Your hair is messy (IV)
Naoki travels to a parallel universe where Kotoko doesn't love him. (2013 Japanese TV series)
08
Irie began to take on the responsibility of tutoring Kotoko, and would spend some time with her after school every day to help her with her homework.
Kotoko had been busy having fun during her three years of high school and had missed too many courses. However, knowledge is interconnected, and with her weak learning ability, even if she wanted to make one last effort, she didn't know where to start.
Renko and Rimi also face the same dilemma. Their families have spent a lot of money to hire a tutor, and almost all of their time is spent on one-on-one tutoring.
Kotoko, however, had some breathing room thanks to Irie's help, and if she'd studied efficiently that day, she could even go to bed early. Compared to the hellish training her friends were going through, she felt incredibly satisfied.
Kotoko was grateful to Irie, and she would show her affection to him every now and then, such as making coffee for him, giving him small gifts, and flattering him.
The two got along well for a while.
While Kotoko was doing her homework, Irie was either planning a study plan for her or writing an operation plan for Pandai. Just last summer, he asked his father for an internship at the company to understand the company's current operating conditions.
Although Pandai has not fallen into crisis for the time being, it is always a good idea to prepare for a rainy day. Only by discovering problems in a timely manner and changing the development direction in a timely manner can we avoid possible troubles in the future.
Kotoko had no idea about operations, so she couldn't understand a single word of Irie's proposal. But that didn't stop her from expressing her admiration: "Irie-kun is amazing! He's worthy of being the successor to Pandai!"
"I won't be the heir to Pandai. I just want to share my father's worries to the best of my ability." Irie stared at the laptop screen intently. It seemed that in his eyes, giving up the family business was just a small matter that could be brushed aside.
But in Kotoko's eyes, this matter was much bigger, and she was inevitably shocked: "Irie-kun is not planning to inherit the pandai?! What are your plans for the future?"
“I want to be a doctor because someone told me that if I became a doctor, I could help a lot of people.”
Kotoko felt like the words had hit the nail on the head. "That's right! I also think that being a doctor is a very suitable profession for Irie-kun! Irie-kun is so smart. If you were in my position, you could create countless possibilities, such as inventing various medicines and easily curing various difficult and complicated diseases..."
Irie gave a barely perceptible smile but didn't respond. Kotoko, lost in her own world, naturally didn't notice.
Kotoko piqued her interest and inquired further, "Who suggested Irie-kun become a doctor? It must be someone very special to you... Could it be a girl you like?! It must be Irie-kun's childhood sweetheart or classmate, a super smart and beautiful girl, right?"
Irie: "..."
The sound of typing on the keyboard disappeared, and the man who was concentrating on writing the plan stopped all movements. Like a robot that had been given a termination order, he turned his head stiffly and coldly towards Kotoko.
Here it comes again, they turn against each other for no reason. Men's hearts are as unpredictable as the sea.
Kotoko hurriedly put away her teasing smile and, under Irie's deathly gaze, silently stood the textbook up until it covered her entire face. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gossiped about you."
Irie was silent for several seconds before his voice returned, accompanied by the sound of typing: "I don't like smart and beautiful women."
"Have you ever been hurt by a smart, beautiful woman?"
Irie: "..."
It is a taboo to expose someone’s scars. Qinzi was scared again: “I’m sorry!”
Irie glanced at her again, not angry: "Stop guessing, idiot."
It was impossible not to guess. Having guessed to this extent, her imagination was like a wild horse that had run away from its reins and could not be reined in. Kotoko silently imagined a tragic love story in her mind.
No wonder Irie is so averse to women. Once bitten by a snake, one is afraid of ropes for ten years. I wonder what an outstanding girl must be to have left such a shadow on Irie.
Kotoko was lost in her thoughts, and when she turned her attention back to Irie, he had been observing her for a long time.
Their eyes met, and Kotoko instinctively told her that Irie would scold her, "Didn't I tell you to stop daydreaming!" or "Why are you distracted again? Can you pay more attention?!"
She quickly thought and asked, "Thinking about the exam, it's pretty stressful! Will Irie-kun be nervous? After all, you're applying to the University of Tokyo."
"I'm going straight to Dounan and not applying to Dongda University."
"Huh?!" Kotoko immediately threw her wild thoughts out of her mind: "Do uncle and aunt know? You don't even want to go to the University of Tokyo?! Why? The medical department at the University of Tokyo is much better than Dounan's!"
