Is there really anything for me to say at this point? Not really, enjoy the chapter!

jotagammexgammer: It's Axis24 or Axis28. I tried changing it but I couldn't change what it started as for some reason.

It was the following day and the final class had just ended. 'Why did that feel like it took forever?' Nishikata thought as he got up and made his way to the front desk. 'Maybe I should just leave it to Takagawa, there's no telling how long I'm going to be.' He pushed the thought aside as he reached the teacher's desk.

"Ah, Nishikata." Mr. Tanabe greeted. "I take it you're here for the same reason you were yesterday."

"Yes sir." He replied tiredly.

"Hm?" Mr. Tanabe gave him a curious look. "You seem out of it, you didn't catch what Takagi has, did you?"

"Don't think so, it's just been a long day."

"Fair enough." He handed Nishikata the bag and Nishikata looked back to see Takagawa going straight for the door.

He began walking towards her, and managed to catch up to her in the hall. "Hey!" He shouted, catching her attention.

"Nishikata?" She asked as she turned around. "What's wrong?"

"I figured you would want to check up on Takagi again today."

"Oh, well, I have something I need to take care of, so I won't be able to go."

"Really?" 'Damn, I was going to go see who it was who left me the chocolate … I guess it won't take that long though.' "Okay then, I have something to do as well, then I'm headed to Takagi's. If your thing doesn't take that long, then we can head over together."

"Are you sure?" She asked. "If I may ask, what are you doing?"

"Oh, the girl who gave me chocolate yesterday left a note in the box asking to meet me after school."

"Really? What are you going to say to her?"

"Odds are, I'm going to have to turn her down."

"Huh?" She said sounding a little shocked. "You've … already decided?"

"Yeah, I mean, it's not the girl I like so … I just need to find a way to let her down gently."

"Why does how you let her down matter?"

"Because I don't want to be mean." He replied a little annoyed. "Besides, she has more courage than I do, and I respect that."

"Oh, well, I check by the auditorium after I'm done."

"Excuse me?!" Came Takao's voice as he and Kimura approached Nishikata. "What's this I hear about you getting chocolate yesterday?"

"Yeah Nishikata." Kimura began. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Nishikata took a few steps back while holding his hands up in defense. "No, no, you guys have it all wrong."

Takagawa laughed. "Looks like you have your hands full. I'll see you later then."

"So why did you lie to us yesterday?" Takao demanded.

"I didn't lie!" Nishikata exclaimed. "You asked if I got something from Takagi, and I didn't."

"But you didn't tell us about getting something from a girl!" Takao exclaimed.

"It's personal!" Nishikata retorted. "It was concerning enough without it going around the whole school and if I told you two, then that's exactly what would have happened!"

He began walking, pushing past them as he did. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have something important to take care of."

He marched towards the auditorium with no additional incident and found it to be surprisingly empty. "Is she … not here yet?" He made his way to the front and took a seat.

"She said she would be here … so maybe I should wait."

He waited there for a bit as he went over what he would say when she arrived. "I mean I guess I could tell her that I'm in love with Takagi … or maybe just that I'm in love with someone else. Then again, seeing as Takagi might not feel that way about me, maybe I should give her a chance and … ."

He shook his head. "No, I need to come clean and tell her the truth, not try and lead her on with something that won't go anywhere."

He sighed and looked towards the ceiling. "I owe it to her to at least get to know her right?" He placed a hand on his chest. "But … how ... exactly do I tell her that?"

He sat there and waited for a time, then waited for a longer time. Eventually, he pulled out some homework and began working on it while he waited. "No point in wasting time."

As he worked, even more time passed, and eventually, he heard the back door open. "Huh?" He quickly turned around to see Takagawa had entered and felt his heart sink. "Oh, it's just you."

"Were … you expecting someone else?" She said as she approached.

"I don't mean it like that, the girl never arrived." Nishikata said as he turned back around. "But seeing as you're here, I take it that you're finished."

"I guess you could say that." She sighed and nodded. "There's nothing left I can do."

"Then I guess it's time for me to leave." He put his homework away and stood up. "I was kinda hoping she would show up."

"Thought you said you were going to turn her down."

"Yeah, I just wanted to give her a definite answer."

"I bet she'll still get the message."

Nishikata shrugged. "Maybe." He walked over to her and forced a smile. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah, let's go."

They walked out of the auditorium and subsequently, the school, as they began making their way to Takagi's house. "Hey, Nishikata?" Takagawa began. "I'm … sorry for what happened."

"Huh?"

"I mean you sound like you really wanted to talk to her."

"I just didn't want to leave her in suspense."

"But she never showed up?"

"Yeah, I guess I won't be able to tell her now."

"Speaking of which, how long have you known you had a crush on Takagi?"

"HUH?!" Nishikata exclaimed as he turned to her. "I … I don't-"

"You said you were turning her down because you liked someone else, and what other girl do you even talk to?" She interrupted. "It's blatantly obvious."

