Chapter 22 – Change of Plans

They both had their fill of cuteness for one day, so they decided to stop to ensure there was enough time for other activities. The two left the cat cafe shortly after ordering drinks to go. Akari went with a chocolate mocha latte, while Takei went with an iced tea.

"So where are we headed next, my lady?"

"I believe I'm in need of new clothes, will you escort me?" Akari played along.

"By your will."

Takei held his hand out and Akari grabbed it tightly as if it was second nature to her.

Both of them strolled hand in hand with drinks in their opposite hands. What was just normal skinship to them, looked like flirting to other people. This resulted in the misunderstanding of their relationship.

"What a lovely couple."

"Grr, blow up normies!"

"Why does she have to be taken?!"

People all around them were projecting their thoughts out loud. Most of those comments were of envy, but there was the occasional one of admiration.

The civilians were all but justified in their comments though. The sugary aura that surrounded Takei and Akari was detrimental to any people who passed by. It was as if an immovable force was pushing them away and not letting them interfere.

As they were being showered by the multitude of comments, Takei kept on walking while also pushing away the idea to respond to those comments. It wouldn't be wise to let his annoyance be shown to the people who were actively trying to provoke him.

However, he managed to accidentally bump into a pair of window shoppers.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."

"It's fine, it was an acciden- eh?!"

The guy he had bumped into turned out to be a familiar person. Although Takei didn't want to acknowledge it or even interact with that person, it was too late.

Takei was nonplussed about the realization though. "My apologies, now please excuse me."

"Wait!"

The person stopped Takei in his tracks by putting his hand on Takei's shoulder.

"It's your best friend, Eiji. Don't you remember me?!"

"Ah, so it was. I didn't recognize you," Takei blatantly lied.

"You totally did!" Eiji facepalmed.

Takei ended up bumping into his old friend of many years. Deciding that the situation would be a hassle to explain, he tried to get out of there as fast as possible, but to no avail. Poor Takei's wish to lead an uninteresting life was once again thwarted by fate.

Curse you, gods. I'll get my revenge later.

Although Takei planned to get back at the gods later for his unluckiness, there was someone else next to Eiji that caught his attention. Of course, Takei knew who this person was as well.

"Hi, Takei..." the girl shyly said.

"Hello, Rikka. I hope your brother hasn't been troubling you too much."

"Why are you talking about me as if I'm some sort of troublesome child?!"

A smirk grew on Takei's face at the nostalgia of the banter.

Feeling a slight tug on his hand, Takei looked to his right and saw Akari look at him with determined eyes. He nodded after understanding the message she was trying to convey.

"I know you guys have already met her, but this is my friend, Akari."

For some odd reason, a slight shadow appeared over Akari's face. As expected though, the indelicate blockhead didn't notice it.

Without noticing a single thing that happened, Takei motioned towards her and winked to give her the go ahead. Akari walked up to them and turned her charisma on full blast.

"For introduction purposes once again, my name is Akari Akazawa. I hope to get along well with you two."

The two siblings were completely overwhelmed by her divine nature, but they managed to grasp their bearings to give back a response.

"Eiji Hosegawa, childhood friend of this blockhead over here."

"Rikka Hosegawa, also a childhood friend of this dense piece of work."

"Why do I feel like I'm being made fun of..."

The three childhood friends quickly caught up with each other, while Akari was standing there smiling at them gently.

"Are you two free now?" Eiji asked them.

"We were looking for things to do as a matter of fact," Takei replied.

"Great! How about coming with us to go ice skating?"

Ice skating was a very popular thing to do during the winter, so there was no better time to do it than now.

"What do you think, Akari?" Takei asked.

"I've never been ice skating before... but it sounds fun, so why not?" Akari replied, with an interested smirk.

After hearing Akari's affirmation, Eiji was excited to see how this scenario would play out between the two lovebirds.

"That settles it, let's go!"

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This dumb couple needs to go hurry and blow up already!!!