So here is the start of a new story. I have been planning, and working on this one for a while so here's to hoping you all like it.

Takagi was making her way down the hall on her way out of school for the day, looking out the window at every opportunity. It had snowed for the past few days so there was a lot of white on the ground which somehow made her feel at ease. "If there's one good thing about the cold, it's that it's perfect weather for cuddling."

She continued her way down the hall until she ran into one of her friends, Sumire Takagawa, looking out the window. "Oh hey Takagi." She greeted.

"Good morning." Takagi greeted back, as they began making their way to class.

"So, excited for the holidays?"

"You bet, I've actually finished most of my Christmas shopping quite some time ago."

"Most?"

"Yeah, I need to finish making Nishikata's present, it's taking a bit longer than I initially thought it would."

"Well, I wish you luck with that." Sumire replied. "Hey, mind if I ask you something?"

"About Nishikata?"

"Yeah, um, why don't you just ask him out already? I mean you said that he has feelings for you so it's not like he'll say no."

"Well, it's because he probably hasn't exactly realized it yet."

"Well surely you can still ask him and just play it off as a contest or ... I don't know, say, you want to try it because everyone in the school thinks the two of you are already dating."

Takagi laughed. "He would try and avoid the second one at all costs, but even if I did ask him ... well ... I kinda want him to be the one to say it, also I don't want to push things any more than I already am."

"More than you already are?"

"I mean I don't want to do anything more than dropping hints of us as a couple, or getting him into romantic situations."

"Yeah, um ... about that." She sighed and turned to Takagi. "I ... need a favor."

Elsewhere, Nishikata, Hamaguchi, Takao, and Kimura were also walking down the hall on their way out of the school. "So I've been thinking, and I believe that the best thing to get her would be a necklace." Hamaguchi began. "That seems like it would be a mature present, right?"

"If you can afford it." Takao joked. "Last I checked, those things can cost nearly eleven thousand yen."

"I've been saving up, I should have enough. The only question is, what kind of necklace?" He turned to Nishikata, who looked as if he wasn't paying much attention. "What do you think Nishikata?"

"Huh?" Nishikata asked as he turned to his friend.

"I said, do you think getting Houjou a necklace is a good idea?"

"Oh, I don't really know."

"Of course you don't"

"You know, I've never really understood the whole, having to get someone you care about something expensive to show how much you care, thing." Kimura began. "If you ask me, just get something that'll make them smile, it doesn't matter how much it costs."

"I wouldn't expect you to understand Kimura." Hamaguchi began. "You've never had to get something for a girl outside your family before." Hamaguchi looked back at him, yet he didn't say a word. "Why are you so silent?"

"Oh, that's because I actually am getting something for a girl this year."

Everyone stopped and turned to look at him. "Are you joking?!" Takao snapped.

"You of all people?" Hamaguchi asked.

"Easy there!" Kimura said as he backed up holding his hands up in defense. "It's not like I'm in love with her or anything. I mean she's cute, yes, but we've only talked a few times, and we've barely hung out."

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO BE SINGLE TILL YOU WERE IN HIGHSCHOOL!" Takao exclaimed.

"HEY!" Nishikata exclaimed as he stepped between Kimura and his other friends. "How about we let him finish?"

The other two backed off a bit and Kimura breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you Nishikata. As I was saying, we hung out by complete coincidence really; you guys were busy, her friends were busy, we met in the lunch line when they were short on something we both like, so we decided to split one. Now we talk every now and then, and I decided to get her something for Christmas."

"Okay, who?" Hamaguchi asked.

"Mina Hibino." There was an awkward silence as the others took a moment to let it sink in. "Like I said, we're not in love or dating or anything, just that I got her some sweets for Christmas."

"Well ,my relationship with Houjou is further along than your relationship with Mina."

"We're not necessarily in a relationship."

"Well I still need to get Houjou something that shows how much I like her, that's why I want to get her a necklace." He turned to Nishikata. "By the way, what are you getting Takagi?"

"Getting ... WHAT?!" He took a step back. "I ... we're ... there's nothing going on between me and Takagi!"

"So you're not getting her something?" Kimura asked. "Aren't you two like ... close friends or something?"

Nishikata froze. "I ... well ... no." He turned away. "I haven't gotten her anything yet."

"You should probably get on that." They continued walking until they got to the entrance where they parted ways.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow." Hamaguchi said before leaving the rest of them.

"Yeah, same here." Takao replied as he and Kimura did the same, leaving Nishikata alone.

