A/N: Not mine.

"Watanabe?"

The boy recognized an uncertain note in his usually confident friend's voice and turned to him. "Irie? What's up?"

He looked around the halfway empty classroom. "It probably wouldn't be wise to talk about it during the break. Maybe we could take our lunch outside."

"Tennis bleachers okay?"

"Sure."

"So your mother is playing Cupid with you and Aihara? Shit, Irie, you suspected this in spring and it didn't bother you then." He peered at the other's face, as Naoki refused to meet his eyes. "So, what has changed and why the hell are you behaving as if I'm the one with the answers?"

"You have a girlfriend."

"Yes, but–holy crap, don't tell me that you're asking me for love advice."

"It's not funny," he remonstrated as the other one tried not to choke by suppressing his hilarity.

"Actually, to me, it is. There is actually something that the almost omniscient Irie Naoki does not have all the answers to." He tried to sober up a bit. "Is this because you do or do not want your mother to be successful?"

"Well, the situation is not as unpalatable as I once thought. Stop laughing, Watanabe. My problem is that, if things went forward, my mother would be unbearable to live with. I can already hear, 'I told you so' in my head."

"I've never had any problem with your mother, but then I don't live with her. You claim that she is one of the most irritating women in Tokyo. It just seems that this would make her a slight degree more."

"I suppose so." He stared into the distance. "And the fact that she adores Kotoko will make it better than if I dated someone she didn't like."

"Kotoko?" An eyebrow raised. "No longer 'Aihara'?"

"We live together, man. Although," Naoki frowned, "she still calls me 'Irie-kun'."

"Wouldn't let that bother you. I mean, we knew all the way back in first year that the girl liked you."

"She still… I don't know… puts a distance between us."

"Maybe she's cautious. After all, she has only really known you for a matter of months, and that kind of familiarity is normally only used between those with a definite closeness. She's not family and she's not your girlfriend–yet."

His mouth twisted. "And then there's the issue of her grades. Will a more personal relationship distract her from the progress that she has made?"

Watanabe shook his head. "No one can tell the future, despite all the fortunes handed out at the temples."

"I don't like not knowing–not understanding."

"Hate to tell you this, pal," he patted him on the back, "but no man will ever understand women. So," he sat up straighter, "as I am the sempai here, let's go over how you're going to ask her out."

After Yuuki packed away his notebook and headed upstairs, Naoki cleared his throat. "Um, Kotoko?"

"Yes?" She rubbed her nose with the eraser of the mechanical pencil as she frowned at a trigonometry problem which refused to solve itself.

"Would you like to go see a movie this weekend?"

"Aha!" She scrawled another line onto the worksheet then looked up. "That sounds like fun. We should get Yuuki back down here so we can check what's playing where."

"Kotoko, I was talking about…just you and me."

"Really?" She blinked at him. "But won't that make Obasama think that it's a date?"

Watanabe didn't say that it would be this difficult. "It sort of would be."

"A date? Me?" Her eyes widened and she leaned against the chair back and stared at him.

Nervous at her reaction, he asked, "Is it truly that scary?"

"Ah, no, it's just that I've never been on a date."

"Well, neither have I, so it's new to both of us," he almost snapped.

"But– but– why would you want to date me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" He was about to get irritated with her. After all, wasn't she the one who liked him first?

"You're Irie Naoki. Most of the girls and more boys than you might expect are in love with you. There are better matches for you than a lowly member of Class F."

"Why would you say that?" His brow creased in confusion. "You're pretty, and, honestly, you have the grades to be in Class C."

"So, I'm a not-so-dumb member of Class F." Kotoko reached across the table and covered one hand with hers. "People barely understand that we are friends. If we go out together, they will laugh at you, and I would hate for them to do that to my friend. My good friend."

"If that was not a factor, would you do it?"

She sighed. "I really never thought that it would happen, so I can't answer that."

"Does that mean that you were taken by surprise at the invitation and not that you don't want to be seen in my company? And before you start talking about others' reactions, well, if people are that shallow, then they are not worth my–our–time," he averred.

