A/N: Sorry for the slow updates on both this fanfic and LBAT. Life's been hitting hard and I'm trying to get through it. I promise you'll see more frequent updates from me once that's done and over with. As an additional note, I don't plan to have this fanfic contain spoilers for Takagi-san movie. That said, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
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In almost every situation, being teased is one of the worst things a child can face. Mocking voices can ring through their heads for years after the incident. Teasing is also a key component of incessant bullying, which can traumatize a child for life. But in the rare case, teasing may bring about a long-lasting, love-filled relationship. Who knows? The teased may even find themselves enjoying it.
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If there was one thing that Nishikata hated most, it was teasing. He could never understand why people had to make fun of anyone. The tightness to the chest, the sagging of the shoulders, and the eager smile turned upside down. He saw it all, especially in his elementary school days. As early as first grade, he saw his classmates get picked on for the red pimple on their nose, their weird figure collections, or slurs in their manner of speech.
His disdain for teasing was also fueled by his own experiences on the matter. At first, he didn't have too much of a problem with it during his Okayama days. But that changed when his male classmates learned about his rather divergent tastes in manga. Amid his collection of Dandy series and action-packed collections, a single manga stuck out like a sore thumb.
A quick glance at the manga's cover made clear its shoujo label, a series designed for lovestruck girls. For one, pink flowers filled many of his manga's book covers. At the center of the decorative front cover was the portrait of a wavy, blonde-haired girl with navy blue eyes. Clasping her hands together, it looked like she beheld the brightest, largest pearl she could dream of owning. A heart symbol also projected from her chest, as if her heart was popping off from the cover from where she stayed. Located above the girl was a set of red and bolded kanji scripts that formed the title of the manga series: 100% Unrequited Love.
The series had a special place in his room. With it still ongoing with its numerous editions, he had enough figurines, volumes, and DVDs to set aside an entire bookshelf in front of his bed for his collection. On most nights, he would walk up to his wooden shelf, take the volume containing one of his favourite chapters, and re-read it before dozing off to bed with his manga on hand.
The night before the Summer Festival was an exception to this trend. While Nishikata lay on his bed a few hours after dinner as usual, he didn't have the same ardour for reading his favourite scenes. Instead, he found himself staring at the cream-coloured ceiling while wearing his black sweat pants, dark blue T-shirt, and white socks. As he did so, a round of chortles seeped into his thoughts.
Oh Nishikata-kun! Are the shonen mangas too gory and bloody for you?
Aww don't tell me you're too scared to get into a real manga like Death Note!
Eww, falling in love is for wusses!
A quick shake of his head and a loud growl dispelled the jeers and laughs as quickly as they came. Ever since he moved to Tonosho Town, he imagined his former classmates as miniscule, mischievous trolls trying all their might to jeer at him wherever he went. They were annoying when they clung on, but were easy enough to brush off with a strong flick.
But he couldn't help but feel shunned every now and then. A few weeks ago, his history class covered the Meiji Restoration and how it helped modernize Japan by the dawn of the 20th century. Despite his gratefulness for the role the Meiji Empire played in the comfortable life he had, he felt bad for the brave Samurai who fought back against the empire's revolutionizing tide. In his opinion, all the samurai class wanted was to maintain their way of life even when society was changing around them. Despite making their requests clear, the Meiji Emperor had them eviscerated to make way for modernity. Sure, he wasn't facing physical violence or any threat of death for liking 100% Unrequited Love. Nonetheless, he couldn't escape the feeling of repudiation for liking something different from the norm.
As he finished reminiscing about his history class, the bells of Okayama Chuo Elementary School played inside his head. Its soothing tune spurred him out of his bed and towards his window with a puff of relief. His parents had planned their move to Tonosho Town months before they left Okayama. Now standing by the window, he puffed his chests upwards and grinned. It was the same pose he made after realizing that he had survived long enough to move out of Okayama and restart his life anew.
Nishikata fixed his gaze towards the blue sky and forested hills beyond the window. He immersed himself in the serene view by closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. As he did so, his heart began to soar, entering into a peaceful reverie. He then imagined the sounds of splashing water against the ferry and the winds pushing against his chest. The scents of marine water penetrating his nostrils came to him, allowing him to take another long, satisfied breath. The ambiances of the sea brought with it a new freedom that gushed through his skin as the ferry chugged on towards Tonosho Town.
