Chapter 4
You aren't always what you seem
The next day, at breakfast, Naoki looked questioningly at Kotoko. She was sat in front of him, silent, lost in thoughts that made her take her food with a slowness that would delay them to go to classes, and he was never late.
"Mom, you didn't give me the same socks as onii-chan," Yuuki said, waving a pair of white socks in his hand, instead of the black ones he normally occupied, a neutral color that didn't attract attention and went well with everything. "I want to be like onii-chan!"
What was going on with his brother that day? He never did such scenes, he knew that he admired him, but he didn't put on a childish attitude like that, demanding to fulfill a ridiculous request.
Unless the presence of his girlfriend at home brought out that side of the child, in order to get his attention and not be belittled because of the girl.
If Yuuki knew the truth, he wouldn't have to worry.
Kotoko was so imperfect that she wouldn't take much of his interest, his limit being when in front of his parents, where he could maintain the image he hoped for. Of course, he would have to shape her a bit to fit the standard of living with someone like him.
Yuuki grunted low and settled into the seat next to him, while his mother did so in the place next to the self-absorbed redhead.
"Did you sleep well, Kotoko-chan?" Her mother asked in a playful tone, attentive to the face of her daughter-in-law, who finally stopped having her head on the clouds and smiled slightly.
"Yes, thank you very much for asking. I'm comfortable."
"Are you well?" His father asked, smiling at Kotoko, pleased with the response. At least she'd had a good acceptance from them both. He would even dare to put his finger on the fact that they were more at ease with her than with him.
He spoke that more for his mother, who was fascinated with having a "daughter".
"Yes, Irie-san, everything has been perfect."
"Even Ai-chan has enjoyed it, right? Because he has not come to breakfast," his father said.
Kotoko blushed, embarrassed. "I apologize for him."
"There is no reason to. After all, he is a chef and he has shifts until late at night," his father replied with a laugh, lightening the redhead's embarrassment.
"Kotoko, are you done?" He interjected as he finished his breakfast, rising to his feet. "Enjoy your meal."
Kotoko jumped in her seat, hurrying the last part of her meal to catch up with him. She swallowed all the rice as if there were no tomorrow.
Naoki, being disgusted by the scene, went to the front door and began to put on his shoes.
"Thanks for the food. May you have a nice day," he heard Kotoko say. He frowned, listening to her walking around in the house and hoping he wouldn't be late.
Did she have a personality disorder? Before, she was all calm and now she was like a whirlpool. He found it annoying.
"I also want to go with my onii-chan!" Yuuki exclaimed, running behind Kotoko.
He took his things ignoring both of them.
"Yuuki, you still have time!" Her mother reproached, reaching for the child, whom she raised in her arms to stop him. "Let them go alone, they'll want privacy," she added, winking at him, which displeased him greatly.
Naoki opened the front door of his house and left at a leisurely pace, leaving Kotoko who was still putting on her shoes. He hoped it wouldn't be routine of her to take a lot of time because he didn't want to waste his time on her, even if it made him look bad in front of his parents.
What would be tedious was if that the day to day in his home became scandalous like that moment; Yuuki wanting to hog him, Kotoko being effusive, her mother acting like a real intrusive Celestina*.
He kept walking until he heard the redhead's footsteps behind him.
"Kotoko," he called as they approached the subway station.
He looked over his shoulder, finding her with the same lost expression from that morning, which wouldn't have irritated him if it were another time. He stopped and held out his hand to stop her with his index finger on her forehead.
She blinked and tilted her head to the right. "Eh, what happened?"
He snorted because she couldn't even conceal how clueless she was. Another of her virtues.
"Pay attention to where you're going, just in case we don't go together," he said wearily before continuing on to the station. "Do not get distracted."
"Yes, Naoki-kun," she replied, making him imagine her taking her right hand to her head as if he were a general.
The thought gave him grace and his mouth rose slightly.
[...]
His journey to the school didn't have more incidents than the one of her being dragged by a crowd of people because of her small size and the wrong position she occupied when entering the train. He was obliged to hold her and return her to the transport before the doors began to close, interrupting his reading.
She avoided the reprimand of his part by recognizing her error, with the look he gave her before returning the attention to his book.
When he passed through the gates of the institute, the tedium began. Every student seemed to have something to say, whether for good or bad.
It was amazing the number of atrocities that could leave the mouth of pubescent adolescents. Their excessive production of hormones, which somehow hindered the oxygenation of the brain, with consequent death of neurons and the impossibility of synapses between them, caused the nonsense and absurdities that they created in the way of rumor. It didn't matter whether they belonged to Class A or F, the assumptions they came to were equally stupid. Being surrounded by parasites like that, even in the current years, was impressive.
He wouldn't be bothered repeating in his head the content of the comments that were in school; well, he wouldn't forget them, but to bring them up consciously was different.
