Trouble with love

Part 22 Start of the last day

It was now the following day, and subsequently, the last day Takagi-san and Nishikata would be together. "How could I have been so stupid?" Nishikata asked himself as he paced around in his room. "Last night was the perfect chance to tell her that I like her, but I just had to go and chicken out!" He rested his head against the wall and let out a sigh. "I even kissed her, how could it have been so hard to tell her that I love her after that?"

He sat down on his bed and pulled out his phone. 'Come on Takagi, please call, I only have one last chance and I need to make sure it counts.'

Just then, his phone rang, causing him to almost drop it. "Hello?!" He asked as he answered it.

"Morning Nishikata." Takagi-san replied from the other end of the line. "You always seem like you're so eager to talk to me."

"I ... well ... you're important to me."

"That almost sounded like a confession of love."

Nishikata felt his collar go hot. "I-"

"I did say 'almost' remember."

"Oh." He cooled down some. "Right."

"Anyway, I was thinking we could spend our last day together at the abandoned lot, then maybe see where we go from there."

"I can get on board with that." He replied. "Thankfully the weather's a lot nicer today than it was yesterday."

"You can say that again." He heard her giggle. "Anyway, what do you say we meet up in about an hour?"

"Sounds good, I'll see you soon."

They hung up, and Nishikata stared at his phone with a smile. "Today ... I'm definitely going to do it today."

He got what he needed ready and waited about a half hour before making his way outside and down the street. "Now, how to do it?"

The walk seemed a lot longer than it usually did, and it was very quiet. 'Should I just tell her as soon as I see her? No, I should see what she has to say first, then maybe play it by ear until I find the perfect chance ... but then I might miss my shot ... why does this need to be so difficult?'

He continued walking until he got to the abandoned lot, where he began to feel a cold wind. "This is it ... maybe I shouldn't have gotten here so early."

He made his way over to the stack of wooden planks, and took a seat, waiting for Takagi-san to arrive. It didn't take too long, and she soon arrived, wearing a light pink t shirt and black shorts. "Hey Nishikata." She greeted.

"H-hey." He greeted back.

She walked over to him and took a seat to his right. "So, it's already been a week."

"It has."

She nodded. "It was a lot of fun. Our first date at the candy shop, that was really something."

"So now it's a real date?" Nishikata asked sarcastically.

She nodded. "Seeing as you asked me to be your girlfriend that day, yes."

Nishikata sighed and looked up. "Well ... it was a lot of fun ... being with you."

"You made that really obvious yesterday." Nishikata noticed a warm sensation on top of his hand and reflexively pulled it away, only to realize that it was Takagi-san placing her hand on top of his. "Right ... todays the last day."

'Damn it! I didn't mean to do that!' He glanced at her, then wrapped his arm around her, and pulled her close, surprising them both.

"Nishikata." She said with a smile. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you wanted us to stay as a couple."

Nishikata blushed as he tried to look away. "Yeah, well ... why do you say, 'if you didn't know any better'?"

"Because you haven't said anything yet." He looked back at her. "If you want us to stay together, then all you have to do ... is say so."

There was a long and awkward silence as Nishikata contemplated what he just heard. 'Just ... say it? I can't just tell her ... I mean, I can, but ... what else?'

"Though ... if you don't." She took a deep breath and tried to keep herself smiling. "Then you can break up with me whenever you want."

All sound in the area stopped as time seemed to come to a halt. "What?"

"I said, you can break up with me now, though if you'd rather, we can just quietly call it at the end of the day."

"I don't want that!"

"Then ... you want to break-"

"I don't want that either!" He took a deep breath and readied himself. "What I want ..." He turned away. "I ... don't know."

"Hm?" She leaned closer and smiled. "Like I said, all you have to do is say that you want to be with me. Or if you're too nervous, you can just say those three words, I told you about last night."

He continued to blush, but didn't say a word. 'I Do want that but ... it feels like ... there's something else I need to do first.'

They continued to sit there in silence for what felt like an eternity. "Well, we can't just sit here all day." Takagi-san began as she stood up. "How about we go somewhere?"

"I ... okay."