"how did I even get into this..." nishikata stared at his watch 5:30 pm " and what does she even wanna do at the park?"
The girl walking beside him was also in deep thought, " he has realised his feelings for someone ... And I thought it would get easier from here" she stole a glance at the boy walking with him before thinking again, " but now I'm not sure whether he even likes me... this is how he feels huh.."
Nishikata was sweating in his palms as the silence between them didn't seem to have any intentions of disappearing "Takagi-san"
She snapped out of her thoughts, " Yeah?"
" I mean... We're just walking without saying anything and it feels weird"
" I guess it does... Normally you would've suggested a game by now"
" I would have if it wasn't for you bringing me here after school with no explanation whatsoever" he began to think of a contest " let's have a race"
" need to keep my mind off those thoughts" " sure but till where?"
He looked ahead, " the bridge... whoever reaches the riverside under the bridge first wins"
Takagi nodded, "can I add a condition"
" what kind of condition?"
" if you can grab my hand while I'm running you win"
" HUH?!" Nishikata stumbled " she knows I can do that!!"
"~ I'm giving you another way to win~" she said in a flirting tone " grab my hand and you can win"
Nishikata had nothing to say " God damn it" " so let's start" " I think I can outrun her"
Takagi stopped in line with nishikata, " On the count of 3... 3!!!!" she shouted three and started running
Nishikata was fazed for a second then he started to run after her " WHAT ABOUT 1 AND 2?!! THAT'S CHEATING!!" " damn it she has a head start." but he was only met by giggles which seemed to get farther away from him
" I'll just have to run" They both ran and even though Takagi had a headstart Nishikata had caught up, though he was still behind her he was running, " those hours of cycling paid off...I was able to catch up... "
Takagi glanced at nishikata who was very close to beating her," hey nishikata, I let you win this one"
The boy still running didn't process this and when he glanced at his crush she was stretching her hand out towards him, " she wants me to hold her hand, she is still teasing me!!" the boy felt his pace getting slower as he considered holding her hand or not
Takagi sprinted away as he was frozen thinking and then he realized how he'd been played, " she tricked me!!" he glanced forward, she was already running down the stairs to the riverbed while he was still on the bridge " God damn it, this is the only way..."
Takagi was at the foot of the stairs just a few steps from the finish line, " I win" she sprinted towards the finish but something caught her eye... " a shadow?"
Nishikata knew he wouldn't reach down in time so he jumped right of the bridge directly onto the gravel path, with a loud thud he crashed onto the ground, no less than 2 feet from the finish line, " I'm so close..."
Takagi was shocked " He jumped from the bridge?!!" She was processing that he had indeed jumped from a bridge that instead of curving to the finish line, she was still going straight directly into the water
Nishikata could go to the finish line or he could pull Takagi out before she went straight into the water " if I don't catch her then..."
Takagi noticed what was happening and tried to change her direction, but the gravel and rocks near the water were wet and slippery, as she shifted her body weight to help her change direction.. The shoes didn't hold on the ground...
Takagi felt her body twist a little as she lost balance and her feet were in the air, her head was completely empty as the world turned around her, then she crashed but not into the ground,
Nishikata had firmly grabbed Takagi while she was essentially mid air, and as all of the built up momentum was forced onto nishikata, his shoes didn't have enough grip to hold him, he slipped as well...
Since nishikata had slowed her down and withstood the momentum, the crash wasn't that loud, " what just happened..." nishikata squirmed his eyes as the blurred background came into focus
Takagi was laying on top of him with her back to him, cheeks flushed with a vibrant red, "I'm so glad he can't see my face right now" she rolled aside and checked him for any injuries, " are you ok nishikata?"
" I'm fine... Just a few scratches... I'll walk..." he tried to get up and stumbled back onto the ground
" here" she pulled him up while her hands
" thanks"
" I should be the one thanking you, you saved me, thanks to you I got no injuries"
He blushed at her appreciation " welp I guess I lose this one too..." he pointed out she was standing on the finish line
" speaking of the race, are you insane?!"
" what?"
"don't what me!" " why did you jump?! That was dangerous!!"
Nishikata didn't reply for a few seconds, " I wanna win at least once..."
" if you win then you'll never do something as reckless as that ever again?"
" I mean jumping of that bridge isn't a big deal, I do it every now and again "
She paused for a second "excuse me?!" "may I ask what you were trying to accomplish by repeatedly jumping off a bridge?"
Nishikata gave her blank stare and then looked away, " I was practicing... This was gonna be the secret move if you were to somehow get a head start..."
