Tessie and Sayaka tried their best to look out for Mitsuha. Not that she couldn't on her own but...well she was a little timid, to say the least. She was a big dreamer, always talking about the day she'd leave Itomori, go live in Tokyo. Even despite her near out-of-reach goal, Tessie and Sayaka believed in her all the way. No goal was too big for Mitsuha Miyamizu. However, when it came to boys, both of the friends knew that Mitsuha had about as much information and experience on such things as a snow monkey.
Which is what led the two of them to where they were now. All but Stalking the boy Taki Tachibana around the town. Or more accurately of a description, following him everywhere he went and scrambling into either each other or an "inconspicuous" position whenever he turned around. Subtlety was not Sayaka or Tessie's specialty, to say the least. Luckily for both of them, Taki was not the most observant and simply continued to...wait, where was he even going.
Sayaka leaned over to her partner in crime "Where do you think he's going?"
"Who knows what a boy like that could be up to," Tessie replied,
Sayaka wasn't really sure how he had done it. But it was clear as day that Taki had quickly won Mitsuha's affection. It was written on her face. Just below the constant exasperation. Sayaka could read her friends better than anyone, it was likely even Mitsuha herself was unaware of her feelings. Tessie had been too until Sayaka had pointed out her observations to him.
'None of that bodes well for Mitsuha, love isn't something you should just run into!' Sayaka thought to herself as she and Tessie proceeded quickly after Taki who was making his way down the road to his unknown destination, still completely unaware of his two stalkers.
Finally, Taki came to stop outside of a small bakery. Sayaka and Tessie eyed him carefully from their spot on a bench. Taki stepped inside the quaint shop and waved to a woman behind the counter. The woman seemed to beam at Taki and waved back, ushering him over.
"Should we follow him inside?" Tessie whispered to his associate beside him,
"Let's wait him out. We'll talk to him when he leaves the store." Sayaka said, confidently crossing her arms.
Tessie raised a skeptical eyebrow at Sayaka who only continued to sit straight and stare daggers toward the boy in the bakery. Realizing she was serious Tessie copied her motion and the two began their waiting game.
Unfortunately, both seemed to either have wildly misunderstood the situation or wildly underestimated the amount of time one teenage boy spends at a bakery. Because they were sitting on that bench all day, watching Taki intensely only to be disappointed by a very significant lack of malicious intent. Not that it was bad that Mitsuha's new crush wasn't some kind of sadist, but come on! There had to be something that he did wrong. Other than being a standard perverted teenage boy, though Tessie had tried multiple times using that argument to get Sayaka to give up and let him go home.
"For the last time no Tessie," Sayaka told the boy, who was now so slumped in the bench he was practically molding to be a part of it, "We are not giving up. There has to be something with this guy!"
Tessie let out a sigh, "I wasted my Saturday for this…"
Sayaka rolled her eyes at the boy's lamenting and turned her gaze back to the bakery. Only to nearly come tumbling out of her seat when she saw Taki leave the shop and look in their direction.
Both of the little spies immediately jumped to look inconspicuous and ironically made themselves look like the most suspicious people there. Sweat began to pool on both the teen's foreheads as Taki began walking directly towards them.
"We're so dead. We are so dead." Tessie hissed under his breath,
"Shut up. We'll be fine." Sayaka whispered back,
"We won't be when Mitsuha finds out." Sayaka reflected on this for a moment,
"Well, I can't disagree there."
"Excuse me?" Taki stopped in front of the two, and Sayaka flew about thirty feet into the air with a screech.
There was a brief quiet between the three before Taki dispersed into near-hysterical laughter. Slowly but surely a smile spread across Tessie's face as well, and despite the ominous glare from Sayaka he couldn't help but laugh too. Sayaka tried her best, but ultimately even she cracked a smile, though she covered it up and creased her eyebrows to try and fake annoyance.
"Sorry, sorry." Taki apologized through short breaths and laughs.
"Is there something you wanted?" Sayaka asked,
Taki smiled brightly once more and held out a small pink paper bag emblazoned with the name of the bakery on it. Inside was…was…something that smelled really freakin' good. They hadn't eaten all day! Sayaka was able to restrain herself but Tessie was already drooling at the aromas from the bag.
"I brought these for you. You'd just been sitting out here all day and you looked hungry!" Sayaka was speechless, however, Tessie wasted no time in opening the bag and digging around hungrily for food,
"Thanks! man, I really need this." He grinned scarfing down a biscuit in one go, almost choking in the process.
Sayaka gently lifted the bag out of Tessie's grasp and retrieved a snack of her own while he hacked and coughed in the background, Taki looking extremely concerned for the other teen's wellbeing.
Sayaka peacefully chewed her food, savoring her first meal since breakfast that morning. When Taki suddenly asked,
"You're Mitsuhas friend right?" Sayaka stopped chewing abruptly and Tessie seemed to clear his throat slightly as he finished his choke-fest in the corner.
Taki squirmed under the silence wondering if he had somehow done something wrong. Tessie and Sayaka simply exchanged a small glance before the girl swallowed her food and stated.
"Yeah?" Taki seemed to grow even more nervous, which worried the two more,
"Is she upset with me? Y'know for punching that guy?" Now it was Mitsuhas friends turn to look confused,
"Why would she be angry?" Tessie asked,
"Yeah, didn't she bring you makeup to hide the bruise too?" Sayaka agreed,
Subconsciously Taki touched the ring around his eye with a smile. Pausing with a frown before continuing,
"I mean…I guess, but she hasn't really talked to me for a while. I thought I might've made her upset."
Sayaka and Tessie stayed quiet. They were both thinking the exact same things. The two exchanged a glance,
"I wouldn't worry," Sayaka reassured him,
"Yeah," Tessie added on, slinging an arm around Taki's shoulder, "If anything she might just be waiting for you to go talk to her!"
Sayaka suddenly whirled on the other boy giving him a look of confusion and annoyance. Though it seemed no one noticed her, and Taki's face suddenly brightened,
"Well…maybe I can talk to her tomorrow!" He grinned,
Sayaka was at a loss for words as Tessie flashed an equally big grin at Taki and patted his shoulder saying,
"Well, there you go!"
Taki smiled again and thanked the two before turning and walking home. Tessie and Sayaka didn't follow him, simply waiting until he was out of sight. After the boy had disappeared from view Sayaka whirled on her friend and sputtered,
"Why'd you tell him THAT?" Tessie shrugged innocently,
"C'mon, it's obvious they're not going to go anywhere without a little push."
"We did this so it wouldn't go anywhere!" Sayaka hissed, Tessie leaned down and frowned,
"I thought we did this for Mitsuha?" Sayaka opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it.
Tessie shrugged again and began walking the way Taki had just gone into the distance with the now setting sun,
"Well, I think he's good for Mitsuha."
Sayaka snapped back to reality at Tessie's words, staring after him as he too disappeared over the small horizon and the sun dip all the way below the concrete roads. The sky darken as stars appeared above. Sayaka stood and with a small smile said,
"Maybe." Then she too began walking home.
Hello, again. Author here. Sorry, it's been a while and I haven't updated my story, but I've been a bit tied up and lacking motivation recently. I can't say that the next Chapter will be out too soon, but I'll say I will work on it with you all in mind. Happy Holidays everyone!
Sincerely
AnimeQuackers