River of Stars

Chapter 3 - Snapping Strings

Weeks had passed since Nishikata and Takagi started studying for Sekai Eda High's exam, and they passed in the blink of an eye for most students. But for Nishikata and Takagi, they seemed much longer, and yet not long enough, for they always felt their time growing short. Weeks became months, and they were still far below the level they needed to get to.

In those first months, Nishikata studied with fire in his eyes. The breaks he and Takagi took when studying together were short, and he rested even less when he studied alone in his house. He had almost no time for the things he enjoyed, those being limited to when he was eating or during his short rests.

Takagi, on the other hand, was very careful with her limits, she took rests regularly between the subjects, and she avoided studying before sleeping, since she had noticed that doing so usually kept her awake, and led her to a bad sleep. She followed the schedule she had suggested for Nishikata, but not strictly, studying something different, or adding or subtracting minutes of rest when she deemed needed, and she kept her Sundays free.

It didn't take Takagi long to find out Nishikata was not taking much rest. She suspected from the beginning that he was neglecting the moments of rest she had suggested, and she eventually managed to make him admit it to her. She couldn't really convince him to rest more, but she stated firmly her disagreement about how he was handling the situation.

Takagi was worried about Nishikata. The truth is that he soon started showing signs of tiredness. During the first weeks, he was learning faster than Takagi, and she asked most of the questions in the library when they studied together. But as time drew on, the gap between them once again lessened, and soon he was the one asking more questions.

Nishikata grew weary, he took more time to learn things, and without him noticing, he started studying more, and learning less. She tried to convince him to rest, but to no avail. Nishikata would not listen, and he would argue that him taking more time to learn was due to his own capacity, no matter how much Takagi denied it.

Takagi was not only worried, but she also grew more and more unhappy. Since the beginning of that school year, they studied hard, and they didn't have time to hang out together. Her teasing became less common. Nishikata would still return to his usual competitiveness when they played their games, when they could, and bring joy to Takagi's heart, but they had little time for challenges now. She initially thought, when making the schedule, that she and Nishikata could meet up during every Sunday, and they'd have fun together and her will to study for another week would be renewed. But the weeks passed, and Nishikata always stayed inside his house, studying, when he wasn't at school. She would eventually hang out with the other girls somewhere, but it wasn't always, and even then, she would miss Nishikata, and wish she was with him.

But today was a special day, a day in which she had hopes of spending time with him, even if just for a little bit, it was Nishikata's birthday.

As usual, Takagi and Nishikata met at the intersection, they greeted each other and started going to school. The moments they were going to and from school had become Takagi and Nishikata's favorites, since they weren't studying and could just spend time with each other. Since these moments were so few, they always played games during them, and Takagi's teasing was simply nonstop.

As they walked, Nishikata felt a bit anxious, wondering if Takagi would use the fact that it was his birthday to tease him and trying to think of counter attacks, but a feeling that made him even more anxious was the doubt if she even remembered his birthday. As these thoughts filled his mind, he was distracted from what was actually happening, and Takagi started asking him questions.

"The weather's really nice today, right Nishikata?" she said

"Yeah..." he answered without giving much attention, trapped in his own thoughts.