"I've already talked to my parents about this, and they're willing to accept it. It doesn't matter where I study, I don't care." Irie remained stern and said calmly, "Besides, you know if I went to the University of Tokyo, we wouldn't be able to see each other often, right?"
"ha?"
Qinzi was confused: "It doesn't matter whether we meet or not. I certainly hope you can have a better future."
She swore that every word she said came from the heart, but the eccentric Irie never appreciated it. His bangs cast a small light shadow between his eyebrows, making his eyes hazy and blurred.
He just looked at Qinzi and said, "That's right. It doesn't matter to you now even if you never see me again."
Irie stared at his computer, continuing to edit the plan he'd revised a thousand times. He didn't seem angry or resentful. Kotoko could only offer a dry reassurance, "No, I'd also feel regretful if I couldn't see him."
Even though it's a lie.
In front of Irie, Kotoko often feels like she's done something wrong, but she doesn't know why. Irie often makes her feel depressed, guilty, and overwhelmed. If she can stay away from him for a while, she won't feel "regretful" but just relieved.
Kotoko doesn't hate Irie, and she sincerely hopes that Irie can have a good life, but she doesn't care whether she can see Irie often or whether she will never see Irie again, because whether it is separation or farewell forever, she can accept the answer.
It doesn’t matter.
09
Kotoko Aihara first heard of Hidekazu Sano at the cultural festival in her second year of high school.
The campus was particularly lively that day, with colorful banners hung everywhere. Even though summer was over, the sun was still bright and scorching, making it impossible to open your eyes.
Holding an ice cream to survive, Kotoko is busy looking for her lost friends, but accidentally runs into Class A's performance. Irie never participates in cultural festival performances and is at best an insignificant logistics person, but wherever he appears, he will always be surrounded by swarms of fanatical fans.
Kotoko couldn't squeeze into the crowd, and only saw a person standing on the stage from a distance. He was a tall and slender boy. His face was blurred by the light, and even though he was wearing the same old school uniform shirt, he was still particularly eye-catching.
She thought it was Irie until she heard someone loudly introduce: "Next up is Sano Hidekazu, who will sing a cappella song for us!"
Qinzi silently memorized the name, feeling a little emotional.
Mr. Ajin said that Class A was just a bunch of nerds, but in fact, the excellence of the students in Class A is reflected in all aspects. Good grades are just their most basic shining point. For example, Irie is good at sports and can play his hobby tennis to a professional level. For example, Sano in front of him can sing a soothing niche old song so touchingly without even any instrumental accompaniment.
The gap between people is simply too huge.
The performance lasted only a few minutes, and Sano left the stage to thunderous applause, while Kotoko continued to walk to her next destination, holding the popsicle stick. After this brief encounter, they never had any intersection again in their subsequent campus life.
Kotoko had almost forgotten about Sano Hidekazu, but one night when she and Renko were shopping, they accidentally walked into a dessert shop. The cashier at the front desk was wearing a simple T-shirt and jeans, and was flipping through a foreign classic written entirely in English. Kotoko curiously leaned over to look at his face, which was a handsome young face.
Next to him, Renzi immediately gasped and screamed, "Sano Hidekazu!"
Fragments of information poured in, instantly turning into a pot of paste in Kotoko's head. She was confused and pulled over by Renzi. Sano Hidekazu smiled at her and said, "It's you, Aihara-san. Are you feeling better?"
The air was filled with the sweet aroma of cream and candy. Kotoko was unable to move for a moment, and then she had a strange idea. She felt that she had become an ordinary piece of chocolate in a dessert shop, gradually solidifying or slowly melting under Sano's gaze.
It was Hitoshi who secretly pinched her: "Kotoko, Kotoko! Do you remember a week ago on Valentine's Day when you fainted in public due to acute appendicitis and scared Satomi and me?! Thanks to Sano-san for showing up in time and taking you to the hospital. Why don't you thank him quickly!"
Kotoko remembered.
This year's Valentine's Day was the worst. In previous years, she had simply been without a lover, but this year, she was also deprived of her freedom. Irie hadn't allowed her to go out with her friends, without any valid reason. She simply refused. Why should she listen to him? It didn't make sense!
So Kotoko sneaked out the door and almost lost her life.
God knows why such a healthy and well young girl suddenly suffered from acute appendicitis. Kotoko was in so much pain that she fell into a coma. She woke up in the hospital. Renko and Satomi had already left. Several anxious elders in the family rushed up to ask about her health.
Only Irie stood at the head of her bed, his face expressionless as he said, "I told you not to run around. You deserve it."
