Chapter 33: I-I hope you enjoy these, T-Takagi.
At Nishikata's house, he was psyching himself up for what he was about to do.
Nishikata: "H-hey, Takagi?"
Takagi: "Yes, Nishikata?"
Takagi was attentive, not wanting to miss what he was about to say.
Nishikata: "I-I hope you enjoy these, T-Takagi."
Nishikata tentatively reached into his bag and handed Takagi a transparent box. On one side was a set of perfectly iced cookies and on the other was a set of cookies that Takagi was all too familiar with. Takagi was speechless for a few moments before she softly set down the cookies and threw her arms around Nishikata, accidentally tackling him onto the couch.
Nishikata: "Takagi…"
Takagi: "Thank you, Nishikata! Thank you so so so much!"
Takagi was fully burying herself into Nishikata's body, making him blush deeply.
Nishikata: "I… uh…"
Nishikata was struggling to think straight before he decided on something to say.
Nishikata: "I-I guess you know what I was really baking yesterday, huh?"
Takagi: "Yes, Nishikata. You know how much I love your baking… Thank you so much. You have no idea how much that means to me!"
Nishikata slowly wrapped his arms around Takagi and they just stayed like that for a while.
###
Nagatoro: "So…"
Senpai: "That was… pretty fun."
Nagatoro: "You know, I've been meaning to tell you this for a while, but yesterday, one of my classmates invited me to a party and she said that there would be… You know. That stuff at the party."
Senpai: "I-I see. What did you do?"
Nagatoro: "Well for one, I'm not drinking. I'd hate to be all… You know. Like that again."
Nagatoro shuddered again at that memory.
Nagatoro: "Heh. I'd probably accidentally spill a drop of beer into my water and get drunk right away. Not that you'd be any better, beansprout Senpai!"
Senpai: "But… What did you do? I'd hate for anyone to end up like you. Then again, I guess that would be snitching…"
Nagatoro: "I guess. I was debating going there to help people not get… Taken advantage of."
Senpai smiled at Nagatoro before donning a concerned expression.
Senpai: "Yeah, but wouldn't that put you at risk? Plus, you could get caught there and I'm not sure the teachers would buy that response…"
Nagatoro: "That's what I was scared of. I was debating calling the police, but I wouldn't want to snitch or ruin a good time."
Senpai: "I guess we should just leave it? This is kinda a hard situation. No matter what you do, something bad happens."
Nagatoro: "That's not true! It might just be ok if I do nothing!"
Senpai: "I guess. Why are you being so… Direct with me right now?"
Nagatoro: "Senpai, didn't we just go on a date?"
Nagatoro smirked, fully expecting him to deny it.
Senpai: "I-I guess? I mean, kinda?"
Nagatoro's jaw dropped.
Nagatoro: "What's this, Senpai? Are you admitting that you like me? So gross~"
Senpai: "I mean, a date is just testing the waters, right? I mean, we're still friends, it's just… opening the door, I guess?"
Nagatoro looked completely floored for a moment before deciding that the only way to respond was impulsively as she flung her arms around Senpai.
Senpai: "Uwah! N-Nagatoro?!"
Nagatoro: "Shhh… Are you ok with this?"
Senpai didn't respond for a second, but just as Nagatoro was going to let go, he wrapped his arms around her. After a few moments, they'd started resting their foreheads on one another before they separated.
Nagatoro: "I-I'll take that as a yes, then."
Senpai: "Y-yeah."
Nagatoro: "Bu~t! You know I can't just leave it at that, Senpai!"
Nagatoro extended her hand for Senpai to take, which he did after a few seconds. The 2 walked home in silence, blushing and avoiding each other's gaze while admiring each other's hands.
###
Meanwhile, Sakura and Takagawa were walking home while holding hands. Takagawa was blushing while Sakura was completely wrapped around her arm with her other arm.
Takagawa: "A-are you ready for tomorrow?"
Sakura: "I'd say so. I'm really good at skiing so I don't have too much to learn, but it could still be fun."
Takagawa: "Oh really? This is actually going to be my first time skiing… Guess I'm gonna be left in the dust…"
Sakura: "We~ll, I could always teach you, Sumire-chan."
Takagawa: "Wait, really?"
Sakura: "Yeah! It'll be fun! On top of that, you won't make a fool out of yourself at the school ski trip."
Takagawa: "Thanks, Sakura-chan. I mean, we are dating now so…"
Sakura immediately started blushing.
Sakura: "Y-yeah. Right. We are dating."
Takagawa didn't seem to notice Sakura's blush as she was too wrapped up in her own thoughts about tomorrow.
Takagawa: "So uh… I'm excited for tomorrow."
Sakura: "Heh. Partly, since now, you'll get to spend some quality time with your girlfriend!"
Takagawa: "About that… I guess we're gonna have some questions to answer, huh."
Sakura: "Eh. I doubt that anyone would care, unless they liked us."
Takagawa: "True. I guess it would be as simple as telling them that we're dating."
Sakura: "Yep!"
They began walking home, both confused at why they weren't splitting.
Sakura: "So… you live this way too?"
Takagawa: "Uh, yeah. My house is the first one in the block."
Sakura: "So you're only about 5 minutes away from me. Nice."
The 2 of them shared a smile before Sakura dropped off Takagawa at her house.
###
It had snowed a little bit overnight. Thanks to the ski resort's fake snow procedures, though, that little bit of snow was enough to ski with. Soon enough, everyone had met up at the ski lodge.
Nagatoro: "Alright, so we meet back in an hour?"
Everyone nodded.
Nagatoro: "Alright! Let's go, Senpai!"
Nagatoro and Senpai headed for a carpet lift to go onto a relatively small hill. Before long, they'd reached the top. Not many people were here today as no one was expecting that much snow that day.
Nagatoro: "So Senpai, the first thing that you need to know is a wedge turn."
Nagatoro demonstrated the turn. Senpai moved to match her, but ended up spinning out of control and crashing into a snowbank.
Nagatoro: *worried* "S-Senpai! Are you ok?!"
Senpai: "Y-yeah. I'm fine."
Nagatoro breathed a sigh of relief before donning a smirk.
Nagatoro: "Well, this is just what I expected out of bean sprout Senpai!"
Senpai: "S-shut up! I haven't skied in half a decade!"
Nagatoro: "Of course you haven't, loner Senpai! Not to worry, you've got your cute kohai to teach you how to ski once again! Although, it might be a good idea to learn how to brake first."
Senpai: "A-alright."
Before long, Senpai had mastered braking.
Nagatoro: "Not bad, Senpai! Looks like you're better at stopping than improving."
Senpai: "No kidding."
Nagatoro: "What's this? Has Senpai got some sass?"
Senpai: "M-maybe!"
Nagatoro: "Why don't you try a wedge turn again?"
Senpai promptly spun out and stopped.
Nagatoro: "You know, Senpai, you're looking at your feet too much."
Senpai: "I can't help it… I instinctively look down."
Nagatoro: "We~ll…"
Nagatoro skied slightly in front of Senpai. He turned completely red and stared at her. Nagatoro seemed to be glowing in front of Senpai's eyes, sporting a childish grin that he was all too familiar with.
Nagatoro: "I was going to ask you to keep your eyes on me, but it looks like you're doing a great job of that already, Pervert-Senpai!"
Senpai: "I'm not a pervert!"
