Your hair is messy (7)
Naoki travels to a parallel universe where Kotoko doesn't love him. (2013 Japanese TV series)
14
Kotoko has a worry that she can't talk to anyone, because no one except her thinks that being pursued by Naoki Irie is a worry.
Yes, she, Kotoko Aihara, was just an ordinary high school girl at Dounan High School until a falling meteor destroyed her new home, unlocking her legendary life. The unattainable and icy man, Naoki Irie, was the son of her father's best friend, and they met and lived together.
Kotoko didn't have to do anything to win Irie's affections. First, he took the initiative to tutor her, then he gave up the University of Tokyo for her, and gave her his precious second button in public at the graduation ceremony. He also began to formally pursue her during college.
She still hasn't given Irie a straight answer, and she's been flirting with Ikezawa, a cafeteria worker. There are even rumors that Kotoko has been in unusual contact with Irie's former classmate, Sano Hidekazu. However, Irie remains unfazed and remains deeply devoted to her, a true love story of a romance manga's chosen heroine, worthy of being etched in the annals of Dounan University.
"It seems like we've made a truly remarkable friend..."
Jinzi held her chin with her hands and was just halfway through sighing when Kotoko beside her grabbed her shoulders. Her face was full of resentment and she shook her like a tumbler, "Ahhh, stop it! I'm so fed up!"
"Mortals like me who don't even have a boyfriend can't quite understand the troubles of the chosen heroine. Kotoko, do you really hate Irie that much?"
Hate it? Not really.
Kotoko remembered that her father had asked her the same question. In fact, what her father really wanted to know was the possibility of her and Irie continuing to develop their relationship, but she could not give an answer at all. The only thing she could confirm was that she did not hate Irie.
Kotoko doesn't dislike Irie; she actually has feelings for him, but they're not love, and there's no guarantee they won't develop into love in the future. So strictly speaking, her and Irie can continue to develop.
"That must be something we can develop!" Rimi's eyes lit up with excitement. "I used to think Irie had a terrible personality, but now it seems he only reserves his tenderness for the ones he loves. How romantic."
However, Irie's beloved Kotoko didn't find him gentle at all...
Rimi was intoxicated enough and finally remembered something irrational: "That's not right, Kotoko, if you don't hate Irie, why are you in such a hurry to move out? Are you still thinking about Sano Hidekazu?!"
"It has nothing to do with Sano. I'm just confused."
Yes, Kotoko doesn't hate Irie, and she might like Irie in the future. However, the future is the future, and the present is the present. Right now, she has no intention of dating Irie.
Moreover, Irie has invisibly put enormous pressure on her. This is different from Akin. Before, when Akin liked her, that was a matter between her and Akin. Now Irie likes her, but there are bound to be countless people's attention and interference between her and Irie.
Renko, Rimi, her father, Aunt Irie, her classmates... almost everyone around her is unconsciously erasing the rest of the possibilities in her life, forcing her to make a choice quickly, and this choice must be Irie.
Everyone says—
"Irie is so outstanding."
"He's handsome, comes from a wealthy family, is smart, and is deeply affectionate and loyal."
"Even though you are so ordinary, he doesn't despise you."
"Much better than the Sano you like."
"What's wrong with Irie?"
"Why don't you like Irie?"
Irie's love is like an imperial grace, leaving no room for rejection.
The hands that forced her towards Irie made Kotoko feel suffocated, so she wanted to escape, but she couldn't.
"Dad said we'd move out as soon as we found the right house, but we can't find one. I've tried looking on my own, but every time I find one, it's already taken! Irie-kun got mad at me again when he heard I was moving out, and I have to see him every day. It's so annoying!"
"Oh! I was just saying that I haven't seen Irie having dinner with you in a while."
Forget eating. Irie hadn't even gone to the tennis club in the past few days. Kotoko, left unsupervised, certainly wouldn't ask for trouble, so the two of them disappeared from the tennis club. Sudo was so angry that he called Irie's house: "Hey! You two! Don't treat tennis balls like something you can just throw away! Assholes!"
The last time Kotoko ran into Matsumoto on the street, he sneered at her, "I heard Irie had a fight with you. What happened? Did the spell you cast on him finally wear off?"
Ah, so annoying.
Kotoko's head was aching. She had no time to argue with Matsumoto. The most urgent thing at the moment was to coax Irie, which was a huge problem.
