What if, in Season 3's Valentine's Day episode, Takagi had been slightly more alarmed by those three chocolates in Nishikata's locker? What if she had... overreacted? For extra enjoyment, compare with S3 Episode 11.
Hey all! I keep having ideas about what would change if I tweaked something in an episode we already know and love, and this is my first attempt (in this fandom) at exploring that. I call it an episode 'redux' - change something, then try to capture the domino effect it has.
In this case, I feel like Takagi often acts remarkably mature for her age; sometimes bit too mature. Thus, I wrote up something that I felt like could have plausibly happened. It is fairly short, just a handful of chapters, which I'll release once a week leading up to the movie. Hope you enjoy; please let me know if you did and how I can improve!
Originally published here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14077875/1/Repercussions-A-Valentine-s-Day-Redux
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"Hey, good morning! Today's Valentine's Day, huh?"
"Yeah, I'm super nervous!"
The girls and boys around Nishikata streamed into the school, babbling excitedly to one another about the world's most romantic holiday, but he just stared dryly at the ground. In past years, Nishikata had actually been hopeful of receiving Valentine's chocolate from some secret admirer, but he now knew all too well that he really just needed to be on guard for the inevitable upcoming tricks.
I have no doubt that Takagi-san will once again take advantage of all the excitement around this day to tease me somehow, he thought restlessly as he trudged in and up to his locker. He pulled off his sneakers and narrowed his eyes. But I'm not gonna fall for any of her tricks!
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Nishikata knew exactly what would happen next. He would open his locker to grab his indoor shoes, and lo and behold, Takagi would have some sort of contraption or prank gift ready for him to take, just to get some sort of reaction out of him. She was probably hiding around somewhere, already giggling and watching his every move.
He would not give her a single ounce of satisfaction.
Nishikata fought back a grin as he reached for his locker. This was just too obvious. He swung open the door and peered in, and as expected, in plain view just above his shoes was...
...
Nothing.
...
Nishikata blinked. He pulled out his shoes and examined every inch of his locker for a card, a piece of tape holding a trinket, something, but it was empty. Nothing fell out of his shoes either, no matter how many times he whacked them together.
Weird. Nishikata scratched his head as he slipped on his school shoes. Takagi's teasing had become increasingly merciless over the past year, so he had been sure she would plant something. Why pass up such a golden opportunity, when she knew how flustered he could get?
...And to be honest, some small part of him wanted to get something from her, tease or not.
Maybe she isn't here yet? he thought as he walked to his homeroom. It was pretty early, plus the classroom door was closed which often meant that nobody had arrived yet.
