This is a twin fic for "Valentine's Day". I would recommend reading that first, but if any adventurous soul tries reading this first, maybe they can comment on what the effect is if this is read first.

When Takagi carries out her plan to tease Nishikata on Valentine's Day, something goes awry for once, and unexpected consequences result…

She always enjoyed their walks home together. It was something she'd first started in middle school, and it had paid off over the years. It was always fun to tease Nishikata, of course, but what she most enjoyed was the valuable 1-on-1 time she was able to spend with him without the noise and distractions of the classroom.

Still, given that they were already both sixteen years old, she wished for something more. It was pretty clear to her that even from middle school, Nishikata had probably had some kind of crush on her, even when he might deny it to himself. She liked many things about Nishikata, including his earnestness, kindness and even his sometimes scheming nature; but she wished he might be a little more forward in this case. Takagi was an independent and capable girl, but she was also somewhat of a traditionalist in this arena, where she wanted Nishikata to make the first move.

In the mean time, she was stuck with teasing him repeatedly, often with romantic undertones, finding ways to stay close to him with platonic reasons, and even rejecting the occasional confession from other guys (who were often nice enough, but no Nishikata). It was frustrating to say the least. What was more, another year had passed and Valentine's Day was tomorrow – and she and Nishikata would pass it as friends.

Frustrating as it was, given how jumpy Nishikata was about the topic of love and how easily he got flustered, it gave her some good chances to tease him. She began her first Valentine's related move after dinner, giving it enough time such that Nishikata would have had his own dinner already.

As she opened up Nishikata's profile in her phone's contacts, she paused for a few seconds before calling. Although she never showed it to anybody – least of all Nishikata – Takagi sometimes got struck with nerves when talking to him. The main difference, really, was that she hid it so much better.

"Hey Nishikata!" she began cheerily, as he picked up the call. As she'd suspected, he'd had dinner already. "So," she continued, keeping her tone light and unconcerned, "it's Valentine's Day tomorrow, isn't it? Think you'll be getting any chocolate?" She could picture him getting flustered already. Surprisingly, Nishikata sounded composed as he replied "Well, who knows, maybe…" which sent her into a brief state of worry over who he might be thinking he might get chocolate from – before she reminded herself that she was probably being silly.

"We'll see," she responded, taking care to sound playful and not let any of her feelings seep into her voice, "that was all I wanted to say this time actually, I need to get on with my homework. Bye!" Nishikata intoned "Bye" , mirroring her, and she quickly ended the call.

Despite what she had told him, Takagi had had more things to say. But the unexpected disturbance of her feelings would have made it difficult to continue the call while maintaining her façade. Any more messing with Nishikata connected with Valentine's Day would have to wait until tomorrow – when the chocolate she had made in advance over the weekend would come into play.

As she went to bed after completing her homework (which was one true thing she had told Nishikata), her heart thumped with nervousness over what she would do tomorrow – but also unbridled excitement.

It was a nice morning. As she frequently did, Takagi made a point to look up the horoscope for Cancers, given that she knew Nishikata tended to pay attention to his own horoscope. The horoscope said that Cancers would have a turning point in their lives that day. A turning point, huh? On Valentine's Day? It made her heart beat a little faster and harder, given how one of Nishikata's horoscopes had come true so long ago. A "critical hit", indeed!

As she often did, Takagi made a point to head to the school just a little early, to wait for Nishikata right outside the school gate. Given how long she had known him, she was intimately familiar with when he tended to arrive at the school. Her expectation turned out to be accurate; within five minutes of her arrival, she saw Nishikata coming up the street, bag slung over his shoulder. As opposed to how tired he sometimes looked after watching "100% Unrequited Love" the previous night, this morning he looked energetic – and in a good mood, too.