The worst case was that they interrupted the always calmed class where he studied, even two weeks' prior to the midterm exams. More than once he had seen his classmates exchange papers between themselves, which once read caused glances in his direction.
All because the best student in all of Japan had a relationship with a silly girl.
He imagined a huge response, but not that; although part of it could be a bit attributed to his representation in front of the institute.
Well, what they thought, he did not care; in front of his parents everything had gone smoothly, and the idiot nuisance of F had been dealt with.
He hoped that after the first two days, all this unwanted attention—that burst into his calm—died.
He concluded a mathematical problem and took out his book waiting for the end of class before lunch. He saw Watanabe—the only worthy one within all of them—ended his problem and began to review the lessons.
Naoki sighed, it was common for others to study before testing, whereas for him that was unnecessary. He didn't have to struggle when he had an exam in front of him, he responded to it simply whereas everyone else battled, including those from Class A.
Not even the impending tests unnerved his monotonous life.
At least, he would have a minor modification from now on, working on what he would do once he finished high school. Everything he intended he did too well; maybe he wouldn't attend college, he was more likely to learn on his own more things than in the normal four years involving the upper study.
The bell rang, making him leave that issue for now. Instead, he took out his lunch and left the classroom accompanied by Watanabe. It was customary, before exams, that the other met him to discuss the contents.
On their way to the cafeteria, his blond companion stopped him halfway down the corridor.
"Is that Aihara-san?" Asked the other, forcing him to pay attention to what he wanted to show him.
Naoki just hoped—repressing a sigh of annoyance—he didn't intend to ask him about the relationship between the two.
He turned his head to his right and, indeed, found the unmissable hair of Kotoko at the end of the corridor, where she was cornered against the wall, intimidated by five girls.
His eyes narrowed. "They aren't causing trouble, right?" Watanabe mused adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.
Both turned their attention to what transpired a few steps from them. Surreptitiously, he met the gaze of hate from the idiot of F, who saw him from head to toe, looked at Kotoko and turned his attention to him, as if waiting for him to stand between the girls and her.
Sincerely, Naoki didn't see why he should be in the middle of this situation, as long as no serious thing happened; the girls were asking about her relationship with him. Even he had no idea if they were friends of the redhead. Some women, among friends, had a habit of intimidating another group to get all the "juicy details", which could be the case there.
Watanabe, as him, convinced that it was a common interrogation, shrugged.
They were ready to leave when the words of Kotoko's interrogators grew louder.
"You don't deserve to date him, F girl!" One uttered, seconded by nods from the others.
"Yeah, he just wants you for one thing, because you're a fool!" Said another, then laughed with her companions. "Irie-san is too much for one little thing like you, an idiot."
Did those fools dare to insinuate that he was a scoundrel? His eyelid twitched and he knew by the look of Watanabe that he expected a reaction from what these stupid girls were saying. More because Kotoko didn't hint to fend off insults.
Didn't she know that cringing as she did was proving they were right? That was something he had to teach that girl.
"You're the silliest at this school!"
He admitted that there was a point for the argument, but only if it was him who said it, those stupid girls were not one to question the intelligence of Kotoko when they gave clear indication that they were on her low level.
"And you think it will last."
"You're so dumb, F girl!"
When he was about to take a step toward them, Kotoko's position changed, taking them by surprise. Something in the last sentence of the girl that bothered her made her raise her head and face the five so challengingly.
"You're wrong, I'm not dumb," Kotoko said in a strong tone, which surprised him, although he didn't let it show, interested by her intentions.
"Ah, aren't you?" The girls laughed at the sarcasm. They fell silent seeing that the attitude of their assaulted victim didn't hesitate.
"I will show you, and all those who think I am."
For a moment, her words hit him squarely. I didn't really think you were so dumb, he had said last night. And it looked like the challenge of Kotoko was addressed precisely to him, although she wasn't paying him any attention. However, he didn't understand what was so special about what he said, for he had only said the truth.
"And how will you do it? You will proclaim it loudly?"
"No, you'll see my name in the top fifty."
For a moment, none of them knew what to say, and even he took a moment to notice that her seriousness was not feigned, Kotoko was serious.
Was she really that stupid?
She couldn't solve some simple kanji of primary level and thought she would be able to to access the list of outstanding students. It was a surprise she had reached her current level of education.
Finally, the five girls collapsed into laughs.
"You're much more than silly, your naivety carries you to think that you will be able to reach that place. Only students from Class A and B access the list, what makes you think one from F will do it?" Spoke one with clear mockery.
"You'll humiliate yourself, and we won't forget your words. We will let everyone know."
Kotoko, ignoring them and giving them a sample of more class that they, made her way between them and disappeared down the stairs.
He was aware of the eyes of Watanabe and the idiot on him, alert to his movements and what would he say, but he just continued on his way, thinking that Kotoko really only had one thing of perfect nature.
