Clouded Minds

Chapter 6: Uncertainty

"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.