A/N: I OWN NOTHING! I am just borrowing Naoki and Kotoko for my own amusement.
-3K+N3-
After a while, he wandered over to his family for lunch. As he grabbed a sandwich, he heard them announcing the female's borrowing race. He raised his eyes to watch Kotoko's first event of the day. He heard the bang to indicate the start of the race and watched her take off to the table that held the slips of papers, describing the item that they must borrow. As she read her paper, he watched her scan his class's bleachers before her eyes found him by their family. He gets this sinking feeling in his stomach that he is sure has nothing to do with hunger as she makes her way to him, the fire burning in her eyes. He narrows his eyes, hoping to deter her. He sees her falter before regaining her footsteps and purposely rushing towards him anyways. 'What in the world could have been on her paper?' he questions as she stops in front of him and bows.
"I'm sorry, Irie-kun," she apologizes, her face flaming as she bows even lower. "Would you mind running with me?" Naoki raised his eyebrow out him, slowly lowering his sandwich as his mother was screaming in the background for him to run with the girl. He stands up, brushing off his pants, then strides towards her silently. Her head was still facing the ground, and she did not break the bow until she saw his shoes in front of her vision. "Thank you," she whispers to him.
As they started to walk back to the field, Naoki decided to break the silence. "What did the paper say?"
"The one you love," she replies with her face turning the color of a tomato.
"Ah," he replied with a smirk. "You do realize what this means though, right?"
"What?" she asked as they set foot on the track.
"You officially owe me a favor now," he smirked as he grabbed her wrist and took off running for the finish line. He was laughing internally as she squeaked in shock of his words and the sudden movement before running beside him. He kept his spacial awareness to ensure that his class finished ahead of her, not wanting to ruin the efforts of his class as they were putting forth an effort to do well this year.
"What do I owe you?" she questions quietly as they walk back to their families for lunch.
"I will let you know," he smirks cruelly as he sat next to his little brother, grabbing a water bottle, chugging half of it before continuing to eat the sandwich he had started previously. He zoned out watching the field as he slowly ate, not wanting to risk a cramp during his last event. 'If I win the next event, that leaves her owing me a favor and giving me anything that I want. Now the question is, what do I want to ask for.' He ponders what he could potentially ask for or make her do as he eats, letting his eyes sweep over everyone around them. He begins to realize that a lot of people are watching him, well, his family. 'Why? Oh. They are probably wondering why she is sitting with us eating. Might have to come up with an excuse for that later.'
Naoki and Kotoko finished their lunches and then wandered back over to the bleachers to rejoin their classes. The final event for the day would be the mixed relay and was set to start in the next thirty minutes. Naoki picked up his book to continue from where he left off while he waited, occasionally looking up at the board that was tracking which class was winning sports day. Class F seemed to be pulling ahead by a small margin. It was all going to come down to the mixed relay. 'How typical,' he sighed as he stood up and began to stretch, preparing himself for the next race. 'At least the day is almost over.'
Naoki took his place on the infield of the tracking, watching the rest of the students lining up. He had been designated at the anchor, so he would be running last, that way in case his class was behind in the race, he could make up the distance with the speed he had shown earlier. He glanced over his competition, realizing that Ikezawa was also running as anchor. Kotoko was in the third group, meaning she would be passing the baton off to the young black-haired male. The race started, and Naoki was standing with his arms crossed, analyzing everyone that was currently racing. The first leg seemed to be even between most of the groups, but Class F was pulling ahead by a small margin.
Before he knew it, he was taking his place at the line, waiting for one of the girls in his class to pass the baton when she completed her lap. He saw Kotoko bolting down the straight away well ahead of the other girls, the two runners before her giving her a decent head start that she was able to widen considerably. As he was watching her, he noticed her getting absorbed in his eyes. 'Uh oh,' he thought as she left her lane and travelled into his. 'She is dazing out again.' He decided to just let it happen and stepped aside at the last second, causing her to collide with her friend, propelling both of them into the ground.
"Irie-kun," she sighed softly, happy in whatever daydream she was in. He cleared his throat while looking down at her, until she snapped out of it. "Wait, what?"
"BAKA," he scowled playfully as Ikezawa grabbed the baton from Kotoko before sprinting away to catch up to the other class that had already completed their final hand off. Naoki grabbed the baton that was passed to him, settling into his fast pace, and evening out his breathing. 'This pace should be adequate enough to win the race," he mused, calculating the distance between himself and the runners in front of him. Just to make sure that his victory was secured, he stepped it up a notch and started to pass the other classes that had already fallen prey to the athletic boy from Class F. Entering the final turn of the race, he had closed the distance to a couple meters between himself and the other boy. As he came out of the turn he began to sprint, quickly passing the boy that was struggling, his breath heaving.
