Chapter 30 - Reflection

The whole Tanaka family was gathered outside a certain someone's room. Well, the whole Tanaka family minus a certain average looking boy. By process of elimination, it seemed that the identity of the room owner was Takei.

"Is he going to be okay?" Airi asked.

Flora had seen Takei coming home late without uttering a single word to her. "I'm not sure, he hasn't come out of his room since last night..."

"Something must've happened last night between him and Akari then," Yuuto guessed.

Indeed, Flora and Yuuto's conjectures were true. Something did happen last night between Takei and Akari. As a result, Takei had holed himself inside his room all morning to think about what he heard last night.

"I think I like you."

"I think I like you."

"I think I like you."

Argh, why is this happening? Why am I so bothered about this?

It was an unprecedented event for Takei to be this shaken about something. During his childhood, little Takei would be unfazed at just about everything. The haunted houses that he visited every Halloween did absolutely nothing to his normally aloof personality.

Then, why was this sentence bothering him so much? Was it the nuance of the question? Or, was it because of the person who said it?

Well, the answer was quite simple. It's a little bit of everything.

An almighty being had confessed her feelings to him. Akari still hadn't realized that Takei heard her, and he intends to keep it that way. He shivered in fear at the thought of the boys at school hearing about their relationship.

Another thing that was holding him back from thinking clearly about the confession was his past trauma. The events of his last year of middle school were still etched deeply into his soul. He had yet to be freed from the chains that locked his heart up. They had only loosened slightly due to Akari's help. However, they were still nowhere close to being fully broken.

I don't want her to leave me... please, don't be like that person. I don't want to be alone again.

Takei's fear of Akari leaving him had grown exponentially overnight. He had trouble sleeping throughout the night due to him waking up from countless nightmares.

He had finally found a friend who could uplift him and truly make him happy again. That was why the growing fear was grasping his heart so hard. He didn't want to go over the same experience again.

Tears streamed down Takei's face as he recalled the past events that had forced him to become the person he was today. A distant and cold person was not what he originally was. Before the incident, he had been a bright and joyous person with a slightly aloof personality. After the incident however, Takei struggled to maintain his happiness which resulted in a loss of his joyous personality. It should be unnecessary to say that his aloof personality got much worse than it had originally been.

Trust issues, depression, and anxiety were the core pillars that shackled him down. Soon, he would crumble into nothing as a result of these troubling issues.

That's how it should've been, however...

There was an external factor by the name of Akari Akazawa. She had been his pillar of light in the deep darkness. Akari pulled Takei away from all of the pain and gave him warmth when he was eternally frozen. No other person could've done the role of the goddess any better.

That was why Takei wanted to believe in her. He wanted to believe in the person that believed in him.

I can't give up. Not now, not ever. Not when I have such a cute girl cheering for me.

As Takei made his resolve, he received an oracle from the heavens. It was just a text message from Akari, but that was what it felt like to him.

"I hope we get to do more fun stuff in the new term! Let's do our best no matter the outcome though~" is what the text read.

"..."

Not a single word escaped Takei's mouth after he read Akari's text.

He felt stupid for ever doubting her after seeing the type of message she just sent him.

It was obvious Akari wanted the best for him no matter what.

That's why he needed to step up his game. Takei hoped that one day he would be good enough to be able to stand by side with Akari.

That was his one and only wish.

---

Takei's Seriousness: 80%

Afterword for Vol 1 coming later tonight