A short time earlier, Takao and Kimura were at the sandy shop with Mina and Sanae being forced to treat them to ice cream. "Why are we doing this again?" Takao asked as he and Kimura sat on the outside bench.

"You have other plans?" Kimura asked.

"No." Takao said sounding defeated.

"HEY!" Mina exclaimed. "I've picked one out!"

"Hold on, I'll be right there." Kimura said as he stood up and walked into the shop.

"I wonder what type of strange flavor she's going to get."

"You know that's not very nice." Sanae said as she walked out of the shop.

"Ah, I'm ... sorry?"

She looked at him without changing her expression, then turned back to the door. "You coming in or what? We've picked out what we want."

"Oh, I didn't understand what she meant." He got up and followed her inside where Mina and Kimura had already paid for theirs.

"Canned yams, I bet this taste good." Mina exclaimed.

"Who makes these things?" Takao asked as he and Sanae passed them.

"No idea." Sanae said as she pulled out two popsicles and handed one to Takao. "Here."

"What is it?"

"Wasabi."

Takao stood there in disbelief as Sanae walked up to the counter. "Hey, you coming?"

"Yeah, I'm coming." He said as he walked up to the counter.

He paid for the two popsicles and began making their way out. As they walked outside, they found Kimura and Mina sitting on the bench, the latter laughing.

"You're right about that." Mina began. "You know, we should totally hang out more often."

"That sounds like a good idea, how about we eat lunch together sometime?" Kimura responded.

"That's a great idea!"

"Wow, Yukari would love to see this." Sanae said as she took a bite out of her popsicle.

"Huh?" Takao asked. "Why's that?"

"She'll swoon over the slightest hint of romance, it's kinda her obsession."

"Them?" Takao asked as he looked at the two in front of him. "I mean if you look hard enough, maybe."

"That's her specialty."

"Gee, I wonder what she would think of us then."

Sanae glanced over at Takao and just stared. "..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" She asked with a slight leer."

"NOTHING!" He exclaimed as he held his hands up in defense.

She looked at him for a moment before taking a bite out of her popsicle. "Coward." Sanae paused, then glanced at Takao's popsicle. "You going to eat that?"

"Huh?" He glanced down at the popsicle in his hand. "Oh right." He took a small bite out of it and instantly squirmed at the sour taste.

"You'll get used to it."

Back in the present, the concert had reached its conclusion and people were now exiting the main area. "I'm sorry I costed us our spot." Nishikata said as he and Takagi walked out of the main area.

"Don't be." She took his hand and interlocked their fingers. "It was worth it in the end."

"Yeah." Nishikata said as he began scratching the back of his head with his free hand. "Actually, a lot more things are making a lot more sense now."

"Like what?"

"Like Yyu've probably known that I've had feelings for you longer than I have?"

"That depends, how long have you known that you loved me?"

Nishikata's face went red. "I ... since yesterday?"

"Then yes, I've definitely known longer." Nishikata looked away nervously as Takagi laughed. "But seriously, I'm glad you realized it."

"Yeah ... I'm just sorry it took me so long."

"No ..." Her expression turned down. "You don't have to apologize for that."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you remember the many times when I would start doing something romantic, then I would start teasing you?"

"It's kinda hard to forget."

"Yeah well ... many of those times ... I wanted to just ... tell you right then and there." Nishikata began to blush again as Takagi continued. "I wanted to tell you that I really did like you, but then I would always cave and play it off as teasing you." She sighed as her smile disappeared. "Like I said, I really can't help but tease you sometimes, it's a very big flaw and a bad habit."

Nishikata smiled, took Takagi's other hand, and turned her to face him. "Takagi, I love you." Her face turned bright red as Nishikata let go of her hands and wrapped them around the small of her back. "Flaws and all."

She wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and smiled. "You know there are a lot of people around us, right?"

Nishikata blushed as he looked around, only now remembering that they were still in a crowd. "I ..."

Takagi laughed as she pressed her forehead against his. "We should probably continue this later anyway."

"Yeah, probably."

Takagi tilted her head to look at something that was behind Nishikata. "Looks like the others found us."

"HUH!?" Nishikata exclaimed as he spun around. The rest of the group was there, but from the looks of it, they hadn't seen the two of them yet. "Oh, they haven't noticed us yet."

"Would that necessarily be a bad thing?" She asked as she whispered into his ear, causing his face to turn bright red.

"I ... Uh ... well, it's not but ..."

"Wanna make a game out of it?" Takagi asked.

"Huh? What did you have in mind?"

"We place a bet on which of them will notice it first, each of us will choose three of them and the winner will get to choose where we go on a date tomorrow."

"A ... date?" He said nervously. "Wait, sorry, old habit. But if that's the case, this means we're ... officially-"

"Boyfriend and girlfriend?" She replied as she gave him a koi smile. "If you want."

Nishikata blushed severally as he nodded. "Yeah, I would like that."

"Great, the first person I choose is Yukari."

Nishikata's face froze. 'Damn, of course Takagi would pick the person with the highest odds of noticing. It's not the end yet, I could still get lucky if I make the right picks.' "Okay, believe that Takagaawa might be the first to notice."

Her smile turned into a sly one. "Just so you know, they have to actually say it."

"Yeah, and?"

"I didn't mention this before, but Sumire actually saw you kiss me."

Nishikata's face turned bright red again. 'She ... what?!'

"Do you want to change your bet?"

Nishikata shook his head. "No, if she brings it up, even by asking only one of us, then that counts, right?"

Takagi smiled and nodded. "I was actually hoping that you wouldn't notice that. Anyway, my second guess would be Mano."

"Okay ... then ..." 'Houjou isn't likely to ask something like that ... at least I don't think. Nakai has frequently poked fun at my feelings for Takagi ... but he might not notice that we're dating.' "I bet Hamaguchi might be the one to notice."

"Oh? How do you figure that?"

"Well, he said that he's been jealous of Me and Nakai for a while, so I figured that it's probably the safest bet out of the remaining three."

"Then I guess my last pick is Nakai."

"Which leaves me with Houjou."

"Yup, now let's catch up to them and see which of us wins."

She took his hand and the two of them made their way over to the group, waving to catch their attention. "Hey!" Nishikata called out.

"Huh?" Nakai said as everyone looked over. "Hey! Nishikata, Takagi, we thought you guys got lost or something when you didn't come back."

Takagi smiled sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, well, the only spot we could find was rather small and the concert was about to start so ... we're sorry."

Nishikata noticed a few of them glance down at where he was holding Takagi's hand. "Yeah, a lot of things happened." 'Great, I've set the bait, now it's only a matter of time till one of them bites.'

"No worries." Nakai began. "The crowd moved some, and we were able to get a good view anyway." He placed a hand on his back and began rubbing it. "I think I may have pulled something though."

"Sorry." Mano said sheepishly.

"Anyway, let's get going." The entire group began walking towards the exit, as Nishikata and Takagi lagged behind them slightly.

'Based on their reactions earlier, they've noticed already, so It's only a matter of time till one of them mentions it now. It's all up to chance, but hopefully I'll win.' He began to panic as he realized something. 'Wait, if they all noticed, then it's whoever mentions it first ... which ... is most likely going to be ... any of the three that Takagi chose.' He glanced over at Takagi and smiled. 'But in the end ... I've already won in a way.'