Takagi was rarely one to cry. She had grown out of it at a young age and developed a strong hold on her emotions even in earlier elementary school. Sure, she still had the occasional argument with her parents or disagreement with a friend, but she never yelled or screamed and hardly ever shed a tear. She was witty and confident in her actions, yet not overly flamboyant. In fact, she barely had any troubles until she met Nishikata. His priceless reactions were so funny that she just couldn't resist provoking him.

But what had started out as curiosity, coupled with a liking to the boy's subtle kindness, quickly grew into a full-blown crush. And with it, Takagi's feelings began to be disrupted increasingly more often. Did he think her clothes looked cute? What things did he like to do? What could she do to get him to notice her? Was there any chance that he might like her back? Even if they weren't a couple, her mood tended to change more and more depending on his presence and actions.

It wasn't like she had grown less sharp; for the most part, Takagi was still just as shrewd as ever, easily foiling Nishikata's plans and reading his reactions. But things like him hanging her "status quo" calligraphy in his room or getting her surprise souvenirs really threw Takagi off her game. Actually asking her out and then holding her hand was even more exciting, making it hard for her to hold it in even from the outside. The proof was in her inability to concentrate or even sit still since the festival.

But now, Takagi was experiencing a new feeling. Something she had never felt in connection to her crush before, as things had always been so fun and light. Something she was totally unprepared for. And it was a feeling she wouldn't wish on anyone.

Despair.

Her mother could tell something was wrong when Takagi came home that night and was especially sweet to her, letting her go to bed without helping with the dishes. Her friend Sumire had called and texted that night to ask how it went, but Takagi wasn't ready to answer yet. A brown cat had even gotten onto her windowsill that evening and was nice enough to let her stroke it a few times before jumping back onto a tree branch. But none of it helped.

So as Takagi lay curled up in a ball in her bed, watching her faint digital clock change to 1am, she couldn't help but cry. At least a few more tears.

She was a top performer. She almost had straight A's and she consistently outwitted Nishikata in whatever scheme he had planned. She could usually see right through him and know exactly what he was thinking, at least at a high level.

So how had she gone and misread her relationship with Nishikata so horribly?

At that moment, Nishikata was everything to her. She didn't want to sound like some sappy romance novel, but for months she had set her entire future on being with her love, even marrying him after they matured one day. She knew it was naive, but she had still fallen for him, quirks and all. And every day that they moved forward, from them stargazing to him noticing and comforting her in times of need, that dream had only intensified.

With that said, the harsh reality of him cringing away from her endearing touch was truly shattering. Was every fantasy she had thought up just impossible? Had she forged up some make-believe perception of what Nishikata thought of her, when in truth she was really just a friendly rival, nothing more?

He was always nervous when she teased him about holding her hand and got even more uncomfortable whenever she talked about crushes. Based on how he looked at her, how he acted, how he nearly nodded 'yes' when she asked if he liked her that one time at school, Nishikata had to like her! And he had even held her hand on his own accord!

But if that were really true, then why would he have rejected her first persistent attempt at real affection so blatantly? Takagi thought he had been having a good time, acting even more level-headed than usual and still being willing to hold the kite with her. During the summer festival fireworks, she had worried that she came onto him too much and frightened him away, until he appeared at the last moment and blew away her expectations yet again. So by now she really thought he had matured. But had her emotions blinded her, making her fail to notice something awry until it was too late?

Takagi had been too emotional to think very deeply yet, but she could only see three possibilities. One, she had misjudged how ready Nishikata was to take the next step forward and scared him away. Two, she had teased him so much that he couldn't imagine any other possibility from her. And three, he really just didn't feel the same way for her. The last was obviously the worst, but even if she had scared or teased him away, could he ever come back?

Takagi knew she didn't have to be heartbroken forever. She was still only in middle school, could find new friends, and had more than enough other guys interested in her if she ever wanted that sort of thing again. The future was hers to lead.

But she didn't want any of that. She wanted Nishikata.

And as Takagi finally fell asleep that night, wanting Nishikata was the only thing she could think of.

