“Hey Inoue-san.” I greeted her as soon as I saw her waiting in the entrance of the park.

 

She looked at me and waved at me gleefully, “Ah, Azama-kun! Good afternoon!”

 

“Hey Kuro.” I greeted the black kitten beside her.

 

“Meow~”

 

It has been a few days since we first started hanging out here every afternoon.

 

Despite that amount of time, we never progressed forward in the confidence building front. Instead we have always done the same thing of taking care of Kuro and idly talking with each other.

 

After exchanging our greetings, all of us went to our usual spot in the park.

 

“By the way,” I called her attention, “I was able to read that article you recommended to me.”

 

“Really? How was it?”

 

“Very informative. Didn’t know I could learn so much about hamsters, haha.”

 

During our conversations, Inoue-san would always talk about cats and other animals. Even though she never had a pet before, she seems to be very knowledgeable about them.

 

“I read about it when I was in middle school.” She explained, “When I don’t have time, I would always read these kinds of articles almost all day.”

 

“Almost all day...?”

 

“Ahaha, yeah. Well you already know the reason why that is the case.”

 

I simply nodded in response to her comment.

 

One of the things I learned about her is that she was an introvert even when she was in middle school. While this isn’t that surprising, I still can’t help but wonder how lonely she must have felt during those times.

 

“It is quite depressing to think about it...” She mumbled.

 

“Ah, you really don’t have to worry about it now!” I exclaimed, “Today is different than yesterday. No need to dwell much on the past.”

 

“But still... I looked really pathetic back then... maybe even now...” Her face made a depressing expression, probably because she is reminiscing.

 

Another thing I learned is that she can be really self critical.

 

There would be a single day without her self-deprecating. She tends to insult herself, which always leads to her being in a gloomy mood. The only way to snap her out of this is to distract her.

 

“Inoue-san, have you fed Kuro already?” I asked her, in an attempt to bring her back to the light.

 

“Ah, you’re right! Kuro, come here!”

 

‘She went from depressed to being happy in less than one second!’ She really is easy to control, which makes me worry myself.

 

Anyway, after being called, the kitten went in front of Inoue-san as she patiently waited for the food.

 

“...Hm?”

 

Say, now that I think about it…

 

“Azama-kun?” She called out to me as she noticed me staring curiously.

 

“Oh nothing.” I replied, “I just noticed something.”

 

“Hm? What is it?”

 

“Have you been feeding Kuro the same kind of cat food everyday?”

 

As soon as I said that, she immediately flinched, “Y-You noticed it just now?”

 

“Yeah. Is she allergic to different types of cat food?”

 

“Ah no.” She shook her head, “More like this is the only kind of cat food I can feed her.”

 

“Huh? What does that mean?”

 

After asking that to her, she started bringing out her pouch wallet and opened it up to reveal the little amount of content inside.

 

“It’s the only thing I can afford for her everyday...” She said as fake tears started falling off her face.

 

“O-Oh...”

 

So that’s why. I shouldn’t have asked.

 

“I-I don’t have that large of an allowance so I only buy the cheap kind for Kuro. It is already expensive enough to buy one every single day.” She explained in a wobbly voice.

 

“So you never bought her different flavors before?”

 

She shook her in denial, “No.”

 

After hearing her answered, I pondered for a little while.

 

‘If I consider the amount I have at home, I think it is more than enough.’

 

I nodded my head in affirmation and faced Inoue-san once more, “I finally have an idea on what I will bring here.”

 

“Hm?” She tilted her head a bit sideways, confused about what I was talking about.

 

I guess she’ll have to see for herself when the time comes.

 

***

 

“Hey Inoue-san. Can you help me here?”

 

It was the next day when I arrived at the park a bit later than usual. It is because I went on a little errand on my way here…

 

“A-Azama-kun!? How much does all of those cost!?”

 

The reason for her shouting is that I arrived there carrying two large plastic bags filled to the brim with different cans of cat food from the local pet store. She helped me carry one of the plastic bags as we brought it all to our spot.

 

“Don’t worry. I only paid 1,500 yen for all of these.”

 

“Eh!? I should pay for half of it then!”

 

“Ahaha, no need.” I said to her as I stopped her from bringing out her pouch wallet, “I actually have a lot of money from my allowance because I don’t spend that often. Besides, treat this as my part of our share for taking care of Kuro.”

 

“Uuu...”

 

After hearing my explanation, she finally gave up and started backing down. I exhaustedly sat down at the benches beside her. Carrying those two heavy bags is really a pain…

 

“You know, I doubt Kuro can finish all of these today...” She said as she inspected the cans.

 

“Well, I was actually planning for you to take home today one of these bags, if that is okay for you.”

 

“O-Of course! I have no problems with doing that!”

 

“Oh, that’s great then.” I replied as I started scouring my bag, “So my plan is that we feed Kuro one of these each day and then we record our observations about it in this notebook.”

 

After finding the notebook that I prepared earlier in the morning from my bag, I gave it to her.

 

“Kuro Note...?” She read out loud its title.

 

“I-I didn’t have any other name ideas.” I explained to her, “So that is the only one I can think of. It is kind of lame, isn’t it?”

 

“N-no, not at all! I think it is really funny!” She giggled in a soft adorable manner.

 

Upon witnessing this cute act, I immediately turned my head away from her, fearing that she might see my blushing face.

 

“A-Anyway, what cat flavor should we let Kuro try today?”

 

“I want her to try this flavor!” She replied as she handed me over the can.

 

I looked at the label of the can I received from her. I found that the flavor is turkey, an interesting choice. I opened the can and served it in front of the black kitten.

 

“meow...?” She slowly approached the can.

 

Kuro, who is curious, started smelling the can. After that, she began licking the cat food inside.

 

“meow~!”

Immediately after confirming that the cat food tasted good, she started chowing down through the can at a faster rate than usual.

 

“W-what... she really likes turkey...” Inoue-san said in a surprised manner.

 

“Then I’m glad I bought a few more cans of this same flavor.”

 

“meow~ meow~”

 

I felt a soft push in my shoes. When I looked down, I saw Kuro pushing the now empty can of cat food in front of me.

 

“Hehe. Now now, Kuro, you should control yourself or else these cans of cat food won’t last.” Inoue-san reprimanded.

 

“Well, I could just buy more, you know,” I picked up another turkey can of cat food and passed it to her. But as soon as I said that, she started to give me a dissatisfied expression.

 

“No, not on your own!” She reprimanded me this time, “Next time you try to buy a haul like this again, we will split the bill, okay?”

 

“O-Okay...”

 

This is the first time I saw her getting mad at me, which caught me off-guard. Mentally taking note to never anger her again, I simply nodded.

 

“Great! I guess we can feed you another can, Kuro.”

 

“meow~!”

 

She served the second can of turkey flavored cat food to Kuro, which the latter delightfully ate. I simply sighed in relief as I saw Kuro being very happy.

 

“Thank you for this.”

 

Inoue-san thanked me as she also watched the black kitten happily eating.

 

“This is really nothing. It is the least I can do for the two of you.”

 

“Really? If that is the case, you really are a kind friend, Azama-kun.”

 

I looked at her as she said that to me. What I saw was her genuine soft innocent smile.

 

... carrying those two bags really was worth it, isn’t it?