"Leave."

Kotoko's voice was low and her head hung over the small table in her room.

"What?" Naoki scoffed.

"I said leave! Now!" Kotoko yelled as she shot to her feet and pointed to her door.

"I thought that you needed my help?" Naoki smiled and crossed his arms.

"I did, but I am done! I am done with you teasing me and calling me names. You don't take my ambitions seriously! I am really trying and doing the best that I can. I am sorry that I don't get things right away like you do but that does not make me stupid. The only stupid thing that I have done is hold a torch for you for the past five years. I should have taken the hint when you rejected my letter. Now, you can take the hint and go do one! Leave!"

Naoki stared up at Kotoko, his jaw slacked and his eyes wide. Never had he been yelled at like that before and he certainly did not expect it from Class F Kotoko.

"I see. I will see you in the morning. Goodnight." Naoki closed his eyes and exhaled before collecting his books and walking out of Kotoko's bright room and into the dark hallway.

Once Naoki had reached his room across the hallway, he heard Kotoko's door slam and for some reason, he had winced at the sound. Had he really made her that mad? No matter, she would surely sleep it off and come back to being the annoying and love-sick Kotoko in the morning.

Right?

The next morning, Naoki woke up to the sun streaming into the room that he shared with his younger brother. He stretched his arms and sat up in his bed. It was time to start the day.

Naoki stood up and grabbed his towel and set out his school uniform on his bed. He needed to rush or Kotoko would get to the shower before he did. He opened his door and to his surprise, he didn't have to race Kotoko to the bathroom. He must have woken up before her.

After he had enjoyed his shower in uncomfortable peace and quiet, he exited and walked back to his room to get dressed before heading downstairs for breakfast.

"Goodmorning, Onii-chun!" Mama had greeted with a smile. Naoki only nodded in recognition before taking his place at the table.

Naoki looked at the large breakfast in front of him. He grabbed his plate and began filling it with various breakfast items. Naoki looked up and saw that his father and brother were seated at the table enjoying their breakfasts and reading the morning paper. However, there was no Kotoko. She would never miss breakfast. Silly girl must have overslept.

"Mama, where is Kotoko?" Papa had asked as he took a sip of tea.

"She has already left. She said that she wanted to get to school early so that she can get some extra tutoring."

"I don't think that an extra hour of tutoring will help. She is hopeless." Yuuki smirked before taking a bite of his breakfast.

"How rude!" Mama slapped Yukki on the back of his head with a spatula.

"Ow!" Yuuki rubbed the back of his head.

"Serves you right! At least she is trying which is more than I can say for either of you two."

"Why try when I am already good at everything?" Naoki crossed his arms.

"You might want to try working on you patience and humility, young man. I heard what happened last night. You need to apologize to Kotoko?" Mama scolded.

"Why? Everything that I told her was true. She is an idiot." Naoki replied calmly before taking a sip of his coffee.

Mama sighed, "I thought that I raised you better than this. Just finish eating and head to school."

"Fine. I will apologize." Naoki finished his breakfast before he walked out of the door and made his way to school.

The trip to school had been odd not having Kotoko trailing behind him like a lost and confused puppy. He actually found the whole thing unsettling. He didn't have to hold the door open for her or hear her struggling to move through the busy morning crowds of the city.

When Naoki arrived at school, he passed the usual crowds on the way to class. There were the usual admirers but he wanted to find one in particular. Naoki made his way to the 3-F classroom hoping to apologize to Kotoko before school started.

He made his way to the classroom where he saw Kotoko's friends chatting in the back but Kotoko was nowhere to be seen.

"Have you seen Kotoko?" Naoki called from the doorway.

"No. Why do you need to know?" Kin-chun asked, a bite to his voice.

"I'll just talk to her later." Naoki replied before turning on his heels to head to his class in 3-A.

Naoki was equal parts relieved and surprised when he saw Kotoko walking down the hallway with the teacher from 3-B.

"Sensei, Aihara-san." Naoki greeted.

"Ah, Irie-san. How are you this morning?" the teacher asked.

"Very well, thank you for asking."

"Are you ready for your midterms?"

"I am." Naoki replied. His eyes made his way to Kotoko who stared straight ahead, her face like stone.

"Very good. I expect no less from our top student. I was helping Kotoko with some last minute studying and I think that she will pass with flying colors." the teacher smiled as he looked at Kotoko.

"I was actually hoping to talk to Ko-"

"I have to go. I don't want to be late." Kotoko interrupted. "Thank you so much, Sensei. Your patient and thorough tutillage was exactly what I needed."

Kotoko gave both the teacher and Naoki small bows before she left towards the 3-F classroom.

"Kotoko has the right idea, we best get to class and start the midterms."

The teacher and Naoki said their goodbyes before heading to their respective classrooms.

The midterms were over and school was out for the day, all that was left was to wait for the results the following week.

Naoki made his way outside and saw the 3-F Group and thought that he would try once again try to apologize to Kotoko. Once again, she was nowhere to be found. This girl was really starting to get on his nerves and she hadn't said a thing to him today, and that was what was so annoying.

"Have you seen Kotoko?" Naoki asked the group.

"She went to the library to study." Jinzo replied, a smile on her face.

"Thank you." Naoki turned and headed towards the public library. Hoping that he would catch Kotoko in time.

At the library, Naoki searched the tables to find Kotoko deep into her studies. It was odd sight for Naoki that he couldn't help but let a chuckle escape his lips.

"May I help you?" Kotoko asked, not taking her eyes away from her book.

"I was hoping to apologize to you." Naoki answered.

"No thank you." Kotoko stood up and walked towards a bookshelf to find a book that would help her with her studies upon the suggestion of the 3-B teacher.

"What?" Naoki shook his head in surprise before following Kotoko.

"I don't want your apology because I know you are only doing it to appease mama. Besides, you shouldn't apologize for things that you mean. Sorrys are only for accidents. You calling me stupid was not an accident, you do it all the time." Kotoko ran her fingers over the spines of the books.

"But-"

"I don't want to talk to you right now and honestly, I don't want anything more to do with you. You got what you have always wanted. I won't bother you anymore. I have had enough. I am done." Kotoko pulled the book from the shelf and made her way back to the table where the rest of her work had been sprawled out.

All Naoki could do was stare in shock as she walked away.

What had just happened?

Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I just finished watching Itazura na Kiss and I just felt so mad when Kotoko was constantly being called stupid. If it were me, I would have smacked Naoki and called it a day. So I wanted to write something that reflected that and show Kotoko finally taking a stand against Naoki.

Stay tuned for more :)