Kotoko knew that the person who sent her to the hospital was Irie's classmate Sano Hidekazu, but the impression he left on her was just a thin figure blending into the sunlight, shining brightly in the depths of her memory.
And now she was standing in front of him, she could clearly see the two shallow dimples at the corners of his mouth and his smiling eyes. He was even more handsome than she had imagined.
Sano is tall with a small face and fair skin. Like Irie, he is a handsome boy with a heroic air. Kotoko was bewitched by an unknown force and bought a lot of desserts from the store where he worked, without caring whether she could finish them or not.
On the way home, she was still thinking: "So Sano-san is so handsome!"
"Well, he's quite handsome, a top student in Class A, the band's lead singer, and easy to get along with. His charisma is unmatched," Jinzi said objectively. "But he can't compare to Irie. Apart from his personality, he's incomparable in every aspect. Since you live with Irie, you wouldn't be interested in Sano, right?!"
Qinzi turned a deaf ear to him.
Irie was naturally unmatched, but she wasn't about to compare herself to Sano. Everyone had their own preferences, so why bother trying to decide who was better? In her heart, Sano was just smart, gentle, and handsome.
Kotoko couldn't help asking around for information about Sano, and Irie, Sano's classmate, naturally became her primary target. After repeated inquiries, Irie grew impatient: "Why do you keep asking him? He just took you to the hospital. Does that mean you fell in love at first sight?"
Love at first sight? I don’t know.
Kotoko has never liked anyone. Her world is all about eating, drinking, playing and sleeping. She never worries about anyone and never gets tortured by longing to sleep all night.
So she didn't know if her concern for Sano could be considered love. It was just the first time she felt that there was such a wonderful person in the world, like an elf in a fairy tale, appearing in the golden, fragrant and sweet pastry shop, singing sweetly and smiling brightly, as if she would turn into a golden light at any moment and float back to the white and soft clouds.
Qinzi was a little embarrassed and answered vaguely, "It's not love at first sight, that's too exaggerated. I just want to be friends with him."
Irie said with a sullen expression, "Sano is also very popular. Aren't you afraid of being scolded for being associated with him?"
"What's there to be afraid of? Irie-kun, you misunderstood me." As if to prove herself, Kotoko clenched her fists, her eyes extremely firm: "Actually, I am a brave person!"
"...I can't believe you saw me at school, and you wanted to dig a hole and hide."
"You two aren't even on the same level, are you? I don't believe the people around Sano are as terrifying as your fans." She said without hesitation, "And..."
And for you, it's not necessary.
It's just making friends, why do you want to ruin your reputation?
Kotoko covered her mouth in time, but Irie seemed to hear what was in her heart. His eyes were as sharp as a blade, cutting her into pieces invisibly.
Okay, I'm angry again.
————————————
Irie and Kotoko's one-sided cold war lasted until the graduation ceremony, and they failed to successfully break the ice.
On the morning of the graduation ceremony, he refused his mother's request to take a photo of him and Kotoko, and walked to school alone without waiting for Kotoko to leave.
Qinzi is so tired, really.
She didn't deny that Irie had good moments, but when he was bad, it was really unbearable for an ordinary human being.
Fortunately, her mother, Irie, treated her like her own daughter, always taking care of her and accompanying her, allowing her to find a little comfort in the endless cold war.
Even Satomi was deeply moved. In front of Irie's mother, she sobbed and said, "It feels like Kotoko is a member of the Irie family."
Irie's mother also had tears in her eyes: "Of course, I haven't given up on having Kotoko as our daughter-in-law!"
Wait, this is Dame.
It’s okay to be a daughter, but forget about being a daughter-in-law.
Kotoko was caught off guard and broke out in a cold sweat on the biggest day of her life (?): "Auntie, you don't know how popular Irie-kun is at school! Today I'll take you around, and you'll see there are a lot of nice girls who like Irie-kun!"
"And Renzi and Rimi!" She clasped her hands together and bowed to her two friends devoutly: "Please be kind and stop talking nonsense. I still want to save my life!"
Renko and Rimi looked at each other and remembered the stupid thing they did when they posted a photo together at the entrance of the teaching building. They hurriedly stepped forward to please Kotoko with a guilty conscience, fearing that she would bring up the past again.
The three of them pushed and shoved each other and hugged each other, and no one noticed the sadness that flashed across Irie's mother's face.
