Hey guys! Just to tell you that because Summer is upon us, it doesn't mean I will upload frequently. Maybe once every 3 weeks but the line is drawn at one and a half months. Please review and share with others. I plan to make this fanfic my initiation and have many other ideas that I will be willing to make for everyone. With that being said, please enjoy chapter 2!

CHAPTER 2

Back to Nuzoko

August 7, 2021

Taking in sharp breaths, Kazuhiko opened his eyes.

He was in his room. As much as he would deny it, he would certainly miss his old house in Inaba. The people, the sights, everything had become his ideal world. He would certainly miss the school (although some teachers will be left unnamed), he would miss the owner of Aiya's (he never quite got the hang of the beef bowl challenge), but he would miss his childhood friend the most.

As soon as Kazuhiko thought that, his phone began to immediately ring. He lazily rolled onto his side and checked the caller ID.

"Just thinking of the devil..."

Kazuhiko began to sit up and answered his call.

"Hey, hey! Today's the big day!"

"Yeah, I know. Hard to believe I'm going back already."

Kazuhiko smiled to himself. He knew the brown haired girl very well and both saw each other only as friends, but that never stopped his heart from skipping a beat when he heard her cheerful demeanor.

"I'll meet you at Junes! Everyone's planning a goodbye party for you!"

"Really? Great! I'll be there as soon as I can."

Kazuhiko hung up and walked to the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror and wasn't surprised to see his slightly long jet black hair all over the place.

"Geez, I really need to wear a beanie to sleep"

He then remembered his dream about Johei as he paused and spaced out for sometime.

"How come I never remembered anything about him when I left?"

Shaking his head, Kazuhiko swiped a hand through his hair while grabbing a toothbrush. Once he finished his morning routine, he went to his step-parents room to find that they were still sleeping. Not wanting to disturb them, Kazuhiko left a note and walked out the door to the Junes market.

Meanwhile…

"Are you sure he said he was coming?"

"Of course he is! He told me so!"

"Hate to use some of the inventory for nothing..."

"I used some top-notch yarn for this..."

"Guys, it'll be just like when I left Inaba. Besides, his train doesn't leave until 4 in the afternoon."

A young blond haired man sighed as he remembered his friend leaving 9 years ago. Everything happened so fast: after the manager's son left, he was to take charge. Not like he didn't want to though. He loved Junes the moment he set his foot in.

"It's been quite a while since you guys found me reclining in that massage chair..."

A gray-haired individual nodded and smiled lightly, remembering when the current manager was just a pervy teenage part-timer, always working near the women's swim-wear section.

"Yeah, I remember that day… or rather, 'remembeared'"

"Oh, shut up! I don't need to hear more puns from you!"

A brown haired man glared at the gray-haired man, obviously looking as if he heard the joke for years. He wore a bright orange T-shirt and a pair of headphones were hanging on his neck.

"Come on, you have to admit that was kind of clever"

"Shut up, bear!"

Headphones yelled at the manager and threatened to noogie him until he went bald.

"Guys, quite fighting already! Save your hatred for later."

A woman with bobbed chestnut hair and a police officer's uniform pulled the manager and Headphones apart.

"I'm glad I don't have this trouble at the inn..."

A woman with long black hair tied up in a bun watched the Headphones and the officer argue like an old married couple.

"An old married couple? Those two?! Hahahahahaha!"

"Oh boy, here we go..."

The black-haired woman began to laugh uncontrollably as the gray-haired man began to droop.

"Hey everyone! He's here!"

The only teenager in the group pointed at the elevator as Kazuhiko walked out to the food court.

"Hey bestie! How's it going?"

The brown-haired teen tackled Kazuhiko in a hug and eventually brought him to the table.

"Kaz-kun! It's been a while."

"Hey, have a seat little man!"

"We got enough food for everyone so dig in!"

"All payed by this guy's credit card!"

"I'm still going to get you guys for this you know..."

Kazuhiko sat at the table and enjoyed the company he had in Inaba. Who knew that ten years had passed by so quickly and he'd have to say goodbye to all these wonderful people?

"Hey, hurry up and open up your presents already!"

Kazuhiko nodded as he reached for a gift that looked like it came from the textile shop. Inside, he found a pink stuffed alligator that looked like it was knitted by an expert. Next came a pair of sweatbands, a blue yukata that fit him perfectly, a pair of awesome headphones, an autographed photo of Risette, a pair of stylish glasses, a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories, and strangely, a box full of panties.

"Hey! Aren't some of those mine?"

"Yeah! Mine are in there too!"

"Well… this is awkward"

The manager began to haul ass while the police officer and the lady in the kimono began to chase him through the department store.

"Manager Teddie's same as always..."

