At the school, lunch period kicked in
"So you're free the day after tomorrow?" Kimura asked, "Yup!" Mina said. The two were chatting in the hallway, as they were both finishing their rice cookies. "Great! I'll see who I can try and invite then for the picnic" "Yup! The same over here, just remember to tell them to bring their own treats as well" Mina said. "Alright, I got it" Kimura replied.
The bell rang, lunch time was over.
Some time passed yet again.
A certain black haired boy in-class was forgining up a new plan to use against his long-time rival "Takagi-san! I know this one will work on Takagi-san" He whispered, as he held an object on his hand.
He was also cleaning up the classroom, starting with the floor, he uused a broom. As per usual, Takagi also offered to help him, because she's mostly the reason why he's also here.
"What're you mumbling for over there Nishikata?" Takagi questioned. Nishikata then hid the object, and went back to brooming "Oh, it's nothing Takagi-san, just planning out how to get all this cleaning done is all" he said.
"You're not thinking about doing anything mischevious here in this classroom are you?" She asked, "W-What? N-no! Of course not!" Nishikata quickly tried to clear it up. "Hmm~" Takagai teased.
After some brooming, Nishikata decided it was time for the big reveal "Actually I brought this super cool bouncy ball I found some time ago" Bringing out the ball and then bouncing it. "I've actually been practicing a bit to get the hang of this thing, and even come up with some tricks" He continued.
"Hm~..." Takagi said, while analyzing the ball that Nishikata bounced. "(Come on, come on...)" "Mind showing me a few tricks?" "(Yes!) Sure!" Nishikata replied, becoming excited. "Let me just finish cleaning here, set up some cups there and I'll be set".
Cups were positioned in some areas of the cleaned classroom, and Nishikata was bracing himself to get the ball inside those cups. A cup on the floor, a cup next to the window, and a cup on top of the cleaning tools dorm.
He managed to do a few cool tricks with the bouncing ball to score it onto the cups, bouning from walls, to desks, to even the ceiling, the bouncing ball was... Well.. Bouncing everywhere!
"Heh, what did you think of that, Takagi-san?" Nishikata asked the brunette. "That was really cool Nishikata!" Takagi praised him, "Eh?... Oh, yeah of course it was" Nishikata said, a bit surprised about her praise.
"You mind if I position a cup somewhere else for you to score on?" She asked, "Ah!... O-of course you can, I'll get it in one attempt no sweat" Nishikata said. The problem here was that he actually couldn't. Those previous cups he positioned for himself were actually the certain positions he's been practicing for a while, one change in position would have to make him start all over with experimenting on how to get the bouncy ball onto the cup along with coming up with a few cooll tricks.
Nishikata then started thinking about how he was gonna do this, whether he should attempt to do a trick or not to get the ball onto the cup that Takagi will set up for him. He decided he's gonna attempt in doing a trick on a whim. Takagi placed the cup on the teacher's desk. The desk was standing on the floor, one foot higher from the other student desks, and the board was near it.
"(Okay, maybe I'll make the ball bounce once on the floor, one on the board, and get it into the cup, that should do it)" He thought. "Are you ready?" Takagi asked, "Ah yeah, I got this" Nishikata replied back, preparing himself. He needed to also calculate how much force he was gonna put into this to make this plan fully work, is he gonna put too much? too little? "Hey Nishikata" Takagi called to him as he was about to throw the ball.
"Score this one for me" She requested. As soon as he heard those words, he felt determined to do this in one attempt, but thanks to that determination, he put in a lot more force than he thought he would. The ball bounced onto the floor, went up high, barely missed a bulb from the ceiling or light, and then onto the board. "This is it" Nishikata thought as he saw the ball hit the board... And missing the cup as it bounced back.
The ball's horizontal speed was faster than it's vertical speed, and was actually coming back to the two... Rather to Takagi. It was too fast for Nishikata to react to it coming back, as it hit her eye. Takagi backed up whilst covering her eye, she then tripped on a chair and fell to the floor. Nishikata was awestruck by the sight.
"Oh gosh! Takagi-san, I'm sorry!" Nishikata said, as he got the chairs out of the way, and tried helping her up, "Are you okay?" He continued as he neared his face to hers. Takagi didn't look at him, rather the other direction. Nishikata looked at her arm, and saw her elbow bleeding just a bit "Ah!" "I'm fine Nishikata, I'll take care of it myself" She told him, still not facing him.
...
They were both still for a few seconds before Nishikata realized he was still holding onto her hand "Ah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry Takagi-san" he panicked, letting go of her hand. "It's okay Nishikata, I'll just go to the infirmary and be right back, it's not that bad really" she said, barely showing her face to him, as she proceeded to exit out of the classroom.
Mina was also wallking down the hallway and noticed Takagi coming out from the classroom "Ah hey Takagi!" Mina happily called out to her. Takagi was in front of the door, but tried her best to hide her face from Nishikata, "Oh!... What happened? You're all red over there" Mina asked.
