Nishikata has been aware of his feelings for Takagi for almost two years now, and whenever his mind would hearken back to his slightly younger self he'd cringe at his remarkable lack of self awareness. How did he not realize the source of his constant state of being flustered while around her. He could still remember the days leading up to his realization with stark clarity, as if he'd just lived it yesterday. Hamaguchi had invited them over for a sleepover one weekend, but they opted out the sleeping in favor of playing video games for the entire night. A 14 year old Nishikata was getting his ass sorely handed to him by Takao in an intense match of fierce soccer.

"You know what your problem is," Kimura said, struggling to get his hands on the last few pringles in the container. "your head ain't in the game."

Nishikata just huffed in response, his fingers aggresively tapping against the controller. He was most definitely in the game, a cocktail of mountain dew and pepsi flowing through his veins.

"And I think I win!" Takao exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in celebration. "You lose at everything, you lose to me, you lose to Takagi-san-"

Nishikata silenced him, shoving a pillow to his face.

"Maybe you guys wanna switch games," Hamaguchi offered, listing out the cases one by one. "I got Mortal Kombat, Ninja Storm 4, FighterZ, 100% unrequited-"

Hamaguchi paused and quickly shoved the cases back to the shelf while Takao and Kimura laughed.

"Isn't that the visual novel version? Never knew you had a thing for those, right Nishikata?" Kimura said nudging his elbow. Nishikata agreed, his face slightly flushed. He wondered if he could ask hamaguchi for the price later.

"I heard Houjou talk about it once so I thought I'd give it a try, that's all"

"Sure, sure, hey Nishikata want a rematch?" Takao said grabbing the controller once again.

"You're on."

The monday after that weekend was quite uneventful. Just the usual being teased by Takagi and yelled at by Tanabe-sense. The bell had just rang signifying the end of the day. Everyone else was packing their things whilst Nishikata had his forehead planted on his desk in defeat once again, Takagi giggling in the seat next to him.

"I'll get you one day." He grumbled.

"Hmm? Even in matches with your clear advantage you still manage to let me win."

Let me win.

Those words lit a bulb in the boy's head as he started noticing all his mistakes. In games where his victory was supposedly assured, all of his losses were his own doing rather than Takagi's genius.

"You're confident that you can beat me in anything?" Nishikata smirked.

"I have beaten you in everything, and you haven't given me any reason to believe otherwise."

Nishikata would've blushed furiously if he wasn't filled with determination. He scanned the room, everyone had already left, it was just them.

He propped his arm against the table catching Takagi by surprise. Her expression was quickly replaced with a sly smile as she grabbed a chair, sat down, and propped her own arm against his. The last time they arm wrestled Nishikata had let his guard down, but not this time. Guessing her thought process Nishikata deduced that she'd say something to embarrass him right when they start. He couldn't let that happen. He remembered what Kimura told him the previous weekend.

Your head ain't in the game.

"Ready?" Takagi inquired.

He began clearing his mind.

"One."

The world slowly faded away, the classroom melting until it was just the two of them, hands clasped. But this wasn't enough he thought.

"Two."

He further concentrated, melting even the presence of Takagi from his consciousness. Now there was nothing else but him and his objective.

"Three."

Whatever plan Takagi had in mind she didn't even get the chance to execute it. Nishikata's focus was so incredibly powerful to this day he still can't remember the exact moment. All he knows is that when he came to Takagi's hand was resting motionless on the wood of the table.

"I... I won."

A smile grew on the boy's face, only to disappear just as fast as it'd arrived when he looked up and saw Takagi. Her face was clenched in visible discomfort, the corners of her eyes appearing moist.

"Congrats." She forced a weak smile, quickly rubbing away her tears with her unbruised hand. Nishikata slumped in his chair, the high from his victory shot down as soon as he saw her pained face.

"I won..."

"You did."

How hard did I slam her hand down? He thought to himself. Even in victory he still felt like a giant loser.