A/N: Thank you so much everyone for being so patient. Well, Naoki didn't see her medicines since she took them inside the washroom and seeing the inhaler he still kept his head cool because he is a doctor and had to give her the first aid. He didn't bother to check the bag because he will ask her about it eventually. Hope you will like this chapter.. Enjoy! :)

The First Blow

(Naoki POV)

"How is Kotoko-chan?" Oka-san asked.

"She is asleep now." I answered.

"What happened to her suddenly?" Kotoko's father asked no one in particular.

"I think she ate the food that was made with mixing a little alcohol." Yuki said.

"Oh no... I ordered that. I should have been careful." My father said shaking his head.

I was clearly missing something as their conversation sounded puzzling to me. I took a deep breath and finally ask the question that was eating me inside.

"Why does she have an inhaler?" I looked around at them all just to see their outraged faces staring back at me.

I knew it instantly that everyone else knew about it since I was the only one petrified at the sight of the inhaler in the restaurant. But I couldn't panic or look for answers immediately as I had to keep my head cool to give her the first aid. But inside I felt as if my heart froze.

"Pardon me, what?" My mother sounded shocked.

"Why does she have an inhaler?" I repeated my question again. My heart was beating faster than it should.

Why is everyone acting like I have questioned why the sun rises!

"As a precaution? Her doctor must have told her to carry it around all the time." Yuki replied. He was looking at me with confusion, as if wondering if I have lost my mind.

"Excuse me? Her doctor? What?" I was dumbfounded. Everyone was silent for a while.

"You... you mean... you don't know that she sometimes gets breathing difficulty?" Yuki asked slowly.

"Breathing... breathing difficulty?" I was so shocked that I felt short of breathe myself.

Yuki gaped at me. He didn't talk for a while.

"What do you mean Naoki? Didn't Kotoko tell you that she had developed allergy to alcohol?" My father asked.

I was simply stunned by the piece of information. I didn't even know what to reply to that. I just gaped at them. They got the answer they needed from my reaction.

"It's been a while Naoki. I thought she must have told you." Kotoko's father said. I remained silent.

"She can't intake alcohol anymore. She gets difficulty in breathing and also body swelling." Yuki said. "The first time when we found out about this, it was a mess. She just drank a little alcohol and had severe breathing problem and swelling. I took her to the emergency of the hospital she works. But she was fine within 30 minutes probably. They gave her oxygen and some medicines. After that she never touched alcohol... well until today I guess."

"I... Why... no one ever mentioned..." I mumbled.

"We thought Kotoko told you Naoki." Oka-san said who sounded angry.

"She... didn't." I said in a small voice.

"Well, we can see that! No wonder she didn't." Oka-san snapped. I looked up at her feeling lost.

"You have been to Kobe for nearly a year and a half Naoki. Why couldn't you just ever visit once for goodness' sake? Career isn't everything. It's your duty to check up on your family too. She must have been really upset that you didn't care and that must be why she didn't tell you." Oka-san's voice cracked near the end.

But I care! I care! I care!

My inside was screaming. But I didn't say anything. I was too ashamed to say anything at all. Oka-san was right. I could have visited if I wanted. I could have taken at least one day off for my family. But I was too busy with work. I just thought if I don't take one day off, that would mean it is one day early, I will return home finishing all my works permanently. But that sounds like a joke now. I just sat there staring at the floor, feeling lost.

"Naoki-kun, you should go upstairs. Kotoko might wake up." Her father said. I nodded and obliged.

...

Kotoko was still asleep when I entered the bedroom. I sat near her bed. She looked peaceful in her sleep. I watched her sleeping face and started to think deeply. Everything that happened after I moved back started to appear before my eyes. Everything that was unexpected.

I had the feelings that Kotoko was hiding things from me since the day I arrived. She had been constantly avoiding me in every way she can. But I had no idea that it had started ages ago. It's true that her calls were getting fewer in numbers day by day. Her conversations were getting shorter with each passing day. She almost stopped talking about anything that was not important. Come to think of it, I don't even remember when was the last time we had a conversation that was funny or completely meaningless. But I always reasoned that by thinking she must be working hard or she was busy. Although I really missed all her funny reactions in the weirdest topics she could come up with.

