Nishikata and Takagawa had arrived at Takagi's house and were standing in front of the door, unsure what to do. "So ... you want to knock?" Takagawa asked.

"I've never been inside, or met her parents."

"Neither have I."

Nishikata took a deep breath, reached out, and knocked a few times. 'This is no big deal Nishikata, you're just dropping off her homework, maybe saying hi and asking her how she's doing if she's feeling well enough for visitors.'

Before long, the door slowly opened, and a woman that looked like a grown up version of Takagi was at the door. "Hi." Nishikata began. "We're Takagi's friends, we came to drop off her homework."

"Oh, yes, she told me you'd be coming." She took a moment, then pointed at him. "Nishikata, right?"

"Yes ma'am."

"And," She turned to Takagawa. "I'm sorry, my daughter didn't tell me anyone else was coming."

"Takagawa." She replied. "I just tagged along to see how she was doing."

"Ah, she's told me a lot about both of you." She stepped to the side and motioned for them to come in. "Well come in, I'll ask her if she's up for visitors."

"Thanks mam." Nishikata replied before he and Takagawa walked in.

Nishikata and Takagawa began taking off their shoes as the woman began walking upstairs. "I'll only be a minute, you're free to sit down in the kitchen if you wish."

"Thanks ma'am." Nishikata said again.

They both made their way to the kitchen but remained standing as they placed their bags on the table and Nishikata untied the bag with Takagi's homework. "Hey, Nishikata?" Takagawa began. "Do you by chance ... know Takagi's first name?"

"Nope." Nishikata replied.

"Yeah, me neither."

As they waited, Nishikata began thinking. 'I have no idea if Takagawa actually likes me or not ... I mean, even if she does, I really don't feel the same. Though, Takagi did mention that there was someone in our class that has a crush on me.' He sighed and turned to her. "Hey, may I ask you a question?"

"What's up?"

"Takagi told me that there was someone in our class that had a crush on me ... do you know who that is?"

She stared at him as if taken aback. "I ... know who she is ... but I'm not going to tell you."

"I figured that part, I just wanted to know if you knew."

"Why?"

"Do you think I should ask her out?"

"Um, wouldn't that be obvious?"

"I don't know, is it?"

Takagawa was about to answer, but after a moment, began thinking. "Wow, that's ... not as easy to answer as I thought it would be." She continued thinking, and ultimately, just shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you."

Nishikata sighed. "Thanks anyway." 'Based on her reaction, it's probably not her, that's actually a relief. I still wonder who it could be.' He paused as another question came to mind. "By the way, what did you need to return to her?"

"Oh." She opened her bag and pulled out a small book. "I almost forgot, I need to return this to her."

Nishikata's heart almost stopped at the sight of the manga in front of him. "One hundred percent unrequited love, volume five."

'That's mine! I mean, sure, Takagi asked if she could lend it out, but I had no idea that I would be coming face to face with it here! I could probably just tell her and ... no, no, there's no way that's happening.' "I've ... occasionally caught the anime on T.V."

"Yeah, that's probably for the best; it's one of the very few times when the anime does it better. The manga is divided into small chapters which come out monthly and are occasionally pulled together into a volume. You can't even see the timeline in the manga."

'Wow ... I had no idea she was such a fan.'

"The anime takes those chapters and organizes them, adding a little bit here and there to make it better and give it a more cohesive storyline."

"You ...know a lot about it."

"Yeah, I have volumes one through four, but I'm missing the rest and it goes all the way to twelve at this point. I've just been too tight on money to get them."

"Well, that must suck."

"Yeah."

A few moments later, Takagi's mom came back downstairs to greet the two of them again. "Hi, so she said she wants to see you two, but she is still unwell, and contagious, so I'm sorry, but you won't be able to see her long, okay?"

"As long as I get to see her, I'll be fine."

Both Takagi's mom and Takagawa looked at him surprised as Nishikata realized what he had said. "I MEAN! I'M WORRIED ABOUT HER! I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH HER OR ANYTHING!"

