Immediately after the medical board test, Nishigaki began drilling Kotoko relentlessly for the nursing exam. Despite her complaints about his sternness, she admitted to her father that the harsh regimen was working. "He says that if I get a good meal and relaxing sleep the night before, I shouldn't have any trouble."
"In that case, Daughter," he urged, "why don't both of you come by that night?" Forestalling her primary objection, he assured her that Kinnosuke had the night off. "I'll put you in a quiet corner booth, and he can grill you one last time."
"So much for relaxing," she muttered.
Nevertheless, she and her roommate showed up that evening.
"I'm surprised you've stuck with me so long," she commented as they made headway through the main course.
"Hm?" he asked, mouth full of meat.
"Well, with your test over and done with, I thought you'd be hitting the dating scene already. Instead, you spend every night with me."
Nishigaki reached across and plucked a grain of rice off her cheek. "Don't get your hopes up," he jested and she stuck out her tongue at the comment. "I have quite a bit invested in you."
"You'll probably bully me when I get to be a nurse," she pouted.
"No doubt," he agreed, "but we both have a ways to go before that. Don't worry about my social life. I'll get back in the swing of things soon enough."
"Yeah, well, be a little more careful with your next lady," she warned. One of her high school pals had joined the police force, and she had told him about their experience with the lovelorn stalker.
"Relax, Aihara," he assured her. "Once I informed her that we had her on surveillance videos outside your place, she became meek as a lamb. I'll be surprised if you hear a peep out of her in the future. But, gee," he had added (to Kotoko's displeasure), "for someone who never dated in high school, you sure manage to rub shoulders with high-profile men!"
"I'll make sure to run a security check before it progresses to the bedroom. Don't worry." Nishigaki looked up at a sudden flurry of activity at the door. "Huh. Looks like friends of your dad just showed up. You know them?"
Kotoko's head spun back around after a quick glance. "It's the Iries!" she moaned as she held a hand up to hide her face.
"I thought things were 'normalized' after your visit to Pandai," he said.
"Yes, well, Mrs. Irie is another matter entirely."
"Hey, look, Mom. It's Baka-chan!" said a youthful voice.
"Yuuki-kun also." She lifted eyes to the ceiling.
"Kotoko-chan?! Where?" Mrs. Irie took two steps before screeching to a halt. "There's a man with her!" she hissed at her older son.
"Ah, that's my daughter's, um, study partner." Mr. Aihara tried to smooth things over as he guided the family to—thank goodness!—the opposite side of the restaurant.
"Ouch," Nishigaki said after a few minutes. When Kotoko looked at him quizzically, he explained, "If those glares were arrows, I'd be bleeding out here. Speaking of blood, what are the major pressure points to stop bleeding?"
While Mrs. Irie's eagle eyes watched Kotoko show as well as tell the answer, Mr. Aihara deposited the first course dishes on their table. "Ai-san!" She grabbed his arm. "What is My Darling studying?"
"Um, ah," her father couldn't remember if Kotoko had wanted the information kept secret, "she has a test tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Naoki's voice contained doubt. "Isn't school out now?"
"Well," he felt sweat bead on his forehead and decided to spill all—his daughter could chew him out later—"she wants to transfer to nursing school. Nishi-kun is a senior medical student who's helping her out."
"Nishi? Would that be short for Nishigaki?" Naoki asked.
"Yes." Mr. Aihara gladly turned from the stunned Mrs. Irie. "Do you know him?"
"Well, I know of him." He didn't know whether to share the rumors of his reputation or not. At any rate he was interrupted.
"Onii-chan! This is a sign!" If the table had not been holding Mrs. Irie's legs captive, she probably would have floated to the ceiling.
"A sign of what, Mom?" asked Yuuki. "The end times? Kotoko as a nurse… Man, oh man, I hope I don't have to go to the hospital again."
"You wanted to become a doctor! She's going to become a nurse! Open your eyes! You two belong together."
"But dear," her husband interposed, "it's a medical student who is tutoring her. Wouldn't he be more the one that she belongs with now?"
"Of course, you're the one who had to object so much to our son's choice of career that you gave yourself a heart attack over it!" she snapped at him.
"Now, that wasn't my fault…"
"Mom, Dad, settle down." Naoki tried to restore a measure of peace and sanity. He saw that Mr. Aihara had taken the opportunity to escape back to the kitchen. How he wished that he could; even the company of that idiot Ikezawa would be preferable to his mother in this mood.
Kotoko and Nishigaki finished their meal before the Iries, and she steeled herself to greet them on the way out. Her roommate made her giggle when he leaned over to whisper, "Don't throw me to the lions!"
Thus she was smiling easily when they approached the other table. "Hello, Obasama, Ojisama, Irie-kun, Yuuki-kun." The last person mentioned was presented with a tiny glimpse of the tip of her tongue. He turned up his nose at the sight.
"Kotoko-chan!" Mrs. Irie grasped her arm as if the girl was pulling her from a whirlpool. "How I've missed you! You disappeared on me!"
"Just getting on with my life, Obasama." She patted her hands, discreetly trying to loosen their grip.
"But you've seen Papa and Onii-chan," she whined. "Of course," her expression grew crafty, "with your contract with Pandai you'll be dropping by quite often, right?"
"I don't think so," she began at the same time that Naoki said, "That won't be necessary."
