Trouble with love

Part 20 Weather update

It was now the following day, and Nishikata was on his way to the park to meet up with his girlfriend for what he expected to a very nerve-wracking day. "I wonder what she has planned for today." He wondered as he looked to the sky, and noticed it was rather overcast. "The weatherman said it would be sunny, but those clouds look just a little ... uninviting, glad I brought an umbrella." He ignored it for the time being, and continued onward to where he and Takagi-san usually met up.

His emotions right now were an odd combination of nervousness and excitement, mixed with a hint of foreboding, as he knew that Takagi-san would most certainly try to tease him. 'I can do this, no problem.' He thought, trying to reassure himself.

When he got there, he found her leaning against a wall, looking towards the sky with a concerned look on her face. "Hey, Takagi!" Nishikata called out, causing her to look over at him and smile.

"Nishikata." She replied happily. "You made it."

"Did you think I wouldn't?" He asked. "I wouldn't miss a date with my girlfriend without good reason."

Takagi-san blushed ever so slightly, before regaining her composure, and standing up to walk over to him. "I really thought the weather would be nicer, but it looks as if it could rain at any moment."

"Then let's get started."

"Gladly." She took his hand and the two of them began making their way towards the park.

'Come on, this is no big deal." Nishikata thought as he began to get more nervous. 'I mean, sure, I'm with my temporary girlfriend, who will, hopefully, soon be my real girlfriend, who also happens to be the smartest, cutest, most amazing girl in school.' He looked at her as he began to get lost in her eyes. 'And her eyes are so beautiful, and her hair looks so soft, then how smooth her skin is ... and how she's almost always able to tell what I'm thinking ... where was I going with this?'

"Hey, Nishikata?" Takagi-san asked, breaking him out of his thought process. "I'll admit, you're a lot more willing to go through with this than I expected."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I figured that you would be so nervous that you wouldn't even be able to look at me, or hold my hand, though, surprisingly, you're doing both."

"Yeah, well." He blushed and turned away slightly. "I've ... grown a little."

She pulled herself closer to him and wrapped her other hand around his arm. "Don't lie to me."

Nishikat quickly glanced at her before looking away with a nervous blush. "Fine ... there's no one watching us, so I'm less self-conscious."

"Makes sense."

They continued walking in silence for a time, until Nishikata began to speak up. "Hey, Takagi."

"Hm?"

"What do you have planned for today?"

"Oh, you know, nothing complex; just some time together, then maybe we can go for some ice cream."

"That sounds rather simple."

"Well, today, all I want is to be wrapped up in my boyfriend's arms."

Nishikata just stared at her in shock, until he felt a drop hit his head, causing him to look skywards. "Huh?" He felt another, and another in increasingly frequent succession, and it was all too clear what was happening.

"It's ... raining." Takagi-san said as the rain reached a steady stream.

"We need to find shelter." Nishikata said before grabbing Takagi-san's hand. He began racing through the rain towards a nearby bus stop as the rain rapidly increased in intensity, but by the time they got there, the two of them were completely soaked.

"Wow, this rain came out of nowhere." Nishikata said as he tried to wring some of the water out of his shirt.

"Yeah." Takagi-san added as she just stood there, looking at the sky.

He looked over to her and saw that she looked upset. "I mean yeah, the weather wasn't looking good, but it went from overcast to torrential downpour in no time at all." She didn't respond and only continued to look at the sky. "Takagi?" He got a closer look and noticed that, even though it was hard to tell with both of them having just been soaked, Takagi was crying. "What's wrong?"

"We've lost another day." She said, not even trying to hide how upset she was. "We're wet, it's raining ..." She pulled out her phone and brought something up. "And if the weather is to be believed this time, then it's going to be raining till tonight." She dropped her head slightly. "Looks like we only have one day left."

'Only one?' Nishikata thought to himself. 'That ... no, it's not over yet.' He opened his mouth to say something, but somehow, the words got caught in his throat. 'What's-' His heart began to race, and his nerves reached a new level of unease, Nishikata had already reached his limit. 'Damn it, I need to do something!' He thought, desperately trying to get himself to cheer Takagi-san up. 'Of all the moments to lose my calm, why now? I need to cheer Takagi up and I have an idea! All I need to do is ask!' He tried again, but just like before, he couldn't get the words out. 'DAMN IT! WHY CAN'T I MANAGE THIS!?'

Takagi-san began to wipe away her tears as she tried to look up. "Guess we should start heading back."

'Damn, what am I-' An idea popped into his head as a sly smile formed on his face. "Say, Takagi, how about a contest?"

"Hm?" She said as she turned to him.

"You think this day is ruined, right?"

"It looks that way."

"Well ... I bet ... that I can salvage this."

Takagi-san's eyes went wide before she smiled and let out a soft chuckle. "That's really considerate of you, but look at this; it's raining, we're both soaping wet, and honestly, I need to take a shower."

"You can do that at my place." Nishikata realized what he had just said and began to blush. "I mean ... if you're okay with that. I can even ... lend you a spare set of clothes while I have yours washed." He began to blush even more as he turned away. "I-I'm sure mine will fit you."

She looked at him surprised as a small smile formed on her face. "Nishikata?"

He turned back to look at her. "Y-Yeah?"

She leaned closer to him as a huge smile formed on her face. "I'm going to need to ask my mom if she's okay with me going over to my boyfriend's house."

"I ... yeah, that's understandable."

"And you should probably ask your mom if it's okay as well."

"Y-Yeah." He turned around and pulled out his phone as he walked to the far end of the bus stop.

"He's so sweet." Takagi-san whispered to herself before turning around. "And I hope he wins today." She began to blush as she grabbed her chest. "Just this once."