So there they were, on a date. How Hakuba had ended up in this situation, he wasn’t entirely certain. It had been something about the zoo and an exhibit on birds, and while he was very interested in birds having worked in the avian rehabilitation center in London, he had meant to go by himself. Yet, here was Nakamori-chan, attending at his side.

Was it supposed to be a group affair? That sounded somewhat likely. The girls were always nosing through his schedule book as if they owned it, and finding that the famous detective was attending the zoo on saturday made it seem, apparently, like an open pass.  He’d not even been consulted about the possibility of caravanning, but nevertheless, all promised they would show. Hakuba made the necessary arrangements for a group of six to go – a triple date, as it were – but when it came time to leave… only Nakamori showed up.

He looked to her, then his watch, then back toward the road. When asked if anyone else was coming, Aoko admitted that two people had to bow out, and no one had heard from Kaito. There had been a heist the previous night, so that didn’t surprise Hakuba much. That left just one other person who might come. He waited while Aoko called them, and frowned when she shook her head. 

“…I suppose it’s just us, then,” he said, and sighed. “Very well, we’ll just take my car instead. It’ll be funner that way, anyway." 

The outing had been fun, at least. It was always interesting to see various animals in supposedly natural, man-made habitats, and this particular zoo had a splendid variety. As expected, however, the bird exhibit was easily the most grandeur and exciting.

There was even a bird show which talked about austringers, getting Hakuba absolutely giddy in his seat. He even broke the rules by standing up during the performance and holding out his arm, calling the trained falcon to land on his ungloved arm. It had hurt to have talons piercing into his arm like that, but it was all worth it when he had their bird doing his tricks. 

Once forcefully removed from the show, Hakuba led Aoko into the tropical birds area, pointing out the various colorful plumage, who it belonged to, and what their beak shape meant they were able to eat. He went on and on about the birds, much like he’d go on about Sherlock Holmes or horses, and told several tales of his time working with wild birds at the center. 

Eventually, he realized that she’d more or less stopped listening… or, at least, had had her attention drawn to something more interesting within the habitat. He stepped up close behind her and leaned down in an attempt to see what she was seeing, eyes squinting. Upon its discovery, he smirked. “Look,” he whispered right up against her neck, pointing.  "A parrot.”

He jumped back and away from her, laughing, arms folded behind his back. Hakuba wasn’t sure if that had been enough teasing to get Aoko to chase him with a mop, but he wasn’t really prepared to find out.