She isn't… on a date, right?
As soon as the thought occurred to Nishikata, he couldn't expel it from his mind. It wasn't really his business, but he didn't like that thought at all. He squirmed in the haunted house line, glancing down at all the people that were now waiting behind them, making sure she wasn't there. But this festival was big. Takagi could have been anywhere, and plenty of other guys probably thought she was cute too.
"C'mon Nishikata, stop fussing!" Takao yelled, holding the curtain open for them to walk inside. Nishikata jumped and followed him in, trying to shake himself out of it. A little scare might help, he reasoned.
But it didn't help. Nishikata, normally full of intense reactions from any sort of jumpscare, barely batted an eye at the zombies and werewolves that jumped out at them. None of his friends noticed, being too scared themselves, pulling each other through the haunted house as fast as they could.
It was much scarier to think about Takagi on a date with some other guy.
Only a few short minutes later, the five classmates had emerged from the exit, several of them gasping heavily.
"Did you see that?!" Takao shouted, his trembling, crooked finger pointing back into the black exit. "I'm telling you, huff there was a real live alien in there! That wasn't a costume at all!"
"Doubt it," Sanae replied flatly, the only one besides Nishikata without labored breaths. "It was fun, though."
"Then you missed it! Who else saw it? Just now, at the end, that big, green-headed freak floating in the air near the end. Floating! Guys, I think we're being invaded!"
"And you're sure the haunted house isn't just doing its job really well?"
Nishikata rescanned the line as the group argued. There was still no sign of Takagi. Inwardly, he knew it was a bit obsessive, but he couldn't help it. It didn't really matter if he couldn't hang out with her, but he was curious. What if she had started making friends with other boys in the music club?
After a breather, the group decided to go through the haunted house one more time and pay more attention to what they saw this time, despite Takao's protests that they get far away instead. The line had grown considerably since the first time, so it would probably take about 15 minutes to get back in. So in the meantime, Nishikata excused himself to use the restroom.
While his excuse wasn't entirely a lie, Nishikata had ulterior motives. He immediately exited the school and began snaking his way around the festivity crowds, peering into each stall that he passed. True, there were some couples, but there were a lot more friends and family that had come along with their future students. Perhaps seeing a few couples had just made him hyper-aware of them. He did a double-take when he saw Sumire and another of Takagi's friends playing ring toss, but she wasn't with them.
Slightly worried, Nishikata paused to actually use the restroom. As he washed his hands, he wondered if Takagi really was on a date. She wasn't anywhere he'd expect. Did somebody beat him to it and ask her to walk around? Who?
"Oh, hey Nishikata," a male voice called from the side as he rounded a corner. Nishikata turned to see his classmate Shibasaki approaching and gave him a wave.
"I thought I just saw you outside, but now you're here..." his friend continued, glancing around Nishikata, "and you still aren't with Takagi-san?"
"Wh- no", Nishikata replied instinctively, "I don't hang out with her, I'm not loo- I mean, just a bathroom break."
Nishikata stamped his foot at his bad habit of denial that he just couldn't give up, then glanced at his watch and his eyes widened - he had only a few minutes or he would miss the haunted house again. "Uh, I gotta go, see ya later!" he blurted out, leaving a confused Shibasaki behind.
He quickly rushed through the rest of the school, looking around for Takagi and starting to pant. But she was nowhere to be seen, not participating in any of the other classes' activities.
He finally reached the end of the last wing of the school, having looked everywhere. Nishikata didn't know why, but maybe Takagi had just gone home early, despite their class needing to clean up after everything was over. He wanted to text her but felt awkward about it. He checked the empty area outside the sets of exit doors to be sure, then re-entered and turned to walk back, having failed.
But then he noticed it. The front tips of pair of small, brown shoes peeking out behind a mostly closed door to the secondary stairwell. They just stayed there, unmoving.
He didn't want to bother whoever they were, but curiosity overcame him. After a short moment of deliberation, Nishikata went over to pull the door fully open with a creak.
Takagi was sitting upright on the stairs, peering down into a thick, open book cradled carefully in her lap. When she looked up, she gasped and shut the book.
"Oh! Hey Nishikata, what are you doing here?"
"I- what are you doing here, Takagi-san?"
Takagi gave him a small smile, her temporary surprise having already evaporated, and patted her book. "Well, I've been getting more into reading lately and just couldn't put this one down."
