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“Hajime, look! It’s a Komu!”
“... A camel, Takahiro.” Hanamaki grins as he clings onto Iwaizumi’s arm, his other looped around Matsukawa’s, with Oikawa on the other side. Oikawa snickers under his breath as Matsukawa holds back a chortle, but nothing can dampen Hanamaki’s mood. For their Sunday date, it had been Hanamaki’s choice, and he had instantly blurted out “The zoo!!” in a flurry of excitement. There had been no possible way for the other three to deny their adorable boyfriend when he was so eager and excited.
“If we want to get to the meerkat feed at 2, we’d better hurry over there now.” Hanamaki’s eyes absolutely sparkle as he quickens his step and drags the other three behind him. They’re happy to be dragged along, the grin on his face all the payment they’ll need for scuffed shoes and tugged wrists. He’s beautiful.
“There’s the meerkats!” Hanamaki pulls away from them to run over to the pen, where a staff member is standing in the middle of the pen with a bowl of fruit in hands, the meerkats squeaking at his feet and scratching at his trousers. Oikawa jogs up behind him, wrapping his arms around Hanamaki’s waist with a chin on his shoulder and matching smile at the cute little mammals scampering around. Iwaizumi and Matsukawa are slower to come over, hanging towards the back to let children peer through the glass and over the barrier. Their hands are interlocked in a gentle and subtly way that could be mistaking for two people just standing close together.
The Zoo keeper scatters the fruit around and the meerkats go wild. Hanamaki bounces on his feet as the tiny creatures scrap over the pieces of fruit, squeaking and chirping. Oikawa is more interested in listening to what the keeper is saying and absorbing the information like a sponge. Once it’s all over, and the children have dispersed, Matsukawa moves in with his camera to get a picture of the meerkats, before getting a kind passer-by to take a snap of all four of them crouched down in front of one of the windows. Coincidentally, this is the exact moment a meerkat takes sentry position dead centre.
When they get the camera back and look at the picture, Iwaizumi bursts into handsome laughter and points it out, followed by a second one that is mid-bite just behind Oikawa, but the image is captured perfectly that it looks like it’s screaming at Oikawa’s backside.
“Oh, that is art. I want one like that with the penguins!” Iwaizumi pulls a zoo map out of his back pocket and unfolds it large enough that Matsukawa has to help him hold it.
“Okay... We’re here, in ‘Kalahari’. The penguins are in ‘Arctic’, so we have to get through ‘Amazonia’, ‘Jungle’, and ‘Australia’. It should take us 10 minutes to walk from here to there, but it’s highly likely at least one of you will get distracted.” He pointedly fixes his eyes on Oikawa and Hanamaki, the former pouts whilst the latter grins with no regrets.
“Actually... I’d kinda like to see the otters. Think we can divert around there?” Matsukawa trails the path with his finger, showing a small detour that takes them through the heart of Amazonia and back on track. Iwaizumi nods.
“Oikawa, can you get the highlighter out my bag, please? We can trace the route we want to take now, so we don’t divert.”
“Look!!! Giraffes!”
“Aaaaand we’ve already failed step one.” Rolling his eyes as he folds up the map, Iwaizumi watches Hanamaki sprinting off towards the open area enclosure, Matsukawa jogging behind him at a socially acceptable pace in crowded areas. Oikawa passes him the highlighter - a bright neon green – and prompts him to pass over the map again. He holds the map out in front of him for Iwaizumi to lean against and mark. This way, there’s no need to double back on themselves, and no chance of getting lost.
He hopes.
Oikawa takes the first chance he can get to skip over to Hanamaki and Matsukawa, Iwaizumi lingering behind with a small, fond smile. He’s content to watch them enjoying themselves, and not get too close to the scary animals that are:
Firstly – Tall enough to walk all over a human being.
Secondly – Carnivorous and adept hunters.
Thirdly – Anything he deems capable of murder.
Sure, it was amazing to see animals from all over the globe, but he’d rather not risk his safety in the process. He’s heard what a zebra kick and do, or deer antlers. He’s researched what supposedly innocent seals can do, and the suspicions of the Aye-Aye. He won’t be going anywhere within pointing distance of that one. Iwaizumi doesn’t like being pointed at anyways, it’s rude and demeaning, but he’ll especially avoid it when it comes with a premonition of death.