"Ah, an accident happened" Takagi answered her. Mina then looked inside the classroom, seeing Nishikata look guilty, with the whole story behind him. "An accident?" Mina questioned again, "Yes, I'm just gonna go pay a visit to the infirmary now" Takagi continued. Mina once more looked at Takagi, then at Nishikata, and then back to Takagi. "Can I tag along with you Takagi?" Mina asked.
"Sure" Takagi said, causing Mina to form a wider smile. The two then walked down the hallway, out from the other boy's sight.
"What did I do..." Nishikata asked himself as he sat on the desk and gloomed, "That was stupid of me to try and attempt that" he continued feeling guilty.
He decided to quickly clean up the whole classroom and organize everything quicker, he didn't want to face Takagi again as he continued to feel terrible about what he did. He didn't even wanna think what Mina was probably thinking about as well, he just wished he could've dissappeared right then and there.
As Nishikata wrapped up his cleaning, he exited out of the room and made his way to the lockers. Hoping he wouldn't bump into Takagi or Mina. "(I'm such an idiot... I got so caught up in trying to do this trick, I never thought I'd hurt her as well...)" he thought as he made his way to the first floor, entering the locker area. He opened up his locker, and organized his things to pack up and go home, a few moments passed and Kimura appeared to join in as well.
"Hey, Nishikata!" Kimura greeted him, "Hey, Kimura..." Nishikata greeted back. Kimura picked up on Nishikata's attitude, "Something happen?" He asked. "Ahh... Nothing too big to worry about" was the answer given by Nishikata, he fought hard to also keep up a smile. Of course Kimura knew something wasn't right as he was one of Nishikata's closer buds, so to get a more straightforward answer he asked the inevtable, "Did something happen between you and Takagi?"
"W-what? Of course not! wh-what gave you the idea to think it was betwe...een... me... And Takagi...san..." Nishikata said, calming down a bit as he realized that he indeed, gave out the usual sign that something happened between them. He sighed, and explained his situation.
"Now I just don't know what to do... Maybe she hates me after everything I did to her now..." "That does sound bad, maybe we should also get another guy on this" "Yeah we should... Wait, what?" Nishikata said, as he looked at his friend who was casually texting through his phone.
The 2 friends were walking down the maze-like road. With Nishikata telling Kimura his troubles, as he was just texting on his cellular phone, "Ahh sorry, was just saying my text aloud" Kimura said, as he put his cellular phone away in his pocket. "Did you even pay attention to anything I said" Nishikata asked with a daring face. Kimura then spoke, "I'm probably not the best with giving advice, but maybe you're taking this situation a bit too seriously. After all, knowing Takagi a bit, I don't think she's the type of person to hate something so easily" He told him.
"What do you mean?" Nishikata asked him. Kimura then sighed, took out a bag of chips and opened them. "Here want some chips?" Kimura offered to him a few pieces of potato chips. "Ah thanks" Nishikata said, but before he could reach out to them, Kimura "accidentally" dropped them. "Oh... Darn it, sorry about that, let me clean this up" He said, "Ah, no worries" Nishikata responded. Kimura did what he said, and after throwing away the dirty chips, he gave Nishikata a few more again, this time without any accidents.
As Nishikata finished his little snack, he then heard from Kimura "That's how it is". He was still quite confused, but thanked Kimura for the little snack. Kimura sighed once more.
Continuing to walk down the road, Nishikata remembered the text that Kimura said aloud "What were you on about with that text?" he asked. "Ah, me and Mina are having a picnic in 2 days and thought we could invite more people to it" Kimura answered, "Ah I see, that's pretty nice... Eh?" Nishikata started processing the words more carefully through his mind, remembering Mina.
"W-who came up with the idea?" Nishikata asked. "It was me" Kimura responded cheerfully, leaving Nishikata in a bit of a surprised state. "What's with the face?" Kimura asked, "Ah i-it's nothing... I'm just surprised it's you two that are organizing it, I'm wondering how it came to that" Nishikata responded.
"We're just doing it for the heck of it, summer's literally just started now, so it'd be a nice way to start out the season, ya know?" Kimura explained. "You've been talking to Mina more often lately?" Nishikata asked, getting shot back with a calm "Yup".
"Ah... I'm wondering when you two became friendly with each other" Nishikata said without thinking. "What do you mean by that?" Kimura asked. "Ah, well, you see, uh.." Nishikata searched for words in his mind to spit out, "Ahahahah!, I'm messing with you, we've just lately been chatting after I lent her some of my lunch one day when she forgot to bring hers" Kimura started explaining.
"She was really thankful about it, and even liked my lunch so much that she asked if me and her can share some of our lunches now, and I said of course. I will say, I never thought her lunches would also be very tasty and packed too! And then we started talking about- ah, you still following along Nishikata? You're looking dazed out man" Kimura's story came to a halt, as he glanced over to his friend who was seemingly looking off to outer space.
