Nishikata ran. He ran for at least the tenth time today. But this time, he was pretty sure he set a new personal speed record.

With his mind in overdrive, he sprinted all the way home, blazed through his pushups and shower, and appeared at the dinner table in nearly the blink of an eye. Barely able to keep still during dinner and hardly tasting his mother's normally delicious gyoza, he excused himself quickly. He paced around his room for a minute haphazardly, then grabbed his sneakers and bolted out for another run.

He ran and ran to get away from all of it. He just kept running, beginning to gasp for air. He really didn't want to think about what had just happened, and this was the only way to take his mind off of it. The sun was starting to go down, but he just kept going for as long as he could.

Eventually, he could go no further. After a full day of being out and about, Nishikata had exhausted himself. Spying a bench near the path, he slumped into it for relief.

As soon as he caught his breath, the thoughts came back at full force. There was no way around it now.

What the heck had just happened!? Nishikata had had the perfect plan to beat her topped by a solid new defense against teasing, and the combination had made Takagi… hug him? Hold his hand?!

There was no way he was hiding his emotions like that again.

Nishikata had stepped up his game. It was only natural that she do the same. Nishikata knew from frustrating experiences that Takagi somehow always had the upper hand; it was serendipity if nothing else.

So when she had flirted, he was sure it was just to get a rise out of him. But he hadn't let it show, or done his best. When she wanted help with the kite, it was obviously a setup, but she made him jump to a new level by needlessly making him guide her hands.

But the real confusion began when she stepped back into him. Countless times, Takagi had joked about holding his hand or some other embarrassing thing, only to pull back at the last moment, purely because she thought it was funny. Nishikata knew her well. But when they just stood there, she hadn't moved away. Not one bit. As they stood, Nishikata's offensive mindset had quickly morphed into embarrassment and stress, and he didn't know what to do besides sticking to his plan—holding it in as best he could.

The back of his mind had kept waiting for the inevitable joke Takagi would crack about him bear-hugging her. Something to justify the closeness, something to make him spring back and cry out. He found himself almost wanting the tease to come so he could get out of this new territory so things would make sense again. The only thing that kept him anchored was knowing that they were doing this to practice kite-flying, not anything else.

But the biggest shocker of all came while lying in the shade under that tree, when Takagi moved her hand over onto his, all the while smiling innocently at him. There was no motive for doing so; they weren't holding the kite handles anymore, and they were completely out in the open where others could see. He had barely kept it together until that point with his emotionless facade, but that had pushed him well over the edge, letting everything out at once. Teasing was all she ever did; how was he supposed to react to a Takagi completely devoid of it? Sure, he had instinctively grabbed her hand at the festival to help her down the steps, but he now knew that was completely different.

After something like this, even someone as dense as Nishikata could realize that Takagi had to like him? Not even a teasing mastermind like her was willing to pull off a trick that mean, right? But any joy he might have felt from the possible realization was overshadowed by one sheer fact: Nishikata had no idea how to react.

Did he think Takagi was cute? ...Yes. Was she smart, funny, and even occasionally nice? Yes. Did he care about her? Yes. But did he actually like her?

Nishikata had wrestled with that for months but just didn't know. It was too embarrassing to think much about. He wasn't even sure if he knew what that meant. And could he really like someone who forced him to do over 60 pushups a day?

And even if he did like her, how could Nishikata, just an immature, young teenager, be anything more than a friend to her? How could he possibly stand the judgment from everyone, the embarrassment? What did being in a relationship even mean?

Nishikata's mind was filled with these questions during kite-flying with Takagi, questions whose answers terrified him. And when Takagi's hand found his, coupled with that perfect smile, he panicked. He wasn't prepared for a future like that.

And now he was just alone in the dark.

Nishikata glanced down at his phone. No new messages, and it was getting really late. With a sigh, he began the long trudge home, in no condition to even think about running again.

As he walked, his heart rate finally slowing to a steady pace, however, Nishikata realized he hadn't yet considered Takagi's point of view at all. Sure, he always wanted to get back at her and beat her, but he wasn't just mean. He had been so set on holding in his facial expressions and then making his escape, that he hadn't actually asked her what was going on.

I guess she could have just been teasing me, Nishikata mused. Some well-thought-out ruse that made me react just how I did. Typical Takagi. After all, she had pushed him to run away once before.