Irie is not easy to coax, so Kotoko's usual policy towards him is to simply not coax him. She will hide away, try to avoid his cold stares as much as possible, and then wait patiently for Irie to calm down.
But now she found that just leaving Irie alone was not a good idea, because Irie was vindictive and would retaliate, returning his unhappiness twice as much to the culprit.
Kotoko had learned enough and she had to learn to be smarter, so she bought some desserts after school and prepared to explain and apologize to Irie.
Renzi and Rimi, her advisors, changed her original plan without her permission. "What are you buying? Handmade things are more sincere! Listen to us and make a DIY teacup cake. Since you haven't figured out how to respond to Irie yet, don't give her chocolate. Chocolate can easily cause misunderstandings..."
The DIY teacup cakes were made with the help of the enthusiastic shop owner from beating the eggs to removing them from the mold and putting them into the oven. Even though Kotoko had no talent for cooking, she managed to make one that looked presentable. She then squeezed cream on it and placed fruit biscuits as decoration, and the job was done.
It was already late when they got home. Kotoko was changing her shoes at the entrance. Irie's mother heard the noise and ran over: "Kotoko, you're really late today. Have you eaten yet? How about I heat some food for you now? We have delicious fish tonight."
"No, no, Auntie, I want to find Irie-kun." Kotoko mentioned her beautifully wrapped little cake: "I made a cake for him myself, as an apology to him."
Irie's mother looked troubled: "But...but my brother has already moved out."
Irie's decision was actually quite sudden. He told his parents before dinner that he wanted to move out and live alone, and claimed that he had already found a place to live. He started packing after dinner, and he left with his suitcase just a few minutes before Kotoko came home.
If Kotoko didn't ask, Irie's mother wouldn't know how to tell her, or whether she should tell her at all. She had no confidence in Kotoko's attitude, fearing she would feel relieved and completely forget about her brother...
However, Kotoko's response was to disappear at the entrance like the wind and chase into the river.
There was only one way to the bus stop. Kotoko ran quickly across the streets on both sides. Her heart was pounding in her chest. The pain caused by the intense exercise was not even one-tenth of the pain caused by the guilt.
Irie didn't retaliate this time, but chose to leave on his own, fulfilling Kotoko's wish to stop living with him. But his compliance only made Kotoko feel even more ashamed. Why should Irie be the one to leave? It was clearly her, an outsider, who should leave!
"Irie-kun!"
The shouts were carried far away by the evening breeze. The person in front stopped, and as Qinzi ran, his face gradually became clearer in her sight.
Irie stood in the night, his face too pale beneath his black hair, his nose straight, his eyebrows and eyes handsome. His figure was tall, thin and straight, like a young poplar that could not be blown down by the wind.
People are superficial by nature, and Irie's superiority is not only reflected in his appearance. He is outstanding in all aspects. So Kotoko understands very well why people in the school are obsessed with Irie one after another, and do not hesitate to attack her with countless vicious words just to vent their inner anger.
In Kotoko's eyes, love is a very precious emotion that cannot be easily given to others. She is of course touched that Irie likes her, but there are some things that cannot be sorted out in a short time. She doesn't want Irie to misunderstand her confusion as dislike.
Irie's expression was cold. He said, "I know."
I know you don't hate me because you are a goody-goody and you don't hate anyone.
I know you are touched. You are generally moved by the heavy emotion of "like", but you don't care whose like comes from.
I know you tried your best to comfort me, afraid that I would be sad, but I also know that you would reject me in the end, just like how you treated Chi Ze, not special at all.
At this point, Irie is also very confused. He seems to have walked into a dark alley and can't find a way out. No one can truly understand him, let alone comfort or save him, especially Kotoko.
"I moved out to try to live independently. It has nothing to do with you. You don't have to blame yourself. Go back."
"Irie-kun!" Kotoko took a few quick steps forward, as if trying to get closer, but then stopped. "I...I want to move out, but there are some things I haven't figured out yet."
Cars were constantly flowing around me, and the evening breeze rustled the branches of the trees. Qinzi's hesitant voice became inaudible in the noise, giving people a different kind of tranquility.
Irie looked at Kotoko, and it seemed as if he was looking at another person who overlapped with her: "I don't understand why you became like this."
Ignoring the other party's doubts, Irie turned and left, and finally, he disappeared at the end of the road.
