One step forward, two steps back

Part 4 Double date start

The rest of the week had flown by; it was now Saturday and Nishikata was outside the candy store waiting for Takagi and Takagawa. "We're just hanging out, there's nothing romantic happening today, we have other friends who are going to be there, we're not even going to be alone while on our way there."

"Did I keep you waiting?" Came Takagi as she approached.

Nishikata glanced over to see only Takagi and felt his heart jump. "Hey, I thought you and Takagawa were going to come together?"

"She said that she'll meet us there."

"Oh, okay ... should we-"

"Let's." She walked over and held up a hand. "Want to hold hands till we get there?"

"I-" Nishikata felt his hands tremble. 'Come on Nishikata, you've held her hand before ... wait, if you do that without any reservations, then she might find out that you love her.' "I mean it doesn't really matter to me." She outstretched her arm more and Nishikata felt like his heart was about to explode. 'Okay, let's do this.' He slowly reached out his hand and took hers, as they each closed their fingers around the back of the other's hand. 'Her hand is so soft.' He thought to himself. 'Man, I wish it was this easy every day.' As he glanced at her, he noticed that her expression went from playful, to surprised. 'What?'

"Uh, yeah, let's go." She quickly turned and the two of them began walking.

They walked together in silence until they reached the mall where they stopped for a moment. "So." Nishikata began. "I guess ... we have to let go of each other's hand now?"

"We could." She smiled and slowly turned to look at him. "Or we could always just ... tell them that we're a couple."

Nishikata's heart began to race as he struggled to form words. 'Joke back, say 'well, maybe we should' or something! No, too much time has passed, she'll know that I'm actually into her.' "Please ... aren't we here to help your friend with her relationship issues?"

"Wait a second, why didn't that sound like a 'no'?" Takagi asked.

"I don't know why it didn't sound like one, but it was definitely a no."

Takagi stared at him curious for a moment before letting go of his hand. "If you say so."

She began going inside as Nishikata lagged behind slightly. 'Yeah, it was definitely a no, as in, no, I don't want to stop holding hands.' He shook his head and caught up to her. "So, remember, this isn't a date, or a double date."

"I know, and I told Sumire as well."

"Good." 'Now all I need to do is find a way to get Sumire and Cozzy to have seats by themselves when we get to the movie.' He turned to the girl next to him and blushed. 'Which means I'll be sitting alone with Takagi.' He turned back to see where he was going. 'I can do that, and besides, it's a byproduct, even though I want to sit with her.' He glanced back at then shook his head. 'Sometimes it's hard for me to believe that I was so in denial sometimes.'

They soon reached the food court and instantly bumped into Takagawa, who was looking for them. "Takagi, Nishikata!" She greeted as she walked up to them. "You made it!"

"Of course we did." Takagi replied. "Did you think we wouldn't?"

"No, I ... just got here a little early ... and so did Cozzy."

"Wait." Nishikata began. "Is that good or bad?"

"It's ... not horrible." Takagawa explained. "But ... I don't know what to do when we're alone, so I just ... said I'd go look for you two."

"Well then, let's go meet back up then." Takagi began moving as the others followed, and they soon found their way to where Cozzy was sitting.

"Hey guys." He greeted as they noticed him. "Come on and sit down." They all took a seat around the table. "So, um, what exactly was the plan for today?"

"We're going to eat a quick lunch, then watch a movie." Takagi explained. "Isn't that right?" She asked as she glanced over at Nishikata.

"Yeah, that's right." Nishikata said trying to sound nervous.

"Yeah, I know that much, but what movie?"

There was silence as Takagi and Takagawa smiled at each other, nothing was spoken, but it was all too clear what was going on. "So ..." Cozzy began. "Shall we ... get started then?"

"Good idea." The four of them got up and began making their way to different parts of the food court, with Nishikata and Cozzy sticking together.

"You think you could have gotten here a tad earlier?" He asked.

"Why's that?"

"Cause I was alone with Takagawa, and I have no idea how I was supposed to handle a situation like that." He sighed as they got in line. "How exactly do you handle being alone with Takagi so often?"

"I-" He paused and looked around. 'Should I actually tell him? Well, I do have collateral with knowing his crush, it's only fair.' "You promise you won't tell anyone?"

"Yeah, just tell me your secret."

"My secret, is not realizing I was in love with her until I was already comfortable being around her."

Cozzy was dumbstruck for a moment. "Wait, what?"

"I had no idea I had feelings for her for the longest time, I guess I've known for maybe a few weeks, maybe a month or two at most."

"You're no help."

"You think it's all easy for me? She's always one step ahead of me, making surprising her almost impossible."

"What makes you think that she doesn't already know that you have feelings for her?"

"That." He began as he wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Isn't my immediate concern."

"What is then?"

"That's a secret."