Still, was that really right? Would Takagi have gone that far? He hadn't heard her laughing as he ran away.

And the alternative, her actually wanting to hold his hand like couples did...

Nishikata shook his head. He wasn't ready for stuff like that; why would she want that anyway? He was just a kid with a tiny crush, likely overthinking that she liked him. Right?

An owl let out a hoo from some distant tree in the nearby forest. Something just didn't sit right. Even though she probably didn't mean anything by it, Nishikata felt bad about just running off like that without warning. Takagi probably had to walk home all by herself, and it wasn't like he was actually mad at her or anything. It was only teasing like usual.

Gritting his teeth slightly, Nishikata stopped momentarily under a lamppost and pulled out his phone. Still no new messages. He typed up a quick message to Takagi and pressed send.

"Sorry for running off earlier. That was kind of mean."

Nishikata stared at the little contact photo of Takagi making a peace sign, his lips pursed together. Was she upset? He wasn't good with things like this.

He let out another groan and continued walking home. The remainder of the night continued uneventfully, with Nishikata barely able to brush his teeth, let alone read any manga before drifting off into troubled sleep.

Late the next morning, Takagi still hadn't texted anything back. Nishikata wasn't sure why he cared so much, as it wasn't like they texted all the time. He really hoped she wasn't angry.

He did have several texts from his class friends, however. Hamaguchi, Nakai and the others were going to the beach! Nishikata grew excited, rummaging around the room to find his beach ball. After making so much progress on his summer homework yesterday, he wouldn't have to stay behind and work.

When Nishikata arrived with Kimura and Takao, the other guys were already wading in the surf and waved to them from a distance. Nishikata eagerly applied his sunscreen—he didn't want to actually get a sunburn—then sprinted into the water just as a new wave crashed down on them.

They played in the waves for a few hours, joking around and diving under the water to avoid the big ones. Nakai had brought a bodyboard and they took turns trying to catch waves on it. Meanwhile, Kimura had brought a pack of hot dogs and a little portable grill to cook them on for lunch.

After eating, throwing around the beach ball, and exploring some rocks for tide pools, the group just sat with their things by the shore, talking.

Surprisingly, once the summer festival was brought up, Hamaguchi couldn't stop talking about his date with Houjou. He looked starstruck, talking about how she had reciprocated his feelings as they watched the fireworks, which made Nishikata feel uneasy.

And before summer break had started, he remembered Hamaguchi flat-out denying any feelings for her, embarrassed just as he. What gives?

That wasn't to say Hamaguchi wasn't a little uneasy now. But he seemed to confide in his friends more than before.

What was even more puzzling was how none of his other friends derided Hamaguchi for it. Nakai was supportive of course, but he already had a girlfriend. Why didn't everybody else tease him even more for admitting such an uncomfortable, uncool thing, instead of hiding it?

"You know, it's pretty cool how brave you were to do something," Takao of all people commented. "I couldn't even begin to do anything with my– er, if I had a crush on someone."

Nishikata's mouth dropped open as he stared at his lanky friend. Did he just say cool?! Takao had joked about him staring at Takagi or being around her in the past, even just the day before. How was this any different?

"Yeah, but I mean, what do I do next? I don't even know what to text her, let alone plan another date!" Hamaguchi replied, looking flustered. He suddenly turned toward the most experienced of the group. "How do you do it, Nakai-kun?"

Nakai turned slightly pink. "Umm, me?" He scratched his head. "Well, I'm just myself, I guess? I hang out with Mano whenever she wants, sometimes we go explore new parts of the city together or help each other with homework. I dunno."

Nishikata wasn't sure how his friends could do this, opening up and being vulnerable. Aside from games and manga, all he ever thought about was trying to be cool and beat Takagi at her own game. The thought of doing something 'uncool' had always freaked him out. But was liking someone else, and trying to show them that, less weird than he thought?

Even Takagi didn't seem to think it was that unpleasant. She had kept teasing him about them being on a date, but also said it wasn't that weird.

Everyone else was already being vulnerable, so Nishikata just had to ask too. "I don't get it. Aren't you guys embarrassed to talk about your crushes like this?"

"Of course I'm embarrassed!" Hamaguchi yelled back, growing redder yet. Crap, Nishikata thought, That was too blunt.

"But… I still like Houjou-san. And all the high-schoolers are already together, going on dates." He turned away sheepishly. "...So why not start figuring it out now?"

