Hello! First of all, thank you for all the reviews, follows and favs.

Secondly,I'm really, really, really sorry it's been so long that I updated this fic. I'd planned up to chapter 5 but after that I had no idea what to do with the plot after that and had massive writer's block for a long time. I've now written out a story plan which should make things easier to write but if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

I will try and update as often as I can but I'm now working full time so it may be hard to find time to write but I don't plan to put any of my stories on hiatus. I've hopefully corrected the mistakes from previous chapters too but if you spot any errors please let me know.

Sorry again for the long wait, I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Chapter Six

Some Kind of Revolution

Naoki wasn't sure why he was waiting around on campus. This absolutely wasn't like him at all especially considering the fact that his class started in less than ten minutes and if he wanted to be on time he should've headed over two minutes ago. If anybody asked, he would say that he was merely waiting for a friend. Despite his conflicted feelings, Naoki absolutely would not admit to himself, or anyone else, that he was hanging around to catch a glimpse of Kotoko when she finally turned up with her two sidekicks.

Yesterday he had been all but ready to blow up at Sudou and demand Kotoko to explain exactly what she was up to. However after a restless night of sleep, Naoki's logic finally caught up with his brain. When he considered things with his usual calm demeanour, he realised that he had absolutely no logical reason to be mad at Sudou. That didn't stop him from feeling intense dislike towards the other guy though.

Irrational, he was being extremely and uncharacteristically irrational, Naoki knew that. He had rejected Kotoko in the beginning but they had end up forming a tentative friendship, one which he constantly put at risk through his thoughtless words and actions. He had claimed not to like her but then had kissed her knowing full well that she would fall harder for him and that had been his intention. He reacted without thinking, which was unlike him but then again, Kotoko was unlike anyone he had ever met, and he'd had his fair share of persistent fan-girls. Although he was reluctant to admit it, Naoki had to concede that despite his claims otherwise; he wasn't ready to let Kotoko move on yet.

For what end, he did not know, why did he not want her to move on yet he chose not to date her? Naoki was comfortable with the way things had become, with Kotoko and her father living in the Irie household and livening things up. Kotoko's patterns and habits had become reassuringly familiar to him. Did he fear that he would lose that if she were to fall in love with someone else? If so, that really was selfish of him. It was his fault really, asking Matsumoto out on a date like that but Naoki hadn't expected Kotoko to react the way she did, reacting by moving on.

"Whoa," some guy behind him said in obvious appreciation of something. "Is that the Aihara chick? Since when did she look so good?"

Naoki turned around so fast that he almost hurt his neck. Kotoko was here already? Where? How did he manage to miss her? He looked in the direction that the guy and several other people were looking in. He didn't see her, just another girl who had short red similar to the colour of Kotoko's, walking with two girls, one with blonde hair, the other black hair. The girls stopped suddenly as a blushing boy stepped in front of them, stammering something.

Wait.

Red haired girl walking with a blonde haired and black haired girl? Kotoko's two best friends had blonde and black hair, didn't they? True the other two girls did look like Kotoko's friends but maybe there just happened to be another trio of girls who looked liked Kotoko and her friends because no way could that girl be Kotoko, her hair was too short and the red jacket, black dress and brown boots were far removed from the usual fashion that Kotoko usually wore. Naoki was certain that the girl was not Kotoko.

His conviction was shattered a scant few seconds later when the girls turned to wave goodbye to the guy as he walked off in a daze. In that instant Naoki saw that the blonde and black haired girls were indeed Satomi and Jinko, but that didn't interest him in the slightest due to the fact he had just received one of the biggest shocks of his life when he saw that the red haired girl was indeed Kotoko. However this was definitely not the Kotoko that he knew. This was some vixen impersonating Kotoko.

Gone were the long, flowing auburn locks that Kotoko had confessed to maintaining diligently for years. In their place was a sharp, sleek bob that managed to do something Naoki thought impossible: it made Kotoko look sophisticated. Kotoko had what one could consider a 'cute, pretty face,' and her new hairstyle only emphasised her favourable features. Her new clothes only served to enhance her new sophisticated look, creating a style that wasn't try-hard or tacky. Kotoko looked effortlessly good and not at all like someone who had only dressed up to impress someone. As Naoki got over his shock and grudgingly admitted to himself that Kotoko looked good, he became acutely aware that his was not the only one who thought so.

