Truth And Lie

“Nurse, where is my sister?”
We arrived at the hospital. Luckily, there was no traffic jam on the way here.

“She’s in room 303—”
“Thank you!”

I don’t want to waste time. I need to go to her side as soon as possible.
Now, we’re standing in front of her room. As I open the door, Mayu looks like she’s just sleeping. But something about this scene is bothering me.

“Who are you?”
I ask the young man sitting next to Mayu’s bed. When he looks at us, he immediately stands and bows.

“Sorry for the sudden situation. I’m her boyfriend, Yamada Aki. Nice to meet you, Takada-nii-san,” he says, reaching out to shake my hand.

“I am not your brother!”

This is the first time I’ve ever met him. I don’t know if I can trust him at all.

“Wait?! Are you the one who got the award for Best New Actor last year? Do you remember me, Yamada-san? I interviewed you backstage,” asked Kanzaki-san.

“I-I remember! Yes, you’re that girl. I—I knew it was you. You said you had a pet, right? How’s your cat now?”

His reply isn’t impressive. It sounds like he just made that up on the spot.

“I-I’m allergic to cats. And I never told anyone I had a pet.”

Kanzaki-san’s response makes the room suddenly feel colder.

“Yamada-san, what’s actually happening to Mayu-chan?”
Yua-san’s question brings me back to the reason I’m here.

“Mayu suddenly collapsed near the traffic light and almost got hit by a car. Luckily, she only has a few scratches. The doctor said she probably didn’t get enough rest and was exhausted,” Yamada explained.

“Fortunately, nothing bad happened to her.”
I feel relieved that everything is alright.

Then, the doctor in charge walks into the room.

“May I know who Takada Souma is?”
“Me.”
“Your sister is stable now, but she needs to stay here tonight. Is that okay with you?”
“Yes, doctor. Thank you for everything.”
“You’re welcome.”

“Takada-san, you may go home for tonight. I’ll spend the night here with Mayu,” suggested Kanzaki-san.

“I think—”
Before Yamada can finish, I cover his mouth with my hand.

“As her brother, I think that’s my responsibility.”
I feel like I should be the one staying beside her tonight.

“How about your work tomorrow? Don’t worry, believe in me, Takada-san,” said Kanzaki-san.
Her enthusiasm reaches me.

“…I’ll leave her in your care, then. Thank you, Kanzaki-san.”

After that, Yua-san and I leave Mayu’s room while I pull Yamada outside.

“Wait, nii-sama! Why are you so harsh to me? I don’t remember ever hurting you!” Yamada says.

“You have hurt me. I don’t like you. Now, let’s go.”

“Wait, Souma-san. Don’t you think we should interrogate this Yamada-san here?”
Yua-san is a genius.

“That’s a very good idea, Yua-san. Let’s do it.”

Yamada’s face turns pale when he sees our expressions darkening.

“No!”

“I already told you everything! Now let me go!” he shouts.

Now we’re inside my car. Yua-san tied Yamada’s hands with a rope so he wouldn’t run.
We try to dig up everything he knows about Mayu.

“No, Yamada-san. You’re just telling us what she ate for lunch, what she posts on social media, and her favorite food. I already know all of that.”
Is he playing with us?

“Alright, Yamada-san. If you don’t tell us anything useful about Mayu-chan, I’ll tell her you’re a siscon,” Yua threatens.

“H-how do you know about that?”

He’s clearly caught off guard. I’m also curious how she knew that.

“Fine! Actually… Ogawa Toki is my uncle. To get a main role quickly, I need to do what he says. I just want to become more popular. One day, Ogawa-jiisan said he found the actress for his new drama. When I saw Mayu for the first time, I thought she’d quit as soon as she entered the set. But I was wrong. She’s hardworking. Ogawa-jiisan always asks her to come to his room, saying that to become an actress, she has to ‘follow him.’”

“What did that geezer do to Mayu, Yamada-san?!”

“H-he asked her to massage him privately. I’ve seen pictures of him getting massaged by—”

“Why didn’t you stop that geezer?! You should know that’s already crossing the line between director and actress!”

I grab his collar. My head feels like it’s going to explode. I can’t think straight anymore. Why is this bastard involved with Mayu?

“I don’t want to meddle in Ogawa-jiisan’s business. I prefer to mind my own business. And Mayu can reject him if she doesn’t want to do it. Now, can you let me go? I want to go home,” Yamada says.

I release his collar.

“Fine.”
Yua-san unties the rope.

As Yamada gets out of my car, he says, “Also, I don’t want to point this out, but… are you Masamura Yua? Nice camouflage with the mask and hoodie. I never thought you’d appear in public after that embarrassing event.”

At that moment, my hand feels so light I don’t even realize I’ve punched Yamada in the face.

“Souma-san! What are you doing?!”
Yua is shocked by my reaction.

“Why did you punch me, you bastard?!”
Yamada’s shout draws attention. A security guard starts running toward us. People are turning to look because of his yelling. I just now realize how different his personality is compared to when we first met.

“I thought you actually liked Mayu. Turns out you’re the same as that geezer. And what you said about Yua-san—apologize to her!”

“Why? It’s a fact. I’m just telling the truth.”

Can I kick him in the face this time? My leg is in a perfect position for a penalty kick.

“Stop it, Souma-san. Before more people come, we need to get away from here,” Yua whispers.

Right. We need to leave quickly. I don’t want to see this bastard’s face again.

Luckily, we manage to leave the hospital without any trouble.

On our way home, Yua asks, “Why don’t you use the car to go to school every morning?”

“It feels better walking and using public transport. And this car is too old. I try not to use it too much.”

Just as I say that, the car suddenly stops moving.

Can my bad luck streak stop already? Seriously.