Puzzle box

Part 12 Game on

It was the following day, and Nishikata was waiting out in front of the candy shop with his bike propped up beside him, the first place they were going to visit on their 'unofficial' first date. "Okay, I can do this." He said as he tapped the puzzle box that he had placed in his side pocket. "I'll give this to her today, and she probably won't be able to open it till ... not ... today, and I can use my procrastination against itself. I won't have to confess today, but I'll be forced to tell her at some point in the not too distant future." He let out a nervous laugh as he made sure that he had his phone on him. "Don't want a repeat of what happened during the summer festival last year."

He continued to sit there for a while, until he heard footsteps and glanced over to see Takagi walking over. 'There she is.' He thought to himself as his heart rate sped up. 'She's so ... cute.'

"I see you're ready." She said as she walked up to him.

"Yeah." He said as he stood up. "So ..."

She took his hand and smiled. "Let's go."

Nishikata felt himself blush as they walked into the candy shop. 'Easy there, Nishikata, if you're going to start going out with her, then you need to be able to handle this.'

"So, what do you want to get first?"

Nishikata looked around before reaching for something he knew Takagi liked. "I think I'll get a few of these."

"I didn't know you liked that one."

"Yeah, but I wanted to give it a try." He continued to grab a few that He knew that Takagi liked, in addition to some that he also liked, as Takagi also grabbed a few.

After a short time, they finished picking, and went over to the store clerk and paid for their candy. "So, where to next?" Takagi asked.

"You wanna eat these at the abandoned lot?"

"Really? You only want to go there when you've thought up a challenge. Do you have something in mind?" She asked as they made their way out of the store.

"I ... maybe." He strolled over to his bike and placed his bag in the basket and took a deep breath. 'Here goes.' "So, want to ... uh ..."

"Hm?" She began as she smiled at him.

"I mean ... want to ride together?"

"You want to tandem ride?" She asked. "Weren't you the one who said it was dangerous?"

"Well, we're older now so ... it's not as dangerous."

"We're not that much older." She said as she walked up to him. "But I would love to tandem ride."

"Great." Nishikata got on the seat of his bike as Takagi placed her bag in the basket and took the back seat. "Okay ... ready?"

She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him tight. "Yup."

"Okay." He began peddling and the two of them began to move. He had forgotten how much he enjoyed riding with Takagi, and was feeling a lot less nervous than he was before. 'I like this.' He thought to himself. He enjoyed the breeze from riding, and the thought of Takagi basically hugging him made him smile. 'I wish it was always this easy.'

They soon reached the abandoned lot, and Nishikata parked the bike against a nearby wall. "Let's eat first." Takagi said as she took her bag out of the basket.

"Y-yeah." Nishikata did the same and the two of them walked over to the stack of wooden boards and took a seat. "I-it's nice out, isn't it?"

"It sure is, a perfect day for a date." She said as she opened one of her candies and began eating it.