Doma Taihei was a systems engineer, working at a company with over fifty employees. He had been employed there for five years now.
Five years of grinding in the corporate world had made him more composed and steady. He handled his work with ease, no longer flustered and panicked like when he first entered society.
Doma Taihei had aspirations of climbing higher, but he wasn't particularly ambitious.
He was mostly content with his current life and had no real plans to change anything.
At 8:00 a.m., Doma Taihei had already been working at his desk for an hour and a half.
Just as he was about to stand up and pour himself a cup of tea, he received a call from his younger sister.
"You want me to ask your teacher for a day off?"
Doma Taihei was surprised to hear Umaru's request.
That girl often whined about "not wanting to go to school," but it was usually just empty complaints.
Whenever school season rolled around, she always ended up going obediently.
Doma Taihei walked to the break room, poured himself a cup of water, took a sip, and said calmly, "If you don't give me a reason, I'm not asking for time off for you."
"I... my stomach hurts today."
Back in her apartment, Umaru was standing on the balcony, talking to her brother.
"Why would your stomach hurt all of a sudden? Did you go to the hospital? Do you need me to take the day off and go with you?"
Doma Taihei started to get anxious.
Even if his sister was a little mischievous, she didn't lie.
"No need. Maybe I had too much ice cream yesterday. I think it upset my stomach."
It was the first time she had lied to her brother over a boy, and Umaru felt extremely weighed down.
Guilt, anxiety, shame, and nervousness swirled inside her.
"I told you before—don't eat so much ice cream at once, but you just wouldn't listen! Now look, your stomach hurts, doesn't it? Let's see if you dare eat that much again..."
Doma Taihei launched into one of his long lectures.
Umaru let it go in one ear and out the other, her gaze involuntarily drifting toward the bathroom.
Right now, the culprit who made her lie to her brother—and forced her onto the balcony to make the call—was occupying her bathroom.
That was why she had taken the call outside.
The soundproofing in her apartment wasn't great. If she took the call inside, her brother would definitely hear the sound of the shower.
As she stared blankly toward the bathroom, Takashi walked out wrapped in a towel, still wet.
Seeing Takashi's broad shoulders, slim waist, and long legs, Umaru's soft pink lips opened slightly on reflex.
Umaru was so startled she nearly lost her soul through her mouth.
What the hell—what do you think you're doing!?
Can't you see I'm on the phone!?
At that moment, Umaru's desire to stab Takashi reached its peak.
Doma Taihei seemed to have heard Takashi's voice too.
"Who's talking? What are you saying, Onii-chan?"
Umaru started playing dumb, but just as the words left her mouth, Takashi came closer and said loudly, "Doma-sa—mmph!"
Before Takashi could finish, Umaru rose on her toes and clamped a hand over his mouth.
"No, really, I heard someone. Didn't you hear that?"
Doma Taihei was certain someone had called Umaru.
"Nope. You're hearing things, Onii-chan. Oh no, my stomach really hurts. I'm hanging up. Remember to tell my teacher."
Before Taihei could say anything else, Umaru hung up, then looked up and glared angrily at Takashi, who was squinting like a fox with a teasing smile.
"You did that on purpose!"
Takashi pointed at her hand covering his mouth, still smiling.
Umaru yanked her hand away in frustration.
"The first time wasn't, but the second time was."
That only made her more furious.
"I took pity on you and let you shower at my place. This is how you repay me?"
She felt like an idiot for taking him in just because she thought he looked pitiful.
"Who was the one who left me out in the rain all night?"
Having slept comfortably in his warm home, someone shamelessly shot back.
"I didn't tell you to stand out in the rain!"
"How was I supposed to know you weren't coming home in the middle of the night and were just standing there soaking wet? What, you think you're some tragic romance protagonist?"
"And seriously, it was pouring! Are you stupid? You couldn't find anywhere to take shelter and just squatted there like a fool?"
Umaru's words came rapid-fire, her voice getting faster and faster, sounding just like her brother when he scolded her.
Takashi listened to her lecture, the corners of his mouth gradually curling up into a small smile.
"What are you smiling at!? What's so funny!?"
Umaru couldn't believe Takashi still had the nerve to smile. She almost jumped up to punch him right in the jaw.
Takashi bent over, hands on his knees, getting down to her eye level, and looked her straight in the eyes. "Doma-san, are you worried about me?"
The boy's eyes shimmered like a lake after a storm, sparkling with sunlight piercing through scattered clouds.
If Takashi hadn't pointed it out, she wouldn't have realized that she had been worried about him just now.
"So I was right," he said.
Umaru looked up at him and met the slight curve of his smirking lips.
He had classic "peach blossom eyes" — when he smiled, the corners of his eyes lifted naturally.
Normally, it was a seductive gesture, but when Takashi did it, it gave off a mischievous, roguish vibe.
"Liars lose a knuckle, you know."
What's that got to do with fingers?
Umaru was either too innocent or just too young to understand the deeper meaning behind Takashi's sly remark. But that wasn't where her focus was.
"Stop changing the subject! Answer my question."
Takashi straightened up again. "Because I did it on purpose. For you to see."
Umaru blinked in confusion.
"I squatted at the corner of the street all night in the rain with your snack bag in my arms — everything I did was so you could see how pitiful, how pathetic, how miserable I looked."
He said it with 'honesty.'
And, to be fair, half of it was actually true.
That is, everything he did was indeed for Umaru to see.
Takashi's lies always mixed truth and falsehood, so well that people couldn't tell the difference.
Well, at least he's being honest..
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