Takagi didn't know whether she should admire the dedication or be shocked at the sheer absurdity " you want a win that badly? "
" that makes it sound like I'm just a bad loser who'll do anything to get a win" " I mean... A Win every once in a while would be nice..."
" If you win, will you stop being so reckless??"
" stop doing what?"
" jumping off bridges and other things like that just to win a game, if you win can you promise to never try anything like that again? "
" I guess I can " " the bridge isn't even that tall, the don't even have an injury because of jumping, all of them came from protecting her "
" Then you win this one"
" No thanks, not interested in handouts"
" when I pulled you up we held hand for a second didn't we, I added the condition"
Nishikata brushed the dirt off his clothes, " that isn't really a win now is it... it really just cancels out that fact that you're first..."
" Then what about the summer festival? You still have the win from there don't you?"
" that's right... Summer festival... Where we held hands..." " you know, you could have just given me punishment for loosing this game to be never try something so dangerous again... "
Takagi looked straight into his eyes,"promise me " " I love our contests but I can't let the contests hurt him... "
" fine... I promise I won't do something like that again..."
" now that you've won you got a punishment for me?"
" not really" " I never really thought I'd actually win, I don't know what to do in this situation" " I'll think of something later"
" now lets go..."
Nishikata and takagi walked away from the riverside and towards their destination. Upon arrival the park was surprisingly empty
"that's weird I... definitely thought there'd be more people here..." " did she know this? Did she plan this? She did want me to come here or am I just over thinking this..."
" I also thought there would be more people..." she looked around for a bit, "let's sit on that bench"
Nishikata eyed the bench suspiciously " I can't tell... I Never know what she is thinking"
They both were now seated beside each other in silence as nishikata's nerves started to get to him, " so what did you wanna talk about?"
She looked up from her feet, " I dont actually have anything to say..."
" huh?" "what's that supposed to mean"
" remember like that time, under the kiss tree..."
" ah... that time..." " I almost thought she was gonna kiss me... well I shouldn't have been worried... There's no way she likes me..."
She felt it was getting awkward for him " I should have thought of something before asking him to come here on impulse... I can use this to stall for some time " "music?"
" Yeah sure..." he put on one ear bud "wait you gave me the left ear bud I need the right"
" what's wrong with that?"
" well If I wear the left one and you wear the right one, the cord will get Stretched and possibly damaged, we need to switch earbuds "
"or..." she mumbled as she stood up
" well we could just switch places too.."
"not that..." she mumbled again
"Then?"
She sat down next to him, any closer and might as well be on his lap " we could just sit closer together..."
" B-But... That makes us look like a couple... Sitting so close together... someone will get the wrong idea?!" he somehow stammered, clearly blushing
" Nishikata... The entire park is empty... There's no one who'll get the wrong idea..." " what am I even doing at this point... none of this was planned... "
Nishikata was still stammering while his heart raced faster and faster " what..."
" plus... If Someone saw us... We Could always turn their wrong idea into a right one... "
Nishikata blushed even harder," W-what are you saying Takagi-san... "
She didn't respond and was back into her deep thought...
Nishikata was now thoroughly perplexed, did she like him or did she not? His mind was telling him that she couldn't while his heart was arguing back, his head was a mess as the blush on his face grew in intensity with every passing second...
Takagi was calm... Calmer than she had imagined she'd be in a situation like this... she pondered over all the aspects of their relationship, " teasing... at least 30 times a day... Games.. 20 of them every day by Nishikata... He Initiates all the games... romantically.. We haven't had that many moments.." she glanced over at her crush who was still a mess but started to calm down " Sumire told me that I was making him take all the steps ... I should be a little more direct... "
Nishikata felt his heart calm down after minutes of beating fast, when a single sound from her mouth made it speed up again
" nishikata lets play a game"
Nishikata still trying to get his grips somehow stammered, " sure but what game?"
" you think of something and I'll guess what you're thinking..."
" fine" " I can just think of the random thing like the number 11037 and she won't be able to guess it"
" you're thinking about how I'll never be able to guess what your thinking"
He was dumbstruck, " h-how? Am I really that easy to read?"
" no, I just notice everything about you..."
Nishikata paused, " what... That sounds..."
" anyway as a punishment we'll play another game"
" I... fine..."
" close your eyes"
" huh?"
" just do it" she said after looking around confirming that they were alone
" ok" he slowly closed his eyes, as soon as he did he felt soft touch on his forehead as he started blushing
" you can open your eyes now" " is this direct enough?"
" what..."
