Chapter 97 – Choice
One day at school, Takei was reading a textbook for his literature class and found an interesting quote that stood out to him.
"You don't get to choose who you love."
It was a quote in a philosophical textbook that piqued his interest.
The teacher explained that the origin of the quote was from a heartbroken maiden who couldn't shake off her illicit feelings for a married man.
Although the woman knew it wasn't right, her heart refused to listen to her.
Hearing this tragic story didn't really strike a chord with Takei, but it brought up a question that interested him.
What had drawn me to Akari?
Even though Takei knew that he loved her from the very bottom of his heart, he still wondered what was it that had brought him to that point.
Was it her beauty? Her personality? Her cooking? Her kindness? Her compassion? Her tendency to get worked up over little things?
A flurry of questions appeared in Takei's mind as he contemplated what made him so attracted to his beautiful and caring girlfriend.
Once class ended, he headed to the usual spot on the rooftop of the school to meet up with Akari.
As expected, she was already there waiting for him.
Akari was sitting on a spread out picnic sheet with both bentos already set out to eat.
"Good afternoon, Akari."
He sat down with a serious expression on his face.
Fearing the worst, Akari regarded him with a concerned expression.
"Good afternoon to you too... but, what's with the face?"
She decided to press the immediate topic and not to dance around it.
After hesitating to reply for a moment, Takei asked her about the topic that was at the root of his problems for today.
"Why did you fall in love with me?"
Putting aside everything that she had said about him in the past, he wanted to truly know how she got attracted to him in order to dissect the truth behind that quote.
Realizing that it wasn't as serious as she had thought, Akari's expression relaxed quite a bit.
"Maybe it was luck or maybe it was fate, but I felt myself attracted to you before I even knew it."
Simply chalking it up to the universe, Akari shrugged and smiled longingly at him.
"I don't know how to describe it, but... Something in my heart told me that you were the one."
Akari explained how she instinctively knew that Takei would be the only one for her.
Without even a shred of doubt, Takei understood her words instantly.
What was I so worried about? Who cares if it was due to either luck or fate? My heart chose to love Akari, so I have to do my best to respect my own feelings.
After clearing up his thoughts, Takei's expression livened up which surprised Akari since he was in a weird mood up until just now.
"Thank you for helping me organize my thoughts, as thanks..."
Takei leaned forward and planted a passionate kiss onto Akari's forehead.
Even though he wanted to fully make up with her, they were still at school so he had to refrain.
As a result of the kiss, Akari's face changed colors to the shade of a tomato.
She looked away for a moment, with a satisfied smile on her face.
Takei noticed this and was plenty happy himself.
Once Akari turned back, they both locked eyes and looked lovingly at each other.
There was still a decent amount of time left for lunch, so the usual lovey dovey couple stuff happened without restraint.
***
Returning back early before lunch break ended, Akari Akazawa had a determined yet worried expression on her face.
"Heyo, Akarin! Right here!"
Out of the corner of her eye, Akari realized that Helena was waving to her from a table of girls that she knew very well.
It was the usual lineup of Helena, Rikka, and Arisa.
They seemed to be eating lunch together, until they noticed Akari walking by.
"Where's the husband?"
Helena innocently asked where Akari's other half was.
"He went back to class after we finished eating..."
Akari sat down at the table and explained why she was alone.
"Is something wrong?"
Arisa asked Akari about the current situation, since Akari was wearing a difficult expression on her face.
"Well..."
"We're all ears."
Akari seemed hesitant to ask, but Rikka pushed her forward.
"It's Takei's birthday soon, and I'm stuck on what to get."
Explaining the situation, Akari told everyone that she was worried about what would make Takei happy.
"Bwahahaha, so that's what you were worried about!"
"It's not that funny..."
Helena almost did a spit take when she heard Akari's explanation, to the goddess's dismay.
While those two were bickering, Arisa and Rikka had a thoughtful expression on their faces.
"How about knitting a scarf for the upcoming winter?"
"I agree, something to wear for the harsh cold might be nice."
Arisa proposed that Akari should knit him a scarf, while Rikka agreed with the sentiment of a weather accessory.
"I think servicing him in bed would be nice."
"Helena!"
In contrast to Arisa and Rikka's well thought out ideas, Helena decided to suggest something much more primitive yet effective.
Akari seemed to vehemently refuse Helena's suggestion, but she secretly wasn't opposed to it.
Ignoring that weird answer, Akari thought about the other two really hard and finally reached a consensus on the present that she wanted to give to him.
Since this would be the first present gifted as lovers, Akari needed to ensure that there was a certain flare in her present to make it obvious to Takei that it was made with love.
"Thank you everyone, I think I know exactly what to get him."
After contemplating it some more, Akari finally reached the answer that she wanted.
Now, it was only a matter of time before Takei would be ambushed by the goddess's frontal assault.
---
Idiot Couple Meter: 26 -> 30%
Looks like the goddess is on the offensive this time!
Serious-san: Will some life changing event that turns the plot serious happen?
Sugar-san: How about no? Sugar is life~