11.
She finds him again, this time whispering to the cat he's just pulled from the tree about how brave she was and how clever, and Toshinori is relatively certain that his whispering is keeping the cat from chewing his face off because it sounds harmless and pathetic and endearing.
When he is able to put the cat down and let it scamper away, she applauds, baffling him and nearly sending him back up the tree.
"Not bad!" She crows. "Not bad at all! You've got a good voice for a hero! Very easy and smooth! You'd be good for rescue support!"
It doesn't offend him, not really. She seems to know how it sounds and isn't trying to soften the blow. It's not insulting. It simply is.
"Thank you," Toshinori says, remembering his manners.
She was suddenly in front of him, stretching the sides of his mouth with her gloved fingers until they formed a facsimile of a smile. "You've gotta mean it," she said with a grin. "You've gotta smile and laugh. If you want to change people's minds and hearts anyway, you have to mean you want the change. You just look unhappy."
"Probably because I'm not happy."
"But why aren't you?" She asked this cheerfully enough before what was likely a distant cry pulls her away from him.