She was a perfect idiot.
[...]
That afternoon, after having finished the hours of class plagued with the announcement from Kotoko, he concentrated on his book—of Contemporaries in Architecture—when the redhead appeared in the doorway of his room. Yuuki hadn't closed it when he went downstairs to watch a TV show and he didn't bother to do so either.
Now Kotoko took it as an invitation to speak; honestly, he didn't want to do so, much less after the day he'd had, in which he realized that he had been linked to the silliest girl of the school. Even though at one point he thought she would suit his desires, now he wondered if it were possible, with her intelligence being lower than average.
"Do you need something?" He questioned without looking away from a sketch made by an acclaimed author, for a dome in Berlin covered in glass.
"Eh… I'm studying, and… I was wondering… if…"
"You want me to help?" He faced her with a raised eyebrow.
She nodded. "I want to show those girls they were wrong," she muttered under her breath.
"Why should I help you? You alone gave yourself that problem," he replied incredulously to her request; had she really hoped that he would waste his time with something so impossible?
"Yes… I know."
He saw her bite her lower lip.
"But I don't want to leave you in shame if I fail."
"You should've thought of that before," he said curtly. "Although nobody questions my intelligence, Kotoko. Yours is the one in question," he replied returning to his book, "and with only that fool proclamation, you put the rope around your neck. "
He didn't care what anyone thought of her at school, he knew his intentions, he was well aware of the few capabilities of that girl. Still, it was not his shame because they could question why he was with Kotoko, if he was an idiot to have her as his girlfriend, but he was still smarter than them in the end. He had a handle of his will and had the freedom to act as he wished.
"Well…" Kotoko spoke after a while. He thought she had gone.
"Shut the door when you leave," he requested turning the page.
He heard the click of the door and smiled because she did what he wanted, as she should.
From that moment he was absorbed in his reading, doubting the supposed wonder of some of the works displayed there until a few taps on the door interrupted the calm.
"Come in," he instructed and withdrew the book from his vision, directing it to the door.
Kotoko, again.
"Now what?" He asked with narrowed eyes watching her carefully. She looked suspiciously guilty, hands hidden behind her back, studying his face as if it were the most interesting in the world, releasing small giggles that played with his patience. "Have you finished watching me?"
If only it was that, she might as well retire. She couldn't believe that watching him could spread her knowledge. It was stupid.
"Uh, no," Kotoko stepped forward. "Oba-sama told me again to ask if you'd help me to study."
Did she believe that his mother having knowledge of it would serve to convince him? Threats of his mother fell on deaf ears.
"You can tell her I have matters to attend to, so you can go."
"She thought that would be your answer," she replied, putting two fingers of her right hand to her chin. "And she told me to insist."
If she gave him annoyance, less he'd help.
"My answer was…"
Kotoko brought to this sight her left arm and showed the contents of her hand.
No.
"As a last resort she gave me this, she said it would help you decide."
He felt the blood leave his face and dropped the book.
How her mother dared to give her a picture of him during the most shameful period of his life?! It was one of the images where he was dressed as a girl, one of the many that his mother, with her love of photography, had done.
He thought his agreement included not show them to anyone, not just Yuuki, but he was wrong. Now she had given it to his daughter-in-law to use it as blackmail.
He had to recognize his mother's wit. She was an excellent competitor.
She and his father were meant for each other.
"She commented that I could have people who would want to see this." He watched Kotoko see the picture with a delighted look. "You were so adorable… will you be my tutor?" She questioned shrewdly, blinking innocently; for a moment, he found it fascinating, although, angered by being manipulated and completely dominated, he ignored his reaction.
"We both know it's impossible, Kotoko," he said containing his anger. "I cannot promise you'll be among the first fifty, only divine intervention would achieve that. Today I will give you a break, we will begin tomorrow. Now go, I have to sleep. "
He gritted his teeth waiting for her to get lost. He was irascible, again he was being manipulated. He couldn't understand how it was recurring.
"You're the best, Naoki-kun!" She let her happiness show and he thought she pondered twice if coming near or not, but decided to retire with a smile. "I hope you have a good night."
He thought that it would be the only one in those two weeks.
[...]
Naoki wanted to be wrong for the first time… Kotoko was worse than he had thought.
He had sat for three hours watching her fill her notebook with amazing doodles, which were supposed to give answers to questions that would make her worthy of, at least, eighty points in the tests.
She had struggled to do the simplest thing. He admitted being surprised that at least she knew the basic operations and was able to read and write.
The task was a total loss, not even a god could make her pass those tests, much less reach any position in the list of top fifty.
"I'd like to see what's on your mind. What do you do in class?" He muttered wanting to hit the book to Kotoko's forehead, to see if magically the information got inside.
Lack of sleep was affecting him.
