Nothing to say today, I'm tired, and I want sleep, so good night to you all.

It was the following day, and Nishikata was making his way to the candy shop for his first date with Takagi-san. "Okay, this is no big- who am I kidding? This is a massive deal, I'm finally dating Takagi-san!" He took a deep breath and reeled himself in. "Easy there, don't get too excited, even though she's your girlfriend, it's only for a week." He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "I need to find a way to make that more than a week ... that's ... not sure how I'm planning on doing that."

He neared the candy store, where she told him to meet her, and built up his courage. The store was soon in sight, and as soon as he spotted Takagi-san, he stopped in his tracks. Her outfit wasn't anything special, just her normal summer clothes and her hair was the same, but Nishikata felt his heart jump like never before. 'Man, did she always look this amazing? Or did something change about her?'

"Nishikata?" She said as she looked up at him.

"Oh." He resumed walking. "Hey, hi, I … well …"

She snickered, causing Nishikata to turn away embarrassed. "So, shall we go in?"

Nishikata looked at the place a little confused. 'Actually, something's been bothering me since she called me last night.' "Say, Takagi-san, is this really a good place to have a … first date?"

"It all depends on how important the place is." She said as she turned away slightly. "Also, it's not a date yet."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Oh, you'll find out."

They walked inside and looked around a little; it was mostly empty, save for the old guy behind the counter, and Nishikata had no idea what he was supposed to do next.

"So, what do you want to get first?" Takagi-san asked.

An idea popped into his head. "Hey Takagi-san, how about a little contest?"

"Oh?" She said with an almost devious smile. "What did you have in mind?"

"Have you ever heard the phrase, two great tastes don't always taste great together? Well, each of us will get a combination of candies, and try them all at once. Whoever can make the best combination wins."

"Interesting." She began looking around. "Okay, I'm up for it."

"Wonderful!" 'This is perfect, sure, I'm not amazing at mixing flavors, but Takagi-san's probably isn't that great either, so this would come down to luck.' A devious smile crept across his face. 'However, I've tried combining some of these before, so I know a few good ones already.'

Nishikata walked right up to a random candy, and pretended to look around. 'If I just go to the candy I have in mind, then Takagi-san will suspect something, and she might call it off.' He continued looking and waited for Takagi-san to have something in hand before going for his first piece. "I'll try this one first." He said, trying to throw Takagi-san off his trail.

"That one?" She asked as she looked at it. "This might be easier than I thought."

"Wha-" Nishikata began grinding his teeth together before taking a deep breath and easing himself. 'No, there's no need to get upset, just continue, and everything should be fine.' He grabbed the other candy he had in mind before walking up to the counter and paying for them. "I think I picked out a fairly good combination." He said before turning back to Takagi.

"So did I." She replied as she also strolled up to the counter.

As soon as they were both done, they sat at the small table with their candy in front of them. 'This is it.' He thought as he opened his candies. "Say Takagi-san, would you mind if we tried mine first?"

"Sure." He handed her some of each before getting some for himself.

"So, are we just going to use the honor system?"

"You know I would never lie to you, Nishikata." She replied with a smile.

Nishikata felt his heart skip a beat as he looked down at the candy he had in hand. 'Yeah … I still need to apologize for that.' He took a bite of his combo, but he couldn't enjoy the taste for some reason. 'Did I do something wrong?' He thought to himself.

"It's not bad." Takagi-san said, causing him to look up. "They're both very different, but they are both salty, so they don't necessarily clash." She paused and looked at him. "But honestly … it's a tad too salty."

"Really?" He tried it again, and sure enough, he noticed it. It never really bothered him before, but it was still there. "You're right, it's still good though."

"Yup, which means mine, has to be better if I want to win."

"Uh, yeah."

She began to open hers but stopped for a moment. "Say, you're not going to lie to me, right?"

"What? Of course not, if yours is better, then I'll gladly admit defeat." 'And now that I think about it, I don't know how good Takagi-san is at cooking, I may have jumped the gun here.'

"And what if it's not?"

"Huh?"

"What if it's bad? You'll still tell me, right?"

"I … well I will have won so …" She gave him a knowing look, and he began to suspect something was off. 'Wait a minute, what if she intentionally picked something bad just to see if I'd tell her that it was good just to spare her feelings? I didn't think this through enough!'

She handed him a handful of candy, and he reluctantly took it. "I … I guess, here goes something." He said as he began to bring it closer to his mouth. 'I can't be mean, but she asked me to tell the truth, so I have to tell her the truth! I mean, I could just say I win, but …' He took a deep breath and took a bite of the candy, before his heart stopped. It tasted amazing, it was a combination of salty and sweet which matched perfectly. "This is great." He said as he stared at it in confusion."

