Chapter 28 – Troublesome

"You miss me much?"

"Why would I miss an idiot like you, Eiji?"

"Ouch."

Indeed, the person approaching them turned out to be his friend, Eiji.

He had come in a casual getup instead of a yukata like them. The clothes were still baggy and he was still wearing the glasses with no lens. The outfit was literally screaming that he was an otaku to everyone in a 50 mile radius.

"Did you come here alone?" Takei asked.

Eiji scratched his head. "Nope, I came here with my sister. She should be here any second now."

A loud scream was heard as a demon entered the vicinity.

"Oyyy, you idiot brother! Why did you leave me?!" Rikka yelled.

She ran straight at them, but froze when she saw Takei. It seemed she was also wearing a casual getup just like her brother. Blue denim jeans with a white frilly blouse were a sight for sore eyes to many single men at this festival.

Rikka's face immediately flushed when she realized Takei saw how she was acting. "I'm sorry for acting weird. My dumb brother left me out of nowhere."

"Haha, it's fine. This side of yours is a pleasure to see," Takei laughed.

The smooth talker was back at it again without him even knowing. Rikka's legs almost gave out when she heard his compliment, but she luckily managed to act normal.

"Thanks..." she whispered.

After seeing the meek Rikka, Eiji leaned towards her and whispered in her ear.

"Aren't you happy I ran and left you now? I found a pretty interesting guy here," Eiji nudged.

The older brother was obviously aware of his younger sister's crush. In fact, he encouraged it since he had known Takei for a long time. Making Rikka a Tanaka would be a dream come true for him. Eiji could not wait until the day he could refer to Takei as brother-in-law.

Seeing the unpleasant expression that Eiji had on his face, Takei reeled away in disgust. "Akari and I have somewhere to go."

Takei grabbed Akari's hand and started to walk away until someone else grabbed his unoccupied hand.

"Rikka?" Takei said, surprised.

He stared at the hand that was tightly gripping his own. Indeed, the person that grabbed his other hand was Rikka.

"My dumb brother is about to leave anyways, so can I go with you guys?" Rika pleaded.

Eiji looked confused. "I was about to leave?"

Rikka glared at him with an intensity that was like no other. "Yes, you are."

It took him a moment to understand the nuance behind Rikka's implication, but he did eventually understand.

"I guess I am," Eiji shrugged. "See you guys later."

He walked off before Takei could give him a reply. It looked like Eiji shoved the older brother role onto him.

"Looks like there's no choice but for me to keep an eye on you," Takei sighed.

"Great, let's go!" Rikka grinned.

"..."

Akari did not seem to be the least bit amused by the situation.

***

Takei did not anticipate this situation happening. Every game they've been at so far has ended up in a big mess. Akari and Rikka took everything a bit too seriously which resulted in an all out competition for each festival game they went to. He couldn't figure out why, but they seemed really amped up tonight.

Hoping to remedy this situation, Takei recommended taking a snack break for a bit in order to refresh themselves.

Akari seemed all tuckered out even though it had been less than an hour after they started.

"How about shaved ice?" Takei said, as he consoled her.

"Please get me the strawberry flavored one," Akari tiredly replied..

"I'll get the blueberry flavored one!" Rikka stated.

Takei nodded in acknowledgement. "Alright, stay here. I'll be back soon."

The second Takei was out of ear shot range, the two girls turned to each other. They both put on their game face and decided to confront each other for the first time.

"How does it feel to be a homewrecker?" Akari viciously spat.

This person was no longer the goddess, rather a more appropriate term for her would be the devil. The kindness and warmth typically found from her couldn't be found anymore. It felt like Akari became a whole different person.

"I knew him first, so give up. You won't win," Rikka retorted.

Just like her counterpart, Rikka had changed into her demoness form. An aggressive scowl was sketched onto her normally gentle face.

Akari laughed at her ridiculousness. "Haha, don't you know that the childhood friend never wins?"

"I guess we'll see..." Rikka devilishly grinned.

They glared at each other for a few more moments before Akari's face relaxed a bit.

"How about this... Why don't we handle this fair and square? Let's keep everything clean and promise not to sabotage each other," Akari proposed.

Rikka immediately agreed to her proposal. "Sounds good, let's shake on it."

The two demonkin reached out and shook each other's hands. There was a peaceful tranquility for a few moments, until a certain someone returned.

"Hey girls, I'm back. I got my banana shaved ice and both of your orders," Takei said.

He handed each of them their shaved ice and started digging into his own. Banana was Takei's favorite flavor, so he always got it whenever he got shaved ice. Poor Takei had only a few seconds of comfort before his peacefulness was once interrupted.

"Hey hey Takei, try my strawberry flavor!" Akari urged.

"Takei~ please try my blueberry flavor!" Rikka pleaded.

They both extended their spoons to Takei's mouth hoping that he would take a bite. Takei immediately started sweating bullets though, since there were two cute girls on either side trying to feed him. He could practically hear the crowd jeering at him.

Go blow up, you normie!

I wish I could be in the middle...

Grr... I hate popular guys.

At the certain moment that Takei's mental state was about to crumble, a phone started ringing loudly. It turned out to be Rikka's phone that was going off.

Rikka glanced at her phone screen. "Oh, it's my mom..."

She promptly excused herself and walked away to have a quick conversation with her mother. After a minute had passed, Rikka came back with a sullen expression.

"My mom said something happened at home and that we need to return immediately."

Takei looked shocked. "Is everything okay?"

"My grandpa is apparently not feeling well, so we have to leave early tomorrow morning to go visit him. We have to go home and pack right now," Rikka said.

"Do you need some help getting home?" Takei asked.

Rikka shook her head. "It's fine. My brother is waiting at the entrance for me."

She gave a slight bow to the both of them.

"Thank you for hanging out with me tonight," Rikka smiled.

Takei scratched his cheek. "No problem, I had fun."

"It was my pleasure," Akari gently smiled back.

Rikka gave her goodbyes and took off for the entrance of the festival. Once she left, Takei realized something important. They were once again alone together. He started to freak out at the prospect immensely.

Luckily for him however, Akari started to drag him along before he could entertain the thought anymore.

"The fireworks are starting soon, let's go!" Akari yelled as she grabbed his arm and pulled him forward.

---

Akari's Affection Meter: 75 -> 80%

Next chapter will have a major jump in affection. Just wait and see... Chapters 29 and 30 will be the last chapters for volume 1 of this series :)