"So why didn't you refuse?"
Inside the café, Cid and Kanon Kanase sat facing each other in a quiet corner.
"I… I…"
Just like earlier, Kanon Kanase didn't know how to answer. But this time, Cid had no intention of glossing over it. He had already spent the money anyway, so whether it was troublesome or not didn't really matter now.
Originally, he had planned to brush the matter off with a bottle of juice. Let her get some sugar in her system while he went to buy something to eat himself. That would fit his persona and save money.
But then…
Who would have thought someone could feel nauseous from watermelon juice? She even threw up. What kind of person does that?
Now he felt too embarrassed to just leave.
So once Kanon Kanase felt a little better, he ended up paying to bring her into a café so she could eat something.
Although the money technically came from the payment Kanon Kanase had given him to take care of the cats, once he found them new owners, whatever remained would belong to him.
Which meant he was basically spending his own money.
Cid stared directly at Kanon Kanase.
"I… I didn't know how to refuse."
After a long silence, Kanon Kanase finally spoke.
"I don't think that's it."
Kanon Kanase wasn't someone incapable of refusing others. At least, that was how Cid saw her.
Her eyes were very pure, but that didn't mean she was weak or unable to say no. There was a sense of self and courage in them.
So…
"When you say you didn't know how to refuse, what you really mean is that you didn't know how to refuse someone's kindness, right?"
As if he had hit the mark, Kanon Kanase lowered her head.
If you thought about it carefully, the answer was obvious. Kanon Kanase wasn't someone who lacked the courage to reject malice. So why hadn't she refused?
Because what she faced was kindness.
Hmm. In a way, she reminded him a bit of Sherry.
"This might sound a little meddlesome and overly concerned, but Kanon, that part of your personality really needs some adjustment."
"S-sorry."
"You don't have anything to apologize for, Kanon."
Looking at the girl bowing her head in apology, Cid sighed quietly in his heart.
If possible, he really didn't want to get involved in this.
But if he ignored it, the pair of eyes he liked so much would eventually be clouded with regret.
This wasn't exaggeration. It was simply reality.
Learning to reject malice isn't difficult. What's difficult is knowing how to properly reject kindness.
Not every act of kindness is truly beneficial to the person receiving it.
Take parents and children, for example. Parents often hope their children will succeed, yet they never consider the child's own abilities or wishes. In the end, those good intentions only end up crushing the child.
That doesn't mean you should shut out all kindness from the world. Doing that would only isolate you.
What matters is learning how to refuse properly.
Parents are elders. They do possess life experience that their children don't have.
But what children should do is treat their parents' words as advice rather than commands. Think it through first, then decide whether to accept it.
Don't ask him why he understood this so well.
His own parents had completely ignored his abilities and wishes. And his older sister was the one who had ended up carrying all of that.
That was exactly why he didn't like getting involved in other people's family matters.
He hadn't even sorted out his own family problems yet. How could he have the energy to deal with someone else's?
But…
Cid glanced at Kanon Kanase.
Consider it compensation for the resentment she had been bottling up these past few days. Or after-sales service for his client. Or maybe he simply didn't want those clear eyes of hers to become clouded.
Just this once, he would play the role of a counselor.
"Kanon, I can more or less guess what you want to ask. But before that, let me ask you something first. Do you hate Itogami Island?"
Kanon Kanase shook her head.
"No. I don't hate it."
"So leaving this place is your parents' idea. Is it because of you? If it is, can you tell me about it?"
"…Yes. It's because of me. Father said the place I'm supposed to go will be very good for me."
"Then… do you want to go?"
At this point, the conversation had started to feel a bit like an interrogation. But there was no helping it.
For someone like Kanon Kanase, who kept everything buried inside, if you weren't a little forceful, she wouldn't say anything at all.
"No. I don't want to go. I don't want to leave here. How could I possibly want to leave this island where my friends are, where there are so many kittens that need me to take care of them, and where you are, Cid-nii-san?"
It felt like a long time had passed. Or perhaps only a few seconds.
Then Kanon Kanase's voice, trembling with tears, broke the silence.
"So… have you told your parents what you really think?"
In truth, that question hardly needed to be asked.
With Kanon Kanase's personality, there was almost no way she had ever opposed them.
"No, I haven't."
See? Just as he expected.
"Kanon, have you ever heard of an interesting theory?"
"When you're faced with two choices, flipping a coin always works.
Not because it will always give you the right answer, but because the moment you toss it into the air, you suddenly realize what you really want.
You don't flip a coin because it can make the right choice for you. You flip it because the moment it leaves your hand, you know what you've been hoping for."
"By the same logic, when you came to me and asked that question, your heart had already given you the answer."
"You could even say you knew from the very beginning what you wanted. In that case, there's only one real question left.
Do you have the courage to resist?"
