One step forward, two steps back

Part 10 Realization

The party had ended the previous day, and Nishikata was still thinking about what had happened as he got to school. "I haven't been able to talk to her about it yet ... and I don't know what to say." He said as he reached his classroom. "I mean ... there's no beating around the bush here, Takagi and I practically made out yesterday ... then again, she did go along with it as well."

He sighed as he took his seat and stared at the blackboard. 'It's almost Christmas ... and I need to give her, her present.'

A moment later, there was a slam on Nishikata's desk, and he looked up to see Hamaguchi glaring at him. "You've got some nerve Nishikata!" He exclaimed.

"Did something go wrong?"

He stood up straight and turned away. "No, but you could have warned me."

"Then you would have chickened out."

"I would not have chickened out!" He said as he began to blush.

"Look, unless you have another point to make, just thank me and go."

Hamaguchi glared at him before letting out a sigh. "Thanks ..." He walked away leaving Nishikata alone with his thoughts once more.

'Finally, I can hear myself think aga-'

Nishikata's thought process was interrupted by the teacher tapping on the blackboard, signaling the start of class. "Allright class, this is our last day before winter break, so let's make the most out of it."

Nishikata glanced to his side in confusion. 'Wait, where is she?'

"Okay, let's start with attendance."

The teacher began calling off names as each student responded, though Nishikata was just a tiny bit distracted. 'It's not like her to be absent.' Nishikata thought to himself.

Moments later, the classroom door opened as Takagi wandered in. "Sorry I'm late."

"I haven't called your name yet so you're just in time." The teacher replied.

"Thank you sir." She made her way over to her seat as Nishikata looked at her curiously.

"It's not like you to come in at the last minute."

"Yeah, I wasn't able to sleep much last night, so I was a little slower than usual getting here."

Nishikata thought to himself for a moment. 'I actually didn't get much sleep either, but still.' "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Just a lot on my mind lately."

"Takagi." The teacher called out.

"Here." Takagi replied.

"Like what?" Nishikata asked.

"Oh, like ... last night."

Nishikata felt a sense of unease and nervousness. "Yeah ... that was ... the second time in one week."

"Second time ever as well."

"And last but not least." The teacher began. "Nishikata."

"Here." Nishikata replied.

"Okay then, let's get started." The teacher turned back to the blackboard and began writing as he began the lesson.

"Let's talk later." Nishikata said trying to avoid the conversation.

The class went on uneventfully as Nishikata tried to pay attention to the lesson.

The day had flown by and Nishikata was now packing up his things to go home. 'I need to do this, I need to tell her. She's probably going to laugh either way, but I can handle that, I need to handle that.' He took another deep breath as he continued putting his things in his bag. 'But how am I supposed to do this?'

"Hey, Nishikata?" Came Takagi as she finished packing up.

"Hm?" Nishikata turned to look at her and noticed something off about her. 'Is it just me, or is she ... nervous?'

"I ... you wanna walk home together?"

Nishikata felt a blush come on. "Uh, sure."

"Great." They stood up and stared at each other awkwardly for a moment. "Well, we should get going, right?"

"Uh ... yeah."

The walk to their lockers was awkward to say the least, as was the walk leaving the school. It wasn't until they had left the school grounds, and the view of everyone else when they started to feel some semblance of calm.

"So." Takagi began. "About ... yesterday."

"You mean the kiss?" Nishikata asked.

"Yeah, that ... was ... a bit more than what I was expecting."

"Well, I didn't expect it either, so I guess we're even on that front."

"I suppose that's true."

They continued walking, trying to think of something to say to break the awkward silence. 'Why is this so hard?' Nishikata thought as he glanced at Takagi. 'Even she's having a hard time-' Nishikata's mind froze as that thought went through his head. 'Takagi never has a hard time with anything, yet she looks almost as nervous as me. I mean sure, we've never kissed before last week, but she pokes fun at me possibly having romantic feelings for her all the time, why is it any different now?' He crossed his arms and continued thinking. 'Come to think of it, she's been acting like this since the first kiss, I mean aside from when we shared those popsicles but-' Another realization hit him. 'Have I ever flirted back at her?' He racked his mind, trying to come up with situations where that may have applied. 'Let's see, there was the failed critical hit ... she froze ... What about those times before the summer festival when we were stuck behind the barrels, or alone under that tree?' He shook his head. 'No, I was completely on the receiving end of that. As for the summer festival itself ... I wasn't really paying attention to her face when I grabbed her hand.' He tried to think up more instances, but in every situation he could remember, he either ran, or she somehow averted her face. 'I might possibly be onto something ... a secret weakness ... I need to test something.' "Hey ... Takagi?" He began nervously. She glanced at him, and he gathered every scrap of courage to continue. "Tomorrow is ... Christmas eve so ... I was wondering, if you don't have any other plans, would you like to hang out?"

Takagi gave a surprised look, as Nishikata began to anticipate what would happen next. 'Here it comes, she's going to deflect it.'

"Oh?" She asked as a sly smile formed on her lips. She leaned forward, putting her face much closer to Nishikata's. "Are you trying to ask me out or something?"

"Called it, but damn, I wish I had thought this part through.' "I ... uh." 'Damn it Nishikata! Just say something!' "I ... I'm not sure!" He wanted to look away but managed to force himself to keep looking just enough to see her face. "I just ... want to spend more time with you." A feeling of immense relief washed over him, freeing him from his nerves. As for Takagi, her expression went from sly, back to concerned.

"I ..." She turned around and pulled out her phone. "Let me take care of something."

From the angle he was at, it looked like she was texting someone on her phone, but with the help of a nearby traffic mirror, Nishikata was able to see her face; she was blushing more than what Nishikata believed she was capable of, and her phone was actually held tight to her chest, as she had a nervous smile and was practically shaking. 'She does have a weakness to displays of affection! I've finally found her crippling weakness!' Nishikata's shoulders slumped as he realized a major flaw in his still developing plan. 'And neither can I, and I can't give them like Takagi either. There goes that plan ... but maybe.' He continued to ponder as Takagi took a deep breath and turned around.

"Yeah, I'm free." She replied.

'Oh, that's right, I asked her out.' "That's wonderful." Nishikata said as he smiled. 'Based on her reaction, if I try to exploit it normally, she'll blush, but if she answers and I don't have a follow up, she'll turn it on me, so I can't exploit this weakness unless I mean what I say. Luckily for me, I do love her so that's not a problem. The problem is, I will only be able to do this once, so I have to make it count. Thankfully, I already have the groundwork all set, I simply need a plan.'

He glanced over at Takagi and felt his heart race again. 'Aaaaaaand this will be my confession as well, damn I'm nervous.'