Title: Zoo
Later, Yuuto and Asahi arrived at the station and met up with Hiroki and Suzuka, who had arrived before them. The train ride lasted about ten minutes. When they arrived at the station, they took a bus for another 30 minutes.
They arrived at today’s destination, the zoo. They then paid the admission fee and entered the zoo.
“I haven’t been to the zoo since grade school.” [T/N: Aka elementary school]
“It’s probably the same for me, I’m sure.”
Following Suzuka, Hiroki replied.
“We were in kindergarten last time we were here.”
Asahi said this to Yuuto.
“Yeah. As I recall, you came with your entire family, right?”
“Un. By the way, we came to this zoo that time, too. Do you remember, Yuuto?”
“No, I don’t remember that much, as expected. But now that you mention it, I have a feeling we’ve been here before.”
“You guys were close ever since you were kids, huh?” (Hiroki)
“You’re right. I’m sure that since then, just like now, Asahi must have been leading Yamashita-kun around.” (Suzuka)
“Nope, not really. Back then, it was the opposite of what it is now. Yuuto would take me around with him to see all kinds of animals.” (Asahi)
“Oh, I see. What a surprise.” (Suzuka)
“Ah, now that you mention it, I might have remembered a bit. I think we saw a snake, right? When you saw that, you hid behind my back and almost started crying.” (Yuuto)
“Ah! Why do you remember that!? Besides, it’s normal to be scared of snakes. It’s embarrassing, so don’t say that in front of everyone.”
As Asahi said that, she started punching Yuuto’s back. However, it didn’t hurt Yuuto that much.”
“My bad, my bad.”
He apologized with a little laugh.
“I know you guys want to flirt, but can you do that while we walk? We don’t have much time to relax today.” (Suzuka)
“Yeah. Besides, people are watching us.” (Hiroki) [T/N: There’s no confirmation to who’s talking here, so I guessed.]
That being said, when they looked around them, many families and even couples were watching them from a distance, but not overtly so.
“Oh yeah. Like Suzuka-chan said, we don’t have that much time, so let’s go quickly.”
“…Yeah, I guess so.”
Asahi and Yuuto noticed this and said this slightly awkwardly.
“Right. For now, let’s go around first, starting with the penguin area.”
Suzuka said as she looked at the pamphlet she received from the receptionist.
“Yeah. I don’t want to be too laid back, so let’s get going!”
When Asahi said that after hearing Suzuka’s words, she was really looking forward to it. She began to walk a little faster towards her destination.
“Wow~~, there’s so many of them. And they’re so cute!”
Watching the penguins swimming gracefully in the water across the glass walls, Asahi was as excited as a school boy seeing a moving penguin for the first time in his life.
It was just like when they had visited before, over a decade ago. Asahi loved cute animals, like puppies and cats. Her honest nature combined with her honest personality had made the tension rise. [T/N: Author-san, why would it be rising?]
“Yeah. But it’s smaller than I thought it would be. When I saw them in the past, I thought they were bigger.” (Yuuto)
“We’ve grown up a lot since then. And because they’re so small, they’re so cute. It would be a bit scary if they were big.”
“Well, not all penguins are small.”
Then Suzuka, who was next to Asahi, said that.
“Eh? Really?” (Asahi)
“Yes. The penguins here are called Humboldt penguins, and they’re only about 60 centimeters tall and weigh 3 to 4 kilograms. The largest species of penguin is the Emperor penguin, which can grow as tall as 130 centimeters and weigh as much as 45 kilograms.”
Suzuka said this with a prideful expression
[T/N: Humboldt penguin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_penguin
Emperor penguin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_penguin
And for my American readers, 60 cm = ~ 24 in/2 ft, 3-4 kilos = ~ 6.5 – 9 lbs, 130 cm = ~ 4 ft 3 in, and 45 kilos = ~ 100 lbs]
“Wow, that’s so big. It’s almost the same as people.” (Asahi)
“Yeah. It’s just like you.” (Yuuto)
“Why?! I’m not that small… my weight doesn’t change that much.”