"Yeah, but like, now? During the festival?" Nishikata didn't want to be rude, but couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows together in bewilderment.
She shrugged, looking past him into the hallway.
"What about you? I thought you would be freaking out inside the haunted house right about now."
Nishikata grunted, averting his eyes. Takagi was clever as always, teasing him with exactly what he was missing out on. It felt like he had lost, even if there was no challenge.
"Well, umm… I had to use the restroom."
She raised an eyebrow. "All the way over here? Seems like an odd path to take."
It was Nishikata's turn to shrug. "Well, I thought maybe there were some fun festival things to see over here too…"
"Oh, makes sense."
Takagi was looking down at the back cover of her red book. He couldn't make out the words on it, but she seemed pretty into it.
Nishikata felt some relief that Takagi wasn't hanging out with another guy, but also felt ashamed about even obsessing over it in the first place. But more than that, he felt confused. Why would she pick now, out of all times, to get into her book more? Takagi had lots of friends; why wasn't she with any?
"Come with me."
Nishikata blinked, then immediately stepped back. It took him a second to realize that he had blurted that out loud!
I didn't mean to—!
"Huh?" Takagi said, looking back up at him.
"Uh- I mean, come hang out with me and Yukari-chan and Sanae-chan and the others," Nishikata clarified, feeling his face growing hotter by the second. "You guessed right, we're about to go back into the haunted house. But we have to hurry."
"I-" Takagi hesitated, still looking down at her book. Nishikata groaned inwardly. She clearly didn't want to hang out with them, she was far too vested in this story. Why didn't he just think before he spoke for once?
"Y-you don't have to if you'd rather not," Nishikata said, taking another back step and holding out his hands as if to retract his last words. She didn't say anything.
"Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt you," he continued, starting to turn around and feeling his heart dropping. "I, uh, hope you enjoy the book; m-maybe you can tell me about it sometime. S-see you next week!"
Nishikata frowned as he left the stairwell, feeling a small pang in his heart. Despite somewhat accidentally inviting her to spend time with him, Takagi wasn't interested, which was exactly as he had feared. As usual, he didn't fully understand what she had been doing, but that didn't matter now. He began drudging back towards the haunted house, not caring one way or the other if he made it back on time.
When had things gone wrong with her? Takagi still teased him from time to time, still walked to school with him if they ran into each other, still beat him in challenges on occasion. It wasn't like there was anything for them to be upset about, but… it just seemed different.
Had she noticed? Was she irked about him liking her more than a friend? Should he just go back to trying to beat her in every moment and leave their status quo uninterru-
"Nishikata!"
The confused boy paused and pivoted to see Takagi running up towards him, clutching a bag in one hand and her book in the other. Whaa-?
"I guess I'll come, this can wait," she said, wrapping a loose hair behind her ear. "Thanks for inviting me. You said we had to hurry?"
"Uh, yeah.."
"Then let's go!"
Nishikata didn't get a chance to speak further as Takagi continued on ahead, forcing him to run to keep up. She sure was taking his words seriously. She flashed him another smile as he caught up beside her, and in less than a minute they had started running into others and slowed down. A few moments later, they made it back to the haunted house line, seeing their group at the very front of it.
"There's no way it took you that long," Takao snorted as Nishikata walked up.
"Of course not Takao, don't you see who he brought with him?" Kimura said with a nudge, as Takagi appeared right behind him. "And right in the nick of time, too!" She waved to the group and stepped into the circle next to Nishikata.
Just a minute or two later, the group was re-admitted into the haunted house. This time, everyone took things slower, now more focused on analyzing what the house had to offer and how its traps worked than worrying about jumpscares. Takao could be heard nervously shuffling some side to side of the dark path, frequently pointing out various signs of alien life only to be shut down by Sanae.
Takagi had impressively gone to the front of the group, pointing out the different tripwires and hiding places before each mummy jumped out at them despite it being her first time. She eagerly joined in helping Sanae debunk Takao's outlandish claims, barely leaving Nishikata time to follow before jumping onto the next trick. The two made quick work of the haunted house, and within a few minutes they were already at the exit.
Takao made one final shriek, raising a trembling, crooked finger towards something green suspended near the exit followed by a futile attempt to push everyone out of the exit. Instead, Takagi walked up to it and poked it, causing it to crinkle and sway in the air.
"Don't worry guys, it's just a piñata," she chortled, giving it another push before walking back to them and through the exit. Sanae gave a 'hmmph' in agreement and exited past a dejected Takao, followed by everyone else.
