A/N: Not mine. And neither is Mario Kart.
The truth was that Kotoko still felt uncomfortable about Mrs. Irie's latest approach. After a few cooing sentences (mostly Japanese with French words liberally interspersed), the matron had asked what she thought of her son.
"Yuuki-kun? Oh, despite our sort of rough start, he and I are getting on fine."
"Non, non! I meant my elder son, Naoki."
"Irie-kun has been very helpful, Obasama. I am understanding more in class, thanks to his tutoring. I am most grateful to him, because I would like to have at least one summer in high school where I can enjoy all of it."
"Yes, yes, my son is a brainy genius," she admitted waspishly, "but won't you admit that he is a fine-looking young man?"
Was she searching for a compliment? Kotoko wondered. "Oh, yes," she replied, "nearly all of the girls at Tonan have put him at the top of their 'Best Looking Students' list."
"And, how about you, chérie?" She placed an arm around her shoulders.
"Uh, yes, he is attractive."
"As are you, ma fille! And don't you think that you and he would have beautiful babies?"
"Wait a minute, Obasama. Let me tell you right now that Irie-kun and I have not been doing...that."
"Of course you haven't! But haven't you ever wondered?"
"Ummm… not really?"
"Oh." She blinked before snapping her fingers. "Well, I shall just have to prove it to you. I am a photographer extremely compétente, and he made the most agréable model when he was an infant. Let me fetch my albums."
It was the evening after that when Naoki discerned that Kotoko was eyeing him most warily. Concerned, he asked if something had happened.
"Yes," she replied, "but not to me."
"Okay," he said when she did not elaborate. "I need a little more information."
She shifted, noticing Yuuki's interest, and whispered, "I'll tell you later."
After the younger boy completed his assignments and headed off to play a half hour of Mario Kart, Naoki cocked an eyebrow. "Now?"
"Whew," she breathed. "Well, I don't know if you knew this, but your mother seems to think I'm interested in you. As a boyfriend, I mean."
"I've noticed." He smiled, thinking that Mrs. Irie must have finally become less subtle with Kotoko. He, of course, had greater powers of observation and had detected that trait almost as soon as the Aiharas had entered the house.
"So," the girl continued, "she decided to show me some of your family's old photograph albums."
"Ugh," he covered his eyes with a hand. "Please tell me one didn't have a pink- and purple-flowered cover."
"I could, but I would be lying." Before he could think of a way to ask her not to reveal the secret without it sounding like begging, she burst out, "Is she okay in the head?"
He stared at her, surprised at the turn the conversation had taken.
"I mean, I know she's your mother and all that, but no one with any sense would do that to a child. And then keep proof of it. And be proud of doing so! At least I'm pretty sure that's what she was saying; she was using that French again. Something about a fill and a garsen. Tell me, Irie-kun, what's wrong with using Japanese? She lives in Tokyo, after all."
"Well, um," he grasped for a response, "common sense! You said she didn't have any. It's sort of like those math problems that Yuuki had. You were right; they didn't make sense in real life. Maybe he and I are more like our mother than we thought."
"Duh!" Kotoko rolled her eyes and muttered softly, "Both of you look just like her and she's beautiful."
Naoki goggled but it was obvious that she didn't mean for him to hear that she had, in effect, called him beautiful; well, he preferred handsome, but the idea was the same. He rubbed his suddenly tight chest. Some muscles must have clenched just then. Or maybe he overdid the pull-ups this morning in tennis conditioning?
However, rigorous though the training was, Kotoko's grades–and more importantly, her comprehension–improved. She only had moderate success in passing on the information to her friends, partly because the self-appointed Class F leader mocked the effort when she attempted to do so on school grounds. No matter whether the lunch room, the library, or even the outdoor courtyard, he would show up and try to distract them by putting in his two yen. In that effort, he was partially successful with Jinko, as the extra work had been Satomi's idea. Thus it was that she alone of the trio was downcast when grades were issued.
"Don't look for sympathy from me," her taller friend had sniffed. "You let your attention and sometimes your body slip away from Kotoko's teachings. Kin-chan is not a good influence."
"But these classes are so boring!" she whined.
"Maybe so," she replied, "but passing them is necessary for graduation. I'd rather make a little more effort now and have my breaks free. Besides," she shrugged, "they're not so boring when you understand the material. Well," she amended, "understand it better."
"Kotoko got higher grades than you," she pointed out grumpily.
"Yes, because she was taught by the genuine article. But," she waved the sheet in her face, "I still improved enough not to have to show up here next week."
After school, Watanabe was near Naoki when Kotoko came running up to show him her class results. Both of the young men praised her accomplishment, and Kotoko was proud of herself that she was able to reply with a calm 'Thanks', even towards her tutor's handsome friend.
Watching her dance away to join her friends for a celebratory snack at the latest 'hot' café, he commented, "Those grades were definitely not Class F level. What sort of magic did you summon?"
"No magic," Naoki scowled. "When I checked her educational history, I noticed that she ranked near the top at her previous school. Seeing that her entrance exam put her in the lowest class at Tonan let me know that she was severely lacking in the foundations. It was a lot of backtracking research for me and sheer grinding on her part to achieve those grades. With the gaps in her knowledge, it's a wonder that she had been doing as well as she had, especially since the teachers of the lower classes act like they've almost given up on their students."
"So, are you going to talk to the administration about getting her promoted to a higher level?" he asked.
"Do you think they would take the recommendation of another student, and especially with just one term as proof?"
"But you're Irie Naoki, the certified school genius," he teased.
"No. She's going to have enough of a struggle the rest of senior year without having to integrate with other students. She actually has a couple of supportive friends who she is trying to help in turn."
"Wow. That does surprise me. I really didn't think the poor girl had it in her, especially as shy as she was two years ago. She's made progress in that, as well, from our earlier conversation."
"Once she gets used to you, it's hard to get her to stop talking. I think she just has to get to know someone first."
"Even though some days we can hear that class of ruffians all the way at the other end of the building, I never considered her as being one of the noisemakers."
"Still waters run deep."
"I suppose," he admitted before grinning and giving his friend an inquiring glance. "Did you have fun, then? Playing the teacher and telling her to be quiet and settle down?"
"No, she pretty much stuck to business. And don't let the Class F reputation fool you. I suspect they all have a lot of street smarts." He chuckled, "She actually made a good argument that some of Yuuki-kun's math questions didn't make a bit of sense."
"Oh?"
"It was a word problem, and, as we have been instructed, Yuuki was translating it into pure numbers. Kotoko, however, read it as a story and said that it was highly illogical."
"In those exact words?"
"No, she called it a pile of crap. And, actually, if it wasn't looked at as a mathematics problem, I'd have agreed with her." He grimaced, "And that was one of the easier sessions."
"Well, with brains like that," he elbowed his friend, "maybe she's not such a bad match for you after all."
T/N: Non=no; chérie=dear; ma fille=my daughter; compétente=competent; agréable=pleasant.