"Hey, Yuki. Are you ready?"
"Mhm. I'm just getting dressed…"
"Just make sure not to come in your uniform, ok?"
"Yeah, I know! Jeez…"
I can't tell her that I got a part-time job just to pay for this…
"By the way, you didn't need to go all out. Just some nice clothes would've been fine, you didn't need to get a job to pay for a suit."
"Wha- how'd you know?!"
"I was right?! I was just guessing, Yuki!"
"You could've told me that sooner…"
"I guess so…"
Takagi, who was standing right outside of Nishikata's room, tilted her head and smiled.
"But it's really cute that you put in that much effort for me, Yuki-chan!"
"Gah!"
"Ahahah! I can't just imagine your face right now…"
"Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm ready, so…"
As Nishikata opened the door, Takagi's jaw dropped for a moment before she burst out in laughter once more.
"H-hey! Is there something on my face? Or-"
*gasp* "No, it's…" *wheeze* "Your hair!"
Nishikata had used copious amounts of hair gel to flatten out his hair.
"We can't have you looking like that!"
"W-wait! Stop ruffling my hair…"
Takagi continued to mercilessly mess with Nishikata's hair until it was finally restored to its rightful state.
"Damn you, Takagi…"
"C'mon. You look cuter this way."
"... Thanks. I guess…"
Nishikata rubbed the back of his neck while Takagi spun around to his other side.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Naoto and Hayase-chan are waiting for us at the crossroads, so let's go get them!"
"Yep."
Meanwhile, at the crossroads, Nagatoro was practically doubled over laughing at Senpai's 3 piece suit.
"Bahahaha! You didn't have to borrow clothes from your dad for today! It's just a valentines day dance, not a wedding!"
"Shut up! Y-you've got makeup on…"
Senpai was desperately avoiding Nagatoro's gaze as she darted around him, trying to get right in front of his face.
"Well, duh! A lot of people go out with makeup on all the time, so it shouldn't be that weird for me to wear some! Still, a 3 piece suit? Senpai, you've really outdone yourself now!"
"O-oh, would you look at that, Takagi and Nishikata are here!"
The 2 pairs exchanged waves as they headed for kaze high.
"I wonder who was in charge of organizing the dance…" - Senpai
"I heard that it was mostly student council, but there're some banners that were designed by the art club president." - Takagi.
"Eh?" x2
Nagatoro and Senpai turned towards Takagi and then turned to each other with an expression of concern.
"Ah, but the art she did went through the public morals comittee before getting displayed." - Nishikata
*phew* x2
###
"Taking a break?" - Gamo
Senpai and Nagatoro were covered in sweat by this point and had gone off to the sidelines with Yoshi and Gamo.
"Mhm! Senpai, your endurance has really gotten bettter! I thought that you would've collapsed 2 steps in, but I've gotta give you credit, you really kept up!"
"I guess that that's thanks to you, what with forcing me to exercise with you every Sunday…"
"Don't complain! It's all thanks to me that you're not beansprout-Senpai anymore! Yep, you've officially upgraded to noodle Senpai!"
"Aren't those thinner?!"
Gamo smiled as she watched Nagatoro and Senpai going back and forth.
"Paisen's really gotten better at talking, huh?"
"Charisma!"
"Heh. I guess you could say that."
Gamo and Yoshi's gazes were then directed towawrds the dance floor where Takagi and Nishikata were spinning around each other, holding onto each other's hands, thus practically carving a path through tha dancers. They then stsopped spinning before Nishikata spun Takagi in a twirl and caught her with one of his arms. Despite breathing heavily, they both appeared to have wide smiles on their faces.
"Gah… Wish I could have that."
As Gamo leaned back into the wall, Yoshi appeared to be thinking about what to say for a few moments before positioning herself beside Gamo.
"You don't need that now because until you find someone, we've got each other!"
Gamo looked over at Yoshi's bright smile before letting out a chuckle and jumping to her feet.
"Guess you're right. For now, though, why don't we look for Sakura? I've been meaning to ask her if she's kissed Takagawa yet-"
Before she could finish, the 2 of them spied Takagawa and Sakura in a corner, clearly kissing.
