Foreword: Itazura AU. In which, Kotoko has as much self-respect as she does feelings for Naoki. In which, Naoki promptly learns to appreciate Kotoko for not being able to do the things he can do easily, yet is everything he could never be effortlessly. In which, their relationship ultimately arrives at the same fateful destination, only with a few detours that help them both find something(s) important along the way.
Disclaimer: I do not own Itazura na Kiss or any of its content. This was written for personal entertainment purposes only. Most plot points closely follow the Anime and Live Actions (Love in Tokyo S1 and S2 and a little bit from Miss in Kiss) Changes in characters and timeline of the plot are inspired by memorable quotes from the anime and from both seasons of the live actions. Also slightly influenced by StarryNights513's fanfiction "Enough" as well as kotokodainetohru's fic "Wabi-Sabi"(which unfortunately seems to be on hiatus; unfortunate, because it's really well-written)
A/N: Italicized for a character's thought process. Bolded for emphasis. Both for stronger emphasis.
Passages with * mark means there are words or phrases explained in the footnotes.
Kotoko's heart was racing.
Not erratically, like it did when she was 'in love' with Irie-kun back in high school. More of a small thumping kind, one experiences right before a big drop on an extreme roller coaster ride. She was not certain if it was because Keita still was holding her hand as they were walking, or if it was because they just got off the drop tower attraction.
However, if she must say, this date with Keita was better than she anticipated. He was consistently courteous and quite the gentleman. Surprisingly more conservative than she pegged him for as well. Their conversations never got dry (much like their clothes after the rapid-rivers ride). In addition, she discovered their values in family and self-respect have a decent amount of commonality. Perhaps it was because he fits the bill of her ideal type.
Everyone around her assumed her ideal type was Irie-kun, since he was the only one she ever openly crushed on. But most people (besides Kotoko herself) have no idea that she actually fell for Irie Naoki (even after getting to know him inside and out; she didn't want to admit then) for reasons she could not exactly explain. Not because he was her so-called 'type'.
Enough with thoughts of Irie. It's rude to Keita. Kotoko chastised herself as she sat under the shade of the table-umbrella, waiting for her date to return with their snack - her favorite crepes.
"Sorry I took quite a while, the line was long. I was not sure what flavor you prefer, so I got both strawberries-n-cream and chocolate banana."
"I'll take strawberry. Thanks Keita."
"So, how do you like our date so far?"
He asked, after she got halfway through her dessert.
"I haven't been to a theme park in ages, so I am having a good time. You are quite smooth. How experienced with women are you, Kamogari?"
"Dating history is a taboo on first dates, Aihara. Besides, it has nothing to do with numbers and experience. It really depends on how grounded a person is, in who they are."
"Hmmm, so evasive."
"Oh no, did my impression points go down?"
"Isn't that question also a taboo on first dates?"
The boy shrugs, letting her question slide before getting up.
"Finished? I can take the trash."
He clears their table, going to the nearest trash can, which was still a considerable distance away. Kotoko notices something amiss nearby and heads in that direction, sending Keita a text so he doesn't think she ditched him to go home.
She knelt down, to reach eye-level of a bawling little girl in an Anna dress.*
"What's wrong, princess?"
"Mama...Papa…" The girl sniffs.
"You got separated from your mama and papa? Onee-chan will help you look for them, okay? Can you tell me your name?"
"Yumi."
"Yumi-chan, do you have a picture of your mama and papa?"
The girl shakes her head and bites her bottom lip, teary eyed.
"It's okay, don't cry. Let's try a different way to find them. Do you remember what colors mama and papa are wearing?"
"Mama blue and white, Papa red and white."
"Do you remember where you last saw them?"
The girl points to a landmark a couple meters away.
"May I hold your hand, so we can go look for mama and papa at the castle?"
The girl held out her small pudgy hand and nodded, smiling at Kotoko, whose heart melted a little bit.
The two made their way to Sleeping Beauty's castle, where there were hoards of people, all trying to capture a photo with the park's most iconic backdrop. So that Yumi did not get lost in the crowd again, Kotoko eventually picked the tiny girl up in a firm hold.
"Yumi's mama and papa, Please respond!"
Kotoko yelled repeatedly over the crowd. The girl joined in.
"Mama! Papa!"
Kotoko got a glimpse of blue plus white clothing and ran towards the tall women with long-bobbed hair, the same color as Yumi-chan's.
"Excuse me! Are you Yumi's mama?"
Aihara caught up to the woman and tapped her shoulder. The lady turned around, and horror flashed across her beautiful face. She then shook her head furiously and darted away without a word.
Strange lady, she could have just said no. I am not scary looking am I? Wait.. have I seen her somewhere before? But that's not important right now!
Kotoko refocused her efforts on helping reunite this lost girl with her parents.
