The next day.
"Don't underestimate my intelligence network!"
In the Gotō household, Asakura said to Futari with a dead serious expression.
"Your older sister has pale skin, sleeps by day and emerges by night, hates having the curtains pulled open in her room, will scream if a raw garlic clove is shoved in her mouth, leaves marks on her skin when pressed with a cross, bleeds uncontrollably if cut by a silver sword, and dies instantly if a sharp wooden stake is driven into her heart, right?!"
"I-Is that right?" The five-year-old girl holding the Rabbit Dango brought by Asakura (which even had a tiny bite mark on it) tilted her head, her innocent eyes filled with utter bewilderment.
"And I've observed that on rainy days, she avoids flowing water on the streets, and she even needs permission to enter someone else's house!" Asakura argued plausibly: "In summary, that wretched vampire actually dared to disguise herself as my beloved Hitori!"
"Nani! Big sister is a vampire?!" The little girl was deeply shocked, as if she had glimpsed the ultimate truth of the world.
"Stop teasing Futari like that, she'll take it seriously."
Gotō Michiyo, who brought tea and snacks for Asakura, said helplessly.
"Sorry for the intrusion, Auntie." Asakura stood up and greeted her.
"At this point, you're still calling me Auntie?" Gotō Michiyo looked at Asakura with a subtle, knowing smile.
She definitely knows how far Hitori and I have developed, Asakura confirmed in his heart.
"...Obasan?" He put up a last-ditch resistance.
"Takuma-tan-yo," the smile on Gotō Michiyo's face became even more meaningful as she made the voice of a Japanese person, "you wouldn't want me to cast a vote against your relationship with Hitori, would you?"
"...Big Sister?"
"Actually, I've been a bit curious for a while now. Could Takuma-tan be the type who has strange fixations and reluctance in odd places?" Gotō Michiyo said: "Normally you seem so shameless, able to do silly, playful things out in public—ah, I'm not blaming you, after all, feeling like this makes you a better match for Hitori, who also acts up in public—yet as soon as it comes to serious matters, you start getting shy?"
"...Mom." Asakura called out, looking like he had given up.
Please, say no more.
Speaking of which, why does this conversation feel strangely familiar...
"That's more like it!" Gotō Michiyo squinted her eyes in satisfaction, resting her chin on her hand as she said cheerfully: "Are you going on a date with Hitori later? The kid's father isn't at home, so go and have fun without worry."
"..."
Even if he were home right now, I wouldn't be scared at all.
Asakura, who parked his classic car downstairs at the Gotō residence, thought to himself.
"My only request," Gotō Michiyo continued: "is that you absolutely must not end up with an accidental pregnancy, okay?"
"..." Asakura nodded in silence.
In truth, after their first time, Asakura hadn't really used protection much—he always had a feeling that he wouldn't leave behind offspring that easily.
Besides, tonight he had to drive Kessoku Band out of town to prepare for tomorrow's live performance, so there wouldn't be any cream puff filling session anyway.
"Where's your answer?!"
"Yes! Madam!"
"Very good." Gotō Michiyo nodded with complete satisfaction.
At this moment, Hitori finally came downstairs.
The girl's long pink hair was draped casually over her shoulders as usual without being tied up, and she was still wearing that pink tracksuit. But looking closely, one could spot subtle differences—it was likely meticulously handpicked from many identical tracksuits.
Mm, today's Hitori was as cute as ever too (high EQ response).
However, for some reason, she was wearing a scarf that wrapped her neck and face up tight, leaving only her pair of eyes exposed.
Asakura: "..."
Gotō's mom: "...Thank you for your hard work dealing with our daughter being so strange."
Asakura: "Ahaha..."
Hitori's eyes first scanned the room quickly, and the instant she saw Asakura—as if confirming an 'emergency exit'—she visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
"K-Kuma...-kun..." she called out softly.
