Puzzle box

Part 11 Test results

A week had passed since the day of the exam, and everyone was now extremely nervous about their test results. One such person was Nishikata, who had only just received them and was holding the still sealed letter in his hands as his parents watched.

'Man, why do you two have to be watching me?' He thought to himself. 'I guess it wouldn't really make much difference, I mean they would find out anyway.'

"So are you going to open it?" His father asked.

Nishikata sighed and quickly tore the opening to the envelope and pulled out the letter. There it stood, in his hands, would he be going to the same school as Takagi, or would he fail. "I ..." He quickly handed it to his father. "I can't ... tell me if I made it."

His father sighed and took the letter from him and looked it over. "Let's see ..." He continued looking at it for a while longer than he should have needed, and slowly placed it down and let out a sigh. "Well ... I don't know what to say."

Nishikata felt his insides go numb as he began to fear the worst. 'After all that time studying with her ... please don't tell me I failed!'

"You made it." His father smiled before his mother pulled him into a big hug.

"I'm so proud of you!" She said as he sat there dumbfounded.

"I ... actually did it." He said still not believing the results. "I still can't believe this is all real."

"Well believe it." His father said as he handed the letter back to him. "The only thing I find hard to believe is how you did it."

"Huh?"

"You know I was probably right dear." His mother said with a smile as she turned to look at her husband.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, and here I thought you were fooling around."

"Wait, what do you guys mean?"

His father placed a hand on his shoulder as his mother let go of him. "You come home late every day for two weeks straight, and you doin't think we, your own parents, would realize there was something going on?"

Nishikata took a step back nervously. "I ..."

"We know you were studying with your girlfriend, and we also know that you're going to the same school as her." His mother added.

"Wait, my girlfriend!?" He exclaimed. "I ... who are you ... I don't-"

"We're talking about Takagi." His mom said as she tried to hold back a laugh. "You didn't think we would find out that you were spending every day after school with her, did you? And I bet you also didn't know that we were aware that you were planning on going to the same school as her."

Nishikata's blush began to deepen. "I ... I ..." He took a deep breath as he tried, and failed, to calm himself. "SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"

"Seriously?" His dad asked, sounding a little disappointed. "You're only talking about her every single day."

"Yeah, how to get back at her."

"And you also spend more time with her than any of your other friends." His mother added. "AND, you're going to the same highschool as her. You expect us to believe that you don't have a crush on her?"

"I ... I ..." He turned away and tried to hide his now growing blush. "That may be true, but she's not my girlfriend yet!"

Both his parents looked at him astonished. "What do you mean not yet?" His father asked.

"I haven't told her."

"You haven't told our future daughter-in-law that you love her?"

"MOM!"

"Am I wrong?"

"That's not the point!"

"So are you going to tell her?" His father asked.

"I ... I need to first tell her that I got in, don't I?" He said as he began backing up. "Anyway ... I HAVE STUFF TO DO!" He ran upstairs and shut himself in his room as he tried to ease his speeding heart. "I know, I need to tell her ... but HOW!"

He walked over to his desk and pulled out the puzzle box again. "This entire thing is just ... so damn difficult!"

He began working with it again, trying to get it open. "How do I tell her? What if she doesn't feel the same way about me?" He began to work more furiously. "WHY CAN'T I JUST TELL YOU THAT I LIKE YOU!" It was, at that moment, the puzzle box clicked, and the top popped open. "Huh?"

He opened it, overflowing with a sense of satisfaction, as he wondered what he would find. As he did, he noticed a small piece of paper, and as soon as he opened it, he realized that it was a letter.

Nishikata

If you're reading this, that you managed to open the puzzle box I gave you, and I am so proud that you managed to open it. My main reason for giving you this was to remind you that I love you but in addition o that, your grandfather and I used to do things like this all the time, we would write each other letters and hide them in places where the other would find it, even before we started dating. I was feeling a little nostalgic, but my hands aren't what they used to be, and I actually had to ask your mom for help opening this one. But I digress, I'm very proud of you, and don't forget to cherish every memory you make. I love you.

Grandma

Nishikata felt his heart swell, as he smiled and began to cry a little. "She and grandpa always like making puzzles like this." He picked up his phone and began going through his contacts. "I definitely need to thank her for the gift." He paused for a moment as an idea popped into his head. "Wait ... that might actually work."

He pulled out a piece of paper and pen. "Okay, the only question is, what do I write?" He began thinking and jotting down whatever came to mind, and occasionally throwing out the paper and starting over. "It has to be just right, this is how I'm going to do it!"

Elsewhere, Takagi was lying on her bed, looking at her acceptance letter with a smile. "Another three years ... and it feels like he might confess any day now." She held the letter close to her chest. "Who knows, maybe even tomorrow."

At that moment, her phone rang, and she scrambled to answer it. "Hello?"

"Takagi?" Came Nishikata's voice. "I ... got my acceptance letter."

"That's amazing!" She exclaimed. "Though I did know you'd get in, just like me."

"That means you got in as well? That's great!"

"Yeah, that means we'll be spending our highschool years together." Takagi couldn't help but blush, and she could tell that Nishikata was also blushing.

"Yeah ... about that ... you wanna ... get together tomorrow?"

Her heart skipped a beat. 'Is he ... asking me out on a date?' "You want to celebrate us getting in together?"

"Y-yeah, I do ... but ... there's also something else I wanted to talk to you about."

'He ... he is going to confess.' Her heart began to speed up. 'He did say he wanted to talk to me about something ...' "Nishikata?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll hold you to that."