"And so, how did your Japan trip go? Did you actually visit a high school? Did you see any ikemen?"

"How about cute girls? Are their skirts really that short in real life?"

I shook my head at the barrage of questions from my friends, Jen and Huifen. "Calm down, you guys. I only spent a couple of days there, so my impression is probably still skewed by my expectations. I enjoyed the shopping and the snacks though."

"And the ikemen?" persisted Jen, holding her face in her hands as we walked together towards the MRT station's exit. We were headed towards a shopping mall that sold plenty of anime merchandise, where I was going to browse and check out the latest goods. I was only going to browse, I warned myself.

"Well, I did have a good-looking guide," I started off with a smirk.

"Details, please!" begged the two, grasping my arms as if they would never let me go until I told them everything. Well, not everything, I suppose. I certainly couldn't tell them about our adventures in Shyi'eld. Or about that incident, nor that one...

I told them about the school, visiting the shopping street, and as I started describing Masa, Jen tugged on my sleeve and cocked her head towards her left. "So, kinda like that guy, then? He's even wearing a camo hat."

"Don't be silly, why would someone be wearing a camo hat in the middle of town unless he's a bir–Masa!?" I stopped walking instantly, stunned.

"Huh? It's actually your friend in person?!" Jen looked flabbergasted, looking from me to Masa, who had also stopped upon hearing me call out his name.

"Where?!" squealed Huifen, peering in the entirely wrong direction.

My mind had gone blank for a moment, but the wheels soon began turning again. Why? How? What was he doing here? Come to think of it, he hadn't replied to my message about meeting my grandma, so was this his reply?! But how had he managed to find me among the millions of people in Singapore? Surely it couldn't be pure coincidence? Was this fate? Poof! My mind overloaded and blanked out again.

Jen nudged me, bringing me back to my senses while Huifen finally spotted the Japanese boy now heading in our direction. "C'mon, introduce us! It's not everyday we get to talk to a real-live ikemen, you know?" whispered Jen.

"I don't really approve of his haircut or fashion sense, but at least his face is pretty," added Huifen.

I rolled my eyes at their remarks, but greeted Masa with a smile and a wave. "I really, really didn't expect to meet you here."

"Same here," he said with a shrug. "I just came to look for a couple of rare birds at the Botanic Gardens, actually."

"Ah, a tsundere. That explains some things," muttered Jen under her breath, but both Masa and I heard her, naturally.

I quickly changed the subject by introducing my friends to Masa and vice versa. He looked like he was in a bit of a hurry, so I didn't want to detain him for too long. We were about to part ways when Jen pushed me towards him. "You guys go ahead and catch up," she told me with a wink. "He's only here for today, right? You can just meet us again tomorrow."

"But I–“

"It's fine, Jen and I were planning to watch a movie anyway," agreed Huifen. "You've got to grab any chance you've got, right?"

"See ya then. Nice meeting you, Masa-san," said Jen as she pulled Huifen away, leaving the two of us standing there.

Masa and I exchanged glances and I scratched my head. "Well, I guess you're stuck with me again," I told him with a grin.

He merely shrugged and we started walking towards the station exit. "I'm really not dressed for a walk in the park though," I muttered, looking down at my skirt and sandals. I didn't wear skirts that often, but I liked this ankle-length skirt since it could keep me warm in the air-conditioned mall.

"I think you look nice though," said Masa, giving me a quick glance. "It's not what you usually wear."

"Hmm, yeah...well..." I didn't know what to say, so after stuttering the semblance of an answer, we continued walking in silence.

We exited the station and emerged into bright sunlight. The garden's gates were just a dozen steps away, so we followed the signs and went in. Having done his homework beforehand, Masa took me straight to the spot where the bird had been seen. Several bird photographers were already waiting there with their tripods and cameras set up. We waited quietly with them until Masa tapped me on the shoulder and pointed a short distance away. Immediately, there were the sounds of rapid-fire camera shutters going off. I was somewhat stunned by their reaction, but upon seeing the green ball of feathers that was the Hooded Pitta, I felt they were justified in doing what they did.

The bird was adorable! It hopped here and there on the forest floor as it foraged for worms, occasionally glancing up and tilting its head to give us curious looks. It was about as tall as a human hand, mainly emerald green, with a black face and scarlet belly, but was surprisingly well camouflaged despite its bright colours. In fact, I lost sight of it several times until Masa pointed it out to me again. He kindly lent me his binoculars to take a closer look since we were not allowed to get off the path and we didn't want to frighten it away by going too close.

I was no birder, but I was beginning to understand why Masa found them so fascinating. "It's so cute!" I whispered to him in Japanese. "No wonder you came all this way to see it."

His eyes widened, and then softened as he gave me a brilliant smile. Wow. Be still, my beating heart. Seriously, if looks could kill...that smile could have struck me dead on the spot. Fortunately, it only lasted a couple of seconds since his attention zoomed back to the bird. I stifled a sigh and turned to look at the other photographers. Some were still firing off shot after shot, while others had stopped to check their photos. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something shimmering. It disappeared when I looked at it directly, but when I focused on my peripheral vision, something was definitely shimmering. What in the world was that?