CH 16

Could Ogura have a bad character?

Translated by Dawn

Could Ogura have a bad character?

After seeing the various animals in Australia Park, we decided to have lunch.

As we took our orders to our seats, Shuji stood up and said, “Sorry, I have to go to the restroom.”

Mizutani, perhaps caught in the act, said, “Me too,” and went to the restroom, leaving me alone with Ogura.

“Mmm-hmm.”

Ogura, sitting in front of me, looked at me in some kind of good mood.

“…what is it?”

“Hey, Aizawa-kun. Is Aizawa-kun…”

After a slight pause, Ogura said.

“Really dating Mizutani?”

…Seriously?

I knew there would be someone who would doubt there someday, but I never thought it would be Ogura.

“…I don’t see any reason to lie to the contrary.”

“I wonder. It’s not like the two of you have been in contact for the last year, has it?”

“That’s true.”

“If so, then April of this year would be the first time the two of you met. …Isn’t that too short for people to be dating?”

“…Time has nothing to do with love, does it?”

“Oooh, Aizawa-kun, you say a good thing. Certainly, there is even a word for love at first sight. But…I understand that kind of thing.”

“…For what it’s worth, how did you come to that conclusion?”

I asked, not admitting that I wasn’t dating Mizutani.

Ogura apparently seemed almost convinced.

It might be a futile attempt, but I still didn’t want to let her get a statement.

Ogura poked me on the shoulder.

“It’s because Aizawa-kun’s acting is so bad.”

“…Heee. By the way, how is Mizutani’s acting?”

“Mizutani is good. By the way, you just admitted that you’re acting, didn’t you?”

“I was just using a figure of speech. I was just going along with Ogura’s silly joke.”

“Fufu, let’s put it that way.”

Chuckling, Ogura looked to the side with her cheekbones.

Chuckling, Ogura rested her cheek on her hand and looked to the side.

“Well, even if you’re joking about acting…I asked Aizawa-kun for a pretty irresponsible favor the other day, didn’t I? If Aizawa-kun is doing this kind of thing because of that, I’m a little sorry, but…”

“But?”

When I urged her to continue, Ogura turned to me.

There was a mischievous smile on her face.

“…I changed my mind when I saw the two of you. I thought it might be more interesting if I left it as is.”

“…Ogura, do you have a bad personality, after all?”

I couldn’t help but let a straightforward comment slip out.

Just as I thought her smile had deepened, Ogura suddenly said in a loud voice.

“Ah, you said it! Hey, Shu-kun, Aizawa-kun says I have a bad personality!”

Then Shuji, who had left the restroom before I knew it, said, “What!” and rushes over to us.

Oh, I might have screwed this up.

“Shuji, wait a minute. I didn’t mean what I said—”

“Akito, you don’t understand anything…”

I tried to calm Shuji down in a hurry, but it was already too late.

He looked down and shook his head, then suddenly looked up and raised his fist.

“That’s what’s so cute about Natsuki!!!”

“…Huh?”

Oi oi, do I have to deny it?

I fearfully looked at Ogura next to me.

Seeing her with a big smile on her face, I knew what was going to happen next.

“…What are you doing, Ikeno?”

Mizutani came back from the bathroom and tilted her head when she saw Shuji lying on Ogura’s lap.

I glanced at Ogura and then shrugged, “Well,” I said.

…I couldn’t tell Mizutani what was really going on, not very much.

*****

After finishing lunch at the rest area, we went around Asian Park and headed toward the main gate.

On the way there, we stop in front of an animal called Przewalski’s horse.

It was a horse with short legs and brown fur.

The color of the hair on its legs, tail, and mane was particularly dark.

“What’s ‘Mongolia’?” (+)

Mizutani asked, pointing to a sign with a description of Przewalski’s horse.

“It’s the Mongols. You know, in Japanese history, we studied the Genko Invasion, didn’t we?　They even call it the Mongol invasion.”

