The Kitten of Yesteryear and the "Curse" of Yesteryear

After leaving the park, some time later—

Crown nearly jogged to catch up with Hikari-chan ahead of her and grabbed her arm.

"W-Wait, Hikari-chan! Are we—are we just leaving like this?"

Her brows were tightly furrowed as she looked back toward the park, now long out of sight. Her hands unconsciously clenched and loosened.

"Little Kita looked like that just now—you saw her expression, didn't you? Her eyes were red, and even her voice was shaking!

Shouldn't we—shouldn't we go back and check on her? I—I just can't stop worrying about her!"

Hikari-chan slowed slightly, but she did not turn around. Her gaze remained fixed on the shadows stretched long by the setting sun ahead.

"Yeah," she said softly, with a trace of bitterness that was hard to detect. "How could anyone possibly not worry after seeing her like that? Especially—after we, after I said something like that."

"This—"

Crown fell silent, her thoughts growing even more tangled as all kinds of emotions churned inside her. "What we said—especially you, Hikari-chan—you only said it in the heat of the moment. If it's Little Kita, she should understand—no, whether she understands or not, I think—we should still go back and apologize. Those words must have hurt her badly. At the very least, we need to comfort her—"

At last, Hikari-chan stopped and turned around.

The sunset cast a soft outline along her profile, but her eyes were clear—perhaps even a little cold.

"That's why, Elder sister," she asked Crown calmly, "do you really think going back now would change anything? 'Sorry, we shouldn't have said that to you'—and then what? Would the problem be solved?"

Crown was taken aback by the question and instinctively argued, "But—we can't just leave her alone!"

"I know." Hikari-chan nodded, glancing back the way they had