Amare Memoriae

Part 21 Lunch with friends

Nishikata was being practically dragged down the hall, trying to ignore the looks he was getting. 'She wants me to eat lunch with her and her friends? Doesn't she realize how embarrassing that is? I mean if it were just the two of us, that'd be one thing, but her friends as well?'

"You seem worried." Takagi noted. "It's not going to be that bad, after all, it's only ... wait." She looked at her empty hand, then back at her hand that was holding Nishikata's wrist. "My bag!"

"Got it." Nishikata said as he held up both his bag and hers.

"Thanks, I'm still getting used to having only one good arm." She looked forward and continued walking. "Anyway, like I was saying, most of my friends are busy, so it's only going to be a few of them."

"Yeah, but ... are you sure that they'll be okay with me being there?"

"It's just lunch period with friends, it's not like I'm taking you to meet my family to celebrate our engagement or anything."

Nishikata's blush intensified. 'She says that so matter-of-factly, and what's with the bad attempts at pretense?'

They continued walking until they got to an area where two girls were leaning up against a wall, one had long black hair, the other short brown hair. "Kiede! Tera!" Takagi called

"Takagi!" The brown haired girl called. She tilted her head to the side some and looked a little surprised as she noticed Nishikata next to her. "Nishikata?"

"I asked him to eat with us." Takagi said with a smile. "And he just couldn't say no."

'Because you made me do it as part of a punishment.' Nishikata thought to himself.

"Oh ... so ... I guess that's fine." The brown haired girl began before turning to Nishikata. "Anyway, I'm Kiede."

"And I'm Tera." The other one said.

"H-hi, it's nice to formally meet you."

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Tera began as she looked at Takagi. "Did you remember-"

"Yeah, I remembered to bring it." Takagi turned to Nishikata. "Can I have my bag please?" Nishikata handed her her bag, and she graciously took it with a smile. "Thank you." She began trying to awkwardly open it with one hand before Nishikata grabbed it and held it up for her. "Thank you." She said as she opened it and took out a DVD case. "Here." She turned back to Tera and handed it to her. "One hundred percent unrequited love the anime, disk one."

"Thanks." Tera said as she took it. "My parents are really uneasy about me going on pirate sights, and I've been really excited to start this series."

"Then why not just watch it on television?" Nishikata asked, earning him a curious look from both Kiede and Tera. "I mean ... it's on television in the middle of two of my favorite shows so ... it's that or homework." 'Wait ... no, season one of the anime-'

"You really don't know much about it then, do you?" Kiede asked. "The anime was horribly mishandled, and you can't even watch season one on television." She placed her hands on her hips with a triumphant smile. "And even though season two is available for streaming, it's not one the same service as season one, so you need to either pirate it, or pay for two completely different streaming services."

"Or just one, and record season two when it's on television." Nishikata retorted.

Kiede was at a loss as Tera smiled. "Or just get the DVD's after all, you're buying each one, so it doesn't matter where you buy it from."

"Or borrow it from a friend." Takagi added as she pulled a bento box out of her bag.

"Uh, hey." Nishikata began as he looked at her trying to open her bento with her cast hand. "Do you ... want me to help?"

Takagi smiled and handed it to him. "If you insist."

He undid the plastic wrapping and opened it before handing it back to her. "Here you go."

"Thanks." She said before taking the bento and sitting on the ground against the wall.

Nishikata sat down next to her, and pulled out his own bento, as Kiede glanced over at them. "Well, aren't you two the cutest of couples."

Nishikata blushed a little as Takagi leaned closer and began to whisper something into his ear. "She's going to try and embarrass you by mentioning some form of romantic situation between you and me, just relax, try and think up a way the situation could be more romantic, and throw that back at her."

Nishikata could feel his heart begin to race as his blush deepened. 'She wants me to what?'

Kiede smiled at them then looked down on Nishikata with a smug expression. "You know, if you're not careful, then one day, you're going to wake up, and Takagi will be lying in your bed right in front of you, with the most beautiful of wedding rings on her finger, waiting for you to give her a good morning kiss."

Nishikata could feel himself begin to sweat as his body heated up. 'I ... I ... wait, isn't that what I want?' He calmed himself and thought up an idea as a smile formed on his face. "Nah, I think I'd be waking up with her in my arms, whispering how much I love her into her ear." Nishikata paused as his mind processed what just came out of his mouth. 'What the HECK DID I JUST SAY!?' Nishikata thought as he instantly regretted letting those words leave his mouth. He forced himself to continue smiling, but as soon as he noticed Takagi's almost shocked expression, he felt like he had messed up. 'Damn it, I need to-'

Takagi burst into laughter, snapping out of his panic. "That does sound very accurate, but you're forgetting about our daughter, who wakes us up in the middle of the night, complaining about a nightmare, so we let her sleep with us as you hold the two of us in your arms."

Nishikata's heart went from crazy out of control panic, to normal panic. 'Takagi.' He thought as he began to stare at her. He was snapped from his trance by the sound of a bento hitting the floor, and looked up to see Kiede with the biggest embarrassed blush he had ever seen. 'I had completely forgotten about her.'

"I ... I ..." She took a step back as Takagi burst into laughter.

"Kiede." Takagi said as she finally stopped laughing. "You're still the same, you can dish it out, but you can't take it."

Kiede crossed her arms and turned away. "And you haven't changed at all either." She glanced down and began picking up the remainder of her lunch. "I need to get lunch ... again." She said as she stood back up. "I'll be back in five."

As she walked away, Takagi smiled and placed her lunch on her bag. "I need to use the bathroom, keep an eye on my stuff for me." And with that, she also left the group, leaving only Nishikata and Tera.

"So, you really do care about her, huh?" Tera asked.

"Huh? Well ... yes, she's incredibly important to me."

"I can tell." She looked ahead and sighed. "She's so lucky to have a  boyfriend like you."

"Woah, woah, hold on-"

"Don't bother trying to deny it, I can see the look in your eye, and it shows just how wrapped around her finger you are."

Nishikata blushed as he went back to his lunch. "You don't know what you're talking about."