Mrs. Irie turned and adjured her son, "You stay out of this!" He rolled his eyes and sat back. "Now that we've met again, you simply must come by the house for tea and a nice visit."
"I'm afraid that I'm going to be very busy if I pass this test," Kotoko hedged. "By the way, may I introduce my...friend, Nishigaki Yuichi?"
He bowed. "Charmed to meet you, ma'am, sir, Irie," he gave Naoki a hard stare, "and is this the 'brat' that you mentioned?"
"Brat!" Yuuki growled.
"You know you deserve it." Kotoko flicked him on the forehead. "Ha! Your dodging skills have deteriorated since I moved out."
"I hate to break up the reunion," Nishigaki said with a smile, "but this young lady needs to have one last review session before hitting the sack tonight." He bowed in farewell, and Kotoko bobbed beside him.
"Wait, Kotoko, Nishi-kun!" Mr. Aihara rushed out of the back with a bag. "Here are snacks for the test breaks, plus some dishes that you two can warm up for breakfast tomorrow." He beamed at both of them, not noticing dropped jaws on all the Irie faces.
"Two nights in a row, Kotoko?" Mr. Aihara was pleased to see his daughter, despite his question.
"Yes, Otosan!" She hugged him exuberantly.
"Wait!" he warned her. "I'm in my apron. I might leave stains on your clothes."
"It won't matter!" She laughed as she danced away.
Her father looked at her companion. "Can you explain?"
Nishigaki smiled at him. "She felt really confident after the test and wanted to celebrate early. She was even willing to run the risk of encountering her erstwhile suitor."
"Erstwhile—oh, Kinnosuke!" The older man chuckled, then muttered, "I hope she's not counting her chickens before they hatch."
"Well, either way, expect us back the evening the results are posted," he warned him. "Whether it's for a dirge or a second party."
"You know, Kotoko, I thought your father was exaggerating when he said to watch your liquor intake."
"I'm perfectly fine!" she insisted before apologizing to a large potted plant on the sidewalk that she collided with.
Nishigaki grabbed her shoulder and plastered her to his side. "Sure you are, darlin'. It must be because there isn't much of you that your body can't metabolize the alcohol that quickly," he surmised.
"Hey! I know what that word means now. It means…" her voice trailed away then renewed strength dramatically, "to process for ashimilition!"
"Close," he said. "I don't think the train is going to cut it tonight. Let me see if I can get a taxi. Should have brought my car, but I didn't think I had enough gas."
"Gas! A product of digestion." Kotoko was still showing off her medical knowledge.
"Not the right sort for my Toyota. Here we go." He poured her into the cab's back seat. "Now just don't throw up."
"Well, she kept everything down at least," he said as he carted her dead weight up the stairs. He leaned her against the wall next to the door while searching for his key. He glared at the cat, calmly crunching dry food. "I don't suppose you would be able to help in this situation. I guess not," he added when the animal snarled at him before turning back to the bowl. He managed to get the door open and steered her inside, wishing for wheels on her shoes. He dumped her face down on her bed and pulled the comforter over her. He regarded her for a few seconds then shook his head. "Sweet dreams, Kotoko."
"You wanted to see me, Dad?" Naoki entered his father's study.
"Yes, son. Have a seat." He waved him over. "Naoki, have you given any thought about returning to school?"
"You mean for some business courses to help Pandai?"
"No, no. I mean going back to medical school."
"That's water under the bridge, Father. I'm needed in the company now."
Mr. Irie made a scoffing sound. "Nonsense. My health is much better, and the adjustments we've made to the organizational structure have streamlined matters. You can be spared. Unlike you, Yuuki has always shown an interest in Pandai. I'll be all right until he is ready to join the firm."
"But the financial aid from the Hokuei-sha company was contingent upon me being in place there."
"I can handle any objections from Chairman Oizumi." He leaned forward and folded his hands. "It's what you want to do, son. I'm sorry that I never listened to you before."
Naoki sat back in his chair. "Dad, what's brought this on?"
"Well, your mother and I were talking—"
"I might have known Mom was involved," he murmured.
"Yes, but sometimes she makes a great deal of sense. It seems particularly coincidental that Kotoko has decided to go into a field related to the one that you had your heart set on. I feel as if perhaps you jumped too quickly into the arrangement proposed while I was in the hospital."
"The deal was made, Dad." His voice was firm.
"And I've told you that it can be broken. Do you want to become a doctor?"
He sat in silence for several minutes, considering. "I can't go into a career just because Kotoko is there." Naoki gave a short, humorless laugh. "That's too much like something she would do. Based on what we saw the other evening, my presence could make her uncomfortable. So, thank you for offering, but I'll stay where I am. There are enough challenges at Pandai to keep me stimulated for a while. It's kind of like moving chess pieces around on the board, and you know I've always excelled at intellectual games."
"If you're talking about strategy, then remember that it has only been a few months since Kotoko left," his father reminded him. "Even if she has moved on, it's still a new relationship and might not last."
He shook his head. "I slammed the door in her face pretty hard. The least I can do right now is stay out of sight as much as possible and let her live her life the way she wants."
"Without checking to see if she wants to live it with you in it?"
"Dad, we still get information from Aihara-san. It's not as if she's on another continent. And I'm working on stalling Sahoko into waiting until she graduates college to even discuss a date. So," he stood, "are we done here?"
"Yes," he nodded and dismissed him. After the door closed, he held his head with his hands. What had his singlemindedness about Pandai done to his son's future?
