「Are you cold, Miyagi?」

         I asked as we walked past the spot where I usually saw Cali.

         「I’m fine.」

         Miyagi answered curtly, even though her nose was red.

         The weather was nice, and the temperature was relatively high. Well, as warm as it could be in winter, anyway.

         The blue sky and sunlight were nothing compared to summer. No matter how warmly we dressed, the wind against our cheeks as we headed toward the station was cold, and the weak winter sunlight did little to warm us up. I felt like we needed something extra to keep warm.

         「Wanna stop by a convenience store and get some hand warmers?」

         I asked, voicing my thoughts aloud. But Miyagi, who looked cold even with her scarf and gloves on, gave me an exasperated look.

         「Sendai-san, if you’re that cold, you should just let your hair down.」

         「I wasn’t talking about me. I thought maybe you could use some hand warmers.」

         「I said I’m fine, didn’t I?」

         Miyagi sighed, a white puff of breath escaping her lips, and started walking faster. I matched her pace and quickened my own steps.

         My ponytail swayed behind me, leaving my neck a little exposed to the breeze. It wasn’t exactly the best hairstyle for winter, and my neck felt a little cold, but I liked wearing my hair this way because it showed off my blue earrings so well.

         「When was the last time you went to the zoo, Sendai-san?」

         Miyagi asked without looking at me.

         「Probably when I was in elementary school. Hmm, maybe fifth or sixth grade?」

         「You said you’d gone to the zoo with your family once, right? Was that it?」

         Miyagi seemed to remember what I’d told her on the day we came home from the aquarium.

         「Yeah. What about you, Miyagi?」

         I asked, looking at her, but she was still facing forward, so I couldn’t get a good look at her ears.

         I wished she’d show off her ears like I did so I could see her earrings, but if she did that, she’d probably get too cold and might get sick.

         「The last time I went to the zoo was for a field trip in elementary school.」

         「You’ve never been with your friends?」

         「Do people usually go to the zoo with their friends?」

         「… I guess not.」

         I wasn’t sure about everyone else, but I’d never been to the zoo with friends, and no one had ever suggested it before. At least for Miyagi and me, the zoo wasn’t really somewhere you went with someone who was just a friend.

         But thinking about it that way, maybe the zoo was actually the perfect place for us to go, considering we weren’t friends.

         We weren’t family, and we weren’t going there for a school trip, either. We were going there simply to spend the day together and have fun.

         Thinking about it that way somehow made it feel rather special.

         「Oh, right. Want to take some photos today, Miyagi?」

         「No.」

         Miyagi shut me down immediately, but as far as I was concerned, taking a few pictures of her today was already a done deal. I was only asking for her permission because I figured that if I surprised her by taking a picture without giving her any warning, we’d end up arguing over whether or not to delete it, and I had no intention of deleting it.

         「You’re not planning on taking any pictures of the animals?」

         I asked Miyagi, who continued looking straight ahead without once turning to look at me.

         「Wait, you were asking for permission to take pictures of the animals?」

         「I thought you wanted to take a picture of a shoebill today. Do you not want to anymore?」

         「… No, I still do.」

         「Then let’s take some pictures of the shoebills, and maybe snap a few photos of some humans while we’re at it.」

         「I don’t care about taking pictures of humans. I’m fine with just the animals.」

         「But humans are animals too, aren’t they?」

         「Why do you always have to get so technical at times like this, Sendai-san?」

         Miyagi frowned as she turned to look at me.

         「Come on, it’s fine, isn’t it?」

         I wanted to keep some memories of today on my phone.

         I wanted to be able to look back on today whenever I wanted.

         「… Fine. If it really is just “while you’re at it,” then I guess it’s okay.」

         Miyagi muttered as she quickened her pace again.

         I matched her pace as she walked ahead of me, and the scenery around us seemed to pass by faster than it did when I walked alone. In the end, Cali didn’t show herself today, and before long, we reached the train station. We went through the ticket gates and boarded a train that arrived right on time.

         「What should we go see first?」

         I asked Miyagi as we rode the train, which was neither particularly noisy nor particularly quiet.

         「Anything is fine.」

         「I’m not sure we’ll have enough time to see everything, so how about we start with the elephant section, then go see the tigers, and after that, check out everything along the way to the penguins and shoebills?」

         I explained the route I’d planned out beforehand, picturing the zoo map in my head.

         「I’ll leave it to you, Sendai-san.」

         She gave me exactly the answer I’d expected.

         「Sure.」

         We continued chatting about trivial things until we reached our station. After getting off the train, we walked for about five minutes before reaching the zoo’s main entrance. We paid our admission fees and went inside. Even though I’d already memorized the route we were going to take, I picked up a pamphlet with a map of the zoo before heading toward the elephants.

         The zoo was quite crowded, even though it was winter. I wasn’t sure whether it was because of the holidays or because there were simply a lot of enthusiastic animal lovers, but the place felt lively, and the atmosphere was nice.

         Miyagi, who was walking right beside me, didn’t seem to mind it either.

