The school day had continued onwards to the point where it was now time for lunch, but Nishikata was in more than a small rut. 'I'm at a complete loss.' He thought to himself. 'I don't know how to make things better between me and Takagi, I don't know how to overcome this feeling, I don't know how I'm going to ask her to the concert, and I don't know what I'm going to do when we get there.' He sighed and looked up. 'Maybe it's best if I lose, the tickets would go to waste if I get then.' Nishikata shook his head as he continued walking. 'NO! I can't let Hamaguchi or Takao win after what happened! If only to spite them for what they did!' He nodded as he reached the schoolyard, feeling more motivated. 'Now, how am I going to do that?'

He made his way to where he and his friends usually sit, but as soon as he saw Hamaguchi and Takao, he froze. There was an awkward glaring contest between them that lasted a few seconds before Nishikata continued on his way. "Not going to be sitting there today."

He continued walking and looking around for a place to sit, yet had little luck. He did manage to spot a few places with other people he occasionally hung out with, but it didn't look like there was a spot open at any of their tables. "Guess I'm sitting alone today." Nishikata said reluctantly.

He began making his way to a free spot where no one else was sitting, but as he moved to sit, he noticed someone else doing the same. "Oh, sorry about that-" He looked up and saw a familiar face also trying to sit there. "Amakawa?"

"Hey Nishikata." She greeted. "You mind if I sit here or-"

"No no, it's fine." He said as he moved to the side and sat down. "So where are the others?"

"Oh, well Sanae is doing something that involves one of her clubs, and Mina is in the nurses for ..." She sighed as she sat down. "Over exerting herself in gym."

"I didn't know you guys were doing something so exhausting."

"We weren't." She pulled out her lunch and set it on the table. "So what about you? Is there a-" She paused and looked around to make sure no one was listening. "Thing ... involving the contest that means you three can't eat lunch together?"

"Kinda." Nishikata said as he took out his lunch. "Hamaguchi and Takao crossed some lines, now I'm upset with them."

"Oh." She looked down at her lunch but didn't touch it. "Does it have something to do with those pictures that have been going around?"

"Everything." Nishikata replied as his head dropped. "Why does everyone even care so much? I mean you would think that they have better things to do in their lives than obsess over my relationship with Takagi."

"Well, I think it has more to do with Takagi."

Nishikata looked at her confused. "Huh?"

"Well, from what I've heard, she is very popular with a lot of the boys around school."

"Yeah, so is Houjou, but what does any of this have to do with me?"

Amakawa stared at him surprised. "You ... aren't you and Takagi-"

"How many times am I going to have to say that Takagi and I aren't a thing?"

"Really?" She asked looking unconvinced. "Then explain why you two walk home together almost every day."

Nishikata began to blush and turned away. "We live near each other and it gives me a chance to try and tease her back."

"Then how about the summer festival?"

"I ... she hinted that she wanted to go, but didn't have anyone to go with ... so I asked her. It doesn't mean anything else."

"The water park last year?"

"Huh?!" He turned back to her, blushing even harder than before. "I ... Nakai and Mano invited us." He said trying to be confident. "And even so, Takagi and I barely spent any time alone together that day. The only time we were alone together was when we gave Mano and Nakai some alone time, that's it." 'And then there was the bus ride home, I really hope no one saw that.'

Amakawa looked at him suspiciously for a moment before speaking again. "Camp?"

His face went completely pale as his throat began to swell. "THAT WAS AN ACCIDENT, I SWEAR! I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW SHE WAS GOING TO BE THERE! I JUST-" He stopped himself as he realized something. "Wait, how did you know about that?"

"Know about what?" She asked before she began eating her lunch. "I just picked an event out at random, turns out, it proves my point." Nishikata felt exposed, so much that he wanted to run and hide, but just stayed and stared at his lunch. "By the way, what did happen at camp?"

"Camp?" Nishikata thought back to that day and remembered the time he spent with Takagi. "NOTHING!" He quickly began scarfing down his lunch at such a speed that he almost choked.

"Easy there, I was just curious. If you don't want to share, then that's fine. I was just trying to prove a point."

"Which is?" Nishikata asked as soon as he managed to get his throat clear.

"That you and Takagi do spend a lot of time together, and people think that you're really close. Also-" She stopped dead in her tracks for a moment before continuing. "I mean ... do you ever think ... that ... she might ... like you?"

Nishikata turned away and growled. "She sometimes pretends to like me to tease me, but that's it."

"I highly doubt that." She said before taking another bite of her lunch. "But here's another question, do you want her to?"

Nishikata looked down off into the distance as his mind began to wonder. 'Do I want her to like me? I guess that relies on if I like her, which ... I'm no longer sure about.' "I don't know."

"Well it's something to think about then. In any event, I'm supposed to be an impartial judge, so that's enough about your obvious crush."

"Gee, thanks."

Elsewhere in the schoolyard, Takagi and Takagawa were also eating lunch together; though Takagi seemed a bit distracted. "Takagi?" Takagawa asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just ... thinking."

"About Nishikata?"

"A little." She replied. "He seems like he's being more distant than usual lately."

"Maybe it has something to do with that girl he was hanging out with the other day?" Takagawa said trying not to look guilty.

"Not entirely, he was acting like that since the day before. There's also something else going on that he won't tell me."

"Oh, well that's new."

"Yeah, well, the whole girl with a crush on him isn't making things better, I feel bad for him."

"You seem more worried about him than yourself; I mean don't get me wrong, I'm sure whatever happened on the roof isn't what everyone thinks, but I would assume that you would be at least a little concerned."

"Oh, I am." Takagi replied sounding calmer that she let on.

"How so?"

"Well, he's still easy to read ... but it's kinda getting harder, and I'm worried that it's because we're not getting closer. Then again, it could just be because he's talking to me less and less but that's going to have the same outcome." She looked down and bit her lower lip. "Part of me worries that I may actually be pushing him away."

"Did you try just talking to him?"

"Yeah, he shut me out." Takagi said as her sorrow became more apparent.

'Should I just tell her the truth?' Takagawa thought to herself. 'I mean she is my friend, she wouldn't be upset and it's not like I like Nishikata. Then again, she did say there's more going on and it's not like telling her would help the situation at all. Maybe I should just message Nishikata later and give him some advice.' She sighed and went back to her lunch. "That doesn't sound good, but maybe you just have to wait and this will all resolve itself."

"Maybe." Takagi straightened out her posture and took a deep breath. "But let's talk about something else." She smiled and closed her eyes. "Talking about my troubles is only going to ruin both our days."