Lies often hide something dark

A sweet fragrance, tidy and clean surroundings, minimal furniture, everything was as you’d expect to be in Himari’s house; except for the fact that there were some stuffed animals and other toys lying around like someone had been playing with them recently.

“...Himari-san? Are you… okay?”

Everyone except Yushu asked unanimously. They were a bit distracted by the toys so they stammered a bit. And just when they were going to say something further– a young girl, in a red frock that looked like an oversized t-shirt with twin tails and a stuffed cat toy in her hand appeared from behind Himari.

“Hello, everyone… My name is Yamashiro Ren… 4 years old… rice to meet you!”

“...Ah… that was very cute Ren-chan, but it’s called nice to meet you, and not rice to meet you”

“Ohhhh…”

A long gasp and that long interjecting-oh from the four-year-old Ren was very adorable and funny. So much that even though Kou, Chiharu and Yushu were all surprised, they couldn’t help but smile.

“Himari… What's going on? Are you okay? We were so worried that something had happened to you… Why have you not been answering my texts and calls, and why did you not open the door when I came by today morning? And who’s this girl? Don’t tell me that you got married and now have a child–”

“S–stop–stop… idiot… What are you saying in front of Yushu-kun…?”

An embarrassed Himari quickly retorted and stopped Chiharu’s wild imagination and words from going any further.

“...I’ll answer everything… Calm down Chiharu… Let me start by apologising first for causing you all to worry, and for not being able to answer you on the phone…”

“Himari, I was asking the reason and not–”

“–Who’s this cute girl, Himari-san? Why is she here?”

Before Chiharu could complete her sentence, Kou interrupted and this made Chiharu pout and turn toward Kou.

“Kou-kun…”

Chiharu was puffing like a fluffy puppy, which made Kou smile as he did after hearing Ren just a few moments before.

“Oh… sorry-sorry Chi-chan, I was just curious about who this small girl looked like–”

“–I am not small… Oni-san… I am big… I am four years old already and am growing every day, you know… My mom says that one day I’ll be as big as her.”

Everyone laughed at the innocent reply from Ren, while she was left wondering why nobody was taking her seriously. And while all this was going on, the only person who was not speaking anything was Yushu, who just stood there with a brooding look on his face.

“...Let me explain, everyone. This is Yamashiro Ren, my niece.”

“Niece?!”

Everyone exclaimed.

“Himari-san, so… Ren-chan is the daughter of Niwa-nee-san?”

Kou, who was trying to think of the person Ren looked like but just wasn’t able to put his finger on, suddenly lit up like he made the connection.

“Yes… Kou-san, indeed. The reason why I wasn’t able to contact you Chiharu, was that I had gone to my sister’s house and had forgotten my mobile here, and when I came back with Ren this morning, I was so tired that I just fell asleep and didn’t check my mobile.”

“...”

“Himari… why are you so forgetful? You should always take your phone with you, I even came by today morning and was so worried that you didn’t answer.”

“Sorry… sorry Chiharu, I will definitely keep this in mind…”

Both Chiharu and Himari hugged and smiled, while Kou had started playing around with Ren.

“You know, Himari-san… I last heard that Niwa-nee-san had gotten married, but nothing after that… How is Niwa-nee-san? I haven’t heard from her in forever…”

“Oh, yes Kou-san, Niwa-nee has moved to Yokohama with her family, so it’s quite far from here. I told her that you and I are in the same university and she was asking about you.”

“That’s good to hear, Himari-san, I would love to meet her sometime, please let me know if you visit her next time, I’d also like to accompany you.”

“...And what about me Kou-kun?”

Chiharu looked at Kou with puppy eyes.

“Chi-chan… of course, if you like we can all go together, Himari-san.”

“Yes, Kou-san, that sounds wonderful, I am sure Niwa-nee will be happy to meet you all as well. I shall plan everything and let you know.”

While Kou, Chiharu and Himari were seemingly engrossed in their conversation, Ren was looking at Yushu who had a very grim face compared to the rest of them.

