30 - Beware of the Herbivores

RAW

As soon as they arrived at the Animal Forest Park, Haruto found himself talking about love, which was the last thing he expected.

Reflecting on what he had just said, Haruto felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him.

("To say love is necessary for marriage... Ughhh...")

On the outside, he maintained a calm appearance, but inside, he was writhing in shame.

Even though it was to convince Ryota, for a teenage boy to speak about love in the middle of his high school years was quite mentally taxing. Especially considering that a female classmate had overheard everything.

("I wonder what Tojo-san is thinking...")

Haruto stole a glance at Ayaka walking beside him. At first glance, she didn’t seem upset. On the contrary, she’d been smiling and looking happy since earlier.

Her inner thoughts were beyond his understanding, but at least on the surface, she didn’t seem particularly bothered by what had happened.

This brought Haruto a slight sense of relief, but just then, Ayaka, with a mischievous grin on her face, teased him.

"So, Otsuki-kun, you do want to marry me, huh?"

"Uh, well, that was... you know, just to convince Ryota-kun..."

Even though he knew she was joking, Haruto still stumbled over his words. Seeing his flustered state, Ayaka chuckled with delight.

"Hehe, I know."

She smiled again, mischievously teasing him.

Blushing slightly, but clearly enjoying herself, Ayaka looked adorable to Haruto.

Today too, Ayaka was as beautiful as ever, catching the attention of those passing by. Unlike the girly outfit she wore for their movie date last time, today she was in a more casual, boyish look with jeans and a T-shirt, perfect for moving around.

The outfit suited her so well that it seemed like there was no style she couldn’t pull off.

Feeling a little shy, Haruto looked away from Ayaka, letting out a sheepish smile.

"Well, I don’t think I’m a good match for someone like Ayaka-san."

Trying to distract himself from the embarrassment of talking about love, he joked lightly. To his surprise, Ayaka strongly refuted his words.

"That’s not true at all! Otsuki-kun can clean, and your cooking is amazing! You’re kind, considerate, and honestly, you’re the type of guy anyone would want as a husband!"

"...Uh... thank you."

Haruto was taken aback by Ayaka’s sudden enthusiasm, unsure how to respond. Blushing furiously, Ayaka averted her gaze and quickly added,

"Um... I don’t mean I want to marry you or anything... I just meant, you know, generally speaking... from a woman’s perspective, you’d make a great husband, objectively speaking..."

Her voice grew quieter and quieter as she spoke. Haruto gave her a warm smile.

"Thank you. Hearing that from you gives me some confidence."

"Yeah... ugh..."

Ayaka blushed even more, lowering her head in embarrassment. Noticing his sister’s face was red, Ryota peered up at her in concern.

"Are you okay, sis? Your face is all red. Here, take my water bottle."

He held out the bottle to her with both hands.

"Oh, thank you."

Ayaka accepted it and gulped down the cold tea to calm her nerves.

— — — — — — — — — — —

Haruto and the others headed straight for the petting area upon arriving at the Animal Forest Park.

"Look, big bro! It’s a bunny!"

Ryota’s eyes lit up as he watched the rabbits hop around inside a fenced enclosure. Right next to him, Ayaka’s eyes were also shining as she eagerly held out rabbit food.

"Oh! It came over here! Wow, this white one is so cute!"

"Yeah, it’s really soothing with all that fluff."

Ayaka had a melting smile on her face as she stroked the back of the white rabbit munching away on the food. Watching the sight of a pretty girl and a cute animal together, Haruto nodded in agreement.

"Big bro! Look at this! Its nose keeps twitching!"

Turning his gaze, Haruto saw Ryota surrounded by several rabbits, all begging him for food. The sight of the innocent boy and the small animals created a heartwarming scene.

"Here, Ryota-kun. They’re asking for more food, so you can give them this."

Haruto handed Ryota some of the food he had.

"Look, Otsuki-kun! This one keeps following me! It’s so cute! I want to take it home!"

The white rabbit from earlier was hopping after Ayaka as she moved. She crouched down again, feeding and petting the rabbit, completely smitten.

That rabbit is pretty clever, Haruto thought, watching Ayaka and Ryota play with the animals. The pure, heartwarming scene healed him deeply.

Aside from rabbits, the petting area had ponies, mini-pigs, chickens, guinea pigs, and goats to interact with.

In the guinea pig section, Ayaka cuddled a fluffy white and brown guinea pig, falling in love with its cuteness. In the chicken area, Ryota was chased by a rooster and nearly burst into tears.

After enjoying time with the animals, Haruto felt thoroughly relaxed.

"We’ve seen quite a lot, haven’t we?"

Ayaka said, feeding a carrot to a pony across the fence.

"Yeah. Ryota-kun, did you have fun?"

"Yeah, I had fun."

While replying to Haruto, Ryota kept throwing nervous glances toward the rooster area. As soon as the rooster let out a loud "cock-a-doodle-doo," Ryota quickly hid behind Haruto.

"Shall we head over to the lawn area next and play?"

"Yeah, let’s go!"

Haruto patted Ryota’s head, who was clinging to his pant leg, and Ayaka nodded as she finished feeding the pony and pulled out the park pamphlet from her backpack.

"Let’s see, the lawn area should be... here."

While looking at the map to confirm their next destination, a goat approached Ayaka, mistaking the pamphlet for food.

"Whoa, hey, this isn’t food."

Ayaka quickly turned her back to the goat.

"Once we’re done playing in the lawn area, we can have our picnic lunch there too."

"Good idea. It looks like they have Frisbees and other toys available for rent."

"Yeah, they even have badminton."

Haruto leaned over to look at the pamphlet Ayaka was holding.

"Sounds fun. Ryota, are you good with going to the lawn area next?"

"Yeah! Let’s go already!"

Ryota was already eager to move on to the next activity, tugging at both Haruto and Ayaka’s hands.

"Okay, okay, we’re going."

Ayaka smiled, folding the pamphlet. But just as she did, she heard a familiar "baaa" sound from behind her.

Haruto glanced over to see that a goat had started munching on the hem of Ayaka’s T-shirt.

"Oh no, Ayaka-san! Your shirt is being eaten!"

"Huh? Oh no!"

Ayaka turned around to see the goat happily chewing on her shirt.

"What should I do?"

She gently tugged at her shirt, but the goat showed no signs of letting go, continuing to munch away. Ryota came to his sister’s rescue, approaching the goat.

"Hey! My sister’s shirt isn’t food!"

He said, pulling at the shirt in the goat’s mouth. Annoyed, the goat yanked Ayaka’s shirt even harder, causing her to lose her balance and tumble into Haruto.

"Whoa... Are you okay?"

Haruto caught her just in time, wrapping his arms around her.

"Y-Yeah... I’m fine..."

Ayaka, wide-eyed in surprise, found herself staring up at Haruto, who was gazing down at her. For a moment, the two remained in an awkward embrace. Meanwhile, the satisfied goat trotted away, bleating contentedly.

"Sis, your shirt’s all wet now."

"Huh? Oh... yeah, it is."

Snapping back to reality, Ayaka hurriedly pulled away from Haruto.

"You should probably change."

Haruto said, glancing at the drool-soaked and crumpled part of Ayaka’s T-shirt.

"There’s a changing room near the lawn area, so we can stop by there and you can change."

"Yeah... I’ll do that."

Ayaka had brought a change of clothes, anticipating some water activities later. With that, the group decided to head to the lawn area, with a quick detour to let Ayaka change.

────────────────────

Thank you everyone for your membership. !