Nishikata began making his way around the nearest corner of the school and paused to make sure no one was around. "Okay, no one's here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace with a metal heart shaped pendant which had 'Takagi' engraved on it. "This was a bad idea. Even if it was a good price, how am I supposed to give this to her without it looking like some form of romantic gestures?" He shoved it back into his pocket and looked off to the side. "Well ... I guess ... it's kinda supposed to be a romantic gesture." He shook his head and began looking around again. 'And if she doesn't like it, then her laughing at me is the best thing I can hope for.'

"Hey Nishikata." Takagi greeted from right next to him, causing him to jump. "What are you doing here?"

Nishikata turned to look at her and felt his heart go into overdrive. 'Damn it Takagi, why did it have to be someone who can practically read my mind?' "Oh ... nothing ... just ... hanging."

"Hm?" She said as she tilted her head and looked at him quizzically. "Are you hiding something from me?"

"What kind of question is that? Even if I am hiding something, I'm obviously going to say that I'm not."

"Then why didn't you?" She asked as she leaned closer to him. He began to lean back, but part of him didn't want to, as a result, their faces were mere centimeters apart, and Nishikata had to resist the urge to kiss her.

'Damn, what do I do? Her eyes are just so hypnotizing! How do I get out of this?' He took a deep breath and steadied himself. 'It keeps getting worse ... I have to tell her before it becomes too obvious and she ends up finding out herself. Maybe I should ...' "Taka-" Takagi burst into laughter before Nishikata could even finish the first word.

"Your face is so red Nishikata, do you like me or something?"

'She knows!? No, she's made jokes like this all the time, she's just playing around.'

"I mean if you do, then this is the perfect spot." She began walking her fingers up his arm. "It's quiet, no one can see us, and I hear couples come here to make out all the time."

"Make ... out?" Nishikata asked as his face turned redder. 'No, no no no no no no no, I can't do this right now.' "It doesn't ... look like that great of a spot. And besides, I was here before you." He began walking away as his heart managed to ease up a little.

"I guess." She said as she caught up to him. "So, do you wanna walk home together?"

"Uh ... sure."

They fetched Takagi's bike and began their walk home together in relative silence. 'That was too close.' Nishikata thought to himself. 'If she had found out about what I got her, then that would have completely ruined the surprise.' He paused. 'Let's push all that aside for now, I need to find a way to one up her, but how?'

"Hey Nishikata, wanna have a contest?"

"A contest?" Nishikata asked. "Well, you know me, I'm always in the mood for a contest. Do I take it our normal rules apply?"

"You mean the winner gets to have the looser do anything they want? I was thinking something a bit more ... interesting."

"How can you get more interesting than literally anything?"

"Is it really though?" She asked. "It's always something, maybe mildly embarrassing or inconvenient, I was thinking that for this one, we take some of those unspoken restrictions off."

"Uh ..." 'I mean I've never actually won so ... it has always been her setting those restrictions ... though I should keep that in mind going forward for when I eventually beat her.' "Okay, but ... can we keep in some form of reason?"

"You afraid that I'll have you do something super embarrassing?" She asked with a sly smile.

"No, I mean ... nothing dangerous and things like that."

"Sure, I wasn't going to ask for anything like that anyway."

"So what's the game?"

"Simple." She stopped walking, reached down, and rolled up a snowball. "A snowball fight."

"Snowball fight?"

"Yup, first to three hits wins."

"Okay." 'This is perfect!' Nishikata thought with a smile. 'I'm great at throwing, and I'm fairly agile as well, sure Takagi might be more agile than me, but there's no way she can beat me without using any tricks. I just need to keep my guard up this time.' "So where should we do this?"

"Same place as always, the abandoned lot."

"Alright then, let's do this."

The two made their way to the abandoned lot, where they stood across from each other. "Are you ready?" Nishikata asked.

"Yup, and I have just the thing in mind for you when I win."

"Uh ..." Nishikata nervously took a step back. "Wha-what do you mean by that?"

"I actually have two things in mind ... I'll let you take your pick."

'TAKAGI! You haven't won yet, and when I win, I'll get you to finally stop teasing me.' He paused as he began to rethink his choice. 'Then again, she does love teasing me ... and I don't want her to never talk to me again ... maybe I'll just have her stop for a week, that seems reasonable.'

"Okay then!" She began with her hands behind her back. "Ready ... Set ... GO!"

Nishikata reached for the ground as he began to ball up a snowball only to have something hit the top of his back. "Huh?" Nishikata said as he looked up to see Takagi's smiling face. "There's no way you could have made a snowball that quickly!"

"It's the one I made from when I proposed the challenge."

Nishikata scowled and shook it off. "That's only one!" He finished making his snowball and began running to the side as Takagi did the same. 'I just have to get her three time.' He thought as he readied himself. He slowed to a stop, then took aim before throwing the snowball, which careened through the air, only barely missing Takagi.