15
Kotoko always felt that she was the one who drove Irie away from home. The strong sense of guilt made it difficult for her to face Irie in the short term, but it also drove her, making her unable to refuse any request from Irie's mother, including inquiring about Irie's current residence and place of work, and going to visit her together.
Sitting in the coffee shop where Irie works, Kotoko is tormented by two intertwined emotions: "I don't want to see Irie-kun, it's so embarrassing, I might as well run away" and "If you run away, won't Irie-kun misunderstand you even more? And make Aunt Irie even more sad? Don't run!"
She absentmindedly flipped through the menu, experiencing for the first time what it felt like to be on pins and needles.
She hadn't seen Rujiang for a long time. Dounan University was a big place, but also a small place. Two people who had no intersection in life might not meet each other until graduation.
Although they had never met, rumors about Irie were constantly being circulated in Kotoko's ears. Everyone could see that they had fallen out. Irie was just as noticeable when she showed favoritism as she was when she took it back. But the onlookers certainly wouldn't think that Irie was angry and embarrassed after being tactful by Kotoko. After all, what qualifications did Kotoko have to reject Irie?
They would only gloat over others' misfortune: "Look, look, Irie really did kick that Aihara Kotoko out. I told you, Irie was just playing around. If he's serious about finding a partner, he'll definitely look for Matsumoto."
That’s right, Irie and Matsumoto are having an unclear relationship again.
The two are inseparable every day. Not only do they go to school together, go to clubs together, and go home together after school, but according to insiders, they even go home together.
"Impossible! Brother wouldn't just live with a girl casually, and the person brother likes must be Kotoko. Kotoko, don't believe those unreliable rumors out there!"
Looking at Irie's indignant mother and facing Yuki's continuous eye rolls, Kotoko could only smile bitterly in silence.
What a sin.
But soon, Irie's mother was slapped in the face, because Irie saw through their clumsy disguise and did not come in their direction at all. It was Matsumoto who came.
Even though the beautiful woman was wearing the same old waitress uniform, she was still radiant. She had elegant manners and a generous smile. At least in Kotoko's eyes, there was nothing wrong with her.
However, Irie's mother was very disappointed. She stammered, "Why...why are you here?"
"Auntie, do you know me? My name is Matsumoto, and I'm Naoki's good friend. I came here to work with Naoki. It's inevitable that I'll get lonely if I work alone."
Irie's mother was even more disappointed: "Hello, hello, could it be that it's your brother... Naoki invited you to accompany him?"
Matsumoto smiled without saying anything, as if he was shy, but the answer was self-evident.
After Irie moved out of the house, he didn't tell anyone about his whereabouts outside of school. Even Irie's mother, who was an expert in information gathering, spent a lot of time and energy to track him down.
But Matsumoto had easily found out, and they even worked together. Who else could it be if not Irie who told her?
After hearing this, Renzi was so angry that she almost cried: "Irie obviously liked you first. You are his first love, Kotoko! And you have the support of Aunt Irie! Why did Matsumoto steal it?!"
Satomi calmly analyzed, "Irie definitely still likes Kotoko. He's flirting with Matsumoto now, probably just to spite Kotoko and get back at her for not cherishing him."
Kotoko herself didn't feel much about it. Although everyone around her advised her not to believe the rumors, she thought that it was not impossible for Irie and Matsumoto to be together.
Irie's emotions were always changing, one day he hated her, the next day he loved her, it was unpredictable. If it was like this for her, then it would be the same for Matsumoto, besides, they were indeed a perfect match.
Early in the morning on the weekend, Kotoko went out listlessly. She was ordered by Irie's mother to go to the park to look for a flower vendor, although she didn't understand the difference between the flowers sold by garden vendors and those in flower shops.
Following the park map on which Irie's mother had marked the route with a red pen, Kotoko walked carefully all the way, and finally at the end, she met Irie, whom she hadn't seen for a long time.
She was suddenly awakened from her doze.
Irie, holding a cup of coffee, seemed to have been standing there for quite a while. He didn't seem surprised to see Kotoko coming over.
When something is unusual, there must be something wrong. When his mother suddenly gave him a blueprint and mysteriously asked him to go to the park to find a flower vendor, Irie had already guessed that the vendor might not really exist, but Kotoko would definitely appear in the same place as him in the same way.
