And so ... here it is ... the final chapter.

Lightgiver: I don't think it was that lame.

Rinto: Well, he did learn that from Takagi.

Dapper64: Oh stop it, you flatter me.

It was the following day, and Nishikata was pacing back and forth in his room, wondering when Takagi would call him. "It's her last day." He said to himself. "One way or another, she has to call today." He let out a sigh as he sat on his bed and pulled out his phone. "What am I going to do if we do get together? How are we going to be different as a couple? Are things going to remain the same?"

A few moments later, his phone rang, and he almost dropped it in his attempt to answer it. "Hello?"

"You sound like you're overthinking something." Came Takagi's voice.

'Why am I not surprised?' "I have a lot on my mind. So what's up?"

"Well, you remember that today's my last day to solve your puzzle box, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well I was thinking, how about we meet at the old abandoned lot in an hour and get this contest resolved?"

"Why there?"

"Because we spend so much time together there, it only feels right."

Nishikata thought to himself for a moment. "I don't see a problem with doing it there … just … are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be." She said, sounding a little nervous.

"Okay then, I'll see you later."

"See you later." She hung up and Nishikata looked at his phone wondering what she could have planned.

"Did she open it? I guess there's only one way to find out, I'll just have to go and see for myself."

He put his phone away and began making his way downstairs to get his shoes on before leaving. It was a nice day out, but that did little to ease his nerves. "Today, one way or another, who am I kidding, she's going to find some way to win, that's just how she is."

He let out a sigh and continued on his way until he reached the abandoned lot. He was a little early, so he decided to take a seat on the nearby stack of wood. "I wonder when they're going to do something about this lot?" He asked aloud. "It's been like this for a few years now."

"Who knows." Came Takagi's voice from right next to him, causing him to jump. She had somehow managed to sneak up on him, and take a seat right next to him without him noticing.

"How … nevermind. So what exactly did you have in mind."

"What's the rush? We have all day, don't we?"

"I guess." He said as he looked away.

"Well, let's talk."

"Yeah, sure."

She smiled and looked out into the distance. "You know how some people say that it feels like it's been forever, or how it feels like no time has passed at all since meeting someone?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"For me, it feels like it's been forever." She turned to him and smiled, causing his heart to skip a beat. "So how about you?"

"M-me?"

"Since we first met on our first day of junior high."

"Oh, right. Well." He began thinking and began remembering all of the times he lost to her. "It feels like it's been forever. With how many times I've lost to you, it didn't go by quick."

"Well, I enjoyed every moment." She looked up to the sky. "Every day was a new memory, and a new thing to look back on. Some day, today will also be a memory that we'll look back on; don't you think?"

"Yeah." Nishikata said as he also looked to the sky. "Todays definitely going to be something to look back on."

"I know right." She turned back to him. "By the way, I'm glad that you agreed to go to the same highschool as me."

"So you can tease me?"

She gave him a closed eyed smile. "That's one of the reasons, but not the main one."

Nishikata thought to himself for a moment. "Is it … because you wanted to make more memories with me?"

"That's right."

Nishikata felt his insides warm up as he grabbed his shirt. "So … I take it you managed to open the box?"

"Now why would you assume something like that based on my question?" She pulled the closed puzzle box out of a bag and placed it between them.

"Oh, it's still closed."

She looked down at it, still smiling. "How about a contest?"

"What kind of contest?"

"Simple, if you can take this box back from me, then you win, and you can hold onto it for the rest of the day."

"But then you won't be able to open it."

"That would appear to be the case."

"Okay … but what if I lose?"

"Simple, you have to kiss the girl you have a crush on for your confession."

Nishikata blushed and quickly turned away. "I … fine, deal." He stood up and began walking a short distance away.

"By the way, you will have sixty seconds."

Nishikata scoffed. "That's more than enough."

Takagi stood up and stood in front of the box with her hands behind her back. "Whenever you're ready."

"Huh? How are you going to keep time?"

She pulled her phone out from behind her back which was already ticking down. "You'd better hurry, or you'll lose your chance."

Nishikata hesitated for a moment before dashing at her, stopping just short of her, slightly perplexed about what he was supposed to do.

"So are you just going to stand there?"