Topping off the mesmeric sensations that heralded his new beginning was the Gift of the Sun commemoration that stood on Tonosho Harbour. As the ferry approached Tonosho Town, he read of its golden ring of olive leaves and how they symbolized the olive trees that powered the island's economy. Much like the sun that shone behind the monument that morning, Nishikata remembered feeling his own face glisten. The commemoration had given him an omen of new crops of peace and acceptance that he embraced with open arms. He could feel his future glowing in front of his eyes as the ferry docked at Tonosho Harbour. He was moving away from his teasing classmates and into a world of new friendships. That's how he wanted his move to proceed.
Nishikata opened his eyes, his bedroom coming back into view. He jerked back at the outstretched arms he displayed in front of his bedroom's lone window. After pressing his eyes with his fingers, he remembered the one caveat he imposed on himself. The lone mantra he recited as the ferry docked by the Gift of the Sun boomeranged back into his ears.
"Everything will be okay so long as I never let anyone know about my 100% Unrequited Love collection."
A few seconds after the recitation, a lone voice seeped into Nishikata's ears. "Hey, Nishikata," the girly voice whispered playfully.
Nishikata jumped into a defensive stance just as the voice departed. His head turned about left and right in a desperate search for the voice's source. But the room maintained its silence, only broken by the fan whirring away from the ceiling. He shook his head and massaged his hands against his temples.
"Nishikata, it's really not that hard to find me!" the feminine voice giggled. In quick succession, Nishikata heard the girl's voice once again.
"Ahh! Takagi-san, please get out of my head!" he cried out with an exasperated wail. The cry vibrated through the room as he lurched backwards to his bed. His legs stumbled against the bed's footboard slat, causing him to fall with a loud thud on his mattress.
Nishikata placed his left hand against his back, massaging it with his fingers and releasing a groan. Images of the blonde-haired girl from 100% Unrequited Love swirled above his field of view. As much as he loved his manga series, he couldn't help but roll his eyes at the girl named Kyunko at times. Thinking of Kyunko and her ginger-haired crush, Ikeo, caused memories of his interactions with Takagi to flow through in his head.
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It all started on his first day of junior high. As Nishikata made his first steps through the entrance, he was met with classmates chattering amongst each other and rows of cubbies serving as the getabako. Once inside the main hall, he checked the school clock hanging above him. As the clock read 8:20 am, he gave himself a proud pat on the back. With his new school uniform on, he knew he was well on his way to being on time for his first class.
But suddenly, his left foot felt something soft on the floor. He lifted up his shoe and gasped. It was a silky, light-blue handkerchief lying on the ground at the other side of the getabako. On its bottom corner, a name was etched in gold stitching.
Takagi.
Nishikata stooped down and picked up the handkerchief. It was a name most unfamiliar to him, but he was at least sure that this Takagi had lost their handkerchief. With that in mind, he nodded to himself. He figured he'd do the right thing and hand it over to the lost and found.
Unfortunately, it took him over 5 minutes to find the room. It didn't help that the room's caretaker went on a long ramble about the merits of rejecting finders' keepers as a life motto. That caused him to be late for homeroom and receive an earful from Tanabe-Sensei, his homeroom teacher, about punctuality as a life virtue. He pursed his lips and moaned inwardly once his teacher's lecture came to an end. Starting off on the wrong foot was not part of the plan for his first day.
The worst, however, was yet to come. He found himself seated at the back corner of the class by the window. A dark brown-haired girl sitting on the desk to his right was his only companion. Right from the moment his teacher scolded him, the girl had the gall to giggle at his unfortunate demise. Later in the afternoon, after the school's opening ceremony, Nishikata learned of the girl's name.
"Hey," the brunette said, placing a delicate finger point to herself as the teacher gave his announcements. "I noticed that you were late today, but do you want me to guess why?"
"Um sure," Nishikata replied with raised eyebrows. The air of confidence she exuded from her question left him with a tinge of disbelief. Even so, he found her cheerful disposition intriguing.