"Ah, yeah... Yeah..." Nishikata said, processing all of this into his mind. "Hey, actually, why don't you come to the picnic? I think it'll be fun" Kimura proposed. Nishikata was kinda in a dazed state, "Ah, sure" he said once more, blindly. "Great! Can't wait to see you there soon then" Kimura commented. Nishikata snapped back, realizing what he had gotten himself into.
It was too late to go back on what he just said to Kimura, because he thought he'd look jerkish doing that. "Ah, when's the picnic?" Nishikata asked, "In 2 days, that way it could give you time to prepare for what exactly you wanna bring" Kimura answered him. "Ah, I see" Nishikata continued. "Well I'm heading this way Nishikata, I'll catch you later there at the picnic, you better bring a good treat with you" Kimura requested, as he walked off towards his home route.
Nishikata waved goodbye to him, "What did I get myself into" he said as he then groaned.
1 day until the picnic
Nishikata thought it'd be a great oppurtunity to do a quick jog before heading towards the market to buy something for the picnic so him and his family can prepare the food. "What to bring, what to bring, what to bring..." is all he could think of while jogging.
While navigating through the maze-like road, he bumped into a certain bunny teethed boy. "Ah, Nishikata?" "Takao?" They both called out their names to each other. Takao was panting and sweating like crazy from his neck down, to armpits, "Didn't expect to bump into you here" Takao said. "Yeah, same over here, but uh, you okay man? You're sweating like crazy" Nishikata pointed out. "Ah this? it's nothing, really. I decided to start jogging and getting more in shape, you know?" Takao replied back, as if brushing it off. "Ah... Are you excersicing properly?" "Sure am, just gotta run as fast as you can and give it your all into your routines everyday right?" Takao said, thinkg he was doing everything properly.
"Ah, I don't think that's how you should do it" Nishikata said. "How so?" Takao asked curiously. "Here, let's jog a bit more towards a market I'm going to, keep up with my pace" Nishikata requested as they both started jogging.
Takao was then in for a lesson on how to properly excersice everyday, and how to challenge yourself properly as the time passes while you're excersicing.
"Ohh, I see..." Takao was understanding Nishikata's words. "If you ever do just happen to just do an impossible number of pushups or anything right now, say, 120, you're not gonna be waking up peacefully the next day just so you know that, because you're body's gonna be sore everywhere" Nishikata continued explaining. "I see, I see... Is that all?" "Yeah, that should be everything you should know when starting out" Nishikata finally wraped up his explanation.
"Ah, alrighty then, I'll keep that in mind, thanks man" Takao thanked him. "What got you into excercising anyways Takao? It's a bit surprising seeing you like this, coming from you at least" Nishikata said. "Ah... I just thought I'd get fit is all, and do something for a change this summer ya know?" Takao explained. Nishikata was a bit skeptical about it, "Is that really all there is to i-" "Oh hey, it's the market" Takao pointed out.
Indeed it was the market that they made it to, "Truth be told, I also was gonna buy something in the market as well" Takao said, scratching his head. Entering the market, Nishikata asked him for what he was gonna buy the food for, "Ah, a picnic tomorrow that Kimura and Mina are hosting" he answered. "Wait, I'm here for that too!" Nishikata said.
"Huh, didn't expect that either... Who else do you think is going?" Takao asked, Nishikata then began thinking about this a bit more deeply. Who else would be going"... (No, it couldn't be her)" Nishikata thought, "I don't got anyone else in mind who would be free tomorrow for that picnic... You?" Nishikata questioned back. "Same here" Takao said.
Strolling down the aisle filled with different variations of sauce, the two bumped into two more familiar faces. "Nakai?" "Hamaguchi?" The first pair called out to the other pair who were observing the spicy sets of sauces. "Oh, didn't expect to also bump into you two" Hamaguchi said, Nakai nodded in agreement "And I see both of you must've been in a hurry" as Nakai took note of the pair's sweat that was drying off.
The joggers tried to laugh it off a bit, "Whatr're you two doing here?" Nishikata asked, "Well I mean duuuh, buying food" "What for though?" Takao shot back at Hamaguchi's explanation. "Oh, it's for Kimura and Mina's picnic tomorrow. We were both asked by Kimura if we wanted to join, and we accepted" Nakai explained.
First, the two boys were surprised to hear Hamaguchi actually accepted his offer so they asked him about why he accepted, "Hey! That's coming out of no where!... But... Well... You see-" "Ah, I convinced him, told him it's something in the line of being mature" Nakai tuned in, explaining Hamachi's agreement to the picnic. "Hey! I thought you wouldn't say that!" "Well, you're backed into a corner, and it's the truth after all" Nakai said back to Hamaguchi, as Hamaguchi was at a loss of words due to it being true.
"How'd you two get invited?" Nakai asked. "Well uh, I kinda lost at a game to Kimura, so I owed him one" Takao explained, "I... actually spaced out during my conversation with Kimura, so I accidentally agreed to it" the two explained, being guilty about it a bit. "Ah, cheer up, knowing you two will also be there, makes me think it'll be funner tomorrow at the very least" Nakai said cheerfully, which did happen to brighten the two's atmosphere. "Yeah, same over here with you two" Nishikata said.
