160 An Outing (4)

They ordered light meals and until they arrived debated whether Iris was crazy or not. She refused to rise up to Kyro's taunts, but it was getting harder and harder. He seemed really amused that she'd ask someone for a newspaper just to read about him.

"What did you want to find out about me?" he asked in the end, when their meals were already on the table.

Iris had gotten grilled octopus, since she had never eaten it before. After a small bite, she realized that it wasn't too bad. Strangely, it didn't taste like seafood, but more like… chicken? Well, a very weird chicken.

She shrugged at Kyro's question. "Even I don't know. It was after I returned from being kidnapped and realized that I know nothing about you even though we've stayed together for quite a while."

"You think you know me better now?" he asked, and Iris got a sense that this was a test of sorts. Was he expecting her to answer that she knew him or admit that she knew nothing? After all, in a way both answers were true.

"I've learned that you're single," she said daringly.

This was a bit of a dangerous ground, but she wanted him to admit it to her. Even though she saw his mother's actions and heard him repeatedly say he planned to live alone, she couldn't help remembering the name Jane in the diary-like book she'd secretly read before.

Back then, he had dated that Jane and, when something happened, started a huge fight with some Brons company over it. The order of events made it obvious that it was due to the girl. And worst of all, it didn't seem like Kyro had dated anyone after that.

All of it pointed in one direction, and Iris didn't like it whatsoever. Yet she couldn't confront him in the open without raising too many questions, so her only choice was a roundabout statement like that.

"How insightful! What gave it away? The fact that I didn't throw you out the moment you showed up for fear of misunderstandings? Or my mother's oh-so-covert actions?"

In an instant, the smile from Kyro's face disappeared, and his mood soured. He looked like he'd eaten something extremely distasteful, and Iris winced. She had clearly stepped onto a landmine.

'Abort the mission, abort the mission!'

Quickly, she changed her direction. "You're actually quite bitter, aren't you? I thought to tease you about it, but it seems it's too early."

"Tease me?"

"Certainly, revenge for calling me a newspaper thief!"

This seemed to calm him down a little, and Iris breathed an internal sigh of relief. She'll have to ask about that Jane later. For the moment, it was fine as it was. They were out together, eating at a small restaurant before going to some event.

Which sounded totally like a date.

'Iris, stop those thoughts. Yes, they have no right to be in your head. It's just friends going out together on their free time. That's right.'

Yet why did it sound so much like a date…

"Are you full?" Kyro asked, and Iris realized that they had already finished their meals in silence. She nodded, and he called the waiter to pay. In a few minutes, they left the restaurant and returned to the underground garage.

When she asked where they were going, Kyro still didn't say anything. His reply was the same "You'll see".

His evasion worried Iris a bit, but she pushed it away and told herself that he wouldn't bring her anywhere she wouldn't feel comfortable.

After what felt like forever, they stopped in a parking lot. There was nothing around, so Iris turned to Kyro with a puzzled expression.

"We're a bit late, so have to leave the car here. It's some ten-fifteen minutes away," he explained without giving anything away.

"Sure."

Iris followed after him while glancing repeatedly at his hand. He'd taken her hand before like it was normal, but she couldn't do it herself. What if he pulled his arm away and asked her what she was doing? After the talk just then, she was overly aware of how he didn't want to be pushed into any kind of relationship.

Soon though, she was distracted from her thoughts. Up ahead, a giant gate rose up with hundreds of people entering and leaving. The letters on the side that were short hand for something were unfamiliar to her, but she noticed that many people in the crowd had pets with them and nobody minded it.

The closer they came, the more obvious it became. And the moment they went through the gate, a whole new world opened up to Iris. There were four major directions to choose from, and they all led to things she'd love to visit.

To her immediate right was the dog side, and she could already hear some barking and yipping from that direction. There were also plenty of shouts as if there was some kind of competition going on .

Next came the cat world. This place was only slightly quieter than the dog one, with meows of all volumes echoing over the din of humans moving about. From her position, Iris could see a few Persians lying on some kind of counter with plenty of kids surrounding them. But the cats didn't seem to mind.

To the left of cats were all kinds of small furry things - chinchillas, guinea pigs, and others like them. There were no pets in the open, but Iris could see plenty of stands denoting that area as theirs.

And the last place, to her immediate left, was reserved for the exotic pets. She could see mentions of reptiles, ravens, and alpacas. Right then, someone passed her with a miniature pig and went in that direction as well.

"You don't like it?" Kyro asked from behind, and Iris turned to him with disbelief. His expression was perfectly normal, calm, and that betrayed his dismay. He actually thought she didn't like it here!

"Are you crazy?" she asked while smiling like a fool from ear to ear. "I just don't know where to go first!"

On an impulse, she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the cat area. They couldn't go wrong with cats, and later they could check out the other things as well.