"I… like… Takagi!"

Nishikata stared into his bathroom mirror, hands gripping the counter with a face redder than a tomato as he finally managed to get the words out clearly. Not only had he now repeated it, this time he had managed to drop her honorific in the same sentence!

He smiled with his sweaty hair and brazen cheeks triumphantly for a few moments, only to falter and face-palm. I'm pathetic… he thought. Hamaguchi, Nakai, and at this point several other friends were so much more comfortable with these things than he. He hadn't even been able to think it without getting red-faced until a month ago so this was progress, but… should it really be this hard to say it by himself?

He groaned as he finished undressing and stepped into the shower. A few weeks after school began, Nishikata had heard about morning workouts from his friend Shibasaki who claimed they had some nice health benefits. Since that lined up with some of his summer project research, he decided to give it a go. It seemed like good timing too, as the average number of push-ups Nishikata needed to do each day had dropped a lot. Once he got the hang of waking up early, he began supplementing them with sit-ups and other exercises to maintain his fitness level.

After drying off and pulling on his long-sleeved uniform, Nishikata hustled down to the kitchen to fuel up before school began. He eyed the microwave clock while grabbing some fruit, and proceeded to shovel down his breakfast as quickly as possible. Although today wasn't a typical school day, he still didn't want to risk being too late.

As soon as he finished, Nishikata grabbed his jacket and bag and zipped out the front door, settling into a nice jog as he made his way to their junction spot. His breath came out in cool white puffs that were still a bit hard to see in the just brightening morning sky. It only took a minute or two for him to arrive, where he stopped to wait and finally slipped on his jacket.

He looked from side to side. A small figure was hobbling away far up ahead, but it was the tiniest bit too tall - it wasn't her. Hopefully he wasn't late and she hadn't already passed.

Takagi used to walk with him and wait for him practically every day, though maybe he was exaggerating. Over the past few months though, she had hardly waited at all, being too busy, and he was really starting to miss it. Walking home together only some evenings was no longer enough.

So for the past week, Nishikata had been trying to wake up early to catch her on her way. At this point, he wouldn't be ashamed if anyone called them a couple… or at least he kept telling himself that.

Soft footsteps began echoing down the street and Nishikata whirled around. His smile lit up as he saw Takagi in a fluffy coat approaching him. Her shoes crunched the last of the fallen autumn leaves with each step. He was barely on time.

"Hey Nishikata," she greeted with a wave, "You're up early… again."

"Hey, uh yeah…" he grunted back, holding his neck and looking away to hide his blush. He wondered if it was obvious why he had kept appearing out of nowhere. Did she know?

The pair began the long walk to school, and as usual, Nishikata found it hard to start up a conversation. He didn't have any excuses either, as today was the school festival and there was plenty to discuss. On their double date in the summer, he had laughed at Hamaguchi's embarrassment about talking with his crush after already knowing Houjou for so long, but now it totally made sense. For some odd reason, when you flipped the switch from just 'liking' a girl to really 'liking' a girl, doing anything with her became a real challenge.

Nishikata took a quick glance at her as they walked and nearly sidestepped away. Now that he had fully embraced that he had a crush on her, he kept noticing little things about her. In the breaking sunrise, it was getting easier to see the orangey-plaid scarf wrapped snugly around her neck, constantly clouded by her own white exhalations in the cold air. She wore a pair of warm white mittens that made him wonder if she had knitted herself—she had mentioned she was learning to crochet a few weeks back. And her face, her big brown eyes, her rosy cheeks from the chilly morning air.

The word 'cute' used to come to mind, but lately, she was freaking adorable.

Takagi turned towards Nishikata, noticing his gawking face. "Hm?"

"Ehm!" his eyes darted away. "Y-you look a little cold this morning, even after b-bundling up!"

"Well it is November," she replied with a shrug. "I guess today is particularly chilly, though."

Nishikata glanced back at the girl, wondering if her coat was actually doing its job. He was doubtful. Ever since he had accepted that he liked Takagi, he had grown increasingly protective over her. Nishikata's parents had always taught him to care for others, but this was different. She'd think it was creepy.

"What is it, Nishikata?" Takagi said, snapping him back to the present. She was smiling at him, her head cocked slightly to the side. He yelped and looked away again, blushing furiously.