This guy is clueless, never considering the underlying meaning behind other people's words or actions. He's a professional swindler, always falling for his traps. And here he is, foolishly, with a look of terror on his face, saying, "Why are you here?!"
Fool.
Kotoko, having regained her composure, waved enthusiastically, "Irie-kun! What a coincidence!"
Irie: "..."
Resisting the urge to roll his eyes like Yuki, Irie shook the same map Kotoko was wearing and said calmly, "Unfortunately."
Kotoko vaguely understood something, but didn't fully understand it. She just felt that the task of buying flowers must be completed, but if she followed Irie's mother's arrangement and went to buy them with Irie, would it be inappropriate?
What if, she meant what if, Irie and Matsumoto really have the intention of dating each other, then wouldn’t it be an eyesore for her to be caught in the middle?
"Ah, I knew you'd think so." Irie exhaled lightly, "Actually, you don't care who I'm with. I'm not Sano. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not with Matsumoto. I'm just helping her sister with her."
Then he walked along the bright red line on the map. This time, Qinzi caught up with him and walked on his right.
Actually, they rarely walked side by side because Kotoko didn't like it. She either followed far behind or walked very fast on purpose, so fast that she was far ahead of Irie.
Irie didn't want to compare himself with Ikezawa, but now he had to admit that he was treated worse than Ikezawa by Kotoko, which was unfair.
Kotoko followed Irie silently, then suddenly blurted out, "I don't care about Sano. After all, he's been gone for so long, and he won't be coming back."
Kotoko admitted that she had an unusual affection for Sano, and her friends often teased her, "Then you should marry and move to Hokkaido." But in the end, it was just an unrequited love between her and Sano, and no matter how many times she said, "When we meet again, I'll do this and that," it couldn't hide the fact that it was probably a farewell forever.
Well, everything is over, and we should always look forward.
"Irie-kun, I actually really like your straightforward personality. Your happiness and unhappiness are written on your face, and you just say whatever you want to say."
Irie responded with a long silence.
When had he ever been so straightforward? It was because Kotoko was too dumb to be subtle or euphemistic. If he didn't make his intentions clear, she wouldn't understand at all.
Irie was exhausted: "Thanks to you."
Kotoko carefully observed the expressions of the people, but it was useless.
"It's not that I don't care about Irie-kun. It's just that maybe I'm too stupid. Every time you get angry, I don't know what to do, and then I think, you probably don't want to see me..." She stepped on the pebbles under her feet and said sullenly, "I'm not good at getting along with Irie-kun, but if, if you're still willing, maybe we can get to know each other better?"
Irie said nothing.
"I don't mean to put pressure on Irie-kun or anything. I just think Irie-kun doesn't know the real me very well, and I don't know the real Irie-kun very well either. Even if we get together hastily, what's the point?"
Indeed, it's quite boring.
During the time he moved out of the house, Irie kept thinking about what he had been chasing after since his rebirth, and what he couldn't let go of.
Then he thought of Kotoko in the past. She must have been just like him now, cluelessly trying to guess her feelings every day, wanting to get close but unable to, and even not having the nerve to get angry. This feeling had tormented her for six years, and now it was finally his turn.
Irie struggled for a long time, unable to decide whether to let go or accept his fate. Everything was not what he wanted, including this timid, boring Kotoko who was always ready to give him up.
However, even though Kotoko didn't love him, she was still Kotoko. Irie had wronged her, and now he was making amends. He only hoped that with the long runway ahead, they would eventually fall in love.
But will such a day really come?
The experience of Sano Hidekazu made Irie realize for the first time that Kotoko's emotions could be shallow. When she said calmly, "It's all in the past. We must always look forward." Irie did not feel secretly happy in his heart. He wondered whether he would become Kotoko's "past" in the future and be forgotten by her casually.
The fact that Kotoko could say these words to him today at least proved that everything was moving in a good direction. If nothing unexpected happened, they would rekindle their relationship, and then, with their own God's perspective, avoid the many obstacles in the future and naturally come together.
But Kotoko will never be able to understand the real him, and he is increasingly unable to understand the Kotoko in front of him, so it's quite boring.
tbc
I have been working overtime until nine or ten o'clock every night recently. I thought I would have to take a leave this week, but I didn't expect that I would still be able to finish the code this weekend. I am very happy and feel a great sense of accomplishment.
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