Currently, Takei was on an early morning jog.

He had woken up at the crack of dawn and decided to continue his normal exercise routine.

At the current moment, his body was not yet at a place that he deemed worthy.

That's why this early morning jog was just a little bit different.

Usually, he would run around the neighborhood for around half an hour, but not today.

Today, Takei was heading towards Ryuto's house in order to get help with his muscle development.

Ryuto wasn't exactly a gym freak, but his body was well-toned and fit so he was a good choice to ask help from.

After a 12 minute jog, Takei finally reached the Inuzaki residence.

Since it was still really early in the morning, Takei called Ryuto on his phone instead of knocking on the front door.

A couple seconds later, a familiar face appeared at the entrance of the house.

"I could tell from your face that you're raring to go."

Ryuto yawned as he wryly smiled at the enthusiastic Takei.

As of late, his master-servant complex problem has gotten a lot better. Takei was finally able to hold a conversation with him without being called by his title.

It was a welcome change, since Takei genuinely wanted to be friends with him.

"Yep, I'm all ready to go. Let's start."

With a fiery passion blazing inside of his heart, Takei insisted that they start right away.

"Yes, yes. I have everything set up in my backyard. I also made some protein shakes as well."

Since Ryuto had always been a diligent person, he had set everything up beforehand. All of the machines and weights had been set up properly in the backyard, while the balanced breakfast meal that was loaded with proteins was awaiting them inside of the kitchen.

Excited at the eventful workout session ahead of him, Takei excitedly grinned.

"Let's get started."

***

Arriving home after spending most of his morning exercising, Takei needed to go get ready for school.

He quickly took a shower and went into his room ready to get dressed.

Since all of his family had left earlier for various reasons, he left the shower with only boxers on.

Takei enjoyed the freedom of an empty house, so he decided to let the refreshing air surround his mostly naked self.

It felt great to let the cool air touch his heated skin after a long hot shower.

Opening the door to his room, Takei went to go put on his uniform that should've been in his closet.

However, he paused mid-action due to some unforeseen circumstances.

There was quite literally a goddess sitting on his bed.

"Uh..."

Takei was speechless at how to respond to the situation.

Akari quickly covered her face with both hands, but she was obviously peering through the gaps between her fingers.

Although the increasing embarrassment was visible, Akari's interest in Takei's body took precedence over everything else.

"You can continue?" She shyly asked.

"Definitely not."

Takei immediately rebuked her question and grabbed his uniform in a hurry to leave the room.

Shutting the door behind him, he ran towards the bathroom at a breathtakingly fast speed.

Once he was in the bathroom, Takei splashed cold water onto his face and tried his best to control his raging emotions.

Restraint...

Restraint..

Restraint.

Although his appearance induced large amounts of shame, Takei couldn't help but feel a certain type of way when he saw Akari's half-embarrassed, half-fascinated face.

It was as if a primal feeling awoke from inside of him. If he had stayed there any longer, there would be no way to tell what could've happened.

He knew Akari trusted him immensely, and he didn't want to betray that trust.

That's why he needed to reign in his emotions. Unchecked teenage hormones were the bane of everyone's existence.

Going against her will was not something he wanted.

Takei wanted to cherish her for the rest of his life. As a result, most of his actions were meticulously planned to be very cautious and considerate of her.

There was no telling what would happen to him if she rejected him as well.

That verbal confession that she had made was still at the very back of his mind.

She had said that she liked him, but verbal words were nothing more than just simple words at the end of the day.

In short, they had no binding power.

As the negative train of thought began to grow longer, Takei realized the need to stop it immediately.

He had grown as a person throughout these past couple months.

The past him would've definitely ran away from this situation, heck he might've even avoided it completely.

However, this was a new version of him.

Looking at his face in the mirror, he saw a slightly more happy person than the one a couple months ago. Well, "slightly happy" was probably an understatement.

Takei finally put on his uniform and left the bathroom.

Heading back to his bedroom, Takei had an indomitable expression on his face.

He would ensure that all of his efforts would not go to waste.

Opening the door, he noticed that Akari was sitting in the same position as she was moments ago. It looked like she was waiting for him to finish getting ready.

"Hey, Takei. Are you oka-?!"

Without even giving her a chance to finish, Takei walked up and gently embraced her.

Taking in her scent and the feeling of her soft skin, Takei relished every moment that he was able to be connected to this wonderful person.

Even with school readily approaching, he refused to let go.

As an addition, Takei even grabbed a lock of her hair and began playing with it.

While he was stuck in a blissful trance, Akari inwardly laughed and let Takei be spoiled as much as he pleased.

"Fufufu, don't mind me spoiling you~"

She knew how much of a burden he was carrying, so Akari tried to do her best by letting him unwind and let go of all that weight on his shoulders.

Akari slowly rubbed his back, while also patting his head with her other hand.

Looking at the clock, she judged that they would most likely be late for school, but it didn't matter.

Akari would spoil him as much as he wanted.

---

Akari's Final Affection Meter: 52 -> 59%

They were indeed late to school, by the way.

Author-san: Worth it.

Sugar-san: Worth it.

Serious-san: Wor- ARGH?! What's wrong wrong with me?!