She didn't tease him, though.

Soon after that, the pair engaged in one contest that Nishikata had devised the previous evening, which Takagi easily won amidst a bout of giggles. That got them talking, and shortly thereafter they were stepping into the school.

Nishikata watched as Takagi waved goodbye, off to her shoe cubby. A half smile remained plastered on his face as he watched her disappear a few cubby rows away.

It wasn't enough time anymore. He wanted to go with her, wherever she was going. He wanted to walk around the festival with her but was too ashamed to ask. Nishikata was caring less and less about whether or not he got teased, and that wasn't just because Takagi's teasing had gone down drastically. He wanted to hear her laugh more again.

But Takagi usually had somewhere to go nowadays. Ever since school had started, she was just busier, reading more books in the library, participating in the school music club, and so on.

Nishikata sighed, then headed to his classroom to sit alone. Only this time, he wasn't alone. A crazy-haired Kimura was crouched over a mess of unevenly cut cardboard boxes with a paintbrush, putting the final touches on a giant plywood sign that lay over them. He glanced up at Nishikata and smiled, dark bags hanging under his eyes and his face dotted with specks of paint.

"It's nearly done!" Kimura said warmly, his voice not reflecting his appearance at all. "Fried Chicken & Yakisoba" it read, with some menu details below, though the first two words were noticeably larger than the rest.

"Kimura… did you even go home last night?" Nishikata asked worriedly, walking up to his friend.

"Of course!" he replied, "I got kicked out by the janitors! But I just got here really early to make sure the stand would be ready."

When the class had held a vote on what to do for the culture festival, Takagi had thought the top pick might be putting on a play, but ended up voting with Nishikata on Kimura's weird fried chicken cafe idea. But apparently this was really important to Kimura, who recruited several other boys in the classroom before the vote. In the end, the fried chicken cafe and a yakisoba stand tied as the top votes with the play idea just one vote behind, so Kimura compromised by selling his fried chicken along with the noodle stand. Hamaguchi's class was doing some sort of cafe in their classroom nearby anyway, so having the food outside made more sense.

"Still, jeez! Go sleep under the stairs for the next half hour, we still have a while until meeting time!"

Kimura frowned slightly, his small eyes even less visible than usual. "But the sign's not done yet, and then there's the planning for all the chicken and noodles, and Takao still hasn't shown up to do that, and then there's the-"

"The future students aren't gonna get a food stand at all if you can't stay awake later! Or at least, none of the girls are gonna be impressed by you or your fried chicken if you look like a zombie."

"But we don't have time for that! I'm just fine, Nishikata! I-I…" Kimura stopped short as a huge yawn came on, forcing his mouth open wide. He fought against it to no avail, making Nishikata roll his eyes.

"Look, at least go take a shower or something, rest up in the locker room for a bit. Maybe I can finish whatever's left with this sign."

Kimura raised an eyebrow. "You know how to paint?"

Nishikata shrugged. "I mean, I'm okay with drawing and it looks like you're almost done. I can try. And the entire class is helping you here, too!"

Kimura hesitated, clutching his paintbrush and looking back down at the sign. "I dunno, I really think we're running out - out of- ti—" another yawn broke out, this one even bigger than the last. This time, Nishikata made sure to give him a solid glare as he finally opened his eyes.

"...Okay fine, I suppose a small break can't hurt. But I won't leave my fried chicken for long!" Kimura raised a fist to his heart, looking up longingly at the classroom clock.

"Thanks Nishikata. If you just finish that white outlining around the letters, then the sign will be complete."

Kimura handed Nishikata the brush and paint and started tottering towards the door. He must have been running on pure adrenaline as he looked like he needed far more than a quick shower.

At the doorway, his stout friend paused and turned back. "Where's Takagi-san, anyway? There's an extra paintbrush over there, you know!"

Nishikata narrowed his eyes. "Busy s-somewhere else in the school, I don't know! Why does that matter?"

"You make it sound like she's already here too, even though it's still really early." Kimura gave him a knowing smile. "C'mon Nishikata, don't you always walk to school with her?"

"...Just sometimes," Nishikata replied back quietly, trying too hard not to blush. Why did he still get like this, even if he knew he liked her?

