Clouded Minds

Chapter 7: Another Festival

She isn't... on a date, right?

As soon as the thought occurred to Nishikata, he couldn't expel it from his mind. It wasn't really his business, but he didn't like that thought at all. He squirmed in the haunted house line, glancing down at all the people that were now waiting behind them, making sure she wasn't there. But this festival was big. Takagi could have been anywhere, and plenty of other guys probably thought she was cute too.

"C'mon Nishikata, stop fussing!" Takao yelled, holding the curtain open for them to walk inside. Nishikata jumped and followed him in, trying to shake himself out of it. A little scare might help, he reasoned.

But it didn't help. Nishikata, normally full of intense reactions from any sort of jumpscare, barely batted an eye at the zombies and werewolves that jumped out at them. None of his friends noticed, being too scared themselves, pulling each other through the haunted house as fast as they could.

It was much scarier to think about Takagi on a date with some other guy.

Only a few short minutes later, the five classmates had emerged from the exit, several of them gasping heavily.

"Did you see that?!" Takao shouted, his trembling, crooked finger pointing back into the black exit. "I'm telling you, huff there was a real live alien in there! That wasn't a costume at all!"

"Doubt it," Sanae replied flatly, the only one besides Nishikata without labored breaths. "It was fun, though."

"Then you missed it! Who else saw it? Just now, at the end, that big, green-headed freak floating in the air near the end. Floating! Guys, I think we're being invaded!"

"And you're sure the haunted house isn't just doing its job really well?"

Nishikata rescanned the line as the group argued. There was still no sign of Takagi. Inwardly, he knew it was a bit obsessive, but he couldn't help it. It didn't really matter if he couldn't hang out with her, but he was curious. What if she had started making friends with other boys in the music club?

After a breather, the group decided to go through the haunted house one more time and pay more attention to what they saw this time, despite Takao's protests that they get far away instead. The line had grown considerably since the first time, so it would probably take about 15 minutes to get back in. So in the meantime, Nishikata excused himself to use the restroom.

While his excuse wasn't entirely a lie, Nishikata had ulterior motives. He immediately exited the school and began snaking his way around the festivity crowds, peering into each stall that he passed. True, there were some couples, but there were a lot more friends and family that had come along with their future students. Perhaps seeing a few couples had just made him hyper-aware of them. He did a double-take when he saw Sumire and another of Takagi's friends playing ring toss, but she wasn't with them.

Slightly worried, Nishikata paused to actually use the restroom. As he washed his hands, he wondered if Takagi really was on a date. She wasn't anywhere he'd expect. Did somebody beat him to it and ask her to walk around? Who?

"Oh, hey Nishikata," a male voice called from the side as he rounded a corner. Nishikata turned to see his classmate Shibasaki approaching and gave him a wave.

"I thought I just saw you outside, but now you're here..." his friend continued, glancing around Nishikata, "and you still aren't with Takagi-san?"

"Wh- no", Nishikata replied instinctively, "I don't hang out with her, I'm not loo- I mean, just a bathroom break."