His furious gaze stayed too long on those who were staring stupidly at Kotoko that Naoki ended up missing his chance to speak to her. She was there in the distance but there was no way that Naoki was going to chase after her, especially in front of so many people. He didn't particularly want to talk to her whilst she was with Satomi and Jinko anyway. Of course, not that he had intended to talk to Kotoko in the first place. Naoki didn't even know what he would've said to Kotoko if he had gone over to her.

Naoki frowned once again. If he wasn't planning to talk to Kotoko then why was he even standing her anyway? He had told himself over and over again that he didn't care what Kotoko was up to but he had found himself standing in this spot anyway for no good reason. Annoyingly, it seemed that even he was capable of illogical actions from time to time, increasingly so since he had become acquainted with Kotoko. Naoki looked at his watch, incidentally the one that Kotoko had gifted him for his birthday. He sighed as he noticed the time. Great. Now he was definitely going to be late for class.

Kotoko was unaware of the appreciative stares she drew until a delighted Satomi pointed it out to her. All at once she became aware of the way that some of the guys they passed looked at her in admiration. Some of these guys she was even acquainted with yet they looked at her as if seeing her for the very first time. Kotoko tried not to squirm in embarrassment. The attention was nice in a way and it was something Kotoko had never experienced before, well, except from Kin-chan.

To be honest, since high school Kotoko had been oblivious to other guys other than Irie-kun. She hadn't wanted anyone other than Irie-kun's attention. She didn't really speak to guys outside her class anyway and her male classmates were often cowed away by Kin-chan if they so much as looked at Kotoko for more than ten seconds. So yeah, this was a new experience for her. The feeling it gave her was definitely not unwelcome. It was nice to know that even if Irie-kun did not find her appealing then there definitely seemed to be guys that were interested in her.

At that moment however Kotoko had no intentions of dating, at least not yet. She and Sudou had embarked on an adventure to discover and establish themselves. She didn't want to end up wasting her time again on a hopeless, one-sided love.

Reiko sat amongst a cluster of students, vaguely registering Naoki murmuring an apology to the professor before taking a seat at the front.

"I wonder if Matsumoto and Irie had a fight," a girl muttered to her neighbour. "They're not sitting together, and he came separately to her."

"Yeah," the other girl whispered back. "Maybe their date didn't go so great." Reiko rolled her eyes as she heard the girls gossiping.

"They look so good together though, they're perfect for each other," the other girl sighed. "I've never seen two people more well-matched."

Reiko huffed inwardly. Really, just because two people looked good together did not mean they were a match made in heaven.

"Yeah, they're well matched indeed, both of them are stuck up and arrogant," a guy piped up, causing the girls to giggle quietly. Reiko just clenched her teeth and ignored them. She just stared straight ahead coolly as though their words did not affect her.

People were always so eager to judge and speculate on things that didn't concern them, Reiko observed. She'd endured this before in high school, other students would speculate on her love life and grades when it was really none of their business. Girls loathed her when she talked to guys and they loathed her when she turned away admirers. She was both admired and envied for her skills and grades; others would put her on a pedestal whilst all the while trying to find ways to knock her back down.

Whilst in some respects Reiko could find similarities between herself and Irie-kun, she would bet any large sum of money that he didn't have to put up with the troubles she had to. Nobody questioned how he attained his grades, when girls whispered that Reiko must be sleeping with the teacher to achieve such good marks, because it was such a crime to be beautiful and intelligent. She had never seen guys trying to pick a fight with Irie-kun because the girl they liked admired him instead; she had endured countless classroom encounters by girls incensed that their crushes liked her instead. Irie-kun was cool and aloof by choice; Reiko acted that way out of a necessity to prove herself.

Why had she been so eager to catch Irie's attention anyway when before she had been so focused on her own goals? Ah, she remembered now.

At first Reiko hadn't been overtly interested in Irie at all, only noting to herself that he was exceptionally handsome. He started to stand out to her more and more when he didn't incessantly bug her like most of the other guys she had classes with. The two of them were constantly paired together for projects and Reiko found a partner who was equally as focused and studious as herself. Irie-kun did not feel the need to judge her and accepted her as she was. It was a pleasant feeling and she found herself craving more of such company. She wanted to maintain that closeness, that camaraderie.