⁂

The next morning was still hard. Takagi went on a run, which she had originally started after seeing Nishikata do it a few times and wanting to see him more often. She'd also found that it helped clear her mind, but today it only made her nervous that she'd run into her crush and not be able to handle it yet.

After breakfast, she then tried to focus on her summer project in her bedroom once more. Takagi did enjoy reading about ancient stories and myths online and trying to deduce their morals, which was a welcome distraction.

Still, she did grow bored after a while, and with it, her thoughts began to linger. Not ready to relive yesterday's disaster yet, she turned to some entertainment, but she felt strange reading 100% Unrequited Love at that moment. Thankfully, around then Mano called and invited her to go on a little hike. Takagi threw on some denim shorts, a pink t-shirt, and a baseball cap before heading out.

The hike was a medium walk outside the city that brought them into the forest. Soon, the surrounding trees began to slope upward, indicating a growing hill on the right. A pretty stone barrier began to line the road for erosion control, until there came a break, with a long, windy staircase going up the hill with no end in sight. Takagi wasn't familiar with the place, but it looked intriguing.

As the pair of friends climbed what seemed like an endless set of stairs in the woods, Mano mentioned how Nakai was off hanging out with some friends at the beach today and she had been feeling lonely.

"Sometimes I worry that while he's away, he'll forget about me," she said with a small sigh, looking into the trees.

"Nakai just gets so focused on what he's doing at the time…"

"Ah c'mon, you know that won't happen," Takagi replied reassuringly. Mano was often insecure like this, but a few words of encouragement were usually enough to cheer her up. "Just because Nakai has lots of friends doesn't mean you're any less important than they are."

That made Mano smile slightly. "Yeah, I guess you're right, I shouldn't care so much."

The two carefully stepped over a tree branch that had fallen onto the stairs. The lush green trees surrounding them made it a very pretty path, even if it was all uphill.

"What about you, Takagi-chan? Do you ever worry that Nishikata-kun would leave you behind?"

Takagi gulped. After leaving home, she realized that Mano would bring up Nishikata at some point, but still didn't know what to do and had been avoiding it. For the time being, she shrugged.

"He's too focused on trying to beat me at challenges to forget about me," she replied, hoping it was still true. Even if it wasn't the ideal, having Nishikata only trying to trick and defeat her was still much better than not having Nishikata at all.

Mano-chan laughed a bit, stopping to take a short breather partway up the stairs. A jaybird called out loudly from somewhere in the woods, giving them each a small jump then making them laugh more.

"How are things going between you two, anyway?" Mano asked once they had started climbing again. "Did you tell Nishikata you like him yet?"

Takagi bit her lip. She'd barely said a thing about Nishikata yet, so Mano had no idea what had happened. The topic was inevitable.

"Well… He asked me to accompany him to the summer festival and it was a lot of fun. At the end, he actually held my hand."

Mano shrieked with joy, giving her a sudden side hug. "That's so exciting! Something like that happened with Nakai and me too during the fireworks! Weren't they amazing?"

Takagi didn't respond, staring at a large boulder as they continued to climb the steps. While the fireworks had been pretty, other things were on her mind. Mano looked over at her with confusion.

"Takagi-chan?" she asked more quietly, "Aren't you happy about it?"

Takagi took a shaky breath, then looked back at her friend. Usually, Mano was the one that came to her with relationship problems, so this felt strange.

"I'm really happy about it. I was so overjoyed after the fact that I could barely focus all week."

"...Then why aren't you smiling?"

She took an even shakier breath, stopping again to grip the handrail. No going back now.

"Yesterday, we finally met up again to work on our summer projects. Once we finished, Nishikata wanted to fly kites."

"Hey, we did that yesterday too!" Mano made a funny little smile. "It can be pretty romantic."

Takagi's eyes dropped to the ground, and she felt something inside twist. "...Yeah, that's what I thought too."

It was hard saying these things so soon after the fact. Mano waited patiently for Takagi to continue.

"Since Nishikata had held my hand, I thought he might want to do it again. He seemed to be having a good time flying the kite with me, so I built up the courage and held his hand back for the first time."