He watches a giraffe stroll up to the fence and many hands reach out to stroke it, Hanamaki and Matsukawa included. Oikawa is too indulged in filming an emu prance around like it’s dancing. Iwaizumi finds a bench, still clearly in sight from where they are, and plonks himself down with chin in his hands and an unreadable glittering expression in his green eyes as he watches his boyfriends beaming with delight at the animals. He’s so fixated on Hanamaki and Matsukawa trying to be taller than the giraffe by giving each other piggy backs, that he misses Oikawa coming right up to him.
“Haji-chan~.” Oikawa drops into the seat next to him with no elegance, leaning against him and sing Iwaizumi’s shoulder as a pillow.
“Tooru. You okay?”
“Yup! We definitely gotta stay on track after this though. I’ve just seen a sign that says the zoo closes an hour earlier on Sundays.”
“Yikes. Alright, I’ll grab ‘Hiro and Issei, you guard the bags.” Oikawa salutes, entirely serious, and straightens up his posture to wait for them to get on the move again. He doesn’t miss the huff of amusement Iwaizumi tries to hide, or the tug of his lips into a smile. They were simple little actions that everybody could see, but only the Seijou 4 knew how significant and rare it really was.
“Issei, look! A baby rhino!”
“Mhm, yeah, I see it~.”
“Isn’t it cute?!”
“Not as cute as you.” Matsukawa punctuates his statement with a soft kiss nuzzled into Hanamaki’s hairline. Hanamaki blushes and presses into him as a delicate hug. It’s a tender moment that breaks when a long black tongue suddenly licks over Matsukawa’s face.
“Oh gross! I’m covered into giraffe slobber!” Hanamaki and Iwaizumi burst out into identical laughter, Iwaizumi with a hand on Hanamaki’s shoulder to support him as he hunches over in hysterics. Matsukawa narrows his eyes at them, but there’s no venom in his glare. Rather, he’s equally amused but keeping it cleverly covered.
“You really think his funny, huh?”
“It’s hilarious.” Hanamaki doesn’t have time to escape before flat palms squeeze his cheeks and pull him close, Matsukawa rubbing his giraffe-slobber cheek against Hanamaki’s own as he squeals and laughs, pretending to fight away. Once Matsukawa deems Hanamaki covered enough, he moves his revenge to Iwaizumi, who would have bolted in the split millisecond it took Matsukawa to switch over, if it hadn’t been for Hanamaki’s arm around his waist.
Three boys walk back to Oikawa with ruffed hair, slimy cheeks, and the corners of their eyes creasing in mischief. Oikawa recognises the danger too late. He doesn’t have a chance to even get off the bench before all three are tackling him.
“This is unfaaaiiiir~!” He cries out, but nobody pays heed to his playful pleas to be released or saved. Now, all four of them are dishevelled and covered in giraffe slobber. Oikawa wears a heavy pout at his unclean state, having taken ages in the bathroom that morning. Luckily, the route Iwaizumi has planned for them has a toilet stop just a few minutes away. Despite this, they don’t rush.
They spend a long time trying to get a good photo of the jaguar, without their reflections in the glass, and they spend even long cooing over the Amazon river otters, with a new little of pups! Matsukawa protests leaving the turtles and terrapins, whilst they have to physically drag Iwaizumi away from the tree frogs and lizards. They may be toxic and poisonous, but they’re behind reinforced, unbreakable glass, so he’s comfortable enough to plaster himself right up against the tank.
The bathroom stop is probably the longest they’ve ever had, because it only fits two people at a time. Hanamaki and Iwaizumi are both very quick when it comes to tidying up, so they go first and emerge with cleaner faces, brushed hair, and bruised lips with guilty blushes, fingers interlocked gently. Matsukawa wriggles his eyebrows suggestive and revels in the way they divert their gazes, before he’s pushing Oikawa in for the same kind of treatment.
Kisses ranging from tiny flutters to passionate bites accompany their cleaning up, before they return to the small picnic bench where Hanamaki and Iwaizumi are waiting. Amazingly, despite the distraction, Oikawa’s hair is still primed and perfect.
“Ready to go?”
“Yup! Which way are we going?” Iwaizumi pulls the map out to check again, as if he hasn’t already revised and memorised their pathway.
“Round to the left here, then there should be a sign that points towards ‘Jungle’, or more specifically, monkeys.” Matsukawa perks up just a little. He loves monkeys. Specifically, the marmosets and squirrel monkeys. This time, it’s him that leads the way, Hanamaki on his heels and Oikawa behind them, with Iwaizumi right at the back.