She couldn't resist. "Hey," she began, you look surprisingly happy today. Expecting chocolate?" she continued, making sure to use the sly grin that often evoked her favourite flustered reaction. Nishikata's eyes widened, as she expected…but there was no redness in his face as he replied, almost coolly, "N-not exactly, but who knows?" Cheh, that wasn't what she was looking for! "Maybe you'll get another chocolate from your mystery admirer", she tried again. Careful to keep it a secret, Takagi had been finding a way to pass Nishikata chocolate since three years ago. It was difficult, but still worth it for the opportunity it created to tease him, as well as being able to clandestinely express her feelings while she waited for him to make the first move.

She'd expected something this time, but Nishikata was disappointingly matter-of-fact as he replied "Maybe," without even a trace of embarrassment, without the slightest hint he was holding himself back. The fact that he seemed almost indifferent about potentially receiving her chocolate (even if he didn't know it was hers) made her a little upset; but she was determined to carry out her plan anyway.

She didn't have much time to dwell on it, however. "Anyway, we need to get to class. Are you getting your books from your locker?" Surprisingly, Nishikata already had his Science book with him; she realised in a moment that this would allow her to execute her plan sooner than expected.

As usual, there was a crowd of students gathered around the students' locker area before the first class. Takagi noticed a few of her friends, including Mano, Mina and Kyoko, who she made a point to chat to; she then made some excuses and lingered around the lockers much longer than was actually necessary, until everyone else had left.

Looking around for anyone still in the area and being satisfied there was no one there, Takagi rummaged in her bag and pulled out the wrapped heart which was the product of her care and efforts. Nishikata's locker usually wasn't locked, as he didn't feel the need to and found it more convenient not to; as expected, it swung open freely when she pulled the handle. Smiling to herself, she placed the chocolate carefully inside and locked the locker.

The deed done, she turned away to head to class…before noticing there was in someone in her line of sight. It was Nishikata! He was fairly far away and heading the other way from her, but…could he have seen? Did he know? Anxiety and embarrassment bubbled up in her stomach, not knowing whether she had been caught in the fact.

In any case, having lingered at the lockers for so long, class would be starting very soon. Takagi hurried to class, clutching her Science textbook. She still arrived late despite her efforts, but fortunately Tanaka-sensei was very understanding as always – with a brief "Ah, there you are, Takagi", he resumed his lesson.

As Takagi took up her seat, she was very conscious of Nishikata, who sat right next to her. He didn't have his textbook, which was odd, considering what he had told her before. On another day, having seen that, Takagi might have offered to push their tables together to share her book, but given her uncertainty about what he might have seen, she thought the physical closeness might make her overly self-conscious and perhaps act a little too fidgety.

Determined not to act too out of the ordinary, she tried to engage Nishikata as much as she always did. Even as her heart thumped a little harder than usual, she thought she did a reasonable job of keeping a pretty good poker face. Though she kept the romantic insinuations to a minimum due to her own self-consciousness, she noticed that Nishikata got even more flustered than usual, which only heightened her suspicions and anxiety.

Classes finally ended, and she invited Nishikata to walk home with her as usual. Given that they had been walking home together since middle school, it was basically automatic at this point. Nishikata's acceptance didn't give her any clues as to his mental or emotional state; it was just as automatic.

The walk home was even harder than class. Being one-on-one with no distractions, Takagi didn't have any time to steady herself mentally while doing something else. Her embarrassment made it difficult for her to open her mouth, contrary to how easily she usually teased, and provoked Nishikata. To fill some of the silence, she tried making observations or opening some topics – but her usual wit failed her and they quickly lapsed back into silence. Takagi also noticed that Nishikata seemed constantly on the verge of saying something. He would stare for a while at her, begin to open his mouth, and then turn away without a sound.

Finally they reached the spot where they usually parted ways. Takagi was simultaneously disappointed, given what she thought Nishikata might be wanting to say – and relieved, for the chance to collect herself emotionally. "Well," she said, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow". She had hardly turned away to head down the street to her house when Nishikata called out, inviting her to his house. Surprised by his invitation, as she usually invited herself to his house instead, she had to wonder – could this mean…?

Grasping for words, she finally responded, "Sure, I guess we can do our homework together". Even as she smiled at Nishikata, she had to hold back her excitement over the possibilities that emerged in her head.

