Chapter 212 – Separation

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Takei was sitting in one class one day with a pale expression that seemed to suggest that he was feeling down about something. Eiji had seen this sight all day, so he was curious as to why Takei was so down.

"Akari left me..." Takei sadly responded.

"She left you?!"

"...to go on vacation for three days," Takei sighed.

Eiji facepalmed. "What the f*ck? Are you serious?"

"I know right?" Takei agreed. "I miss her so much already and it's only been one day!"

Although Takei agreed with Eiji, they weren't exactly on the same page about everything. Eiji was surprised that Takei was so down even though Akari was only going on a short family vacation for a few days.

"Dude, I think you're overreacting..." Eiji shook his head in disappointment.

"It's three whole days!" Takei exclaimed.

Three whole days without Akari felt like a millennium to Takei who spent every day with her. He felt a tinge of sadness every time he was reminded that Akari was not standing by his side as always.

Overhearing the situation, Ryuto came over and slapped Takei on the back. "Look on the good side, we can go have a boy's night out!"

"I agree with him, that's a very good idea. How about we invite Haruto as well?" Eiji agreed to Ryuto's plan.

Takei was willing to go with them to forget about his feelings of loneliness. All he had to do was wait another two more days then he would finally meet his girlfriend again.

"I can totally do this!"

***

"Woah, I'm finally back home."

Akari had just returned home from her short family vacation with her parents and was excited to be back. She really wanted to see Takei who she hadn't seen for three whole days, which saddened her immensely.

Uwah, I miss him so much. I haven't seen his face in so long. I just want to hug him like a teddy bear and never let go!

After she dropped off her stuff at her house, Akari headed over to the Tanaka house to meet Takei. Although she knew that Takei was home due to Airi telling her, the lights in the house were all off for some reason.

Takei wasn't one to forget his daily chores and rhythm, so why were the lights to his house turned off?

Using the key that she was given, Akari unlocked the front door and entered the dark household. There was not a single light on and all the curtains were fully closed. If Akari hadn't spent a long amount of time in this household, there was a good chance that she would've been lost in the darkness.

As she was making her way through the darkness, Akari noticed a static figure sitting on the couch in the living room. There wasn't any noise or movement from the figure, but Akari realized that it was Takei.

"Hey, what are you doing in the dark?" Akari asked as she went to the switch to turn on the lights. "I heard it's pretty bad for your health to stay in the dark for too long."

When the lights finally turned back on, Akari noticed that Takei's expression was stiff and his eyes were focused on nothing. He was clearly not in the right state of mind.

"H-Hey, Takei? Are you okay?" Akari shook him to try and wake him up.

Maybe it was the shaking or her voice, but Takei's pupil enlarged and focused itself on her. "Akari?"

"Hehe, I'm back. I missed you lots," Akari cutely waved.

As if the ice around his heart had thawed, Takei's pupil widened as he realized that the person he had waited so long for had finally come home. Not wasting a single second, Takei pulled her into his embrace.

"Akari, you have no idea how much I've missed you," Takei said as he tightly embraced her.

"I think I have a pretty good idea," Akari smiled. "Your hug today seems a bit tighter than usual."

"I'm making up for the three days that we couldn't see each other."

The cell signal was very weak in the area that Akari was staying, so video chatting and texting were not possible. Due to this, Takei almost died from sheer loneliness and boredom.

"Is this enough for you yet?" Akari asked.

"Mmm, fifteen more minutes at the very least."

They both hugged each other for about half an hour before letting go. Once they were satisfied with the hugs, the two sat down next to each other on the couch and cuddled as they watched a movie on the television.

"How was your vacation?"

"Quite refreshing actually," Akari replied. "I got to see a lot of different people and how they live their lives."

"Did you see any attractive guys?"

"The only one I found attractive is you," Akari smiled. "Is that what you wanted me to say?"

"Maybe..." Takei averted his eyes away from her.

Akari giggled at such a cute reaction. "You really can't be honest sometimes."

The many different sides of Takei that only she could see... This was Akari's most prized treasure and the thing that she held most precious to her heart.

There was not a single other thing in this world that she held more dear to her. Akari knew that Takei had bewitched her and put her under a spell of love, but she was incredibly happy that he chose her.

Out of all the other fish in the sea, the being known as Takei Tanaka ended up picking the being known as Akari Akazawa. The chances of them getting together were really slim initially due to how different they were, but this destined relationship became reality through one way or another.

For that, Akari was very grateful.

"Hey, Takei?"

"Hm?"

"I love you."

—

Graduation arc is up next!

Serious-san: So this is the last of the normal chapters...

Sugar-chan: Yep! Some of the next chapters will have some time skips, so there'll be a time stamp for the readers.