"What're you two thinking about bringing?" Nishikata asked, Hamaguchi was first to answer "Some meat and vegetables... Spicy sauce... And a few sodas" he said. "Some rice, slices of bread, and some sauces" Nakai listed out. "What about you two?" Hamaguchi asked. Takao was first, "Some bags of chips, though I think Kimura has that covered, thinking about it now. Mochi, veggies, and some green tea" Nishikata then went second "A few sweets, some fish, and vegetables".
"Hm, seems like we all have a variety of things we're gonna bring, this just might be a very nice picnic for all of us to enjoy huh" Nakai noted. "Definetely, I can already picture Kimura having the time of his life tomorrow" Hamaguchi said, as the boys laughed along with him. "Well, let's all go and get what we're gonna need, me and Nakai actually brought our bikes here so we could help load some stuff for you two for our ways home. Once we're all finished getting what we need, we'll meet up outside in front of the market where we parked our bikes" Hamaguchi continued, describing his plan.
The 4 boys agreed to the plan and went their seperate ways for now to buy their food.
As Nakai strolled around to search for his rice. While strolling around in an aisle full of rice, he bumped into yet, another familiar face. "Hojou-san?" Nakai called out, and it was indeed Hojou who was looking at some of the different variations of rice while crouching, along with having a whole different get-up in terms of clothes (Glasses, cartoony shirt, and shorts). "Ah, Nakai-kun, didn't expect to see you here" Hojou also said, standing up. "How've you been, and uh, what're you up to with that get-up?" Nakai asked. "Looking for some rice and a few more things is all, for uh... Well" Hojou paused for a moment, trying to come up with something. "Would it happen to be something involving a picnic?" Nakai broke the ice.
"W-wha- how'd you know?" Hojou asked. "Ah, gut feeling. I happen to also be a part of that tomorrow as well" Nakai answered, "Please don't tell anyone that I'm here for that, I have an image to protect here which is why I'm dressed up like this! Especially Hamaguchi!" Hojou requested, making Nakai feel taken aback. "Ah, I promise I won't, just try not to get yourself caught here by anyone else from school here is all haha" Nakai joked. "H-Hey!" "Ah, I'm just kidding" he replied to her once more.
"What made you wanna come if you think it's not mature going to a picnic?" Nakai asked. "W-well let explain. You see when Mina invited me, I gladly accepted because I thought this was something being hosted for girls... And then I heard Kimura was the 2nd host of the picnic, right after accepting the invitation, and I just couldn't change my mind to tell her I actually didn't wanna go. I don't find it mature going back on your word" Hojou explained.
"Ah, I see" Nakai said, "But if you think about it in another way, it's still a picnic in the end that you're going to" He continued. "... W-well... You are right about that" Hojou admitted. "Besides, the more the merrier ya know? It could make it all the more fun having a new side joining in on it and make things interesting" Nakai continued. "Are you saying we're boring?" Hojou commented, "I'm just saying it's a nice change of pace for you ya know? To be more mature, you gotta experience a new variety of things and see whether or not those things are mature enough for you to also handle" Nakai continued.
"I-I see..." Hojou said, understanding Nakai's side a bit more. She decided to take his word, thinking that Nakai was very mature enough to be able to give her his insight. Since he and Mano have still been at it with a relationship for quite some time now, and no trouble between them has appeared in between them, she thought that was mature to be able to keep a long relantionship that's still going on.
The two continued looking for their type of rice until Nakai started talking again, "You gonna make some curry for tomorrow?" "It's like you can read my mind" Hojou said back to him. "I was planning on using this rice for curry, to practice my skills when it comes to curry, but I've thought about changing my mind since the last time I made curry, it didn't quite end well... And that wasn't mature of me to do that" She explained. "I could just bring some cooked meat tomorrow... But I don't know anymore..." She continued.
Nakai thought for a moment, and then spoke "I think you should go head-on with the idea of curry". "Hm?" Hojou mumbled, "After all, it wouldn't quite seem mature of you to give up on improving, would it?" Nakai continued. Hojou turned red with embarrasment, and thought about it for a moment. "I-I see... Hmm" She said, continuing to think more deeply about it.
Nakai stood up with a bag of rice, "Well, it's up all to you in the end, and your gut. I'll catch you later Hojou-san, nice talking to you" He said as he walked away, leaving Hojou in deep thoughts. Nakai made his way to another aisle, out of Hojou's sight, and realized "Ah! I forgot to tell her who was coming... Eh, I guess it could be a surprise"
Takao was in an aisle, looking for the food "Mochi". "Let's see, let's see" He started, "... Mochi, mochi" "Mochi... Hm?" another person who sounded familar repeated the word. Takao stood up and looked over to his right side, it was Mano. "Oh! Hello Takao-kun" "Uh, heya Mano-san, didn't expect to bump into you here" Takao said back to the pig-tailed girl.