"Well, just think about i- ii -i" Kimura once again broke out into a huge yawn. Nishikata rolled his eyes again, then turned his attention to the big sign.

"Okay fine, I'm going, I'm going!"

Kimura had put a lot of effort into the sign. Apparently, presentation mattered to him just as much as taste when it came to meals. Each red kanji was drawn out particularly well for its size, and Kimura had painted large, detailed pictures of yakitori (chicken skewers grilled over charcoal) and yakisoba noodles above them. The paint hadn't completely dried, making the job of outlining the words a little tougher, Kimura had already done almost half.

A few minutes went by, with Nishikata just carefully painting around each kanji, trying not to drip any white paint. Having something to do was better than being alone, but it would certainly go a lot faster with Takagi. Even if he didn't know what to talk about, he would rather deal with that and have her around.

Nishikata wasn't sure why it wasn't as easy as it used to be, talking with her. In the past, she had just started lots of conversations and he had started lots of challenges, and it worked well.

He thought back to his attempts to meet up with her lately. He had rarely needed to do that before summer began. And then it occurred to him—had Takagi just gotten tired of their games? Were they getting too childish for her? …Was she turning into Houjou, obsessed with maturity?

Nishikata shook his head violently, then froze, checking to make sure he hadn't splattered any paint. No, that was stupid, and Hamaguchi had mentioned that she was growing more relaxed anyway.

But even so, Takagi was probably not as interested in just playing games, especially since she always won. He wasn't much of a challenge, as hard as he tried. Maybe that's why Nishikata wasn't good at starting conversations—he had usually started them with ulterior motives, but now that he just wanted to learn more about her, it was more of a foreign concept than expected.

But Nishikata still wanted to try. Even if it didn't involve trying to beat her at something.

Footsteps sounded down the hallway, and moments later, Nakai and Hamaguchi came walking in, in the middle of some conversation.

"Oh, are you here early to set up too?" Nishikata asked Hamaguchi, as he wasn't a member of their classroom.

"Nah, my class project is basically ready since we voted to ditch that maid theme, so I just walked here with Houjou instead," he replied, wiping his brow away with a relieved, broad smile. That group date had ended up being a smash hit for him, and he and Houjou had been getting closer ever since.

"That's looking awesome, Nishikata!" Nakai exclaimed, peering down at the sign.

"Well Kimura did most of it, I'm just helping him finish things up," Nishikata replied with a shrug. His hand was already starting to ache from gripping the small paintbrush so precisely; it was a wonder how Kimura had pressed on.

"Well then, back to my question," Hamaguchi said, turning back to Nakai.

"Uh, what was it again?"

"You know, Mano-chan. How'd you, you know, confess to her? Nishikata wants to hear, too."

Nishikata perked up. A younger, familiar part of him felt a flare of embarrassment growing, but he didn't object. Girls had been an increasingly hot topic among the guys since summer, and while Nishikata usually stayed quieter, he was far more used to it now. He turned to Nakai as well.

Nakai gave a funny smile and laughed a bit, scratching his head. "Uhh, why would you wanna know about that?"

"Cause he wants to get together with Houjou officially, duh," Nishikata replied, starting back on the next kanji.

"Oh yeah… Well…" Nakai let out a low whistle glancing out at the late sunrise. "You see, Mano, uh, confessed to me, so…"

"What!" Hamaguchi yelled, "She can do that?!"

"Uh, I mean, yeah? Why not?"

Nakai had a point. Nishikata was still new to this, but why would it make any difference who approached who?

"Ugh… But I want to be the one to do it," Hamaguchi muttered, looking troubled. "What if Houjou confesses to me out of the bloom? Oh gosh…"

"What's got you so worried, anyway?" Nakai asked.

Mina suddenly strolled into the room, followed by Sanae, Yukari, and another classmate. Nishikata glanced at the clock, noting that class was actually starting pretty soon by now.

The other boys had looked over at their new classmates as well. "I mean, like," Hamaguchi continued in a very low tone, a fresh blush erupting on his cheeks, "We've been holding hands and everything for a few weeks now, we're nearly a couple as is."

