A grand banquet fit for a king entered Takei's vision as he walked into the dining room. Well, it wasn't really fit for a king, but you get the gist. There were several plates of food lined up on the table ready to be eaten.
Copious amounts of turkey, rice, corn, salad, soup, beef, eggs, and several more dishes adorned the table. If not for a king, it surely looked like a meal for a noble.
Akari looked apologetic at the sight of this large amount of food. "I'm sorry for having you make so much food for me..."
Flora however, was not the least bit shaken. "It's fine~ You're practically a part of the family now so it's normal to celebrate with a lot of food."
The goddess was incapable of finding an excuse so she relented to Flora's laid-back attitude. "Thank you for going through the hassle of making the food."
"It was my pleasure, let's set the table now."
Takei felt suspicious that Flora was trying to move the dinner along at a fast speed. He decided he would stay as an observer for now and analyze the situation.
The whole family started to set the plates and utensils. Takei helped pull out the chairs for all of the ladies individually. For some reason, there was an extra chair sitting at the end of the table. As planned, he ignored the suspicious events happening around.
Once everyone sat down comfortably however, Takei felt like moving the hidden agenda ahead by forcing his mom's hand.
In an exaggerated tone, Takei began to voice his displeasure at being hungry. "Alright, let's get to eating. I am starvingggg!"
As expected, Takei saw his mother sweating bullets. "Wait, son. Let's have a talk about something first. How was school today?
"Nope. I'm digging in."
After Takei boldly stated his desire, the front door of the house slammed open.
"Wait!"
A tall black haired middle aged man had entered the house. Despite his supposed middle age, he had a young and youthful face similar to someone else in the room. The same black hair and average body build easily revealed who this person was. There was no doubt that this was Takei's father, Yuuto Tanaka.
Takei gasped in surprise. He was astonished to see his father in the flesh. "Dad?!"
Nothing could've prepared him for this surprise.
A gentle smile appeared on Yuuto's face. "Long time no see, son."
"What are you doing here without telling us, Dad?"
A wry smile replaced the previous gentle smile Yuuto had. "Well, it was supposed to be a surprise. I wanted to surprise you guys, but you had to go detective mode and mess up the plans."
A sigh escaped Takei's mouth. "I'm sorry..."
Yuuto didn't seem displeased at the fact that his surprise was ruined. "It's fine, I managed to get a lengthy break from work so I decided to come home for a bit. Also, I wanted to meet my future daughter-in-law."
Takei lightly punched his dad in the ribs. "Hey Dad, stop trying to make a misunderstanding happen...."
Yuuto brushed off Takei's remark without any hesitation. "Haha forget that, let's sit down and start eating then."
Akari cheerfully announced her agreement. "Let's eat, I'm starving!"
All five people finally managed to settle down for dinner. Everyone sat down in their respective chairs, but the seating somehow ended up with Akari sitting next to Takei with both of them facing his parents. It felt like they were coming here to ask his parents for their blessing.
Airi was content with sitting at the end of the table. She didn't want any part in the conversation that was about to happen.
With all the food lined up, everyone was ready to eat. "Thanks for the food." Everyone gave their thanks and started digging in.
Several minutes later when everyone was still busy munching on their meal, Yuuto started to forward his agenda. "Now for introductions, I'm Takei's father, Yuuto Tanaka." Yuuto introduced himself and then glanced at Akari as if pressuring her to answer.
She seemed to have gotten the message since she immediately followed up. "I'm Takei's friend from school, Akari Akazawa. I wanted to thank you for your hospitality today."
After Akari gave her introduction, Yuuto seemed quite pleased. "Oh my, you're so polite. Unlike a certain someone I know..." Anyone could easily tell who Yuuto was referring to in this situation.
"Shut up."
A quick retort was unleashed by a slightly irritated Takei. Once again, Yuuto ignored his son's snarky attitude and continued on with his agenda.
"I wanted to thank you for being friends with my son. He can be blunt and brutally honest, but he's a good person. I hope you two can keep on being friends for the foreseeable future."
Akari listened to Yuuto's request gently and responded in kind. "Takei is a good person and he's helped me a lot. I hope to be able to be friends with him forever."
The "forever" part made Takei cringe from embarrassment. To him, it sounded like a proposal or a love confession. Moments later, he brushed it off thinking that no one could love a rough around the edges person like him. As soon as that thought passed through his mind, he felt a powerful force being exerted next to him. Immediately, he cleared his mind to remove all suspicion of belittling himself.
After hearing Akari's declaration, a mischievous smile appeared on Yuuto's face. "Ah, that's great. I have one more question though."
Akari looked ready to answer whatever Yuuto would throw at her. "What is it?"
"When are the grandchildren coming? Flora and I would love to have some as soon as possible."
Akari's determined face turned to a seriously confused, and then embarrassed face. She began to blush wildly and fidget around in her seat. However, Takei was the one hurt most by her destructive power since he was right next to her.
"Dad..."
Takei had to keep his dad in check before anything else happened.
"Ohoho, darling it's fun to tease her, no?"
"Indeed it is, looks like we'll have grandchildren to dote on sometime in the future."
While his parents were flirting with each other, Takei was trying his best to calm down the melting Akari. Yuuto noticed this and came up with another mischievous prank.
"Since you already call Flora mother, you can also call me father, you know?"
Akari was already at the breaking point, but she managed to hold on even with Yuuto's teasing. She managed to eek out a weak response.
"Okay... Father."
A shy beautiful girl was using her cuteness to the max in front of the old couple. Flora and Yuuto could do nothing but grin wildly at their new adorable daughter.
Takei observed the interactions between Akari and his parents and gave a wry smile as a response. He felt that it was nice to see her getting along with his parents so well. To him, it felt like Akari was in serious need of parental love. She did mention that her parents worked a lot so he would be happy if she could keep getting along with his parents as a substitute.
Wait, am I really thinking this deeply and compassionately about someone else? Am I changing? This feels weird, but not unpleasant...
Little did he know, Takei had already started to change the moment he had met the goddess.
---
Akari's Affection Meter: 32 -> 35%
Getting to know both parents and receiving their blessings for a good future is a huge milestone for Akari. It seems like her future will be a good one.