"You seem quite tired, and uh, sweaty" She noted, "You live far away from here?" she asked. "Ah it's not that, just lately have been jogging more recently, thought about getting fit this summer" he explained, surprising Mano a bit. "Wow, did your friends influence you to go at it as well" she asked again, "Ah, so-so" he replied, realizing that it seems some of his friends have indeed been in the habit of excercising for some time now.
"Hmmm... Does it have something to do with Sanae?" She asked for the final time, making Takao feel shocked for a bit. "A-ah, that's kinda out of no where don't ya think?" He said, at the same time all his thoughts were just about "(She's catching on, she's catching on, she's catching on)" over and over. "Ah, sorry about that" Mano said, realizing she was setting an awkward atmosphere, "So, who're you buying for anyways? Is it for you family?" Mano continued with her questions.
"Ah, not exactly" Takao said, making Mano become curious. "So yourself?" "Neither" Takao said, and then he finally answered "It's for a picnic tomorrow". It was quiet for a moment until the silence was broken by Mano, "That's for what I'm here too, huh" "I'm assuming Mina-san invited you?" Takao questioned. "Ah yeah, she kinda kept egging me on about it, and then I finally accepted, knowing how her stuborness can never be outmatched" she explained.
"Ah I see, Kimura was the one to invite me" Takao replied. "I see... You seem to be very picky with which type of Mochi you want" Mano also pointed out his observation. "Ah yeah, I just thought I could find a special one for the picnic tomorrow since this is gonna be a special day after all" Takao explained. "What exactly are you looking for?" Mano asked, "Mochi that's very very stretchy... Ah" He explained.
"Sounds a bit romanti-" "I-i-it's just for me and the guys to mess around with and have fun with is all there is to it hehe" Takao quickly explained, trying to avoid Mano's opinion. "I-I see, heh, I-I think I know the type you're looking for" Mano said, "You do?" Takao said, surprised. Mano then nodded "After all, it's also the one I'm picking out as well" she said, reaching her hands towards the bags of mochi.
Mano gave a bag to Takao and spoke, "Trust me, I think this is what you're really looking for, I've eaten some of this myself too" She said all happily. Takao also smiled, and thanked her for her help, "Well, I guess I'll see you at the picnic tomorrow, take care Mano!" Takao said, exiting out of her sight all happily, "(What a life saver) Takao thought. Mano too said her goodbyes and began thinking, "(Who else is gonna be going?)"
"Let's see... Hmm, carrots" The orange hair boy said, observing the stacks of vegetables all around him. "Where are they... Ah-ha! there they are" Hamaguchi said, noticing a sign hanging from the ceiling with the picture of a carrot. He arrived towards the stock and noticed a familiar black haired girl... Surrounded by two boys...
It was Sanae, and it seems like she was in some trouble. "Aww, come on, just have a walk with us" "Yeah, it's only for a bit of your time come on" they kept pressuring her. One boy was wearing a beanie with a vest, the other had a white shirt with a cap. "I-I'm sorry, but no..." Sanae was shaking a bit. "Forget this picnic stuff and let's get out of here" the one with the vest said, putting his hand on her shoulder... And then he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey there buds, I don't like the way you two are getting close to this girl" Hamaguchi was behind the beanie boy, having his arm on his shoulder. Sanae snapped as she realized who talked, and stomped on the beanie boy's foot, "Yeow!" He cried, backing off from the two along with his other bud. "This your boyfriend? Oh okay, come on, let's square up!" The vest boy said with his friend joining him.
They were soon intimidated by Hamaguchi's stare and posture, along with Sanae who seemed even more menacing all of a sudden, "Grr!... On second thought, let's just get out of here, they're not worth it" The vest boy said, leaving along with his other friend.
As soon as they were out of sight, Hamaguchi turned back around towards Sanae and asked "Are you alright?". Sanae sighed for a moment, "Thank you, I just wasn't myself for a moment there" Sanae said. "I see... (And can tell, those two wouldn't survive a second with Sanae-san, knowing her strength and all)" Hamaguchi thought. "Well, after all, I'm sticking out for what's important to another friend of mine as well..." Hamaguchi said all maturely without thinking, Sanae became curious "What do you mean?".
"AH! I-I mean, I just happened to be wandering around here as well, looking for some vegetables to buy... Like these carrots here! which is what actually brought me here" Hamaguchi quickly tried changing his word, as he reached out to get the carrots and put them into his bag. "...Right..." Sanae commented. Hamaguchi then remembered something, "H-hey uh, you going to some picnic tomorrow?" he asked. "... How do you know about that?" Sanae questioned.
"Ah, I just vaguely remembered what that boy was saying, 'forget this picnic' and blabla... That, and I'm going to a picnic Kimura invited me to" Hamaguchi explained. "Are you going to the one Mina's hosting?" Sanae asked, "Bingo" Hamaguchi replied. "Well then you're correct, I am going. Mina invited me, and as her friend I acceped" She explained. "I-I see, Kimura invited me... And as his friend, I accepted as well" Hamaguchi explained (Lying).