She had to turn away. "But then… he j-jumped up and ran home without me."

Her voice had nearly cracked at the end, something that never happened. She bit her lip again and quickly began up the stairs, hearing her friend gasp.

"Oh no," Mano said softly once she had paced up the stairs to catch up. She tried consoling her, getting more details out as to what happened, but Takagi was too worked up to say much more. She showed her Nishikata's short apology text, still not sure how to understand it, but that was it. She didn't like being in this position of need and uncertainty when she was normally so confident.

And she hated how thinking about everything again made her nearly as emotional as the first time.

Takagi took another step forward and found that it was flat. Looking up, they had reached the top. Mano stopped talking her through things momentarily so they could walk over to the view.

They were hundreds of feet above the sea and had a beautiful wide expanse to peer out at. The ocean waves rolled gently with the wind and lapped at the edges of the craggy rocks far below. More green islands stood far out in the distance; they could see for miles on end.

This seemed like a special place. Her thoughts immediately jumped to taking Nishikata there, but then scrambled back when she remembered what had happened. She wasn't sure if he'd even want to hang out with her anymore.

"I'm sorry, Takagi-chan," Mano admitted, peering out into the expanse. "I thought you would like to come here and hear the rumor about this hike, but I had pretty bad timing.

Takagi felt down, but rumors, myths, and the like always caught her attention. "No, what is it?"

Mano looked back at a small wooden shrine they had passed. "Well, this place is actually kind of famous. There were a total of 143 steps to get to the stop, where each digit 1-4-3 matches up with the amount of letters in 'I' 'l o v e' 'y o u'." She smiled to herself slightly, then walked over to the shrine and pulled out a small notebook and pen, holding them out. "They say that if you write the name of your crush in here, you'll be together forever." She scratched her head, suddenly looking confused. "Or was it 415 steps? I can't quite remember…"

"I see," Takagi replied back with a sad smile as Mano came back. On another day, she would have written her crush's name in that notebook too in large characters in case he ever saw it, but that felt difficult right now. "So does that mean you've brought Nakai-kun up here?"

Mano shook her head. "Not yet, but I want to ask him soon; I hope he'd want to come." She rummaged through a mini backpack she had brought and pulled out some snacks for them to share.

It must have been nice having a boyfriend already. They had already gotten past this bump in the road Takagi was stuck on. Furthermore, she doubted she could ever build back up enough confidence to push them over it.

Takagi didn't want to monopolize the conversation, but after admitting what had happened, she didn't feel like much for talking. She took a few steps to the side and sat down on a bench to look. Mano followed her a moment later, stretching her legs for a bit before sitting down. The air smelled faintly of saltwater from the ocean mist down below.

Takagi wasn't being a good friend, acting all self-centered like this. As she took small bites out the apple Mano had given her, she tried to think of something else to talk about.

"Did I ever tell you how Nakai and I got together?" Mano asked.

Takagi shook her head, turning to give her attention back to her friend. She could at least listen.

"Well, we were just starting out as first years and I had never been to the junior high school before. My parents showed me a city map and drew out the path to get there, but I was really nervous, especially not knowing anyone yet. So on the first day, my dad made arrangements to come into work late and did the walk with me before continuing onto his job."

"Even after getting to school, I still felt nervous, and he couldn't walk back with me again since he had to work late. ...In fact, I was so preoccupied with having to walk back home alone that I didn't talk much to anyone that first day."

Mano looked away, starting to look self-conscious. "After school ended, I stood at the front of the school gates, too scared to leave them. I had been trying to recall the path home so much throughout the day that I had started confusing myself on which turns we had taken. Everyone else was walking or biking home without a second thought, while I just stood there, frozen."

She looked up, starting to smile slightly. "When we were leaving home that morning, a tall boy passed us on his bike. I hadn't realized he was in our class, but he noticed me. Nakai tells me he saw me at the gates when he was grabbing his bike to go home. Somehow, he knew what I was thinking, and offered to show me the route back home that first day. At first, I thought it was weird, but he was just so nice and friendly, especially towards me, and pretty soon we were going back and forth to school every day."

