Hi all, I've been working on this story idea for over a year now. It's not quite done, but I want to start posting every week or so in anticipation of the movie coming out of theaters next month.

This story begins after the Season 2 finale but borrows (and radically changes) some elements from Season 3 throughout. It's a bit more drama-heavy than the anime/manga, but is intended to be suitable for all ages. Like many of my stories, I try to focus on character flaws and development, which is a bit difficult and requires some imagination with the way the show often perfectly depicts Takagi. Hopefully, you will still find it enjoyable.

If you like it or have any constructive feedback, I'd really love to hear about it in a short review. Enjoy!


Nishikata ran. First over a grassy hill. Then around a cluster of thorny bushes. A sudden pivot veering around some older kids. And finally, a swift jump over a bed of craggy rocks. The air whipped through his jet-black hair and ruffled his shirt, but he didn't care. He needed speed.

A sudden, strong tugging came from Nishikata's hands. Slowing, he craned his neck up to look into the sky, then let out an excited whoop. Two colorful kites were picking up speed, finally being propelled ever higher by the strong upper winds. He stopped completely and tightened his grip on the kite strings in each hand, then jogged back to his friends at the other end of the valley.

"Thanks, Nishikata!" Kimura said as he carefully took his kite handle back from Nishikata. "There's no way I could have gotten mine high enough over the treeline to the wind."

"Yeah, and two at once this time too!" Takao added, his own kite already high in the air from Nishikata's first run.

"It's no problem at all," Nishikata replied smugly, taking his second kite handle in his other hand and experimenting to see if he could make his kite flip. It made a large figure-8 in the air, making him grin. As Takao and Kimura yelled with excitement and tried to replicate the trick, the grin only widened.

This was the perfect summer day. Nishikata loved the outdoors, loved being active, and loved getting to look cool around his friends. And better yet, he hadn't been teased even once all morning! He closed his eyes and let out a content sigh.

...I wonder what Takagi-san's doing today, Nishikata thought absentmindedly, as his friends chatted away. He hadn't seen her for the past few days, not since saying goodbye at her doorstep after the Summer festival.

Nishikata turned the string around in his hands, his arms doing wide loops pulling each line from the kite to practice figure-8s in the sky. Each line was attached to different parts of the kite, making more complex maneuvering possible. With every stroke, the pattern became more consistent.

Suddenly, he knew exactly how he could finally beat her.

The next time I see her, I'll challenge Takagi-san to a kite-flying competition! Whoever can pull off the coolest trick in the air wins! I've clearly mastered kite-flying now, so this plan is foolproo–

Nishikata's scheming was interrupted by a loud shriek coming from aways behind them. The three boys flipped around to see a forlorn Mano reaching out pitifully towards her boyfriend, Nakai, who was sprinting away and holding their kite behind him.

"Geez, he's not ditching her, he's just doing what Nishikata did to get the kite high enough in the air!" Takao commented, picking at something in his long front teeth. "Do all girls react so loudly like that?"

"I don't know any other girls like that," Kimura replied, pulling his kite away to prevent it from tangling with the others. "I mean, Mano is in a relationship with Nakai… Is that why?"

Nishikata had been watching Mano drop to the ground, then spring back up and reset to happy as Nakai came back with a sky-high kite. She really does have quite the over-the-top reactions, he realized.

"That can't be why—Houjou doesn't act like that at all, and neither does Takagi-san. Who else is dating?"

Nishikata raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, Takagi-san?"

Kimura grinned. "I mean, we saw you guys at the summer festival, so you really are dating now, right?"

Nishikata jumped an entire foot back, his eyes opening up as wide as baseballs. "HUUuuugh!? I mean, no, no way we aren't dating, that's absurd!" He began waving his arms frantically in front of him. "You've got it wrong, that wasn't a date!" In the commotion, he lost his grip on his kite, making him yell and pounce back forward to get a grip once again.

Nakai and Kimura each raised an eyebrow back, unconvinced. "I dunno, you looked pretty determined to find her during those fireworks," Kimura teased with a sly smile.

"It's not what you think it is!" Nishikata pleaded, feeling his face beginning to grow red. "I don't like her, she's just a friend! We just got lost and, uh, wanted to find a better place to see the fireworks; it isn't like that!"

Great, the perfect day, ruined. This is so uncool, he thought to himself, looking away.

"Well, if you say so," Kimura said with a shrug.

