Yes, Akiko will probably have to take the initiative with Akira for a while, until he's sufficiently assured that he won't be punished for messing with the <i>Chosen One</i>, the <i><b>Voice of Tamao</b></i>. Assuming, of course, that he <i>won't</i> be! (<i>Doooom!</i>) ;-)

And it's convenient that the stories have been embellished to such a degree that they can be easily dismissed without lying. You'd think that the actual events would be fantastic enough, but apparently some people are never satisfied, and have to add more. Or perhaps the additions were introduced by other people, who felt that the stories were too fantastic to be true, so they might as well add a little of their own to make them better? If so, perhaps Tamao should take notes? Because being swallowed by a snake of fire and then descending on white wings sounds much more impressive! :-D

(Ooops. There I did it myself, turning a "burning snake" into a "snake of fire".)