As the rest of the boys agreed, Nishikata noticed that the sky-high sun had already passed its apex, signaling that the days were starting to get shorter. Summer vacation was quickly drawing to a close, so he and his class were well on their way to becoming third-years.

And then, only one year until high school.

A little girl screamed to the side, laughing as a little boy chased her with some seaweed on a stick. Nishikata guessed they were just in elementary school. They had so much less to think about, just able to have fun without second thoughts.

And in that moment, Nishikata realized the truth. He was growing up.

And with that, maybe he shouldn't be thinking dating and girlfriends were so embarrassing anymore.

Furthermore, Takagi was growing up too. Nishikata had a feeling she would never stop teasing him, but could that mean anything in the context of what had happened the day before?

Nishikata searched through his backpack to find his phone, which he hadn't checked since arriving at the beach that morning.

He had a notification from Takagi. The hair prickled across his arms as he clicked on it.

"It's okay."

The boy breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't mad at him after all; why did he have to go about worrying so much?

Just then, the notification sounded, and a second message appeared below the first.

"I'm sorry too."

Huh? Why is she sorry? Nishikata thought, scratching his head. I guess it's for teasing me so much? Or is it–

"Nishikata!" Hamaguchi called out, cutting his thoughts short. "Did you hear me?"

Nishikata shook his head and turned his attention to his messy brown-haired friend. He held his phone far out in front of him, looking frazzled.

"Houjou-san just invited me to do some cooking with her, at her house, but I don't have the guts to do it all by myself. Think you can back me up? And maybe have Takagi-san tag along with you?"

"Whaaa-?!" Nishikata spurted out, moving back. Even with two couples, that sounded like a date! "You don't get it, I'm not d–"

He paused as he realized what he was doing. Reeling back, as always, at any suggestion of him being with Takagi.

One date didn't mean they were a couple. Was a date with her actually that embarrassing?

"I-I don't know," Nishikata finally ended, confused. Hamaguchi looked crestfallen.

"Don't worry buddy, I gotcha!" Nakai replied with a cheery smile, smacking Hamaguchi hard on the back and making him sputter.

"What was that fo—"

"I bet Mano would have fun cooking too, I can ask her and maybe we can come along instead."

"...Oh, that's great. Thanks a bunch!"

Kimura's stomach growled loudly, despite them having eaten not too long ago. He had a contorted frown on his face, as if he were about to hurl.

"Giving you guys space when you're on dates is one thing. But you're gonna be cooking on them now too? It's too much!" He spun and grabbed hold of Takao's shoulders, shaking the poor boy back and forth and making him shriek.

"You hear that!? We just have to find girls too, I can't miss out on this forever! Somewhere out there, I know there's a girl waiting who's just as much of a curry connoisseur as me!"

"Reeelaax," Nakai said with his signature smile, "I'm sure we can find another time to all hang out and eat together as well."

Nishikata oddly felt slightly jealous as his friends' conversation drifted to other topics. He had turned down that cooking activity with hardly a second thought, but wouldn't it have been fun? Maybe he could have challenged Takagi to a cook-off, not that he knew anything about cooking in the first place.

Takagi-san.

Nishikata looked back down at her last text. "I'm sorry too." He thought he was at fault; something felt wrong with that. She was rarely sorry for her annoying, but admittedly harmless teasing, so could it really be that? Did she think she had gone too far with it? It had certainly made him uncomfortable, but…

He thought back to how it had felt, having his arms around her like that. Her hair had smelled nice; reminiscent of his mother's perfume, but fresher.

It had caught Nishikata off-guard and even now made his heart beat faster, but he guessed he didn't really mind it.

Then was it about… her touching my hand? His whole frame shivered as he remembered her smaller hand briefly resting on top of his own. Just like when he had grabbed it to get them down those festival steps.

Now that he had time to think about it, Nishikata didn't mind that part either. Perhaps he even liked it. But the major question still remained: why on Earth had she done it?

Was it all part of the plan to tease him incessantly? Or was Takagi growing up too, and by some miracle just wanted to hold it?

Nishikata's face grew red, but he remembered what his friends were saying. Even if it was embarrassing, they were pursuing their crushes. It was less weird than he had made it out to be.

I have to know, he thought to himself, What is she apologizing for? And could she really have feelings for me?