" if you can guess what I just did you win"
" that's..." " that felt soft... like a kiss... But why'd she kiss me... It must be something else... Wait... I remember... That time we played glico..." " how do I know you won't lie"
"I never lie to you..."
" Yeah..." " it feels romantic... but why is she..."
"Then?"
" a forehead flick"
" wrong answer" she said with a slightly disappointed face, but then again when she had done it the last time she had played off as a forehead flick
" Then what was it?" he became more nervous
" I won't tell you..."
" but why?"
" just because..." she looked around to see they are still alone " maybe we can manage one more..." " last game..."
" what is it?"
"We both ask each other a question, if you can't answer I win, if I can't answer you win"
Nishikata was off put by this weird game " what's on her mind?" " what if both of us can answer the other's question?"
" another round"
" I see..." " this is a risky one... But I've already agreed to it..."
" what do you hate the most?"
" what do I hate?... That's... I don't really know what to say to that..." " one thing comes to mind.." he stared at her " not that I can tell her that?"
" so? "
" I hate... "
Takagi tensed up as the nightmares from the morning came back to her " I have teased him... I really wish he doesn't hate me for that... "
" being in a crowd "
" being in a crowd? "
" it's just that when I am with say at most 6 people at once it's ok but it goes beyond that... It Just gets suffocating... I really only like hanging out with my friends or with you... "
Takagi flinched, " the same line as the dream... He Doesn't consider me a friend... Is It in a positive way or... "
" my turn. Why did you randomly ask me that question? "
" I guess I have to answer... " " I had a nightmare... " she said while turning away from him
" a nightmare? "
" the dream was basically you hating me because I teased you so much... "
" so that's why she was acting so weird " " one, I don't hate you Takagi-san, two ,why does it matter? "
" what do you mean by that? "
" well... Hypothetically speaking.. Me hating you wouldn't affect your life whatsoever... "
" nishikata? "
" I mean your popular, I'm just a run of mill guy who happened to pick up a napkin on the first day of school... "
Takagi vigorously turned around and almost shouted ," no that's not it Nishikata, your special, very special to me... "
Nishikata was frozen, " did I mishear that? I mean... that almost sounded like a Confession... Am I dreaming? "
Takagi had a slight blush on her face which was noticed by Nishikata, " sorry if I was a bit too loud... "
" nah... It's fine... Believe it or not I don't actually mind someone reminding me my existence isn't completely worthless... " his heart was pounding even though he was no longer blushing
" that's a bit negative"
" is it though..." his hands were sweating but he wasn't even nervous... " crap.. this isn't a good time..."
" my question..."
" just wait a sec I'll be back..." he said as he rushed in the general direction of the bathroom
As soon as she was gone the girl broke out in a extremely intense blush, she had no idea how she had contained it after saying what could be considered a Confession, she took deep breaths to calm down
Nishikata turned back to see her blushing rather intensely " I guess even she can get embarrassed... this is not the time for this" he pulled out a bottle from his bag, took a pill out and swallowed it with some water... " damn it... Why now..." he fell down the ground himself getting weaker but stronger at the same time... He got up washed his face
It had been a little bit of time when he'd left but now he was back as he felt calm, the pills were powerful. Without saying a word he sat down beside her, " what's the next question? "
" Do you like someone Nishikata? "
" of course we get to this topic... " " well I like all my friends.. " he dodged the question
" like romantically? "
" I don't have a clue as to what romance is even supposed to be, so... "
" Do you have crush on someone Nishikata? "
" yes... I do in fact have crush on a girl "
" I see... Who is she? "
" I... I Can't tell you..." " why is she randomly asking these questions... Wait... She said she'd not heard what I was speaking to hamaguchi... even if she did, then why is she asking me... "
" I see..."
" same one as last time, why did you ask me this question?"" I can't assume anything about her, I need to get this answer " he said
" I can't answer that... you win "
" of course she refuses " " this feels a bit too easy... "
" now you have two punishments to give me... "
" not that I ever thought of a punishment..."
" I thought you'd make me stop teasing you "
" huh?" "I mean... I Would have chosen that 2 years ago... But... It's a part of our relationship at this point... "
" I mean... I Know I overdo the teasing sometimes..."
" nah... You can keep teasing me..."
She breathed a sigh of relief as the lingering feelings of the nightmare were resolved," well... That's nice... " as she placed her head on his shoulder," that's my limit right there... As Direct as I can be... "
Nishikata was blushing again as her head was on his shoulder, " what are you..."
