"Doma, right?"
Takashi bent down, looking directly at her, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"You didn't think I wouldn't recognize your disguise just because you wore a hat, tied up your hair, and wore a mask, did you?"
Takashi said, reaching out to gently remove the mask from Doma Umaru's face.
Even though he had expected Doma Umaru to be very beautiful before removing the mask, when he finally saw her face clearly, Takashi was still stunned.
She had a healing-type face—pure, sweet, and fair-skinned.
Her complexion wasn't the cold, distant white but a warm, jade-like white that gave off a sunny and healthy feeling.
Her eyes were bright and lively, like two sparkling glass marbles.
Doma Umaru's face was narrow and full, with a balanced and harmonious shape. It wasn't aggressive like Miura Yumiko's.
She didn't have the cold, distant aura of Yukino, but instead exuded a gentle and approachable charm.
Since his target was a beautiful girl, Takashi had already seen so many pretty girls that he was starting to get a bit visually fatigued.
Now, when he saw a pretty girl, even if she was his target, there was no more excitement in his heart.
There were very few girls who could give him that "wow" feeling anymore.
The last girl who impressed him with her beauty was still Adagaki Aki.
Hmm, it doesn't seem like it was too long ago either.
"Give it back to me."
Umaru reached out to snatch the mask from Takashi's hand.
Takashi raised his hand slightly to avoid it.
Umaru jumped up to reach it, but still couldn't get it.
Takashi looked at the little potato jumping up and down anxiously, unable to stop himself from laughing.
The two of them looked like a bad older brother purposely bullying his younger sister.
"Alright, here you go."
Takashi deliberately waited for Umaru to get tired from jumping, then put the mask back on her.
"You're doing this on purpose!"
Umaru widened her water-like eyes and glared at him angrily.
"Hmm... what if I am?"
Takashi deliberately dragged out his tone, answering proudly.
"You…"
Ah, this is infuriating!
It's infuriating!
This guy has such a terrible personality.
This is the first time Umaru has encountered someone so annoying.
Takashi raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with me?"
'I can't be around this guy anymore. If I stay, I'll be annoyed to death sooner or later.'
Umaru didn't want to deal with Takashi and angrily turned her head to walk away.
"Doma-san, did you come alone?"
Takashi shamelessly followed her.
"No, I came with some classmates."
Umaru noticed, answered the question, but still silently quickened her pace to shake him off.
Takashi, however, kept walking at his usual pace, not too fast or too slow, following her.
'Liar.'
Takashi thought to himself.
If Umaru had really come with her friends, she wouldn't be dressed like this.
Dressed like this, she probably didn't want anyone to know her true identity.
"There are a lot of people here. Let me take you there."
"No need!"
Umaru subtly glanced at Takashi's long legs.
What's so great about having long legs!
Umaru sped up once again.
"No, no, I must take you. Let me make it up to you."
"Really don't need it!"
"No, no, no, I insist."
...
The two of them exchanged pleasantries, but their feet didn't slow down.
Umaru's short little legs moved in rapid succession, twisting and turning, but still couldn't shake Takashi off.
In the end, she wasn't paying attention and crashed into a chubby gamer wearing a Genshin Impact T-shirt, who looked like a door with a long face, and bounced back, sitting down on the ground.
When the person turned angrily, Umaru had already prepared her apology.
But the person glanced at her, then at Takashi, said nothing, and walked away.
"Are you okay?"
Takashi reached out a hand to Umaru, who was sitting on the ground.
Umaru hesitated for a moment but still extended her hand, her face turning slightly red. "T-thank you."
Takashi pulled her up. "There are a lot of people here. Where do you want to go? I'll take you."
Umaru hesitated, wondering whether or not to tell him why she was here.
"Stop pretending!"
Takashi mercilessly exposed her lie from earlier. "I know you came alone. You don't want others to know you like anime, right?"
Umaru shot him an angry glare.
I know you're smart, but why do you have to say it out loud?
"I want to buy figurines and dolls."
Since Takashi already knew she came alone, she felt there was no need to keep pretending.
"Figurines and dolls?"
Takashi thought for a moment, then turned to Umaru and said, "Follow me."
Umaru looked at Takashi's back. She really wanted to kick him!
Trailing half a step behind, Umaru silently followed him, wondering, "When did you recognize me?"
Takashi didn't look back. "I recognized you the moment I saw you."
"Was my disguise that bad?"
Umaru felt a little discouraged.
She thought she had disguised herself perfectly, believing she had fooled her classmates and felt proud for a while.
Now, it seemed that her classmates might have recognized her from the start and were just playing along.
Takashi glanced at the discouraged little hamster, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "Not bad! Your disguise skills are great."
"So how did you recognize me?"
Umaru clearly didn't believe him.
She still kept her head down.
"Idiot, because I've been paying attention to you."
"Huh?"
Umaru suddenly raised her head.
She happened to see Takashi blushing.
As soon as he made eye contact with her, he turned his face away shyly and stopped looking at her.
"W-what do you mean?"
Umaru suddenly felt her face heat up, her words stammering.
Her heart began to pound.
Takashi, hearing this, blushed even more. "I said, I've been paying attention to you."
Umaru also turned her face away, blinking her pure, flawless eyes. "Wh-why are you paying attention to me?"
"...Because I like you."
Takashi's voice was so quiet that it was hard to hear amidst the noise of the convention.
But it still clearly reached Umaru's ears.
"Y-you… like me?"
Umaru's pale face slowly turned red.
Her round, big eyes widened, like a startled little deer standing frozen in place.
Her delicate shoulders trembled slightly.
Probably out of shyness, or maybe some other reason, Umaru quietly lowered her eyes, her lashes fluttering like butterfly wings.
Takashi stopped speaking after that, and the two of them were surrounded by the noise of the event, which didn't seem to reach their ears.
"Kitahara!"
"Takashi!!!"
After a while, Umaru was about to say something when she suddenly heard a loud shout.
Umaru immediately closed her mouth tightly.
At the same time, Eriri, who was setting up a long table and taking out her books from a box, heard "Takashi!"
She turned around quickly, only to collide with Takashi's impatient gaze.
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