A/N: I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!
"Aihara, do you have a few moments to spare after school?" Mr. Hakamada, her homeroom teacher, asked.
"Certainly," she replied, a trifle confused. "I'm not in trouble again, am I?"
"No, not at all. Perhaps quite the opposite. I'll see you later, then."
Kotoko looked at Satomi. "I wonder what that's about?"
"Aihara, your midterm results took all us teachers by surprise. We wondered a bit once we learned that you were staying with the Irie family, but the past few weeks have proven that you do seem to be performing at a higher level than your classmates."
Kotoko leaned forward anxiously. "You're not going to tell me that I have to move to another class, are you?"
"No, no," he assured her. "That would probably be counterproductive."
"Counter-what?" she asked.
"The stress of a new environment could totally derail your momentum, not to mention," he looked away, "your earlier encounter with members of another class."
"Yeah, that didn't go so well." Kotoko leaned back in relief, glad that the meeting had nothing to do with separating her from her friends.
"Anyway, all of your teachers are agreed that if you continue in this manner, we would recommend you to take the national placement test in January."
"M-me?" Kotoko pointed to herself. When he nodded, she added, "Irie-kun told me that I ought to think about it, but it seemed too far-fetched to imagine."
"I disagree with you. If you continue to improve, I believe it is definitely within your capabilities. However," he held up a warning finger, "you must not slack off. Your first challenge will be getting through the long break. We will be looking closely at your summer homework."
Kotoko grimaced. Summer and homework. Two words that should never be in the same sentence. "Well, Sensei," she rose and bowed, "I will do my best!"
She was surprised to see Satomi, Watanabe and Naoki sitting on a bench outside the school. "Wow, I thought you guys would've left ages ago!"
"No, we wanted to see what Old Fussbudget wanted," Satomi told her.
"And you even told them!" Kotoko gestured to the boys. When Satomi merely shrugged, Kotoko said, "Well, he just wanted to tell me that the teachers now believe I'm not cheating." Naoki laughed shortly. "And that they're thinking about recommending me for the big college placement test instead of just going to Tonan automatically."
"Ooh, Kotoko!" Satomi hugged her enthusiastically. "That's great! But," she pulled away pouting, "that means we won't be going to college together."
"Well, nothing's settled yet‒oof!" Kotoko was surprised when Watanabe placed an arm across her shoulder and pulled her close for a quick hug.
"Congratulations, Aihara-san." He grinned at her.
"Th-thank you, Watanabe-san!" she stammered, a little shocked at the sudden familiarity. She noticed that neither Naoki nor Satomi looked pleased at their closeness and wondered as she stepped away. "I guess I'll just have to…continue working hard!"
"Right!" Naoki's voice was clipped. "So let's head home and get started on it."
Startled by his abruptness, they all gathered their things and set out.
"Honestly, Jinko, I don't know how you talked me into this‒or how Kin-chan talked you into it!" Satomi complained a few evenings later. She shot a glare in Kinnosuke's direction.
"C'mon, Satomi, aren't you interested in seeing where Kotoko lives?"
"We should wait until she invites us over," she advised her friend.
"And when would that be? She's busy with studying every afternoon after school until bedtime, and then Mrs Irie monopolizes her on the weekends. The poor overworked girl could use a little company."
"I just hope Watanabe-san doesn't hear about this," Satomi fretted to herself.
"What?" Jinko had sharp ears. "Don't tell me that you're mooning after that Class A friend of Irie-kun?"
"Mooning after?" Satomi laughed nervously. "I don't know what‒"
"Hey, you girls! Stop lagging behind!" Kinnosuke called back to them. "We're almost there!"
"What do you think Mr. Aihara will fix for dinner, Onii-chan?"
"I don't know. I'm more interested in what culinary disaster Kotoko is concocting." Based upon the frequent clatters from dropped utensils and the increasing frustration in her father's voice, it appeared that her skills were as nonexistent as she had claimed.
Their mother hustled through the living room. "I've decided that we're dining al fresco tonight! Yuuki-kun, you go wipe off the patio table, and Onii-chan, you get the picnic dishes off the top shelf of the pantry."
"Is Kotoko's cooking that bad?" Yuuki muttered to his older brother.
Mr. Aihara stood at the head of the table, Kotoko, shoulders drooping, beside him. "This is just a small expression of my gratitude for your hospitality. I have prepared grilled fish, gyoza, tempura shrimp and vegetables, tonkatsu and cabbage, nasu dengaku, and kakuni, plus rice, of course."
