Hey all! I keep having ideas about what would change if I tweaked something in an episode we already know and love, and this is my first attempt (in this fandom) at exploring that. I call it an episode 'redux' - change something, then try to capture the domino effect it has.
In this case, I feel like Takagi often acts remarkably mature for her age; sometimes bit too mature. Thus, I wrote up something that I felt like could have plausibly happened. It is fairly short, just a handful of chapters, which I'll release once a week leading up to the movie. Hope you enjoy; please let me know if you did and how I can improve!
My Wattpad version of this story includes images from the episode - read it there if you'd like to see them: "wattpad com/1223111928" (add the missing dot)
"Hey, good morning! Today's Valentine's Day, huh?"
"Yeah, I'm super nervous!"
The girls and boys around Nishikata streamed into the school, babbling excitedly to one another about the world's most romantic holiday, but he just stared dryly at the ground. In past years, Nishikata had actually been hopeful of receiving Valentine's chocolate from some secret admirer, but he now knew all too well that he really just needed to be on guard for the inevitable upcoming tricks.
I have no doubt that Takagi-san will once again take advantage of all the excitement around this day to tease me somehow, he thought restlessly as he trudged in and up to his locker. He pulled off his sneakers and narrowed his eyes. But I'm not gonna fall for any of her tricks!
Nishikata knew exactly what would happen next. He would open his locker to grab his indoor shoes, and lo and behold, Takagi would have some sort of contraption or prank gift ready for him to take, just to get some sort of reaction out of him. She was probably hiding around somewhere, already giggling and watching his every move.
He would not give her a single ounce of satisfaction.
Nishikata fought back a grin as he reached for his locker. This was just too obvious. He swung open the door and peered in, and as expected, in plain view just above his shoes was…
…
Nothing.
…
Nishikata blinked. He pulled out his shoes and examined every inch of his locker for a card, a piece of tape holding a trinket, something, but it was empty. Nothing fell out of his shoes either, no matter how many times he whacked them together.
Weird. Nishikata scratched his head as he slipped on his school shoes. Takagi's teasing had become increasingly merciless over the past year, so he had been sure she would plant something. Why pass up such a golden opportunity, when she knew how flustered he could get?
…And to be honest, some small part of him wanted to get something from her, tease or not.
Maybe she isn't here yet? he thought as he walked to his homeroom. It was pretty early, plus the classroom door was closed which often meant that nobody had arrived yet.
That had to be it. Nishikata quietly pulled open the door and peered inside.
…And there she was, wiping down the chalkboards at the front in large strokes. So she was here! Nishikata stared cautiously at her, slowly entering and shutting the door, then began tiptoeing to his seat. He didn't know how to process this yet. It was still getting bright in the room, and just maybe, she wouldn't notice—
"Good morning, Nishikata."
Nishikata yelped and spun to face her.
"G'morning, Takagi-san! You-You're here, uh, really early today."
Takagi turned back to the board, continuing to wipe away chalk.
"Yeah… I had something to do, so I rode to school early on my bike."
Maybe she had hidden a surprise on his desk. That seemed plausible. He snuck a glance up at Takagi while walking over to her desk and found her staring right back at him. How suspicious!
But there was nothing on his chair, nothing taped under the desk. As Nishikata sat down, he checked both inside and under it, but didn't find anything there either.
This didn't feel right, with Takagi constantly glancing back towards him as if anticipating something, yet him finding no trick. Was she waiting to give something to him, was it that? His eyes slowly crept over from his desk and onto hers, where her schoolbag lay, and-
"What ho…. what period follows homeroom again today?" Takagi asked suddenly.
Takagi had walked over, and proceeded to si down beside him. She grabbed her bag and hung it on the desk hook opposite him. Nishikata broke his gaze and looked away sheepishly.
"Um, I think English?"
She nodded in acknowledgment, staring down at her desk.
"I think Tanabe-sensei said we were learning about something 'super'," Nishikata continued, filling the silence. "Super-what? What did he call it? Super-platides? Super-latines? Super-latins?"
She smiled slightly, not looking him in the eye. That was good.
"Super-latin… that seems close. Wait, pig-latin! I think I've heard that on TV! Is it pig-latin?"
