Yukinoshita's Correction Method

"Yui..." Komachi Hikigaya, her eyes red-rimmed, hugged Yui Yuigahama. "You already did wonderfully. It must have been very happy during the days it spent with you."

"Thank you, Komachi." Yui Yuigahama leaned against Komachi Hikigaya.

Yukino Yukinoshita suddenly spoke. "That's not right."

Yui Yuigahama raised her head. "What?"

"Experts who study wild animal behavior believe that cats hiding themselves before death follows the law of the jungle, where the weak are prey to the strong. When cats are injured or sick, they conceal their weakness and find a hidden place far from threats to adjust their bodies." Yukino Yukinoshita's voice barely rose or fell. "Especially somewhere dimly lit and relatively cool, where they wait to recover and regain their strength. But it is also possible for them to die because their injuries or illness are too severe for them to heal on their own."

"So..." Yui Yuigahama smiled forlornly. "It wasn't looking out for my feelings."

"I'm saying it may still be alive," Yukino Yukinoshita said softly. "A place that is dimly lit, relatively cool, familiar to it, and far from threats—you've already searched somewhere like that, haven't you?"

"That drainage ditch!" Yui Yuigahama realized, then fell into fresh confusion. "Then why would it...?"

"Most calico cats are female, and female cats mature earlier than male cats. Generally, it happens at around six months, though nutrition, growing environment, physiology, psychology, and other factors can affect the timing. Early-maturing ones show clear signs at four or five months." Yukino Yukinoshita paused. "They have three estrus periods a year, each lasting a season: mid-January to early March, May to June, and when you met it... August to September."

P.S.: Bonus update for reaching ten thousand recommendations.

Although it had still looked like a kitten, that calico had already grown up and reached the age where it could fall in love.

"Compared to your guess, what's more likely is..." Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes softened. "It got married."

"If that's really what happened..." Yui Yuigahama's eyes blurred, and trembling drops of crystal slid down. "Then that's really wonderful..."

"As I said, compared to avoidance, conversation is a better way to overcome emotional trauma." Yukino Yukinoshita lowered her head and drank her beverage. "So it's better to talk about it."

"Exactly!" Komachi Hikigaya nodded hard and pulled out a tissue to wipe Yui Yuigahama's tears. "In that case, Yui, do you feel like you can go to a cat café now?"

Yukino Yukinoshita picked up almost seamlessly. "I can go with you."

"I don't know..." Yui Yuigahama sniffled. "I might need a little longer to get used to it... Oh, right, Komachi's family has a cat." She smiled. "You two can go together."

"No can do... I went once before." Komachi Hikigaya spread her hands helplessly. "In the end, it smelled the scent of other cats on me and got really mad."

Yui Yuigahama looked at Dong Yunshan. "Then..."

Komachi Hikigaya's gaze followed right after. "Um..."

Dong Yunshan sighed. "I..."

Yukino Yukinoshita looked at Dong Yunshan. "You should still have business to take care of."

Dong Yunshan nodded. "I do."

Komachi Hikigaya and Yui Yuigahama exchanged a glance.

For some reason, they were a little worried about Dong Yunshan's married life.

Under Yukino Yukinoshita's guidance, even Yui Yuigahama, who was not good at studying, passed the exams easily.

Not to mention Dong Yunshan, whose grades had never been bad to begin with.

The first school year ended with the beginning of spring break, and Dong Yunshan followed the address he had found as he walked through a shopping center called PLENA.

"And then this way... Hm?" Dong Yunshan's gaze shifted, and he saw a figure both familiar and unfamiliar.

Yukino Yukinoshita.

Her looks were familiar to Dong Yunshan, but this was the first time he had seen her dressed like this.

Yukino Yukinoshita wore a pale yellow outer layer, and beneath it was a light, airy white dress. A ribbon was tied slightly above her waist, outlining her slender figure while making it stand out even more...

Compared to her usual icy appearance in a school uniform, she looked softer and cuter.

With every step she took, the high-heeled sandals without ankle straps made a clear, cool sound.

The twin tails tied with red ribbons swayed gently along with her.

She held a guide map for the shopping center in one hand and searched for something expressionlessly.

She lowered her head to look at the map.

