"Ma, what are you doing on campus?" Naoki's voice held a touch of exasperation.
Mrs. Irie spun around. "How did you know it was me?"
"Big sunglasses and funky clothes only go so far. Besides, when have you ever been able to fool me?"
"You're such a spoilsport," she pouted, removing the glasses and twirling them around.
"So what is it this time?" he asked, testily. "And make it quick. I can't dawdle around forever. I am a student, you know."
"Well, dawdling around is what got us into this mess!" she exploded, waving arms around.
"What mess? Wait—what is this 'us'?" Nothing good was going to come from this conversation, he was sure.
"Our family! You and Kotoko! Granted, I may have pushed a little hard when you were in high school—"
"A little hard?"
"—but did you have to go and foul things up royally by living with that girl? Such a ridiculous overreaction to a smidgen of motherly advice."
"I didn't live with Matsumoto! I thought I made that clear. And who the hell is feeding you information? Is it Kotoko?"
Mrs. Irie lifted her chin. "Not at all! That girl keeps her lips locked. Darn! No, If it wasn't for my informants not only would I not have heard about that freshman boy professing a tendre for her, but that she turned him down because she is seeing another!"
"Freshman?" Had Kotoko always been this attractive to other men? Maybe that annoying Osakan had chased them off…
His mother waved away his query. "No, no, she rejected him. I'm speaking about the one you knew in high school!"
That weird sour taste appeared again in his mouth. "Watanabe, you mean?"
"Yes! Yes!" His mother pointed dramatically. "The very one! What a Judas! Pretending to be your good friend and then stealing your girl away during a moment of misunderstanding. Too, too cruel!"
"Mother, have you been overdosing on dramas lately?"
"Onii-chan!" She straightened herself into an offended stance.
"Okay, number one, Watanabe is not pretending anything; I still consider him a good friend. Number two," he swallowed hard, "when was Kotoko ever my girl?"
"If she wasn't it was due to your own laziness!"
He shook his head. "I don't have time for this."
She hastened to his side and clutched his arm. "But Onii-chan, it can't be that you hate dear Kotoko-chan?"
He shoved hair off his forehead while expelling a loud breath. "No, Ma, I don't hate her."
"Do you like her just a little bit?" She squished her forefinger and thumb together to express a minuscule amount.
"Yes, I like her. She's a...nice girl."
She moved in for the kill. "How do you feel when you think of those two together?"
Naoki didn't speak for a moment, then his jaw tightened and he shook her off. "You've taken all the time I have to spare, Ma. We'll have to continue this later, if you insist, but I really hope you don't. Now, I've got to hurry to class." He kissed her cheek quickly and rushed off.
"He didn't answer!" Mrs. Irie breathed as a sly smile crept over her face. "All hope is not lost!"
Passersby must not have been too startled to see a middle-aged woman performing a wild victory dance, since news of it never made the gossip rounds of the university.
"Kotoko! Kotoko!"
The girl who unluckily bore that name cringed as she entered her father's restaurant. "Yes, Kin-chan?" She had deliberately avoided the school cafeteria for several days, having decided that this encounter would have fewer witnesses if it took place at a less crowded locale.
"What's this I hear about you getting confessed to by another Class A loser?"
"I'm pretty sure that Nakagawa-kun is not a loser, and Jun-kun definitely isn't one."
"Ow!" he howled. "You're on first name basis already."
Kotoko scowled at him. "You're a fine one to talk! Who ordered me to call him by his first name the day we met?"
"Yeah, but I knew we were destined for each other!" he argued as he tried to take hold of her hand; expecting such a move, she hid both of them behind her back. "You'd do yourself a great big favor and save yourself a ton of heartache if you'd tell those nerds to get lost and start dating me!"
Odawara shoved the curtain aside and stuck his head out. "If she hasn't done it in four years, she's not gonna start now!"
"Hey! No comments from the peanut gallery!" Kinnosuke growled.
"Look," the older man shrugged, "I'm a happy man. And do you know why I'm happy? Because when a woman tells me 'No', I accept her answer and don't nag her mercilessly."
"Yes, son," Kotoko's father joined the group, "you'd be better off taking his advice."
"But Otosan—"
"Don't call me 'Otosan'," Mr. Aihara ordered, for about the ninety-third time that year. He gave the boy a friendly shove towards the back, and Odawara gladly moved him along the rest of the way. "But say, daughter," he leaned over the bar, "why haven't I met your young man?"
Kotoko smiled weakly. "He's pretty busy with school. He's studying to be a lawyer."
"A lawyer, eh?" The chef rubbed the bar until he could see his reflection, then looked back up. "Isn't that a little high for you to be reaching, Kotoko? Men like that tend to want their women a little, uh,..."
"Smarter, do you mean?" Her eyebrows met in the middle. "You're starting to sound like Irie-kun. Shame, Dad! Jun-kun knows how I am and still wants to be with me."
"Okay, okay!" He raised his hands in apology and surrender. "I just thought I'd try to look out for you, since you got all upset when things didn't work out with Naoki-kun."
"Well, this and that are two different things. Now I guess I will have to bring him by and introduce him to you."
"Meet your dad? Sure!" Watanabe was all agreement. "After all, you met both my parents with no warning."
"I'm still sorry about springing it on you," Kotoko apologized again. "It's too late now, but we can go one day after class before they actually open for dinner."
"Do you think he'd mind if we stayed for a meal?" he asked. "We haven't been out in a while." He winked at her. "Except for fast food and snacks."
Kotoko laughed then quickly slapped a hand over her mouth; after all, they were in the library. "As long as you won't mind him choosing the menu and maybe using you as a guinea pig for new dishes. Oh!" Her voice grew hesitant. "I do have to warn you that one of his employees may be a little obnoxious."
"Ah, would that be the Kansai boy from Class F?"
"You know he works there?" She was surprised.
"Um, Irie may have mentioned it. It seems that he interrupted some family celebration and got a little rowdy."
Kotoko closed her eyes in remembrance. "And I drank too much sake that night and threw up all over Yuuki-kun!"
"Don't worry, I'll order water for you." She stuck out her tongue at that remark. "As for the others, I'll be polite to your father and firm to my rival."
"Kin-chan isn't your rival," Kotoko argued. "No one is."
Not even Irie? he wanted to ask. Instead he simply said, "I'm glad to hear that." He pulled her hand across the table and kissed her palm. He liked it that she didn't pull it away immediately.
