Chapter 7

15 Feburary 2012

It had been 2 months since that conversation in Kotoko's apartment between Naoki and Kotoko. Naoki had left abruptly that night after seeing the truth in Kotoko's eyes and from then on made it a deliberate point to avoid even a thought of Kotoko to enter his mind. Life played a weird game, for so long Kotoko had chased him and 'Kotoko loves him' became a fact of his life;and when he reached out to those hidden emotions in him and finally reciprocated the affection ,she had moved on. She belonged to someone else now. Karma got to him and now he was tormented each night with the thought of her being with that Kinnouske. In the day he immersed himself in his work, his father's company and health were both making steady recovery and Naoki could see the fruit of his work in Pandai starting to reflect in monthly profit estimates, yet he didn't allow himself to rest because for him rest and free mind meant torment. So he worked himself to the bone day in and out.

His mother was now starting to get worried for his health but he would not allow himself to stop. He had heard from grapevine aka his mom that Kotoko had started going on dates with Kinnouske. His Mom made a huge fuss when she got to know this. She had for the first few weeks made a point to talk about Kotoko and Kinnouske whenever Naoki was around but as he stopped coming home and staying at office to avoid her, she ultimately dropped the topic. She would rather have her son come home every night. Tonight his father had all but demanded that he be present for dinner with his family and then later on have a chat with him in private. The dinner was filled with his Mom's chatter that Naoki realized he had strangely missed. Even Yukki was unusally talkative. Yukki had distinctively felt his brother's mental absence. Though, Naoki was never a warm and talkative person ,he was also not the zombie that he had been the past two months. He had grown colder, if such thing was even possible. After dinner Naoki left the room with his father so that they could talk in the living room. Mrs. Irie was in the kitchen keeping an ear fixed to the talk going on in her living room.

"Naoki, son, I called you here today because I have been thinking a lot and I think I am ready to take back the reins of Pandai" thus,Mr. Irie began the conversation between them once they were both seated.

"Otousan,I think you should take more time to recuperate and not worry about business right now. I have everything in control so don't worry about Pandai" Naoki calmly protested his father's decision.

"Naoki you have been managing Pandai amazingly well. Dare I say, even better than myself. It is not Pandai that I am worried about , it is you." Mr. Irie replied.

"Me? I am sorry, I don't understand, why are you worried about me?" Naoki asked perplexed.

"Why am I worried about you? Naoki do you think I am blind? I can see how you are overworking yourself. You are just 20. You should be out there having fun with your friends. You should be in college. I can't help but feel that we have unknowingly put too much pressure on you." Shigeki face was heavy with remorse.

"You are unnecessarily worrying yourself, Otousan. I am fine. I was never one the to hangout with friends in first place and you haven't made me do anything I wouldn't have done on my own. It is my duty and responsibility to support my family." Naoki replied with a resolved expression on his face.

"So what about medicine?" Mr. Irie asked. Naoki was left stunned. How did his father know about his desire to study medicine? He hadn't shared it with anyone except her. She wouldn't have, would she?

"I had a visitor yesterday. You might be interested to hear what she had to say. She made quite a passionate case for me to allow you to go back to college. Kotoko really does care about , son, why didn't you say anything before? I wish you had come to me yourself and told me this, but I suppose it was I who probably made you feel that you had to hide your dreams. I have dreams for you, I admit. Every parent has them for their child but my dreams are not bigger than yours. I just want you to be happy and if it is by studying medicine that you gain happiness then be sure I am going to be your biggest supporter." Mr. Irie said all this with an undertone of pride for his son in his voice.

"But what about Pandai? Who will manage the company after you? Naoki asked.

"You don't have to worry about anything, I will grow up and manage Pandai, Onii-chan." Yukki jumped into the conversation from his hiding place behind the door. " You become a doctor and save the people of this world. I know you would be happy as a doctor" continued Yukki.

Mrs. Irie entered the room at that moment and hugged Naoki around his neck and said " We all just want you to be happy. So Onii-chan, do as your parents say. You are resigning from Pandai and going back to college. You have to study hard ,Onii-chan, I want you see you successfully transfer to Medical department this summer."

