15 Chapter 14 - Winter Break

"...And so with that, have a good winter break and come back to school refreshed and ready to learn!"

The homeroom teacher of Class 1-A had finally ended the day off with a goodbye speech. It was the last day of school before all of the students went on winter break. Christmas and the New Year were rapidly approaching which left all the students excited for the festivities.

All the students, but one to be exact.

"What a bother..."

Takei Tanaka was that one student who wasn't excited for the festivities that winter brought. There was nothing more he hated than loud places and noisy people, but recently he had begun to see the beauty in noisiness.

It was most likely due to that girl who came over to his house everyday. She was a bundle of energy waiting to be released everyday. At first, he was having a bit of trouble handling her cheerful personality. Now however, Takei had spent a lot of time with her and had gotten used to her silly antics.

Loud sounds of chairs shuffling and desks moving awoke Takei from his daydreaming. All of the students of Class 1-A were leaving the classroom and heading home to get ready for the long break ahead of them. As if coinciding with the students' departure, his phone buzzed with a new notification. Takei glanced at his phone and saw a text message from a very familiar person.

Let's go out after school! Preferably, a place to go eat too~

There was clearly only one person who texted Takei this familiarly. The goddess of this school, Akari Akazawa, was of course the one texting Takei.

"Ah, geez... looks like we're gonna have to hit that burger place earlier than expected."

Since Takei was essentially an apostle of the goddess now, he had been planning several events to keep her entertained. A local burger place known for their cheap prices and delicious burgers was one of the locations he had researched.

Another text popped up momentarily after the first one.

Please don't ignore me, I get lonely easily!!!

Takei chuckled to himself after he read the text. "Haha, she's going to kill me if I don't hurry up..."

Picking up the bookbag next to his desk, Takei dashed out of his classroom at a speed that left his classmates in the dust.

***

The school gates were a place that held a lot of different feelings to many people. Some people felt it was a sinister place since it was the entrance to a detestable place where they had to spend eight hours of their lives everyday. Some people felt it was a glorious place since it allowed them a place to interact with friends.

However for one person, the gates meant an entrance to heaven. The goddess would always be waiting at the gate ready to welcome him. Of course, it was no different today.

"Hello Takei."

A curt and dry response was aimed at the approaching black haired student. That student, Takei, responded in kind.

"Hey."

Unlike the first after school date, there were still other students around at this time. Takei actually managed to make it on time today which resulted in there still being many students lingering around. Due to that, the goddess had her divine aura on blast.

The goddess then kept the conversation going. "Shall we proceed with our plans?"

"Sure."

The duo then proceeded to leave the school amidst all the stares aimed at them. Akari briskly walked by all the students without even flinching, while Takei was just barely managing by.

Several minutes of walking later, they managed to reach a nearby park. Takei scanned the area around them and confirmed that there were no more students around them. Akari seemed to do the same since she relaxed her shoulders and demeanor after confirming it herself.

"Haaaah, this is so tiring."

As blunt as possible, Takei stated an obvious fact. "Well, it is to be expected of the goddess though. Everyone at school would probably be shocked if you stopped doing that act one day."

"I guess so..."

Akari sounded crestfallen about that fact though.

As a way to please her, Takei told her of the plan for today. "I bet you're hungry as well. Would you want to go get a burger and fries right now?"

A faint halo could be seen above Akari's head. There was no doubt a sign of her happiness.

"Mhm. Let's go!"

Akari grabbed ahold of Takei's arm and practically dragged him away.

Right away, Takei had realized that she had moved on emotion and didn't think everything through. "Wait! You don't even know where we're going?!"

Akari heard Takei's pleading and reconsidered her actions. "Oh, my bad. Please do the honors and lead the way then!"

Takei sighed when he heard her response. "You're a handful, aren't you?"

"You know it!" Akari energetically agreed with his remark.

A wry smile appeared on Takei's face. On the inside, he was laughing at how childish she was acting.

Well, it's fine as long as she's having fun.

"Alright, follow me."

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Akari's Affection Meter: 35% -> ???

The Affection Meter may possibly be broken, so maintenance will start immediately. (Meter will update at end of arc. Expect a huge jump)