"Well that's easy enough. I think you were delivering a lost item," she answered her own question with a smile.
"Wait, how did you know that?!" Nishikata shouted back, slamming his wooden desk with the palms of his hands. His eyes popped wide open and his shoulders retracted towards the window behind him.
"Nishikata, be quiet and sit down!" Tanabe-Sensei's voice bellowed through the classroom.
All eyes across the class were centered on his shaken torso. It was bad enough that she somehow guessed his tardiness to the tee. It was another thing for him to have the entire class staring at him. It may have been a fleeting moment, but it was enough to hearken back the times his classmates stared at him. Like hungry lions, they were ready to pounce with a barrage of teases for his 100% Unrequited Love collection.
Nishikata sat back down with a timid expression on his face. He turned over to the giggling girl beside him with collapsed shoulders and his hands stroking his chin. A lone question pervaded his thoughts. He had to know the secret to her omniscience. "How did you know?"
The girl formed a knowing grin with her lips. She reached her hands into her left skirt pocket and retrieved what appeared to be a silky item on her hand. When the item came into Nishikata's view, waves of energy flowed through his skin. It was the same handkerchief he handed over to the lost and found earlier in the morning!
His eyes shifted to the golden letters sewn at a corner of the light blue cloth. He turned his stiffening head towards the girl holding her handkerchief. With his mouth gaped open, he pointed his finger at her, twitching at the unfortunate coincidence he stumbled himself upon. His eyes weren't deceiving him as he hoped; the sewn letters gave their conclusive testimony.
Takagi.
Another surge of energy caused his knee joints to stiffen. He placed his hands over his mouth, yet an audible gasp escaped his lips. His high-pitched yelp was loud enough to get Tanabe-Sensei to interject once again. "Nishikata, if you don't stay quiet, I'll be sure to put you in detention for the rest of the week!"
"I'm sorry, sir! I'll stay quiet!" Nishikata jumped up from his desk and bowed his head as low as he could. The gesture was enough to cause the rest of his class to snicker. All he could do from then was to shuffle himself back to his seat and allow the girl's giggles to stand out atop the rest of the chuckles.
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Nishikata kept his body on his left side and cringed. His classmates' snickering was bad enough. But hearing Takagi's giggles above the background was enough for his cheeks to grow hot with embarrassment. The irony of his relationship with her hadn't been lost on him. He had spent years languishing under a teasing spell from his elementary school classmates over a single manga. The past two years, however, saw him teased for every little thing he did despite his best efforts, with Takagi as the ringleader. The fact that it wasn't even his guilty pleasure that kickstarted their dynamic left him lost for words.
Just thinking about that fact caused him to lift his arms and let them drop on his bed with a loud thud. He felt his body shrinking every time she appeared and turned his face away whenever she teased him so. His mind clung back to her constant giggles, graceful head tilts, and playful smile. The aura of composure she exuded from her whole being contrasted his unnerved disposition like night and day.
His lips released another defeated sigh as he kept himself curled on his bed. Each rising of the morning sun in Tonosho Town saw him concoct a new plan to exact his revenge. Some way or another, there had to be some weak point on which he could exploit, he surmised. He even punished himself with push-ups whenever she teased him for each failed plan. The kanji script written on the wall above his bed said it all: Number of push-ups: I gave up counting.
Like the stars above in the summer night, Takagi's victories felt too abundant to count. His inability to find a single victory amid the sea of defeats served as the exclamation point for his futile attempts of vengeance. He rolled up his T-shirt, revealing the six pack that began to form. As proud as he was of his muscles, he bemoaned how weak they became whenever Takagi was around.
A quick glance at the piece of lined paper taped above his head caused his toned shoulder muscles and his left side to grow tight with discomfort. Rolling onto his back only redistributed the stiffness to his stomach and right side. With his muscles squishing him about, he crawled into a fetal position atop his mattress. Recalling the countless push-ups he did for Takagi's sake left his face growing red. Confessing his love for 100% Unrequited Love to his classmates paled in comparison to his unending punishments from the brunette girl.