She spotted a skinny man in red and white, with curly hair a shade darker than Yumi's, sporting a flashy camera, and approached him.
"Excuse me, are you Yumi's papa?"
"No, sorry."
The man replies quickly in a raspy soprano tone and runs off in the opposite direction.
What's with people, fleeing from me on sight? Again, why do I feel like I've met that stranger before?
Kotoko felt strangely insulted, but continued her quest.
"Yumi's mama and papa, Please respond!"
"YUMI!"
A frantic, but ever graceful-looking young woman in a baby blue sundress and white cardigan rushed over towards Kotoko and the toddler in her arms.
"Mama!"
Wails of relief from the three year old followed, as Kotoko handed her over. After the girl calmed down and the relieved mother expressed her thanks, Kotoko bent down to speak to Yumi again.
"Good thing we found your mama, huh?"
Fortunately, Yumi-chan no longer has to bear the sadness of separating from her mom. Kotoko thought about her own mother for a quick moment, feeling a tiny pang in her heart.
The widely grinning child nodded her head with an adorable "Um!"
"Thank you Onee-chan! Bye bye!" The toddler waved back at Kotoko as she and her mom walked away hand-in-hand towards a man in red an white.
"Bye Yumi-chan!" Kotoko waves back in exaggerated motions.
"Kotoko! Thank goodness I found you. What happened?"
"Keita! Sorry I should have texted again, but there was this lost little girl who separated from her parents at the castle so I helped her look around and finally found them."
"Looks like you had it quite rough."
He remarks, scanning over her loosened braid and soiled shirt.
"Ah! I'm going to tidy up real quick!"
She dashes to the restroom, fixes her appearance in a flash and returns to her patiently waiting date.
"So, what's the full story? I want all the deets."*
He asks as soon as she catches her breath.
Kotoko began her tale starting from the whole '20 questions with Yumi-chan' scene, to meeting the strange lady in blue overalls, then told of her encounter with the petite man holding a huge camera, to the happy conclusion of a reunited family.
"I still think that tall pretty lady in blue looks really familiar. Maybe she is a model and I saw her in a magazine or something…"
Kotoko muses out loud.
"That lady?" Keita gestures in a direction behind her, Kotoko inconspicuously looks around and nods.
"Yes! The one with the man holding the camera, whom I also told you about, and the little blonde girl in the Aurora dress! Wow 'it's a small world after all'. The two of them know each other!"
Kotoko giggles singing the slogan part of 'Small World'. *
Keita gawks at her in disbelief.
"You don't know who they are?"
He questioned in a suspecting tone, as if she told him she did not know the alphabet.
"Not at all. You know them? Are they famous?"
"I guess the tall 'lady' in jean overalls is, kind of."
Keita replies with a snicker, for he caught on, the moment he spotted the trio.
"What's so funny Keita?"
Kotoko was genuinely confused by his reaction.
"Nothing. Anyway, I want to ask you something serious, Kotoko."
"Go ahead."
"What do you think of me?"
"You are funny, kind, serious when it counts, passionate and confident. You are a good man and a good friend."
"Any possibility of being more than a friend?"
"I'm not sure, I'm sorry."
"Don't be, Kotoko. You are amazing, you know? Once you know what you want, you have this incredible energy and sheer will. I admired that. I liked seeing you grow exponentially with each passing cram session. You are sweet and compassionate. You are like the embodiment of the nursing profession's core values and that's what drew me to you."
"Thank you, Keita. No one has ever given me such high praises before."
"I guess what I am trying to say is, I think I mistook this admiration for romantic interest. To honestly answer your 'taboo' question from before, I've only dated once in high school. It ended mutually when we both got into different colleges. I am not too experienced either. With that said, I would love it if we stayed good friends and nursing comrades. What do you say?"
He chuckles sheepishly, holding out his hand.
"I would like that too. I'm glad to have you as a friend and fellow nurse in training. Please continue to take care of me from now on, Keita!"
She answers with a typical Kotoko smile, giving him a solid handshake.
"Oh boy, I'm not sure I'm up to that task, Kotoko. Those cramming sessions with you were a bit too much of a challenge, even with the good results. I can't begin to imagine what our practicals would look like…"
He gulps half-jokingly.
"Hey! That's mean Kamogari! Fine, I'll find another practice partner!"
Kotoko playfully smacks Keita on the arm and "hmpts", marching away, towards the park exit.
"I'm sure you will, rather, he might find you first."
The long haired lad whispers to the air, making one knowing glance towards a disguised genius of Tonan-U Med Dept, who was hiding nearby. An embarrassed Naoki caught the smug Keita's eye and shot him a "don't you dare tell a soul" glare. Getting an assuring "she's (Kotoko) all yours, if you play your cards right" look and thumbs-up in return, before Keita follows after his unsuspecting former-date partner out of the park.
