Both Senpai and Nishikata had tried and failed to connect with their love interests during the evening. After getting bored and denied by his friends who were all busy with the clubs that they'd signed up for after the culture festival, Nishikata decided there was only 1 option.
Nishikata: Maybe I should talk to Hachioji-san. He seems like a nice guy and I want to know more about him. Maybe he can give me some pointers on my art to beat Takagi! Yes!
Senpai looked from his manga over to his phone.
Senpai: *reading* "Hey Hachioji-san. Want 2 talk 4 a bit?"
Senpai: Eh. Why not? It's not like I have anything better to do.
Nishikata was about to put his phone away when he heard it start ringing.
Senpai: "Nishikata-kun?"
Nishikata: "Hachioji-san? Sup."
Senpai: "Sup. What're you doing right now?"
Nishikata: "Well, I just finished my 210 push ups from all the times Takagi teased me, which I guess isn't as much as usual."
Senpai: "Wha- 210 push ups?! You must be pretty, uh, pretty fit!"
Nishikata: "Thanks."
Senpai: "Seems like an odd number though. Why 210 specifically?"
Nishikata: "It's a long story."
Senpai: "I mean, not like we're doing anything interesting anyways.
Nishikata: "Fair enough. Well, the reason that it's 210 is that I got teased 70 times today by Takagi-san and every time I get teased by her, I do 3 push ups."
Senpai: "70 times? Seems like a lot. Then again, if you count every time Nagatoro calls me gross, or a pervert, or creepy then it would be a lot."
Nishikata: "Actually 70 times is pretty average. Maybe on the lower end. I got teased a bunch on the way to and during school but not much during art club or on the way home after you guys arrived. Still, what you said about Nagatoro-san calling you a perv or a creep is kinda weird. Are you ok with it?"
Senpai: "Well… It used to be really bad. She-"
He remembered not to say the details of their first meeting so as to spare himself and Nagatoro an explanation.
Senpai: "She crosses boundaries every so often but she apologizes right after. And to be frank, I kinda enjoy the teasing. She's really fun to be around."
Nishikata: "You know, she reminds me a lot of Takagi-san."
Senpai: "That girl we were with? How so?"
Nishikata: "Well she teased me 70 times today, not to mention the fact that I never seem to beat her. I just wish I had some way to beat her at a game or make her flustered."
Senpai: "I mean, with Nagatoro, I don't really want to beat her. She's almost like a little kid I want to make happy and take care of. She likes winning and I'm used to losing so I don't mind it much. After all, what's a little game to make her happy?"
Nishikata: "I-I never thought about it that way."
Senpai: "Still, if you want to make her flustered I have no clue how without actually being a pervert. I figured out over the summer break that Nagatoro can actually get flustered really easily but I'm too much of a virgin to take action."
Nishikata: "Hey, being a virgin isn't bad. You're, what, in your second year of high school? I'd say to relax and take it slow."
Senpai: "I guess you have a point, although something I noticed is that I haven't seen Takagi tease you at all."
Nishikata: "H-hey! Just because she doesn't do it in front of other people doesn't mean-"
Nishikata's sentence stopped right there.
Nishikata: Wait, what does it mean if Takagi doesn't tease me in front of other people? Does she care about me that much? Or is she just taking away opportunities for me to get back at her. I just don't-
Senpai: "Nishikata-kun? Are you there?"
Nishikata: "Oh sorry. Just spacing out."
Senpai: "Wait, I do that all the time! I really overthink things a lot."
Their conversation was interrupted as both of them got a line notification.
Senpai: "Hm. Nagatoro's asking us if we want to hang out in the art club room with her and Takagi's friends."
Nishikata: "I'm down for that. It'll be nice to meet some of your friends."
Senpai: "Yeah. That would be nice."
They both typed responses of affirmation as "nasty" stickers started flooding in from Nagatoro.
Senpai: "Don't worry about it. She's talking about me."
Nishikata: "I figured as much, judging based on what you told me."
Senpai: "So what's your relationship with Takagi-san like?"
Nishikata: *slightly blushing* "W-well. We're pretty good friends. I also think I l-like h-her."
Nishikata almost shocked himself by saying that. This was the first time he'd admitted his crush on Takagi to anyone, let alone someone he'd just met that day. Still, Hachioji-san definitely seemed to be trustworthy.
Senpai: *slightly blushing* "Oh, really? I didn't know that. You know what she thinks of you?"
Nishikata: "Not really. She drops hints here and there but she also teases me all the time. I can't really tell if those hints are her liking me, her being nice, her teasing me or her setting everything up for a massive amount of teasing when I do confess."
Senpai: "I guess I kinda feel the same about Nagatoro…"
Nishikata: "I figured."
Senpai: "It's that obvious? Well, I feel like Nagatoro's the same way as Takagi. I don't really know what her hints mean. What I do know is that she fervently denies that we're a couple to anyone who asks."
Nishikata: "Sounds a little like me, to be honest."
Senpai: "Really? I think that she's more like Takagi. I think she's a bit more extreme but I guess she's less competitive, at least with me. I do remember when we had an art war of sorts with the president. She got really excited when we were doing it. It was actually kinda cute!"
Nishikata: "Wait, she's the girl in the Toro-cat video?! You didn't… You didn't-"
Senpai: *Shaking his head fervently* "No! Not at all! It was Gamo's idea and they kept it a secret from me until it was too late! I swear I had nothing to do with it!"
Nishikata: "I think I'll do some homework now. See you later, Hachioji-san."
Senpai: "Oh! I could help you study! I'm done with all my homework and I frankly don't have anything better to do…"
Nishikata: "Wow, thanks!"
And so they studied. Senpai was able to help Nishikata on various questions that he had trouble with and afterwards, Nishikata helped Senpai exercise a little, albeit reluctantly.
Senpai: "Enough! I can't take it anymore!"
Nishikata: *with a slightly surprised and disappointed look on his face* "Don't worry! Everyone starts somewhere! As long as we keep at it, I'm sure we can improve together.
Nishikata: although he only managed to do 10 push-ups…
Nishikata: "Let's do some stretches. It'll help prevent you from having muscle cramps for tomorr-"
Senpai: "Actually I've done these stretches with Nagatoro before."
Nishikata: "Nice! So you already know how!"
After stretching and being exhausted from studying and exercise, both Senpai and Nishikata were able to fall asleep fairly quickly.