"Your reactions are kind of like Mano-chan's though," Takao added with a particularly nasal tone in his voice. "So maybe it doesn't have anything to do with girls or relationships."

That one hit Nishikata hard too. Takagi was always commenting on or laughing at his reactions, saying she could read him like an open book. But he hadn't realized that it was bad enough that his friends could as well. Pretty much the opposite of cool.

The rest of the morning progressed uneventfully, with all three friends practicing with the kites until the wind died down, then eating their five sack-lunches, of which three belonged to Kimura. While Nishikata quickly started having fun again, his thoughts continued to dwell on the summer festival after being reminded of it.

He had gone over it several times. Had he asked her to come with him? Yes. Did he feel that sudden urge to find her and make her happy during the fireworks? Yes. Had he chosen to hold Takagi's hand? Yes. Did that mean it was a date? No freaking way.

There were obviously just two logical reasons why he had grabbed her hand. First, without a phone he had kept losing her in the crowd, and second, those stairs were steep. Heck, even while holding hands they were practically falling down. And sure, Takagi had later teased him about his "datelike" action of buying them sparklers, but that was seriously only because he felt bad for missing the fireworks that she had wanted to see.

Nishikata sighed. Deep down, he knew that it was his fault for them missing the fireworks. The date—err, the festival had actually been really fun despite the constant teasing and losing, but he still felt a little bad, even if he had tried to make up for it.

At a fork in the road, Nishikata waved goodbye to his friends and continued on alone. Try as he might though, he could not stop thinking about holding Takagi's hand. The action was mostly instinctive on his part, being out of breath after running up all those stairs, but at that moment it had just felt right.

After a few days to think, though, Nishikata could easily explain why he had acted that way, and it wasn't something super embarrassing like love. So why did he keep thinking about how soft and warm it felt? Why couldn't he shake Takagi's shocked, happy expression from his mind? Why did he so precisely remember the sensation of each of her fingers and thumb loosely pressed against his?

And why was he blushing right this very second? Nishikata glanced around nervously to make sure nobody would see him, wiping sweat off his palms. A small shrine stood a bit off to the right, birds chirping in a few trees around it. A calm, little Buddha statue stood between it at the road as if to greet passerbys.

That shrine is kinda like the one Takagi-san likes to go to, he thought, then mentally facepalmed from jumping straight back to her again.

But then it occurred to him—who cared if he kept thinking about her? Takagi-san was his rival, and he had to best her! It didn't matter if she looked cute in that yukata or if holding her hand was embarrassing. Nishikata was already tired from all that running earlier, and she undoubtedly had a multi-day barrage of teasings ready to unleash as soon as they met up.

Nishikata narrowed his eyes. No, he wouldn't let her tease him a single time today. No push-ups, not from her. After talking about Mano-chan, though, Nishikata knew that if he overreacted the same way as always, he'd fail. Takagi-san would tease him yet again and laugh.

Suppressing his emotions. That was the key. Nishikata needed to be like that Buddha statue. Calm and impassive, as if he were going down the city waterslide—scratch that—no, as if he were pacing himself in a marathon. That way, he wouldn't give her anything to make fun of.

As Nishikata walked, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and softened his expression. He thought back to her most recent joke about him being "datelike", and fought against the pressure to scrunch up his nose in disgust or scowl. With concentration, he managed to hold back any reaction. Recalling walking down the summer festival steps with Takagi-san, he again managed to suppress all but a light blush.

It was working! Nishikata smiled widely and opened his eyes, then forcefully dropped the smile and went back to his stoic expression.

The act required lots of concentration, but by the time Nishikata got to the library, he had it down. As strangely nervous as he suddenly felt to finally see Takagi-san again after the festival, he kept it in.

Takagi felt similar nervous butterflies in her stomach as she waited at a table near the library entrance for her crush to show up. The past couple of days had gone by mainly just at home or with the occasional friend outing, but her usual sharp eye and focus had been thrown off. The entire time she had excitedly waited to work on their summer projects together as they planned, both wishing it would come faster and feeling unsure about their next step forward.

As a master of disguise, however, Takagi wasn't letting any of that show. Her chipper expression and soft smile were as calm and collected as ever; not even a hint of a blush was peeking through.

It was true that Nishikata's latest actions had taken her aback, with him emotionally moving forward much much faster than she had anticipated, but she wouldn't let that choke her up. She'd had nearly a week to process him courageously asking her out, even if it was at her request, and spent the last few days mentally recovering from Nishikata holding her hand (even now, a nervous rush of excitement shot down her spine). Exactly how he'd managed to do that, when she'd been too nervous to, was beyond her.