Takagi's mom giggled for a moment before smiling. "You really are just like she described, right this way."

She led them upstairs and stopped just before a door. "Now remember, she's not feeling well, so she might not be in the best of shape."

"We understand." Takagawa answered.

"Good." She opened the door and peeked inside. "Your friends are here." She opened the door, and what they saw actually stunned Nishikata; it was Takagi, but her mouth was covered by a sickness mask, her face was red, and her hair was a complete mess.

"Wow." Nishikata said as he entered the room. "You look ... like you've got it bad." He walked up to her and placed the bag of school work next to her desk before standing just a few feet away.

"Yeah, this morning I wasn't even able to sit up properly."

"That sounds horrible."

"It was."

Takagawa walked up and stood next to Nishikata. "And on Valentine's Day too."

"Yeah, now I can't give my crush chocolate."

Takagawa just stared at her for a moment, as if she couldn't believe what Takagi had said. "Well ... you could still do it and tell him that you like him."

Takagi slowly shook her head. "That's not happening."

"Why's that?" Nishikata asked as he blushed and looked away. "I mean, I understand that you're not going to tell me who, but what exactly are you waiting for? I'm sure almost any guy in our class would be ecstatic if you asked him out."

There was an awkward silence for a moment before Takagi gave a weak laugh. "Almost." She emphasized. "But anyway, did you two have a good Valentine's Day?"

Takagawa began to laugh nervously. "Well ... it was rather normal for me, minus the fact that you weren't there." She handed Takagi the manga she was holding. "And before I forget, thank you for lending it to me."

"You don't need to thank me." She said as she took the manga and placed it on her night table. "How about you Nishikata?"

"Well mine was ... I guess relatively normal." Nishikata said, causing Takagawa to face palm.

"Huh? Something happen?"

"Yeah, I got a box of chocolate in my locker, but I've asked around and have no idea who it could be."

"Someone ... gave you chocolate?" She asked in a hushed tone.

"Yeah, but ... it's likely not someone from our class."

"And ... that's bad?"

"I ... yeah, I mean, why would I want to go out with someone who I don't know really well?"

Takagi stared at Nishikata wide-eyed. "I ..." Her throat began to dry as she tried to continue. "I ... *cough*"

"Takagi?"

"I'm fine, it's- *cough**cough* nothing *cough*" She began to decline into a coughing fit as her mother stood between her and her friends.

"I'm sorry, she needs to take her medicine now."

"Okay." Nishikata said as he and Takagawa began walking out. "We'll see ourselves out, thanks for letting us see her."

They quickly left as Takagi's mom grabbed a bottle of cough syrup from the nightstand, as well as a spoon that was sitting next to it. "I knew something bad would happen." She said as she poured the medicine into the spoon.

"I'm *cough* fine mom." Takagi took her sickness mask off and opened her mouth as her mother gave her the medicine. "I *cough* *cough* *cough* just had a bad *cough* coughing fit."

"Yes, well, a deals a deal, and that was more than thirty seconds."

"I *cough* know."

"And remember, you're staying home tomorrow as well, that was part of the deal."

"I *cough* remember. Can I see them tomorrow though?"

"They can drop your homework off, but they can't come back up here. You don't want to get your boyfriend sick now, do you?"

"He's not my boyfriend *cough* yet."

"I know, but he seems to care about you very much, why not just take his advice and ask him out?"

Takagi turned away. "He'll ... ask me when he's ready."

"Fair enough, you are both only in junior high after all."

Meanwhile, Nishikata and Takagawa had just retrieved their bags from the kitchen and were making their way out. "Are you sure it was a good idea to tell her about the anonymous valentine?"

"She's one of my closest friends, why wouldn't it be?"

"Because ... um ... if you do like her ... then that might ... cause problems?"

Nishikata shook his head. "If I did, which I don't, then wouldn't keeping it from her cause more problems if she found out?"

"Fair enough I guess." They both left the house and Takagawa began walking in the opposite direction to Nishikata. "I'm going this way, so I'll see you later."

"Right, see you later."