As Kotoko and her father drove to the house, she wondered what kind of environment she lived in. She secretly hoped that she would find clues to help her remember, but another part of her was frightened at what she might find.
As they pulled up, the Irie's stood at the door. Kotoko opened the door and looked at the house. "Wow, is this where I live?" she asked.
Ma greeted her, wanting to hug her and to her surprise Kotoko hugged her first. Kotoko felt some kind of warmth from her and it seemed natural. She looked over and uncle who was smiling at her, and at Yuuki who grinned at her.
"Come inside, your room is all ready," said ma.
They all walked in. The inside was painted white, with a shoe case to the left and a step. "Watch your step Kotoko," her father warned her. She slowly walked in further and noticed the glass table with a vase in front of her. To the left were the kitchen and the dining room; while to the right was the stairs to the second floor. She saw photo frames hanging on the wall but before she could walk there, father moved her over to the living room.
Father sat her down, "Kotoko we have some things to discuss before you settle in." She looked at him with a worried look, "what is it?"
The whole family sat down around her. "This is your family Kotoko. We are living here with the Irie's because we lost our home." She sat there quietly, waiting for him to finish. He gulped and sighed, "This is Irie-sensei's house. We live in the same house because," she interrupted him, "because we are married?" she said. They all looked at her, shocked.
Ma got excited, "you remember us dear!?" "No," she muttered, "at the hospital when I was looking in the drawers, there was a piece of paper that said my name, but it didn't say Aihara, it said Irie. Kotoko Irie. Irie-sensei didn't say anything; he told me my name is Kotoko Aihara. I figured he told me that for a reason."
"You used to be Kotoko Aihara, until you married Naoki," said Ma. Uncle put his hand on her shoulder. "Ma try not push too hard," he said.
"Can I go to my room?" she asked. "Of course you can, I'll take you there dear." Ma took her bag and led her up the stairs. As they walked upstairs, Kotoko stopped to look at the photos.
"Did you take the photos of me and Irie-sensei off the walls?" Kotoko asked. "Yes, we did," answered Ma, "Naoki told us you didn't remember anything and your father suggested we take them down."
"I see," she muttered. "How about my room, is it separate?" Ma looked at her and nodded. Kotoko thought it was strange. To be in a house with such a loving family, to find out that she is married to her doctor and yet she can't remember anything. She suddenly felt a tingling emotion of hurt and guilt. Looking at the photos, they all seemed to be in place, except for the ones of Naoki and herself. How it looked natural, yet this natural feeling gave her a sense of guilt.
"This is your room, your father's room is downstairs, but our room is just down the hall. Naoki and Yuuki's room is also right next to yours so if you need anything don't hesitate to ask. I'll let you get settled in, dinner will be ready soon so be sure to come down later and eat," Ma closed the door behind her and left Kotoko to herself.
Kotoko looked around the room: a bed with pink sheets, a desk next to the bed with all her books, a small table in the middle of the room, and a small couch behind it. She sat on her bed and looked at her desk. She opened the drawer and there was a letter that said "To Irie Naoki-sama." She picked it up and opened it.
"Nice to meet you Irie-kun,
My name is Kotoko Aihara from class F. You don't know me, but I know you. I've admired you for your intelligence and coolness after you gave the entrance ceremony speech," at that moment she had a flashback.
--start flashback--
"Nice to meet you Irie-kun, my name is Kotoko Aihara from class F. You don't know me, but I know you. I've admired you for your intelligence and coolness," recited Naoki, the look on Kotoko's face as she realized that he was reciting her letter. "I have no hope of getting into the same class as you, so I write my feelings for you in this letter with all my heart.
Irie-kun, I love you," he continued, and she slapped him.
--end flashback--
She looked down at the letter, "Irie-kun, I love you," she muttered to herself. Kotoko dropped the letter and had a feeling of embarrassment and anger. She couldn't help it, she felt an irritation run through her. She could clearly see his face as the scene replayed over; Naoki reciting her letter with a callous tone and herself slapping him as he had no remorse for what he did.
Just then she heard name. "Kotoko… Kotoko," Ma was calling for her. "Yes," she called back. "Can you come down here and lend me a hand?"
"I'll be right there," she answered back. "I better go wash my face first," she thought to herself. She opened the door and walked out of the room, "now where is the bathroom?" She walked down the hall and opened a door it wasn't the bathroom but what looked like, perhaps, Naoki's room. She stepped in the room and looked at a bare room. To think that maybe she shared this room with him. She walked around, hoping that maybe she could remember something, anything. But then she remembered she told Ma that she would help, so she closed the door and headed downstairs, forgetting that she wanted to wash up before facing Ma.
Kotoko walked in the kitchen and Ma handed her some dishes to bring to the table. Kotoko gladly helped her, placing the dishes of food and setting the table. As everyone came to the table uncle asked Ma, "will Naoki be joining us?" and just as he asked, he received his answer. Naoki walked in, "sorry I'm late," he said.
Naoki sat across from Kotoko. This was all too familiar Kotoko felt this feeling of déjà vu. Naoki was sitting in front of her, looking at her. He looked calm, but in the inside he wanted to cry. His wife, sitting across, was not making a sound all through dinner. Conversation was light and vague. He remembered Kotoko always trying to feed him; his mother and her making noise over an irrelevant matter. Naoki missed those days. He misses Kotoko.
"Naoki… Naoki," his father snapped at him. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, sorry," he answered. He looked at Kotoko who didn't smile or grin, just stared at him.
Dinner ended with an awkward silence. Kotoko helped clean up and put the dishes away, said good night to everyone and went to her room. She couldn't get out of there fast enough. The memory that she remembered; she couldn't get it out of her head. The resentment, embarrassment and humiliation she felt surfaced as she sat and faced Naoki at the dinner table.
She laid on her bed thinking. Then a knock on her door snapped her out of her daze. "Come in," she said. Naoki opened the door.
"The bath is ready, you can take yours now," he told her. She looked at him and he stared back at her. "Kotoko, I...," he started to say but she stopped him. "I'll take it in a minute, you can close my door now thank you," she told him. Naoki stared at her with a look in his eyes that resembled hers' when he recited her letter.
"OK." And he closed the door.
Kotoko hoped in the bath hoping it would relax her. She sat in the tub thinking of what she would do tomorrow, but she was so tired she couldn't even think. After ten minutes she got out of the bath and proceeded to get ready for bed.
As she fell asleep, Kotoko muttered something to herself in her sleep, "why?"
