My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected

But I couldn't do that, so before my family came home, I took it outside the apartment building and let it go. The kitten looked back at me, meowed once, and ran off.

Lonely as I was, I told myself this was for the best.

...Actually, the story wasn't over yet.

But I was a little tired, so let me take a break first.

"..."

After Yuihama fell silent, I was unable to speak for quite a while.

What she had done as a child had been somewhat wrong, but it had truly been an act of kindness, and the kitten had been saved.

I thought it was a touching story.

Yet my chest ached in waves, perhaps because I already knew how the story ended.

"People who seem carefree, if you knock on the bottom of their hearts, will they still make a sad sound...?"

I quoted a line from a book I had read last night, and Yuihama looked confused.

"...Are you talking about watermelons?"

"I'm talking about humans."

"You really like Soseki Natsume..."

Yukino got my reference, which reassured me.

"...Anyway, cats really are magical creatures."

"Magical?"

Yuihama asked.

"Yeah. They enchant humans, and sometimes drive them mad. Cats possess that sort of mysterious power. For example, this goes back to three thousand years before Christ."

"This feels like it's going to take a while..."

Ignoring Yukino's muttering, I continued.

"In Ancient Egypt, cats were worshipped by humans as gods. During the witch hunts, they were persecuted as symbols of misfortune. Even though the times and cultural backgrounds were different, why was their treatment so drastically different? Yuihama, do you know?"

"Huh? Um... why?"

"Listen carefully. It was because... cats are cute."

Yuihama's expression turned icy. An extremely serious expression...

"Don't make that face... Look, humans are