"I see... Being a mature boy and going to a picnic hmm?" Sanae said, catching Hamaguchi off-guard. "Wh-where'd that come from?" He said, blushing from embarrasment. Sanae giggled a bit, which came as a surprise to Hamaguchi. The two were continuing to grab their vegetables that they were looking for with Sanae giving Hamaguchi some advice on which vegetables to pick out that are actually really fresh.
They were then finished and about to go their seperate ways. "Thank you again for sticking out for me" Sanae said, "Ah... It was no biggie really... You sure you'll be fine on your own for now?" Hamaguchi said, scratching his head. "Positive, next time it won't be the same" Sanae said, with some menacing aura seemingly floating around her, Having Hamaguchi shook due to feeling it a bit. "But thank you, that was indeed quite mature of you indeed to help me here" Sanae said, smiling (Her eyes still seemed a bit dead as usual).
"Well see you soon tomorrow" Sanae said, "Same here" Hamaguchi replied as they walked off to their next objective. "(I hope that never happens to Hojou...)" Hamaguchi thought remembering the events that took place with Sanae. "(... I wonder who else is going to be there tomorrow) Sanae Thought.
"I got the sweet bread... Vegetables... All that's left is the fish" The black haired boy said as he continued to scout through the market looking for the area that had fish in stock. "(The picnic looks like it's gonna be quite packed thinking about it, so I'm pretty sure there might be few leftovers after it's all over)" Nishikata thought, attempting to predict how tomorrow's gonna be like.
Finally finding the place for where all the sea creatures were being sold, he scouted for his type of fish. His eyes landed on a newly fresh set of sea basses, all inside a plastic container. He reached out to it and grabbed it, to only see another hand also latch on to it from his right side. Looking up, it was revealed that it was Yukari that grabbed it.
...
"Ah-ah! sorry, you can take that one Yukari-san" "Ah, no worries Nishikata-kun, you can have that one" as the both of them let go of it, insisting on each other to get it. "I didn't expect to see you here though Nishikata-kun" Yukari noted, "Y-yeah, same here" Nishikata replied. "Hey uh, knowing you're friends with Kimura-kun, you wouldn't happen to be here to buy a few things for the picnc tomorrow, are you?" Yukari asked.
"Ah, yeah actually, I'm here for exactly that (she's sharp)" Nishikata said. "Ah, I see. Well then, I suppose you should be the one taking this, I'll just find another type of fish to buy for tomorrow" Yukari said happily. "Ah yeah, I guess I will then" Nishikata said, taking the container with fish. "Well then I guess I'll see you there soon Nishikata, take care!" She waved to him, while walking away.
Nishikata was about to wave back until he realized he actually wanted to talk with her over something, "Ah wait, Yukari!" he called out to her, making her turn back to him again. "Uh, can I accompany you for a bit? I wanna talk about something if it's okay with you" Nishikata requested. Yukari was a bit curious about this, so she nodded in her head accepting his request. The two then walked down the area looking for a fish.
"So, um, what is it you wanted to talk about?" She asked. "A-ah, well, it's kinda hard to tell you about really, uh" Nishikata wasn't quite prepared to explain to her his situation that he's in due to yesterday, so he thought about re-wording what he was gonna say. "Let's say uh, you tried to show something to a friend of your's, and something goes wrong, and your friend has to get in trouble over your mistake. And when you apologize, your friend is very vague about whether or not they're angry and had to go after all that happened, so uh, well... What would you do next?" Nishikata told Yukari his troubles.
Yukari was extremely suspicious about why Nishikata gave out a very specific scenario instead of his story, but was also in a bit of a pickle to try and answer his question, "Well um, it depends on how much the other person had to suffer from your mistake, so..." "Ah, well how about, a few minor injuries from tripping and a fall" Nishikata said, without thinking. At this point Yukari grew worried for him, and Nishikata knew she was gonna be like that "B-but let's just say that's how big the injuries were in the scenario ya know? Not like it did happen or any...thing haha..." Nishikata said, trying to laugh it off.
Yukari could tell he was getting stressed due to her noticing his nervousness, "Haha yeah, uhmm...Well, I'd probably try my best to accompany that person to help tend to them, since they're my friend and all of course. " Yukari started. Nishikata felt like his body cracked, remembering that it was Mina who accompanied Takagi instead, "Then if they just don't want to let me accompany them... I might be in a bit of trouble" Yukari continued. Nishikata then felt like his whole body was then smashed into pieces, "I-I see" Nishikata said.
Yukari noticing his stress made her quickly think of something to calm Nishikata down, "B-but, I'd make it up to them soon of course, it's only logical to do that when you know you're fully in the wrong. Just mend to your mistakes" She said. Yukari then thought of something better, "Or I'd just, give them a bit of space for now until they tell me how they re-" she was cut off, "O-oh yeah! That actually would be a good idea" Nishikata said, having his stress dissappear.
