River of Stars

Chapter 11 - Hands that Bring Healing

Two weeks had passed since Valentine's Day, March was beginning, and with it came the rising tension for the final exams. The once freezing air was now not too cold, and the signs of the upcoming spring were starting to subtly appear.

Even though the final exams weren't far away, Nishikata didn't feel nearly as nervous as he was for the previous tests. He had been studying the topics in advance, and now he was pretty familiar with every one of them, even math wasn't a problem for him anymore. Besides, the rest he took during winter break had greatly improved his performance, he felt like he was learning everything much easier ever since classes started again. He was spending more time studying for the final exams, but he wasn't tiring himself much anymore, and he felt more certain about his competence in each subject.

Nishikata was now leaving his house to go to school, he went the usual way until he reached the intersection where he always met Takagi, and then he waited for her. He waited, and waited, until there were only 15 minutes left for classes to start.

Then he strode swiftly on his way to school, deep in thought. 'Where's Takagi-San? We always meet at that intersection, could she have gone earlier to school? But today's morning duty was Takao's...'.

While he walked, Nishikata sent her a message asking about why she wasn't there. He got no reply, and then he started really worrying about her 'What if something happened to her, maybe she's sick?' He soon arrived at school and went to his class, and sure enough, Takagi's seat was empty.

In just the 4 minutes until the professor's arrival, Nishikata's mind ran wild, going over several possibilities of why Takagi was absent, 'Is she sick? Maybe she's broken something? ...Maybe something worse happened to her...?'. His overthinking, however, did not last long, for the professor soon cleared things up right after entering the classroom.

"Before class starts, I regret to announce that Takagi is not coming today due to a cold, could someone take today's handouts to her after school?" Asked the teacher, a hand was raised right after, a few seats from where Nishikata was.

"I'll do it", said the girl who had raised her hand, and Nishikata saw that it was Takagawa.

"Very well then, thank you Takagawa, you may lower your hand. So..." And then, he started his lesson.

For some time, Nishikata paid attention to class, but his thoughts would constantly drift away to Takagi. It didn't take long now until he recognized that uncomfortable feeling. He felt his face heating up slightly, 'What are you worrying about?' He thought, 'It's just a cold, she's fine.' After second class, Nishikata noticed a new message from Takagi:

Takagi-San: "Sorry for the wait, I went down with a cold this morning, so I stayed in bed and ended up sleeping a little more."

Takagi-San: "You must be so lonely without me there to tease you"

Nishikata's face went red as he grinded his teeth, then he responded:

Nishikata: "I'm not lonely!"

Takagi: "You're blushing"

"I'm not" He murmured out loud, blushing.

'I knew she was fine, she's even teasing me now!' he thought, but the uneasy feeling didn't leave him. The day went by slowly, and despite Nishikata's attempts to concentrate, his thoughts would constantly come back to Takagi, the day felt off without her there. The empty desk beside him, the fact that she was sick and that he had pretty much no idea of her current state, all these things combined made that day completely unbearable for him.

After what felt like an eternity for Nishikata, the school period had finally ended, and he was walking to the exit to go home, and now he felt even worse, since he was used to walking home with her everyday. Nishikata was still trying, however, to convince himself that he had nothing to worry about. He changed his shoes and left the building. When he was almost walking through the gate, he looked ahead and saw Takagawa going the way he and Takagi often took to go home, he remembered that she was going to hand Takagi's papers to her in her house.