Well, it had only been beyond her at first. Takagi was accustoming herself to a new Nishikata, one that had grown far quicker than she had expected. If he really did like her as she suspected, then being together, showing affection, was both an entrancing and terrifying thought. Her past teasing about hand-holding was mostly just that, teasing, as she had never actually expected Nishikata to do anything about it. At most, perhaps subconsciously start thinking of her as more than a friend.

The library door swung open, letting in a fresh summer breeze, and in walked a boy sporting a red and yellow baseball cap. Takagi's smile widened.

"Nishikata, over here!" she called just loud enough for him to hear, waving him over. Sunshine coming in from the open door lit up his already red cheeks, making her giggle.

"H-Hi there, Takagi-san," Nishikata remarked, pulling off his backpack and taking the seat opposite from her. He was looking around the library, rummaging through his backpack for a notebook, and—nope, he was definitely checking her out. Takagi gripped her own notebook a little tighter, glancing down at her own carefully prepared outfit of her blue-and-white-striped top and minty blue skirt.

"It's just me, Nishikata," Takagi said sprightly, "Why are you already so red?" She batted an eyelash once and cocked her head at his horrified expression. "Were you thinking about how you held my hand?"

"WHHAAaatt!?" Nishikata yelped, his face growing a darker shade of red before he shot a hand up to cover it. "No, I wasn't thinking about that at all! I'm just, you know, um, sunburned! I was outside all morning and it was really sunny, I swear!"

Takagi couldn't contain her laughter, chortling into her arm at another signature Nishikata reaction. It only grew worse when a librarian shushed Nishikata for his outburst, making him bury his head in his hands on the table.

Nishikata slowly lifted his head to look at the girl shaking with laughs with a nasty grimace on his face. But then he paused, taking a deep breath, and the grimace faded away.

Takagi blinked, but then smiled. "So did you figure out what to do for your project yet?"

Nishikata nodded, flipping open his notebook and holding it up for her to see. He had neatly sketched out a few versions of a red-haired teenage boy doing pull-ups at a park, running outside, and swimming. Takagi noted his use of colored pencils; apparently he had upgraded from the crayons used from their class camp guidebook.

More telling, however, was how strikingly similar the teenage boy looked to the male protagonist in Nishikata's favorite anime. Takagi's lips twitched upwards; she couldn't resist.

"Either you're doing something on exercise, or you're making a guide on how to become like your idol from 100% Unrequited Love," she joked, gearing up for his forthcoming reaction.

Nishikata's brow twitched as he surreptitiously glanced over Takagi's shoulder, undoubtedly checking for others even though she had spoken quietly. But after a few seconds, he pointed back at the pictures, shaking his head.

"No, it's just your first guess, mainly. I'm trying to make a guide on how to live a healthy life, but exercise is the only part I know much about. I should probably add a section about a healthy diet too."

How odd. Takagi hadn't intended to get him in trouble again, but Nishikata always freaked out when she mentioned his favorite girls' manga in public. He had most certainly looked around, though. Something was up.

"But what about all the candy and soda you like?" she asked with a grin. He looked away slightly but had no other reaction.

"Well I'm working on trying to eat better, so I thought I could still try."

"That's really cool that you found something you like, Nishikata," Takagi replied truthfully. "As for me, I'm going to make a pamphlet on Greek Mythology. I want to describe all the different Gods and summarize their stories and myths."

Nishikata perked up at that, apparently liking her subject matter as well, which made her happy. The next few hours flew by, with the pair each working on their own project, grabbing books to look things up, and bouncing ideas off one another. Takagi had Nishikata listen to her summaries of Aphrodite, Hades, and others for comprehension, while he got her input on different types of healthy foods and recipes.

Interestingly enough, Nishikata was making progress faster than she was. Part of it was from their focused activity, and therefore, lack of teasing or challenges to fill the time. Another part was his eager smile as he drew out the proper form for various types of push-ups, which was just too cute to ignore. Being next to him for the first time after their pivotal first date, Takagi had even more trouble concentrating than before.

He would never notice, but her eyes kept flitting to and from his unoccupied left hand, only inches away from her own right hand. Takagi could remember the callouses on the top of his palm pressed up against her own as he held her hand. As much as she liked Nishikata, to say it had surprised her was a big understatement.

Takagi glanced up at Nishikata, now deeply engaged in some book on food sciences, and bit her lip. His hand was so close to hers. She really, really wanted to feel those rough callouses again, sweat and all.