"At this point, there's no need to be shy anymore, right?" Asakura teased, his eyes landing on the girl's neck: "Speaking of which, what's going on with your scarf?"
"A-Ano..."
Hitori began to stammer.
"Yesterday, Big Sister was looking at her phone while mumbling stuff like 'sharing one long scarf at the end of a date is so romantic' or something."
Futari, who had received a bribe (Rabbit Dango) from Asakura, immediately exposed her.
"F-Futari?!" Hitori tried frantically to shut Futari up.
"Mm, that is indeed a very romantic scene... But Hitori-yo, is there a possibility that it's still summer right now?" Asakura suggested.
"Ugh..."
"Our child... I'll leave her in your care from now on." Looking at Hitori's dazed appearance, Gotō Michiyo couldn't help sighing and bowed her head to Asakura.
Asakura nodded with a smile.
After pulling off the girl's ill-timed scarf ("Ahre"), Asakura led Gotō Hitori out of the Gotō residence amidst the kind smiles of her mother and younger sister.
"Are we taking the train? I thought Kuma-kun would drive..." After walking a distance away from home, Hitori, having recovered from her shyness, asked curiously.
"Because tonight I still have to drive your band to another live house. Nijika, Ryo, and Kita are all Muggles—if we can't fly, it'll take several hours to drive, so I need to save up my strength properly." Asakura answered.
Although the classic car also had an auto-pilot function, to be honest, flying mode was fine, but if running on the road, Asakura wasn't comfortable with its artificial-idiotry level of auto-pilot that treats 'trees and people as speed bumps to run over'.
"S-Sorry... Even though Kuma-kun is so busy, you still took time out to go on a date with someone like me..." Hitori couldn't help apologizing again.
"No, no, no, you've got cause and effect reversed."
"Huh?"
"It's because I want to go on a date with Hitori that I'm driving your band to the live house. In other words, dating Hitori is the most important thing."
"Ugh..." The girl's ears turned red all at once. Squinting her eyes, her hands unconsciously rubbed her cheeks, feeling her face burning hot as if on fire: "If only I had brought the scarf..."
That way I could hide my face, which is definitely showing a completely unbecoming expression right now.
"Hitori has grown a lot too."
"I-Is that so?"
"If it were the old you... right now you would have already turned into a slime."
Asakura recalled what she was like when he first met Hitori not too long ago and couldn't help saying with a smile.
"Because I... also want to show my good side... in front of Kuma-kun..." Hitori pulled at the hem of Asakura's T-shirt, leaning close to his ear and whispering in a low voice: "So I've really worked... very hard... Eek?!"
Before she could finish her sentence, the girl was scooped up by Asakura, who rubbed his face against hers.
"Seriously, why can this kid be so cute!" Asakura said happily.
"A-Ah-wah?!"
"Be my girlfriend!"
"I-I already am..."
And so, the two were stared at by the other passengers on the train all the way with disgusted (though actually somewhat envious) expressions reserved for foolish couples.
Coming out of 'Dobutsu-Koen Station', it was truly just a few steps away; looking up, one could immediately see the entrance and signs for the Chiba Zoological Park.
Asakura introduced the place as they walked: "The opening hours here are 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM. It fits nicely since we also need to head to Starry after 4 o'clock to prepare for departure with the rest of Kessoku Band."
Hitori, who hadn't fully recovered from her shyness, let out a soft "Mm." Her walking style remained very cautious, taking small steps with her head down, as if afraid of stepping on Asakura's shadow.
Yet her eyes were secretly looking around—probably because it was the tail end of summer vacation, there were quite a few people in the zoo, but not to the extent of being crowded enough to cause a breakdown.
Arriving at the ticket office, just as Asakura reached into his pocket for cash, the machine next to it lit up with a prompt for 'Credit Card / Electronic Payment Accepted'.
Hitori looked at that machine, inexplicably making a motion of 'breathing a sigh of relief'.
