บท 16: Chapter 15 - Day of Fun
Jones's Burgers. A dedicated American fast food place at the end of a busy street. They were focused on making the best burgers and fries for the least amount of money. That's how the company has managed to stay open for the last couple decades.
A typical place this busy would usually require a reservation or an hour wait in line to actually get in, but speed was another positive that this company had over the others. Burgers and fries were pumped out by the minute and you would typically get your food within minutes of ordering. That resulted in many people getting takeout rather than dining in since there was virtually no wait time. "Revolving doors" was the nickname for the entrance of the place since people were getting takeout and instantly leaving so often.
Convenience was key in the world of selling food and Jones's Burgers were no slouches when it came to it.
That's why within minutes of getting here and ordering, Takei and Akari were already bringing their plates of food to their table.
Both of them sat down and looked in awe at their meals. The burger was massive, but still was on the lower end of massive sized burgers. Lettuce, tomato, onion, and all of the essentials to a perfect burger were already there. The fries were no slouch either, cajun seasoned fries were the default fries one could buy from this place.
All in all, it was a good meal for a good price which resulted in its explosive popularity.
"This is amazing..." Akari muttered in awe at the deliciousness of the burger.
Takei was too deep in thought analyzing the surreal experience, but luckily Akari woke him up from his stupor.
"I agree, whoever made this burger should definitely get a raise."
Akari nodded in response to Takei. "Mhm, that sounds about right..." The sentence trailed off and abruptly ended just for it to resume back with a completely new topic.
"...Okay enough with the chit chat about burgers, I have a question for you."
Takei seemed a bit confused, but he just went along with it.
"What is it?"
An interrogating face replaced her normal gentle face. Within seconds, Akari had become a world class detective. An intimidating aura surrounded her and robbed Takei of his bearings. At last, Akari unleashed her one shot attack.
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
"PFFT..."
Takei was busy munching on some fries when Akari asked him that shocking question. He had immediately spit out his food as a reflex since he was so surprised.
After cleaning up with a napkin, Takei looked up at Akari to see if this was a prank or not.
Long story short, it wasn't. The goddess was being completely serious.
"Well?" She asked with no remorse for him.
With no choice but to answer, Takei went in for the plunge. "Of course not."
Akari's expression had greatly relaxed after hearing his answer. "Good..." she muttered.
Takei didn't hear her whisper at all, but he did see her mouth moving.
"Did you say something?"
"Nope."
The instant denial had confused Takei greatly. He decided to go in and probe her intentions.
"What's with the question?"
The goddess curtly blocked his question. "Nothing at all, just curious."
"Okay..."
Why is she being so defensive now?
Akari then steered the conversation in another direction. "Nevermind that, I have a place I want to go to. Hurry up and finish eating!"
Takei glanced at his plate and noticed there was still a decent amount of food on there compared to Akari's empty plate. It seemed that Akari finished her food at a stupendous speed. With nothing else to do or say, Takei agreed to Akari's suggestion and resumed eating.
"Fine, fine, give me five minutes."
***
The city was bustling with people coming home from work and students hanging out with their friends after school. Takei was a part of the latter since he didn't have a part-time job. It's not that he didn't want one, he certainly did want a job since buying games and manga was a very expensive hobby. However, recently there has been a change in his life.
A goddess had descended upon him and made him her apostle. In other words, he was too busy fulfilling her requests to get a job. To be totally honest, Takei didn't really care since helping the goddess was a fun task that he chose to do.
Today was no different. Akari dragged Takei through the city and to a large building. Takei had been to this building many times, but there was a good chance Akari hadn't. It was a place where there were many games and prizes. Yes, this place was an arcade.
"Hurry up! Let's go innnnnn."
Akari hurriedly dragged Takei into the large arcade space since she was very excited to see what the location held.
Rows and rows of arcade gaming machines were set up. Some were retro and some were modern games that were adapted to the arcade machine format. The one thing they all had in common was the people playing the games. Each machine had a player with a passionate gaze upon it. A couple people were here for fun, while some other people were here to break some records. It was quite a diverse group of people.
"Oh my goodness, we HAVE to compete in that driving game together."
Akari pointed towards two arcade machines that had two racing chairs and steering wheels attached to them. These were the common racing type games that every arcade had. Takei was a bit befuddled about Akari being excited about everything until he remembered this was her first time going to a place like this.
Takei then nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's go have some fun."
He grabbed her hand and walked briskly towards the game machine.
"..."
Little did he know that the girl next to him was doing her best to endure the shame. She said nothing, but was very bashful about the natural hand holding that he did.
Takei then motioned Akari to sit down. The both of them got comfortable in the racing chairs and then Takei began to explain the point of the game.
"Alright, this game is essentially a racing game against AI and the other player. You'll be competing with me and other AI drivers to reach the finish line. Pretty easy right?"
Akari soaked in all of the information and nodded her head in understanding.
"Okay, so this pedal is used to move forward and this bigger pedal is used to break, right?"
"Yep, seems like you got the controls. Let's start."
Takei put a coin in the machine and started the game up. He chose the two player mode and easy AI to make sure Akari wouldn't lose face. Of course, he didn't tell her that he did this since he wanted her to have fun first and foremost.
The game loaded up into one of the various gorgeous maps that was designed just for racing. With all the cars lined up, Akari put on her battle face.
"Get ready to eat my dust, Takei!" Akari yelled.
Takei nonchalantly replied. "Sure sure."
The announcer for the game counted down to begin the race. "3...2...1..."
With less than a moment left to go, Takei relaxed in his chair and readied his mind to hold back as much as humanly possible. He would have to ensure that she wins to make sure that her happy mood wouldn't be spoiled.
I got this. Operation Make-Akari-Win-A-Game is on!
At last, the announcer's voice returned to his ears.
"...Go!"
---
Akari's Affection Meter: PENDING
Looks like the IT man is taking his time fixing the meter. I'm definitely going to send a complaint to the company.
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