With the growing disquiet fizzing throughout his body, Nishikata continued to lay on his bed, but with his legs stretched out. His eyes grew listless, his feelings of discomfiture now supplemented with diffidence. He looked on towards the wall where the lone door stood. To the right of the door hung a life-sized poster of Kyunko wearing her trademark dark blue suit and black skirt above a colourful background. She clasped her fists close to her chest with eyes wide open. Her wavy hair flowed with the breeze while her mouth stayed open wide.
Nishikata knew the scene where she made her pose. What's wrong with you? Why do you always have to pick on me, you idiot?! Kyunko's squeaky voice rang through his ears as he replayed the exact moment of the scene. As much as he hated to confess it, he found himself connecting more with the blonde-haired girl than the dashing Ikeo. That very conclusion caused Nishikata to press his head against his forehead and growl.
But amid all his sighing and seething, gentle wisps had been rippling through his thoughts. Despite all the teasing, defeats, and torture, he found himself enjoying her presence in the two years they knew each other. Just thinking of her fingers poking his muscular shoulders caused his face to redden. His lips grew pursed, and he drew his shoulders closer to his chest. To top off his squeamish disposition, his heart throbbed louder, refusing to quieten even after a series of pats by Nishikata's hands.
He wasn't exactly sure when it started. Maybe it was the time the pair sat underneath the stars during their camping trip. Perhaps it was when he found a mysterious box of chocolates in his cubby on Valentine's Day. Or was it during their Romeo and Juliet play when he subbed in as the pig-like Prince Charming? No matter the source, Nishikata knew that he had to do something about it.
Nishikata slung himself back up to a sitting position on his mattress. His chest grew tight, as if his heart was about to burst into a wave of unquenchable longing. With each throb, he found his mind beginning to form a picture of a cloudy day, ready to relive the fateful moment that took place in the middle of March.
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White Day arrived with full force all over town. What started off as an advertising campaign in capital Tokyo became a well-loved tradition in Tonosho. Unlike other municipalities, the town's children celebrated the event with an intense celebratory mood. Male students who received chocolates from their crushes scrambled to find a chocolate package of their own to send back as a token of thanks. In some cases, a commemoration of love awaited them.
At Tonosho Junior High, the other male students had their chocolates on hand, Nishikata was back to his old tricks. "Nishikata Quest! The game I designed to beat Takagi-san once and for all!" he shouted internally, holding his ornate red box with the number one drawn on it. He prepared a series of boxes that would ultimately leave the ever-clever girl on a wild goose chase. Once she got tired, he would storm in as the triumphant prince and laugh at her frustration-filled demise.
But a lone text plan lay ruin to those plans. A raging windstorm had prevented Takagi's ferry from making the return journey, keeping her away from school that day. With her absence, he found himself taking furious notes during class to keep her abreast of the materials she would miss for the day. Despite his sharp attention span and his notebook filling with detailed scrawls, he caught himself glancing towards the desk immediately to his right. Throughout the morning, his eyes wandered off to his right, double-checking to see that he wasn't just seeing an empty desk. But the desk remained as it was, devoid of life.
By the time lunchtime came around, Nishikata found himself ready for library duty. Sitting alone, he looked through the library's shelves and retrieved his favourite almanac providing a detailed look into the world of dinosaurs. As much as he wanted to read through the latest volume of 100% Unrequited Love, his male friends still didn't know about his love for the shoujo manga. And he wanted to keep it that way.
While he kept his head wrapped in intrigue about the Albertosaurus, a male voice crept into his head. "Hey, Nishikata," the voice called.
Nishikata flicked his head upward and turned to his left. He flinched back, startled at the male figure who seemed to emerge out of thin air. It was his mellow, rotund friend Kimura.
"Where did Takagi-san get off to?" Kimura asked, unfazed by Nishikata's unnerved temperament.
"She got stranded by the storm today. She was attending a relative's wedding," Nishikata replied, his head reeling from the unexpected scare.
"That's too bad. I figured you'd might tell her the sacred 'L' word today. You two seem to go really well together," Kimura replied, resting his head against his left hand with a smug smile.