"Close one." Takagi said before throwing hers; it was slow, and wasn't difficult to dodge, something that Nishikata quickly took note of.

'She's trying to make me over confident again like when we arm wrestled. That's not going to work this time though!' He readied another snowball, this time, breaking it into two smaller snowballs before strafing again. "Take this!" He threw the first snowball which missed, but as she dodged, he threw the second which scored a direct hit on her shoulder. "That's one-to-one!"

"So far!" Takagi said before balling up another one.

Nishikata quickly jumped behind the nearby oil drums and began balling up a few more. 'No rule against using cover, and this is the only thing in this area that can be used as cover, so I have the advantage.' He peeked over the top, then quickly ducked back down as Takagi threw another at him. 'Not going to get me that easy.' He glanced upward and took notice of another coming from above. 'I see what's going on.' He jumped out from behind his cover and threw another snowball which nailed her arm, as he aptly avoided the second one Takagi threw at him. 'I'm invincible.' He began rolling up some more, but after another came flying in his direction, he was forced to leap back behind the drums to avoid it. 'Okay, just one more, even if I get hit once, I should still win.'

He rolled up another snowball and stood up, only to find Takagi standing right in front of the drums, leaning forward so much that if he was a centimeter closer, they would be kissing. "Taka-" He began to lean back as the snowball slipped from his hand.

"You know." She began. "We always come here for our contests, it's kinda like our special place or something."

Nishikata felt his mouth dry up as he struggled to find the words, or thoughts, to deal with this situation. As he did though, Takagi gently smashed two snowballs against both sides of his head and smiled. "Looks like I win."

Nishikata fell to his knees in defeat. "I ..."

"I never said that they had to be thrown." She began. "It was obvious that you would try and use the oil drums for cover, it made it easy for me to get closer."

"I lost." He mumbled.

"And to the victor goes the spoils." She looked down and gave him a mischievous smile. "You remember, right?"

"Anything." He said as he stood back up. 'Crap, she made a point to emphasize that it was going to be worse than any of the other things she's had me do ... what is she thinking?'

"So like I said, I have two things in mind, and you can take your pick."

'So I just have to pick the one that's less embarrassing.' He thought.

"The first thing, is that you have to go on a date with me."

Nishikata's heart stopped as his face reddened. "I ... WHAT?!"

"This Saturday, to the mall, and you have to post a picture on your social media."

"I have to do what now?"

"However, you don't have to hold my hand or pay for anything that isn't directly for you. You can't deny that it's a date, and if anyone asks, you have to tell them that it is, in fact, a date. Though you don't have to say that you and I are a couple ... you know, because we arn't."

"So what? Should I just announce it to the entire school?"

"No, I decided against that."

"Gee, thanks."

"As for your second option ..."

Nishikata sighed. 'There's no way it can be any worse than going on a date with her and basically letting the whole school know.'

She walked around the drums and leaned close to him again. "You have to kiss me."

Nishikata's blush spread to his ears as his legs refused to move. "I have to ..." His mouth dried up as his brain stopped working.

"Kiss me, right here, right now, on the lips." She smiled with her eyes closed. "However, I won't tell anyone, I won't talk about it with anyone, other than you because you would already know, but I won't bring it up in front of anyone who wouldn't already know." Nishikata's throat went even dryer as he tried to get his mind working again. "So basically, you can choose to do something you might call embarrassing in front of a lot of people, or you could do something that you would think is drastically more embarrassing, but no one would know unless you tell them."

'I can't kiss her.' He thought to himself. 'I can't ... I can't do it, I like her but, to straight up kiss her?' "I don't really have much of a choice here, do I?"

"You do, but I kinda figured that you would pick the date anyway."

"Wait, what?"

"I know just the dress to wear, I think it's adorable and I'm sure everyone else will think so as well."

'But if I go on a date with her, then I might not be able to hide the fact that I'm in love with her.'

"I know I'm kinda forcing you, but the more I think about it, the more excited I'm getting."

'No.' He looked down at her lips and tried to ready himself as every dissenting thought ceased. 'She ... said no one would ever find out ... and she said that I could ... this choice really is clear.'

"Actually, there is one other thing you should know about it." Takagi began, unaware that Nishikata was moving towards her.

He cupped her cheeks in his hands, causing her to freeze up. "Like I said, I don't really have much of a choice."

Her eyes went wide as she began to blush, all the while Nishikata had his eyes focused on hers. "No one will ever know, right?" He tightly closed his eyes, and brought his lips to meet hers.