“Blonde-onii-san… why are you so angy?”

Ren cutely asked Yushu, which broke his chain of thoughts, and so he stammered a bit.

“...”

“Uhm… Yamashiro-san, I am not angry, actually…”

“Yamiro? Who’s Yamiro? Blonde-onii-san… but you do look angy–”

“Ren, this Onii-san’s name is Yushu-kun, it’s rude to call him Blonde-onii-san. And also, it is angry and not angy…”

Himari suddenly interrupted the conversation between Yushu and Ren.

“Ohhh… thank you Hima-nee-san… Sorry, Yushu-onii-san…”

“Uh– yeah… i–it’s okay Ren-san…”

“But Yushu-onii-san, you do look a bit… angy… no… angry… What are you thinking? Did you not like me being here?”

Yushu indeed had a bit of agitated and lost-in-thoughts look on his face, but he wasn’t sure how to answer and say something he felt that Himari was trying to hide. Also, he could clearly see how Himari and Ren were quite similar in their straightforwardness.

“Uhhh… no… it’s nothing like that Ren-san, I was just thinking about–”

“–Everyone… sorry for not being a good host… I’ll bring tea and snacks for everyone, and we can continue our talks in the living room… Ren, you also go along with everyone, and I’ll bring you some strawberry milk, okay.”

“Yea! Yea! strawberry milk! Thank you Hima-nee-san”

A dancing and frolicking Ren accompanied by the relieved-looking Kou and Chiharu made their way toward the living room. And none of them felt that Himari cut off Yushu mid-sentence because she did it in such a way that nobody could sense it. But, Yushu did.

The reason he had a brooding look on his face was that he had seen something nobody else had… the cold and dead face of Himari and that man who commanded a peculiar presence.

“Himari-san, I’ll also help you…”

Yushu couldn’t contain his words and marched behind Himari to the kitchen.

“Hi–Himari-san…”

After a long silence, while Himari was trying to find snacks and preparing the tea for everyone, Yushu finally stammered.

“Yes, Yushu-kun… What do you want to ask the girl who you rejected so harshly?”

“Ehhhhh…”

Himari had her back turned towards Yushu and she kept it that way even when they started talking.

“What is this reaction, Yushu-kun? Isn’t it true that you mercilessly rejected a soft maiden like me when she confessed her eternal love to you?”

“T–T–That is n–not t-t–true… Himari-san… I did not reject–”

“Oh? So, does that mean you’re finally ready to answer my confession properly and positively?”

“Himari-san… y–you are knowingly diverting the topic that I am trying to talk about…”

Himari was quite surprised to see Yushu being so assertive for the first time in a conversation with her. On the other hand, Yushu didn’t even notice because since he met Himari everything he was doing or saying were the things he never imagined himself doing or saying. So this particular instance was nothing that would draw his attention.

“...Yushu-kun… when did you start being so assertive? I always thought you to be kind of a masochist in the relationship… but this isn’t so bad either…”

Himari was jokingly blushing while Yushu stood surprised as he never noticed that he was being assertive.

*cough*…*cough*

“Himari-san… tell me the truth, who is Yamashiro Aoto and what happened to you that time when he came? You had the same dead look that I am very familiar with… Why?”

“Huh… So you noticed, Yushu-kun?”

“Of course, I did… you who I always pegged to be the one on the opposite side of the scale in life… Why did you, of all the people, have the same look and face like me?”

Himari looked like she was a bit offended by that sentence, but Yushu couldn’t see it because he couldn’t see her face.

“Why do you want to know about that Yushu-kun? I am nobody to you, right? I am just a girl you rejected, so you shouldn’t meddle in her life anymore and leave her alone with her feelings, you know.”

Yushu could feel that Himari was deliberately trying to skip the conversation and finish up the tea and snacks as soon as possible to leave.

“Himari-san! I am being serious here…”

Saying this Yushu forcefully held Himari’s hand by the elbow so as to turn her face towards him.

“Yushu-kun…?!”

