa's neck with various placements of her fingers, palms, fists, and even elbows.

"Tada!" Kotoko declared about five minutes later. "How does it feel?" Shigeki tested out the area.

"Why, your hands work wonders, Kotoko-chan! It feels even better than before!" He patted her cheek affectionately. "I feel wonderful." Kotoko basked in his praise and traipsed back to her seat to finish her dinner.

"Me too, Neechan." Yuki begged after the meal. "I'm sore from running."

Kotoko stood with a hand under her chin, thoughtfully regarding the younger boy. "Hmmm, three of us ran, not to mention Chibi… Aha!" She snapped her fingers. "Let's do a massage train!" The two looked over at Naoki who was reading a book.

He shook his head with a small smile, content to relax through reading. "Pass."

"Your loss." Yuki declared and plopped himself on the floor in front of Kotoko.

"Mou!" Kotoko complained. "Why do you get to go first?" Nevertheless she already had her hands on his shoulders.

Naoki shook his head at their antics but stopped abruptly as he realized: she is precious to me.

~o~o~o~

Naoki all but ran into the bedroom and closed the door quickly behind him. He finger-combed his hands through his hair as he paced at the foot of the bed.

What exactly did that mean, that she was precious to him? Yes, he had gone on three dates when he was back in the United States, but that was back in high school and his rebellious college days. None have ever gotten to the point where he felt that any of the girls were important to him. If anything, it was simply an ego boost to have the prettiest and richest girls of the school vying for his attention.

He wracked his brains, trying to think what this realization meant for him. Sure, Kotoko was a great addition to the family and everyone got along really well with her. That's what his mind was telling him, right? His subconscious simply meant that Kotoko was an integral thread in the fabric of the Irie family.

He exhaled, perfectly content with this explanation.

Irie Naoki, for all his IQ of 200, was still quite naïve about certain things. And his perfectly reasonable explanation lasted him all of two weeks.


A/N: The longest chapter to date to make up for the brevity of last week's installment. Have a wonderful week, everyone!