River of Stars

Chapter 6 - Chains of Fate

A/N: Shoutout to @NewSterlingCrimson, his story "Love Bears All Things" inspired a sequence of this chapter, I recomend you go check him out!

"Um, Nishikata-Kun" a voice called behind him while he was sitting on his desk. He and Takagi had already gotten to school, but Takagi's friends had approached her to talk on their way to class, and so Nishikata was sitting alone on his seat.

Nishikata turned around and saw a small girl with short black hair, tied in pigtails "Mano-San, what is it?"

"I'm sorry, u-um" she fidgeted a bit "It's about Takagi-Chan, she's been acting a bit strange recently"

"O-Oh, um, I see..." Nishikata said.

Mano played with her fingers while looking to the side "She's been talking a lot less, and there's something about how she looks that feels weird... I tried asking her about it, and she said everything was fine." She clenched her fists "But I know there is something wrong! Do you know what it could be? You two have always been really close, so I imagined you could know why... A-And, maybe you'd know what to do"

"E-Er, I... think I know what's happening" he said "D-Don't worry, I'll do something about it"

Mano's face brightened up a little with that "T-Thank you, Nishikata-Kun" she bowed her head a little "B-But, if you can, please do it quickly, I think Takagi-Chan is really sad for some reason"

After that, Mano went to her own seat, and Nishikata sighed, crossing his arms on the desk and digging his head between them.

This conversation between Nishikata and Mano happened on Wednesday, September 28th. Nishikata had bought a gift for Takagi a few weeks before, her birthday drew closer quickly, and he planned to confess to her that day. Nishikata felt more and more nervous as the day approached, but he also wished for it to come as soon as possible. The reason why Takagi was so depressed was that she was thinking that he possibly didn't like her, and still going through all the effort of entering the same High School as him. He knew that feeling, the same he had felt since the start of their third year. He never wanted her to feel that, the thought made him sick. With that, he wished for her birthday to arrive as quickly as possible so he could confess and get this over with.

The present for Takagi was a recommendation from Takagawa, whom he had met by coincidence when he went to look for something to give her. It was a beautiful necklace, its cord was golden, with a heart locket in its middle, an actually really simple accessory that cost him all his allowance. The exact type of thing Nishikata would never dare buy alone. Of course, the necklace wasn't made of any actual precious metal, or else he wouldn't have been able to buy it.

Looking closely, it was possible to see a tiny hinge on the heart. Inside the locket, there was a space where one could put a photo. So, Nishikata went to a local store and asked for them to print the photo of him and Takagi on the last Christmas. Since Takagi had given him a frame with the first photo, he chose to print the second one, where they were laughing, to mirror her gift.

With that done, all that was left was for him to tell her to meet him at the local shrine on her birthday, give her the present and tell her how he felt.

He was sure of her feelings for him, so he was pretty confident that she would reciprocate, even though the thought of confessing to her still made him nervous. After that, they'd be theoretically dating. Still, he planned to maintain his intense studying schedule for as long as it took to get the performance he needed. His idea was to make sure Takagi knew how he felt, so that she would feel better, then they'd study to enter Sekai Eda High. After that, they'd be free to enjoy each other's company, go on dates and play their games and challenges without fear of being separated.