With the alien theory disproven, the group began exploring the other festival activities. They eventually found themselves at the ring toss, reminding Nishikata of how Takagi had tricked him when they played at the summer festival. He chortled to himself, glancing around to ensure Tanabe sensei wasn't there just in case. He turned to Takagi to share the memory, only to realize that she was already throwing hoops with Mina, who had just found them after her shift ended.
After a few more games, Kimura led the group to try out Hamaguchi's classroom restaurant, apparently already hungry after his fried chicken shift. The boys had hoped to run into Hamaguchi, but their friend was nowhere to be seen.
The food reminded Nishikata of what they had at the summer festival. There were candy apples for sale outside, and this cafe had takoyaki which Nishikata had nearly fed to Takagi before giving up. He had ordered the same for a snack, and the thought occurred to him again to try feeding one to her. But on top of the embarrassment factor, Takagi hadn't sat down beside him and was mainly in a conversation with the other girls.
Nishikata was quiet as he ate his snack, not even talking with Kimura. On the one hand, he was glad that he had found Takagi and happy that she seemed to be having fun. But on the other, things were hardly different for him. She hadn't paid him any more attention than any other friend in the group.
He wanted to walk around with just her, as she had wanted at the summer festival. He wanted to go challenge her to ring toss, to explore the remaining parts of the festival that he'd already been through. And deep down, he wished there were some steep, dangerous stairs that he could run up just to help her down them. But Nishikata had already invited Takagi to hang out as a group, and he couldn't find any opportunities to split off.
After their snack, the group walked around outside a bit more, but everyone was growing tired and the festival had gotten even more crowded. They decided to take a break by sitting in the grass far away from the crowds, on the foresty edge of the school field where they often had P.E. This time, Nishikata made sure to sit down right after Takagi, earning him the spot next to her. Kimura and Takao stretched out on the lawn in front of them all, each letting out a yawn and basking in the warmth of the afternoon sun. The other three girls began bickering quietly about something, leaving Nishikata and Takagi to themselves.
"It's a lot like the summer festival, huh?" Nishikata found himself saying, expressing the thought that had been bombarding his mind this whole time.
Takagi nodded, picking at the browning blades of grass beneath them. "So you do remember that. Feels like it's been so long."
"Of course I remember," Nishikata replied, "How could I forget going with you?"
When Takagi didn't respond, he felt himself begin to blush. He hadn't meant to say anything romantic or tease-worthy, but his words sounded a bit embarrassing.
"There sure are a lot of people," she commented, staring back towards the bustling festival events at the other end of the field.
Nishikata gulped. "Yeah, there are a ton, just like the last festival," he agreed, "...a-and what's more surprising is how many c-couples there are."
"Yeah, surprising," Takagi replied, her eyes wandering between the attractions.
She didn't say more. She didn't tease him, even though he had brought up the subject himself.
"...It's probably easier for them to get around with s-so many people, if they stick together" he prodded, feeling the heat across his cheeks at the words. Just tease me, Nishikata thought, turning his face over to her as if to fully display his embarrassment to her.
"Mmm," she nodded in agreement, not looking back at him.
"You don't look too tired, not like everyone else."
She shrugged.
Why don't you tease me?
Takagi turned slightly away and pulled out her phone, beginning to scroll through it.
Nishikata wanted to ask her to walk around with him. Even just for the last 20 minutes before it ended; they could at least play a round of ring toss. But every time he tried to create an opportunity to ask, Takagi wasn't on the same wavelength as he. Today she seemed especially distant; he was probably being annoying.
If he just asked her outright, what would happen? He could care less if she teased him about it. But did she just not want that today? Was she still thinking about her book, or was there an issue he wasn't seeing? Nothing looked wrong. Did she-
"Guuuys, look inside the tennis courts!" Yukari hissed in a low voice, pulling everyone out of their stupors. "It's Hamaguchi-kun and Houjou-chan!"
"Yeah, what about them?" Mina asked, jumping up to look, "Are they playing a match of tennis—"
"Ssshhh!" Yukari pointed towards the courts, and sure enough, Hamaguchi and Houjou were standing in the middle of them, just visible through the chainlink fence walls that surrounded them.
"Ooooh," Kimura whispered gleefully, having gotten up to look as well. "I think I know what's happening."