Yukari became happy for her friend who's calmed down a bit, "(I didn't get to quite finish but I think that was good advice too)" she thought.
"Oh, there's a good type of fish over there" She pointed out, coming closer to the item along with Nishikata. Since the search was finally over, Nishikata thought he'd take his leave as he was beginning to think he was being a bothersome now.
"Well I'm glad we found what you were looking for Yukari-san, I guess I'll take my leave now too. I can't wait to see you over there at the picnic" He called out to her, taking his leave and waving goodbye. "Yeah, same here Nishikata-kun, take care!" She also said back. Leaving her sight, she sighed in relief that everything seemed to go well. But as she thought more about the type of situation her friend seemed to be in, she started shifting her mind a bit, "(Maybe I should've started out with the other piece advice)" She thought.
Takao was the first to finish buying what he needed, exiting out to the bike spot that Hamaguchi and Nakai talked about. He was then joined by Hamaguchi, Nakai, and then Nishikata. They made their way first to Nishikata's house to drop him and his stuff at home. Along the way towards his house, the boys were chit-chatting... Never mentioning what happened to them at the mall at all, because none of them thought it was worth mentioning one more person was gonna come to the picnic.
As they continued to make their way, ahead of their sight was a familiar figure coming out from a corner. Nishikata noticing this person first, widened his eyes as he started to realize who it actually was that was coming to their way. As the other 3 proceeded to chit-chat, they too realized who it was, coming their way.
"Ah hey Takagi-san!" Nakai called out to her. The group and the bruette approached each other, "Hey guys!" Takagi also called back, giving a small wave "Going on a stroll as a group?" She asked. "Ah, kind of" Takao said. Hamaguchi's phone buzzed, grabbing it from his pocket, he checked out what notification he got. "We're actually on our way to drop of Ni-" Takao turned his head as he continued to explain why they were there, he noticed Nishikata was missing which was why he stopped talking.
"Hm? Drop off what?" Takagi was curious about the pause he did, "Drop off Takao to his house along with his bags you see" Hamaguchi quickly tagged in, confusing the other two boys even further about what's going on now. "Takao here has had quite a day, having been jogging and then needing to attend the market with us, so we're helping him drop him and his stuff off first" Hamaguchi continued. "I see" Takagi said.
Nakai then noticed something on Takagi's elbow, it was a bandage "Did something happen to you today? You got a band-aid over there on your elbow" Nakai asked. Takagi faced towards Nakai, letting Hamaguchi take the oppurtunity to whisper to Takao about what's going on, "Nishikata's hiding in that bush behind us to our left, that's just about close to the corner there, don't let Takagi know he's there" He tried whispering as fast as he could to him.
Takao took a quick glance, and noticed the bushes, and one bush shaking bit by bit enough to not grab someone's wavering attention. Nishikata was trying to adjust himself in there. Takao quickly turned back to hear Takagi's explanation on Nakai's question "Ah, just a bit of an accident that happened yesterday, I don't wanna talk about it" She answered. "I see" Nakai replied.
"Well, I'll be on my way, hope you three make it safe and sound" She said, as she waved goodbye to them while making her way to her path again, passing by the boys. As soon as Takagi turned around, Takao passed the word onto Nakai. As soon as Nakai heard those words, he felt troubled about what was going on. Hamaguchi meanwhile, still keepin an eye on Takagi, noticed she was getting more close to the group of bushes that Nishikata was in, who was still trying to sneakily adjust himself to go deeper in there to not be noticed. So quickly, Hamaguchi went after her, thinking of what he was gonna say to her.
He thought of something to tell her, "Takagi-san!" He called out to her as he made his way to her. Takagi turned around, being very close to the bushes, but not close enough to see what the bushes had inside, "I challenge you to a game under my conditions!" Hamaguchi declared to her. Takagi was a bit taken aback by this, "A bit out of no where Hamaguchi-kun... But I accept, and this time, I'll go under your conditionns" She said. "(She took the bait, and gave me control! On to phase 2)" Hamaguchi thought, "Follow me" he told her.
"(Just by luck, I do happen to have a decent game prepared for her)" Hamaguchi continued thinking, as the two finally made it to the bikes again. Takao and Nakai spectated this and were curious on how Hamaguchi was gonna buy time with his game. "(Alright here it goes)" Hamaguchi thought, "I want you to guess what we're gonna do with our bags" he said.
"(I'll be buying enough time for Nishikata, but I'm also hoping I actually can win against her in a game... Even though I thought of this on a bit of a quick whim), at the very least I'm killing two birds with one stone" Hamaguchi thought. "Hm~ Okay then" Takagi calmly responded. "(... Wait, maybe this was a bad game to bring up)" He thought again after his response.