"Yeah, I figured." Nishikata looked up at her surprised. "I know a few things about how flavors work, so I figured that they would match well."

"You … then why did you make it sound like it was going to be bad?"

"You should know the answer to that by now." She tilted her head, closed her eyes, and smiled. "I wanted to see your reaction."

Nishikata's eye began to twitch as Takagi-san burst into laughter. "You're always good for a laugh, but you still never give up," Nishikata looked at her surprised. "Nishikata?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't ever change."

"I … don't plan on giving up."

"Good." She ate a bit more of the candy that Nishikata got and let out a soft chuckle. "This reminds me of the last time we were here together."

"Huh? When was that?"

"You remember."

Nishikata thought back, and the first thing his mind came to was right before the camping trip. "You mean before the school trip?"

"Yup."

"Yeah, I … remember that." He blushed as the memory came back to him. "That … that was fun."

"Even though you thought it was a date?"

"I didn't think it was a date!" Nishikata exclaimed.

"Of course not." She ate another piece of candy before continuing. "I was kinda looking forward to seeing your reaction after we got together like this after the camping trip, but … things … didn't go as I thought they would."

"What do you mean?"

"The folk dance of course." She smiled, failing to hide the hint of disappointment in her eyes. "It was so close, if it had only gone on for a second longer … well, what do you think would have happened?"

'What do I think?' Nishikata thought to himself. 'Well … I think …' "We're a couple now, aren't we Takagi-san?"

She let out a soft sigh. "Almost." She said, causing Nishikata to look at her confused, "But let's stop thinking about what if's, it'll only sour the mood."

They continued sitting there, talking about this or that, with the occasional game which Takagi-san beat Nishikata at, before a text to Takagi-san's phone brought an abrupt end to their time. "Sorry, my mom needs me home, looks like I'll have to cut today short."

"I … it's fine, there's still tomorrow, right?"

"You almost sound like you're looking forward to it."

"Well … a loss is a loss."

"Right."

They both got up and walked out of the store before making their way home. "Short though it may have been, I had fun." Nishikata stated. "I mean … as much as I do every other time I hang with you … though it didn't feel much like a date."

"Because it wasn't really a date." Takagi-san explained.

"There you go again, with the whole, it's not an official thing. What is going on Takagi-san?"

"Well, there are two reasons." She said as she walked in front of him and turned to look him in the eye. "One, we're not boyfriend and girlfriend … until you ask." She stepped even closer, causing him to stumble back slightly. "And two, how many guys use their girlfriends honorific while referring to them?"

Nishikata's eyes went wide as his pupils began to dilate. "Wait … you mean … I … have to …"

"Yup, for this to be official, you have to ask me." She looked down and to the side as she looked a little sad. "Though, I am forcing you so-" She was interrupted by Nishikata placing his hand against her mouth, causing her to look at him surprised.

"Wait." He said before taking a deep breath. "Ta- … Takagi-s-" He clenched his teeth together and took a deep breath through his nose. "Takagi?" Takagi-san looked at him surprised, as he tried to form the rest of the words. "W-will you … that is to say … I …" He dropped his hand and took one final deep breath. "Will you ... be my ... girlfriend?"

Time seemed to freeze, as Nishikata felt a weight lift from his chest. 'I actually-' His thought process was interrupted as Takagi-san threw her arms around him, practically throwing herself onto him.

"Of course." They both stood there for a moment, both of them blushing immensely, before Takagi-san let go of him and looked him in the eye. "Okay, now we're officially boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Yeah." Nishikata said as he felt out of breath. "I mean … till … the weeks up."

"Yeah, and it'll be over before we know it, so we had better make the most of it."

"Great." Nishikata said with a hint of worry.

They continued onward until they reached the point where they split up and turned to face each other. "So … I guess ... um …"

She smiled. "I'll call you later tonight."

"Okay." Nishikata said as he let out a sigh of relief. "I'll talk to you later." He turned around and began walking away as Takagi-san got a sly look in her eye.

"Yeah, I'll talk to you later." She walked up to him and placed her head close to his ear. "Future Mr. Takagi."

Nishikata blushed and turned around to see her walking off. "WHA-! Takagi!" She didn't respond, and he couldn't help but stare at her. "Future Mr. Takagi, she's just trying to mess with me." He turned back around and began walking. "But wait … does that mean I'll have to give up my last name to marry her?" He began to blush even more before turning around and marching home. "No … I'm reading way too much into that."