Nishikata stood up, following Yukari and the others stealthily towards the edge of the court. Hamaguchi and Houjou stood facing each other at the other end of the court, each intensely focused on the other. And for once, Nishikata knew what was happening.
Hamaguchi was going to confess to Houjou. He had mentioned it again just that morning and had chosen this secluded place to do it. They had basically been going out for a few weeks anyway.
The whole group had now snuck over to the corner of the tennis courts, crouching down low and squinting through the metal chain links of the fence to see. Nishikata stole a glance at his crush, whose unreadable expression was pointed down into the grass. She turned away as he looked, though she couldn't have noticed his gaze.
"Maybe we should give them their privacy-"
"NO! Don't you dare take this away from me, there's no harm and this is what I live and breathe for!" Yukari practically seethed back, interrupting Sanae's whisper. "Just give me a few minutes!"
The group carefully watched as Hamaguchi drew nearer, holding a present stiffly behind his back. Truthfully, Nishikata was very curious to see what he would do, how it would pan out. Not just to be nosy, but because one day, he might do the same thing.
At this point, everyone was fully engaged, each now pressing their faces up against the chainlink fence and whispering furiously. Hamaguchi had now pulled out his present and was handing it out to Houjou. If they listened closely, they could just barely make out the couple's words.
It had to be a confession. Hamaguchi's shaky words were all about their time and dates together and how much he enjoyed them. Nishikata couldn't pick up every word, but the look of Houjou's reddened face, a small but growing smile that she normally seemed to resist so much, filled in the gaps. He felt a warmth in his heart for his friends and smiled into the fence wiring.
If he ever built up the courage to tell Takagi that, would she bear a similar expression? He stole another quick glance at her, imagining how she might look.
Takagi wasn't there.
But surely she had been here just a second ago, right between Yukari and Mina! The remainder of the group had gone dead silent, now fully absorbed in their eavesdropping.
Nishikata turned around, looking back through the field towards the festival, but she wasn't walking back. He looked from side to side, but she wasn't near the tennis courts or way over by the soccer field either.
He took a step away, doing a full 360-degree scan for her. He was missing out on the best part of the confession, but concern overrode his desire to learn from it. After all, Takagi had been acting a bit strangely today, and she had been there only moments before.
She couldn't have gone far. Nishikata backed away quietly to not disturb the others, then began a brisk but silent walk into the forest by the tennis courts. As odd as it was, these trees were the only nearby place he couldn't see.
After only a few seconds into the woods, he heard a branch snap ahead and adjusted his walk towards it and further from the courts. A light breeze whistled through the trees, sending an occasional late leaf floating down to the earth to join the others with a soft crunch. Nishikata didn't know why Takagi would have ventured in here as it was still a bit chilly in the shade of the tree branches, but he needed to check.
After a little more walking, he spotted her, leaning on the trunk of a large, deciduous tree with most of its leaves already fallen. Her back was turned, making it hard to see what she was doing.
Nishikata was about to call out to her when his ears picked up on her breathing. The breeze had temporarily quieted down, allowing the sound to travel further. It seemed remarkably loud for his distance from her. Was she okay?
The boy cautiously approached, looking to see if anyone else was around. Why was Takagi standing here all alone? Was she with someone else? He gave her a small berth and circled to the side, hoping that seeing him from a distance would avoid startling her.
It didn't work. As soon as Nishikata could see Takagi's face, their eyes met and she gasped loudly, dropping her bag in the process. She covered her face and stooped down to pick it back up.
"Hey Takagi-san," Nishikata started, walking up to her and unsure if he had done something wrong, "Are you… reading your book out here?"
Takagi didn't immediately respond, still crouching from picking up her bag. She kept her face covered, one hand rubbing it over and over. Nishikata slowly crouched down to get a better look at what she was doing.
It was hard to tell, but Takagi's face looked rather red behind her fingers, which seemed to be… shivering? It wasn't that chilly out today, was she cold?
"N-Nishikata," Takagi finally replied back with an uncharacteristically wavering voice, finally looking back at him for a moment through her fingers. Her eyes were red as well. "You k-keep finding me."
Something was off. "Are you okay?" Nishikata asked, trying to get a closer look. Takagi's fingers closed, once again blocking her eyes, and she stood up and leaned back against the tree. She sniffed and began wiping her face with her shirt sleeve.
"I, uh—"
Why is she hiding her face from me? Nishikata wondered, his concern growing. Without a second thought, he lightly grasped Takagi's raised hand, making her freeze amidst her rubbing, and gently guided her arm back down to see her face.
