Chapter 207 – Summer Festival (4)

"Agh, we really shouldn't have eaten that..."

"You're right... That stick of fried butter tasted good at first, but became nauseating quickly."

Takei and Akari started their festival experience off by indulging in fried sticks of butter. They looked and tasted really good at first, but butter was butter no matter the form it took.

Eating almost the whole stick of butter made them nauseous to the point where they needed to go sit down and take a breather.

"What a way to start off the festival," Takei sighed as Akari rubbed his back to help his stomach digest the food.

"It can't be helped~"

In these situations where Akari acted really gentle and caring with him, Takei just wanted to get spoiled by her and do nothing else. However, he was outside and needed to maintain a good public image.

"Should we head to that fish scooping stall?" Takei asked.

Akari smiled and nodded. "Will you show me how to effectively scoop the fish then?"

"Of course!"

The two of them headed over to the fish scooping stall and observed the current situation. Many people were struggling to scoop up fish and were getting frustrated at the difficulty of the game.

It was obvious why they were mad though, the nets used to scoop the fish were incredibly fragile and broke easily.

"On second thought..." Takei wiped off the cold sweat that appeared out of nowhere on his forehead. "Ahaha, I'm not sure I can do that."

Akari believed he could do it, so she encouraged him. "You got this! I believe in you!"

With such a cute girl cheering me on, there's no other choice but to give it my all!

Approximately 30 seconds later, Takei was crouching with his face down. There was a shadow covering his face and an inexplicable sense of overwhelming defeat.

"W-Well... I think you'll get it on the next try..." Akari tried to console him. "10 tries and no fish is not that bad of a statistic... maybe..."

Just like Akari had said, Takei went through 10 tries at scooping the fish and failed all 10 times. It wasn't necessarily his fault though, the scooping nets were just too fragile.

"Here, let me try it."

Akari resolved herself and walked up to the front of the stall. The old man who ran the stall saw her come up next and got excited at the sight of a new contestant.

"Ohoho, the young lady is up next! Are you going to show your boyfriend how it's done?"

"Yes, hopefully."

Akari pulled up her sleeves and got into a battle-ready state of mind. She received a net from the stall owner and crouched down to look at the fish.

"Let's get this one... Right here!" Akari yelled as she quickly but delicately scooped up a goldfish by skimming the surface of the water.

Due to her technique, Akari managed to both catch the fish safely and not break the net.

"Andddddd, the young lady manages to catch the goldfish! Please give her a grand applause!"

The surrounding pedestrians continued to clap loudly at the one person who managed to defeat the unbeatable game. To everyone else, Akari was like a godly being who was able to make the impossible possible.

Takei felt happy at the sight of Akari being praised, but that only further accentuated the fact that he was far from reaching her level.

I'm still a useless guy, huh? Even after everything, I'm still the same useless Takei as ever. What a loser...

Before his mind could be filled with more doom and gloom, Akari approached him with a small plastic baggie that was filled with water and the goldfish that she had won. She had an innocent smile on her face as she happily showed him the baggie.

"Do I get a reward?" Akari shyly asked.

The expression on Akari's face was of a puppy begging for her owner to reward her. She looked expectant towards Takei. It was as if she was pressuring him to do a certain act.

Her expression is really too cute! I'm turning into a puddle just watching this cute creature!

Takei immediately forgot about his own insecurities and focused on what he needed to do. Even if he wasn't sure of himself, Akari was here to believe in him. Therefore, he needed to reward her accordingly.

"There, there. How is it?" Takei asked as he gently rubbed the top of her head without messing up her hair.

"Mmmmmmm... It feels really good..." Akari said as her expression began to melt and become mushy.

The crowd around them quietly watched them with gentle smiles on their faces. Everyone was excited to see the teen couple be so romantic out in the open.

Even the stall owner seemed to welcome such an attraction since it was bringing a lot of people to his stall.

"Alright, that's enough. There's a crowd forming," Takei pointed out. "I don't want anyone else seeing this expression of yours so let's go."

"O-Okay, let's go to a different area then. I'm feeling a bit parched right now," Akari replied.

"Let's get some hot cocoa?"

"There's hot cocoa?!" Akari stared at Takei wide-eyed.

The season was well into summer, but it wasn't quite that hot yet. Especially since it was currently nighttime, there was a very refreshing atmosphere that had a light breeze.

"Yep, they even have extra add-ons like marshmallows, candies, and some other things as well."

"We. Are. Going. Right. Now."

"What is with that weird sentence phrasing?"

"Please don't mind it," Akari shook her head as she grasped hands with Takei. "Let's hurry up and go!"

Takei smiled at the sight of Akari trying to pull him along. "Yes yes. I'm coming."

—

Supreme Idiot Couple Meter: 87 -> 90%

The goddess once again shows her skill!

Serious-san: Such a cheat character...

Sugar-chan: She's in the top 10 strongest characters of all time~