River of Stars

Chapter 4 - Taking a Break

It was 4 pm, Nishikata rang the bell next to a door in front of him and waited nervously with a small bag on his back. To the side of the door, there was a sign with "Takagi" written on it. He kept waiting for a few seconds with no answer before ringing the bell again, soon the seconds became minutes and the door didn't open.

"That's weird" he thought out loud.

"She's not home?" Takagi asked behind him.

"I think so. Maybe she went off to buy someth-" He stopped suddenly and turned around wide eyed, and he let out a shocked scream "WAAH"

Takagi cackled at the boy's reaction "Hahahaha, I didn't think this would actually work" She said, while trying to catch her breath.

'Damn it Takagi-San, laugh while you can, today's plan will definitely work' Nishikata thought while grinding his teeth.

Nishikata had come to Takagi's house for them to watch movies together. She had proposed the idea after Nishikata thanked her for her help with his studies, and offered to do something to repay her.

"Actually, if you really want to repay me somehow, how about..." she had to pause for a moment to gather enough courage and hide her blush "You come over to my house to watch a movie?"

Nishikata froze "W-WHAT? WHY??" At that moment a piece of chalk came flying and hit him on the head.

"Quiet Nishikata! You're not excused to mess around in my class just because your score improved" the teacher said with a menacing look.

"I-I'M SORRY" Nishikata said while bowing, and Takagi muffled a laugh beside him.

"Why??" Nishikata whispered after sitting down again.

"I think it would be fun", Takagi said, smiling with her eyes closed "What? Are you embarrassed to come over to a girl's house?"

"O-Of course not" He stuttered. 'Wait, I could use this in my favor' he thought, and a smirk appeared on his face, "Takagi-San, how about we do it like this, each of us choose a movie to watch?"

"Oh, so you want to watch two movies, I didn't think you'd be so excited about this" she said with her teasing smile.

"I-It's not like that!" He despaired, blushing bright red

"Hahahaha, I know, I know" Takagi said "I'm okay with that, how about tomorrow after school?"

"O-Okay" Nishikata responded

And this is why he was at her house right now. They hadn't gone to the library that day, and so Nishikata went home, changed his clothes and went to Takagi's house after putting some snacks and other things in his backpack, as well as the movie he had chosen.

'This time I've got you Takagi-San', Nishikata thought, grinning to himself, 'It was foolish of you to accept such conditions, there's no way you wouldn't be scared with this horror movie, and after rewatching it two times yesterday, I already know every jumpscare, you're gonna be so embarrassed after getting all scared' Nishikata laughed at his mental image of the situation.

Takagi opened the door for Nishikata and he made his way into her house.

"Mom! He's here!" Takagi announced to her mother

Nishikata froze, he spent all his time thinking about the plan and forgot completely that he would probably meet her family. From the kitchen came a woman with long, brown hair, tied in a ponytail, and big brown eyes. It was clear for Nishikata that she was Takagi's mother, since she looked pretty much like a grown up version of her, except that her hair was a bit darker.