What Miyagi wants to see — 244
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
Polar bear in front.
Miyagi stops in front of seals and sea lions.
There, where I feel like I am in an aquarium rather than a zoo, I can see colossal creatures lounging on land and swimming.
Naturally, Miyagi stares at the black-eyed, colossal, round sea creatures just as she does when she went to the aquarium.
「Sendai-san, which one has the auricularia?」
One of the differences between seals and sea lions.
They have or do not have auricularia.
Miyagi apparently remembered that the two of us had talked about such things after returning from the aquarium.
「Sea lion.」
I kissed her earlobe that day, telling Miyagi that sea lions have earlobes called auricles.
So, it is still in my memory.
「Ah, it really is. They look like ears.」
Miyagi’s mood, which had deteriorated while watching the tigers, seemed to have been lifted by the sea beasts, and her voice was brighter than before.
「Hey, Miyagi.」
I call her name as she stared at the sea lions.
「What?」
「We’re going back to the aquarium, right?」
I promised to go back to the aquarium to see the difference between seals and sea lions, but now that I have seen the difference, I worry that the promise we made that day will never happen.
「Sendai-san, don’t you want to go?」
Miyagi took her eyes off the sea lion and looked at me.
「I’d love to go, but Miyagi already seen the sea lion’s ears.」
「…Sendai-san, you don’t like fishes, aren’t you? We don’t have to go to the aquarium if you don’t want to.」
When Miyagi made another sour sound, she turned her gaze back to the sea lion.
She said the same thing the day we went to the aquarium.
She surprised me by asking me if I liked fish enough to want to go to the aquarium more than once.
The same is true of Miyagi today.
She seems to be taking my preferences into consideration.
It’s not like her to surprise me by saying something that would indicate that the reason she wanted to see the tiger was for me.
Miyagi makes me feel excited, but she is so different from her usual self that I feel restless, as if my body has been lifted off the ground.
「The aquarium was fun, let’s go there again.」
I put strength into my hands, which are still connected.
Memories of a fun aquarium are connected to today, and we are at the zoo. I don’t want that today to be a promise I made in the past that never happened. I want to keep the promise connected to the next and stay next to Miyagi forever.
「If you have something you wanted to see, we can go, Sendai-san.」
Miyagi says in a quiet voice.
「I want to see the penguins fly again.」
「…Then we could go to the aquarium.」
「Well, I guess it’s settled that we’re going then.」
When she confirms the promise before her fickle feelings change, Miyagi says,「I’ll look over there,」and we started walking hand in hand. The destination is a polar bear just around the corner, and after a short walk, a large, white one comes into view.
「Did you want me to take pictures of the seals and sea lions?」
「Yes.」
To answer shortly, Miyagi stops at a spot where she can get a good view of the polar bears, and inevitably I stop, too.
I don’t want to let go of our joined hands, so I don’t have to take a picture.
There is no way Miyagi would say such a thing, but I wish she did. At the same time, I am wondering why she keeps holding my hand.
In general, Miyagi is always reluctant to let go of our hands in situations like this. But since she was holding my hand, there must be a reason for it.
It was a surprise, because she wanted to please me.
Thinking the impossible, I shift my gaze from Miyagi to the polar bears.
I see the same thing in my eyes as Miyagi.
White bears play with each other.
They’re energetic for nothing.
「Polar bears don’t seem to get cold in winter.」
Miyagi, who had been watching the white bear intently, blurts out.
「Maybe so, but it’s going to be crazy hot in the summer.」
「If the winters aren’t cold, they’re fine.」
「If you were a polar bear, you’d be mad that it’s hot in the summer, Miyagi.」
「I won’t be mad.」
「You will, definitely.」
My mouth relaxes as I imagine a bright white polar bear stretched out in her room, complaining.
「Sendai-san, you’re annoying.」
When Miyagi bumps her elbow and exaggeratedly presses my arm,「Ouch,」she asks,「Aren’t you cold with that ponytail?」
「I’m not a polar bear, and I’m a little cold.」
「Why wear a ponytail when it’s cold?」
「…Because you can see my earrings well. Show me your earrings too, Miyagi.」
「I don’t want to. It’s cold.」
「Then, I’ll take a picture of you with a polar bear and put your hair over your ears.」
Her answer that come back are predictable.
I don’t have to take the picture.
Miyagi would have answered.
But the answer doesn’t matter either way because I intend to take her picture even if Miyagi doesn’t wear her hair over her ears or if I can’t see her earrings. I’m just lucky if my wish comes true, and I don’t expect it to.
