Disclaimer: I don't own the original characters and the original story. This is a pure fanfiction.

Note: When writing this, I am using some original dialogue and some of my own. I also may have deleted or added scenes or made the scenes a little different or switched scenes around. I hope you enjoy my version of Itazaru na Kiss, ISWAK and TKA.

Synopsis: What of there was a reason for Kotoko's stupid behavior? What if there was a secret she was holding on to? What if Naoki wasn't so geniusly stupid all the time? What if he found out her secret? Will their love remain the same? Will it disappear? Or will it ignite even more?

~:::FIRST KISS AND APOLOGIES:::~

Kotoko smirked as she sat at her desk and watched a frustrated Naoki grade her recent assignment.

"Wrong, wrong, it's all wrong!"

"Sorry."
"Again. Listen to what I'm saying."
Kotoko nodded. She understood the assignment a long time ago. As soon as her explained it to her. But she enjoyed watching his frustration. It made him look hot. Hot? Kotoko! What are you thinking? She tried to concentrate. At least look like she was concentrating. After what seemed like ages, Kotoko finished her final problem and looked over. He was asleep. His elbow was on the desk and his hand propped up his head. His eyes were closed. She saw small dark circles already forming under his eyes. Was it unnecessary? Was she being to mean to him? Hopefully his hard work would be rewarded tomorrow. She prayed that he did well on his test as well.

Kotoko ran to the announcement board clutching the little pouch Machiko gave her this morning. She was eager to know whether or not Naoki passed. He had to. He was smart. I won't forgive myself if he doesn't. Quickly looking on the number one name she read: Irie Naoki. Kotoko's heart started racing. He passed. He did it. She closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to leave, her eyes still close, and stopped. Something felt awkwardly nice. She felt something on her lips, warm and soft. She flung her eyes open, and met the gaze of a wide eyed Naoki. The chattering of the students around them stopped. It took a second for Kotoko to realize that their lips met. She jumped dropping the pouch on the ground.

"I..I… I'm…I.. Sorry." she stuttered.

Naoki stood motionless and speechless. Kotoko stared. Biting her lip she moved her head to the side. Naoki's reaction was totally different from any other guy. Of course, he wasn't any other guy, he was Naoki.

"Are you ok?" she was concerned. She didn't want to be responsible for ruining his genius brain.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" he finally spoke, though he sounded dazed.

"Sorry." she apologized again.
"Whatever. Congratulations, you passed." he said walking away."

Her heart almost stopped as she watched his retreating form. Congratulations? He congratulated me? The events of this morning flooded back into her mind. They just arrived to school, when Naoki suddenly said, "Good luck on the test."
"Kotoko!"

"Kotoko!"

She finally snapped out. Kinno, Satomi and Jinko stood beside her with concerned expressions. She hadn't noticed when they came.
"What's wrong?"

"You dropped this." Satomi handed her the little pouch.
"What is it?" Jinko asked.

"I don't know, it was supposed to be a good luck charm from my dad's best friend's wife."

She opened it. It had a photo inside. Carefully pulling it out, Kotoko froze as the three observers gasped. The photo revealed a sleeping Naoki on Kotoko's bed, with Kotko sleeping on the floor, sitting up against the bed with a book in her lap.

"What is this?!" Kinno exclaimed grabbing the photo to look closer.

"Umm. Well,….. my dad's… friends ….happen ….to be …. Naoki's…. parents."

"Huh?" the three friends' facial expressions froze in horror (Kinno), disbelief (Satomi) and surprise (Jinko). They stood frozen in that position. Kotoko took this opportunity to escape. Grabbing the photo from Kinno, she ran from the school.

Kotoko sat in her room by the window, looking at the photo. It was the first photo of them together. It was like a dream. She sighed. And it would be a dream, because once Naoki finds out about this, he will be avoiding her even more than he is now. She got up and put the photo in a small photo box she prepared for photos that she would take of her life in the Irie household.

