Hikaeme ni Itte mo, Kore wa Ai 21 *SPOILERS*
READ HIKAEME NI ITTE MO, KORE WA AI 20 SPOILERS HERE
Date!
This chapter, Zen and Risa go on a date to the zoo! They meet up at the entrance of the zoo. Risa calls out to Zen, who's waiting for her - she's dressed warmly but cutely and she seems to have curled her hair a little.
Risa apologizes for being late by 1 minute, but Zen simply stares at her blankly while she explains that it's because she was contemplating whether to go home to take her umbrella and lost track of time. When Zen recovers himself, he tells her that she doesn't need an umbrella today - the weather is clear.
Zen says with a blush that Risa is so adorable that he became nervous all of a sudden. Risa blushes at his words.
Inside the Zoo
They start off by visiting the monkey enclosure. Zen remarks that Risa really chose this place with him in mind. Risa answers that indeed, because Zen is like an animal..... in a good way. 😂 Zen confidently answers that no matter what animal it is, he won't lose to them.
Risa then takes out a notebook and tells Zen that she did research on the animals. When they see the elephants, she describes that they can lift around 6 tons. At the cheetah enclosure, she shares that they can run at speeds of 100 km/h. At the ostriches, she states that they have great vision and can see as far as 3.5km away.
They then reach the giraffes. She starts to share about their height, then hesitates (because height is always a sensitive topic for Zen 😂). Zen also tells her not to talk about it, because he knows he can't beat the giraffes. He quickly moves on to the next enclosure.
Risa gets a little distracted by a parrot. It says, "Hey, hey- you're cute. You're so cute!" Risa blushes a little and says thank you to the parrot, who's still repeating itself. Zen glares at the parrot and says that he'll definitely not lose to it.
Reliable Zen
Next, they see the lion enclosure. It's the lion's feeding time, so there are many people gathered in front of the enclosure. Zen and Risa notice a young boy with his mother. The boy can't see the lion because he's too short, so Zen offers to let him sit on his shoulders.
The boy is excited to be lifted up, and Zen tells him to let him know if he's afraid of heights. However, the boy says that he still can't see, and calls Zen short 😅😂 The boy gets down and runs away while his mother embarrassedly apologizes to Zen. Risa stares at a gloomy Zen, then giggles a little. Zen tells her not to laugh.
Some visitors who are excited to see the lions run and knock into Risa, causing her to lose her balance. She trips over a curb, but Zen catches her. He smiles down at Risa, causing her to blush. Risa narrates that Zen is stronger than any animal.
Lunchtime
Now, the couple is seated beneath the shade of a tree, having a picnic lunch.
Zen shares that in the summer of his 3rd year in middle school, he was mistaken as a shoplifter and taken into custody. His school then suspended him for a month.
Risa is surprised at the topic of conversation and says that Zen doesn't need to force himself to talk about these. However, Zen says that he isn't forcing himself - he wants to let Risa know.
Risa asks if he actually shoplifted, and Zen clarifies that he didn't. Risa then says that it's strange that he was suspended for something he didn't do. Zen answers that back then, he was always mischievous and at that time, he had blonde hair.
Zen elaborates, saying that he got into big trouble at school. Parents didn't want their kids to hang out with him, some even transferring schools because of it. People kept drifting away from him, but his family and close friends believed in him, so that really saved him. However, he got mad at his school and kept skipping classes, so in the end, Tsuka High was the only high school he could go to.
Risa's Reaction
Zen says that if all that didn't happen, he would probably be a student at Aokita High too (Risa's school). Risa imagines a nerdy-looking Zen at school, inviting her to study at the library.
She says that that feels weird. Zen retorts that she's blunt. Risa tells Zen, "You're fine as you are now, Zen." and repeats it one more time.
Zen blushes from her words. He embarrassedly decides to lie down and turn away from Risa so that she doesn't see him being shy.
Risa looks at Zen and thinks to herself about how Zen mentioned that people kept drifting away from him. She wonders to herself how Zen, who loves people and is always surrounded by people, had felt about that back then.
She gently strokes Zen's hair. Zen glances at her, and shyly blushes. Risa narrates: Thank you for telling me. It makes me happy.
Shopping
Later, the couple is at the souvenir shop in the zoo. Risa finds an owl keychain and says that it's cute. Zen then asks for the keychain from her and says that he'll buy it. Risa tries to say that she'll pay for it, but Zen simply says that he'll wait for her at another corner of the shop.
Risa continues looking around the shop and sees a fox keychain. She thinks to herself that it looks like Zen.
Risa then gets distracted by a small group of girls nearby who marvel at something cute. It's a bear-designed item, and one of the girls goes, "Ah, it's cute- It's a bear. Hikari, don't you collect these?"
Hikari answers that she does, and her house is full of bear-themed things. A bear eraser ends up dropping near Risa's foot. When she goes to pick it up, Hikari approaches and apologizes, then the two girls see each other.
"Amakawa-san?" "Kuma-san-" (I note that Hikari is still calling Risa as Amakawa-san instead of Risa-chan)
Hikari's friends inform her that they're going to the restroom, therefore leaving Hikari with Risa in the shop.
Risa, Hikari and Zen
Hikari thanks Risa for picking up the eraser, then says that Risa came to the zoo today too. She then notices that Risa is dressed cutely and says that she's adorable, and asks if Risa came alone.
Before Risa can even get a word in, Zen calls out to Risa and approaches them. He sees Hikari and goes, "...Kuma?"
When Hikari sees Zen, a tiny blush appears on her face when she goes, "Oohira... Wow-- It's an amazing coincidence--"
Risa thinks to herself that it's kind of awkward.
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