"You aren't... scared of ticket vending machines, are you?" Asakura lowered his voice.
Hitori shook her head: "I'm scared of ticket clerks..."
The implication being that machines were no problem at all.
"That's good then." Asakura proficiently tapped his card to purchase the tickets, "800 yen for an adult ticket."
Hearing the ticket price, Hitori couldn't help but whisper, "So cheap," before silently adding in a small voice: "Compared to the money I lent to Ryo-senpai..."
"Right? Very cost-effective." Asakura handed her the ticket, "Let's go, head inside."
After stepping through the turnstile, Hitori's movements turned stiff again, like an FPS player who had just entered an unfamiliar map, ready to look for cover at any moment.
Asakura immediately slowed down his speech tempo: "Let's start with something relaxed. How about the small animal section? We'll check out the cute ones first."
Hitori gave a tiny nod: "O-Okay..."
However, not long after entering the small animal area, Asakura noticed that Hitori seemed to feel as though she was at the very bottom of the food chain—no matter what animal she looked at, she had a timid, cowering look of 'wanting to get close but afraid of being bitten'.
For instance, when she stood beside the capybara enclosure, her hands were pressed tight against her skirt, her eyes sparkling, yet she muttered to herself: "So... so small... so cute... I wonder if it bites..."
"This is a capybara; it's emotionally stable and basically doesn't bite," Asakura said: "Or rather, as long as you stay by my side, even if we go see lions, tigers, or a Tyrannosaurus Rex, I can guarantee they won't dare bite you and will obediently lie down to let you pet them."
Hitori thought about it and said: "Is there one era in that list that doesn't quite belong...?"
That's not the main point here.
"Then do you want to try feeding it?" Asakura pointed at the feed beside them, "I'll stand next to you as your bodyguard."
"Bodyguard..." Hitori repeated softly, feeling that the word sounded quite cool.
Mm, though Kuma-kun was already very cool to begin with.
In the end, she mustered up the courage to buy a small portion of feed. Her hand trembled violently as she reached out, but the capybara came over, sniffed, and began chewing very seriously.
Hitori relaxed completely in an instant, her eyes almost glowing: "It... it ate..."
"Well done." Asakura nodded in praise, "For today's itinerary, this is a good start."
Hitori lowered her head and chuckled softly, her shoulders trembling, even her pink long hair gently swaying along.
In that moment, Asakura suddenly felt: no matter what happens today, this view alone makes it completely worth it.
"Before it starts reciting haikus, let's hurry to the next zone." He shook his head and said to the girl.
"Do capybaras recite haikus too?"
"Yeah, and it'll gasp loudly to make you think it sacrificed itself, when actually it just TP'd back."
"...Occasionally, I really can't understand the meaning behind Kuma-kun's words."
Chatting about random, lighthearted things purely because it was fun, they strolled over to the monkey section.
The monkeys were jumping back and forth in the trees, making a lively racket.
Hitori was originally quite tense, but upon seeing a monkey holding something and chewing on it intensely, she couldn't help staring at it for a long time.
"What's wrong?" Asakura asked curiously.
"That monkey... looks a bit like... umm..." Hitori muttered under her breath.
Asakura also looked toward that monkey.
He then watched as the creature grabbed a stalk of what looked like weeds, stripped all the leaves off into its mouth in one bite, and began munching away voraciously, its cheeks bulging, looking quite comical while simultaneously giving him an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
And so Asakura understood in a second: "Are you talking about a certain bassist in our band?"
Hitori nodded, but only after nodding did she realize she was talking about an acquaintance behind their back; her face flushed red with embarrassment: "S-Sorry... I shouldn't have said that..."
"It's fine." Asakura said with a straight face, "Honestly, that gal isn't even as cute as a monkey. At least the stuff the monkey eats is earned by itself. The stuff Ryo eats is borrowed from you guys."
"What about the weeds?"
