Gemma blinked at Tomo's confused reaction, but she wasn't surprised all that much by it either. Foreigners were often skeptical of how accepting the island and its people were, but everyone had their dark pasts, their skeletons in the closet.
"If I hated everyone who had a bad or unfortunate history, I don't think I'd have any friends at all. And if everyone else hated them, then that person with the unfortunate history wouldn't have any friends either! Then this island would just be a big mess. Everyone needs a friend who'll believe in them, and I won't give up on you either even if you yell and scream at me and say you're a scary murderous monster."
Gemma looked up again and opened one of her umbrellas, holding it out to Tomo. "Here you go," she said with a smile. Tomo had been a cat for the first part of her life, right? The rain would probably bother her more than Gemma, who could at least stand a little bit before she started feeling miserable.
"What you did was done in self-defense, though. No one can fault you for that, and I'm certainly not gonna." That smile didn't disappear from her face as she looked up at the bakeneko. "Saying that stuff's just what you do and I'm not gonna be mean if that's just how you are. We're friends now, because now I know you don't really hate me! Even if you ran away right now I'd keep trying as long as I could; I'm annoying like that. Kinda like a parasite, but part kitty!"
Everyone had their problems--shoot, Gemma had a lot of big problems of her own, but that wasn't going to stop her from trying to help other people with theirs. If she could help them be even a little bit happier, then she'd be satisfied with that. The world couldn't survive if they all wallowed in misery and despair.
"I don't think you're a monster, or at least I don't think you want to be. Even if you wanna deny it, I'm not going anywhere. I'm here for you, Tomo! Friends forever!"