“There they are.” He slows down his speed as they approach the marmoset enclosure, so he doesn’t scare the one sitting on the inside windowsill. It prowls up and down, looking out for and bad behaviour from the others in the group. Matsukawa crouches down to eye level as he watches it with a breath of awe. His face near the glass catches the marmoset’s attention and it turns to him, staring him down before patting the window with a flat palm and leaping away along the ropes in the enclosure. Matsukawa laughs softly and returns to his feet to watch the more boisterous marmosets chase each other and playfully brawl. He won’t say it aloud, but it kind of reminds him of when Iwaizumi and Hanamaki arm wrestle.
Just like with Iwaizumi and Hanamaki, the small one wins continuously, but the larger one returns for more. Satisfied with watching the active little monkeys, he moves to the next enclosure where Hanamaki is already attempting to take pictures through the glass. The Tamarins are much lazier, but they love to conceal themselves in foliage, so it’s hard to get a clear picture.
“Hey Haji-chan, you should grow a moustache like that. Ow! Don’t elbow my ribs!” Iwaizumi grumbles under his breath as Hanamaki gives up on the camera to wrap his arms around Oikawa’s waist and tug him close for protection. Of course, Iwaizumi wouldn’t lunge again because there’s currently no reason to punish Hanamaki.
“As much as I love these little guys, we should get moving if we want to see the penguins before closing time.”
“Issei, we have five hours.”
“I know. I’m accounting for how often you and Takahiro will get distracted.”
“I thought Haji-chan was meant to be the mean one.” Rolling his eyes, Matsukawa puts a hand on Hanamaki’s shoulder, steering him – and Oikawa in his arms – in the direction they should be going. They see more monkeys of multiple species; leopards, caiman, exotic birds, and the last enclosure in the ‘Jungle’ are is for the ring-tailed lemurs. It’s a lemur walk, so they can actually go in the arena and walk around as if they and the lemurs were free in the wild.
¾ are interested, Hanamaki brimming with excitement and Oikawa stating it was the highlight of his day. Matsukawa was eager too, though in a calm way that showed through the slightest smile. On the complete flipside, Iwaizumi refused to get anywhere near the entrance. The zoo keeper who manages the two-gate system can’t say anything to convince him otherwise.
“What if one escapes?”
“They can’t, sir. Even if one gets past the first gate, there’s a second here to stop it.”
“And once you’re in, you’re trapped.”
“I can let you out at any time; you don’t have to walk the whole way round.”
“What if they come up to you? Or touch you?”
“Stay perfectly still and they’ll forget you’re even there.”
“No. No way. I’ve done my research. Lemur teeth are incredibly strong and sharp and I do not trust them at all.” He lifts his head to look at the three waiting in the small transferral space between the two gates.
“You can risk life and limb if you want, but I’m staying here.” Hanamaki snorts with the cutest little laugh.
“Oh my gosh, Hajime. You have a phobia of lemurs. Cute, cuddly lemurs.”
“Tiny death machines, more like. Have fun, I’ll go get us some drinks and ice cream.” Matsukawa quickly pushes against the fencing to reach through a large gap and grab Iwaizumi’s arm.
“Hajime, if you’re looking for something to do to avoid the lemurs, why not go look around the Australia bit? Leave us the map and we’ll meet you at Arctic. Trust me; we’ll only be stopping for the marsupials.”
“Whereas I’ll be looking at all the bugs too... Okay, good point.” Iwaizumi passes over the folded up map, considering he has the route memorised. Through the fencing, Matsukawa places a soft kiss to Iwaizumi’s hand and smirks as the other flusters, bright blush staining the tips of his ears.
“We’ll try not to take too long~. Stay safe.”
“Mhm. You too. Especially with them.” He isn’t sure if Iwaizumi means the lemurs, or their boyfriends, but he’s deadly serious so Matsukawa nods. Iwaizumi departs. As soon as the door into the lemur habitat is opened, Hanamaki is stepping through with Oikawa hanging off his right arm, as close in proximity as possible. The lemurs appear to be in cahoots towards the back of the habitat, so their steps are quick until they get within reasonable distance. The three as so drawn to the pile of five or six lemurs tussling and playing beneath the shade of a tree, they miss the Alpha of the group approaching from a grassy spot behind.
They don’t miss the heavy weight slamming into Oikawa’s back, and tiny but creepy hands wrapping around his shoulders. Oikawa freezes, face steadily draining of colour as a wet nose presses against his skin and over his ear, the lemur taking a cheeky nibble.
“M-Maybe Haji-chan had some truth to his words.” Hanamaki unwinds Oikawa’s arm from his and casually starts to walk off.
“It was nice knowing you. Love you.”