Then raised her head and looked around.

Then looked at the map again, and raised her head again.

Then she sighed softly, snapped the booklet shut, and firmly walked toward the wall.

"Although I don't know where you're trying to go," Dong Yunshan said, "I do know you can't walk through walls."

Hearing his voice, Yukino Yukinoshita glared over, her wariness laid bare through her fierce gaze.

After she saw clearly that it was Dong Yunshan, the coldness in her eyes was replaced by surprise.

"Oh?" Yukino Yukinoshita tilted her head, her lively twin tails swaying with the motion, and a complicated expression appeared on her face, with both worry and anticipation in it. "Is your business done?"

"Thanks to a few friends of mine, and after quite a lot of effort, it's finally done." Dong Yunshan waved the address in his hand. "Do you want to go to that new place, or come with me?"

Yukino Yukinoshita pressed her cherry lips together, and the worry in her eyes faded. "We're going together."

Dong Yunshan said, "Do you know the way? And you're saying we're going together."

"Guh..." Yukino Yukinoshita was glaring again. "I'll send Yuigahama an email."

"When did you two exchange email addresses?"

"I don't remember the exact time, but I'm certain it was when you didn't know." After Yukino Yukinoshita finished sending the email, she said, "Give me your email address."

"What for?"

"So I can contact you when you think of how to complete the second command," Yukino Yukinoshita replied. "And so I can contact you to issue a command when you can't think of anything."

Dong Yunshan told Yukino Yukinoshita his email address and received a test email from her.

"So..." Yukino Yukinoshita walked beside Dong Yunshan. "It's settled?"

"Yeah." Dong Yunshan let out a long breath. "It was the girl with the braids."

The girl with the braids had said she had two good friends, but neither of them played with her anymore. When she was wandering around alone, she found the calico kitten.

Why had her good friends stopped playing with her?

The class monitor had already given the answer.

It wasn't just Yui Yuigahama and the class monitor. There were plenty of other kids in the apartment building secretly keeping cats behind the adults' backs.

Among them were probably the girl with the braids' two good friends. A shared interest could bring children together.

A child without that shared interest would be pushed out.

To fit back into her friend group, the girl with the braids needed to find a cat and secretly keep it.

So she started wandering around and discovered the calico kitten.

But that cat was being kept by Yui Yuigahama.

The girl with the braids lived in the same apartment building as Yui Yuigahama. Even if she forcibly took the cat away, she wouldn't be able to keep it hidden forever.

She needed to have the cat with her to play with her friends, and if she did that, Yui Yuigahama would find out sooner or later.

So she could only ask Yui Yuigahama for it.

But Yui Yuigahama refused.

The girl with the braids couldn't use the calico cat to play with her secretly cat-keeping friends. Since she wanted to play with them, she changed her approach.

As long as no one had cats, that would be fine.

As for the method...

Catching them herself wouldn't work. She couldn't do it, and her friends might see her.

She needed to borrow someone else's strength.

For example... the manager who hated cats, the one the class monitor had told Yui Yuigahama about, and Yui Yuigahama had told the girl with the braids about.

As long as she told the manager there were cats in the apartment building, the manager would catch them and take them away.

The cats belonging to the girl with the braids' two friends, the class monitor's cat, Yui Yuigahama's cat... To keep her friends from finding other cats, every cat in the apartment building had to be sent to the health center.

Stray cats caught and sent to the health center had one week to wait for adoption.

If no one claimed them, they would be euthanized on the next culling day.

To save these lives, many people had put in a great deal of effort.

There were people like the friend Dong Yunshan had mentioned before, who took in stray cats and found adopters for them;

there were also people who constantly kept an eye on adoption information and helped cats in the health center find adopters;

and there were also people who adopted cats directly from the health center to run cat cafés.

For example...

Dong Yunshan and Yukino Yukinoshita stopped and looked at the signboard that matched the shop name written on the address exactly.

This cat café that had been in business for many years.

Dong Yunshan and Yukino Yukinoshita walked into the shop, chose a package and drinks at the counter, and listened as the staff explained the simple rules.

"The cats in our shop are all rescue cats adopted from the health center."

After saying that last line, the staff led the two of them to the room where the cats were.