"Heh. Guess I got my answer there."
Meanwhile, Nagatoro and Senpai were off to the side, enjoying melon sodas.
"Hard to believe that the year's almost over, huh?" - Senpai
"Mhm. It seems like it was only yesterday when you drew me in that cat cosplay."
"Or when we met."
Nagatoro turned away from Senpai and looked at her feet when he said that.
"Yeah… That too. Still, we've only got 1 more year of this left…"
Senpai raised an eyebrow.
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"You're going to university after high school, right?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm going to leave you!"
Nagatoro went a light shade of pink before putting on a smirk.
"Hm? Can you repeat that?"
"I said that I'm going to stay with-"
…
"Sounds like a proposal~"
"Shut up! That's not- uh…"
Senpai had begun to wave his hands around in denial while turning redder by the second although Nagatoro wasn't much better. After a few moments, she broke the silence.
"Stay here, ok, Senpai?"
"Huh? Ok…"
With that, Nagatoro dashed out of the room and returned a few minutes later with her hands behind her back.
"Eh? What do you-"
Before Senpai could finish, he felt something cover his eyes.
"I'm giving you another reward, Senpai!"
"Eh? What for?!"
"For ditching your virgin energy and asking to the dance, of course! So, don't open your eyes until I say so, ok?"
Senpai, albeit with an incredibly nervous expression, nodded before he felt something touch his lips. He prepared for a kiss, but instead, felt something being placed in his hand.
"Y-you can open them now."
Senpai brought up his hand to find a gift-wrapped box inside of it.
"Is this-"
Before he could finish, Nagatoro slid forward, planting a kiss directly onto Senpai's lips, causing him to jump backwards.
"Gah! What the-"
"There's your other reward, Senpai."
Senpai stared at a smirking, albeit red-faced Nagatoro as he silently averted his gaze and began opening the box of chocolates.
"Ah, before you do that…"
Nagatoro dashed off yet again before returning with a bottle of milk. Confused, Senpai bit into a piece of chocolate and…
"GWAAHHHHH! This is hot! What are you, trying to kill me?"
Senpai snatched the milk out of Nagatoro's hand, almost spilling it as he was doubled over from pain and she was doubled over from laughing.
"Ahahahaha! You got the spicy one on your first try!"
It took a few minutes for Senpai to recover, but he did eventually.
"Jeez… Next time, don't do something like that."
"I just thought it would be more fun this way, that's all~"
Senpai rolled his eyes before stretching his body out and replying:
"I guess I'll have to get you some pretty good candy for white day, huh?"
…
*blush* x2
"I-I-"
Before Senpai could wave his hands around and begin denying what he said, Nagatoro let out a bright, wide smile.
"I'm counting on it, Senpai!"
Bonus:"That was quite the night, huh?" - Takagi
"Mhm. I'm still not sure why you wanted me to do that twirl, though…"
"Well, dancing was fun enough by itself, wasn't it?"
"I guess… I'd rather not do it in front of all those people, though."
Takagi raised an eyebrow before leaning into Nishikata with a cheeky grin.
"Then why not do it here and now?"
…
"Y-yeah. Alright."
They joined hands and waited for a few moments.
"U-uh, Takagi?"
"You decide the dance."
Nishikata wracked his brains for a few moments before an idea popped into his head. He looked straight at Takagi with a determined expression before saying:
"Can you close your eyes?"
Takagi briefly opened her eyes in shock but did as she was told. After a few moments, she felt her hands being cupped in Nishikata's before they were separated. To her confusion, they began moving out towards her sides and slanting to her right.
"Nishikata? What are you-"
And then they began to dance. And then she figured it out.
"I-I thought that since we didn't get to do that folk dance together, that we should do it today…"
Takagi's mouth was hanging open, but when she heard that, all she could do was smile.
"You remembered that from back in middle school?"
"Mhm."
Takagi's face went a light shade of pink before she closed her eyes again.
"I guess that my chocolate really helped you remember that, huh."
"Shut up! This and that have nothing to do with each other!"
"I know~"
They got home safely.
