Chapter 3: Meeting the Irie Family

The front door to the massive house opens. Out come a man and a woman who must be Dad's friend and his wife. My dad and his friend joyfully shake hands, before he introduces me to them. I smile brightly, holding out my hand to shake both of theirs. "Hi, my name's Aihara Kotoko. It's nice to meet you. Thank you for giving us a place to stay."

The woman smiles at me, she then proceeds to scoop me up into a tight embrace. "Oh, Kotoko, you've grown so much since I last saw you. You were only a toddler when your mother brought you over to play with my son. Pardon me, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Irie Noriko."

Irie? Her last name's Irie? What we're the chances that my dad was best friends with Irie-kun's dad? I muse as Mrs. Irie ushers us into the house. There probably weren't many Irie families in the area, plus, it explained Irie-kun's cryptic message on the phone.

Inside, sitting on the stairs is a young little boy watching me with a careful look. He scrambles up the staircase as Mrs. Irie spots him, motioning for him to come down and say hi. I shrug my shoulders. Irie-kun mentioned he had a younger brother. I've never met him or seen a picture but the young boy must be Irie Yuki-kun.

In the sitting room, Mrs. Irie had laid out snacks to munch on. I quietly take a few items and place them on my plate. I was just taking my first bite when Mrs. Irie turns her attention to me.

"Kotoko-chan, you've met Yuki, my youngest son. Unfortunately my oldest isn't home at the moment. I sent him to the grocery store to pick up a few things before dinner." She smiles gently towards me.

I nod my head "Yuki-kun seems to be a nice boy. I hope I can get along with him." I answer, biting into cookie. Mrs. Irie shook her head, smiling knowingly.

"If I may be blunt Kotoko-chan, my hope is that you will get along with my oldest, he's in desperate need of a girlfriend." She winks at me.

I cough, choking on the crumbs of the cookie I just ate. I take a drink from my glass of water on the table, blushing profusely.

"Pardon me, Mrs. Irie, what did you say?" I choke out, still coughing madly.

Just then, the the sound of the lock on the front door turning and the door opening reaches our ears. Mrs. Irie looks positively delighted. "How perfect, he finally home. Naoki, come in here please."

I manage to stop coughing in time to look towards the doorway as Irie-kun comes into the room. His eyes search, and automatically find mine. The small twitch on his lips is my only smile. I roll my eyes at him, away from the prying eyes of his mother. He could have just told me on the phone that I was moving into his house.

"Hi, my name's Aihara Kotoko, What's yours?" I ask, standing up, offering my hand. This is not how I wanted to introduce Irie-kun to my dad, so for now, we'll keep up the pretense.

He sighs, typical for Irie-kun, "Irie Naoki. We go to the same school you know." He introduces himself without taking my hand. Even if he is my boyfriend, his casual manners could still use a little softening up. He, of course, contradicts my entire thought process when he then introduces himself to my dad, initiating a hand shake. He could be such a pain in the a-.

"Kotoko-chan? You and Naoki go to the same school?" Mrs. Irie asks, breaking my thoughts, her eyes growing wide with hope. Irie-kun takes a seat next to her, pouring a cup of tea from the kettle on the table.

"Um, yeah, we're not in the same class though." I mutter. For once, I'm self-conscious about my choice to stay in class F.

Just then, Yuki-kun walks into the room, plopping himself down next to Irie-kun holding a first year, middle school math textbook.

Hey Oni-chan, can you help me with this question?" Irie-kun looks up at me and smirks.

"Why don't you ask Aihara-san? I'm sure she would love to help you." He answers, taking a sip from his cup.

Yuki-kun turns to me, his voice pleads for my aid, yet his eyes look strangely sinister. I've seen that look on Irie-kun before, usually right before his smirk comes.

"Sure, let me see the question." Yuki-kun, skips around the end of the table to show me a page of his book, luckily for me, the question's fairly basic: 2x^2 – 8.

"It's not that hard of a question Yuki-kun, you factor out a two from both variables so the equation reads 2(x^2 - 4) which becomes a difference of squares. That becomes 2(x – 2) (x + 2)."

I look up from his book where I was jotting down my explanation. Yuki-kun stares back. His eyes are slightly larger in surprise. I glance over at Irie-kun who seems to be trying to hide a smile behind his cup. I internally sigh. "Anything else you need help with Yuki-kun?" I ask, trying to break his trance.