The second half of Asahi’s words were too quiet for anyone to hear.
“Do you have to mess with Watanabe-san everytime something happens?”
Hiroki, who was next to Yuuto, said that with a dumbfounded look.
“That’s not true. But Fujimiya-san, you know a a lot about penguins, don’t you? Do you like animals?”
Yuuto asked her that.
“It’s not like that. But I don’t feel bad about being praised for my prep work.”
Suzuka had a satisfied look on her face when saying that. It seems that she had studied a lot of animals for today. That kind of seriousness is something we want to learn from her, the other three thought.
After that, they saw giraffes, zebras, rabbits, ostriches, and etc, with Asahi frolicking around and Suzuka explaining the animals, while the two men were hanging around.
And before they knew it, it had been nearly an hour and a half. Finally, about halfway through the day, they were watching some animals in the park.
“Do you have any free time after this?”
Suddenly, Suzuka made such a suggestion.
“Yeah, why?”
Surprised, Yuuto asked that question.
“It would be good to be able to have a look at all of them,” she said, “but if we keep going at this pace, by the time we’re done, it will be closing time. There are many different kinds of animals in the park. For the rest of the day, we could go see the animals of our choice and meet at the exit ten minutes before closing. What do the rest of you think?”
Suzuka turned her gaze to all of them.
“That’s fine with me. I don’t get to come to the zoo that much, so I’d like to have some time to wander around.”
Hiroki readily agreed.
“Yeah. I’d like that too. To be honest, there was an animal I wanted to see more of earlier.”
Following Hiroki, Asahi agreed.
“I see. So what about you, Yamashita-kun?”
“I’m fine with that, too. Everyone seems to want to do that, so I have no reason to object.”
Yuuto didn’t have any complaints and agreed.
“Well, let’s all separate here. The zoo closes at 16:30 [T/N: 4:30 PM]. We’ll meet at the exit at 16:20 at the latest. And if you need anything else, you can call me on your phone. I’ll see you later.”
With that, Suzuka turned her back on the three of them and began to walk alone towards the next area.
“Well, I’ll be hanging out over there. I’ll see you later.”
Hiroki said that and started walking in the same direction as Suzuka. However, he didn’t have any intention of walking with her.
Unlike Suzuka, who was advancing in a straight line to her destination, Hiroki walked with a leisurely gait, glancing at the people and animals around him.
“What am I gonna do… Asahi, what’s up?”
For some reason, Asahi was watching her phone with a serious expression on her face. She was so engrossed in the animals a moment ago, but suddenly started messing with her phone. Could it be that something bad came up? Yuuto somehow thought so, and felt a little uneasy.
“…Hey, Yuuto. Can’t we go around together after this?”
Asahi looked up from her phone and asked him that suddenly.
“Why? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but since this is a good time, why don’t you go where ever you want?”
“Then Yuuto, go with me where I want to go first. For the rest of the time we have, I’ll go with you wherever you want to go.”
“I don’t mind. But you’ll have more fun if you’re on your own.”
Yuuto was the type to enjoy things even when he was alone. He wasn’t bad at doing group activities either, but if anything, he was the type of person who thought it was easier to be alone.
And since they had known each other for many years and knew that Asahi had thought the same way, Yuuto said that.
“No, not really. I think I would enjoy it more if I was alone with Yuuto rather than going around by myself. Besides, I told you yesterday, right?”
“What?”
“I’m going to make today a very fun day. I’ll make it fun not only for me, but I’ll make it so that I’m happy to go around with you, too. So, if you don’t mind, I’d like you to come with me.”
“…Well, I can’t say no to you when you put it that way. All right, I’ll stay with you for the rest of the day.”
“Yay! Thank you, Yuuto!”
“You don’t need to thank me for that.”
Thus, they decided to explore the zoo together.
“What’s the one animal you’d like to see again, by the way? It seems that we’re headed over there right now.”
“Fufu~, that’s right.”
Airus 
Thx for the chap!
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