Nishikata almost gawked at him, then felt silly for always being so surprised. It wasn't weird, he needed to remember. In the past few months, he had dreamed about holding Takagi's hand again loads of times. He kept wishing that she hadn't been teasing him when they had flown kites together that one time in the summer; for some reason, he almost felt regretful about that day. Not that that made any sense.

But Hamaguchi implied that holding hands meant a boy and girl liked each other, right? Was that why his heart always sped up when she used to tease him about that, or when he had actually done it? Not just because it was embarrassing?

More students were gradually coming into the room, some with armfuls of supplies needed for cooking or serving the food. "...Ugh, guess I should go," Hamaguchi said, gulping. "Thanks, guys, see ya later."

"He still seems too worried, if you ask me," Nakai said, shrugging. "Hey, wanna let me give that painting a go? You look tired."

"Uh, sure," Nishikata replied absentmindedly, watching Hamaguchi walking quickly out of the classroom. In that very moment, Takagi walked in with her friend Sumire and another girl, causing a hitch in his breath. Suddenly, he fully agreed with Nakai that now was a good time to go back to his seat.

"Thanks," Nishikata said, handing over the paintbrush and quickly explaining how to trace the last four kanji.

He hurried back over to his seat, feeling a pulse of mixed embarrassment and excitement about talking with his crush for a few minutes. But that pulse was premature, as Nishikata soon realized that Takagi hadn't come over to sit down. She had walked past and was chatting with her other friends by the windows at the front of the room.

Nishikata watched them, sulking. He would have never admitted to jealousy in the past, but it was strangely hard, not being teased constantly. He hadn't realized how much he enjoyed her free company, and perhaps too late Takagi was just getting bored of his one-sided personality. The topic of Takagi's group, something about boys, made him especially uncomfortable—it was hard to make out much, but he kept picking up the words 'cute' and 'date' from Sumire's higher-pitched voice.

In the next few minutes, the rest of the students piled in along with Tanaba sensei, and soon enough, the day had begun. The first two hours were reserved to begin preparing food and setting up the food stall outside along the other classes' attractions, then the rest of the day was for the festival itself. Nishikata had hoped to be in the same group as Takagi and purposefully chose to prepare food to that end, even though it was more work. But she had ended up choosing the other group.

Nishikata worked by Mano and Nakai chopping various vegetables and meats for most of the morning, after searching for Kimura for a few minutes and finding him only just waking up above a pile of towels in the otherwise empty boy's locker room. He couldn't help but continue sulking as he worked. It was weird to him how the more he tried to be around Takagi, the less successful he was. Was he just so doomed at winning that Takagi had only stuck around for as long as he wanted to beat her? Was he just cursed?

The preparations passed slowly, but they eventually came to an end. With the festival about to open to the public, Tanabe sensei organized the class into three shifts of ten students each to man the stall and cook the food. As tired as he already felt, Nishikata was still chosen for the first shift, which meant more nonstop work. He brightened for a moment as Takagi's name was called for the same shift, but she ended up working on preparing food away from him, flip-flopping their previous roles.

Once their shift was up, their third of the class left the stall and makeshift kitchen together, now free to enjoy the remainder of the festival. Kimura had been adamant about selling and inspecting the food the entire time until Tanabe-sensei threatened him with detention if he didn't go enjoy himself elsewhere. So instead, Takao suggested checking out the haunted house, and Kimura overheard Sanae and Yukari talking about the same thing and invited them. Nishikata tagged along, still too afraid to ask Takagi to walk around solo. Then again, even if he had had the courage, he didn't know where she had gone.

The line into the haunted house was long and filled with couples, but the impressed and shocked reactions of those coming out of it only brought more excitement to the group as they waited. Yukari seemed slightly anxious but distracted while Takao hypothesized over what sort of monsters might be present within. This group didn't often get together, but seemed to be having fun nonetheless.

As their turn drew nearer, Nishikata realized that they made up half of their class shift. Only Takagi and four other teenagers that he didn't know too well remained. Perhaps she had gone to find her friends in the third shift that hadn't started yet?

He narrowed his eyes as he watched yet another boy and a girl rush out the exit, screaming and gripping each other's hands tightly.

She isn't… on a date, right?

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and enjoyed the chapter. It may be a bit longer before I release the next chapter as the next few aren't completely in stone yet.