“Wow, Ogura knows a lot.”

“Hehehe, well, I’m a history woman!”

Ogura rubbed her nose proudly.

To be honest, I found it a bit surprising.

I thought she had more glamorous hobbies, but she had austere interests.

Of course, I didn’t think there was anything wrong with that.

“Przewalski’s horse seems like the kind of horse that would be chosen by process of elimination when there’s no horse to bet on in a horse race.”

“…that’s a very specific situation. Does Ikeno know much about horse racing and such, to begin with?”

Shuji suddenly said something unintelligible.

When Mizutani looked at Shuji with a quizzical look, the guy denied it with a cool face.

“No, not at all.”

“Then what do you mean by that?”

I asked half resigned to the fact that it was probably just a trivial question.

As it turned out, my hunch was right.

“You know that kind of situation when they will say like, ‘Well, I don’t know if any of the horses can win today. Worst case scenario, I’ll have to bet on Konouma.’”

“““…….”””

Shujii said with a smug look on his face, and the three of us were silent.

The Przewalski’s horse stared at us quietly with dull eyes.

The time actually probably lasted only a few seconds.

But it felt like hours to me.

Perhaps Shuji might have felt it was longer.

“…okay, let’s go to the next animal.”

I was the first to break the silence and started walking ahead.

Mizutani and Ogura followed.

“Yes, I’m done watching Przewalski’s horse.”

“…Hey, Mizutani-chan. Didn’t you just now rub the same stuff in his face?”

“No way, I couldn’t have.”

“I know, right? I must have been mistaken.”

“H-hey, wait a minute. You guys should have reacted a little more!”

Shuji came after us, but we ignored him.

That guy was really wasting his blessed looks.

*****

After proceeding for a while, we returned to the front gate.

Mizutani sat down on a bench at the side and took a breath.

“We’ve walked a long way, haven’t we?”

“Yeah, it’s fun, but it’s a big place.”

I agreed with Mizutani.

Meanwhile, Shuji, an athlete, and Ogura, almost an athlete (brass band), were still going strong.

“Eh, we’re just getting started! There’s the whole of Africa Park left!”

“Weren’t we reserved tickets for the Lion Bus at Africa Park? We must definitely take a look at it before we leave.”

I unfolded the map from the pamphlet in front of them as they mouthed the words.

“However, we also have to worry about the closing time of the park…it’s 2:30 right now. The park closes at 5:00, so we don’t have much time left.”

“ I think there are some animals we won’t be able to see until about an hour before closing time. I’d like to see them first.”

“…can I look at the map too?”

As we were having a strategy meeting across the map, Mizutani joined us.

I could smell the scent of citrus fruits coming from next to me.

Mizutani, who was staring at the map, suddenly pointed at a point.

“What’s an insectarium?”

The Insectarium…sounds nostalgic. When I was in early elementary school or so, I used to love the Insectarium, probably because of the popularity of games that let you fight insects. I also liked insects in the first place back then.

“H-huh. I didn’t know there was that.”

I could feel Ogura breaking out in a cold sweat.

She wasn’t very good at bugs, huh?

“Do you guys want to go to the Insectarium?”

“““……”””

We looked at each other silently in front of Mizutani, who said with a puzzled look on her face.

…I see.

I knew that both Shuji and Ogura were no good with bugs.

After a moment of bargaining, it was Shuji who told us first.

“Sorry, I don’t like bugs.”

“Sorry! I’m actually not good with bugs either!”

Shuji was followed by Ogura, who looked apologetic.

“I see. Then we’re not going to the Insectarium.”

Mizutani said in a voice that was a little brighter than usual.

But I knew that I couldn’t let this be as it is.

…It can’t be helped.

“The Insectarium, that’s fine with me. We’ll go there later.”

“…Really?”

A-ah, I said it.

Stupid me.

But, oh well.

“Thank you, Aizawa.”

Mizutani seemed more pleased than I thought she would be.