What was he thinking? How did he feel about their date, if he was even calling it that by now? Normally, Takagi could read Nishikata right away, and while this date was definitely embarrassing to him, they had dived too quickly into their projects for her to pick anything else up. But they hadn't talked it over at all and he seemed mostly unphased.

Does he really like me? she thought.

Takagi shook her head vigorously, staring down at her notebook hard.

"Hmm?" Nishikata looked up at her, confused.

"It's nothing. Just discarding a bad idea." Nishikata raised an eyebrow but went back to his book.

She knew he liked her already; there was more than enough circumstantial evidence for that. Nishikata was just passionate about his project. Plus, Takagi reminded herself, he's the one who actually stepped up and did something, even after I teased him about it.

It had taken a lot of courage for Takagi to leave such an obvious, tease-free hint so Nishikata would ask her to the festival in the first place. Despite her efforts to leave that day free, if he hadn't comforted her at the shrine and then surprised her that day with that souvenir, she probably would have wimped out and hoped to just run into him at the festival instead. But she didn't even ask him! It was Nishikata who had to ask, and it was Nishikata who suddenly ended up holding her hand and turning that night around.

What if she had been more frank months earlier? What if she had done more than simply tease, what if she had truly acted on her feelings way earlier and told him? What if she hadn't backed out whenever Nishikata moved to warm her hand or do whatever 'punishment' she jokingly fabricated for him? Would they already be together?

Takagi was positive that Nishikata liked her back. He was just a little more oblivious and outwardly embarrassed than she, causing slow developments in their relationship since she had waited for him instead of acting.

And waiting had been fine, in all honesty; being with Nishikata in the first place was a joy and Takagi loved every moment of it. But now that she had had a taste of what their relationship could be, she wanted more. And if Nishikata was ready, she wanted it now.

Takagi gulped, then narrowed her eyes. This time, I won't just be a scaredy-cat and wait for Nishikata to do something romantic. No, it will be me.

With her resolution set, Takagi actually started making a good headway on her class project. Unfortunately, it didn't last long; more and more groups of older high-school students had been coming in to study for college entrance exams, making the library more and more crowded and loud.

When the pair noticed others beginning to leave due to lack of seating, they decided to cut their study short and head out an hour early. Once Nishikata put down his pencil, Takagi could tell something was brewing in his mind. So when he excitedly suggested a kite-flying contest only moments after they began heading home, she knowingly smiled and accepted.

They stopped in a large green park close to their neighborhood, a playground on one end and trees far on the other. Nishikata walked over to some shade from a tree, took off his backpack, pulled out a sleek, colorful kite from his backpack. He showed it off to Takagi with a grin.

"Okay, listen up. Whoever can do the coolest trick with the kite in the air, wins. Got it?"

Takagi smiled. "Got it."

"Excellent," Nishikata replied deviously, untangling the line of the kite to get it ready to fly. He waited for a gust of wind, then took off running to catch it, gradually releasing the line into the air as the kite gained speed.

"Wow," Takagi whispered to herself, watching the kite glitter and reflect sunlight from above. It was tugged to and fro by the cute boy dashing along below it. As Nishikata pivoted and began running back, a warm, fuzzy feeling began spreading out all throughout her to the ends of her fingertips.

Moments later, he came back, panting slightly.

Suddenly, it came to her. She knew how to take their next step forward.

"How do you like that, Takagi-san!" he bragged, looking exceptionally proud and full of himself. Takagi tittered at his enthusiasm.

"That's pretty impressive!" she replied, but before he could bask in his pride anymore, continued with "Can I go first?"

Nishikata stopped, his grin transitioning into confusion. "Umm, are you sure you don't want to see how I do mine first?"

"Mmm."

Nishikata's eyes momentarily turned to slits as he peered at Takagi suspiciously. But then he breathed in deeply, and a surprisingly neutral expression slowly replaced them.

"I guess that's fine," he said with a shrug, stepping in front of her to hand over the two kite line handles.

Something was fishy. Takagi couldn't help but wonder, was Nishikata purposefully fighting against his reactions? He was normally rather unaware of them, but these strange moments of breathing and concentration were atypical.

But her thoughts were cut short as Nishikata held out each kite handle for her to grab.

Takagi cautiously took the left handle first, her fingers brushing over Nishikata's as he relinquished his grip. The kite's force was stronger than she expected, forcing her to plant her left foot into the ground for stability. The force grew a little stronger as she took the other handle, but she kept her ground. The wind up there sure was strong today.

