Puzzle box

Part 3 Study session

It's the following day, and Nishikata was waiting at the library for Takagi to arrive, a few minutes before their agreed meeting time. "Another ten minutes." He said as he looked at his phone. "I guess I was a little too eager to get here early, I hope she doesn't get the wrong impression."

He gripped his bag a little tighter. 'I mean it wouldn't exactly be the wrong impression ... but I was here early by accident.'

After a moment, Nishikata noticed Takagi walking through the door wearing her casual winter clothes, yet for some reason, Nishikata thought she looked more beautiful than she usually did.

"Nishikata?" She asked as she walked towards him. "You got here early." She said as she pulled a chair over to sit next to him.

"Yeah, I didn't want to be late but ... I got here a lot earlier than I thought I would."

"You weren't waiting long, were you?"

He shook his head. "No, I wasn't here that long."

"Good." She began fishing around in her bag as she continued. "So you said you need to get your grades up, right?"

"That's right."

"So then we should probably focus on the test that's this Monday first."

"In math." Nishikata said with a hint of disdain.

"Yup, how well did you do on the last one?"

Nishikata face palmed. "I got a sixty-three."

"Not the worst, but you still have a lot of work to do."

"Yeah, thanks again."

"Well you are agreeing to do whatever I ask, so there's no need to thank me."

"Yeah, any hint on what that is yet?"

She blushed slightly as she pulled out a textbook. "I haven't decided yet." She placed the textbook on the table and opened it. "Let's start from the top."

"Okay."

They began going over the material, with Takagi taking the time to explain anything that Nishikata found challenging or was unsure of, while taking some time after each chapter to do some practice problems. Before they knew it, a few hours had already passed, and they had gotten through most of the related material. "And, we should probably take a break at this point."

"Huh?" Nishikata said as he pulled out his phone. "It's only been ... three hours ..."

"Yeah, and if we study all day, then it won't stick. Let's get some lunch then we can do some more."

"Lunch?"

"Yeah, we can stop by the snack shop really quickly and pick up some ramin."

"I ... okay." Nishikata and Takagi began packing up their belongings as Nishikata kept glancing at Takagi. 'Man, it feels like I've learned more today than I did in the past semester. Takagi is really something else, isn't she?'

"Nishikata?" Takagi asked as she caught him glancing at her.

"Uh ... yeah?"

She smiled mischievously as Nishikata got an unpleasant feeling in his gut. "You see how much you can learn when you actually pay attention?"

"HUH?!"

"I mean you keep looking at me all class then of course it's going to show in your grads."

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT! I'M JUST TRYING TO GET BACK AT YOU!" He exclaimed as he stood up.

He was immediately shot a glare by the librarian as he began to feel exposed. "I ... " He sat back down and tried to cover his head.

Takagi laughed quietly at his embarrassment before regaining her composure. "I know that." She said as she stood up. "What did you think I meant?"

He blushed again as he scratched the back of his head. "Oh ... nothing."

"Alright then, let's go." The two of them began walking out of the library and began making their way to the nearby snack shop. "Though I do mean what I said earlier." Takagi continued. "You pick this stuff up rather quickly."

"Thanks." He said with a semi guilty smile. "But it's your teaching that's really helping me out."

"Hmm?" She leaned closer to him, causing him to blush again. "Well whatever the case, at the rate we're going, your grades will be up in no time." She eased off and glanced at him with her sly smile again. "And I can collect my reward."

Nishikata's face reddened again as he began to worry. "Which you still havn't decided on yet."

"Nope." She said as she wrapped her hands behind her back. "Not yet."

"Uh huh." They reached the candy shop and made their way inside, where they each picked out a cup of noodles.

"Same one as before?" Takagi asked.

"Yeah, I like it." Nishikata replied. They walked up to the counter and paid before preparing them and sitting down at the table.

"This feels familiar." Takagi stated as they waited for their noodles to finish. "Kinda like that time before the camping trip."

"Yeah, I remember." Nishikata replied as he looked away.

"It almost feels more like a date than the last time."

Nishikata blushed and turned away even more as he slowly calmed down. "You know ... my mom said something like that yesterday ... but I can't really afford to worry about things like that."

"Oh?" She said as she tilted her head slightly. "I'm surprised." She pouted a little. "And a little disappointed, I love seeing you blush after I tease you."

Nishikata began grinding his teeth before taking a deep breath. "Yeah, but I don't have the luxury of being embarrassed. I need to improve my grades, so I need to put up with it."

"You're right." Nishikata looked up, completely shocked at her comment. "And I'm supposed to help you, so it doesn't matter if I can tease you or not."

"Does that mean ... you're not going to tease me?"

"Did it sound like that?"

Nishikata looked away and began grinding his teeth. "No."

"Exactly." She began pulling the lid off her noodles. "I think it's ready now, shall we dig in?"

"Uh, sure." Nishikata said as he also peeled the lid off his noodles. 'I'm going to be lucky to survive this.'