It occurred to her that she could have that closeness with Irie even if she was not in a relationship with him. In fact, having a relationship with him might irreversibly change the steady friendship they shared. She was happy with the friendship that she had with him now and the date with Irie yesterday had shown Reiko that a relationship between them wouldn't work. They had a great camaraderie between them but there was no chemistry, no passion or any real romantic feelings. It had just been an infatuation on her part.

At least now she realised this. The two of them could go back to the way things were before and just remain friends. Besides even if he refused to admit it, Reiko knew that he felt something for Aihara.

After class she made her way out of the building and down the steps. As she was mid step she felt someone bump into her and she stumbled.

A pair of strong arms caught her mid-fall. Reiko stared a moment in surprise at the arms that held her and looked up to thank her rescuer but the words died on her lips.

"Matsumoto-san? Are you alright?" asked the familiar voice.

"Sudou?" she asked incredulously. "Is that you?" It couldn't be, could it?"

She blinked as she was exposed to that familiar smile. "Yep, it's me," he said cheerfully.

He looked so different without his moustache and Reiko might have thought him a stranger had she not seen those familiar eyes that looked at her in concern. She had never really thought about it before but it suddenly dawned on her how handsome Sudou was. Judging by the giggles and whispers being cast his way she wasn't the only one to think so either.

"Jeez that Matsumoto really is something," one girl muttered. "First she steals Irie from Aihara and now she's all over Sudou-sempai."

Reiko flinched at the words but Sudou just glared at the girl who had spoken until she became flustered and scurried away. He set Reiko straight gently, steadying her on her feet.

"Are you ok?" he repeated. Despite the harsh words he had spoken to her last week, his face radiated nothing but concern. Reiko felt ashamed knowing she hadn't done anything to merit such concern from him.

"I'm...I'm fine." Reiko was mortified to find herself stuttering. She never stuttered, ever. What was wrong with her?! "I was just tired after a long lecture and wasn't concentrating on where I was going."

Sudou smiled easily with the friendly smile that he often bestowed upon her and Reiko's eyes zeroed in on his chiselled features on their own accord. "Must've been one heck of a lecture to make you this tired."

Reiko could only nod dumbly in replied, finding herself somewhat tongue-tied. Sudou released her arms and took a step back, putting some distance between them.

"I understand that you like to push yourself to do as much as you can because you're smart and intelligent. Just don't overwork yourself ok?" He flashed that smile again and then he was off, leaving Reiko with a sick feeling in her stomach.

She had someone who cared about her and appreciated her real self but she had been too blind to see it. As Reiko watched him go, and watched other girls watching him go, she found herself wondering what Sudou felt for her now. Right there and then she vowed to fix things between them. Even if Sudou no longer had romantic feelings towards her Reiko hoped that at the least he would want to be her friend.

Naoki casually strode into the cafeteria, his hawk-like eyes observing the room critically in search of Kotoko. However Kotoko wasn't there liked he'd hoped she would be but considering he did not know her timetable there had been no guarantee that she would be there anyway. Maybe this was a good thing, considering he still did not know what he would say to her anyway.

Well since he was in the cafeteria perhaps there was something else he could achieve instead. Naoki grimaced slightly as he turned and walked purposefully towards where Kinnosuke Ikezawa stood serving food to students. What had the world come to, Naoki thought, when he purposely sought the company of Kotoko's love-struck stalker?

There was a lull in customers buying lunch and Naoki almost paused in his steps as he saw a pretty blonde co-worker come up beside Kinnosuke and engage him in a conversation. The two talked and joked about something, both of them laughing freely. Kinnosuke smiled at the girl and there was something in his expression, an emotion in his eyes that Naoki couldn't quite place.

The two looked up attentively as he stood in front of them, expecting a customer. Kinnosuke grimaced slightly when he saw it was Naoki instead. The girl smiled, touching his arm gently before disappearing back into the kitchen.

"Yeah Irie, so what will it be?" Kinnosuke asked, as if he would rather be serving anyone else but Naoki at that moment.