"Please don't tell her!" Nishikata pleaded. "You can't tell her, please!"

"I won't." She said sounding almost annoyed. "Now answer my question."

"Oh, well … maybe … a day."

"Honestly, I think you two would make a cute couple."

"So … do you know if she likes me."

"No idea." She said before biting her lower lip. "And even if I did, I'd never tell you."

"Yeah, I should have figured."

They continued walking until they reached Takagi's house where they stood out in front again. "So … shall we enter?"

"Actually … I think I'll pass today." Takagawa said as they stood at the gate. "I haven't been feeling well and I don't want to get worse."

"Huh?"

"Say hi to her for me, yeah?"

"But-"

Before Nishikata could finish, Takagawa was already a block away. "Guess it's just going to be me then."

He slowly walked up and rang the doorbell, waiting for Takagi's mother to answer. "Hello?" He heard Takagi's mom say as the door opened. "Oh, Nishikata."

"Good afternoon, I just …" He held out the bag. "Came to drop this off."

"Oh, right, thank you." She said as she took the bag.

"So … how is she doing?"

"Better, but she's sleeping right now."

"Oh, yeah, I … need to get home anyway."

"No worries, thanks for stopping by."

"Me pleasure." He turned around and walked away while looking towards the sky. "I guess … we won't be seeing each other today after all."

The walk back to his house felt longer than usual, and when he got in, he found that no one else was home. "Guess it's just me then." He made his way upstairs and into his room where he sat in his chair looking at the ceiling. "So … what do I do about my feelings for Takagi? She didn't make fun of me for having a crush, so that's a plus, or at least, not much. Maybe I should make a vow to beat her in something first." He shook his head. "What kind of idiot would do something so stupid as to vow to beat their crush before confessing to them?"

As he sat there, his phone rang, catching him off guard and nearly causing him to fall out of his seat. "What the?" He looked at the phone and saw that it was Takagi. "I thought she was asleep." He answered it and put it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Nishikata, I heard I just missed you."

"Your mom said you were asleep."

"I was, she actually woke me up when she opened the door to my room, I'm kinda a light sleeper."

'I'll have to keep that in mind.' Nishikata paused as he reexamined his thought. 'Wait, that didn't sound right.'

"Are you thinking something pervy again?"

"What?!" Nishikata asked as he blushed. "NO! I'm not … I'm not thinking of anything like that!"

He heard Takagi laugh and felt a little embarrassed. "I know, so how did it go?"

"How did what go?"

"Your meeting with the girl, how did it go?"

"Oh, that; well, she never showed."

"She didn't?"

"Nope, I waited there for maybe an hour. Eventually Takagawa came in and said that she was finished with her thing."

"Huh?"

Nishikata sighed. 'I'm just giving her bits at different time intervals, that probably doesn't look good.' "Let me start from the beginning. After I grabbed your homework, I ran into Takagawa, who said she couldn't come with me to your house because she had something she needed to take care of. I said she could check with me if I'm still there when she's done, and if I am, we would go to your house together. The girl never showed up, so Takagawa got there and I decided that I waited long enough, and she probably wasn't coming."

"I see." Takagi was quiet for a moment. "Say, did you tell Takagawa that you had a crush on someone?"

"Hmm." Nishikata thought to himself for a moment before answering. "I think I mentioned it, not sure though."

"I thought you were too embarrassed to say a thing like that."

"Well, it's not like I told her who I had a crush on!" Nishikata exclaimed with a blush.

"Are you lying?"

"Nope." Nishikata said as he shook his head. "I definitely never told her the name of who I have a crush on."

"Hmm … I guess I believe you, and thanks again for stopping by, I almost feel bad that I'm going to tease you tomorrow."

"WHAT?!" Nishikata exclaimed as his face turned red. "You can't give me even a little break?"

"I told you, I can't help it."

Nishikata sighed. "Well … I guess I'll just have to not hold back either." He gave a devious smile. "Just you wait Takagi, tomorrow, I'm going to finally get back at you!"

"You know, there's still the condition I set the same day we played the twenty-one game."

"Huh? Which one was that?"

"The one where you'll win if you manage to kiss me."

Nishikata blushed again. "I … no, that's … that's too easy."

She laughed. "If you say so, I think it's a waste of an opportunity."

"Well I want to beat you for real and … wait, you said when you tease me tomorrow? Does that mean you're coming back to school tomorrow?"

"That's right, I'm not one hundred percent right now, but I should be fine after today."

"That's great news, we'll finally get a chance to walk to school together again."

"You sound a little too happy for that."

"HUH?! Well … I only mean that I'll finally be able to get back at you, that's all."

"Then I'm looking forward to seeing you try. Anyway, I don't want to keep you any longer, and I promised Sumire I'd call her as well."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

Takagi hung up her phone and looked at it with a feeling of dismay. "So you were the one who wrote it ... I almost can't believe it … but I guess I'm not all that surprised it was you."