But how can she not tell me about her alcoholic allergy. That is something serious. Everyone else knew about it but I didn't. Why? I felt a sharp prickle at my heart. I exhaled a long breathe.

I let my eyes gaze down her whole body. She looks so fragile and weak. She and I spent a very little time together during the past two weeks. But that little time was more than enough to observe her.

She gets the headache frequently. Sometimes during dinner or breakfast, her every movement screams being uncomfortable due to severe headache. She gets feverish in the nights from time to time. She was always a foodie, but her appetite has lost greatly somehow. But she drinks a lot of water which was probably the only improvement. She was dizzy a couple of times and even fainted once. And those nightmares! She gets terrified due to those and doesn't even get enough sleep.

She needs to get a check up for her health issues. I was already getting worried for her due to her lack of concern regarding her health. Today was the limit and now they can't be overlooked anymore. She always insisted that she was tired and will be fine after taking enough rest or that she took medicines. Whatever the reason is, fatigue or migraine- which according to her she doesn't have, it's high time that she gets properly checked up.

Kotoko stirred and opened her eyes slowly. She looked around until she met my eyes.

"Are you feeling alright?" I asked her with concern. She looked confused for a second and then her face turned paler. She nodded. We both remained silent for a while and then I broke it.

"I see you have failed to mention about your allergic problem to me." My verbal voice was calmer than the inside voice.

She sat up on the bed, leaning on the headrest. "I..." She paused. "I didn't want to..."

"Stop saying you didn't want to worry me." I snapped cutting her off. I may have sounded angry but my inside was crushing actually. I was sick of hearing it. I tried to compose myself but I couldn't find what to say. I was feeling the loss of words. She cleared her throat.

"Irie-kun, it seriously isn't a big deal..." I turned my face at her with a frown and she stopped talking immediately looking at my face.

"I'm really sorry Irie-kun. I didn't want to hurt you." She mumbled.

I didn't reply anything. Actually I didn't even know what to say. I know that she really didn't mean to hurt me but I feel so hurt right now. Like she said, she might not want to worry me, but I feel pathetic right now.

"Kotoko..." I swallowed. "Kotoko, don't you trust me?" I blurted out.

"What? Irie-kun! Of course I do." She looked outraged. "Why would you even ask that question?" She slid near the edge of the bed towards me.

"You... you..." I couldn't say that out loud, that she seems so far away from me. She came closer and hugged me. I immediately held her tightly against me. I couldn't tell her that I was getting horrified by the feelings that she was drifting further away from me. I was never this terrified in my entire life.

"I am so so so sorry Irie-kun. I am sorry about everything. I don't even know how to explain anything to you." Kotoko said softly patting my back.

"You can start by explaining about your allergic problem." I mumbled inhaling her scent.

"Well, I was always intolerant in consuming excess alcohol. So it was natural isn't it? Alcohol don't metabolise in my system anymore." She said.

"Can I see your test reports?" I asked her. She remained silent. It's true she was always intolerant to excess alcohol. Her report should contain the details.

"I... I keep them in my locker at Hope. Since I do my checkups there, there is no point carrying them from home to Hope." She said finally.

"Oh..." I said.

"Speaking of which, I have evening duty today." She pulled away from me muttering that.

"Which, you are not doing today." I said sternly.

"I know, I'm not." She smiled lightly, stood up and grabbed her bag from the bedside table where I put that to get her mobile out. Once she got it out, she held out her hand at me to pull me on my feet.

"Let's get downstairs. Everyone must be worried." She said. I nodded and followed her out of the room.

...

(Kotoko POV)

I descendent the stairs with Irie-kun right behind me. I was feeling really nervous. My heart was nearly hammering in my rib-cage. I was glad that my fracture had been healed or else it might have hurt real badly due to all the hammering. The moment he questioned if I didn't trust him, I felt like my heart pierced. He was undeniably hurt. I'm feeling awfully sorry right now. I was not sure if my decision of hiding everything was an ideal one anymore. I seriously have no idea of how I will be doing all the explaining.

Shit man! He is going to get so much hurt. What have I done? What do I do now?

I entered the sitting room where Yuki-kun was reading a book and my father was reading a newspaper. Otou-san was probably working in his library and oka-san in the kitchen making dinner.