Naoki looked at Kinnosuke with his usual stoic expression, annoying the other guy slightly. "Have you seen Kotoko?"

Kinnosuke looked startled, obviously not expecting that question. "No, why? Since when have you ever been concerned with her whereabouts anyway?"

Naoki sighed impatiently. "Never mind where she is. I'm asking if you've seen her"

Kinnosuke looked confused. "Yeah, she came in earlier to say hello and chat for a bit. Why?"

"And?" Naoki pressed.

"...And what?" Kinnosuke asked, having no idea what Irie was expecting him to say.

"Well what did you think of her?" Naoki asked, annoyed that Kinnosuke wasn't more forthcoming with his answers.

Understanding dawned on the cafeteria worker's face. "Oh I see," Kinnosuke said. "You just wanted to know about her makeover." He smiled brightly. "I think she looks good. Well to me Kotoko always looks good but she looks nice with her hair short too"

Naoki eyed him in disbelief. "Is that all?"

Kinnosuke's smiled faltered. "Well yeah, what were you expecting me to say?"

"Aren't you concerned with her new appearance?" Naoki asked.

"Er...no. I think she looks great. A lot of girls change their style every now and again, it's part of growing up," Kinnosuke said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Naoki sighed. "But aren't you concerned that her new look is a little...provocative?"

Kinnosuke did a great impression of a gaping fish. "Huh? What are you talking about? Kotoko looked just fine! What are you thinking coming in here and saying things like that about her?" Kinnosuke asked crossly.

Naoki raised his hands in mock defence. "Hey, don't get mad at me. I was just warning you. A lot of guys seem to have taken an interest in Kotoko. Maybe you should be worried now that you have a lot more guys to compete against if you want her to like you." He smirked inwardly. Kinnosuke was bound to get jealous hearing that. Maybe he would go and confront Kotoko and give her a good talking to, and in the process scare away some of the admirers she seemed to have picked up.

Kinnosuke gave him a long, hard, measured look. "Is it really me who should be worried?"

Naoki shifted uncomfortably. "What are you talking about?" Shouldn't Kinnosuke have blown his top by now and run off blindly searching for Kotoko?

"Never mind," Kinnosuke said cryptically. Seeing Naoki continue to stare at him stoically, he scowled in annoyance. Kinnosuke sighed, stirring a ladle around in a pot restlessly. "Kotoko and I have been friends for years and I've liked her for the longest time but I've realised that just because I really like her doesn't mean she has to like me back. I've realised that if Kotoko hasn't returned my feelings after all this time then she probably never will return those feelings. It's better for me to get over it and move on." He stopped stirring the pot and looked at Naoki sternly. "Now if that's all you wanted, you can leave now. I'm busy and you're holding up the queue." Naoki looked behind him and realised that indeed a crowd had formed behind him. He moved away abruptly and walked away, thinking over what Kinnosuke had said.

Naoki was unsettled by the calm way that Kinnosuke said all that he had. What happened to the green-eyed monster that reared it's ugly head whenever another guy so much as mentioned Kotoko's name?

He stopped as another thought occurred to him. Could Kotoko possibly feel the same way as Kinnosuke? Could she possibly have come to the realisation that it was better to move on and forget about him than to continue pining after him? It was almost unthinkable, Kotoko had said such things before but she had never gone through with it. When he asked himself why now of all times she had started to become serious about changing, his mind kept repeatedly leading him to Sudou. Naoki was sure that the other guy had a hand in all this but what? Were the two going out?

A voice in his mind snidely asked why he even cared. Didn't he always say that he was better than Kotoko and didn't need someone like her? Naoki remembered his earlier selfish thoughts when he was waiting at the campus gates, struggling with thoughts of Kotoko moving on and him not wanting her too. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He really was selfish. If Kotoko had chosen to move on and forget him it was only because he had inadvertently encouraged it by not responding to her attention. It seemed that Kotoko had a limit when it came to her patience with him and he had long ago exceeded it.

