Disclaimer: I don't own Itazura na Kiss or any of its manifestations

Laws of Motion

I. Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.

As far as Irie Naoki is concerned, his life has a simple and fairly predictable trajectory.

He will, being the genius that he is,

a) breeze through his studies,

b) take over the family business (as expected of him),

c) marry whomever has the highest pedigree among his potential spouse options,

d) put whatever effort is necessary into improving said family business,

e) pass business on to heir/s or any adequate candidate,

f) and retire as soon as possible.

(Addendum: Maintaining the highest semblance of peace and tranquility in his life throughout all of the above)

Simple trajectory indeed:

Point A: (Birth) -Excellence- Point B (Death)

ENTER: External force by the name of Aihara Kotoko.

And by God, is she a force of nature, he thinks to himself.

Unpredictable.

Clumsy.

Loud.

Troublesome.

Foolish.

She enters his life with the momentum of a shooting star. There is no escaping her.

Revised life plan:

a) breeze through his studies

b) ?

c) ?

d) ?

e) ?

f) ?

(Conclusion: Nothing is the same after Aihara Kotoko)

II. The relationship between an object's mass, its acceleration, and the applied force is F = ma. In this law, the direction of the force vector is the same as the direction of the acceleration vector.

It's common sense: (Which is why he doesn't understand why she had such a hard time grasping it that first night he spent tutoring her)

But then again, he thinks, common sense is not so common after all.

Acceleration is produced when a force acts on a mass.

The greater the mass of the object, the greater the amount of force required in order to accelerate or move the object.

If there is one defining trait of hers, it's determination. If she sets her mind to it, she'll try and try and try again some more. 90% of the time, she'll fail spectacularly. But 10% of the time, she'll succeed spectacularly.

Unfortunately for him, she's set her mind on him.

At first it's annoying.

She is annoying.

She makes a whole lot of noise and throws off his sleeping schedule. She constantly asks for help on questions that even his younger brother could solve without batting an eyelash. She spends a ridiculous amount of time singing in the shower, pretending that she's a pop star. The bathroom drain suddenly begins to clog from clumps of long strands of her fallen hair. His mom badgers him about pursuing a relationship with her, all the time. His life is a mess and it's all her fault.

He can't wait till she leaves his house, his family, his life.

And then one day she's gone and he's more annoyed at the fact that his days are quiet again and that he can sleep a straight and uninterrupted 10 hours each night. He's annoyed at the fact the bathroom never smells like her sweet coconut shampoo anymore and that there's a missing pink toothbrush by the sink. He can't stand that his mom has withdrawn into herself and that he has to pick up the slack by handling 1/3 of the household chores. It's all her fault, he chants in his head.

She comes back and his life is still a mess… but he's happy.

He spends a lot of time wondering if he'll end up being part of her 10% accomplishments. He spends even more time wondering if he wants to.

III. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

She's nothing short of amazing, he thinks.

Years of pursuing, stalking, and endearing herself to me and she thinks she can just suddenly let it all go and marry that idiot Ikezawa?

She's a bigger idiot than I thought, he says to himself as he waits for her in the pouring rain.

He tries to ignore that small nagging voice at the back of his head telling him that he himself is a bigger idiot than he thought.

He sees her from a distance. She's sitting down against a tree, alone, shivering, and wet from the downpour. Only she'd be stupid enough not to bring an umbrella around with her in spite of the numerous rainy weather forecasts this past week.

What would she do without me? He asks himself and he stretches his hand out to pull her up and under the shelter of his umbrella.

He tries to stay nonchalant and detached as he asks her about her answer to the idiot's proposal but she tells him that it's none of his business and brings up his engagement to Sahoko-san. The hand in his left pocket clenches into a fist.

She starts talking about moving out and marrying Ikezawa and how dare she think that she can make that decision without his say. How dare she come into his life and change everything and think she can just walk away.

She loves him. Marrying someone else will never change that fact. How dare she think she can fall in love with someone else after she's loved him. She'll never get it better with anyone else.

She had loved him for so hard and so long… what other choice was there but to capitulate? She had won him over; won his heart fair and square.

He smashes his lips against hers and his fingers curl around her arms. He pulls her in close and inhales, relishing in the familiar scent of her coconut shampoo.

Her hand is encased in his as they walk back home. Neither of them say a single word but the happiness radiating off her is palpable.

He tries to think back on how exactly it has come to this. How did his life change so drastically after meeting her? Of all the people he could have given his heart to, why her?

For the first time in his life, he has no answers. All he knows is that his heart has been touched, been moved.

She is the first puzzle he cannot understand; the first problem he cannot solve. He thinks he'd like to spend the rest of his life trying to.

He asks her father for her hand in marriage. He says yes. He doesn't ask need to ask her. He already knows her answer.

Later that night she looks up at him with her big doe brown eyes and she tells him that she loves him. He has to look away because how else can he retain any semblance of tranquility when it's taking all of his strength to calm the heart that is madly beating against his ribcage?

Moments later, he tells her that he loves her back. And he really does.

A/N: This idea came to me out of the blue after I was thinking about what a force of nature Kotoko really is, being able to wear down Naoki and whatnot! I mostly used the Love in Tokyo version when playing this out in my head. I really enjoyed writing this oneshot so I'm really excited to hear your feedback so don't forget to drop me a line!