“RIP Tooru, we’ll cry at the funeral.”
“W-Wait, you can’t leave me like this!” Oikawa whimpers and his eyes bead with water, lips wobbling as if he’s about to burst into heartbroken wails. Guiltily, the two come back over to him. Matsukawa shoos the lemur away whilst Hanamaki pulls Oikawa into a tight hug, rubbing his back.
“Shh, it’s okay, we’re not leaving. We’re here, Tooru. We won’t leave you.” Lemur officially chased away, Matsukawa comes back over and adds his weight onto Oikawa’s back from behind, one hand ruffling through his hair.
“Yeah, we’re here for you. How about we leave before that ‘tiny death machine’ comes back?”
“O- Okay.” Hand in hand in hand, the trio heads back the way they came to the two gates, now just as eager to leave as they originally were to get in. There’s definitely no way enough time has passed for Iwaizumi to have fully enjoyed the bug life, so they find a picnic table near the little food shack and sip at the bottled drinks they brought along as they scrutinise the map.
It won’t take them long to get to the Arctic exhibit, considering they’re only stopping for the kangaroos, koalas, and quolls. Amusingly, Hanamaki can’t seem to pronounce them correct, the same as with the camels in the Kalahari exhibit. Oikawa is face-down on the table shaking with laughter as Matsukawa tries to take him through it, step by step.
“Kanjiroos?”
“Kangaroos.”
“Kangarikus?”
“No, no. Kan. Ga. Roos.”
“Kaaaaangaaaroos.”
“That’s it, you got it.” Hanamaki beams from ear to ear, and with a mischievous grin, Oikawa turns his head to look up at his present boyfriends.
“Now try Koala.”
“Oh, that’s easy! Kaorua!”
“No, ‘Hiro... Koala.”
“Korara?” Once more, Oikawa pauses laughing to lift his head up, cheekily intervening with his unwanted comments.
“The legend of Korara! I love it, ‘Hiro~.”
“What does the legend of Koala have anything to do with this?” Two shocked, disbelieving looks meet his confused gaze and he raises a thin eyebrow in deepened puzzlement.
“Takahiro. You just said it. You said Koala!”
“I did...? Oh! I did~!” He smiles from ear to ear, bright, pure and beautiful. It makes Matsukawa want to weep with joy, whilst Oikawa finds the need to get his sunglasses out his bag. Instead, he finds his phone and takes a picture so that Iwaizumi will not miss out on this adorable moment.
“Now, how about Quoll?”
“Koro?”
“Quoll.”
“Ko... Ru?”
“Qu-oll.”
“Korr!” Gently shaking his head with a soft laugh, Matsukawa gives Hanamaki’s hands a squeeze.
“Yeah, that’ll do~.” Out of nowhere, Oikawa sits up a little straighter with a beam in his eyes.
“Quoll-kawa, Matsu-Koala, and Kanga-maki!”
“Oh my word, no.” Matsukawa buries his face in his hands, but his shoulders shake as he silently laughs, beyond the point of hysterics. Hanamaki blinks in disapproval at Oikawa, deadpan staring at him, despite the way he smugly smirks, oh-so-proud of himself. With a sigh, Hanamaki resigns to his fate and chuckles gently before realising something.
“Wait a minute, what about Hajime?”
“Iwaizoomi. He doesn’t need an animal, he’s all of them!” They look at each other before breaking out into splutters of laughter like a dying engine that slowly proceeds to physically hooting and howling with laughter. It takes ages for them to calm down, by which time Matsukawa suggests they make their move, before Iwaizumi starts to worry about how long they’re taking. Rushing through the bug section, Matsukawa stops to look at a few spider species, but asides from that, they make it very quickly out the insect and reptile house, spotting Iwaizumi waiting by a bench.
“Haji-chan~!” Oikawa, of course, leaps forwards and hugs him tightly. Iwaizumi rolls his eyes but that doesn’t stop him leaning into the embrace.
“What took you so long? I started to think you’d left me for the lemurs.”
“... Never let me near the lemurs ever again. I understand now. I understand your lemur phobia.” Iwaizumi scowls and pushes Oikawa off.
“I don’t have a phobia, dumbass. I just have common sense.” He doesn’t ask what happened, which Oikawa is grateful for. Hanamaki pats him on the back sympathetically as he walks past, heading towards the closest pen, where a mix of herbivorous and insectivorous animals are kept together in a free space, much like the giraffes with the rhino, zebra, and elephants.