Himari screamed a little like she was shocked by what Yushu did. Yushu also quickly came to his senses and let her hand go.

“S–Sorry Sorry… Himari-san… I didn’t mean to hurt you…”

Hearing her voice, Ren came running to the kitchen followed by Kou and Chiharu.

“What happened? Are you okay Himari-san, we heard your voice…”

“Oh… sorry, it’s nothing. I just felt like the plate in my hand was going to slip, nothing big, I balanced it now… Let’s go to the living room now, everything is done here.”

“Himari… Himari… you still haven’t grown up much, have you?”

Everybody started going towards the living room laughing at the comment from Chiharu except for Ren who looked confused. She was looking at Yushu with a thoughtful look but just when she was going to ask something, Himari interrupted.

“Ren… here’s your strawberry milk, let’s go to the living room where everyone is… Yushu-kun, why are you standing there, come along…”

“O–Okay…”

Yushu sighed a little; he knew that Himari was avoiding the topic the moment she opened the door pretending she was sleeping, and that she was hiding something, but he never knew that Himari would be so adamant.

“I also shouldn’t have forced her hand… What am I even doing? It’s her life, why am I being so invasive…”

Yushu quietly wondered as he slowly moved towards the living room, where he could hear everyone’s laughter and could clearly spot Himari wearing a kind of fake smile on her face.

“Himari… you didn’t even tell me that you were going to Ayane-san’s house…”

“Hehe… Chiharu, I was a bit occupied with a lot of thoughts at that moment, so it slipped my mind. But, you know… Yushu-kun rejected my confession.”

Himari’s expressions changed a bit– her smile looked more real than it looked just a few seconds before.

“Huhh? Ayane-san…?”

Chiharu shouted in a very astonished tone.

“I surely thought you guys were now going out… that’s why Ayane-san was so worried about you and came to me… What is this Ayane-san?”

“Huh… Uhh… H–Himari-san… wha–what are you s-s-saying?”

“Oh, Yushu-kun, did you want to keep this a secret? That’s quite cruel, you know. You reject a fair maiden like me and then expect me to bottle my feelings and not to even talk about it with my best friend…”

Just as Chiharu was going to speak, something struck the mind of Kou, who was playing around with the stuffed toys with Ren until now.

“Himari-san… by the way, who is this… Yamashiro Aoto? Ayane-san told us that he came to his house when you were there and that you left with him silently.”

“Oh, also… Kou-kun, I just noticed that the last name of that man and Ren-chan are the same, is he related to her Himari?”

“...”

Himari kept silent for a second like she didn’t expect that name to appear in the conversation.

“Hey… do you mean Papa?”

Ren suddenly spoke before Himari could gather her wits and say something.

“Aoto is Papa’s name… Do you know him?”

“Oh… So, Yamashiro Aoto is the husband of Niwa-nee-san?”

Kou and Chiharu yelped together, while Yushu stared at Himari trying to understand her reactions.

“...Haha… yes, very good Ren… Yes, Kou-san, Chiharu… he is my brother-in-law, and it’s just an exaggeration that I went silently, I just remembered that I had promised to visit Ren and bring her here that day… So… that’s why I just quickly left…”

Himari tried to explain and bind her words together to make something believable.

“...Oh… that makes sense, sorry Himari-san, Matsunaga-san, Kuwahara-san… My misinterpretation caused all this…”

Yushu, who was pressuring Himari to talk about this just a few moments before, suddenly aided her to bury the topic of this conversation.

“That’s okay Ayane-san… we were already worried…”

Everyone started smiling, talking and playing around with Ren with the mood being light and lively. Yushu was sitting beside Himari and both of them were quiet and giddy.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Kou volunteered to go open the door, but for some reason, the sound of the doorbell felt sinisterly familiar to Himari and Yushu.

And, even though there was no way that they would have known who was at the door, their intuition was going crazy screaming that the person on the door was none other than–

“Hello! My name is Yamashiro Aoto– Is Himari-chan at home?”