"What's the punishment or reward?" Takagi asked. Hamaguchi thought about it for a momennt, "I'll do one thing, anything you want me to do" He said. He thought about this once more, "(Wait no, if she actually wins this, this is gonna go terrible for me)" Hamaguchi grew more worried, the other two boys were also worried for him as well since he looked like he was starting to dig himself a deeper hole. "(But there's no way she can win this)" Hamaguchi thought. The two other boys also thought the same thing, but were curious to see how Takagi would approach this, it's also worth noting that this is their first time seeing her in action when it comes to games and challenges, and why she's so troublesome for their other friend Nishikata.
"Am I able to inspect them?" "Go ahead" Hamaguchi gave the okay to Takagi confidently (or at least tried acting like that). Takagi then inspected them carefully, while the group of boys kept looking back and forward to her, and then to Nishikata's spot. After a while, They stopped hearing the certain rustling from Nishikata, but so too was Takagi's inspection.
"Hamaguchi-kun" Takagi started. "Yes?" He replied, "What happens on December 25th?" Takagi asked. "Christmas" He replied, "(What is she getting at?)" He also thought. "October 30th?" Takagi asked, "Halloween" He replied. "And they went on, "Easter" "New years eve" "Valentines" "The lantern fest" "The fireworks fest" "National foundation day", "And tomorrow is going to be the picnic that we're all going to" "Yes" Hamaguchi replied to her last question.
"... Eh?" Hamaguchi wondered, as he realized what he just then smiled, "I win". "Wait wait wait wait! That's not fair!" Hamaguchi called out, "I mean, you did give an answer to her questions" Nakai said. "You're, not, helping, Nakai!" Hamaguchi whispered to him, as he grit his teeth. "Well then, I suppose you'll stay true to the deal?" Takao said to Hamaguchci.
Hamaguchi was indeed mad, but was calm at the same time,"(I can't believe I lost twice to her now...)" He thought, as he nodded his head in accordance to Takao's words. "Well then, what'll it be Takagi-san" Hamaguchi asked. "Hm... I want you to come with me somewhere" She said. "... Uh... Sure, where to?" Hamaguchi asked, "No, I mean right now so I can tell you your punishment" Takagi said, as she passed by Nishikata's bush, and to another corner, extending her arm out and giving out a "come here" Gesture. Hamaguchi shrugged, and went towards her direction.
"... You think it's something embarassing he'll have to do?" Takao asked Nakai. "Nah... Takagi isn't the type to do something like that." Nakai said. The two were curious about what was going on between the other two for a while, but then they emerged from the corner, and Hamaguchi looked dazed. "Well then, I'll see you three off tomorrow! Thank you for the game!" She said, as she hurried off towards her path.
As the three waved to her until she was out of sight, the pair nudged on Hamaguchi. "What was it she told you to do?". Hamaguchi gave off no response for a bit, "Ah... It's nothing special really... You don't have to worry about it" He said, causing the other two to look even more curious than ever to what made him like this. "Now you can come out" Hamaguchi yelled to the bush. Nishikata emerged from it, with leaves and sticks on his clothes and hair.
"You're going to need to wash up once you get home Nishikata" Nakai said, as he chuckled a bit. "What was it with the hiding anyways dude?" Takao asked. "Ah... Just a spot I wanted to test against Takagi-san for something soon..." He said, bewildering the boys, except for Hamaguchi.
"Sure... Well, you did cause us some trouble so you better owe us for tomorrow" Takao said, "How will I do that?" Nishikata said. "That's for you to think about" Takao said, "Ah, I'm alright, I enjoyed this whole even-" "For Nakai as well, and especially Hamaguchi! Now come on, let's head home, it's already gotten very late" Takao ordered everyone, as the boys then picked up the pace.
But along the way, Nishikata also couldn't help but think, what was Takagi's order for Hamaguchi?
While Nishikata was off looking at space, Hamaguchi called him. Nishikata turned his head, only to get flicked on the forehead really hard. "Yeow!... What was that for!" Nishikata said, rubbing his forehead. "Ah... I just saw a big mosquito on your head... You'll forgieve me right?" Hamaguchi asked. Nishikata was extremely confused about his behavior, "Ah... Y-yeah, I guess?" He said. The other two were also confused about it, until they saw a mark on Nishikata's head. "Woah, you really did have a mosquito bite you there!" Takao pointed out at the mark.
Nishikata then freaked out, "Wh-what!? (How did I not notice?!)" He thought. "You're really going to have to wash up as soon as you get home Nishikata haha" Nakai laughed, along with Takao. Nishikata was embarrased, but despite it, looked over to Hamaguchi and said "Ah... Thanks actually, sorry for that, I'll repay you for that..." He said, as he walked off to the other two, trying to stop them from laughing.
In truth, the mark was actually caused by the flick, and it was a real hard one at that to be able to cause a mark. Hamaguchi was looking over the sight of the rest of the group, but he still looked dazed and unfazed after all that. He turned around, as he continued down the path, a bit ahead of the other group now but they soon followed. "Tsk... Darn it Nishikata..." Hamaguchi murmered, as he continued walking down with the group.