Takagi hadn't known any of that. It was a very cute story. Mano turned back to her, a stern look suddenly appearing on her face.

"Nakai's really dense. Like, super dense. It took him several weeks to even comprehend what I meant when I told him I liked him, he gets more distracted than a toddler in preschool, and even now he's sometimes just clueless."

That same shy smile reappeared on her face again. "...But even so, he's just a really good guy. Even if I have to be patient sometimes, he treats me well and doesn't mess up when it counts. I always worry that he'll leave me, but he hasn't yet."

Takagi felt her stomach twist a little, looking out into the sea again. But yesterday was one of those times when it counted. If Nishikata liked me, would he really have abandoned me?

It was painful.

"Takagi-chan."

She turned back to look up at Mano, trying to keep her head from drooping.

"I don't know why Nishikata-kun would do what he did, but he's a good guy too. Maybe he just wasn't ready for it yet."

In a surprising move, Mano put her hands on Takagi's shoulders. "But there's one thing that's perfectly clear. Nishikata likes you. He likes you just as much as you like him. There's no doubt about it."

Takagi's face didn't change, but her eyes widened slightly. She didn't expect Mano to know so precisely what she was currently stressing over.

"I don't know if that's true anym-"

"NO, Takagi-chan! He likes you, even if he's still coming to terms with it! Who else would walk home every single day with you and spend so much time with you? Who else blushes whenever you're around them? Even Nakai noticed!"

Mano knew little about the extent to which Takagi teased Nishikata, which explained his ever-present red face. But Nishikata still did walk home with her and do things with her no matter how much she teased him. He even took her out to the festival.

She was no longer certain that those acts could truly be more than friendly, but her friend's words at least warmed her spirits a bit.

"Thanks, Mano-chan. I really hope you're right."

Mano closed her eyes and smiled sweetly at her friend. Takagi forced a smile back, then turned back to the view just in time for a gust of wind to come in and ruffle their hair, making Mano sneeze.

"I'm gonna go write Nakai's name in that book now, if that's okay," Mano said, standing up. She walked back to the tiny shrine, leaving Takagi alone.

Takagi looked down at her phone and reread Nishikata's apology. Running away hadn't been nice, but she was the one at fault. She couldn't bear the thought of losing him after this and shouldn't have put off responding for so long.

"It's okay." Takagi typed, tugging nervously at the hem of her shorts. She pressed send.

But that wasn't enough. Wasn't he probably mad at her?

"I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable. I know I'm not yo-"

She shook her head. No, delete.

"You don't have to like me b"

Definitely delete.

"I feel bad that I pushed you like that. I just thought you might have also wanted to"

Delete. She didn't want to make any more mistakes and felt too worried. He hadn't addressed what she had done either.

She couldn't come up with anything, and Mano had now returned and was waiting for her. So finally, Takagi just sent something simple. "I'm sorry too."

⁂

The pair of friends hung out at the lookout a while longer before heading back home. Just after parting ways, Takagi got a text notification and hurriedly pulled out her phone, feeling her heart seize up. But it was just her mom, asking if she would pick up some groceries on the way back for dinner.

As she stood in the produce section of the supermarket, trying to pick out the freshest bundle of bok choy, her phone rang again. Once again, it wasn't Nishikata. And as Takagi considered it, she wondered why he would respond at all to the mere 5 words she had sent.

Instead, her classmate Houjou had apparently invited Hamaguchi over to her house to do some baking, but realized afterwards that it would be too immature to do it all alone; there would simply be too much food. Normally, Takagi would have laughed a bit at that reasoning, but Houjou's next request had her too preoccupied. She wanted Takagi to invite Nishikata and come too.

Why today? Takagi thought desperately, Any other day but today and I'd do it in a heartbeat! She didn't know Houjou all that well but was happy to be her friend, especially with Nishikata.

As she moved on to look for lotus roots and onions, she wondered if Nishikata would reject her there, too. He probably wouldn't text her anything back; did he even want to see her anymore?

Takagi couldn't do it. It sounded fun and she enjoyed cooking, so normally this would have been a great ticket to do something with Nishikata. But there was no way she could just invite him on a cooking date while their scuffle remained unresolved.