Takagi tittered softly. "No, silly, the lesson is on superlatives, like how you change adjectives to make comparisons.
Ah, that sounded more like it. Nishikata was glad she seemed happier, even if something did feel a bit different today.
Takagi stood back up. "Nishikata… come help me finish cleaning up front."
"Oh, okay." She waited till he stood up, then followed him up to the chalkboards.
Nishikata grabbed an eraser, starting on the left-most board in the room. Takagi was being oddly quiet today, and it being Valentine's day made it even weirder. She could be relentlessly teasing him about whatever embarrassing thing she wanted right now with nobody around.
But she just kept staring at the board, really scrubbing hard at the same spot over and over again.
Did she have another fight with her mom? Nishikata would definitely prefer being teased to that.
Could he do anything to cheer her up? Or, was this all just part of some scheme she had hiding in her desk? Nishikata couldn't tell, glancing back at their stuff.
"Hey."
He looked to the side to see Takagi looking straight at him rather intensely. He stepped back, fighting to keep down a blush. How was she always so unphased with stuff like this?
"If a girl confessed to you, what would you do?"
Nishikata gritted his teeth involuntarily, that blush surfacing all over his cheeks anyway. "..Huugh?!"
"If a girl said she liked you, what would you do?"
He dropped the eraser, scrambling to pick it up again and blushing furiously. Of course Takagi would drop a bombshell like this on him when he least expected it, this fit right in with the status quo! He felt a convoluted mixture of relief and embarrassment pulse through his heart as he struggled to look back at her.
"Uhh… I don't know why that would happen, but, I-I mean.. I mean it would depend on the girl…"
She took a step forward, her glare still piercing into his, and he had to look away. "So you wouldn't start dating just any girl that asked?"
Nishikata scratched his head, feeling more embarrassed by the second. "Uhmmm…"
"I don't know…"
For such a monumental tease, Takagi was maintaining an awfully serious expression. She even had her lips pursed together and everything. What was her game?
"W-Why are you asking me?"
Her big brown eyes looked so focused today, even more vibrant than usual, and Nishikata couldn't understand why.
Takagi glanced away for a few moments, seeming to be deep in thought.
What was going on? Why did Takagi even care about a question like that, if not to tease? Nishikata could feel his heartbeat speeding up.
Takagi slowly turned back to him, shrinking back slightly. She bit her lip for a second, took a deep breath, then opened her mouth and-
The classroom door slid open with a bang and Mina jovially walked in, carrying a big periwinkle bag that was obviously filled with some type of chocolates. Takagi spun around to see her.
"Good mooo-orning!" Mina called out, staring into the bag excitedly. "I was so excited for Valentine's day that I couldn't wait to get here!"
Nishikata muttered a good morning back as Mina looked around. Wait, was Mina giving some boy some chocolate this year? He had no idea that she was that mature, was she actually-
"Huh, I guess Sanae and Yukari weren't as excited as me. I'll go wait for them outside. See ya!"
And with that, Mina ran back out of the room, leaving them alone once again. She had left the door open, allowing more excited voices from the hallway to echo into the room.
Well that was unexpected, but for Mina, I guess it was actually pretty normal, Nishikata thought, chuckling a bit. She wouldn't actually be giving out any special chocolates to boys, right?
Nishikata looked back at Takagi, who was staring back at the open doorway and gripping her eraser tightly. She noticed his gaze and stiffened, then immediately flipped around again.
Crap! he thought again, back to this weird conversation! What do I say?
Takagi began hurriedly wiping down the remainder of the chalkboard. "Nevermind," she said quickly, "I can finish this up."
"Huh—You sure?"
"Yep."
Nishikata's eyes practically popped out of his head as he walked back to his seat, flabbergasted. Takagi had done all that and then just let him go without the slightest bit of teasing? What was going on?!
He had wanted to challenge her to a game, but didn't even know what to say after all that. Was he supposed to wait for her answer, her explanation and culminating tease for those weird questions, or just move on? As classmates began filing in and taking their seats, he couldn't say anything to her and she didn't say anything back.