Yukino Yukinoshita's steps were unusually light, and her twin tails bounced along with them in a lively way.

It made Dong Yunshan's heart itch, and his hands itch too.

As if some memory had awakened, he kept wanting to grab them and give them a squeeze.

There were no other customers in the room. Several cats looked over curiously, while even more merely glanced their way before continuing to play on their own.

Yukino Yukinoshita locked onto the black cat licking its fur on the sofa armrest at a glance and crept over on tiptoe.

She raised her hand to let the black cat sniff it, then cautiously stroked its head and gently scratched behind its ears.

When she saw the black cat narrow its eyes and let out a pleased purr, Yukino Yukinoshita finally sat down on the sofa, picked up the black cat, and placed it on her lap.

Only then did Dong Yunshan notice that Yukino Yukinoshita wasn't wearing the knee socks she usually wore today. The black cat's paws pressed subtle dimples into her fair thighs.

Dong Yunshan sat down beside Yukino Yukinoshita, casually picked up a cat teaser, and gave it a gentle flick. Several cats immediately raised their heads.

With another shake, a black-and-white cat pounced straight over and reached out a paw for the cat teaser.

Dong Yunshan swayed it left, then right, then suddenly lifted the teaser high, and the black-and-white cat flipped backward with a whoosh.

The black cat on Yukino Yukinoshita's lap yawned, its gaze toward the black-and-white cat full of disdain.

"I thought you'd just say it back then," Dong Yunshan said as he teased the black-and-white cat. "The most likely possibility."

Yukino Yukinoshita stroked the smooth fur along the black cat's back. "You didn't say it either."

"We're different. I don't mind lies, but you pursue what's correct." Dong Yunshan set down the cat teaser, and the black-and-white cat immediately bit it and played with it in delight. "I didn't expect you to offer such a gentle guess."

"It was the more likely guess. Compared to Yuigahama's original guess, the one I proposed was more probable." Yukino Yukinoshita's voice was very soft, as if she were afraid of disturbing the black cat on her lap. "Of course, there were many other possibilities as well, but I had no need to list them one by one."

Yui Yuigahama's calico cat had not left on its own. After the girl with the braids reported it, the building manager had caught it and sent it to the health center.

After listening to Yui Yuigahama's account, both Dong Yunshan and Yukino Yukinoshita had arrived at that guess.

But neither of them had said it.

Dong Yunshan took out a cat treat he had bought in the store and gave it a light shake, immediately luring over an orange cat. "How did you know I'd look into this?"

"You were too quiet. You didn't even spin your pen." Yukino Yukinoshita wanted to take a cat treat to feed the black cat, but she did not want the cat to leave when she got up, so her outstretched hand hung in midair. "When your thoughts reach a crucial point, you suddenly grow quiet and lower your presence so you won't be disturbed. Like when you talked so much during the Film Research Club matter—that was the abnormal situation."

Dong Yunshan picked up a cat treat and handed it to her. "So that was why you said... 'You should still have something to take care of.'"

"But I didn't expect you to actually take care of it." Yukino Yukinoshita's gaze swept over the different kinds of cats in the room. "And so quickly, too."

"It wasn't actually that hard." Dong Yunshan rubbed the orange cat's belly. It was soft and plush. "Once I guessed it was the girl with the braids, I just had to find the manager of that apartment building, ask which health center he usually sent stray cats to, and then check the corresponding health center's records."

"But that was already six years ago." Yukino Yukinoshita pointed out the difficulty. "And Yuigahama didn't say which apartment building she lived in."

"Didn't I mention it to you before? When I was attending school in Nagoya, a boy with a terrible personality transferred into our class. He was very good at gathering information." The orange cat in Dong Yunshan's arms meowed and pawed at the empty cat treat. "As long as I tell him a name, he can quickly get me the information I want."

He could have gotten the answer by asking Yui Yuigahama directly, but Dong Yunshan did not want to give her uncertain hope, so it was better to investigate it himself.

There were actually plenty of methods. He could find her middle school through her high school, then ask the teachers for relevant information; if that yielded nothing, he could go look for elementary school records. It would not take long to narrow down the general area.

It was not as if it were classified information. If someone truly wanted to investigate, it was not that difficult.