The gray-haired man sighed and smiled at Kazuhiko.

"Yes. He was always like that ever since he learned what 'scoring' meant. Then again, Yosuke here was even worse."

"Hey! I was not!"

"You brought bathing suits for those two on our camping trip together, dude. I'd say that would be pretty bad."

The mountain directed his comment to Headphones as he avoided looking at the box of lacey unmentionables.

"At least I can stand to see a girl in a bikini and not get a nosebleed, Kanji."

"The hell did you just say?!"

Kanji picked up Yosuke by the collar and shook him.

"Thank you for your gift Mr. Tatsumi! It looks like your gift was crafted with expert hands!"

Kanji turned to Kazuhiko and flashed a bright smile.

"Thanks. You know you don't have to keep calling me Mr. Tatsumi you know?"

"Kanji-kun is so cool! He learned how to knit when he was a kid!"

The high-schooler beamed at Kazuhiko telling him how she learned how to knit.

"I even had after school lessons with him! He was such a good teacher! I'm not as good as him so I didn't want to knit you a gift for today."

The two continued to talk until the gray-haired man decided to tease them a bit.

"Nanako-chan, are you sure you two aren't dating?"

At that second, both Nanako and Kazuhiko turned bright red.

"Ah! No! We're not dating! we're just friends!"

Nanako ran to her so-called 'big bro' and slapped him on the butt.

"Ow! Okay Nanako-chan, I believe you!"

Kazuhiko couldn't help but laugh. Even though they weren't family, everyone acted as though they were related to each other. He would definitely miss them all when he left.

They day went by fast and it was already time to leave. Everyone gathered at the station to see Kazuhiko off.

"Hey, Kazuhiko."

Kaz turned around to look at Nanako who was slightly blushing.

"Oh, what's up?"

Kaz felt as if something big was about to happen as he took off his headphones and looked Nanako in the eyes. Nanako, for some reason, was trying to not make eye contact with Kaz.

"Remember the time that I asked you if you loved me?"

Kaz immediately felt horrible and looked at the ground.

Flashback: June 17, 2021

"Hey, Kaz! So I was wondering if you want to go out to Aiya's with me!"

"Oh, sure! I'd love to!"

Nanako felt relieved and couldn't stop the excitement that was threatening to burst out of her. Today, she would tell him; Today was the day.

"Great! Last one there pays for the food!"

"Wait, what? No way!"

Nanako ran out of the classroom of Yasogami High grinning like a madwoman. It had started to rain and that meant the special challenge was on. 3000 yen was payment if you didn't finish it before it got cold and she was not going to bust her wallet for the beef bowl.

Nanako was soon at the home stretch and stopped right in front of Aiya's.

"Hah! Looks like you're paying for my beef bowl!"

"What're you talking about? I was here first."

Nanako turned around in shock as she saw Kazuhiko inside the restaurant sitting at a table for two and ordering a beef bowl.

"How did you get here before I did!?"

"I have my ways..."

Kaz smiled mischievously as he beckoned her to sit across from him.

"Don't worry, I'll pay for your meal too. I just got a raise from my job at the hospital so the sky's the limit! That is unless you decide to eat your weight in fried rice."

Nanako slightly blushed. The last time she was here, she ended up eating plates of fried rice only to stop when she found out she couldn't pay for it. Luckily, Kazuhiko stopped by and agreed to pay for her food.

"Yeah, good times."

As expected, neither of them finished their beef bowls, although Kaz almost saw the rice at the bottom. Kaz forked over 6000 yen to the owner and walked outside with Nanako.

"Hey, can we… go to the shrine real quick?"

"Huh? How come?"

Nanako cursed inwardly. She needed to get him to an empty place to ask him. She quickly thought of an excuse.

"Uh, I wanted to, um… drop off something for...the...fox?"

Nanako felt really embarrassed. Going to the shrine to give the fox something; that was a new one and an all time low for her.

"Oh, okay. Sure! Let's go. That fox could use a little something for its good deeds."

After a short walk to the shrine, Nanako took out a bag with some of the leftover beef bowl and gave it to the fox who happily accepted it.

"Listen, I know we've been friends for a long time."

Kaz turned to Nanako, now with a new interest in their conversation.

"I just want to know if… if you have any feelings… towards any girls."

Kaz then realized what she was trying to say. Quickly, he turned around and blushed furiously.

"She really likes me?" he thought.

"Well, no. Not really. I mean, I'm friends with a lot of girls but not romantically involved."

"Oh, that's nice"

Nanako had never felt this way before. She hadn't even felt like this when she told her big bro that she wanted to marry him. Come to think of it, didn't her father give big bro a death glare when she said that?

"I… I just wanted to say… I don't have feelings for a lot of guys either."