         But she didn’t seem particularly interested in the elephants. As soon as we reached their enclosure, she wandered over to look at the prairie dogs nearby. They weren’t particularly rare or unusual, but she seemed much more interested in them than the elephants.

         I took my phone out of my bag and snapped a picture of Miyagi while she watched the prairie dogs.

         Hearing the shutter behind her, Miyagi turned around to look at me, so I quickly pointed my camera at the prairie dogs instead. They were eating grass, so I took a few pictures of them before slipping my phone into my coat pocket, ready to take more pictures of Miyagi whenever I got the chance.

         「There’s otters over there.」

         I pointed them out to Miyagi with a smile.

         「Let’s go.」

         Miyagi replied, walking right past the green pheasants. She stopped in front of the otters and pulled her phone out of her bag.

         Instead of taking any pictures of me, she took several pictures of the otters before putting her phone away and moving on.

         She hadn’t seemed particularly interested in the elephants or the green pheasants, and although she’d liked the prairie dogs more than either of them, apparently she hadn’t liked them enough to take pictures of them. But she seemed to like the otters enough to want to photograph them.

         I really didn’t understand Miyagi’s tastes.

         But there was one thing I understood perfectly well: as far as she was concerned, I wasn’t worth taking a picture of.

         It wasn’t like I particularly wanted her to take pictures of me or anything, but it made me feel like I’d lost to the otters, and that bothered me.

         「Look, Sendai-san. A tiger.」

         Miyagi, who was walking beside me, stopped and pointed ahead.

         「It’s got a pretty big enclosure, huh?」

         Where she was pointing, a tiger was walking through a forest-like area filled with grass and trees. We approached the glass separating us from the tiger and looked into the enclosure.

         「I wonder if it’ll come over here…」

         Miyagi murmured softly, her gaze fixed on the tiger as it walked around, but it seemed to only circle the pond, showing no signs of wanting to come over to the glass.

         「If it did, I bet it’d make for a great picture.」

         I took out my phone and snapped a picture of Miyagi. Then I took a second, followed by a third of the tiger. When I pointed the camera back at Miyagi, she covered the lens with her hand.

         「That’s enough pictures of humans. Look at the tiger.」

         Miyagi said, sounding dissatisfied as she grabbed hold of my phone.

         「I am looking at it.」

         「No, you’re not. Turn your face over there.」

         She pointed toward the tiger, so I reluctantly turned my attention to the other side of the glass. But instead of focusing on the tiger wandering around the enclosure, I found myself more aware of Miyagi standing beside me.

         「Um, aren’t you going to look at the tiger, Miyagi?」

         「I am looking at it.」

         She replied in a low voice, but I could clearly feel her gaze on me.

         Instead of watching the tiger she’d been so insistent on seeing, it seemed like she was staring at me.

         「I thought you said you liked tigers?」

         I slipped my phone back into my pocket and turned toward Miyagi. She had a disappointed look in her eyes.

         「… You know tigers are felines, right?」

         「Yeah, I know. Why?」

         「Never mind. Let’s just move on.」

         Miyagi said dismissively and walked away.

         「Wha—huh? Oh, wait.」

         I hurried after her, watching her blue scarf sway as she walked.

         「Hurry up, Sendai-san.」

         She said curtly, but since she seemed to have no intention of stopping for me, I grabbed her arm.

         「… When you said yesterday that you wanted to see a tiger, was that actually for my sake?」

         I’d told her before that I liked cats, and just now, she’d gone out of her way to point out that the tiger she’d supposedly been so interested in seeing was a feline.

         I wasn’t sure if I understood her logic correctly, but I had a feeling I was on the right track.

         「Not really. I just wanted to see a tiger. That’s all.」

         「The tiger was really cute, though. It really is just like a big cat.」

         「It’s fine if you don’t like tigers, you know.」

         She said in a clearly displeased tone.

         「I do like them, though.」

         「Then why didn’t you say you wanted to see a tiger when I asked what animals you wanted to see today?」

         Miyagi stared at me.

         Her gaze wasn’t as cold as the winter air, but it still felt sharp enough to pierce right through me.

         I let out a small sigh, my hand tightening around the phone in my pocket.

         It seemed like Miyagi really was more interested in me than the otters after all.

         「I just forgot to mention it.」

         I said, trying to sound as casual as possible. I let go of Miyagi’s arm and took her hand instead. More accurately, she let me hold her hand without pulling away.

         「So, where are we going next?」

         Miyagi muttered.

         「Huh? Oh, uh… The tapirs are nearby, so we could go there. And there are polar bears further ahead, so we could go there too.」

         「Let’s go there after we see the tapirs first.」

         We started walking without another word, and before long, we reached the tapir enclosure. Miyagi didn’t seem particularly interested in them, though, and quickly suggested we move on, heading toward the polar bears.

         Her hand was still in mine, but it felt a little different than usual—or rather, it felt a lot fluffier than usual.

         If only she wasn’t wearing gloves, I thought to myself.

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Chapter debt: 79

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