"NO! I've got this." He walked around her slightly, only for her to turn slightly so that she was between him and the box.

"I'm hardly even trying Nishikata, and this should be easy for you."

Nishikata took a deep breath as he looked at Takagi. 'If I can't do this, then I'll have to kiss her … but … that's my end goal anyway, right?' He moved closer to her as his heart sped up more and more. 'I can do this, I just have to reach around her.'

"Only twenty seconds left."

'Crap.' He got even closer to her as his heart began to speed up more.

"Wow, we're awfully close now, aren't we?"

Nishikata tried to ignore her as he reached around her and slowly grabbed the puzzle box, only for the timer to sound just moments after it was in his hand. "Wait … so … did I just win?"

"Yup." Nishikata looked up to see that Takagi was even closer to him than before. "You won, so you get to keep that puzzle box from me for the rest of the day." She wrapped her arms around his neck and placed her forehead against his. "So … I'm not going to be able to open it today."

"Which means … I win our other contest?"

"Well … no." She shook her head. "But I'd really rather hear you say it, than read it in a letter."

He ran over their entire conversation leading up to that point, before realizing that he had fallen for her tricks yet again. "You never actually said you never opened it."

"Yup, opened it the other day. I didn't expect that you were using it as a confession, though, I thought you had chickened out again. I guess I was wrong and you caught me off guard."

"That's a first."

"Not really, you have managed to get the better of me a few times before." She smiled again as she brought her face even closer to his. "Now come on, I want to hear you say it, not read it from an admittedly sweet letter."

He sighed and braced himself for what he was about to do. "Okay then … Takagi, I have something to tell you."

"Yes?"

He took another deep breath as his heart rate sped up. 'Come on man, you can do this … she already knows so it's easy.' He looked her in the eye, which only made him more nervous. 'She's so beautiful … come on, I just need to split it out!' "I …Takagi … it's … well … I .." He took one final breath. "I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU!" Takagi's eyes began to water a bit as her lips quivered slightly. "I'm in love with you and I want to spend more time with you, whether you're teasing me or not."

She pulled him into a hug and rubbed the side of her head against his. "I love you too Nishikata." She pulled away slightly and looked him in the eye. "And I am glad that it's whether I'm teasing you or not, because I'm going to be teasing you for the rest of our lives … just so you know."

"And I'm going to be trying to get back at you." He replied.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." She pulled him back into a hug as he wrapped his arms around her.

"This is nice." He whispered.

"It is."

They stayed there for a few moments until they both heard someone else's voice. "Are we interrupting?" They both looked over to see Houjou, standing at the edge of the lot along with Hamaguchi, the two of them just staring at them.

Nishikata took a moment to look at himself and Takagi, and realized that they were still in each other's embrace. "Well … you see …"

"We're just about finished." Takagi said as she gave them a closed eyed smile. She turned back to Nishikata as she let go of him and took his hand. "We should go, other couples need to use the lot as well."

Nishikata nodded as Houjou and Hamaguchi blushed profusely.

"Y-yeah, let's go somewhere else."

The two of them left as Takagi took a moment to wave at them. "Best of luck you two."

They continued around the corner, and quickly out of sight of Houjou and Hamaguchi. "I hope we didn't end up coming between them." Takagi said as she glanced back.

"I wouldn't worry, Hamaguchi practically brags about his feelings for Houjou when we're hanging out."

"That makes me worry even more."

Nishikata scratched the back of his head as he turned away. "Well … there's not much we can do, now is there."

"I guess you have a point." She laughed and looked up to the sky. "So … where did you get the idea for a puzzle box from?"

"My grandma; she said that she and grandpa used to do things like that all the time so … I figured I'd try it."

She giggled slightly. "So do you think our grandchild's going to end up trying to tease their crush?"

Nishikata's face went bright red as Takagi burst into laughter again. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, we're still way too young to be talking about things like that."

"Yeah." Nishikata replied as he let out a sigh of relief. "But …I know that this might sound naive, seeing as we're still kids, but … I do hope I get to spend the rest of my life with you."

"I don't think it sounds naive." Takagi began as she interlocked her fingers with his and pulled herself closer to him. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you as well."