Wow! Thank you so much for all the love. I was literally speechless when I got to see all the attention my little fic had received overnight.

To the guest who left such lovely reviews for me, thank you so much for taking the time to review each chapter so much attentiveness. I truly appreciate it.

I'm so happy that I'm receiving such great feedback about my portrayal of Naoki. I was super hesitant because he does stray from the typical tsundere that we know and love, but I truly think that we would've loved him the same and if not more if we got to see the ways in which he could healthily display his love for Kotoko, and Kotoko definitely deserved to have that kind of love.

Anyways! On with the story.

Naoki was well aware that he was an entitled asshole, and he had been for quite some time.

He had just accepted that he would never really have any friends because of it, and he was okay with that because less human interaction meant more time that could be put into studying and working hard to make something of himself.

But now that he was someone's boyfriend, it hit deep in the pit of his stomach to see the repercussions of his actions.

Before Kotoko, nothing was ever really a big deal to him. Sure, there were times where that felt a bit lonely, but that was okay. Not letting anything have that power over him meant not getting hurt. No one could have the power to affect him in that way, and he did what he could to keep it that way.

But everything was different with her.

He had gotten quite used to having her constant presence near, with her excited ramblings and aimless chatter. Even when she didn't have anything in particular to talk about, she didn't like silence. In another world, he would probably find that kind of thing to be irritating, but he's felt what deafening silence had felt like, and having Kotoko fill that put something within him at an ease.

His mother, the all-knowing being that she was, instantly could sense something was wrong.

Naoki and Kotoko sat at their respective seats at the dinner table, but there was no playful banter for the rest of the family to tease them about. Just silence.

And anyone who knew Kotoko knew that silence from her was dangerous territory.

Shigeo cleared his throat. "Well, this has been a lovely meal. I have to be at the restaurant early in the morning, so I'll be heading to bed."

Yuuki nodded fervently in agreement before chiming in, "I need to go to bed early as well. Goodnight!"

"I'll leave you two be, but whatever it is, please figure it out," Noriko lectured softly before leaving the room.

Before Naoki knew it, it was just Kotoko and himself left at the table with the sounds of his mother loudly washing dishes in the kitchen to solidify her albi later on that she was "absolutely not eavesdropping."

Naoki averted his gaze for a moment due to how uncomfortable it was for him to see his little love so shrunken in on herself in his presence. He took another second to fiddle with his fingers before he finally gained the courage to speak. "I-"

"You really hurt me." Kotoko's eyes finally met his, red-rimmed and glossy.

"I know. I'm sorry." He'd never really felt this emotion before, but the closest word he could think of to describe it was ashamed.

Kotoko shook her head. "If we're going to make this," her eyes flitted to the kitchen before she lowered her voice, "relationship work, you need to understand that you can't talk to me like that."

Naoki dropped his gaze down to the polished surface of the table. "I know," he responded, just barely above a whisper.

"I don't blame you. I know it's taking some adjustment to try and figure out what it means to be in a relationship. Not just for you, but for me too. A major part of that is figuring out how to let each other in." Kotoko reached across the table and grasped one of his hands in hers.

Naoki clenched his jaw and kept his eyes on their hands. "That doesn't make it okay."

"No, it doesn't. You snapping at me like that really, really hurt, but it hurt more that you wouldn't talk to me and tell me what was wrong." She rubbed her thumb along his knuckles.

The soft gesture coupled with how kind her voice was made his heart ache. "I'm just feeling really… Suffocated."

Kotoko was silent for a moment and her movements paused. "B-by me?"

Naoki quickly realized his mistake in word choice. He scrambled to grasp her dainty hand in both of his and peppered kisses to her knuckles. "No, god, no. That's not what I meant at all. I never want you to think that."

Kotoko didn't look any more comforted. "To be honest, you've just been so distant and I was getting worried that you were just looking for the right time to end this."

Naoki closed his eyes in frustration. Of course she would think that with the way he had acted. "Kotoko, I don't want to break up with you. I'm so sorry that I made you think that. If I'm being honest… It's the opposite."

Kotoko tilted her head in confusion.

"What I mean is," Naoki sighed, "It's really hard that I don't get to act like your boyfriend. I get why we can't and I respect that, but I hate that I can't even talk to you at school. And that stupid idiot, Ikezawa-"

Kotoko's eyes narrowed. "What about Kin-chan?"

"He's all over you all the time. I hate it!" Naoki exclaimed exasperatedly. "He follows you around like some lost puppy dog and I hate it. I hate it so much."

"So what you're telling me is that you've been acting like this because you're… Jealous."

Naoki grimaced. "Yes?"

Before he could even finish what he was saying and attempt to rid himself of the flush of embarrassment that was creeping up his neck, he had a lap full of a giggling Kotoko.

"Irie-kun! You were really jealous?"

Naoki's eyes widened and he quickly looked around to make sure no one was there to see them. "Kotoko-"

"You were jealous!"

Naoki rolled his eyes, but he could feel the corners of his mouth tugging up into an uncontrollable smile. "Yes, okay? Don't let it get to that head of yours."

Kotoko planted a kiss to his jaw before tucking her head in the crook of his neck. "You are so silly. I only have eyes for you."

"It's not the most fun thing for a guy to have to see someone else all over his girlfriend, you know."

Kotoko scoffed. "How do you think I feel? You have millions of girls all over you every day!"

