Betrayal

8

As they walked home together again, Nishikata suddenly realized that he had been running on autopilot the entire time since they had left the school. He knew that he disliked her presence, but he didn't realize he disliked it so much that just being with her alone caused him to zone out. He sighed, heavier than he wanted to, and he felt Takagi-San's eyes boring into his temple, but he thought it best to not look at her.  As he looked up, he saw the clouds turn grey, and then the heavens opened and the rain started to pour down onto them. Realizing that neither of them had an umbrella, they quickly rushed under the only cover they could find, a small roof that overhung the alleyway they were in. The area the overhang covered was barely enough to fit the both of them, so they were forced to press against each other to not get wet. Despite how he had changed, Nishikata still became extremely red because of this, but as he looked at Takagi-San, he noticed how nonchalant she seemed.

Suddenly, he felt her press her (rather large) forehead against his chest, and his embarrassment increased tenfold. He felt all of the memories they shared together come flooding back to him, as the dam he had kept over his emotions started to spring some leaks. He remembered the first time they had met at the introduction day, and how she had smiled towards him, and he remembered how she used to tease him every day. But, as quick as the leaks in the dam of his emotions appeared, he fixed them with his logic. This was the girl who had caused him to be hospitalized, wasn't it? He was therefore justified in doing what he was going to do to her. Right? 

Takagi-San looked up from where she had pressed her head into Nishakata's chest at his face, and saw his worried look. She smiled inwardly, knowing that her plan was going partially well. She knew it would take time, but she knew that eventually, she would finally convince Nishikata of the truth about what happened and what Akari-San had done to him. 

The rain finally stopped, and they walked out from under the overhang that had sheltered them. As they went back to walking side by side again, both of them wondered what the other was thinking. Nishikata had finally recovered from his embarrassment, and was thinking about what he was gonna ask his mom to make him for dinner, whilst Takagi-San was studying his face, trying to think if she had made it to stage two of her plan yet, seeing if she had finally made it back to where she could tease him again. Judging that it was not the right time, she conceded to going back to trying to make their fake friendship into a real friendship. As they reached the point where they split to go to their own homes, Nishikata looked at Takagi-San, feeling the guilt creeping back into his soul. 

As they parted ways, Nishikata looked back at where she walked, wishing he could go back to the way everything was before.