As he was about to cross the finish line, he noticed Kotoko being pushed into his path. Realizing it was too late to correct his trajectory, he tried to slow down as he wrapped his arms around her and brought her body close to his. He dropped the baton and caught himself on one hand, the collision with the ground still rough on the small girl. He removed his arm from around her gently and pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. "BAKA," he drawled. "You are not supposed to fall into the track." He paused as he saw her wincing in pain. He was unsure if the pain was from the collision with his body or the collision with the ground. Concerned he stooped down and pulled her onto his back in a piggy-back ride, her arms going around his neck tightly as he grasped her thighs.
"What are you doing, Irie-demon?" Ikezawa cried. "You don't just tackle a girl, ya know? Where are you taking her?"
"To the medical tent," he answered quickly, walking forward, noticing that Kotoko had buried her nose against the back of his neck. "She is hurt and needs to be seen."
"I will take her," the boy objected, going to reach for her.
"No," he replied sharply. "I have got her."
"Irie-kun," she whispered into his ear. He grunted in response to get her to continue and also as a reaction to the feeling of her mouth near his ear, not realizing that his ear could be that sensitive. "Everyone is staring at us and talking about us."
"I am used to it at this point," he answered softly. "They are just speculating. No one knows anything else about us." By this time, they had reached the medical tent and Naoki gently laid her down on one of the available cots.
"Congratulations on winning the race, and the bet." She whispered, hiding behind her hair.
"Thank you," he replied.
"So, what did you want for winning, Irie-kun?"
"I will tell you later," he stated, more concerned about getting her check over to ensure she was okay. After a few minutes the school medical staff was able to look her over, declaring that she just had some minor bruising and had hit her head pretty badly. It did not appear that she had a concussion, but she should go home and drink plenty of water and rest. Naoki led her out of the tent, and they made their way to the locker rooms to gather their belongings before walking home in silence.
As they walked, Naoki was running through multiple ideas, trying to decide on one. 'The thing I am most curious about, would make me seem like a terrible person for asking for,' he mused. 'I do not think that I truly care though.' Coming to a decision as they entered the house, they both called out that they were home before making their way into the main living space. Naoki stopped short seeing the scene of himself carrying Kotoko on his back projected on the television in front of him. His family was gathered around, repeatedly watching that one part of the recording.
"How many times are you planning on watching that," he growled out, irritated that such an intimate scene had been captured, even if the true intent was innocent.
"Oni-chan and Kotoko-chan just look so cute together," his mother sighed happily. "I know, you and Kotoko-chan should get married!" Naoki's eye twitched as he watched his mother jump up and down happily, Kotoko started spacing, his brother looked shocked, and the two fathers looked taken aback at the forwardness of his mother.
"I do not think so," he answered simply. "I do not wish to marry Aihara. I am going to go take a bath." With that he walked out of the room sedately, not wanting to appear rushed in any fashion. Internally, he was screaming. 'Can you not just let me figure things out for myself? Why must you insist to thrust her upon me. I will not give into your wishes if I do not truly want to follow them.' He was fuming as he got into the bath, attempting to relax. 'Hopefully I can figure out the path for myself soon.'
After he was finished and dressed, he made his way back to his room with his towel around his neck, working the water from his ears. He paused outside of Kotoko's room and knocked. Once he was beckoned in, he opened the door and entered her room quietly, closing and locking the door behind him.
"Hi, Irie-kun," she whispers shyly.
"The bath is free," he responds, watching her to see if she seemed to be in any pain.
"Oh, okay," she answered, standing carefully as she began to retrieve her bed clothes. "Is there anything else you wanted?"
"Are you okay," he asked.
"I am fine," she answered. "I am kind of sore, but mostly just embarrassed that it happened. I cannot believe I was pushed in front of you. I am just glad you were not hurt in the process. Thank you for protecting me from the majority of the impact, by the way." He watched as her face turned red, wondering if it was at the memory of his arms wrapped around her.
"Aihara," he whispers quietly. When she raises her eyes back to his he continues. "Are you sure I can have whatever I want for winning?"
"Yes, Irie-kun," she breathes, her words a nervous stutter as he steps closer to her, his left around going around her lower back as he pulls her body into his. "What…What are you doing, Irie-kun?"
"Claiming my prize," he whispers softly as he ducks his head, connecting his lips to hers. 'Her lips are so soft," he thinks as he kisses her. 'Soft, warm, and sweet. I could get used to this.' At that thought he jerks himself backwards and away from her. "Good night, Aihara. Rest well." He then fled her room at a calm enough pace that it did not look like he was running away. When he entered his room, he flopped down onto his bed and put his arm over his eyes.
'What was that?' he wondered in shock. 'Is kissing her something I want to get used to? I thought it would get her out of my head, but I think I just made it worse. We learn the exam scores tomorrow too. I wonder what she is going to ask me for if she makes the board.' Naoki then fell asleep, dreaming of a copper haired girl with pillow soft lips.