"Kotoko, are you okay now?" My father asked when he saw me, putting down the newspaper.

"Yes otou-san. I'm completely fine now." I tried to assure him.

"Kotoko, how could you eat the dish containing alcohol, baka?" Yuki-kun scolded me creasing his forehead.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to what I was eating."

He didn't reply anything, only shook his head. Irie-kun sat in one of the chairs. I went to the kitchen.

"Kotoko-chan, are you okay?" Oka-san asked as soon as I entered the kitchen.

"Yes, I'm. I'm sorry oka-san, I made you so worried." She walked to me and hugged me in response.

"Don't be sorry dear. I'm so relieved that you are alright." I only patted her back without saying anything.

After a while she pulled away from the hug and went to resume her work. I called Hana and informed her that I won't be doing the evening duty today. When she inquired about the reason, I only told her I was feeling weak. She lectured me about resting properly. I work as an extra in Hope. I was assigned as a nurse due to special request from Dr. Ayano. This was the sole reason which allowed me to get a flexible duty schedule. I could, arrange, change or cancel my duties at any time depending on my physical condition. My whole schedule was accurately planned so that either Mio or Hana or both of them had duties at the same time with me. If I was unavailable, they always took care of my part. I was so grateful to them. After ending the call, I helped oka-san despite her protest, with the small works.

As soon as we settled around the dinner table, I assured otou-san for the fourth times within the last few hours, which actually felt like a hundredth times, that I was fine.

During the dinner, my father suddenly asked me, when was the last time I examined my allergic condition. I informed him that I checked that only last week. It was true. We always keep track of my each and every side effect. This was the reason why I keep all my reports at Hope.

"You should get a check-up tomorrow." He told me.

"Otou-san, don't be so worried..." I started but, "I will do that." I added hurriedly seeing the look on his face.

"I will go with you. We will leave in the morning." Irie-kun said.

"What?" I looked up at him in shock. "You are supposed to go to Kobe tomorrow. Don't you have a conference to attend to?" I asked him.

"That's not important. My professor will take care of the presentation. I will mail him all the materials after dinner." He replied patiently.

"You have got to be kidding me." I felt anxious and angry at the same time.

"Whatever suits you?" He remarked without looking up.

"Irie-kun! You can't be serious! You have worked so hard for this thesis and you said this conference will be a huge event and a great opportunity." I tried to put some sense in him as his words weren't making any sense to me at all. He was doing exactly what I was afraid of. He was kicking all his hard works away just because of the stupid allergic problem. Who knows what he would have done if I had told him the truth in Kobe that night. All the guilt that I was feeling since I woke up disappeared right on the spot and I felt furious at my pathetic condition.

"I know what I'm doing. Just because I don't attend a conference doesn't mean all my hard work will go in vein Kotoko. Relax." He told me looking up at me. But it didn't faze me.

"I don't care. I won't be going through any sort of damned tests if you don't attend your conference tomorrow and I. Mean. It." I said loudly with finality looking straight in his eyes. He just stared back at me. I could tell he was half amused and half irritated by the authority of my voice. He was probably wondering if I had hit my head somewhere because I was behaving so out of character. Well, at least to him for sure.

"Naoki, dear, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted at you for not coming home. I was so frustrated..."

"Oka-san, I know. That's fine and you were right anyway." Irie-kun interrupted her. I looked from one to another between them wondering what they were talking about. Oka-san gaped at him in amazement for a few seconds. He just admitted that oka-san was right. Now, that doesn't happen every day, does it?

"Oni-chan, you should go. Don't worry, I will accompany her tomorrow." Yuki-kun said.

Although I was very much touched with them for being so much concerned but I couldn't allow them to accompany me to Hope, at least not yet.

"Look... seriously... guys? I was fine doing it on my own all these months. I'm sure 3 more days wouldn't hurt. Besides, I don't have an appointment yet. So I will just see my doctor after my morning duty tomorrow. Just relax okay?"

None of them replied anything. Irie-kun was looking down at his food. After a while I realised, he was only staring down and not eating at all. I frowned and replayed all the words that I have just spoken.

Damn it. It must have hurt when I said I was fine doing it alone all these months. Why am I being so adamant in rubbing salt in the wound?

Somebody please shoot me!