[Perhaps to any other person, her argument might be seen as pitiful or naive. Some might consider her to have a heart full of compassion, a notion that might spurn on sympathy for the girl. But the guy before her is no such person. He doesn't pity her nor does her consider he thoughts to be childish. Instead, she's met with a look of distinct confusion.

Komaeda's head tilts to the side, his anemone-hair wriggling absently around his wide pelagic gaze.]

Is it? [He asks, and almost sounds genuinely curious when he does,] I mean... when an animal in the food chain is eaten, it benefits the ecosystem as a whole, right? It keeps the prey from being overpopulated and, in reality, this sort of thing probably happens between species that have a way of communicating too, right? There are plenty of animals that can signal to each other, even if they can't exchange words.

[Suddenly, his lone hand shoots up between them in some manner of placating motion, the stump of his other forearm matching the motion, despite not having a hand of its own to wave.]

Ah! But don't get me wrong... the thought of taking someone else's life just to continue my own is really despairing... My existence isn't worth that much. Still, even if I don't like it, the human I feed on will likely experience being eaten some day regardless.

[He offers her a smile, as if anything he just said was comforting in the least.]

That's why I usually just try to find humans who are old, and who have no living family members. That way if they die... I leave a much smaller impact.