「Let go of my hand.」
Miyagi says something different than expected in a low voice.
Reflexively, I squeeze her hand.
But my hand is soon shaken off, and Miyagi pulls her hair over her ears herself.
「Eh…」
I can’t help but to be surprised.
I see her plumeria earring, though it is only on one side.
「Take it.」
I heard her gruff voice, which is not something a person trying to get their picture taken would produce, and my shoulders were pushed. She forces me to create a distance to take a picture, and I hastily pull my phone out of my pocket and hold it up.
Snap.
Because I tapped the screen while my mind was not working, my phone saves a photo that doesn’t show a polar bear.
「Sorry, I’ll take another picture. Smile if you can.」
I call out to Miyagi, who is looking at me with a difficult face.
Naturally, she doesn’t smile.
I took a picture of Miyagi, who didn’t wrinkle her brow but didn’t smile, and I said again,「Smile,」and she looked at me rather than at my phone with a very serious face.
「Sendai-san.」
「What?」
A polar bear came up behind Miyagi and I snapped a quick picture.
「Are you having fun, in this zoo?」
「I’m having fun.」
I smiled and told her how I feel now.
Miyagi’s mouth seems to relax a little, and I hurriedly take a picture of her face and the polar bear.
「Then that’s good. I’ll take a picture of you as well, Sendai-san」
Miyagi takes off her gloves and pulls out her phone from her coat pocket.
「Eh?」
「I’ll take a picture with the polar bear. Stand here.」
Surprised but with no reason to refuse, I meekly switch places with Miyagi.
「Sendai-san, I’ll take the picture.」
Miyagi holds up her phone where I was standing a moment ago.
When I consciously smile and point it at Miyagi, I hear a crack and am warned that「I am smiling too much.」
「It’s better to smile, right?」
「You smile too much.」
With that said, Miyagi took another picture.
「The polar bear, I couldn’t get a cute shot.」
「Of me?」
I ask Miyagi, who mumbles while looking at her phone, and she replies,「Just so-so.」
「What’s so-so? Let me see the pictures.」
I go next to her and look into her phone.
The screen shows a happy looking me and a polar bear playing behind me.
「That’s a good shot.」
「Of the polar bear?」
Miyagi is rude.
Play
Unmute
「Me and the polar bear.」
「You put it that way.」
「I should. So, do you want to see some more polar bears?」
「I had enough.」
「Shall we go to the penguins then?」
「What about the shoebill?」
「They’re ahead of the penguins. Why don’t we look at it from the penguins’ point of view?」
「Let’s do it.」
Miyagi puts her phone in her pocket, puts on gloves, and starts walking.
Her gloved hand doesn’t connect with my hand.
She walks ahead of me.
「What about our hands, Miyagi?」
I went next to her and rub my hand against the back of her glove-covered hand.
「I won’t connect.」
「Then you don’t have to hold my hand, just keep your hair.」
Was she forgetting this or not?
I don’t know for what reason, but the plumeria earrings I chose are not hidden.
「I’ll catch a cold」
「You’re gonna have to do that for a while longer.」
Miyagi raises her eyebrows at my words, and stops when I put my hands over her ears.
Her hair is not fixed.
It stays on her ears, and the plumeria earrings are visible to everyone.
「Miyagi, do you like polar bears?」
「I’d say I like it. They’re cute. How about you, Sendai-san?」
「I don’t know if I like it. They’re like stuffed animals.」
Miyagi staring at the polar bears was cute, and I don’t dislike polar bears for giving me the opportunity to take a photo that shows her earrings well.
「You mean you like animals that look like stuffed animals?」
「That’s not what I implied.」
Any animal can be any animal.
It doesn’t matter if they are not cute.
As long as Miyagi seems to be enjoying herself, that’s all that matters.
「Then, what animal is it?」
Miyagi is very talkative for me today.
Rather, she asks a lot of questions.
I am glad that she’s interested in me, but I don’t know how to answer them correctly because she is different from the other girls I have met.
「Nhn, let’s see. Prairie dogs were cute.」
And Miyagi, who was watching it.
As I mutter in my mind, I hear a voice from next to me saying,「That’s sounds fake.」
「It’s not a lie.」
「Hmph.」
Miyagi says in a simple voice and increases the speed of her walk.
It’s a good distance to where the penguins are.
I also increased my speed to match Miyagi’s.