His words struck a nerve in Nishikata's chest. As much as he wanted to jump and hit back at his delusional claims, he was still in the library. "No, no, no. I have no plans to say anything to her, and I intend to keep it that way." It took as much strength to hold himself back as it did to scheme for Nishikata Quest. He couldn't acknowledge Kimura's ludicrous claims, turning his head away with rolled eyes. "Look if that's all you wanted to say, please let me get back to my dinosaurs, okay?" As much as he tried to keep himself in check, his cheeks turned redder and redder.
"Well, I was hoping you'd have a look at this novel," Kimura answered, unfazed by his dismissive, yet flustered demeanour. He then pushed the novel to Nishikata's end of the table. "I saw Takagi-san reading it the other day and got curious. I picked it up, and I couldn't put it down!" he continued, pointing his finger towards his chest. "It's right up your alley, actually! There're these awesome dudes to work together to fight all kinds of enemies with their fists!"
Nishikata picked up the book, his fingertips tingling as they caressed the glossy cover. His mouth formed an O-shape, puzzled by the storyline that the novel offered. It certainly wasn't the story he remembered Takagi reciting when she read the book during library duty.
I love you.
The three words popped up like little bubbles floating through the air. It may have been just a handful of words, but it was enough to form the gentlest of whispers in his head. His skin grew cold, and his belly formed flittering flutters deep within. The three words left him in a state of quiet skepticism. Did they really fit in within an action book? Was the novel really an action book as Kimura stated? Or was he jiving with him again? The three questions teased him for the rest of the day, so much so that Nishikata rushed home to his bedroom to try escaping from it all.
The words reverberated through his thoughts for the rest of the day. Even inside his bedroom, he couldn't help but let them simmer in his head as he rested in his bedroom after the school day ended. Lying down on his mattress, he looked up towards the white clock hanging from the opposite wall in his bedroom. The clock read 5:00 pm, long after White Day came to a close at Tonosho Junior High.
He closed his eyes and shook his head with his hands pressing against his temples. Even after his greatest efforts to stop himself from being teased, he found himself played with even more in Tonosho Town than his former days in Okayama. And to think that it was driven by a single girl and not a group of students like before. Topping it off was the fact she just had to say those three words out of nowhere. Oh, the indignity, he would cry out!
He had to put the teasing to a halt once and for all. It would begin with him parsing through Bryan and finding the scene from where Takagi read. A quick flick through its pages led him to what looked like the climax of the novel. There the scene of a boy sitting on a table laid itself in view in the written words. It was the same scene that Takagi read from, that of the boy dropping the cup with immense shock at the betrayal that lit the scene on fire.
Betrayal? He didn't recall her mentioning any sort of betrayal. More shockingly, the three words were nowhere to be found. The incredulity he felt upon hearing the three words in his head earlier on White Day was amplified by their inconspicuous absence from the novel itself.
Why say something that was never written in the work? The question boggled his mind as he rested on his bed. He refused to let his train of thought derail, but his hypothesizing and speculating left him no closer to the answer.
I love you.
The feminine whisper returned to his purview, raising just enough to be a level above piano. At that moment, he recalled a pivotal scene from the anime adaptation of 100% Unrequited Love. The scene began with Kyunko asking Ikeo why his teasing never ceased. The voices that comprised the climactic scene in the anime's second season finale replayed themselves.
"What's wrong with you? Why do you always have to pick on me, you idiot?" Kyunko cried out with her signature squeaky voice.
"Why Kyunko, I'm drawn to you. I-"
Just as Ikeo was about to finish his response, a lightbulb popped above his head. His eyes opened wide, accompanied by raised eyebrows. Almost immediately after, a wave of memories rushed in. The camping trip where they sat underneath the stars. The time she hugged him while he went fishing. The negative feeling she spoke of before Valentine's Day. The sounds and images of her playful giggles, soft whispers, and cheeky grins flooded his consciousness. He gasped aloud, as if he had just solved the toughest puzzle of all.
"Wait, could it be?" Nishikata asked, placing his hand over his mouth and chin. "All those times, did she?" He took a momentary pause trying to push back against the tide of Takagi's teases rushing inside. "What if the teasing wasn't malicious? What if...?"
