The boy was genuinely confused.
"...I was so puzzled."
"...I couldn't help going over to ask those two girls."
"Huh?"
The girl with bobbed hair blinked.
Her brother had actually gone over and asked them...
Impressive.
"What did they say?"
The girl with bobbed hair was curious.
What reason could they have for treating the two foxes so differently?
Could it be...
They didn't like foxes with stripes?
But surely they wouldn't ignore one completely just because of that?
How much would they have to hate them...
"They..."
Thinking about his conversation with the two girls that day, the boy still felt a sense of absurdity rising within him.
"They said..."
"They hadn't seen a white fox with red markings."
"...Huh?"
After a few seconds of stunned silence, the girl with bobbed hair parted her lips.
They hadn't seen it?
"How could they not have seen it?"
Her brother had said the white fox with red markings was very close to the two girls.
They could see it just by looking up.
The girl with bobbed hair believed her brother.
So she was astonished.
And they still hadn't seen it...
To put it bluntly...
Were those two girls... blind?
"Exactly."
The boy smiled wryly. "How could they not have seen it?"
"I was really surprised."
"And I couldn't understand it."
"I wanted to figure out what was going on."
"But..."
Thinking about how the two girls had misunderstood him, the boy instinctively reached up to push down the brim of his hat.
But his fingers met empty air.
The boy paused.
Then a faint, embarrassed smile appeared on his face.
He lowered his hand.
"...They thought there was something wrong with my head."
"...Huh?"
After a few seconds of stunned silence, the girl with