After what seemed to be an endless amount of time in the black abyss, Takei's consciousness returned to reality.

"Haaah, that felt great."

As he groggily woke up from his nap, Takei realized that there was an unusually heavy amount of weight on his body.

Finally opening his eyes fully, he found a certain beloved person on his body.

Akari was still happily snoozing while laying on top of his body.

Even though she looked incredibly at peace with herself, Takei needed to wake her up since the sun was already heading down.

Mustering his resolve, Takei disregarded his better feelings and woke up his girlfriend.

"Mm, five more minutes..."

"Oi, that's my line."

Akari refused to wake up, but Takei kept shaking her shoulder.

After a few moments of Takei's interference, Akari's eyes finally batted open clearly.

There was no longer a cloudy haze within, rather there was a clear ocean blue pair of irises that stared back at him.

"Takei? What are you doing here?"

Sounding confused, Akari asked Takei about the situation.

So, she's just going to disregard the fact that we're snuggled up to each other and just continue on? Should I take this as a good or bad thing?

Although Takei didn't know what to make of his girlfriend's thought process, he explained it to her nonetheless.

"After waiting for a while, I was getting worried since you hadn't come over yet and none of my texts and calls were getting through."

"Uuu, I'm sorry... I was really tired after baking your cake..."

Akari timidly apologized after she realized how much Takei had been worrying about her.

"It's okay, I know that you were trying your best for me."

Takei knew of the struggles that Akari went through for him, so he was extremely happy to have someone who cared so much for him.

However, Akari was put in a state of immense exhaustion which made him frown slightly.

"Just... don't try so hard next time? I tend to worry a lot when my beautiful girlfriend is on the verge of collapsing because of me."

Takei sincerely expressed his worries, to which Akari responded with her own genuine feelings.

"I will never not try hard for you. Next time, I'll be more careful, but I won't ever compromise when it comes to you. Don't you ever forget that."

Akari acknowledged his worries, while also adding on some of her own beliefs that would never change.

Even though Takei received an answer that wasn't exactly what he was expecting, he grinned a little bit too wide once he heard Akari's unyielding beliefs.

He knew that Akari would always try her best and then some when it came to him.

Takei didn't want to step on her pride as a girlfriend, so he stopped the conversation from going on any further.

"I understand your resolve now, I promise I won't try to stop you anymore."

Once Akari heard his answer, a gentle smile appeared on her face.

"Thank you."

To show that she was grateful towards him, Akari thanked Takei and leaned in closer to him.

With their faces only inches apart and their lips about to touch, the duo were about to enter another sugary atmosphere that would inevitably bring about the diabetes apocalypse.

"Stop!!!!"

Well, they were about to until a certain sister figure interrupted their sweet time together.

"I'm here to celebrate Takei's birthday, not to die from the sugar overdose!"

Airi screamed at the both of them annoyingly, since this wasn't the thing that she signed up for.

Going back in time, Takei told Airi that he was going to search for Akari at her house.

As a result, Airi waited until Takei got home in order to celebrate his birthday with him.

However, he never came home and was gone for a few hours.

In reality, he was just taking a nap.

Nonetheless, there was no way for Airi to contact him since he was out like a light.

Worried for her brother and Akari's safety, Airi dashed over to Akari's house in a hurry and was greeted with a lovey dovey scene that almost made her want to throw up.

Takei and Akari immediately let go of each other and bowed down violently.

""We're very sorry!""

Airi sighed and then decided to cut them some slack since it was Takei's birthday.

"Alright, let's go ahead and eat dinner before we shower him with our presents.

Moving the conversation forward and switching topics, Airi was akin to a god to both Takei and Akari who were feeling very conscious and embarrassed about their actions.

Since both of them had been sleeping for the better half of the day, there was no one awake to prepare dinner.

Therefore, the trio called a nearby pizza shop for some takeout.

They all decided on classic pepperoni and cheese in order to prioritize the speed of delivery over anything else.

After the pizza arrived, all three of them made their way through the pizza in a stupendous rate.

The pizza was only on the table for five minutes before there was nothing left.

This was clearly a result of sleeping all day without any nutrition.

After the dinner portion of the day was done, Akari brought out the cake from the refrigerator.

"This is the fruit of my efforts, please give it a taste."

She cut two slices and handed it to both Takei and Airi to try.

Putting the slice in his mouth, a flavor bomb was the only way to describe what Takei was experiencing.

The cake was sweet, but not to the point of it being overbearing. If anything, the springiness of the cake was something that he found more noticable.

All in all, it was something that fit Takei's palate perfectly.

"Thank you for working so hard for me, the cake was delicious. I'm looking forward to some more of your future cooking exploits!"

He expressed some of his genuine feelings and hoped that it would reach Akari.

Unsurprisingly, Akari instantly understood the feelings associated with Takei's praise.

She smiled brilliantly which made Takei compare her to a blooming flower in the middle of spring.

Airi thanked Akari for the cake, but she didn't enjoy it quite as much as Takei did.

Most likely due to the fact that the cake was made sorely for Takei.

Now, it was time for the presents.

Airi started it off by gifting Takei with a new controller for his console that he had been wanting for a long time.

Takei smiled and thanked Airi for thinking of him so much, in which she nonchalantly shrugged.

Next up in the present gifting process was no other than the goddess herself.

Bringing out a small gift box, Akari handed it over to Takei.

"I hope you like it..."

Receiving Akari's permission to open the box, Takei opened it to reveal a navy blue muffler awaiting him inside the box.

He pulled it out and immediately noticed that it was handknit with the initials, "T + A," on it.

Takei wrapped it around his neck and felt noticeably more warm than he felt seconds ago.

Since Akari had made it, he could metaphorically feel her arms embracing him.

"I'll definitely be wearing this during the winter, thank you so much, Akari."

Reaching out his hand, Takei cusped Akari's left cheek with his hand.

Slowly, he began to trace along the side of her cheek with his index finger.

Quickly in order to make sure that Airi doesn't get mad, Takei went in for a small peck on the lips.

It only lasted for a brief second, but they were connected through the mind, body, and soul at that moment.

"Hehehe."

Chuckling happily to herself, Akari turned away and basked in the afterglow of victory.

She's so damn cute!!!

Observing the actions between them, Airi could only sigh and give up.

"I hope their kids grow up to become better people than their parents..."

---

Idiot Couple Meter: 42 -> 46%

Their kids will probably have an even stronger sugary aura than they will.

Serious-san: I'm here to pick you up. Also, you look great in that outfit!

Sugar-san: Thanks... You look handsome as well...