River of Stars

Chapter 5 - Surprise

Weeks had passed since the first tests, it was now October. Autumn came, and with it came the falling of leaves and the chilly wind, and the students had already started wearing their winter uniforms.

October 1st, it was a Friday, and Nishikata and Takagi were walking their way back home from school. The sun was already setting, as they had just finished their study section of the day in the library. They were already starting to prepare for the next tests, which would take place in December, right before winter break. But that meant mainly to be sure that Nishikata understood everything they viewed in class as the days passed, and so he was still able to take his studies with relative tranquility, leaving space in his mind for another matter.

"Takagi-San" he said suddenly as they walked, and a smirk was on his face "Your birthday is on Sunday, isn't it?"

Takagi turned to him quickly, and her face was radiating with joy "You remembered, Nishikata!"

"Ah! Well... You remembered mine too" he said, looking to the side "A-Anyway, are you free?"

Takagi's smile widened, and she moved close to his face "You're going to take me out on a date for my birthday, Nishikata?"

"N-NO!" Nishikata screamed, while backing away rapidly "W-We're just hanging out! As friends!"

"Hahahaha" Takagi laughed at his overreaction "I know, I know. Yes, I'll be free at the end of the morning"

"Then let's meet up at the intersection at 11h"

"It's settled, I'm looking forward to it!"

They parted ways not too long after that, and Nishikata smirked as he saw Takagi disappear in the distance. 'Just you wait, Takagi-San'.

It was Saturday night, Nishikata had already finished the study section he had planned for the day, and now he was sitting in front of his desk, messing around with some stuff.

"And... Done" he said to himself as he beheld his craft.

In front of him was a wide, white box, with a red ribbon tied up around it. There were several others like that one that were crumpled and piled up in the trash beside his table.

"This sure took a while, but it was totally worth it!" Nishikata said to himself with a wide grin as he held the box in front of him.

It was a jack-in-the-box that was set up to let out a monstrous face made of paper when Takagi opened it, like he had done before. But this time, Nishikata made extra effort to make it look as innocent as possible. He had ended up setting it off a couple of times trying to make the cover up, which is why he needed so many tries, but it was finally ready.

'She won't suspect a thing, on her birthday of all days' he thought as his grin turned into a smirk.

Nishikata took the box and put beside his bag so that he wouldn't forget it the next day. And with his plan in mind, he went to bed and had a good night of sleep.

The next day, Nishikata had breakfast, got himself ready, picked up his things and left as soon as he could, and now he was walking confidently to the intersection.

'Heh, I can't wait to see Takagi-San's face when she opens this' he thought as his smirk grew. His enjoyment increased as he pictured in his head an image of Takagi receiving the present and freaking out at the prank's reveal. He laughed to himself.

But his heart changed at that moment. After recovering from the jumpscare, the Takagi in Nishikata's mind looked at the box with sorrow and disappointment, having expected a true and heartfelt present from her best friend. Nishikata stopped and hesitated 'Wait... I can't do that! I don't want that!' Suddenly, he felt shame and regret for what he had prepared. How could he even plan such a thing? And on her birthday of all days.