A/N: Not mine.

"Now, Kotoko-chan," Mrs. Irie's voice had a stern tone, "I must protest. All work and no play make Jill a dull girl."

"Who's Jill?" she asked in prevarication, trying to come up with a way to avoid being stuck in the kitchen on a non-tutoring afternoon.

"You know English well enough to recognize that colloquial phrase."

Yikes, she's onto me! Kotoko thought, sitting on the couch with a copy of the complete works of Jane Austen in the original language.

"What I am proposing," she dramatically drew out several pieces of cardboard from her apron pocket, "is for you children to have a day of enjoyment. The summer school is over, correct?"

"Ye-e-es."

Handing over the items, she explained, "Passes to the new water park that everyone is raving over. Papa was given a dozen, and I don't want them to go to waste."

"Water park?" Yuuki jumped up from where he had hidden upon hearing his mother's footsteps; brownie crumbs clinging to his guilty lips exposed his theft.

"I have told you and told you: no sweets after three in the afternoon!" she scolded then turned back to the girl. "Perhaps if you and your friends spend a day there you might find someone who can provide you a happy ending like in that book you're reading."

Kotoko glanced down. "Not everyone ended up happily…"

"You know what I mean!" she hissed and waved the tickets in front of her. "Now, take them."

She almost cringed as she took possession. "Yes, ma'am."

"Not ma'am, it's Obasama," she reminded her as she flounced back to her culinary domain.

"Well, if you'd act like an aunt instead of Mother Superior, I might remember that," she mumbled as Yuuki snatched them from her hand and counted them.

"She gave you the whole batch!" he revealed, eyes wide. "Can I come?"

Kotoko arched an eyebrow. "You heard Her Highness: this is a girl's day."

"Pooh," he dismissed that detail with a gesture, "you'll need your future brother-in-law to protect you from scoundrels."

"That," she stated, ignoring the reference to her presumptive marital status, "makes sense–and certainly will with her–but you're still in elementary school and need permission."

"Nah, we'll just leave her a note." He winked. "That gives her as much choice in the matter as she gave you."

"Hm-m, tempting. Let me call Satomi and Jinko."

Jinko snorted with laughter as Satomi blazed a path through the department store's swimwear section. "You invited us to a water park and then realized you had nothing to wear?"

Kotoko shrugged. "The only time Hokkaido weather was warm enough was during the summer, and by then I was with my relatives. My cousins and I made use of the small lake nearby, but we always wore old clothes."

"Well, that is not acceptable now that you're in Tokyo." Satomi stepped up to them and tossed several hangers at the girl. "Try them on."

"This is regarded as acceptable in public?" Kotoko's blush flamed as red as one of the outfits, and she shook her head. "Make fun of me as you will, but I cannot wear any of these."

"Yeah," Yuuki examined them with a critical eye, "she forgot that you were raised in a nunnery."

"Private school, please!"

"To-may-to, to-mah-to. Here," he handed her a turquoise one-piece with a short peplum skirt, "I think you'll look nice in this."

"Oh," she looked it over, eyes softening, "and it's my favorite color. Thank you, Yuuki-kun!"

Satomi frowned at the boy after Kotoko disappeared into the changing room. "How is it that a little squirt–a little boy squirt, at that–can have better success than I, the fashion queen of Tonan High?"

"Royalty or not," he buffed his nails on his polo shirt, "you didn't take into consideration Onee-chan's tastes. You picked out what you would wear."

"The kid has a point," Jinko admitted.

"I suppose, "Satomi huffed as she replaced the other items, "but these are designed to catch a man's eye. The other one almost belongs to my grandmother's generation."

"Believe me," Yuuki assured her, "that suit will definitely catch Onii-chan's eye. Or did you have someone else in mind?"

"Are they together?" Jinko inquired. "Because she hasn't let on one bit."

"Not yet." He grinned. "Mama would like it to happen but she is not at all subtle, and whenever she pushes, my brother runs the opposite direction."

"Budding psychologist, eh?" Satomi nodded before sighing, "Now, if only we could get him to come along on this outing."

Yuuki twinkled at her. "Don't worry. If he follows the hints I'm dropping, we'll be seeing him before lunch."

"Is that so? In that case," Jinko gave him a sly smile, "do you suppose he could bring some extra guys for us?"

Unfortunately, the girls from Class F were negligent in remaining aware of their surroundings whenever they discussed the shopping trip and upcoming adventure at the swim park. To Kinnosuke's surprise, it was not delight but curses which greeted him when he bounced forward at the park entrance.

"What the hell, Kin-chan?" Satomi growled.

Jinko was more direct and began beating him about the head with her oversized bag. "I know this is no coincidence. But you'd better listen to me," she rammed his chin up with a sunscreen bottle, "stay away from us."

"Why?" He grinned as he spread arms wide. "Ya don't wanna be in a huge place like this with no friendly faces."

"I'm looking at you," Satomi stated, deadpan, "and I'm still not seeing a friendly face."

"Rather one I'd like to shove off a cliff," muttered Jinko.

"Now, now, ladies, is that any way to treat your old classmate?" he asked in a beguiling tone.

"When you are uninvited, then yes!" Yuuki stood in front of Kotoko, the loud conflict provoking her to make a futile attempt at invisibility.

Kinnosuke barely gave him a glance. "I didn't ask you, punk."

"The more fool you." Naoki's voice behind him had the Kansan spinning around like a dervish.

"Wha–?"

"You are not a member of this party."

"And you are, Irie?" He puffed out his chest and bumped it against Naoki's. "Ya only got here now, too."

"Just because we arrived at different times does not mean that we do not belong. Isn't that correct, Ishikawa?" He winked at Satomi.

"Absolutely Irie-kun." She dimpled at him before looking beyond his tall form. "And I see that you brought some other…friends to play with us today."

Kinnosuke could not believe how quickly his magnificent plan had gone down the toilet. Satomi and Jinko were flirting with two guys from the tennis team while Irie–damn that bastard!–had a hand on his Kotoko's shoulder and was speaking softly to her. He saw her nod and then give the other boy a gentle smile. It shoulda been me, he screamed to himself.

Satomi and Jinko enjoyed the rest of the summer break, even with the extra tutoring. There was only one other outing with Naoki and his friends, but they did not mind so much, as Kotoko proved to be an entertaining project. They were able to convince her to try minimal makeup and counted it a victory when she hemmed her school skirts two inches shorter.

Kinnosuke, on the other hand, had failed to learn how to handle rejection. He was determined to win Kotoko's heart (and the rest of her body). After several reconnoitures in the neighborhood his luck ran out, and an encounter with the Irie matriarch had him cowering at her invective. He cursed that name even more vigorously when he received a home visit from the assistant principal ordering him to stop loitering in that area.

Hakamada stared at the two sets of summer homework in front of him. "I've graded it twice and I still don't believe it," he sputtered. How in the world could two of the silliest girls in the class manage to complete this to above 80% correct? Well, if they cheated it will certainly show up in the coming months. "And, if they continue their progress," he smirked, "then it just goes to show how good a teacher I've become."