Chapter 93 – Walk, Step, Run
The day continued with many people constantly bombarding them with questions.
All throughout the classes that they had, both Takei and Akari were drowned in a sea of people asking them about their relationship.
"How did you get together?"
"Who asked who out first?"
"Can I come to the wedding?"
Although they were mostly just harmless questions, answering a large volume of them had drained Takei more than he thought.
Since Akari was used to the popularity, she wasn't strained as much as Takei.
Eventually, the lunchtime bell rang which signaled the release of Takei's eternal hell.
"You look surprisingly better than I thought."
Eiji praised him while slapping Takei on the back with a grand old smile on his face.
Not exactly enjoying the new found popularity that he had, Takei slowly stood up from his chair with an exhausted smile on his face.
"I'm enduring for her. What type of boyfriend would I be if I couldn't grant my cute girlfriend's wishes?"
Surprised by Takei's sudden bluntness, Eiji's jaw flew open as he heard some words that he thought would've never came out of Takei's mouth.
"You're just full of surprises today..."
Quickly recollecting himself, Eiji tried to adjust to Takei's new found confidence.
On the inside, he was happy that Takei was finally fixing his ego problem. However, he was having a hard time adjusting to the new and improved Takei Tanaka.
It was just too much of a stark difference for him to handle.
"Well, good job today. Let's go get some grub."
"Yeah, okay."
To help Takei's mental state, Eiji suggested that they go put something in their stomachs.
Leaving the classroom, they both started to head for the cafeteria.
As Takei walked through the hallways, there was a large amount of people observing him without making a move.
It appeared to him that they were most likely sizing him up to see if he was worthy of standing next to the goddess or not.
Once he realized this, Takei puffed his chest and walked with his head held high.
While Takei was going through this set of motions, Eiji was trying his best to stifle the laughter that was trying its best to escape.
Finally reaching the cafeteria, Takei noticed that there was a large group of people converging in one spot.
At this point, Takei's sixth sense told him that his other half was busy dealing with the masses over there.
He slowly walked over there and made sure that his presence wasn't noticed by the surrounding crowd.
"Everyone, please line up! Ask questions one by one please!"
Akari was trying her best to assuage the rough crowd that was still bombarding her with questions about her romance.
Takei felt annoyed that they were taking away his precious time with her, so he decided to intervene.
"Sorry, she has a prior engagement with me."
Cutting through the crowd, Takei announced that Akari was already preoccupied.
Not caring for the other students at all, he grabbed Akari's hand and dragged her away from the horde of people.
"You saved me..."
Even though Akari was used to the popularity, it didn't mean that she was completely numb to it.
Takei saw the evident exhaustion on her face, and frowned at his beloved's weakened mental state.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just a bit tired."
Truth be told, Akari was more than just a bit tired, but she didn't want to make Takei worry any more than he already did.
Takei knew that she was in high spirits because they finally were able to show off their new status as a couple to everyone, but he was also worried about the mental stress that would be accumulated from dealing with the masses.
He decided to get Akari a refreshment from the vending machine, until he realized that Eiji was nowhere to be found.
Checking his phone, Takei saw that Eiji had sent him a text.
There was a sudden new game update for my favorite mobile game. Sorry, I went to the library to charge my phone and to download the game faster. Have fun with your wife!
"As expected..."
Takei rubbed his temples as he remembered that Eiji was too far gone in the otaku world.
"Hey, Akari. What type of drink do you want?"
Without a second thought to Eiji's antics, Takei focused on the adorable person next to him.
"Mm, I'm feeling up to a strawberry milk."
"Alright, I'll get that and then we can go to the roof and eat."
Takei abandoned the idea of eating in the cafeteria, once he noticed the two small lunch boxes that Akari was holding.
He was mystified as to how they had even appeared in her hands in the first place when Akari was barehanded the whole time, but he didn't dare to ask any further.
Takei walked to the vending machine and got two drinks for the both of them, and then headed up to the roof with Akari by his side.
It was refreshing to experience something normal, but with a different perspective.
This would be the first time that they ate together as a couple.
Running through the usual motions, everything was set up in a short amount of time due to Takei's proficiency from doing these repeated motions almost everyday.
As per usual, they blessed the food and then began to eat.
However, the nuance this time was different.
Instead of a friend making food for another friend, it now became a wife making food for her husband.
Relishing from the excitement of the advancement of their relationship as well as the delicious flavor of the food, Takei petted the top of Akari's head.
"It tastes as great as always, thank you for your hard work."
"..."
Since they were now lovers, there was a new sense of embarrassment and shame that came with it.
Akari was already happy that Takei had praised her cooking once again, but she was now a bit more embarrassed than usual since there was a good chance that she would be cooking for him for the rest of their lives.
She once heard from an old married lady that it's a good sign if the husband always thanks the wife for her cooking. It apparently means that the husband's stomach has been captured and that he would never want to leave his wife as a result.
In Akari's eyes, this was the same thing as Takei proposing to her.
As if that's never happened by accident before.
"Takei, you're really a natural at this, huh?"
"A natural at what?"
"Nothing, nevermind."
Slightly pouting, the goddess went back to eating her lunch.
I guess the denseness factor still hasn't gotten any better with him...
---
Idiot Couple Meter: 8 -> 13%
Takei's Initial Denseness: 99999%
Takei's Denseness after dating: 99998%
Sugar-san: I mean... it got better, right?
Serious-san: Uh, yeah sure... Let's go with that