She was crying. Her cheeks were unmistakably stained and moist from freshly wiped tears. Nishikata's mind immediately sprang into overdrive and he gripped her hand far tighter. What had happened? Who or what had made her so sad? What was he going to-
"I-It's not what you think!" Takagi stammered, giving him a weak smile despite her eyes continuing to water. "I've got allergies and think something got in my eyes, so I was trying to clean them out."
Allergies in November? Nishikata slowly thought, still shocked at seeing his crush in such a state. She was allergic to things?
"I think it happened when we were in the grass," she continued with a giggle, clearing the tears that had reformed with her free hand. "It's kind of embarrassing, you know, so I wandered off to take care of it."
Nishikata's hand was still tightly gripping his friend's. He let it drop and took a step back, trying to calm his mind. So Takagi wasn't sad after all?
"You don't need to worry about me, Nishikata," Takagi continued more firmly, giving him a stronger smile.
He stared at that smile for a while. It didn't waver.
"Well what are you doing out here in the trees then?" he finally questioned, "Let's get you to the nurse's office so you can get medicine and wash up!" Nishikata grabbed her hand again, pulling her towards the school.
"Oh, uh-okay," she replied, allowing Nishikata to guide her through the trees and back into the school grounds.
Both of them remained silent as they exited the woods further away from the tennis courts, skirted around the edge of the festival, and took a side entrance into the school. Nishikata led them straight into the empty nurse's office before finally relinquishing his grip on her hand, then busied himself in the medicine cabinet to find allergy medicine.
The air in the room felt incredibly dense, which was only exacerbated by the silence. Nishikata felt Takagi's eyes on him as he opened drawer after drawer to find the right allergy pills that had already been stowed away for the winter.
He finally found the right bottle at the back of the bottom drawer, Takagi sat at the far edge of the sick bed, playing with a strand of her hair. She gave him another smile as he sat down beside her with the bottle.
But he didn't hold it out to her.
Nishikata stared at Takagi dead-on. "Do you really need these?" He asked.
Takagi didn't answer. For a few seconds she looked back, neither of them showing even the hint of a blush.
Her smile eventually wavered, then slowly faded away. Several seconds later, her eyelids drooped slightly and she let her head and locks hang, looking down drearily into her lap.
"You're more observant than I give you credit for," Takagi muttered softly, her voice taking on a near unrecognizable, depressed tone.
"Why are you covering up the truth? What's making you so sad?"
Takagi began to chuckle, throwing Nishikata off. He hadn't bought her excuse before but didn't expect a crying girl to suddenly flip to laughing. There was a slight edge to her laugh that made it seem less than the normal playful one.
"It's just something I've been going through," she finally replied, gazing out the window. "Let's just say, I wasn't really looking forward to today."
"Oh, I-I see."
Nishikata tried catching her gaze, but she wouldn't look back at him. Why? he desperately wanted to ask. Didn't she really enjoy festivals? And cooking too, not to mention their friends? Was this why Takagi had secluded herself in that stairwell earlier in the day?
"I can't really— I'd rather not talk about it," she whispered.
Nishikata could hardly open his mouth in response. Takagi was turned almost completely away from him, as if she was itching to get away. They had comforted each other in the past, but after being around each other less and less, with so much less teasing, maybe it felt off for her to suddenly confide in him.
Nishikata didn't want that. He wanted to be there for her, to understand what was wrong. But he had literally dragged her here, and she was already acting uncomfortable as is, now sneaking glances at the doorway. Takagi wasn't interested in divulging whatever upsetting thing was bothering her. The trust he thought they still had was dwindling, as they no longer spent much time together.
That was the problem. They didn't hang out anymore. Why? She was busy at school and rarely 'punished' him with extra outdoor activities anymore, and he had been too frightened to ask her out or even hang out much without her putting in so much effort like before.
And as a result, he couldn't be there for her, not fully.
Nishikata felt his veins beginning to pulse, but not with the same level of anxiety as they usually did. He had found a new purpose in his motives.
He opened his mouth, but he didn't press her on the issue. No, Nishikata had something completely different in mind. And in just eight words, despite the peculiar timing, he got out the question he had been practicing to himself for weeks in his calmest demeanor yet.
"Hey, wanna go on a date next week?"
Takagi's long hair whipped around with nearly a snap as she finally locked eyes with him.