"That's not the same," Naoki kissed the top of her head. "Those girls never really do anything. Ikezawa acts like he's your boyfriend by buying you lunch, hanging out with your friends with you, or trying to walk you home. I want to be able to do those things."

The red-haired girl sighed. "I know. It takes literally everything in me not to hold your hand in the halls or brag about you to Satomi and Jinko."

Naoki rubbed a hand down her back. "I get it. I can wait as long as you need, but what I need is for Ikezawa to back off."

"I really do try my best to make him see that I don't feel the same way, but I'll see what I can do, okay?"

Naoki tilted her chin up so he could kiss her lips gently. "Why are you so good to me?" he sighed once he pulled away.

Kotoko leaned up for one more peck. "Don't you forget it!" she chirped cheekily.

"You better stop kissing me right now before you get yourself into trouble," he warned teasingly as his lips made their way down her neck.

"I-Irie-kun!" Kotoko shoved at his chest. "You're not off the hook yet here, mister."

"I don't know, I can be pretty persuasive…"

Kotoko rolled her eyes. "Okay, lover boy. The only thing that'll get you back in my good graces is helping with my chemistry homework."

Naoki feigned being offended. "See, I knew you were only using me for my brain."

Kotoko did nothing but wink at him before hopping off his lap and leading him to her room.

Where a stack of chemistry homework was waiting for him on the table.

"Irie-kun."

Naoki groaned and batted at whoever was trying to wake him up.

"Irie-kun!"

He opened one eye slightly to see a blurry outline of Kotoko attempting to shake him awake. "What? What's wrong?" He rubbed at his eyes.

"We fell asleep!"

Naoki, still half-asleep, just nodded and reached out to pull her into his arms. "Go back to sleep."

Kotoko shook him harder. "No, we fell asleep in my bed!"

That woke him up.

He shot up quickly. "Oh shit." He looked to the clock on Kotoko's bedside table where "3:34" shone in bright red numbers.

"Yeah, oh shit! You need to go!"

Naoki scrambled and pushed the fluffy pink comforter off of himself, kissing Kotoko deeply one last time before opening her bedroom door in a haste and tip-toeing out to his room across the hall.

He quickly snuck into the room and closed the door behind himself, leaning his body against it and letting out a sigh of relief.

The sound of someone clearing their throat made him jump.

"Onii-chan." Yuuki was standing right in front of him with his arm crossed, looking like the spitting image of their mother when she was disappointed.

"Y-Yuuki! What are you doing awake?" Naoki laughed nervously.

"Where did you come from?"

Naoki made his way over to his bed, feeling his little brother's eyes burning holes in his back.

"I was helping Kotoko with her homework and I fell asleep," he said innocently as he got under the covers.

"Do you like her?"

Naoki smiled. "Yeah. I do like her."

Yuuki climbed into his own bed and threw a pillow in Naoki's direction. "I knew it! I knew you liked her!"

Naoki shushed him. "Don't say anything, okay? You know how mom can be."

"I won't. Just make sure to still make time for me."

"I'll always have time for you, Yuuki."

"You did good, Onii-chan. She's annoying, and a little dumb, but you did good."

Naoki rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Yuuki."

Kotoko was an absolute mess the next morning.

"Kotoko, come on," Naoki rubbed her back as he tried to stifle laughter. "We have to keep walking."

"No," she whined as she shoved her face into his chest. "I'm too tired."

"Why are you so tired? You went right back to sleep as soon as I left."

Kotoko grumbled incoherently. She reached her arms up. "Carry me."

"Oh my god," Naoki groaned teasingly. "You are such a baby." He scooped her up and pressed a kiss to your cheek.

She nuzzled into his neck. "I'm your baby."

Naoki hummed in agreement as he held her closer, continuing to walk with her in his arms.

Once the school was in view, Naoki gently set Kotoko back on her feet.

She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him soundly on the lips before skipping to the front doors.

"Don't seem so tired now, do you?" he called after her.

She held up her middle finger to him without turning back around.

Naoki decided to stop at his locker before heading to the first period.

Right as he got there, he stopped in his tracks when he saw Matsumoto leaning up against it.

"Is there something I can help you with?" he asked tiredly, gesturing for her to move out of the way.

"Winter formal is coming up, you know." Matsumoto moved to lean against the locker next to his, twirling her stark curls around her finger.

"I didn't know that, actually." Naoki swapped out his books and closed the door, maneuvering around her in what he thought would be a way to end the conversation.

She followed him on his heels to the entrance of his class. "Irie-kun, we're the most popular kids at school. Everyone else expects us to go together, and I don't think we should let them down."

Naoki rolled his eyes for what felt like the millionth time that morning, and it was barely eight o'clock. "Matsumoto-san, I don't think anyone cares what we're doing. I'm sorry, but I can't."

He moved to go into the class, but she reached out and held onto his arm. "Irie-kun, why can't you just give me a chance? I think we'd make a good match, and with time I'm sure you'd think that, too."

"No, I don't think so."

Naoki turned around to see Kotoko pipe up from behind him.

Matsumoto sneered. "I'm sorry, shortstack, but this conversation doesn't concern you."

Kotoko crossed her arms. "It does concern me when you're harassing my boyfriend."

Matsumoto laughed in disbelief. "Boyfriend? Your boyfriend?"

Naoki turned to caution Kotoko to calm down before she said something she'd regret, but before he could even open his mouth Kotoko had the collar of his shirt in her grasp to pull him down to her level in order to kiss him deeply.