Takagi paused in the deli section, trying to write out an excuse on why she couldn't come. But nothing was coming to her. Houjou knew she liked baking too, and she didn't have any more trips lined up at the end of summer.

Glancing at the clock, she put her phone back away to answer later and looked up for the pork her mother requested.

And on the other end of the deli section, peering into the refrigerated shelves of meat, there. was. Nishikata.

Takagi froze, completely petrified. When had he shown up?! Had he seen her yet? She was far from ready to face him! Her eyes darted to the side aisles and back, looking for an escape.

The dried noodles aisle. It was right there; she'd just hide for a bit and then sneak out of the store. Takagi grabbed a mid-sized package of pork at random, turned, and began walking inconspicuously to the aisle. She had to go around a long counter-level display of food to get there and get out of sight. Just as she rounded the counter, nearly safe, she turned back to see if Nishikata had gone.

Bad idea.

Nishikata was still there, but this time, he stared right back at her. Panic shot through her and she flipped back around.

Should she just scamper out of sight anyway? No, that was childish. They had locked eyes; he would ask her later and she couldn't just lie that she hadn't noticed him or he'd think she was mad.

Takagi had no choice. She tried to take deep breaths and calm herself, gripping her grocery bags even tighter than she would grip rollercoaster restraints.

"Takagi-san? Is that you?"

Takagi slowly turned back around to see Nishikata only feet away now, having come over. He was carrying a package of chicken in one hand and a bag like hers in the other.

Takagi feigned a light smile. "Hey there," she greeted, "What are you doing here?"

What do I even say to him!?

"Huh? Well, I was out today and my mom asked me to pick up some groceries on the way home…" Nishikata trailed off, turning red. He was nervous too, shuffling from side to side, which didn't help.

"A-And you?"

Takagi let out a nervous laugh. "Funny enough, my mom asked me to do the same thing. I was hanging out with Mano-chan earlier and am just getting some things for dinner."

"Ah," Nishikata said, matching her with a funny smile and nodding. Then his eyes dropped to the floor and he just stood there, scratching his back restlessly.

Part of Takagi felt like teasing the boy for acting so awkward, perhaps getting up into his face and making him jump back. But a newer, stronger part of her trembled incessantly, terrified that he would get mad at her or just run away again. Would he bring up the moves she made on him? She just couldn't get rejected again this soon!

What do I say? We aren't ready for this yet! How do I get out–

Takagi's fretting paused as she noticed Nishikata continuing to scratch under his shirt. Then he put the chicken in his bag and reached under his waist with his free hand, itching his side furiously. She looked closer and realized that he was quite tan. In fact, he was significantly more tan than the day before. Or was it just that?

Takagi realized she had subconsciously stepped forward to get a better look, but—Nishikata wasn't just blushing this time, he was literally sunburned all over!

Her fake smile was suddenly a real one, and growing. The strangest sensation filled Takagi's body as she began to giggle at the boy's extra red skin, all the while fearing that he would just get mad and leave.

Nishikata reddened further and narrowed his eyes. "What, is there something on my face?!" He whipped out his phone and tried squinting at his reflection from every angle, fiercely rubbing at his eyes. Her giggle grew into a laugh. "Is it a bug!? I don't see anything wrong!"

Takagi was incapable of anything but laughing harder as he frantically tried to check his face for problems. It took her a few seconds to calm down.

"I guess there is something on your face," she replied, wiping away a tear, "It's just, yesterday you lied to me about getting sunburned, but now today you actually did get a sunburn. That's almost an accomplishment."

Nishikata scowled, looking away to hide his embarrassment, and for an instant, everything felt normal. He was just being funny and cute as always, making her laugh again and again. He had that look on his face, one of coming up with some sort of payback that would most certainly backfire. Another tease was on the tip of her tongue, and she opened her mouth to continue.

But then she recalled what had happened and snapped her mouth closed. The instant ended. She had no idea how poorly Nishikata really felt for her and couldn't risk making him upset.

The fear had momentarily dissipated but was now quickly creeping back in.