"My, it all looks delicious, Ai-chan." Mr. Irie rubbed his hands together. Mrs. Irie beamed beside him.
"Hey, Kotoko," Naoki asked. "What dish did you prepare?"
She took a deep breath and pointed to a plate of unappetizing globs floating in some sort of liquid.
"What is it?" Yuuki asked, leaning closer.
"It's, uh, fried tofu," she admitted.
"Or was supposed to be!" Her father jumped in. "First she dropped some of the sauce in the batter, then she tried to cook it before the oil was hot enough. Don't feel like you have to try it." He lowered his head and shook it mournfully. "It's such a shame to a prideful chef to have a daughter so uncoordinated in the kitchen."
"Nonsense!" Mrs. Irie interposed. "I'm sure that anything Kotoko fixes will be delightful."
"No, Obasama," she pleaded. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Well," she sniffed, "it doesn't matter if you can cook or not. You and Onii-chan can live with us after you're married, and I'll prepare all the meals!"
"We're not getting marr‒Naoki-kun, what are you doing?!"
He paused. "I'm taking some of your dish." He spooned out a decent-sized helping and deposited a smaller amount on Yuuki's plate.
"Naoki-kun, you should really reconsider," Mr. Aihara begged. "I love my daughter, but‒Argh!" He placed a hand over his eyes. "Too late!"
Naoki's eyes watered but he chewed manfully and swallowed audibly. "That had an...interesting flavor. The texture was a little unexpected also." He turned to his dubious brother, who was holding a piece with chopsticks in front of his face. "Don't worry, Otouto, what doesn't kill you will make you stronger."
"No-o-o-o!" The Iries and Aiharas turned at the sudden commotion. Climbing over the back fence was Kinnosuke, and entering the yard after he unlatched the gate were Gintaro, Dozo, Jinko, and lastly, a flustered Satomi.
"Guys!" Kotoko called. "What a surprise! How did you know where I‒oh, yeah, Kin-chan," she added as she remembered.
"Kotoko-chan," Mrs. Irie stood behind her, hands on her shoulders, "are these your friends?"
"Obasama, I'd like you to meet my best friends, Satomi and Jinko." The girls bowed. "And those are some of my other classmates: Kin-chan, Gintaro and Dozo."
"Yeah," Kinnosuke speared his chest with a thumb, "me and Kotoko are very close, if you know what I mean."
"What does he mean, Kotoko-chan?"
"He means‒that is, I mean‒that I'm going to be Kotoko's special man and as such should be the only one to eat her delicious cooking!"
Naoki and Yuuki looked at each other. Yuuki had managed to swallow his bite of tofu, washing it down with half a glass of juice. "Onii-chan," he whispered, "does he even know what that word means?"
"Well, considering that he is the poster child of Class F, I'd suspect not."
"Hey!" Kinnosuke pointed at them. "Stop makin' fun of me and hand over Kotoko's food."
"Sorry, Kotoko," Naoki winked at her, "but he insists."
She grimaced but did not respond since she and Mrs. Irie were busy setting places for Satomi and Jinko.
Kinnosuke, hugging the plate to his chest, added, "And you, Irie, stop calling Kotoko by her name. That's too familiar for the likes of you."
That was too much. "Who do you think you are, barging in like this and telling us what to do? You're the one who needs to leave Kotoko alone!" Yuuki stood and faced down the taller boy.
"Why‒why‒you Iries are all the same! I'll go now, but don't forget, I'm watching you!" As Kotoko, Naoki and Yuuki (and Mr. Aihara) looked on in surprise and horror, Kinnosuke tilted the plate and let all the tofu slide into his mouth before handing the dish to Mrs. Irie. "Lesh go, boysh!" he ordered his minions after wiping his mouth with his forearm.
"Huh?" "We're not getting any food?" the two protested. When Kinnosuke suddenly pounded his chest and leaned to the right, they added, "What's wrong, Boss?"
"Maybe it was something he ate," Naoki whispered to Yuuki.
Kinnosuke was absent from school the next day.
Naoki continued to teach Kotoko about a week ahead of the class. That way she was familiar with the material by the time the teacher presented it, and the repetition sealed the information in her memory. She tried to duplicate Naoki's feat with Satomi and Jinko when finals approached, but her efforts did not produce the same results.
"Summer school again!" groused Jinko as she scanned her grades.
"Me too!" added Satomi, "although I was a lot closer to passing, thanks to you, Kotoko!"
Kotoko's face had fallen. "I tried so hard! I guess I can knock 'teacher' off my list of potential careers."