Today, Yuuto managed to get a day off from work so he planned for the whole family to go out and have a nice family outing at the park. Of course, that included Akari as well.

Surprisingly, Akari's parents agreed to go as well. That was most likely a result of their new stance with being more involved with their daughter.

Takei felt happy that his outburst proved helpful, but Akari would still never know what he did for her.

That's fine. A smile on her face is enough of a reward for me.

As Takei was having some idiotic romantic thoughts, everyone in his house finished getting ready for the picnic.

It was a little past eleven in the morning and the ride would take roughly half an hour, so they meant they would get there just in time for lunch.

Almost as if it was planned by fate, the doorbell rang and alerted the Tanaka household to the visitors waiting on their porch.

That must be Akari and her parents.

Since Takei was the closest to the door, he went up and greeted them first.

Takei opened the door and was blessed immediately.

Akari was wearing a one-piece dress that had multiple flower petals spread across the dress as a design choice. There was a mesmerizing contrast between the sunflowers and the light blue dress.

"Akari, you look very beautiful today."

Somehow, the compliment came out easier than expected.

Takei knew that girls who put effort into their beauty should be praised, but it was a different case when it dealt with the girl he liked.

Almost like clockwork, a pleased smile appeared along with a faint blush on Akari's face.

"Thank you very much, Takei."

In her hands was a small basket of, what Takei assumed to be, food for the picnic. For this event, the Akazawas were in charge of providing the food while the Tanakas were in charge of transportation.

Seeing the two adults in front of him, Takei respectfully bowed.

"It's been a while, Mr. and Mrs. Akazawa."

Haruto Akazawa was dressed up in the classic dad-going-out-to-a-family-event outfit. He wore simple khakis and a collared shirt.

On the other hand, Yuriko Akazawa wore a similar one-piece dress that resembled her daughter's dress. Instead of the flower pattern, she had a simple peach colored dress which helped emphasize her youthfulness. If Takei hadn't known that Yuriko was Akari's mother beforehand, he would've mistakenly assumed them to be sisters.

"Oh dear, you don't have to be so formal. Just call me mother-in-law~"

"Oh, okay..."

It was at this point that Takei realized that both Akari and Yuriko were able to sweep him along at their own pace.

Like mother, like daughter...

Haruto slyly grinned at the situation and decided to add onto Yuriko's suggestion.

"That's a good idea. Father-in-law would sound great."

While Takei got to know his future parent-in-laws better, his actual parents came from their bedroom with everything packed for the day.

Seeing their son mess around with another family, a gentle smile spread across Yuuto and Flora's faces.

"Hello, it's nice to meet our future schemer-in-laws."

"Honey, your true intentions are leaking out."

As expected of the goofy couple, they saw Haruto and Yuriko as fellow comrades in teasing their children.

Since both parties were experienced parents, they formally introduced each other and bonded over the cuteness of their children.

Takei felt embarrassed about hearing the conversation so he went outside to avoid the ensuing chaos that was happening.

Akari promptly followed him, while also smiling at the things she was hearing from his parents.

"So, I hear you were a cute child?"

"Shut it."

As Akari had speculated, Takei was indeed a cute child when he was younger.

Flora compared him to a real life angel, which made Takei incredibly embarrassed about being referred to by that nickname.

Takei had forbidden her to talk about his past, but it seemed that Flora had "accidentally" let it slip.

Sighing, Takei wondered about what his sister was doing.

Airi promised to return home in time for the departure to the park, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Where is she..."

As Takei began to worry for his little sister, the aforementioned person suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Miss me?"

Airi showed up with a bag of card games and small snacks.

"You're telling me you made us wait on you because you needed to buy some card games and...is that a half eaten cake?!"

"Teehee."

She was not the least bit ashamed about fueling her sweet tooth.

At such an incredulous action, Takei could only sigh and bonk her on the head.

"Hurry up and get ready."

"Aye aye captain!"

Airi agreed to Takei's command and went inside to get ready.

Watching the closeness of the two siblings, Akari could only warmly smile.

"You two are really close."

"We're not."

Takei denied her claim, but he did know that it was true in reality. He just didn't want to admit it out of embarrassment.

Akari knew that he was just shy about admitting the truth, so the smirk on her face was getting increasingly bigger.

Meanwhile, Takei looked at the watch on his wrist and found out that there was still some time before they had to leave.

At the thought of having to wait more, Takei tried his best to suppress a yawn, but it was to no avail.

"Are you tired?"

Akari seemed worried that he was feeling tired at this time of day, so she wanted to make sure that he was okay.

"Yeah, I'm tired from studying late last night."

As a part of his routine to become a better person, Takei strived to study as much as possible in order to match the person he admired.

Hearing that he stayed up late to study, Akari had a displeased expression on her face.

"It's not good to stay up late studying..." Akari explained. "Moderation is key."

Takei agreed with her reasoning, but he had his own agenda to attend to.

"I can only achieve my goal by studying hard."

Takei stated his resolution, but Akari frowned harder as a result.

Knowing that she couldn't convince him, Akari knew that she had to do something to lessen his burden.

"How about I give you a lap pillow now then?" Akari suggested. "There's still a bit of time before we have to leave, so you can nap in the meantime."

The proposal was a very advantageous one for Takei, but his inner conscience was trying its best to resist.

Seeing Takei's hesitation, a mischievous smile appeared on Akari's face.

She sat down on the porch and patted her laps as if inviting him to lay down on her thighs.

Yep, that's it. There goes my reasoning.

Takei gave up on resisting and laid down on the porch while also laying his head down on Akari's lap.

The softness and warmness that was being transferred over to him was currently overwhelming his consciousness.

He felt really grateful at that moment for having such a reliable person to support him.

Although the lap pillow was very comforting, it was also very dangerous.

Takei was teetering on a tightrope between giving in to his lust and resisting it.

Luckily for him, he didn't have much time to make a choice.

A creeping haze was beginning to occupy his vision.

It would only take a few more seconds until Takei succumbed to the void of nothingness.

Akari saw that Takei was drifting off, so she slowly rubbed his hair in order for him to enter a peaceful nap.

Slowly but surely, Takei was falling asleep.

Just before completely falling to the veil of darkness, he heard one last thing being whispered to him.

"Sweet dreams, Takei."

---

Akari's Final Affection Meter: 18 -> 22%

The Holy Mother mode makes a return!

Serious-san: What if when the meter reaches 100%, Akari attacks Takei?

Sugar-san: That would be wonderful!