"I am sorry."
Maaya directly apologized as she explained what had happened. Yes, as they had made an appointment to go out together (a date), she was all prepared, but unfortunately, her parents, especially her mother, was suddenly asked to go to the office as soon as possible since one of the employees that was tasked on a certain project was sick and out of contact, and as someone, who was involved on the project, whether her mother wanted to or not, she had to go, which made the situation out of control and in the end, she had to take care of her two little brothers, who should be taken by her mother.
Yet, what could Maaya do?
Her family's situation was like this and her little brothers were still small, and it was impossible for her to say that she wanted to stop this outing since she wanted to go out with Tobe, and as expected, when she saw him for the first time, she had to say, he was so handsome with white t-shirt, brown dickies pants, and white converse, simple, yet attractive.
Naturally, she also dressed in a cute way, fully utilizing her petite, fairy-like charm, with a simple striped shirt that she tucked in inside her short skirt, and sneakers. She even arranged her hair in two cute low buns, making her even cuter, but like single mothers who had a hard time getting a new partner as they had to take care of their children, even if she wasn't a mother, and just an older sister, she understood their difficulty at this moment.
"It's fine. I don't mind."
Yet, while saying so, his hands grasped Maaya's two little brothers, who wanted to go to the zoo right away.
"Let's go to the zoo right away, Tobe-nii!"
"Yes, I want to see a tiger!"
"You two, don't cause trouble for Tobe-kun!"
Maaya had been taking care of her two little brothers as her two parents mainly had gone to work, so naturally, she had them, which gave her a certain overwhelming presence in front of the two.
"Help us, Tobe-nii!"
"Maaya-nee is scary when she is like this!"
"You two, stop being naughty!"
Yet, in Shinra's mind, the three were like children, which made him sigh helplessly inwardly. "Okay, okay. Let's stop fighting and go to the zoo now, or else, it will close."
"Okay!" 3x
No one rejected his words, probably because he was good at taking care of children, and he was also good-looking, so it was easy for Maaya's little brothers to get close to him.
"You are good at taking care of children, Tobe-kun."
Yet, Maaya was surprised by Tobe, who could take care of her two little brothers with ease, and she could see that they had become so close.
"Haha..." Tobe could only laugh awkwardly since he knew well that boys were quite easy to handle as they simply worshipped those who were grown up, and would mimic them. Like how boys mimicked Ultraman, Kamen Rider, or Power Rangers because those characters were cool, Maaya's little brothers thought of him in such a way. "Your little brothers are the ones who are well-behaved."
"Haha..."
This time, Maaya was the one who laughed awkwardly since she knew well how naughty her two little brothers were.
"Or Maaya-nee is so scary in their eyes, so they are so well-behaved now."
"Tobe-kun!"
Was she such a scary girl?
Of course not!
She was so cute, okay?!
How could she be so scary?!
Unfortunately, her two little brothers were there, or else she would have pulled this cheeky guy's cheeks so much that they would have turned red!
Yet, even if Maaya's two little brothers were by their side, it didn't diminish their excitement to go to the zoo as the four of them excitedly went there together, and watched many animals that were taken care of there.
"Wow, the Red Panda is like Maaya-nee!"
"Yes, it's red!"
"What do you mean by that?!"
After entering the zoo, the four of them saw the red panda that stood on two feet and raised its two paws. Its red fur and its expression that appeared so smug as if welcoming them to its kingdom made them think that it was Maaya.
"I am much cuter!"
"...is that the problem here?" Tobe was speechless, but when he saw Maaya, he somehow nodded. "You are right. You are cuter than the Red Panda."
"...I think that it is wrong to compare me to the Red Panda, but thank you." Maaya blushed furiously, feeling happy as her hard work to do a make-up was praised by Tobe, and she was also glad that Tobe genuinely enjoyed her little brothers' company, as she was afraid that he was just acting.
However, as he was genuinely enjoying their company, Maaya was also happy since it meant that he didn't mind her family, and she could also see how her little brothers were so happy.
Like how one wanted to conquer single mothers, they had to conquer their children too, while Tobe didn't intend to do so after a single mother, to conquer the older sister, he also needed to be loved by her little siblings.
"I have heard that there is a new faculty location here."
"Really? What kind?"
"Life of the Forest. It is a museum on the rainforest."
"Oh, is it that jungle in the tropical forest?"
"It seems to be." Tobe looked at the three and asked, "Do you want to visit?"
"Yeah!" 3x
"...." Tobe.
Maaya's little brothers aside, it seemed like Maaya was a child, too, yet the four of them went to various spots in the zoo and had their photos taken, too.
Still, if one saw their photos, they would think that they really were like a family.
"Is it really okay to feed it, Tobe-nii?"
"Here, look at me."
As they walked around, they came to the children's zoo area where they could have direct contact with the animals and feed sheep, goats, and alpacas. Naturally, they also tried to feed the animals, but one of Maaya's little brothers was a little intimidated by the alpaca's large size, to which Tobe showed that it was okay by feeding it.
"It's like a dog!"
"Haha, so cute!"
Under Tobe's petting, the alpaca was as docile as a puppy, which made Maaya and her two little brothers laugh.
Besides feeding the animals, in this area, they could also ride a horse, which they were curious about.
"Have you ridden on a horse before, Tobe-nee?"
"Not yet." Tobe looked at Maaya's little brothers and asked, "Do you want to ride on it?"
"...can we?" 2x
"Yup. Let's ride together."
"Oh!" 2x
This was probably the fun of having a male to lead the trip, as with a male, they didn't feel afraid to try many things, as Tobe was there, reliable, and could be relied on when they needed him, like in this situation when they wanted to try to ride a horse.
"....." Maaya.
When everyone saw Tobe's figure, who rode on the top of the horse, the horse subconsciously fixed its posture, and he became a picture of a gallant knight, who landed upon this land of the sun.
"Come on."
As Tobe stretched his hand, it was like an overkill situation where one wanted to reach that hand.
Maaya naturally wanted to reach out his hands, but unfortunately, she was beaten by her little brothers!
"Yahoo!"
"So high!"
"...." Maaya.
"Do you want to ride it, too, Narasaka-san?"
"N-No... I am not a child..."
Yet, even so, Maaya took his picture as she lamented, wondering how one could fit to ride a horse like this.
Still, it was fun, so fun that she had forgotten how wrong this outing was, as she knew well that he had a girlfriend, and she invited him out despite knowing that fact.
Maaya thought that by this outing, she could express her feelings, yet unexpectedly, this feeling of hers became so overwhelming that she couldn't stop it.
"Nee-chan, take a photo of us!"
"Maaya-nee!"
The three of them waved their hands, waving in her direction, to which Maaya took a picture, wishing for the time to continue forever till her heart stopped when she saw a call from someone.
"Saki..."