Nishikata's house turned out to be empty when they arrived, which wasn't an overly unusual occurrence. Usually Takagi might use this as an opportunity to tease Nishikata, but today the implications of this resounded in her head with too much force.

They headed up to Nishikata's room to start on their homework. Despite her uncertainty and agitation over the situation they were in, she found a way to tease him as per usual. "So," she said, why don't we start with mathematics? You're probably struggling with it, aren't you?", giving him a teasing grin. They both knew that Nishikata wasn't great at mathematics, but crucially Takagi was pretty sure Nishikata didn't harbour any insecurities about it, just an honest awareness. Teasing Nishikata was fun, but she didn't want to hurt him in the process of doing it.

As her own grasp of what they had learned was quite good, Takagi had little trouble helping Nishikata with their homework while also ruminating about what he might have seen. Her distracting thoughts weren't helped by how Nishikata himself seemed preoccupied with something other than their homework, often not registering when Takagi told him something.

In the middle of working on their homework, for a topic Nishikata didn't need any help in, Nishikata started to speak. "Takagi-san, you know – er – this morning I…saw you at the lockers," with anxiety clearly colouring his voice. Takagi gave a start – so he had seen! Though her suspicions had been strong, while he said nothing it was all phantoms and shadows. "I saw you…taking out the chocolate and putting it in my locker," he continued. Takagi's embarrassment was hitting a peak, and words were beyond her. Despite how much she teased him and laid hints about liking him, for it to be all out in the open was too much for her.

Greeted with only her silence, Nishikata continued, sounding embarrassed, and also a little bolder - "Th-that means you actually l-like me, don't you?" Her cheeks suffused with a strong blush, and she turned her head away from him to not let him see it.

"Well," Nishikata continued, and Takagi noticed a shift in his tone that made her listen in anticipation, "I like you too. A lot". If Takagi had been the female protagonist in Nishikata's favourite anime (even he tried to hide it) "100% Unrequited Love", she would have been going "kyun-kyun" right at that point. As it was, his confession made her ridiculously happy. And she could only imagine how embarrassed Nishikata had to look at that point, given how easily he was embarrassed by much smaller things on a daily basis.

Takagi was so happy her heart was too full for words; she basked in her feelings and smiled to herself. When the euphoria finally died down a little, she realised she had to give him a response after being silent for so long. "Wow," she said quietly, "you actually said it." A pause, and then – "yeah, I really like you, Nishikata. In case you hadn't figured it out yet, your mystery admirer was me all along. It was kind of fun to give you love chocolates myself while teasing you about it, all at the same time." It was liberating to finally be able to tell him the truth. While it had been fun, it had, she realised, been ever-so-frustrating at the same time.

She could see Nishikata light up visibly at her open confession of her feelings, and his reaction was very gratifying. The words tumbled out of his mouth, "Then, Takagi-san, will you be my girlfriend?" She wouldn't have thought it possible, but her blush deepened with the magic word – girlfriend – and it was all she could do to reply, short and to the point, "Yes."

As they were naturally highly distracted, homework was abandoned, and for the rest of the day they explored their feelings for each other. Takagi was able to enlighten Nishikata as to how long she had liked him, given that, as had been clear to her, he had been either fairly dense about her feelings, either due to general obliviousness or his own insecurities. She was even able to tear away the veil of denial that had hidden his own feelings in middle school from himself.

In the following days, not as much changed between Takagi and Nishikata as she might have expected, in terms of what they actually did. But Takagi found that becoming explicitly Nishikata's girlfriend, and Nishikata being her boyfriend, made her that much happier.

Author's Note:

I'd really appreciate it if readers could offer feedback on what works and what doesn't for this fic (and my other fic, Valentine's Day). For example:

1) Do you think the characterisation of Takagi is accurate? Or was there any point where you felt that it didn't quite fit?

2) Do you think I use too many "big words" in my writing? Is the writing hard to read due to the words used?