"Borrowed from the city hall," Asakura continued with a straight face: "Those aren't called weeds; those are called green belts."
Hitori was amused into a smile, then quickly suppressed it.
As they walked, the crowd grew a bit denser. A little kid ran past from the side, almost bumping into Hitori; she instinctively shrank back, and Asakura smoothly pulled her into his arms, his voice softening: "Careful. Stand on my right and follow me."
Hitori lowered her head and let out a soft "Mm", her fingers quietly gripping the hem of his shirt.
Not with much force, but very distinctly.
Hitori asked in a small voice: "Is Kuma-kun okay? Being squeezed by so many people..."
"Nope." Asakura blinked at her mischievously, "Or rather, it's me squeezing them."
Hitori looked closely and noticed that the people around them indeed couldn't seem to squeeze close to Asakura at all—they instinctively maintained a distance of at least twenty centimeters from him.
After that, they visited an indoor facility in the park—the Animal Science Hall, which featured a tropical rainforest-themed exhibit.
Upon stepping inside, the lighting dimmed, and the air grew quieter; Hitori's condition visibly improved.
"Here... it feels like I don't have to push past people..." she whispered.
"Right, after all, not everyone likes reptiles." Asakura nodded, "Plus, we can see things you don't normally see."
They strolled slowly through the exhibition area.
Hitori looked at the animals behind the glass, occasionally stopping to carefully read the informative plaques.
Standing beside her, Asakura suddenly felt a little left out.
He really wanted to reach out and pat her head, but felt it would be too sudden and might startle her.
So he switched tactics, gently tugging at the girl's collar: "Your scarf is crooked."
Hitori froze, subconsciously saying: "Eh... I-I'll do it myself..."
She raised her hand to adjust it, only then realizing that she wasn't wearing a scarf at all.
Asakura suppressed a chuckle.
When the girl looked up, her eyes happened to meet his expression, which was tinged with playful mischief.
They stared at each other at close range for half a second.
Hitori seemed to have been hit by a pause button; her face flushed red from the base of her ears all the way to the tip of her nose, and she quickly shifted her gaze away: "S-Sorry..."
"You didn't do anything wrong, don't apologize." Asakura sighed, "Are you interested in snakes?"
"Not particularly interested... It just feels a bit like me..."
"The part where it can swallow prey close to its own body length?"
"The part where it likes to hide in dark places."
It really was a bit similar.
Asakura looked at the snake inside the glass enclosure; the plaque beside it read 'Burmese Python'.
"Ehh... Kuma-kun... Is it nodding at you?" Hitori looked at the large python raising its head inside and couldn't help asking curiously.
"It said it wants to go to Brazil."
"Huh?"
"Don't mind it, I'm not going to make the glass disappear anyway."
Asakura waved his hand, pulling Hitori away from the counter.
At noon, they found a place in the park to eat something.
Asakura originally wanted to go to a restaurant, but seeing the length of the queue, Hitori's expression clearly began to tense up, so he immediately changed his tune: "Let's go buy some food from the convenience store and find a corner to sit down. It saves money and is comfortable."
Hitori felt as though she had been saved, nodding frantically: "O-Okay..."
The two sat on a bench; Asakura unwrapped an onigiri, while Hitori held a carton of milk, taking small sips.
She still seemed somewhat overwhelmed by the large crowd in the zoo. Seeing her perform live on stage before, Asakura had thought she was already used to crowds, but it turned out the stage was the 'exception'.
Asakura took a bite of his onigiri, suddenly remembering something: "By the way, do you want to see the red pandas? I heard they're very famous here."
Hitori's eyes lit up instantly: "I do!"
Only after saying it did she realize she answered too quickly; she hastily shrank back, adding in a small voice: "I-If it's not too much trouble..."
"This is a date," Asakura said with a smile. "If you want to see them, just see them; no need to add so many prefaces."
After finishing the food bought from the convenience store, they walked all the way toward the red panda area.