Takagi experimented, walking a few feet to the side and pulling the kite along. She tried pulling one handle further back than the other and smiled as the kite veered to the left and rotated slightly in the wind. She spent another minute making small movements and observing the result far above.

"This is fun," she said to Nishikata, who watched her carefully. "But this is my first time flying a kite. Could you help me do my first trick?"

Nishikata's mouth dropped open slightly. "But that's exactly why I wanted to go first and show you!"

Takagi's eyelids dropped slightly as she leaned forward at him teasingly. "Could it be, that you're too embarrassed to help a girl out?"

Nishikata's face turned pink. "No, it's not that…"

"Hmmmmm?" Takagi cocked her head at him, her eyes twinkling.

Nishikata gulped and took a half step closer so he was directly in front of her.

"W-well, you just have to grip it t-tight like this," he mumbled, placing a slightly shaking hand over hers to guide it. He swiveled around, neck craning to see the kite from behind him. "A-and then you can swing it–" he slowly guided Takagi's right hand downwards and back, turning back again to see the effect. "Wait, no, that's not right." He tried again, with similar results.

"Nishikata," Takagi said softly, "If you want to see the kite, I think you have to show me from behind. My hat might get in the way, so you can take it off."

Nishikata turned redder and took another deep breath, looking hesitant.

"Are you sure?"

Takagi smiled and nodded, feeling her own warm blush beginning to spread across her face. Secretly, her heart was racing. She wasn't backing down! She was doing it!

Nishikata carefully let go, turning around and stepping right beside her. He first tentatively pulled the light summer hat off of her head and set it down a few feet away. He then tried to snake his left arm in front of her to reach the left handle, but that didn't really work.

Takagi's heart rate spiked nervously, but she just barely held back her usual de-escalating, teasing remark.

"Nishikata, you have to go behind me."

Nishikata looked extremely suspicious, but then the expression faded. After several long moments, he took a wavering step directly behind Takagi, his arm hairs tickling the outsides of hers as he reached around her to grab onto the handles.

Takagi's heart rate sped up even more. She felt grateful that he could no longer see her own scarlet cheeks. But she could see that Nishikata was still too far back to actually reach the handles. He had left a full foot of space between her back and him, which just wasn't going to work.

Normally, she would have backed out long ago with a playful jest. Maybe she would have let him admit defeat that he couldn't teach her the trick and move on.

But not today. He hadn't backed down, and neither would she. Takagi was through with wimping out and waiting around.

So instead, she took a small step backward, pushing her back right up against Nishikata's chest. He grew as stiff as a board, his upper arms now pressing against hers.

"There you go," she whispered to the side, the butterflies zipping around at lightspeed in her stomach. "Now will you show me?"

Takagi could now feel the boy's heartbeat pounding away into her upper back, mirroring hers. For several moments he stood there, frozen. Then, inch by inch, he moved his hands back over hers to grip the handles, making her heart soar as high as the kite.

But he didn't do anything else. Takagi heard him, felt him, taking deep breaths; he seemed too afraid to continue. She didn't mind. She wasn't going to tease him about it, not right now.

They stood there, together, for a moment. His exhales ticked the small of her neck; this was the closest they had ever been.

"This is fun," she said simply. The kite had done nothing but flap in the wind.

Just to be sure, she would ask him too.

"Do you agree?" Takagi felt Nishikata shiver slightly against her for several seconds before replying.

"...Uhmm… Flying k-kites isn't b-bad…"

There it was. He was nervous too, but not overly so. That had to be a surefire signal that he liked this too.

That he liked her too.

At that point, Nishikata carefully let go of her hands. He slowly backed away, ending their contact. Takagi turned back to see his sweating, beet-red face looking awestruck as ever.

"Do you want a turn?" she offered, holding out the handles. Maybe this time I can teach him a kite trick, she thought with a devious smile.

Nishikata looked up at her, struggling to put on a calm face. "I, umm…" He glanced nervously back at their stuff under the tree. "I think I'll sit down for a bit first."

Nishikata walked stiffly back to the tree, his arms and legs swinging as if he were a robot. Takagi beamed at him from behind.

He was hugging me! she thought excitedly as emotional adrenaline pulsed through her veins. She had only dreamed of that happening and could barely think straight. And from Nishikata's actions, she was positive he liked it too. After all, he had taken all the first steps up until now and was acting nervous just like her; he must have liked this change, of her taking charge.