Naoki wandered the corridors, reflecting to himself in solitude. No, he wasn't ready to let Kotoko move on yet. It was selfish of him but he couldn't stand the thought of Kotoko being with someone else. However he realised that if he was going to act he had to decide what he wanted. Maybe once upon a time Kotoko would've happily gone along with whatever he said and stopped what she was doing in order to conform to what he wanted. Now Naoki doubted she would do such a thing. If he wanted to ask her to wait for him it meant that he would have to be serious about wanting to date her. This meant that he had to sort out his confusing feelings first to decide what it was he wanted. It would be beyond selfish to demand Kotoko not date another guy yet be indecisive about whether he wanted to date her.

First though he had to ascertain whether Kotoko still had feelings for him. Besides, hadn't he said that he would never let Kotoko forget about him? Naoki wasn't one to break his promises and he certainly wasn't going to start now.

Noriko was a housewife and took great pride in the keeping of her abode. She was also someone who went to great lengths (extremely great lengths) to make sure that her loved ones were happy, which was why she had entered Kotoko's room with a vacuum cleaner in hand only to drop it as soon as she entered the room, and then locked the door in order to carry out some investigative work.

She would be a fool not to notice the tension that had been brewing between Kotoko and Naoki recently and was determined to know what was going on since nobody seemed inclined to keep her in on the loop. For some reason Kotoko seemed to be straying further away from Naoki and hadn't sought his attention at all. Noriko was sure it was all Naoki's fault though. Honestly, her son was a genius yet he was too silly to see what a great catch Kotoko was.

Her investigation (snooping) skills were second to none and Noriko found what she was looking for in no time at all. She absolutely had no qualms about riffling through Kotoko's drawers and immediately found an envelope. The envelope was labelled as 'First Assignment by Sudou.' The title alone intrigued Noriko. What kind of assignment would be written as a letter, and why did Kotoko have something written by a person called Sudou? If she recalled correctly, wasn't Sudou the name of the guy who acted as coach of the tennis club that Naoki and Kotoko were members of? Noriko stared at the envelope suspiciously. What did Sudou have to do with all this?

With great care Noriko removed the letter from the envelope. She unfolded the paper carefully so as to leave no detectable traces of an intruder's hands having opened the letter. At once her eyes caught the name of her son written at the top of the piece of paper in handwriting she assumed to be that of Sudou since it was not recognisable as Kotoko. Intrigued, Noriko let her eyes roll further down the paper. As she read each word she felt her blood begin to boil.

So...if this Sudou guy was correct, Naoki had been acting less than gentlemanly towards her precious Kotoko. No wonder things had not been progressing as she had hoped. Noriko read the assignment again, her lips pressed into a thin line as she read how exactly her son treated Kotoko. She knew that her son could be antagonistic towards Kotoko but she had thought it to be because it was his way of expressing his feelings. She had no idea that Naoki, the son she had raised to be a considerate gentleman, could be such a bully. If this was truly how her son behaved towards Kotoko then she didn't blame the girl for deciding to move on.

Noriko sat on the bed with a sigh, holding the letter forlornly in her hands. She truly wished that Naoki and Kotoko would love each other and live happily ever after and that they could all be one big happy family. However this Sudou guy was right, Kotoko didn't deserve to be treated so shabbily, and by her son no less! Someone like Kotoko deserved so much more than scraps of affection, like Sudou had written.

She clutched the letter tightly. For now she would let Kotoko continue with whatever it was she was doing. She had noticed how the girl who was like a daughter to her had been in high spirits lately and had a confidence to her that she had been lacking the past few months. No, it wouldn't do to disrupt her. Noriko frowned again.

Her son however she would be having very strict words with. Hard as it was to consider, Noriko could accept the fact that Naoki might never return Kotoko's feelings. However that did not excuse his appalling behaviour. She was bewildered, her son could be cool and aloof but she had never known him to be cruel to someone in the way that the letter described him being cruel to Kotoko. Why would he act in such a manner?

Hope flared inside her as she considered that maybe her son acted that way because he actually had feelings for the sweet, adorable Kotoko. However Noriko quickly found herself frowning again and agreeing with what Sudou wrote. If that's how her son acted when he cared about someone then was he really a good match for Kotoko after all? Could the situation be salvaged somehow? Noriko thought hard about it, it would take a lot of work to make things right. A lot of hard work.

Noriko tried to remember where she had put her disguise costumes. She had a feeling that they would be put to use very, very soon.