Kaz began to sweat. Nanako was really going to confess.

"Oh crap, she's really going for it! What should I do? Her dad's going to arrest me if he finds out I'm dating her! He'll probably kill me if I rejected her! What should I do?" Kaz thought to himself

"I… I was thinking… if you had any interest in..."

Nanako stopped short.

"That's it! I can't do this to my best friend! I can't make him have to decide!" Nanako thought.

"Nanako… listen."

"Oh, no… he doesn't like me" Nanako thought.

"We've been friends for a long time, but soon, I'm going to go back to Nuzoko. I don't want to make a relationship just when I'm going to leave soon."

Nanako nodded sadly. Her attempt had failed.

"Don't get me wrong… If things were different then I would have been the one to confess to you… but now, I don't want to fall in love with you and be away from you for the rest of my life. This is the best way I know to not break your heart."

Nanako stared at Kaz, amazed at how he really did care for her. She was wrong to think her attempt failed.

"Don't worry. It was my fault anyway. I should have confessed earlier."

Tears began to well up in Nanako's eyes as she couldn't bear to see her friend go because of her cowardness.

"Hey, hey. Don't cry. You'll always have a special place in my heart. I'm not leaving forever. I'll come to visit once I can stay by myself. Heck, I'll even move here."

"But after all that time we'll still be best friends. I'll wait for you to come back. I'll always love you too."

Present day

"Yeah, I remember that."

"Then please tell me… that we'll always stay friends. "

Kaz didn't expect that. He thought that Nanako would have hopped right on the train with him or try to kidnap him. She did tend to do outrageous things that might be from Narukami-san's side of the family.

"And… if you do come back and… you're still single… do you think that we could..."

Kaz decided that now would be the time to end things before they got any more awkward.

"I will tell you one thing Nanako..."

Nanako's eyes began to lightt up until…

"For a girl, you have some huge balls."

At first Nanako looked confused, then she slowly digested what Kaz just said and then smacked him in the head with a book in her bag. That book happened to be a hard-cover copy of War and Peace.

"You jerk!" Nanako put the book back in her bag and began to pout.

"I was trying to make this seem romantic!"

Kaz was still a bit dazed and was convinced that he had lost a few brain cells. Stupid Leo Tolstoy. But even he had to smile when he saw Nanako's pouty face.

Then he did the last thing Nanako would have expected: He moved in close and kissed her.

The entire encounter lasted about five seconds, but Nanako was in such a shock, It could have lasted for an hour.

"I did tell you that you always had a special place in my heart."

Kaz and Nanako decided to go back to the group where a very amused group of adults were looking at them.

"Sooooooooooooo…" Teddie started off

"Will a wedding be in the near future?"

"Shut up, Yosuke."

"What? I'm just curious!"

"… Nanako, may I borrow Tolstoy for a moment?"

*clonk*

"OW! Dude, what the hell?!"

"...I should probably bring my Tolkien anthology with me more often"

The train arrived just as Yu handed Nanako back her book. Kaz began to pick up his bags but Kanji insisted that he would carry his bags for him all alone. Something about manliness, or because Detective Naoto was just there. Those two always seemed to be close…

Kaz felt his steps getting heavier as he put his feet on the train and grabbed a seat near the window. Suddenly he heard knocking on the window. He opened it to find that Yu wanted to talk to him.

"Uh, just to be clear, I didn't actually break her heart sooo..."

"Oh don't worry. I'm just here to give you two my blessing. Have fun you kids."

"AH! Big bro! Don't make fun of me like that!"

Nanako then threatened Yu with the power of literature until she calmed down. The train began to move and before he knew it, Nanako was running alongside the train to tell him any last minute words.

"Remember to write often bestie!"

Kazuhiko then opened up the window to hold Nanako's hand

"I will! I love you!"

Finally, he let go of her hand and sat back down.

Back on the platform

Yu Narukami looked at Nanako while she run beside the train.

"Funny, I somehow feel like this has happened before."

Kanji noticed too.

"Yeah, dude. It was just like when you left."

Yu smiled as he remembered the past. How he left and his friends ran beside the train to say last minute goodbyes; how Teddie fell off the…

"Oh shit! Nanako! Watch out for the..."

*trip*

"...edge of the platform"

*bonk*

"I'm okay!"

Everyone sighed as they walked to the edge of the platform.

"Scary resemblance"

"Guys, if Dojima asks, don't tell him."

Thanks for reading this fanfiction! Please give me reviews and any questions you may want answered. I don't plan on making Nanako a large character in this, but just for the sake of a cameo appearance. If there is anything or anyone you want to add in this fanfiction, feel free to leave it in the comments. The next chapter will get back to the main story.