-17 February 2012-

Naoki was walking down the road to administrative block of Tonan University when he realized that two girls were following him. He tried to ignore them but after few minutes he realized that they were shouting at each other and following him because they wanted him to listen to what they were saying. They sounded oddly familiar. Jinko and Satomi was what they were calling each other. Did he know them? Weren't they her friends?

His thoughts were confirmed with the next sentence that left their mouth when Jinko asked "Eh..Satomi, Do you happen to know where Kotoko is?" Satomi delightfully answered " Jinko-san , don't you remember she went on her special date with Kin-chan."

"Oh! I remember now ,but why is the date so special Satomi-san?" Jinko pretended to be unaware. "Jinko-san ,today is the day Kin-chan is going to ask her to marry him."

"This is so exciting. Satomi, I am sure she going to say yes. What do you think?" Jinko said.

Naoki didn't wait to hear what Satomi thought Kotoko's answer is going to be as he started running. Why and Where he was running he did not know or care. He just wanted to get away from this sinking feeling in his chest. Naoki realized then that he had never really given up on Kotoko and him. He still held hope that she would soon get tried of that person and he would get a chance to prove his worth. No, this cannot be happening. She loved him too long to move on so fast and so soon. No, No ,No, No. The word resounding like a mantra as he found himself again in front of her apartment building.

He waited. He didn't know what he expected to achieve if she was indeed engaged by now but he couldn't make himself move from his position in front of her apartment building. He prayed he did not have to see them both coming back to her apartment together, acting all in love. He hoped that, that his imagination of her in his arm would never come true. He hoped ,maybe futilely but he hoped. Finally when his thoughts weren't something he could control anymore he saw her walking down the street. She was soaked. Huh? It was raining? He hadn't even noticed. He ran over to her. She looked tried and beautiful.

"How was the engagement?" Naoki asked, getting straight to the point.

"You know?" Kotoko asked surprised. Naoki started at her blankly and stiffly nodded. "It was magical, I suppose. Kin-chan had worked so hard and everything worked better than hoped. I was so delighted." Kotoko answered smiling.

"So this is it? You like him now? Naoki asked fiercely.

"Like him now? Huh? I have always liked Kin-chan. He has been one of my best friends since school. It is only natural that I like him." Kotoko answered, feeling strangely perplexed by the unexpected interrogation.

"What about me? Don't you care about me at all? Don't you claim to love me? Can you really love anyone else?" Naoki all but shouted out the questions. The bleak future without Kotoko suddenly a looming reality.

"What about me, Naoki? I care about you. I will always care about you. Maybe I would never love someone as I love you but I need to learn to live in the real world." Kotoko replied calmly.

"So you will marry Kin-chan? Just because you think that he has liked you and I don't, you would marry him. I love you Kotoko and I am not giving up. You can't love anyone but me." Naoki replied and then in move that Kotoko never dared to imagine he wrapped his arms around her and brought his mouth closer to hers and whispered " I am never letting you go." And then he kissed her. It took Kotoko a few moments to accept what was happening and then she started kissing him back. Tentative at first but soon it grew passionate as they both poured months ,and in Kotoko's case years, of longing into the kiss.

Finally Kotoko pulled away and looked at Naoki with mischief in her eyes and said "By the way, Kin-chan is marry Christine Robbins, an exchange student at Tonan and not me."

Naoki was stunned as Kotoko started laughing but then he looked at her and pulled her up to him and then said "I still got you." Then he kissed her again and again.

This brings us to the confession in the summary after this the story would see the progress of there relationship mature and Kotoko mature with it ( We would also get to see Kotoko's version of these past 2 months). Please review, if you like my work. I enjoy listening to your views about the story. A quick shoutout to mayra.713.g and shannonjacob21. Your reviews mean the world to me and I hope you continue enjoying the story. I am sorry I haven't been able to reply everyone's review but thanks all the same. :D