The next day there was a crowd outside the announcement board. What's going on? All of a sudden, she was engulfed in the crowd and pushed against the board.
"Explain yourself!"
"What is this?"
"What do you think you're doing?"
Kotoko was confused. Wasn't she going to school like the rest of them? Was she not allowed to do that anymore? But her confusion faded into more confusion and frustration. Behind her was a bulletin plastered with the same picture over and over again. The same picture as in yesterday's charm. Her jaw dropped and eyes widened. What is this? How did this happen? Didn't I take the photo home? Did someone get it and multiply it? Then it hit her. Machiko. She was the one that took the photo in the first place. She was overly excited about Kotoko and Naoki being together. She was the one that exaggerated this whole this beyond proportions. So much for keeping a low profile.

All day, she got death glares form girls, and whispers and pointing fingers. Could her life get any miserable that this? Could it be any worse? Good thing that Naoki didn't know about this.

"Kotoko!" she was brought back to the real world from her daze. An angry Naoki was standing at her desk, fuming. She imagined him with steam coming from his ears and nose. She almost laughed.

"What is the meaning of this?" he pressed.

"I…"

"How could you have such low self respect?"

That did it. Kotoko snapped. She let out a breath of air in a rush and stood up so suddenly that some students around jumped in their seat.

"Like I was trying to say, I DON"T KNOW! Does it look like I took this picture? NO! If you are so smart, then you would know that I came to school at the same time as you and then I was engulfed into the crowd before your eyes. It's also OBVIOUS that I WASN"T THE ONE TO POST THE DAMN POSTER!!! Why don't YOU be the SMART ONE and ask your MOTHER!!!!!" she was angry. She never like being falsely accused. But this was even worse, because this was in front of the whole school. She could tell that every one was taken aback by her outburst, especially Naoki, who was standing speechless. Kotoko stood glaring at him. She wasn't moved at all by how hot he looked confused. The bell rang. Grabbing her bag and books, she rushed out of the classroom.

She didn't go home. Instead, she got on a bus that went to the sea coast. She needed to get away and think. She needed the quiet. How did things turn out like this? She wanted a peaceful school life. But things weren't going the way she planned. When she got to the beach, she found a secluded spot by a cliff, dropped her bag and ran into the water. The cool water surrounded her warm skin. It felt nice and soothing. She missed it. This was the first time in months since she swam. Back in NY, she swam almost everyday. Of course, they lived in a beach house, so it was convenient. Here, the beach was pretty far. It was her first time in the Japanese waters. She was surprised at the beautiful underwater world there. The corals, seaweed, fish and other aquatic life. In a way, it was all the same, and in a way, it was different.

When she got home, it was dark. She was greeted by a very worried and apologetic Machiko.

"Oh Kotoko. I'm so sorry. I didn't realize that that poster would be so bad. Are you ok? I was worried. Where did you go?"

"I'm fine, I just needed some time alone. It's alright about the poster, it wasn't that bad."

As she headed upstairs, she ran into Naoki, who stood awkwardly at the top of the stairs.

"S..So..Sorry about toady." he mumbled and went into his room.

Kotoko smiled lightly to herself. After changing from her uniform, she remembered that it was the winter holidays. She hadn't had time to plan anything. She was so busy studying, that she couldn't even think about anything. At dinner, Machiko was overly excited again. Kotoko smiled. She loved how the woman was able to lift up a person's spirit, even though it was too exaggerated.

"So I was thinking about where we should all go since it's winter vacation for the kids."

"MMM, yeah, I forgot about that." Shigeo said chewing on a piece of chicken. "Did you plan anything Kotoko?"

"No."

"Did you Naoki?" Masaki asked looking at his son, who was busy reading an article in the newspaper.

"No."

"Well, good. Because I booked three rooms at a resort by the beach for two weeks. There will be a lot of fun activities like scuba diving, swimming, wind surfing and more. Won't it be fun?"

"The beach?" Kotoko and Shigeo asked in unison, wide eyed.

"Yeah. Is there a problem?" Machiko asked hopeful for the latter.
"No." Kotoko shoot her head and gulped.

Machiko laughed and clapped her hands as Kotoko and Shigeo stared at each other in horror.

Sorry guys if I'm not writing in an understandable fashion. English is not my first language.