Trouble with love

Part 1 Emotional stress

It was like any other day, school had just ended, and Nishikata was on his way home with Takagi-san while the quickly approaching summer vacation was on his mind. "I can't believe it's next week!" Nishikata stated triumphantly. "It feels like it's been forever since last year."

"Well it was a year ago." Takagi-san said as she glanced over at him. "Though we won't be walking home together for a while."

"Huh?" Nishikata began as he glanced towards the girl next to him. "So what? It doesn't mean we can't hang out, we both have cell phones after all."

Takagi-san looked over at him for a moment before smiling. "Well, we could, but ... you've been acting strangely for the past two months."

"I-I told you, it was just a phase."

"Yes, you have said that, but you haven't told me what's really happened."

"But I just said-"

"You said it was a phase, but you never got more specific, in addition, you still haven't been talking to me as much as you used to."

Nishikata silently nodded as he avoided looking her in the eye. "I'm ... still sorting things out."

"Won't you let me take a peek inside your head and help you out a little?"

Nishikata shook his head. "You would only tease me."

"That's mean, you're my friend and I want to help you."

"You'd tease me while helping me!" Nishikata interjected almost immediately.

"Well ... I guess you have a point." She smiled as she grabbed her hands behind her back. "I just can't help myself when it comes to you."

Nishikata blushed and quickly turned away. "Yeah, well ... I can't have you poking me when trying to help me, it would make things worse."

"That hurts Nishikata, but what would we be if I wasn't able to tease you?"

Nishikata glanced at her for only a moment. "You won't get me to say that I like being teased by you."

"But ..." She said expectantly.

Nishikata let out a sigh of defeat. "I ... like hanging out with you ... so I don't mind it as much."

She closed her eyes and smiled. "And that's what makes me happy." She opened her eyes just slightly to look at his defeated face. 'I know what's been bothering you, you've been struggling with your newly realized feelings for me, and now you're worried that it'll put a strain on our relationship ... which it might if I didn't know you so well. I just wish you would confess to me already so you can stop struggling so much.' She looked down and kicked a pebble. "So ... you will tell me when this is all resolved, right?"

"Huh? Why?"

"So we can start spending time together again."

"I ... it's not like that! We can still hang out!"

"Your attempts at teasing me have gone down a lot in the past two months."

"Nothing is going to change between us."

"Don't lie to me."

"It won't drive a wedge between us." He glanced down for a moment and had to resist the urge to grab her hand. "How about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, after school, just us, anywhere you want."

They both stopped and stared at each other "Really?"

"I promise."

"Okay then." Takagi-san said with a smile. "It's a date."

"I ..." He turned away. "Wouldn't call it a date per se."

"Well, it doesn't matter, I like spending time with you."

"Y-yeah, spending time with friends, is always fun."

'And there he goes once again.' Takagi-san thought, trying to remain calm. 'Why is he being so dense? I know he's realized his feelings for me, but he just can't pick up that I like him back, it's like there's something that I'm missing.' She sighed and stared ahead. 'I guess there are still a few things that take a little time for me to figure out.'

After a few more blocks, Takagi-san and Nishikata reached the furthest they could go before they had to part ways. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." Nishikata said as he turned to Takagi-san.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow."

They both began walking in opposite directions, and as soon as Nishikata was far away from her, he collapsed against a nearby wall, gripping his chest as he hyperventilated. "Why does it seem like she's trying to be more adorable? Can't she just stop for one day?" He slowly regained his composure and resumed moving. "It's almost like she knows how much I'm being tortured and is doing it just to laugh at me ... no, she wouldn't do it to laugh at me, but it feels like she's doing it intentionally all the same." He looked at the wall and sighed. "But it's already been two months? Feels like it's been longer."

He began thinking back to the start of this whole dilemma. "Though after spending more than two damn years of denial, I guess I should just be glad that I wasn't so abnormal for longer."

He looked up and began thinking back to two months ago. "And I spent an entire week terrified that I had fallen for her; almost felt like my life had ended. Man I was so damn dramatic. I'm so very glad no one noticed."

He shivered and continued walking. "Then I thought, 'All I need to do is beat her, and then I won't be in love with her anymore' as if that would actually solve anything." He gazed skywards and exhaled. "And then I spent more than a month being depressed and avoiding her ... which is what brings us to today's issue, how do I get things back to normal? I guess spending time with her is a good start, though I have no idea why she doesn't care if people think we're a couple, wouldn't that hurt her chances with her crush?" He grabbed his chest and shook his head. "What am I talking about? This is Takagi, who wouldn't be in love with her?" He smiled and continued walking home. "Well, I guess I should just focus on fixing my own problems then."