"By the way, Kotoko, have you heard of the legend in our high school? Couples who kiss on graduation day will be inseparable!" Jinzi put her arm around Kotoko's shoulders and said mysteriously, "Why don't you go find Sano and give it a try? Even if you can't kiss, maybe he'll give you the second button on his uniform!"
"Sano?!"
Before Kotoko could show any hint of girlish shyness, Irie's mother, with an extremely aggressive attitude, squeezed in next to her. "Is that the boy who took you to the hospital after you got sick? Sano Hidekazu, your brother's classmate?!"
"Yeah, has Auntie heard about it too?" Rimi said with an ambiguous look on her face. "Kotoko is always obsessed with me, taking us to the music club to spy on me, but she doesn't dare to approach and talk to me. We're all about to graduate! With Sano's grades, he's definitely going to the University of Tokyo. How can he have time for a secret crush?"
"Wait, wait, wait! I don't think that's right!" Irie's mother grabbed Kotoko's arm, as if afraid she'd act rashly. "Kotoko... Kotoko doesn't even know that boy! How can you just confess so carelessly? Of course we need to find out everything first. Let's go back and ask my brother first!"
"Ah, Irie and Sano don't hang out together much, right? Who are Sano's friends? Damn, standing next to that handsome guy, everyone around him becomes a background figure."
"There seems to be a guy wearing glasses and a tall guy playing basketball..."
Kotoko was dizzy from the back-and-forth chatter. She wanted to say, "I'm not planning on confessing my feelings to Sano right now!" But her tiny voice was quickly drowned out by the heated conversation.
Kotoko, who was extremely devastated, raised her head and just saw Irie, who was surrounded by girls, walking out of the memorial hall. He was standing on the stairs and saw her at a glance.
Irie's eyes were so terrifying that Kotoko suddenly had a bad feeling. If she had a shovel in her hand, she would really dig a hole on the spot and bury herself completely.
But apart from her, no one noticed the murderous intent surging around them. Irie's mother was overjoyed. She took Kotoko's arm and walked towards Irie: "Brother! Let's go home together! Have a good rest so that you will be more energetic to attend the teacher appreciation banquet tonight!"
Irie said nothing.
He walked up to the two of them and stopped. Kotoko's heart almost stopped as well.
With nowhere to escape, she managed a hard smile: "Happy graduation, Irie-kun!"
Unexpectedly, Irie, who was still angry with her in the morning, actually smiled at her.
He said, "Happy graduation, Kotoko."
Then he gently pulled off the second button of the school uniform and handed it to her!
Kotoko didn't remember what happened next.
She was not unconscious, but not conscious either. There was a rumbling in her head, sometimes it was a volcanic eruption, sometimes it was a mountain torrent and tsunami, and finally the sky collapsed and the earth cracked, and the sun and moon lost their light.
She didn't know when Irie left, nor did she know how she accepted the button. She didn't know what the girls around her were whispering about, nor did she know what Irie's mother was happy about.
When everything settled, her soul had been shattered into pieces, and she had become a walking corpse, completely unable to think.
I heard a sigh from Rimi, and she said, "Kotoko, you're dead this time."
tbc
Irie is a person whose emotions are not rich enough to begin with, and he has been loved passionately by Kotoko for a long time. He has become accustomed to Kotoko taking the initiative and enjoying being loved.
So after traveling through time, although he quickly analyzed the current situation with his clever mind, he didn't know how to break the deadlock, so he is currently in the stage of clumsy attempts.
In fact, Irie has already made his changes. As someone who doesn't like being bound or arranged, he is trying his best to follow the original plot for Kotoko, hoping that everything can get back on track as soon as possible.
He did not move out early, but stayed at home and spent every day with Kotoko. Even though many of Kotoko's actions annoyed him, he suppressed his anger and treated her well... but what was the use?
When Kotoko is affectionate, she is truly affectionate (referring to her feelings towards Irie), and when she is heartless, she is also truly heartless (referring to her feelings towards Kin). Kotoko cannot fall in love with anyone over time, nor can she fall in love with someone based on reasons such as "touched", "suitable", or "happy together". Her love is very pure: if there is, there is, and if there is not, there is not.
B-qin doesn't have the ability to love like A-qin does (of course, she doesn't know it herself), and her feelings for Sano are not love, but I won't go into details here. You can first judge for yourself through the subsequent plot, and then go to [Chat Special] to see the analysis.
Irie's current behavior is like that of a cancer patient who believes that by eating well, sleeping well, and maintaining a good mood every day (and often staying up all night and eating junk food), he can completely recover his health.
How is that possible?
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