Chapter 4: Mrs. Irie begins her plot

I yawn as I stretch my arms above my head, sitting up in the bed. Slowly, I blink my eyes open and stare at my alarm clock. 6:30 am. Perfect, I muse as I hop out of bed, I can make breakfast and lunch. I quickly change into my school uniform, and pull my hair back with a white headband before sneaking down the hall and down the stairs.

Downstairs, everything is quiet, everybody must still be asleep. I pad quietly into the kitchen where I quickly brew a pot of coffee for anybody who comes down. I then proceed to whip up lunch for Irie-kun, Yuki-kun and myself before making my famous omelettes for breakfast. Half an hour later, the savory scent of caramelizing onions and mushrooms soon fill the kitchen. Soon, four faces appear in the doorway.

"Good morning," I call out to them, pouring three cups of coffee and a glass of milk. "I just finished making breakfast."

Dad, Mr. Irie and Mrs. Irie sit down at the dining table in the next room and I place the three cups of coffee in front of them. Yuki wanders in a little more wary and hesitantly sits down. I walk back into the kitchen where the microwave timer for Yuki's glass of milk goes off. I quickly melt down a bit of chocolate and mix it into the hot milk before bringing it out and setting it in front of him. "Hope you like hot chocolate Yuki-kun." I smile before going back into the kitchen to fetch the omelettes. I make two more cups of coffee for Irie-kun and myself before bringing everything out on a tray. I set a plate of eggs in front of everybody and a cup of coffee and a plate at the two empty spots. I sit down and look around to table. Dad thanks me for the food and begins to eat while the entire Irie family, minus Irie-kun, just stare at the food in front of them.

Just then, Irie-kun walks into the room, wearing his uniform. He pauses to grab the newspaper in the living room before he sits down at the table saying, "Good morning." The rest of the table responds in kind. "Thanks for the food Aihara-san." He says before taking a bite of his omelette and opening up the paper.

Yuki-kun just stares at him, his mouth drops open. Irie-kun notices and looks over. "Eat your food, Yuki. She didn't poison it." He says before taking another bite. "In fact, it's really good."

I blush at his praise. "Thanks Irie-kun. I wanted say thank you for letting us stay here. Please enjoy." I utter.

Mr. and Mrs. Irie nod before taking a bite and exclamations of surprise follow immediately.

"Kotoko-chan, how did you learn to cook like this?" Mrs. Irie asks, taking another bite.

"When I was twelve or so, dad's restaurant became really popular. Every night there was a full house, with a line waiting and dad, at the time, didn't have enough employers so he was working from dawn to midnight without really stopping. To help out around the house, so dad could get all the sleep he needed, I started cooking my own breakfasts, lunches, and dinners." I reply.

I turn back to my plate to eat my own breakfast when I notice that Yuki-kun still hasn't eaten anything. "Yuki-kun, do you not like omelettes?" I ask quietly. He shook his head.

Thank you for the hot chocolate, but I'm not hungry for eggs." He mutters taking a sip from his glass.

Irie-kun looks up from his paper to glare at his brother. "What are you talking about Yuki? Just last night you were wondering if mom was going to make omelettes for breakfast. What difference does it make that Aihara-san made them?"

Yuki turns bright red. "I know…I'm…just…feeling a bit under the weather." He coughs into his sleeve, "I wouldn't mind trying a bite though." He picks up his fork and scoops up a bite of eggs. His eyes widen momentarily.

My mouth quirks a smile, as Irie-kun smirks at Yuki. "Do you like them Yuki-kun?" I ask. All he's able to do is nod as he continues to shovel the eggs into his mouth.

Mrs. Irie, having finished her eggs, stands up to clear her plate. "Thank you Kotoko –chan for breakfast, I'll be in the kitchen making lunch."

I quickly swallow a bite. "Um…I already made three lunches for the three of us." I look away from the look of shock on her face. "Sorry, I was already in the kitchen this morning and…Mrs. Irie, are you alright?"

Her face had changed from one of shock to complete elation. A strangely familiar smirk appears on her face. Her hands clasping together rubbing almost sinisterly.

She looks up after my question, her face forming her usual jovial manner. "Oh, just fine Kotoko-chan. Well then, I guess I'll start cleaning up." She glances at the clock hanging on the wall. "Don't you and Naoki have to go?" We both look at the clock.