With a little effort, Takagi pulled down the kite and caught it in one of her hands. She then followed Nishikata back and carefully placed his kite down, pinning a corner of it under his backpack so it would stay put.

Nishikata looked dazed, making Takagi giggle slightly as she sat down beside him in the shade. She was pleased that her closeness could make him this catatonic and flustered.

Takagi smiled up into the sky, enjoying the wonderful day. As she looked, she caught sight of another larger kite soaring up into the sky where their kite was before. The top of its string had triangles lining down it, making the kite almost appear like a long-tailed dragon.

"Look," she said, pointing up as the kite continued to fly even higher up. Nishikata glanced at her, then craned his neck up to see.

The stronger kite kept flying higher, and as it did, Takagi realized what she could do to put the cherry on the cake. She stretched out her legs and lied her head down against the soft, cool grass, putting the kite into full view.

"It's easier to see if you do this," she said softly, getting Nishikata's attention. He looked so on edge, looking in all directions, probably nervous.

"It's okay," she soothed with a smile. She could see his brow furrowing and unfurrowing constantly as he thought over the situation. But she fought against the temptation to tease him; it wouldn't be wise to make him feel awkward right now. A moment later, she reached over and gently pulled at his shoulder once to encourage him.

Nishikata scooted a few inches away but slowly laid down as well, following the kite as it flipped in the sky.

For a few minutes, they just lied there, watching, listening to the wind as it whistled between the leaves above.

Takagi felt like she could die happy. This was like stargazing with Nishikata, only a hundred times better. She looked over and saw him sweating, no doubt mulling things over in his mind.

He turned away for a second. "T-Takagi-san? W-Why haven..."

Nishikata trailed off, and made no further attempt to speak. Lost for words. She couldn't stop smiling.

But there was one last thing she still wanted to do. Takagi glanced over her shoulder at Nishikata's left hand, laying open in the cool grass.

Her heart began to beat wildly as she drew in courage. With monumental effort, she inched her hand closer to his, until it was mere millimeters away.

She held her breath. She would not back down this time, no excuses.

Takagi's pinky finger brushed Nishikata's and she heard his sharp intake of breath. Her heart going a million miles a minute, she ever-so-slightly lifted her pinky and placed it on top of his thumb.

Next, her ring finger. Then her middle finger. Then the index. She could feel Nishikata's hand fidgeting under her own.

Takagi shyly turned her head to the right to look at Nishikata, who was already staring hard back at her, a look of intense concentration over his face. She gave a tiny, nervous smile, saying nothing, yet saying everything.

And then with one final effort, she placed her entire hand into his, feeling the blood rush to her cheeks even more. Each of her fingers were now interlaced with his. She was doing it!

His eye twitched slightly and his frame began to shiver.

I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it! I—

Nishikata jerked his hand away from under hers and brought it up to his chest protectively. He sat up suddenly, head quivering and eyes unnaturally wide.

did it… What?

"I don't know… this isn't… why haven't you started to teas-" he fumbled, scooting away as if she were a snake.

Takagi lay there with her hand still outstretched, lost for words.

Nishikata had nearly started hyperventilating, going into a panic. "Uhhmhmmmm…"

He suddenly snapped and shot up. "I j-just remembered, I'm late for d-d-dinner! I g-gotta go!" With that, Nishikata scooped up his backpack and kite, then took off towards their neighborhood at full speed.

Takagi slowly sat up, noticing Nishikata's red and yellow hat forgotten just above where his head had laid. She cradled her right hand in her arm, not knowing what to think, still feeling his lingering touch. She looked over to him running away.

The moment they had built up had been absolutely perfect. In her mind, at least. But Nishikata's sudden major reaction, after so many subdued ones throughout the day, said otherwise?

Takagi tried to smile.

Why did he leave me...?

She just smiled. She was going to smile. Her lip wobbled. She forced that smile up. Her insides churned. She watched the boy's black hair bobbing away in the distance before he rounded a corner, disappearing.

Did I misread the situation?

She smiled. She wouldn't let it out. She felt tears beginning to form, and tried to take a deep, wobbly breath. It's okay. You're okay.

Y-you're okay!

She couldn't smile. The tears began streaming down her red cheeks, and she shakingly turned away from the park to hide her face. Her hand shot up to cover her chest.

No, Takagi was not okay.

I finally did it. I overcame my fear and really did something affectionate on my own… and he rejected me.