Puzzle box

Part 6 After school

It was the following day, and Nishikata and Takagi were, once again, staying after school to study for the test they had tomorrow. At the moment, a few hours had passed since they had started, and the two of them were beginning to get hungry. "Okay, time to take a break." Takagi said as they finished a chapter.

"Okay." Nishikata reached into his bag and pulled out a box wrapped in a napkin.

"You brought lunch?"

"Um ... yeah, I mean we were studying for a rather long time yesterday, so I told my mom to pack me a second lunch."

"Oh ... I wish I had thought of that."

Nishikata blushed as he looked at the lunch in front of him. "Well ... if you want ... we could ..." He unwrapped the napkin, but froze when he realized that his mom had actually packed him two spare lunches. "I ... think my mom misunderstood me when I said I needed two lunches."

He offered one of them to Takagi. "You want one?"

"Thanks." She said as she took the box from him. "Now let's go, we can't eat in a classroom, even if school is over."

They made their way to where they normally eat lunch and took a seat. "Takagi." Nishikata began as a blush formed on his face. "I'm ... once again, grateful that you're teaching me all this stuff, I feel like I've learned a lot from spending time with you."

"You haven't forgotten why I'm helping you, right?" She said as she opened the second bento box.

Nishikata sighed, then nodded. "Anything you ask, I stand by that statement."

"Good to hear."

"By the way, any idea on what you want?"

She thought to herself then shrugged. "I have a few ideas, but nothing I want to say just yet."

"Well ... I'd like to take care of it as soon as possible so ... could you tell me as soon as you know?"

"Don't worry, I will." They began eating their lunch as Takagi began to think about her request. 'I know I want to ask him for something that will get us closer, but what do I actually ask for? At this point, he would probably agree to anything I ask him for anyway, so ... should I just use it to go on a date with him? No, I shouldn't use a favor for that, it's way too forcefully. Maybe I should go back to my original idea and just ask him to keep in touch with me ... I need to think of something.'

Meanwhile, Nishikata was facing his own brand of issues. 'We've spent the past four days studying together ... and I've probably studied more in those past four days than the rest of my life combined. I don't want this to end but ... what do I do? Do I just suck it up and ask her to be my girlfriend when the exams are finished? What if she says no? Heck, what if she says yes!? What do I even do then? I don't know how to handle a relationship, and all I want is ... to keep spending time with her.' He stared at his food for a moment, then continued eating. 'I don't know, maybe I'll figure it out later.'

The two of them soon finished up, and began making their way back to the class after cleaning up. "So, we only have one more chapter to take care of before tomorrow, so I was thinking that we take care of that, then work on the practice test before calling it a day."

"I like that idea." Nishikata replied. "I've been feeling great about all these chapters so far, so I think I'll do well on this test."

"Like I said earlier, you do so much better when you focus on the material instead of on me." Takagi said, causing Nishikata to blush.

They began making their way back to the classroom when they noticed their friend Mano walking through the hall looking dejected. "Mano?" Takagi said as she approached. She didn't appear to notice at first, but as the two got closer, she turned to look at them, revealing her eyes which looked as if she was incredibly tired and sad. "Is everything okay?" Takagi asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said as she stopped to address them. "I'm just trying to study for tomorrow's test. Though it's not going as well as I would like."

"Uh ..." Takagi turned to Nishikata, who looked unsure. "Well ..."

"Do you need any help?" Nishikata asked.

Mano looked up at them surprised. "Help?" She took a step back and began waving her hands in defense. "No! No! I'm fine, really! I don't want to get in the way or anything!"

"It's no trouble." Takagi began. "I'm actually almost finished helping Nishikata with that same test."

"But I don't want to make you start over or anything."

"I'm sure you're doing well, so we just need to go over the ones that you're having the most trouble with."

"Really?"

"Of course." She placed a hand on her back and began guiding her to the classroom. "What are friends for?"

The three of them made their way back to the classroom and Mano seemed like she was about to burst with joy.

"Okay then, Nishikata, I know we have not gone over the last chapter yet but can you work on the practice test for a moment? I want to help Mano."

"Sure thing." He said as he pulled out the practice test and moved to a far away seat.

"Now Mano, what chapter are you having the most trouble with?"

"Chapter ten, there are a few small things that are confusing me and I just can't seem to tie them all together."

"Right, so let's start here then."

Takagi began teaching Mano the chapter, as Nishikata sat in the corner, working through the practice test. About an hour had passed, and Takagi had finished explaining the material to Mano, and Nishikata had finished with the practice test. "Okay, so let's see how you did." Takagi began as she looked over Nishikata's practice test. "You did well here ... here you did okay, a few mistakes, but not a main concern ... hm?" She looked over the test a few times before turning it over. "The last two chapters aren't on this?"

"Yeah, I thought that was strange as well."

"Well looks like you did well enough for now." She circled the parts where Nishikata messed up and handed it back to him. "Just study the sections related to these and you should be fine." She turned to Mano. "Any other chapters you need help with?"

She smiled brightly. "No, it was just the one. I understand the rest enough to study on my own so ... thank you very much."

"It was my pleasure."

"Seriously, I can't thank you enough. Thanks to you, I'll be able to go to the same highschool as Nakai." Takagi and Nishikata froze as they heard her say that. "His grades were slightly higher than mine were, and I needed to give my grade a little push so that I could attempt the same entrance exam as him."

"You do know that you still might not be in the same classes, right?" Nishikata asked.

"Well, we can still walk home together. In fact, seeing as we'll be taking the same train, we will almost be guaranteed to."

'The same highschool.' Takagi thought as she glanced over at Nishikata. 'I think I may have figured out what I'm going to ask him for.'

'It seems possible.' Nishikata thought as he scratched his chin. 'But that depends entirely on what highschool Takagi intends on going to ... and I would also need to find an excuse to actually apply to the same school ... and ... find out which one she's planning on going too.'

"Hm?" Mano said as she alternated between looking at Takagi and Nishikata. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh?" Nishikata turned to her. "Oh, I was just thinking about tomorrow's test."

"Yeah." Takagi said with a smile. "It really is going to be something else."