Takagi: Start Again

Part Six:

20 years ago:

'Hm Nishikata isn't here today. I wonder why?'
'I was feeling rather normal that day, I would say I had a good sleep that night, but there was one thing bugging me. What happened to Nishikata?'
'Classes ran normally and people talked as is everything was fine. They didn't stop me from wondering though.'
"You thinking about Nishikata." 'That was the familiar voice of one of my friends. I could tell she was trying to tease me so I calmly denied her comment and continued to think about were Nishikata might be.'
'When I left school I checked my phone, expecting to see a message from Nishikata saying he was sick or something. But there was nothing. I dropped him a quick text.' "Where are you?" 'Waiting for his response, I stopped by the market and picked up a small snack. I wasn't really planning on going home that early in the afternoon, so I decided to chill at the shrine until later that night. After about an hour, I expected to receive a text back, but sadly there was nothing. I thought it might be pushy, but I would stop by and check on him. It wasn't like Nishikata to not reply. Plus I was bored and hoped to have someone to hang out with. And as much as embarrassing it is to admit it, I wanted to tease him badly.'
'I arrived at his house a few minutes later. It seemed rather normal and I was surprised to see Nishikata's dad out at the front watering a few plants. I greeted him, but as I did so he looked sad. I didn't say anything, and before I could ask if Nishikata was home he cut me off. "Sorry Takagi, Nishikati has moved to his grandmas now." I was shocked. How could he leave without saying goodbye. It doesn't make any sense. Before I could ask more questions he waved his hand in a sigh that I wasn't welcome. "Look, we are very busy right now and I understand you wanted to say goodbye, but it was spure the moment and he had to leave". Before I could ask my lingering questions, he walked up to me and spoke demandingly. "Goodbye!" I took this opportunity and left.'
'I went home crying. Did he really just leave? Maybe his dad was lying. Maybe he's just sick.'

Now:
'Those words helped me for a while after that. But when his parents left a fresh days later, my words meant nothing. My parents tried to cheer me up. They said maybe that Nishikata and his parents had a family emergency or something. But now, I can say for a fact, they did not.