They spend a good amount of time playing ‘spot the quoll’, because honestly, it’s pretty damn hard to find something as small as a cat amongst towering eucalyptus, long grass, and large kangaroos that barely stop moving. Matsukawa wins, his rewards given as a kiss on each cheek and one on the forehead. Accidentally, they’ve killed far more time than necessary and are left with just enough to see the penguins and jog to the exit.
As long as they stay focused.
“There’s polar bears over here~!”
“Tooru, no! Don’t get distracted!” Matsukawa manages to grab his arm and tug him back into their little group before Oikawa can run off, and Iwaizumi swats the back of his head. Hanamaki laughs as he enters a tunnel that leads to the underwater viewing of the penguins. They couldn’t find how to view them above ground, despite it being instructed (confusingly) on the map. As luck would have it, there are four penguins swimming in loops and circles and dives, wondrous acrobatics that look amazingly fun.
“Uwoah... They’re so cute...”
“Not as cute as you, Hajime~.” Flustered by Hanamaki’s words, Iwaizumi looks away and blushes just as a stranger that Oikawa has asked (read; cornered) to take a photo clicks the shutter button. The camera is passed back to the teenagers, who bow politely in thanks and then review the image. The stranger must be an angel, because there’s at least 6 images, 2 of them containing multiple penguins. The 6th photo is where Iwaizumi has looked away, and it creates the perfect space between him and Hanamaki where a penguin is visible swimming towards the window. There’s another two chasing each other just above Matsukawa and Oikawa’s heads.
“I love this. We should frame it.”
“This one and the meerkat one.” With soft expressions and gently leaning against each other, four boys head towards the exit. They stop in the gift shop to purchase little memorabilia. Matsukawa gets a keychain with the zoo logo on, Hanamaki gets a small meerkat statue for their mantelpiece, Oikawa buys a notebook with the emperor penguins on front, and Iwaizumi – surprisingly – purchases a cuddle jaguar toy. He knows he’ll get teased for it, but it was too cute to resist. Secretly, he thinks it looks like Hanamaki, if he were a zoo animal.
They’re exhausted. It’s been a long day of running around constantly and living off pure adrenaline, starting from when the zoo opened to when it closed. The shuttlebus takes them from the zoo to a normal bus station, and from there, they get to a stop just 15 minutes walk from their home. Matsukawa and Oikawa are on their boyfriends backs. Matsukawa because he fell asleep on the second bus, and Oikawa because Iwaizumi heckled him about resting his knee. Within the fifteen minutes it took to get to the front door, Oikawa had been rocked to sleep by Iwaizumi’s steady gait. He smiles softly, but it does mean he can’t reach anywhere except behind him. He nudges Hanamaki just enough to draw his attention.
“Can you reach my keys?”
“Front pocket?”
“Yeah, on your side.” Turning around, Hanamaki bends his knees until he can slip the tips of his fingers into Iwaizumi’s pocket and retrieves the keys. Iwaizumi bends over and takes it in his mouth at the perfect place to then push the key in the door, all without using hands. Taking over again, Hanamaki stretches on arm out behind him and twists the key in the lock until it clicks open and Iwaizumi nudges the door with his foot. He steps back to let Hanamaki enter first, and slowly – ever so tenderly – Matsukawa is lowered onto the sofa. He grunts and stirs, but quickly settles again as Oikawa is lain next to him, and they recognise each other’s warmth.
“You know, the animals at the zoo might be cute... But I think they’re definitely cutest right now.” Iwaizumi chuckles as he brings a blanket over, opening it out so Hanamaki can take the other corner and they pull it up over their sleeping boyfriends.
“Agreed. We should probably get some sleep too.”
“Snuggle time with Hajime~.”
“Ohh, Shh.” Iwaizumi bats him away with no real meaning, and they make themselves comfortable in a chair that is supposed to be for one, but they’re cuddled up close and clinging to each other like puzzle pieces that fit together.
“Hey, ‘Hiro?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for suggesting the zoo. It was the best date we’ve had in a long time.” Peachy plump lips press against Iwaizumi’s forehead and he smiles, before drifting off to the sound of Hanamaki’s heartbeat and the tenderness of his embrace. Hanamaki physically feels him drop off and huffs in amusement, voice dropping from a soft rumble to a warm whisper.
“Idiot~. It’s being together that makes every date the best date.” He nestles his cheek into Iwaizumi’s hair, squeezes him a little tighter for comfort, and then falls asleep himself, recalling their zoo trip in his dreams and knowing he wouldn’t have changed a single thing that led up to this moment; four boys in love sleeping in the living room.