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24. To the fountain park 2
I had known Makoto, Rie, and Yuuko for a long time since middle school, but this would be the first time we went out like this.
Sure, they had ever bought something I needed for school.
Notebooks, stationery, and other things that didn’t have much to do with personal tastes.
When the eraser got smaller or the notebook was about to reach the last page, some girl would go buy a new one herself.
Therefore, most men, including me, had no experience of going out and shopping together with girls.
“Speaking of which, do you remember? Why the stationery and such, must be the same for the members of the group?”
For some reason, every group had this tendency.
“I-if, if you’re in the same group

 the preference might be similar with each other.”
“Y-yeah
 ahaha”
Makoto and Yuuko were in dismay.

 is it perhaps, because, they want to have the same thing as the boy in their group?
“I guess, that may happen
 By the way, what will be today’s event?”
At the fountain park special venue, the event changed regularly.
“Today, it seems to be, a great exhibition named “the world’s cats”.”
“Hoo, cat, is it? Like Siamese or American Shorthair?”
“Seem like a little “big cat”
”
Makoto looked at Yukuo.
“It seems that they are from the large ones of the Felidae family, but it wasn’t written in details.”
“Large ones
 Oh, you mean lions and tigers?”
I’ve seen pictures of such ferocious creatures all wrapped up in cardboard like house cats.
If I’m not mistaken, since canines hunt in groups, it’s difficult for them to grow large, but felines hunt alone, so they can grow in size

“Well
 seems to be many more, like leopards, cheetahs, and jaguars, but it’s the ones that are dangerous to let them stay here.”
“Right, it’s dangerous. I wonder, what other are there?”
I can’t think anymore
 yep, nothing

“A lynx, I guess? Hey Yuuko, can’t you think of anything else?”
“Ocelot, I guess?
. Ah, right A bobcat baby was said to be born recently. It was written that you can see the breastfeeding.”
“Hoo
.. Bob?”
In America, Tom seems to be a major name for cats. There’s also this cat-and-mouse cartoon with them as the main characters. Where the cat always chasing the mouse.
In Japan, the major names are, Tama or Mike.
But, Tom is also used as a person’s name there, which is confusing, so when emphasizing that it is a cat, it seems that people often call it “Tomcat”.
As a result, the cat was named Tomcat.
If so, this “Bobcat” is probably the same

I thought so, but looking at Makoto and Yuuko’s reactions, it seemed different, and as if they knew what I was thinking, I got an explanation, but it was from Rie.
“Bobcat, is a big cat bred in America.”
“Wait, Rie.”
“That’s, you don’t need to!”
Makoto and Yuuko stopped Rie in a panic.
Perhaps, the two were panicking because they wanted to tell Rie not to deny my words. It might be because of a feeling that they would be in trouble if they offended me.
Regardless, I asked Rie to tell me more, and it seemed the bobcat was a real wild cat, to be exact, a variety of lynx.
“I see, you explained it well. Rie, I’m proud of you. That aside, I’m looking forward to the cat exhibition.”
“Ehehe”
When I pat Rie’s head, Rie narrowed her eyes happily.
Her appearance overlapped with my cousins, Moe-chan and Saki-chan. She looked cute.
“Wah!?”
“Eeeh?”
Is the sudden contact too much? Well, it is what it is...
Rather than being the same age as me, Rie seemed more like a younger sister, which was strange.
Also, among them, she was the only one person who was short.
Besides, only Rie had an athletic atmosphere, so it might be why I felt easy to talk to her.
There was a similar type among juniors in the dojo I belonged to in the original world.
Even though I had a stern appearance, he called me “Senpai, senpai”, without hesitation.
Outside the dojo, he seemed to be a shy person and didn’t have many normal friends, but I had a good impression of him.
That didn’t mean that there was anything romantic feeling between me and my juniors. In the first place, neither of us was on “that” side.
Later, it seemed that the opposite sex who suited his taste properly appeared. And I had seen them walking side by side from the dojo several times.
“Bobcats seem to be indistinguishable from normal cats. It seems to be a common story in the United States that one thinks it’s a stray cat and turns out to be a bobcat.”
Yuuko explained.
As expected of a wildcat, it ran around the fields and mountains to hunt prey.
Though I always thought that all cats didn’t like water, this wildcat would sometimes go into rivers in search of prey.
Rie then said that they seemed to be breeding in large numbers in America, threatening the ecosystems of others
 especially small animals that went to their stomachs.
In the original world, I had seen the news that there were too many kangaroos in Australia, and more and more people started to treat them as pests.
It seemed that this world had the same thought, that it would be a problem if the domain of a wild animal was too large.
Anyway, as we walked, the women around us stare at me.
Yuuko and Rie lined up on my left and right, silently intimidating the surroundings.
“It’s okay
 if anything happens, I’ll deal with it.”
Makoto who was behind me, told me so.
“Is this normal
?”
I didn’t notice it because I hadn’t had much experience walking around the park like this.
Just walking around would attract attention this much? Isn’t this a little crazy?
“Women who come here alone are looking for men with families. Look, the women here are quite older, aren’t they?”
“Now that you say it

”
Most of them seem to be in their thirties and above. Well, there are teenagers too, but only a few.
“Today is a holiday. The fountain park is a good spot to bring small children, and men who come like that are relatively easy-going, so they don’t really care if women are around. People from outside the special ward came for “watching”.”
No wonder they look so excited

It seems teenage girls had a different preferable spot for watching.
“The image I had when I was a child was that, it was a more peaceful park.”
I never thought it would be a spot where women with such a purpose gather.
“Right
 It’s certainly much better than going to a store with a men-only place on holidays.”
“Yeah. If you go near such a store
 Well
”
“Yes

”
“

?”
What do you mean?
“Around the men-only seats in a coffee shop, it’s like a girls’ party!”
“Hey, Rie!”
SLAM!!
Apparently, other than a shop with a men-only section, there were cafes and restaurants with a men-only seats.
Ah, Mom and Sis often bought clothes for me, but, did they enter the men-only section?
Please don’t get in trouble

Some cafes and restaurants had seats specially prepared for men, and even if other seats were full, only men and their companions could sit there.
Naturally, in order to see a man eating there, women would take up a seat, where they could easily see the men, in advance and wait patiently.
It was said that a group for that purpose was formed outside the Special Ward, and such “top-secret information” was flying around among them.
“Women outside the special ward seem to be happy just by seeing a man
 ah, w-we’ve never been to such a place.”
“Well, there was a time when we entered by chance.”
“Rie!”
SLAM!!
Makoto hit Rie on the head. Clearly, it was using her fist.
Makoto’s face was bright red, and Yuuko’s eyes were as if they were looking at the day after tomorrow.
I mean, it can’t be helped if it happened by chance. Yeah, it can’t be helped if it’s just by chance.
That’s just something normal in life.