Kotoko gazed at him while her mind recalled Satomi telling her to accept that she had lost her chance with Watanabe and to look at the future. Of course, she had also pretty much told her that Irie-kun was way out of her reach, but…Naoki was her friend. If she did begin to date someone, it would be best if it was someone that she knew well and was comfortable with. However, this wasn't a decision she felt ready to make without consulting her female friends.

Seeing that while she still appeared cautious yet appeared to be wavering, he asked gently, "Do you need time to think about it?"

She nodded mutely.

He took a deep breath and opened his physics book. "Will you have an answer by the weekend?"

"Yes, I think so," she whispered.

"Good."

Jinko slurped up her bubble tea then turned to Kotoko. "Thanks for treating us today. What's the occasion?"

Kotoko's hands played with her cup. "I need to tell you two something and then ask your advice."

"Sure." Satomi's eyes narrowed. "You sounded a little shaky when you called me last night and then wouldn't give me a hint of what this was about." She reached across the table and flicked her in the forehead. "I worried about you!"

"Sorry. It's just…" Kotoko's teeth gnawed her bottom lip. "Someone asked me out on a date."

"Sweet!" Jinko's smile split her face. "Who is it? That long-haired tennis player from Class C?"

"Well," Kotoko hedged, "he does play tennis."

"All of those guys were nice," Satomi stated, "so what's the problem?"

"Problem? There might be one." She looked at them cautiously. "It's Irie-kun."

Satomi pounded Jinko's back after she tried to inhale her beverage then turned to her friend. "Irie-kun? As in Irie Naoki? Prince of Tonan High School?"

"Way to go, girl!" Jinko croaked out once her voice returned.

"Yes," Kotoko retorted, "the person that most people at school think I'm in love with!"

"So what's the problem with that?"

"Hold on a bit, Jinko." Satomi peered at Kotoko. "I know you haven't had a sudden reverse of heart, so there's something else going on."

"You're right," Kotoko whispered. "So far I've been the only one teased about liking Irie-kun. But if we're seen together, then he might get made fun of."

"And you wouldn't like that?" she asked with a penetrating stare.

"No." The other girl traced the wood grain of the table with a finger. "Both of you've spent time with him. He's too nice for this to happen."

"Sounds like you might like him a little more than as a friend," Jinko said in a rare observant moment.

"Maybe…"

"Look, Kotoko." Satomi grabbed her chin and forced her to look at them. "Irie-kun is a smart guy. He's bound to have heard those rumors spread by that idiot Kin-chan, and he hasn't acted as if it bothered him at all. Shoot, he even helped you–and me–pass the end of term tests. Why is it such an issue now?"

"Before," Kotoko began, "it was just me that was being made the butt of jokes. But if we're seen together, then people might make look down on him for having poor taste."

"I swear, you have the lowest self-esteem…" she muttered. "Girl, people have seen you two arrive at school together, and our entire class saw us with him and the tennis team just a month ago. No one, save Kin-chan, is brave or stupid enough to make a big deal out of it."

"Shoot," Jinko put in, "why should it matter? This time next year we won't even be in high school."

"Maybe Kin-chan will be, if his grades continue to tank," Satomi sniped. "Kotoko, just accept that people are going to gossip no matter what, and don't let that influence your decision."

"That's pretty much what Irie-kun said," she admitted.

"See?" Satomi raised her hands in triumph. "Irie-kun agrees with me, so I'm smart too."

"Not sure that's how it works," Jinko began before crying, "Ow! You didn't have to hit so hard, Satomi. I was just joking."

"Do you want to go out with Irie-kun?"

Kotoko stared cross-eyed at the index finger only five centimeters from her nose. "I think I do. I mean, I don't know if I like him in that way, but we do have fun together."

"So, do it!" Satomi patted her cheek. "He may not be Mister Right, but he can be Mister Right Now. Plus, it will be fun to see smoke come out of Kin-chan's ears."

Jinko snorted, "Even more than usual?"

"Well, yes, he does seem to have it in for Irie-kun since he has thought from Day One that he is the boy that Kotoko liked."

"Do you think he'll do anything crazy?" Kotoko asked.

"Are you kidding? 'Crazy' is Kin-chan's middle name. But I wouldn't worry that he'll do anything that Irie-kun can't handle."