There are always a large group of people who come to the festival before the year ends. This year was no different in terms of visitor turnout compared to the previous years. Takei observed a monstrous line consisting of a large amount of people waiting to enter a certain hillside to get a good view of the fireworks.
"This is a problem..." Takei grimaced.
The hillside was about to completely fill up which meant there would be no room for them to sit down and watch. Takei had not planned for there to be this many people in the first place. He seriously regretted not planning better, but there was nothing that could be done now.
As if a higher being was listening to his plight, Takei's phone rang with a notification. He glanced at the screen only to find out that his sister was the one who texted him.
You're probably in a pickle right now. Don't worry, your amazing sister is here to help. Go to the hill at the edge of the southeast area, it's completely empty since I spread a bad rumor about it.
Takei stared at his phone screen wide eyed. He had his mouth gaping open as a result of his sister's meticulous planning.
"What's wrong, Takei?" Akari asked, worryingly.
After realizing how loved he was as a brother, Takei regained his composure and promised himself to reward Airi later on.
"Nothing, just a good stroke of luck," Takei grinned. "Let's go, I found a better spot to watch from."
He gripped Akari's hand even tighter and motioned her to follow him. They began to walk through a large crowd as Takei navigated to the south eastern area of the festival. Along the way, he heard many rumors that sounded oddly familiar to him.
Don't go to the southeast hill! Apparently, there's an evil ghost that haunts that hill!
I heard the ghost will inflict curses on idiot couples!
The ghost died lonely, so it's out to hunt couples!
"..."
Takei was dumbfounded to see that these people actually believed the made-up rumor that Airi made. Despite that, he pushed all of these comments to a small corner of his mind and subsequently forgot about them in order to focus on having fun with Akari.
After a few moments of travelling, they reached the sole hill that was devoid of any people. It looked like the rumors had worked wonders at keeping people from going here.
Both of them plopped down on the grass and started to relax. They didn't have the luxury of a picnic blanket, but the soft grass was just enough for them.
It would still be a couple minutes before the fireworks started, so they were just relaxing until then. Ever since they got to this hill and sat down, not a single word had been spoken. The peaceful silence was a proof of their strong connection with each other since neither of them felt awkward about not talking.
Oddly enough however, the first one to break the silence was Akari.
"Takei?" she asked.
"What's up?" Takei replied.
A serene smile appeared on Akari's face. At this point, she truly looked like the holy mother.
"Thanks," Akari gently smiled.
Listening to Akari's comment, he was extremely confused at what she was thanking him for.
He tilted his head in confusion. "What for?"
Akari smiled even wider. She was truly enjoying his cluelessness.
"For everything... you've given me so much."
At this moment, the only two emotions on Akari's face were affection and gratitude. There was no doubt that she truly believed what she was saying. The face she was making really left Takei with no choice but to accept the fact.
Takei tried to laugh it off. "Haha, you're just overestimating me."
Unfortunately for him though, Akari would not let it slide tonight.
"I am most definitely not overestimating you. If you ever think that for a second, I will explain thoroughly for you," she glared.
Takei looked a bit scared at the sight of an annoyed goddess. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Now back to what I was saying. I'll give you some background knowledge about me, since you don't know how much you've done for me," Akari declared.
Seeing the goddess's resolve to tell him about her past, Takei immediately shut up. Half of the reason was because he was interested, while the other half was because he was scared about talking out of line.
Akari looked up at the sky for a moment, almost as if looking for an answer. Several moments passed before she started to tell her story.
"My mom and dad have always been busy people all throughout my life. Dad's the chairman of a large bookstore company, while my mom's his secretary. They tend to move around a lot, so I ended up alone for most of my life," Akari sadly recalled.
"..." Takei's face tensed as Akari described her home situation.
Akari's sorrowful expression turned slightly brighter at the sight of Takei's anger. "You don't have to make that face. It's good to know that you care enough to get mad on my part."
Takei's expression loosened up after Akari reassured him.
"My aunt comes over to check on me sometimes, but I'm fully independent. My parents do come home every once in a while and bring me gifts though. I can tell they love me a lot, but they're too engrossed in their work to spend any meaningful time with me," Akari explained.
Before Takei could intervene with a complaint, Akari continued her story.
"I was extremely lonely and sad. When I reached high school, I decided to develop the goddess personality in order to make meaningful friends. Unfortunately though, I only ended up making worshippers and admirers. No one truly wanted to be my friend."
This is no way to raise a child... She's been enduring by herself for so long...
"I thought I would be alone for the rest of my life... Well, that was what I thought until I met an inconspicuous black haired teen at school on a certain rainy day..."
Takei gulped in response to this. Even though he was extremely dense, there was no way he wouldn't connect that black haired teen to himself.
"He treated me as an equal individual when others didn't. He gave me happiness in a time where the only emotion I had was sadness. He showed me the light at the end of the tunnel when I couldn't see any. He gave me warmth in a sea of coldness. You've taken so many of my firsts..." Akari blushed.
Whoa, calm down there. I'm going to end up getting the wrong idea. Also, what's up with the misleading statement at the end?!
"So, that's why... Please continue to stay with me. Now and forever," Akari pleaded.
A strong declaration by the goddess was made. If it wasn't Takei that was being spoken to, most people would've thought that this was a marriage proposal.
As for the answer to Akari's proposal, Takei didn't even need any time to respond.
"I was planning to stay with you either way. You didn't have to ask me at all," Takei smiled. "I'll always be here to listen to your selfishness. So go ahead, let out 16 years of loneliness. I'll be here waiting."
Akari's eyes teared up at the sound of Takei's resolve. It turned out that the goddess had not been as blessed as many believed, but that no longer mattered. She had one sole believer that would believe in her no matter what.
"Takei..." Akari began to say.
"Hm?" Takei replied.
The goddess put every ounce of her feelings into the sentence that she was about to say. "I think I li-"
As many cliches would suggest, a confession would be overshadowed by the fireworks going off at that moment. This was no different.
The fireworks show started happening which ended up muffling Akari's confession.
"What did you say?" Takei asked.
Although Akari looked a little bit crestfallen, she shook her head to clear her negative thoughts.
"...Nothing. It doesn't have to be now. I'll wait just a little bit longer," Akari smiled.
It seemed that Takei was unable to hear Akari's confession. He remained oblivious to her feelings, which was quite a stroke of unluckiness for her. Looks like the god of cliches has managed another narrow victory...
Or not.
"I think I like you."
That sentence resounded clearly and loudly in Takei's head over and over.
What am I going to do about this...
---
Akari's Affection Meter: 80 -> 100%
-NEW LEVEL UNLOCKED-
The confession bumped her affection up a huge amount, what a shocker! Akari's intentions have even evolved as a result. Dating with marriage in mind, is now the new resolution that she has.
The new level of the affection meter will be revealed at the start of volume 2 (chapter 31), tomorrow's chapter will be a short epilogue featuring your favorite (maybe not so) dense MC and his thoughts on this situation.
For all intensive purposes, the chapters will still continue to be numbered normally without adding the volume pretense before it.
Hint for next chapter: How will Takei handle the new situation where Akari's feelings are so evident to him?