Nishikata's voice trailed off, his lower jaw hanging open. His heart raced forward like an accelerating engine on hyperdrive. He jumped himself up from his bed and grabbed the scarf Takagi gave him for Christmas. He thrust open his bedroom door and rushed down the stairs, the loud thumps of his footsteps reverberating throughout his home. The three words that started with a gentle whisper now blasted their song in full. There was no way he could keep them quiet now.
I love you.
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Nishikata remembered what happened next with such detail that he could replay it from the comfort of his room. He couldn't forget the pulses of adrenaline pumping in his veins as he ran towards the yellow car on the main road from the harbour. He couldn't overlook the moment Takagi ran back to him, her pink sweater reflecting the colours of romance that shone through the stormy White Day. And he couldn't let go of the tingles that pricked his fingertips when he held hands with her on the middle of the road. In front of the blossoming Sakura tree, his apology for his crumpled chocolate box gift reached her ears. Her reply, while warm, remained enigmatic as he rested on his bed the night before the Summer Festival.
It's okay Nishikata. You already gave me a gift. With your feelings.
He remembered the congratulations he got from his classmates on the days after White Day. Two of his friends congratulated him after he told of his White Day outcome. Apparently, there was no way she couldn't have been his girlfriend after such a monumental White Day.
Some of his other male friends gave a strong pat on his back. That happened even when he bemoaned his own cowardice from his failed confession. Hearty chuckles were heard all around upon hearing news of his White Day experience.
Yet the cheers of his male friends contrasted the guilt that panged his heart even as it throbbed with joy. His chest grew heavy with guilt and his joints became stiff like stone. Her words that day continued to ripple through his ears in the days following White Day. With each instance, he would follow them up with a sigh of disappointment. For whatever reason, his heart now beat out a series of utterances from the empty space within:
Come on, Nishikata. Surely, Takagi would want more than just a crumpled chocolate bar for White Day. You always wanted to be like Ikeo, right? Come on, show your Kyunko what you got and return her feelings properly! You know you like her! Don't deny it!
Nishikata threw himself back on his bed and released a remorseful sigh. He knew that his White Day gift would reveal the crumpled pieces of chocolate crushed at the harbour. Even when Takagi thanked him for his White Day gift, the scrunched-up present gnawed away at his heart in the months following that day.
Did he really reciprocate her affections enough? What if she was just saying it to be polite? What if she was really trying to hide the sinking feeling she had in her heart? Nishikata groaned away with each question hovering over his head. Could it be that she teased him just to feel his companionship? It was a thought most unfathomable to him until now.
A contrite sigh passed through his lips. He assumed the memories of being teased in elementary school were transient trolls at most. But as he remained seated on his bed, a new realization began to dawn on him. Perhaps those trolls were far more impactful than he made them out to be.
His heart throbbed with defiance in response to his current line of thinking. His stomach flittered on his bed in concert with his heart. With it came a new air of determination that set in as his legs prodded him to get up with vigour. It was time to make sure his teasing trolls didn't get their way anymore. In compliance, Nishikata pushed himself up with his hands and stood up from his bed.
He then walked up to his closet and slid open its wooden door. Inside the closet hung a dark green yukata on a plastic hangar. The outlines of green olive trees were drawn throughout the festive robe. Its cloth felt soft to touch and was a stark contrast to the white T-shirt and blue jeans he wore during last year's Summer Festival.
Perhaps tomorrow's Summer Festival would give him the perfect to make amends for misunderstanding her for the past two years. Pressing himself onward, he promised to himself that he would give Takagi the best Summer Festival day she could imagine. For starters, he would wear the dark green yukata that hung in his closet with pride. Then, he would take her to all the tastiest food stalls and win her the biggest gifts from the game stands. As the coup de graçe, he would be sure to keep her close and have them both see the fireworks show together from the shrine's summit.
Nishikata returned to his bed and plopped himself atop his mattress. He then stretched out his arms, closed his eyes, and sighed with contentment. While the uncertainties of making her happy hung over his head, he was sure he had to provide an answer to Takagi's feelings. With that in mind, he folded his legs and began dozing off to sleep. His shoulders relaxed as much as they could, and his breathing slowed to a gentle hum. One way or another, he swore he would give Takagi the best Summer Festival ever.