And it was the first night.
"We will go from the basics. Pay attention!" He demanded, stamping the notebook on the table that had been carried there by his mother, so they could work comfortably.
He spent a long time explaining what he thought she must have known—and he didn't bother to find out what she didn't know, it would be useless now—; he spent another age waiting for her to finish.
"X is equal to seventy-two," Kotoko said loudly and he sighed, a simple quadratic equation that she should have mastered for her age, took her so long.
"Correct."
"Very well!" Celebrated Kotoko, hugging him excitedly; he, in his weariness, let her act.
"You have still left…" The room lit up interrupting them both, and they jumped in surprise.
His mother.
"I wanted to have a picture of you two together. You look so good. I have brought something to eat. I'll leave you alone now."
Without even breathing, she left to give them the privacy they needed to finish.
"Continue," he said, hands to his head, not wanting to fall into despair.
That marked the routine of the next two weeks, in which he finished so exhausted that he dozed while waiting for her to finish.
Kotoko had very few of those qualities desired for academic degree knowledge, but he saw much progress with her, with the study schedules that he made and the visits in the library he saw from afar, to which he was certain it hadn't happened in all her school life.
Rumors at school decreased in the first week, and two days before testing they resumed… with the imminent arrival of the tests to humiliate Kotoko before the entire school. But what could be done, although he was aware of her improvement, he didn't think she would really have a position on the list.
At least he had been able to glimpse the tenacity that he didn't imagine in Kotoko, whom nothing stopped her. She encouraged herself so much by an impossible, that he came to envy her for a few moments.
She put all of her in every effort and didn't give up, struggling to reach her goal, regardless of the scale that wasn't in her favor. She had the firm belief that she'd make it, and he didn't know if it was pity or admiration that she deserved.
Even being not so smart, she had a courage and a desire to motivate a team of entire work, because to him she had transmitted what meant true fighting for what you believed. And that, if you had the chance, you'll achieve what you longed for.
A couple of weeks had allowed him to know an aspect of Kotoko that didn't manage to fit with the idea that he had of her. Perhaps she was more than he thought.
Even if she failed, Kotoko had earned the desire for good luck that he gave her the day of the test.
[...]
A week after exams, when the results were delivered, the silent arrival at school made Naoki suspect all were gathered in front of the board, witnessing first-hand the failure of the redhead who walked beside him, who couldn't hold her nerves and ran to where the list was.
He, more calmly, walked up there, moved by the interest of what the abusive would do to Kotoko at the time. He wouldn't allow what they did to her, the object of their cruel mockeries, when she had done a much better performance than them in those weeks.
He found Watanabe right in the middle of the way and the two headed to the target in silence, the same that received them at their destination, where they could hear the sound of a needle making contact with the ground.
Surprisingly, he noted that all eyes remained attentive to Kotoko, frozen in place in the midst of the congregation, her brown orbs focused on the end of the board. For him, all made way so that he could get close enough to where she was.
Using his life's practice, his expression didn't change, not betraying the impression that dominated him.
Kotoko was on the list.
Her name was in the last place; to which he could not look away.
It was the first Class F student that, throughout history, occupied a position among the top fifty.
Damn, against all odds, he was wrong.
The first time he did it was because of his imperfect girlfriend. She had done it and was causing everyone to swallow their own words; him, with the whole school.
Suddenly, he felt thin arms embraced him, an enthusiastic Kotoko, who could take advantage of his stupefaction. Only two weeks of study and dedication catapulted her to that position, what would become of her if for years she had devoted the same interest?
"I did it, Naoki-kun!" Exclaimed a plethoric Kotoko as he thought to himself the great potential of the girl, knowing that, if he didn't handle her properly, he would experience the backfires. There was much more from that girl whom he called his girlfriend.
One by one, the gathered students—not knowing what to say—went away until there was no more than two of them. But Kotoko was still in her world; she was not even aware to the stares of disbelief, hatred, and even respect that crossed her bullies before leaving them alone.
It was true, she'd done it.
And he recognized himself as a good loser. Therefore, in a humble way, he knew that she deserved the kiss that he gave her in that place; a prize for her victory; one kiss he wouldn't have given her if in those days she hadn't shown him to a distinct Kotoko, whom he would discover in the long time they would face together, that surely would bring him surprises like that.
Although, meanly, also the kiss he gave her had darker and despicable motives.
Kotoko's potential could be enormous, and he needed to keep her to his favor.
It was a kiss with the pure intention of bewitching her.
*Celestina: Like a matchmaker.
AN: Hello!
Well, some parts sound better at English than Spanish... and the opposite.
Now, you see, Kotoko had to be on the top fifty, a yes/yes situation. And the photographs, too.
I don't have more to say, in the next chapter you'll see a little bad moment for Naoki.
Thanks for reading.
With love, Karo