The school day was coming to a close and everyone was eagerly waiting to go home, save for Hamaguchi, who was thinking up a strategy for getting a one up on his competition. "Okay, so thanks to Takao, I should have plenty of time to ask Houjou out. I should make the most of it though, if I do anything else, Nishikata's going to hate my guts till the end of time." He threw his bag over his shoulder and began making his way to where he usually saw Houjou.

"I'm going to need to work up some courage, I know it wasn't part of my original idea, but maybe I can find a chance to ask her out today!"

He soon found her leaning against the outside wall of her classroom deep in thought. 'Here's my chance!' He took a deep breath before approaching. "Good evening Houjou." He greeted.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Oh, hey Hamaguchi." She greeted back. "I was waiting for you."

Hamaguchi felt his face begin to redden but did his best to keep his composure. 'She was waiting? For me?'

"Let's walk, there's something I wanted to talk with you about."

He eagerly followed her as the two of them made their way down to their lockers and out of the school; it wasn't until they were a few blocks away that she finally began to talk again. "So, I heard that there's some rumor going around about someone in your class, I actually heard that it involved a friend of yours."

"Huh? Oh, are you talking about the stuff Nishikata's going through? Yeah, I've heard and ... well, what did you hear exactly?"

"That he's involved in a love triangle." She let out a sigh. "Honestly, things like that can be so ... aggravating for someone."

Hamaguchi began to sweat. 'I can't let her know I was involved, she'll think I'm a total child!' "Well I don't have all the details, but apparently Nishikata got a love letter from someone and they were seen on the roof together."

"I thought he was going out with Takagi."

"He's adamant about disproving that. Doesn't really matter though, from what I've heard, he doesn't like the girl he met on the roof anyway."

"Well I figured that much. He can be so childish sometimes."

"Yeah, I know, he's always talking about 'getting back at Takagi for all those times she's teased him' or something like that."

Houjou let out a barely noticeable laugh which made Hamaguchi feel triumphant. 'Yes, I made her laugh, always a good sign.'

"Can you imagine having a relationship like that? Where one of them is getting made fun of all the time? Doesn't sound to healthy to me."

"I don't think it's like always like that." Hamaguchi began. "Or at least, not to that extreme."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, I've heard Nishikata mention several times how he wants to get away from her, yet every opportunity he's had, he's turned down giving the excuse that he can't just let her get away with all the teasing she does." He shoved his hands into his pockets as he looked up. "It seems more like a rivalry where Nishikata always loses."

"Yeah." Houjou said as she looked up. "I guess it does seem like that. It doesn't sound like a relationship I would want thought."

"You have one in mind?" Hamaguchi asked as he quickly turned to look at her.

She glanced at him for a moment and blushed. "Well ... I ... I guess I would want a more mature relationship that isn't filled with childish antics like that." She shook her head. "I mean, with a relationship like theirs, I actually believed that the second part of the rumor when I first heard it."

"Second part?"

Back at the school, Nishikata was, once again, standing in front of the teacher's desk being scolded by his teacher, Mr.Tanabe. "The science class needs to be cleaned again, and you still have to make up for being disruptive."

"Yes sir." Nishikata said half heartedly. 'Why can't everyone else just clean up after themselves for once.'

"But, you have been less disruptive in the past few days, which is good. Keep it up and you won't have to stay after for much longer."

Nishikata felt like he should be happy, but he wasn't; he knew the only reason that this was the case was because things between him and Takagi weren't going well.

"Hey." Tanabe began. "You still look disappointed."

"Do I?"

Tanabe looked at him for a moment. "Is everything all right at home?"

"At home? Yeah, everything's fine, I'm just ... tired I guess."

"Then get some rest when you get home."

"Okay, thanks."

Nishikata began walking out when his teacher placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not so grateful that I don't notice something wrong, if you need help then you should talk to someone."

"I'm fine, really." He said while trying to fake a smile.

Tanabe didn't look convinced but let him go all the same. "Just be sure that you're thorough, and try to continue to not be disruptive."

Nishikata stared at him for a moment before walking out of the class room and closing the door behind him. 'Damn, it must be really bad if even the teacher notices.' He stopped walking as he began to think again. 'Having things be so bad between Takagi and I is really messing me up, isn't it? Maybe she is more important to me than I'm letting myself believe.'

Before he could make his way up the stairs, he was stopped by another hand on his shoulder, one that felt more familiar to him. "Hey Nishikata." Came Takagi's voice. "You ... still want to walk home today?"

"I can't." Nishikata replied. "I have to clean the science class again."

"Oh, well ... how about I clean it with you?"

Nishikata let out a loud sigh. "No, I've got it,"

"But-"

"I've got it." Nishikata interrupted. "I'll ... I'll see you tomorrow."

Nishikata began walking but as he did, he could almost hear someone talking to Takagi behind him. 'Don't pay it any mind Nishikata.' He thought to himself. 'You have a job to do.'

As he reached the science room, he pulled the broom out of the closet and got to cleaning. "I just need to get this over with."

After some time, and nearly finishing with the floor, he noticed a boy from his class standing at the door staring at him. "Um, hi?"

"Hey Nishikata, stuck doing cleaning again?" The boy asked.

"Yeah." Nishikata said as he went back to sweeping. "All thanks to Takagi and her endless teasing." He let out a sigh and paused. "Though I might not have to do this much longer."

"Well that's good and all, but why do you say that?"

"Because it seems like Takagi is teasing me less and less every day. Personally, I think it's kinda a relief." Nishikata lied.

"Cool, so then what they're saying is true then?"

"What are they saying?"

"That you hate Takagi."