He snaps out of his stare. "Uh, no, I'm good. Thanks, Aihara-san." He mumbles.

I smile at him. He's so cute. "Call me Kotoko, Yuki-kun."

He just nods before scurrying out of the room.

Mrs. Irie claps her hands together, "Thank you Kotoko. That was very kind of you to help Yuki with his homework. Now, would you like me to show you to your room?" She asks.

I was about to nod my head when Irie-kun spoke up, "Mom, you should stay here with dad and Mr. Aihara. I'm going up to my room anyways so I'll show Aihara-san where she'll be staying." He says, setting his cup down on the table.

Mrs. Irie got this strange look in her eyes before nodding her head and ushering us out of the room.

Irie-kun, stopping to pick up my suitcase, leads me up the stairs and down the hall where he stops in front of a door with Kotoko written on a sign hanging on it. To the left of the door was another closed door with Naoki and Yuki hanging from it. He opens the door, walks in, and sets down my suitcase on the floor.

I just stare at the room, closing the door behind me. Dolls sat on the shelves around the room, the walls were painted a soft pink, a calm yet happy color, and a pink furry carpet sat in the middle of the room. On the left side, a desk, set up with everything I might need, lay empty for my school books. On the right side was the bed. I thought the bed was beautiful. The white blanket with light pink roses around the edge, covering an elegant bed frame straight from any princess novel. To seal the deal, a pink, gauze like curtain fell around the bed. I smile sadly as I take in the room, tears prickling the back of my eyes.

Irie-kun takes one look at me before drawing me over to the bed, sitting on it, and pulling me down onto his lap. He wraps his arms around me and I lay down on his chest. For a moment, we sit together, enjoying each other's presence. "What's wrong Kotoko? His chest rumbles under my ear. I snuggle closer, burying my face into his shirt. Taking a few deep breathes; I look up into his brown eyes.

"I'm just overreacting. Since mom died when I was so little, I never really had anyone to treat me like a girl. Dad didn't care much for this stuff so it's a little overwhelming how much of a girly childhood I missed out on."

Irie-kun kisses the top of my head, "I can guarantee you that mom will be treating you like her own daughter. She designed the room herself in a matter of minutes before you guys arrived. She's always saying she wished she had a daughter." He says into my hair

I sigh, "we're going to have to keep pretending that we aren't dating in the house aren't we?"

I feel his head nod up and down. "Yes, unfortunately for us, we're going to have to. It's not that mom and dad won't approve, they most certainly will, but the fact of the matter is, my mother's a bit crazy when it comes to my love life, if I suddenly tell them out of nowhere that I have girlfriend, we would find ourselves in front of a priest and saying our vows by the weekend." He explains. I blush; Mrs. Irie would want us to get married? Well, it certainly explained her blunt statement earlier.

I nodded my head in understanding. "Besides, I'm pretty sure dad might blow a gasket if he finds out I'm dating you and moved in without mentioning that we're dating." I sat up straight as a thought pops into my head. "What about Yuki-kun, does he know?" Irie-kun shook his head.

He never cared to ask, so I never brought it up." He chuckles suddenly, "he tried to embarrass you downstairs with the math question. He was lurking out in the hall with his sheet waiting for mom to pop a question about school when I walked in."

I roll my eyes at him, "I knew something was up, he has that same glint in his eyes that you have when you tease me."

That very glint shines suddenly from his eyes. "Oh really?" He drawls, "And when do I ever tease you?" He asks.

I glare back at him. "You know when. You always tease me. Every single morn-"

The rest of my sentence is cut off as he plants a kiss on my lips.

Author's Note: Hey guys, thanks for the reviews. As you've probably already started to tell, I'm posting these chapters very quickly. I'm in my final year at high school and have hit a pocket of breathing room when it comes to homework which is why the chapters are coming fast and furious. It probably won't last, and when I get busy again, (three science and two math courses will do that) I'm going to try and keep the updates to once a week. Also, If you've haven't noticed, I'm making Kotoko a little more capable in life, She's still keep her optimistic, cheerful personality, but she's be able to cook, clean, and do well in school. I just find her more appealing this way. Anyways, keep the reviews coming and I'll write to you guys next time.