"So how did you get it?" she asked tentatively, "Were you outside today?"

Nishikata grunted and looked back at her. "Yeah, my friends and I went swimming at the beach today, it was pretty fun. Nakai brought his bodyboard and we threw around a beach ball too, you'd probably like it. I even brought sunscreen, but I guess I forgot to re-apply during lunch."

He let out a frustrated groan and then paused, waiting for Takagi to respond, but she gave none. Usually, she'd have some sort of quip; it almost seemed like he was expecting it.

"...Um, and what did you do with Mano-chan?" he finally asked.

"We went on this little hike in the woods, up this long staircase, where there's a nice viewpoint of the ocean above."

"Oh, that sounds pretty cool," Nishikata said back, now back to smiling. Wearing his baseball cap, even all sunburned, he looked really cute.

Takagi looked down at the ground. "Yeah, it was… really pretty there. And it isn't even that far away from your house..."

But she couldn't do it. There was absolutely no way she could invite him to go with her like this, with everything being so uncertain.

Takagi had to figure out how much he disliked her hand-holding first, what it meant for them. But she was only just keeping it together right now; there was no way she could ask him in a supermarket of all places.

They stood there for another few more awkward seconds, Takagi avoiding his eyes.

"Well, my mom said she needs these soon so I should p-probably go," Takagi finished, taking a small step back.

Nishikata looked surprised. "Oh, okay then."

"I'll see you later, Nishikata," Takagi said hurriedly, turning around and starting to walk away.

It wasn't a disaster, she thought, even though I wasn't ready yet–

"Wait, Takagi-san!"

She stiffened, stopped, and looked back. Nishikata walked back over.

"It's just, I usually help you carry home your stuff now. Want me to come along?" He held out a hand.

Takagi was stunned, her eyes locked onto his outstretched hand. Even now, after everything, he was offering to do something so nice? With no hesitation whatsoever? She hadn't expected him to want to be around her at all. She fought back a blush from blossoming on her cheeks.

For a second there, she had thought he was offering to hold her hand, not her bags.

But as astonishingly sweet as it was, she felt far too vulnerable to be around him more yet. If they walked home, they would most definitely have to talk about yesterday.

"Oh, no, almost everything in here is just light produce," she replied back quietly. "But that's really nice of you to offer, so thank you."

"Ah, alright then," Nishikata said back, with a half-smile.

Takagi turned back, blushed, and hurried away to the register to check out. There were no bicycles outside which meant Nishikata was on foot as well, so she set a fast pace to get ahead on their shared route home.

Why so many mixed signals? she pondered as she pressed forward. First he holds my hand, then he can't take me doing the same, but now he's spontaneously doing more nice things? She couldn't force the blush away anymore, grateful that she was alone as she walked.

Maybe he felt bad about running away, even if he didn't like her, and wanted to make it up.

But he didn't seem upset or anything, not like Takagi had worried. Maybe he was just being nice. Or maybe he really did still want to remain friends?

Mano's voice resounded in her head: He's a good guy too. Maybe he just wasn't ready for it yet. But there's one thing that's perfectly clear. Nishikata likes you!

Mano had said that Nakai was especially nice to her. This treatment was kind of special too, right?

Takagi felt bittersweet for the rest of the night as she helped her mother make dinner, eat, and hang around her room. Bitter still from the rejection, yet sweet from realizing that Nishikata was perhaps okay with hanging out with her even so.

They hadn't addressed yesterday at all. But based on his nonchalance today, perhaps Nishikata didn't want to? Could they just forget about it and move on, at least as just friends? That would still be better than just never talking and worrying constantly.

She could try to do that. She could hold back, for now. And as they spent more time together, as friends, maybe on some distant day, he would come around.

So as Takagi lay in bed, staring at Houjou's texted request, she mustered up a single ounce of confidence and sent Nishikata a new text.

"Houjou and Hamaguchi invited us to do some cooking… Wanna go?"

—

As a reminder, this story diverges from the anime/manga, but it doesn't mean I don't pull ideas from there. There may therefore be inconsistencies with certain manga chapters, but that doesn't matter since they are in a different timeline.