" I'm just... tired... So Tired... Can you sit still for a while... "
He didn't know how to respond... " fine..." he said while looking out in case he saw someone approaching
She closed her eyes and her breathing slowed down as she relaxed her shoulders and back which were stressed ever since the talk with sumire," it almost feels like we're a couple doesn't it..."
" I don't know I've never been a relationship..." he tried to play it off as a joke
Takagi closed her eyes again and didn't speak anything, she could however feel his pulse, it was fast due to him blushing and being so nervous, she was always the optimist and sumire was the pessimist they both always balanced each other out but this time, the talk had really confused her about him as well as whether her way of doing things is even right in the first place...
Nishikata felt his heart racing, " what is even happening anymore... No Stop calm down... Think of something else other than this you need to calm down... A few minutes earlier... What did she do on my forehead... I remember that sensation from the game of glico... if she didn't do a forehead flick...Then the only other option was kissing me... Did-d she... Kiss me?"
He turned his eyes to his crush who was still relaxing with her eyes closed, till this point, his head had always argued why would a girl like takagi ever like someone like him, his heart trying to be optimistic always argued back but in all Nishikata always listen to his head... He Had completely dismissed any possiblity of her liking her and even made up his mind to never confess " if I was to confess... I had decided it was most likely for me to get rejected so I just didn't wanna bother... People usually profess their love in order to get some sort of closure... But with my current mental state... I'm too weak to even withstand a proper rejection... The relationship I have with Takagi-san is too important... I don't want to ruin it... "
But today was different... he saw it... She valued his feelings... she took him seriously when even he himself didn't..." even if I get rejected... I should at least try right? A Confession... I need to think straight..." he stared at the sky.. It was dark threatening a storm... small little snow flakes landed on his shoulder and takagi's head, who appeared to be asleep
Takagi was still awake just completely relaxed, she had had goosebumps when she felt Nishikata gently brushing the snow off her head
They stayed like this for a decent length of time atleast until there was call from Takagi's mother inquiring where she was...
" let's go nishikata..."
" I need to head home..."
" you have your clothes at my house remember?"
" oh right... I forgot... I'll need them for tomorrow..."
" or do you want me to deliver them to your house tomorrow?"
" I don't fancy making you wake up at 4 am on a Sunday just to reach my house in time for me to start my part time job, to your house it is..." he said as the wind grew stronger
Nishikata and takagi walked back to Takagi's house and the whole walk was silent but unlike earlier, none felt awkward about the silence, takagi had gotten the closest to romance and nishikata was finally entertaining the notion of takagi liking him, after they reached her house they were immediately greeted by her dad
" Why'd it take you two so long?" he was worried about them since the wind was so much stronger all of a sudden
" both of us had a competition if which I slipped and got injured so I had trouble walking" nishikata lied, naturally almost as if that's what had happened, because it was enough to satisfy her father
" why did you lie?" she whispered
" I really don't know... It Just came out"
The fact that nishikata lied so naturally irked her but she decided to not address it
" plus what else was I supposed to say..."
Nishikata slowly stuffed his bag with the clothes but then a large bang shaked the house, " what was that?"
" beats me..." she said slouching her shoulders
Her dad rushed outside through them " the wind cause the drainage pipe to detach " even before he had finished speaking Nishikata left his bag and followed her dad, once outside both set up a ladder as nishikata held the ladder as her father climbed
" hold on"
" don't worry I'm holding the ladder"
As the father slowly pulled the the drainage pipe back in place, the wind howled louder after they were done her father pushed the ladder back onto the shed
Nishikata was completely soaked as the snow that landed on his had melting, " I'll be leaving then"
" wait Nishikata your clothes are all wet"
" its fine, there isnt a storm just some snow with some wind" as he said that an opened the door, the wind gushed in " of course a damn snowstorm" "I can just wear something else..."
" your entire school uniform is wet, and you can't wear these other clothes since you need them for tomorrow"
" I'll just go like this"
" stop, you'll freeze... I'll ask mom if you can stay" she said as she walked away
Nishikata now drenched thought, " am I really gonna stay over... it would a first time staying over at a girls house... Especially Takagi-san..."
She returned and said with a smile, " she said get in the shower and warm up"
" well... I guess..."
" not happy to stay here?"
" No it's not that... It's just first time over at a girl, it's your house no less.."
" he's nervous.." part of her really wanted to enjoy his blushing face, while the other part told her prevent him from possibly getting a fever thanks to being drenched in such cold
" anyway... " he said in order to atleast appear calmer than he was and then disappeared into the shower...
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