As internet-famous animals, there were indeed quite a few people here. Hitori instinctively wanted to step back, but Asakura turned his body in advance to block part of the crowd for her, while lowering his voice: "Stand a bit in front of me, I'll hold the spot for you."
"B-But..." Her fingers were trembling with nervousness.
Asakura reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist—slightly thicker than Asagumo's, but the soft flesh on her belly felt very bouncy and comfortable to touch—搂ing her into his embrace.
Hitori pursed her lips; the warmth and solid feel coming from behind instantly made her forget the surrounding crowd that brought her immense pressure.
She also forgot about the red pandas, simply wanting to absorb a bit more of the warmth coming from Asakura.
The distance between the girl and Asakura was very close, so close that Asakura could even smell the faint scent of shampoo she used.
The situation was bad; there was no time to go to a hotel today.
Asakura reluctantly suppressed his urges.
"Can you see them?" he asked in a whisper.
Hitori finally snapped back to her senses, subconsciously dropping her head to glance at Asakura's trousers, but immediately froze as she remembered what she was actually here to see. She turned her red face back to look casually at the exhibit area, though her facial features were so tense they almost flew off her face.
Fortunately, the red pandas were indeed cute, fluffy, and sluggish in their movements.
This made the girl's eyes light up immediately, her voice trembling softly: "S-So cute..."
"Though they say the fur of a red panda feels coarse to the touch. Not as soft as the cats in a cat cafe."
"Is that so?"
"Yep."
"As long as it's cute, that's fine..."
"Yep," Asakura said, rubbing his chin against the top of the cute girl's head.
Hitori gazed at the red pandas interacting with the tourists (she really didn't have the courage to go up and interact), and finally whispered: "I... I'm a little bit happy today..."
Asakura's heart softened instantly.
"Then stay happy." He softened his voice even further, "We'll finish exploring the entire park, then go buy some souvenirs. You pick one, and I'll pick one too. Whenever you see it in the future, you can remember today."
Hitori looked up at him, her eyes slightly flustered, yet also holding a bit of anticipation: "R-Really?"
"Fake," Asakura put on a stern face: "I'm taking you to a love hotel right now!"
The girl's body froze instantly, her expression growing even more flustered, yet for some reason, her eyes seemed to hold even more anticipation.
"N-Now...?"
"That part was fake. Unfortunately, we don't have the time," Asakura shook his head and sighed: "There are only two hours left until the time agreed with Nijika and the others. Subtracting the time spent on the road, we have at most one hour left—not enough to mess around."
"I-I see..."
Hitori looked subtly a bit disappointed.
"However," Asakura nodded, "you worked so hard today, a reward is deserved. Let's go."
"To the love hotel?"
"To the souvenir shop!"
They slowly walked toward the exit; Hitori walked much more relaxed than when she arrived, at least not wanting to look for cover every two steps.
Arriving at the souvenir shop, she looked for a long time, and finally picked out a small red panda charm, cradling it in her hands like a treasure.
"Is this one cute?" Asakura asked curiously, looking at the charm. In his view, there should be quite a few cuter charms available.
"Very cute... And, I feel like it looks a bit like Kuma-kun..."
"?" Asakura stared at that red panda for a long time without figuring out where it looked like him.
In the end, Asakura chose a very ordinary keychain without any special design, with only the words 'CHIBA ZOO' printed on it.
Seeing his choice, Hitori asked in a low voice: "Th-This doesn't look very nice, does it..."
"It looks nice," Asakura said. "Because from now on, I'll attach it to my most frequently used key, so that every day I go out, I'll remember that Hitori owes me a cream puff."
Hitori blushed furiously on the spot: "D-Don't say it out loud!"
She scrambled in confusion to cover his mouth, yet didn't dare to actually put her hands over it, resulting in her merely grabbing the hem of his clothes as if conducting a silent protest.
Asakura laughed very happily.