"Why? We still have-" I start.

"Aihara-san, we need to leave now. Irie-kun states standing up. "I have a meeting at school I need to get to and I have to show you the route to school."

I nod my head, standing up. We grab our shoes and our school bags and Mrs. Irie hands us each our lunch boxes. I shove the blue, cloth bound, box into my bag before leaving down the driveway behind Irie-kun.

Around the corner, out of sight of the house, I grab the hem of his jacket, halting him in his step. "Why are we leaving so early? It's only 7:20; school doesn't start for at least another hour."

He looks at me. "I made up an excuse at the beginning of the semester that I had to leave for school early so I could meet up with my girlfriend before school."

I blush and look up sheepishly at him. "Oh, I see." He smirks down at me.

"At least now I can give her a proper good morning," he remarks before planting a soft kiss on my lips. "Good morning, Kotoko." He whispers into my ear, drawing me into a hug.

I smile, "Good morning, Irie-kun."

He pulls back, giving me a smile. "Come on," he tugs on my hand, leading me down the street. "Let's take a detour to school."

I drop into the seat of my desk and pull out my science textbook. Flipping to the pages that I had tabbed to study later, I began reciting information from memory. "Transpiration uses TACT to evaporate water. Water is pulled into the roots by lowering the water potential in the roots by adding a solute. Water is then pulled up the xylem with the help of cohesion, the hydrogen bonds between water due to water's polarity…"

Vaguely, I note a hand waving in front of my face but quickly disregard it. Faint chatter grows a little as the class begins to fill. I disregard all of the distractions, continuing my recitation.

"Aihara-san." Irie-kun's voice broke through my sub-consciousness. I spin in my desk to face him. Wearing his usual impassive face and his hands in both his pockets, he was leaning against the doorframe to our class. The entire class goes silent at the sound of his voice.

He glances around the silent room and rolls his eyes. "Aihara-san, pourrez-vous venir dehors avec ton sac?" Irie-kun requests in French. Probably because nobody in the class could understand what he had just said. I nod my head, grab my bag and follow Irie-kun out the door. Behind me, I could hear Satomi, Jinko and Kin-chan trying to make sense of Irie-kun's request.

Outside our school building, Irie-kun stops behind a tree and reaches into his bag. "Mom handed us the wrong lunch boxes this morning." He states, pulling out a pink lunch box.

I open my bag and pull out the blue one. "Oh yeah, I didn't even notice."

He sighs and quickly switches the two lunch boxes. "First day and we're already about to start a rumour."

"How is that possible? First block hasn't even started yet; the bell is just about to ring." I look over his shoulder at a sudden movement behind the bushes across the walkway. "Oh." I answer myself. "Just great, that's just great. What am I going to tell them now?" I moan.

Irie-kun looks over his shoulder. "You'll figure something out. No offense, but they're not the brightest bunch. I have to go; I'm on the other side of the school. I'll meet you at the alcove across the street after school." He winks at me as he walks away. Immediately, Satomi, Jinko, Kin-chan and his two best friends hop out from behind the bushes.

"Kotoko," Kin-chan wails, "Did he do something to you?"

"No, I'm fine." I answer.

Satomi and Jinko each grab a hand. "What were you guys talking about?"

I didn't have an excuse ready and I began to panic. "Oh, um, Irie-kun found the confession letter I wrote to him and called me out here to tell me that he couldn't accept my feelings because he already had a girlfriend." I blurt out, saying the first thing that came to mind.

"What!?" Kin-chan screams, "You confessed your love to that….that….cold-blooded man!?"

"What!?" Jinko and Satomi screech, "Irie Naoki has a girlfriend?"

I nod my head sheepishly. "Well," I quickly say, trying to change the subject, "class's about to start, let's go before we're late." I take off towards our class without waiting for them.

I hope this doesn't backfire on me in the future.

Hey guys, I'm back. I'm loving the french and the spanish reviews. (I had to look up what LANTUNEZ said though, I'm glad I could read your review) Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed the little bit of french I snuck in there. There might be more in the future, though I'm not sure yet. Keep up the reviews guys and I hope I can get the next post out soon. Write me your thoughts and I'll write to you all again in the next chapter. Ciao.