Trouble with love

Part 2 In need of advice

It was the following day, and Nishikata and Takagi-san were now on their way to school, only today, Takagi-san had something planned. 'So how am I supposed to let him know? Maybe I should hint at it some.' "So, tell me, what type of girl are you interested in?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what kind of girl would you end up falling in love with?" She leaned closer to him. "Do you like the forward type?"

"I ... I don't know." He said as he turned away.

"Okay then, what about the quiet type?"

"I don't know!" He exclaimed. "It was never something I ever thought about."

Takagi-san stared at him, but he didn't look any different. 'Maybe ... I need to be more direct? He can be dense.' "Well ... how about ..." She began to feel her heart begging to race. "Me?"

"You?"

"Yeah, am I the type of girl you're interested in?"

Nishikata blushed as he turned away. "I ... you're my friend." He said as he continued to look away.

"That doesn't answer the question."

"Well, I don't know, okay?"

"If you say so." 'How does he not get it?' She thought to herself. 'Is he really that dense? or is there something else going on that I'm not seeing? Is so ... then what is it?'

They continued on their trip to school in silence, where they changed their shoes before making their way to class. "I'll see you in class." She said before walking away from Nishikata. 'He can't be that dense, he isn't that dense. Maybe I'm just overthinking this.'

She began looking around and managed to find one of her friends wandering through the hall. "Sumire!" She called catching her attention.

"Takagi-chan!" Sumire called back happily. "Can you believe that it's almost summer?"

"I know, right? It feels like forever ago that we last had a vacation." They began walking together. "But honestly, I kinda wish school could go on for a little longer."

"I bet you wouldn't say that if you didn't have the best grades in our class."

"Are you telling me you don't? And it gives us the perfect chance to hang out with our friends."

"Well, I can see all my friends outside of school, so there isn't really a reason for me to want to go to school."

"Oh ... right." Takagi-san said as she looked down.

"Hm?" Sumire looked at Takagi-san confused. "Oh, you don't have an excuse to spend time with Nishikata-kun."

"Yeah, that would be a reason."

"Aren't you two at least friends yet? You've known him for more than two years."

"Yes, well, he's not exactly talking to me right now, so he might not want to hang out with me that much, despite what he might say."

"I think you're overreacting."

"Since when have I ever over reacted?"

"There's a first time for everything, but what's making him not want to talk to you?"

"I believe he's realized that he's in love with me."

Sumire stared at her deadpan. "Isn't ... isn't that a good thing?"

"It would, if he would realize how I feel about him."

Sumire just stared at her. "I ... still don't see the problem here."

"Well, he's not likely to confess if he doesn't know that I like him back."

"But ... couldn't you just ... let him know that you like him?"

"That's what I'm trying to do, but he won't pick up on it."

"Okay, so why not just ... tell him?"

Takagi-san was silent before bursting into laughter. "I can't simply tell him that I like him."

"Why not?"

"Well ... I guess I just want him to figure it out on his own."

"I ... well, if you're okay with putting it off a few more years then I guess that's fine."

"It's not going to take years."

"You're right, he's never going to figure it out, and both of you will become lonely old people."

"That's not true."

"You know, one of my cousins told me that he knows a girl who might like him, but she's never actually out right said anything, and he doesn't ask her out, because he doesn't want to make assumptions and make things awkward in the event that he's wrong."

"Really?"

"I think his exact words were 'one must never make assumptions about a girl's feelings, less you create a few very embarrassing situations.' or something like that."

Takagi-san began thinking to herself. 'That ... actually makes sense; Nishikata is very polite, so it might possibly be that he simply doesn't want to make a false assumption about how I feel ... but if that's the case ... then ...' "Do you really think that's my best option? Just ... telling him?"

"If he hasn't picked up on it yet, then I don't see any other option."

Takagi-san let out a sigh and looked down. "I'll ... think about it."