Tama is lamenting her lack of luck in finding a part time job. She's already lost count of how many interviews she's bombed (Suu pipes up to offer to count them for her).
When Karane what sort of answers she's giving during the interviews, the problem is quickly revealed: When the interviewers ask why she wants to work at their store, she tells them honestly that she doesn't truly want to work. If this keeps up, Tama won't be able to make rent.
Hahari steps forward and suggests that she keep her. After all, that's probably what the readers are expecting. With encouragement from Rentarou, Tama agrees.
At the Hanazono Estate, Tama is introduced to the family's cat and dog. The next day, Hahari and Hakari ask Tama to watch over the house while they're gone. Tama spends the first few hours playing with a ball, eating a rice ball, and lazing around. The Feline Condition...
Tama notes that she can also head to the school for lunch, then spend the afternoon being pampered by the others. This is the life she's always wanted.
And yet, knowing that the others are either studying or working lingers in her mind even after Mei picks her up and takes her to the school. She doesn't even want to lay on Yaku's lap or let Naddy pet her. The latter chalks it up to cats being fickle creatures, but the truth is that Tama feels guilty for lazing about while everyone else is working so hard as humans. Even worse, she doesn't think she can give up the new comfortable life she has now.
Unbeknownst to her, the Hanazono Estate has a pet camera, and Hahari has seen the whole thing. She realizes that giving Tama the easy way out was arguably making a mockery of her earnest attempts to find a job. Rather than giving her happiness, Hahari has just made it harder for Tama to move forward.
Hahari returns to the estate early and has Tama go with her in the car. She leaves her in a box (much like how she was when Rentarou found her) and runs away, not turning back even when Tama offers to let her slurp and smooch all over her face. This drives Tama to tears; Hahari had been kind to her, but abandoned her because she was a useless cat. Perhaps one day Rentarou will also do so?
She notices a job flyer for the Flower Mommy Baby Food Factory, and gets a determined look in her eyes. During the interview, she admits that she doesn't want to work, but her friends accept her as she is, so she wants to stand with them and have something she can be proud of.
We cut to Tama announcing to the others that she now has a part-time job. As everyone congratulates her and talks about her job (The Flower Mommy Baby Factory treats its employees very well AND it's close to the school). Hakari realizes that the factory is one of theirs, but Hahari quietly tells her to not to reveal the truth. After all, Tama was guaranteed a job there.
Rather than if someone wants to work or not, they get hired as long as they're cute. That being said, Tama wouldn't have been able to get the job if she hadn't gone in personally. It was her own drive that got her the job.
Tama thanks Hahari for casting her out of Mewtopia, but asks if she can still stop in for a visit sometimes. Hahari, of course, agrees and the chapter ends with them hugging.
Tropes:
- Abandoned Pet in a Box: Invoked. Hahari leaves Tama in a box by the road, but secretly sneaks in a flyer so Tama can get a job.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Hahari suffers this when she realizes that she was enabling Tama by letting her laze around in her mansion and that she was suffering guilt from doing so.
- Simple Solution Won't Work: As Hahari notes, many readers expected her to take Tama in, and this chapter has her doing so. However, Tama ends up feeling guilty for lazing around all day while the others are at work or school. Not only that, but now that she's gotten a taste of the lifestyle she's longed for, she doesn't think she can give it up and return to looking for part-time work, which just makes her feel even worse. Fortunately, Hahari manages to find a middle ground: Giving Tama a job flyer allowing her to get a job at one of the Hanazono factories (and one that is specifically noted to treat its employees very ethically, at that).
