When Huaiyin woke and opened her eyes, the first thing she heard was the sizzle of something frying.
"Mmm…"
She rubbed her eyes, rolled over, and peered toward the open kitchen.
Dou Tang stood there in an apron, face calm, hands moving with practiced ease as he cooked. "You're awake? Go wash up," he said over the sound of oil. "We're going to
Ikebukuro today. How about it?" Huaiyin's head popped up, eyes wide.
"Y-you're taking me out?"
Dou Tang smiled faintly, still slicing fish cakes into even pieces.
"Of course. The website's been doing well, and life's been comfortable lately. I just got three-hundred thousand yen from Lu Zizhen—how about we splurge a little?"
Huaiyin made a small hum through her nose, then shook her head hard, hair flopping.
"No… better not. You always spend too much when you go out. You shouldn't waste money."
"Money spent on you doesn't count as wasting it." He scored the squid with neat knife cuts.
"Besides, I'm only giving you what your parents and brother should have. It's not my money I'm wasting."
Those words made Huaiyin's shoulders tremble. The joy beginning to bloom instantly wilted.
Dou Tang didn't look up. He always struck where she was most fragile—always reminding her of the emptiness she carried.
"Can't you… just be my brother?" she asked softly.
The knife paused for a heartbeat, then resumed its steady rhythm.
"Until the Crown Game ends," he said evenly, "I'll always be your brother." The warmth in the morning air thinned, replaced by something heavy and cold. After a long silence, Huaiyin sat on her knees, gripping the blanket.
"Will you… kill me?"
Dou Tang lifted his head. His eyes were clear as ever, but pain flickered behind them. One glance at her made his chest tighten, so he looked away.
"If I have no choice," he said quietly, "I think I would." He was lying.
Huaiyin bit her lip, staring at the man who was gentler than her real brother—who cared more than her real brother ever had—and yet wasn't her brother at all.
Then, as if steeling herself, she whispered, "I want to learn kendo."
"That's good," Dou Tang replied, pretending composure. "And then I'll defeat you. I'll survive… and then—and then—" "And then kill me in return?" he finished for her.
The room froze.
The knife stopped mid-air. Only the bubbling of the soup pot filled the silence. Huaiyin's voice shook.
"I… I don't know."
"If that day comes," Dou Tang said as he resumed cutting, voice low, "you can kill me if you wish. I'm not your brother. I'm not your family. I'm just a monster—one that's taken over your brother's body. Understand?"
Huaiyin sniffed but didn't answer. She stood abruptly, rubbing her eyes, and slammed the bathroom door behind her.
Dou Tang looked up. He wanted to make her a hearty breakfast, but he'd added too much onion—the sting made his eyes water.
He waited until the ache in his chest dulled, until he was sure he wouldn't betray emotion, then forced a change of subject.
"There'll be another girl coming today," he said stiffly. "A classmate of mine. She's an idol—not a famous one, though."
From the bathroom came the sound of running water. "Really? What's her name? Is she pretty?"
"Uh…" Dou Tang frowned slightly. "I guess so? I've never cared much about looks. But she dresses pretty fashionably—kind of… gyaru-style?"
"Like Sister Lu?" Huaiyin mumbled through toothpaste.
"No, no," he said quickly. "She's… simpler than Lu Zizhen. Easier to read. You know, she once suspected I was Tang Douren and slapped a talisman on me to exorcise demons."
Water splashed; then Huaiyin's muffled voice: "Sounds like a really annoying person."
"Why do you say that?" Dou Tang asked, plating the stir-fry and topping each bowl with a soft-boiled onsen egg.
"She doesn't even know you," Huaiyin said matter-of-factly, "and just because she suspects you, she does something so rude? Doesn't that prove she's annoying and stupid?"
Dou Tang chuckled quietly.
"I think that's actually a normal reaction. We met twice by coincidence—it probably looked suspicious. She might've thought she was being stalked."
When Huaiyin finished washing up, she came out with a simple orange hairpin. "Alright… can you help me tie my hair?"
Dou Tang washed his hands, dried them, and asked, "How would you like it?"
"However you think looks good." She knelt with her back to him.
He gathered her hair, smoothing the strands, pulling them up gently.
The nape of her neck, pale and delicate, caught the sliver of sunlight sneaking through the curtains. That fragile curve softened something deep inside him.
Slender, small, pitifully frail—that was Huaiyin's first and strongest impression on anyone. Too many days shut indoors had left her pale, weak, and sickly.
Dou Tang tied her hair into a simple ponytail.
"Maybe we'll buy you some new clips today. How's that?" "Okay." She lowered her head slightly.
Just like that, they drifted back into their daily rhythm—as they always did.
They feared each other, yet drew closer. They couldn't leave, yet wanted to run.
He said he would kill her, yet searched tirelessly for a way to save her.
And she longed to stay near this gentle "brother," yet dreaded the pain that always followed—because Dou Tang never gave her what she truly wanted.
"Go change," he said gently, his voice softer now, maybe realizing his earlier words had cut too deep.
"Help me pick something," she murmured. "We're going to meet someone… I want to wear what you choose. I'm bad at picking clothes."
The back of her neck flushed red. "Alright," he replied.
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