"The courage to resist?!"
Kanon Kanase looked both shocked and confused.
"You could also call it teenage rebellion."
"I don't really understand, Cid-nii-san."
"Then let me put it more plainly, Kanon. If one of the cats you've been raising suddenly decided it didn't want you feeding it anymore and wanted to leave, what would you think?"
"I'd teach it how to survive?"
Kanon Kanase's answer came out a little uncertain. Not because she was unsure whether she would do that, but because she wasn't sure whether that was the correct answer. Cid could tell.
"…Sorry, Kanon. I shouldn't have treated you like a normal person. Are you sure you're not some Angel who came from somewhere?"
Now it was Cid's turn to fall silent.
Looking into Kanon Kanase's eyes, for the first time, Cid felt ashamed of the filth in his own heart.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"No. My heart is just too filthy. It has nothing to do with you, Kanon."
"Kanon, when normal people run into something like that, their first reaction isn't to go along with the kitten. It's anger."
"Anger?"
"That's right. Anger. Anger that even though they gave it a better place to live, it still refused to stay put and insisted on running off to die.
As for whether the kitten can actually survive on its own, they won't think about that. They only believe what they can see.
It's not that you can't face other people's malice, Kanon. It's that you can't face the anger that comes when someone rejects your kindness, especially when that someone is your father."
"..."
Seeing Kanon Kanase lower her head again, Cid reached out and placed his hands on both sides of her face, lifting her head and forcing her to meet his eyes.
Cid could feel her body tremble the moment his hands touched her cheeks. But just as he had said before, Kanon knew he was doing this for her sake, so she wouldn't resist.
"Kanon, you need to understand this is your matter. Whether I approve or not isn't what matters. What matters is what you want.
So... do you have the courage to resist?"
"I don't know, Cid-nii-san. I really don't know what I'm supposed to do."
Her voice trembled with tears, and Cid could feel moisture running across his palms where they rested against her face. Her large eyes were brimming with tears now, and pearl-like drops slid down onto his hands.
Looking at Kanon Kanase quietly crying in front of him, Cid let out a helpless sigh.
Her answer was exactly what he had expected. After all, choosing to help someone and asking someone else for help were two completely different things.
If he could, he wouldn't want to push her like this either. But if he wanted to help Kanon, then he had to help her make up her mind. Otherwise, if he went to Kanon Kanase's home to persuade her father and she lost her nerve at the crucial moment, not only would nothing be resolved, those eyes of hers would probably be filled with guilt and regret for the rest of her life.
Of course, he could also copy the male leads from anime and say something like he would carry the burden for her, or tell her to leave everything to him.
But setting aside how badly that clashed with his mob character persona, in his eyes, that kind of thing was irresponsible in its own way.
So this was something Kanon had to overcome herself. She had to make the decision herself. At most, he could offer some advice. Deciding a friend's life for them was not something a friend should do.
Ah. It had gotten pretty late without him noticing.
Kanon probably needed some time to think things through too, so he might as well leave for now.
Cid stood up and headed for the exit, but as he passed the counter, a staff member called out to him.
"Sir, our parent company, Mitsugoshi Company, has been running a VIP promotion lately. Customers who make a purchase at this branch also receive a complimentary couple's set meal. It even comes in special packaging."
"We just checked, sir, and you're on our VIP list. Please accept this complimentary gift."
Ignoring the staff member's words, which clearly came from a major misunderstanding, Cid turned his gaze to the tray nearby.
There were only two sandwiches on it. The only thing that set them apart from ordinary sandwiches was that the packaging was obviously designed as a matching pair. Other than that, the smell and appearance were no different from normal sandwiches. If he remembered correctly, the couple's set on the menu cost eight times as much as a regular sandwich. And if it was specially customized, the price could double even from there.
He had to admit, even though Gamma was his friend and his childhood friend at that, someone he had known since they were young, he occasionally still had the urge to hang her from a streetlamp.
The part about it being free was even more ridiculous.
Did they seriously think a Mitsugoshi Company VIP was something you could get just by having money? There were fewer than a hundred thousand Mitsugoshi VIPs in the entire world. For people at that level, who would care about saving this little bit of money?
…Alright, except him.
Cid glanced back at Kanon Kanase, picked up one of the sandwiches, and set it on her table.
"Kanon, if you don't say things out loud, no one will know what you need. So be brave. Don't be a coward. Tell me that you want my help."
"Here. This one's for you."
With that, Cid took the other sandwich from the counter and walked out the door.
To save money, the food he had ordered at the beginning had only been enough to fill Kanon Kanase's stomach a little. Since he had been given a complimentary item, he split it with her. As for the other sandwich, he planned to preserve it with time and space magic and use it as Monday's breakfast. He never paid for dinner anyway. He always summoned a Devil and freeloaded.