Takagi got up to talk with some of her friends when Sumire-chan arrived, and classes started soon after that leaving Nishikata as puzzled as ever. First period came and went without her saying so much as a word at him, and it just felt weird to say anything back after her questions and all of the uncomfortable silence.
During the break, he tried talking with friends but just couldn't focus, barely registering anything when he spotted Houjou handing chocolate to Hamaguchi. Second period was even worse, with Tanabe-sensei's lecture going in one ear and out the other.
"Hey, Nishikata," Takagi whispered, making him jump up. "You're on the wrong page."
Nishikata's eyes shot down at his textbook and he gasped, quickly flipping through his English textbook to get to the right spot.
Here comes the tease…
But as Nishikata looked back at Takagi, she remained focused on the lesson, glancing between the teacher and her notes. He gripped his pen more tightly, wondering what was going on. This is so weird.
Still, she had broken the silence, which was a start. In fact, he hadn't said practically anything to her. Perhaps he just needed to take the initiative?
"Hey Takagi-san, care for a contest?"
Takagi looked over at him. "What kind?"
Nishikata held up his eraser, feeling excitement beginning to bubble up from deep within. He had practiced this all evening. "A contest to see who can make the longer eraser rubbing!" He put down his eraser against his notebook, beginning to rub for demonstration.
"Just like this… You keep extending it until it breaks. The winner is whoever has the longest one."
Nishikata looked over expectantly, smiling. She seemed bothered today, so he could even just cast his pride aside this time. Even if he had practiced all night the day before, he could just let her win and that would clear things up, right?
Takagi looked back for several seconds, saying nothing. It was making him squirm. She parted her lips as if to speak, but nothing came out. Then she dropped her head, looking away.
"Sorry, I'm just not feeling it today."
She… turned it down?! Nishikata thought, speechless. She's almost never turned down a challenge before! He gave a small nod, then lightly placed his eraser back down and once again looked ahead.
During lunch, Nishikata didn't feel like doing anything. Takagi had grabbed her bag and left, but rather than talking with Kimura or Takao, he just sat there, staring over at her empty desk.
Had he somehow upset her? Or was it really a fight with her mom again?
I gotta help somehow…
"Nishikata! You've got visitors!" Takao cried out deafeningly, startling him. Nishikata looked up to three girls waiting at the doorway, smiling over at him. They immediately blushed and bowed their heads.
What?
Moments later, Nishikata found himself in one of the strangest situations yet. These were clearly first-year students yet were nearly as tall as he as he stood with them in the hallway. Why did they look so embarrassed, and why did they want anything to do with him?
"Yes?" he asked nervously.
"U-uh, well, we wanted to ask about our chocolates…"
What?! What the heck were they talking about?
"Chocolates...?" Nishikata mirrored, "Are you sure you've got the right Nishikata?"
They each nodded eagerly, still smiling at him.
"I… I don't know about any chocolates…" he stammered, feeling like a deer frozen in the headlights. The girls' smiles slowly faded and they looked at one another in confusion.
"You mean- You mean you didn't get the ones we left in your lock-" a dark-brown-haired girl stopped as the girl to her right poked her, whispering something in her ear. The three turned their back from him and huddled, whispering briskly. He could only catch bits and pieces of their conversation. "...are you sure you were a row off? …this time I was positive… …stop saying that! …better go check…"
After what felt like ages, the three young girls turned back to him, looking even more embarrassed. "Um… I think we've made a mistake," the black-haired one apologized, "We're so sorry for bothering you!"
"We're sorry!" the other two parroted, all bowing their heads again. And with that, they scuttled off down the hall.
Nishikata watched them, scratching his head but feeling oddly relieved. He had never really received romantic chocolate before, and for a moment it was looking like he was getting three of them, but for some reason, he wasn't that bothered that it had turned out to be an accident. This day was weird enough as is, and he was just fine with not making it any weirder.
…
Takagi watched as the three girls bustled past her, worriedly whispering about their Valentine chocolates. She gave them a wide berth then peeked back down the hallway, barely making out Nishikata's perplexed expression as he walked back into their classroom. She gripped her schoolbag so tightly that her nails dug into it.
Oh Nishikata… What have I done?
