One step forward, two steps back

Part 2 More problems than solutions

Takagi's mind was racing as her lips were pressed against Nishikata's. 'He's kissing me, he's actually kissing me! This wasn't supposed to go like this, did I read him wrong? No, how did I read him wrong? Did he realize that he likes me? Wait, he's kissing me!'

Nishikata soon separated from her, as both of their hearts continued racing. "So ... you said no one would find out about it?"

"Huh?"

"You said that no one would ever find out about the kiss."

"Oh, right." She nodded as she regained her train of thought. "That's right, that's right, I won't tell anyone." She turned around and covered her mouth and nose with her hands. "I ..." She turned back to face him. "Nishikata ... I honestly didn't expect that."

"Yeah, well ... if no one ever finds out, then it's the same as it never happening, right?"

She felt her heart sink upon hearing his words. 'Like it never actually happened.' "Only if you don't tell anyone."

"Right."

They both stood there for a few minutes until they walked back to the street. "So, I guess ... this kinda counts as a win for you."

"Huh?"

"My first kiss and I can't tell anyone about it ... that's going to be bothersome. Also, you caught me off guard by choosing something I didn't think you would do."

"That's not a win." He began. "I can't accept a win like that."

"Oh, okay." They continued walking in complete silence.

'This isn't good.' Takagi thought as she finally noticed the tingling in her lips. 'I mean it's good that I got to kiss Nishikata ... but ... my plan backfired.'

Flashback

"I ... need a favor." Sumire said as she stood in front of Takagi. "You see, there's a boy in class that I like-"

"You mean the boy with the short spiky black hair?"

"How ... nevermind. I ... would like it if you could help me set up a double date."

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah, I've almost never talked to him and ... I figured that seeing as he's one of Nishikata's friends, you could possibly ..."

"I think I can work something out."

"Really?" She asked hopefully. "That would be amazing!"

"I might need to tell Nishikata what's going on because he would need to be the one to specifically get him to go."

"He ... can he keep it a secret?"

"He won't have a choice when I beat him again."

End flashback

'Sumire's not going to like this ... but what am I supposed to tell her? I didn't think teasing him a little would backfire like this, what am I supposed to do now?' She placed a hand on her lips and smiled. 'But ... he did kiss me ... I wonder if things are going to change.'

They continued walking in silence as Nishikata and Takagi both had a lot on their mind. 'I actually did it.' Nishikata thought to himself. 'I actually kissed her ... I might actually be able to do the whole dating thing after all.' He glanced over to Takagi, but his feeling of nervousness was replaced by one of curiosity when he saw her face; she looked a little nervous, and if Nishikata didn't know any better, he would say she looked like she was trying not to blush. 'Wait ... why is she ... is she blushing?' He shook his head and looked back in front of him. 'No, It's probably because I can't think straight right now, she can't be nervous about something like a kiss, she jokes about it all the time.'

They continued in silence until they separated, only giving each other a quick goodbye before returning home.

'I still can't believe I kissed Takagi.' Nishikata thought as he continued his way home. 'I ...' He smiled triumphantly and shot his fist into the air. 'I can't believe I managed to finally work up the courage to kiss her! Even if it was a punishment, progress is still progress! Now all I need to do is-' He pulled the necklace out of his pocket and looked at it. "Give her this."

He shoved it back into his pocket. "Yeah right, as if I could do that."

Nishikata reached his house and opened the door to see his mom in the kitchen making dinner. "Good afternoon." She greeted as she turned to look at him.

"Afternoon mom." Nishikata replied.

"So, did you give Takagi her present yet?" She asked as she turned back to what she was doing.

"Not yet." Nishikata began. "Today was ... not the best day."

"How so?"

"Well ..." He walked into the kitchen and sat down. "I ... lost a contest to her."

"What else is new?"

"It ... made for not the best time."

She turned back to the counter and shook her head. "Just make sure you find a chance to give her that necklace before Christmas, you spent a lot of your allowance on that."

"I know." He got up and proceeded to head upstairs. "I'm gonna get started on my homework."

Nishikata went upstairs and threw himself onto his bed. "Takagi ..." He closed his eyes and began to picture her. "If you ever found out that you had my heart in the palm of your hands, then I can kiss any hope of beating you goodbye."

Meanwhile, Takagi was also sitting in her room thinking about what had recently transpired. "We kissed ... we actually kissed ... how did this surprise me?" She sighed. "Maybe he has realized that he likes me, if that's the case, I'm going to have to drastically rethink my approach."

At that moment, her phone began to ring, showing Sumire in the collar ID. "Oh, this isn't going to end well." She answered it and put it up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey Takagi, how did it go?"

'Here we go.' "Well, things ... didn't go as I thought they would."

"Wait, what? Did you ... lose?"

"Not exactly." 'I can't tell her about the kiss, I promised Nishikata.' "My bad habit kinda ... backfired, so I'm going to need to try a different approach."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'd ... rather not say. But I haven't given up, I've just hit a minor roadblock. I'll still manage to get that date for both of us."

"Well, okay, thank you again."

"No problem, what are friends for?"

"You're the best, I'll see you tomorrow, I need to study."

"Okay, by."

She hung up and looked at her phone. "Now how am I going to get Nishikata to help? ... maybe ... I'm overthinking this."