That night, Kotoko found it extremely odd how no one asked about her outing during dinner.
Oba-san would have jumped on me with her long survey under normal circumstances.
As soon as the dishes were cleared, her troubles were peculiarly answered by the last person she thought would care about things of this nature.
Is the world coming to an end or something? Or am I in some alternate universe?
"I see you brought back some trifles from your date. Did Kamogari get those for you?"
He points to the various gift bags on their coffee table.
"No, he did not. They are souvenirs I bought for everyone. Even you get one Irie-kun."
"I don't want it."
Before Naoki could respond, Yuuki butt in. (He does not need a reminder of the worst day in his 10 year life.)
"I didn't get one for you, brat."
Kotoko stuck out her tongue at her evil younger brother figure.
Well then, no need to get him a Christmas present then. Oh the wonders of re-purposing.
The older Irie could not help but snort, being able to read Kotoko's intentions by the gleam in her eyes.
My poor little brother. It's going to be "The Nightmare before Christmas" for Yuuki this year.*
"Don't tell me you don't want yours either."
She pouts, misinterpreting Naoki's reaction as one in agreement to Yuuki-kun's.
"Even if I said 'I refuse', you will find one way or another to make sure it ends up in my possession anyway, right? So why waste my time and yours. Hand it over whenever you want to."
She was taken aback at this straight-shooting Naoki. Kotoko gave him the bag nonetheless, as they took a stroll around the neighborhood (to avoid Oba-san's prying tendencies). She braced herself for a typical 'irked Irie-kun' reaction as he took the "Beneath this Grumpy exterior beats the heart of a dashing hero" mug out of its wrapping paper. *
She was pleasantly surprised when all he said was:
"Thanks."
"Huh?"
"What?"
"You don't hate it?"
"Why would I? You went out of your way to get me a present in the middle of a date. With another guy. That's gotta mean something."
"Irie Naoki, you narcissist. I got something for the entire family, not just you."
"Still means you value our family more than your own romantic endeavors."
"Our family? I never agreed to be a part of your family. You are getting ahead of yourself there, Irie."
"I meant my parents, Yuuki and I. You are getting ahead of yourself there, Aihara. Although, I'll seriously consider your suggestion. Ofukuro would be delighted, I'm sure, if I let her know your intentions."
"Proceed with great caution. I want to be able to explore my options, still."
"Kamogari is still an option?"
"I don't think I should tell you. That is between me and him."
"At least tell me, if I am still an option then."
"Depends. What do you want to hear?"
"The truth. Kotoko."
"I don't know, Irie-kun. To tell you 'the truth', I feel a lot of things when I am with you. Things I don't feel around anyone else. Things I cannot pinpoint or reduce to just one term such as 'like', 'love', 'dislike', 'hate'. So I need time and space, apart from you, to find out what I feel for you and why. In that regard, I also don't know if I should be an option for you either. Until I have some clarity, can't we just be friends?"
"Is that why you avoided me and my tutoring sessions starting mid-semester? Because you needed space?"
"Heh, that was actually because I made a bet with my group mates that I could pass our anatomy midterm without your help. But then Keita took it upon himself to bring me up to speed for the final after seeing my graded paper. I couldn't turn him down since our team depended on it. Speaking of tutoring, can I study with you again? Truth be told, I prefer your teaching than Keita's. Even he agreed I was too much for him to handle, haha."
"What happened to needing time and space 'apart from me'?"
"I do need it on a personal level, but academically… I rather not stray too far from your ingenious study methods."
"I'll think about it. I'm a busy med student too, you know? Referring back to your first request: Not just friends, Kotoko. Best friends."
"Alright, Irie-kun, you are one of my best friends."
"One of your's? How many 'best friends' do you have?"
"All my friends are the best. Because they are all unique people."
"You should review the definition of the word 'best'."
Before she could make a comeback, her ringtone cut their bickering short.
Upon receiving shocking news from the other end, Kotoko's heart was racing, again. Erratic beating this time, like the kind one gets during a horror movie jump scare scene in a surround sound theater.
"Irie-kun, it's Oji-san. He collapsed in our home office. Otou-san, Oba-sama, Yuuki and Non-chan are on the way to the hospital. We got to go."
**Footnotes**
Anna - from the Disney movie Frozen.
deets - slang for details
Aurora - aka Sleeping Beauty
It's a Small World - ride at Disneyland, has a catchy repetitive theme song.
The Nightmare Before Christmas - another Disney movie
Grumpy mug - sold in Disneyland and Disney world (Look it up if you want to see a picture since we are not allowed to post links here. It is brown with the phrase "Beneath this Grumpy exterior beats the heart of a dashing hero" and art of Grumpy (one of the 7 dwarfs from Snow White) on it.