Price of admission

Price of admission Part 25

A/N: So a not so important note here, when I was writing this story, I had some intention of having this chapter be accompanied by an actual song. The problem came with the band I chose at the beginning, and that I didn't much research before picking it (my bad), only that one of the members of the band sang all the intros and outros. End result, any of the introes or outroes ... could work, but you don't need to have a song playing in the background for this chapter.

The first song had just ended, and Nishikata and Takagi were watching, eagerly awaiting the following song. "They're better than I expected." Nishikata began. "And that's saying a lot."

"Yeah, I really got into them because of one of the members, but I really like them as a whole."

"One of them?" Nishikata asked. "You mean the one that sang that song we listened to ... after the treasure hunt?"

"You remembered?"

Nishikata's face went red. "Well ... I ... I looked up the song after ... thinking it might come in handy for getting back at you at some point."

"Hmmm?" She looked at him with a sly smile.

"Well, it almost worked!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She looked back to the stage as Nishikata looked at her.

'She's so cute ... but, if she knows about how I feel ... then why hasn't she said anything?'

"You know." She said as she glanced towards him. "This almost feels like a date."

"A-a-a-a ... date?!" Nishikata asked as his face went red again. "It's ... it's not a-" 'Wait Nishikata, there may be a better way to handle this now.' "Well ... do you think it's a date?"

"Hm?" She looked at him curiously. "That's an odd response coming from you."

'WRONG WAY! WRONG WAY!' "I mean ... with the others who came with us ... it's not technically a date ... even if we're not with them."

"I guess you have a point." She leaned closer to him. "Did you want to make it a date then?"

"Huh?"

"Just the two of us." She leaned even closer to him. "Alone together." She leaned even closer now that their faces were mere centimeters apart. "Enjoying our time"

"I-I-I-I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Of course you don't." She leaned back and looked ahead again. "Not yet anyway."

Nishikata froze as her words went through his head. 'Yet? Does that mean ... she doesn't know that I've realized yet? If that's the case then ... wait, I need to know for sure.' "Hey Takagi, can I ask you something?"

"Hm?" She turned to him a little surprised. "Sure, but make it quick, the next song is about to start."

"Okay um ... you said ... you never lie to me, right? I mean, aside from that one time when you found out that I like 100% unrequited love."

"Yeah."

"Well ... why is that?"

She smiled and turned to him as the music started playing. "Because I can't help but tease you, but one of these days ... there's something I want to say to you, and I don't want you to think that it's anything but true."

Nishikata's face went red again. "Wha ... never lying to me ... all for one thing?"

"It's that important." She said with a smile.

Nishikata sighed and looked down. "I ... don't suppose ... you could just tell me it now?"

"Hmmmm?" She looked at him with a coy smile. "Nishikata, how about a contest?"

"A ... contest?"

"Yeah." She leaned closer to him. "You'll win," She leaned even closer to him to the point where their lips were nearly touching. "If you can kiss me before this song ends."

Nishikata's heart jumped into his throat as his words ceased to work. 'K-K-K-K-KISS!? I have to ... kiss her? Before the song ends?' He turned away from her and looked at the stage. 'I could kill two birds with one stone. The only reason she would consider such a game would be ... she doesn't know that I've realized me feelings for her yet.' He looked at her and his muscles failed to move. 'This feels harder than it would have been before.'

Elsewhere, Sumire was making her way through the crowd, trying to find Nishikata and Takagi. "Damn it, where could those two have gone?"

She continued to look for a short time until finally spotting her friends a short distance away. 'There you two are.' She got closer yet didn't make her presence known.

Nishikata was still looking at Takagi, shocked about her recent challenge. 'I have to kiss her, okay, I can do that. I want to do that, right?' He looked at her lips as his heart rate spiked again. 'I totally can't do that!'

He looked down at her hand, which was still in his, and tried to ease himself. 'Why would she make this challenge after that statement about something she wanted to tell me? Does this mean ... that she does like me?' He took a deep breath and tried to ease his mind. 'So ... if that's the case ... then ... I should do it, right?' He tried to move but his body still refused to do anything. 'Crap, maybe she just knows how uneasy I am about this and wanted to tease me about it.'

"Hey." Takagi began. "Nervous?"

"Y-yeah." He squeezed out.

"I thought so." She reaffirmed her grip on his hand and smiled. "Well, I'll be right here when your ready."

'When she's ... ready?' Nishikata let go of Takagi's hand as his ability to move his body came back to him. 'This Is my only chance, I have an excuse and it sounds like she wants me to.' "Takagi?"

"Hm?" He placed his hand on her shoulder and turned her so that they were facing each other. "Nishikata?"

'It's too late to turn back now.' He closed his eyes and placed his other hand on her other shoulder.

Takagi's face began turning red as Nishikata's face slowly began to approach hers. 'I can't believe I'm doing this, how far away from her am I? Should I open my eyes? No, I can't, what am I supposed to do when our lips touch? Am I thinking about this too much?'

They drew closer and closer, and slowly, the music came to a stop. "Huh?" Nishikata opened his eyes to see Takagi's blushing face and look of complete shock.

They both stood there in silence for a moment as the world around them seemed to disappear. "That ... was close." Takagi said as she forced a smile. "You almost won."