The Day It All Began
It was a clear day without a single cloud. Taira Yukiko never imagined for a moment that this would be the day her ten-year marriage came to an end.
The call from Taira Danjo arrived in the late morning, not long before lunch. He was the sort of man who only reached out for business reasons ever since learning she could not bear children. Why is he calling me instead of my husband? she wondered.
Until that moment, Taira Yukiko had been preparing shogayaki—the only dish she knew how to cook that her husband, Taira Saburo, truly enjoyed. Whenever the housekeeper took a day off, she would always make shogayaki and miso soup.
"Yukiko... Saburo is dead."
"What? You must be joking. How can you say something like that!"
At first the words refused to make sense. A perfectly healthy man with no illnesses—how could he suddenly die? He had been completely fine that very morning.
"...It was a traffic accident. Come to the family home as quickly as you can."
Everything after that grew hazy. She must have rushed into a car, yet she could not recall when she had changed into a kimono or who had driven. At some point she simply found herself standing in the middle of the funeral hall, dressed in the black mourning kimono.
While she stood there in a daze, one woman caught her eye. It was Jin Mija—the Korean woman who had briefly dated Taira Saburo before his marriage to Yukiko.
"How dare you... who do you think you are!"
Lost to her senses, Taira Yukiko strode forward and hurled the vicious words before she could stop herself.
"I didn't want to come either. The Taira Group dragged me here against my will."
Jin Mija refused to yield, answering every barb in kind. Taira Yukiko had nothing left to say, yet the last thing she wanted was to see this woman at her husband's funeral.
"What did you just say? You... you cat-like bitch, where do you get the nerve!"
Even as she spat words she herself did not fully understand, a commanding voice cut through the air.
"Enough! What is this commotion?"
The one who had roared was Taira Danjo, absolute ruler of the Taira Group. He fixed Taira Yukiko with a cold, appraising stare. She had always hated those eyes. After he learned of her infertility they had grown even icier, and throughout her married life she had carried the invisible weight of defeat before the woman who had borne her husband's child.
That was why she had lost her mind and let her tongue run wild.
"Father-in-law, these vulgar—"
"Shut your mouth! This boy carries my blood. You are not suggesting my own blood is vulgar, are you?"
Taira Danjo pointed to a young man beside Jin Mija.
"You could not even produce a single child, yet you dare cause a scene in front of so many guests? Apologize to this mother and son at once!"
"I-I'm sorry."
Taira Yukiko bowed her head with great reluctance. The humiliation burned. Lowering her head to the very woman who had tormented her marriage for years carved a deep wound into her heart. Without realizing it, she bit down hard on her lip.
When she finally lifted her gaze, her eyes met those of the young man standing beside Jin Mija. He was strikingly handsome, and the truth hit her instantly—this was her late husband's son.
"He looks just like Saburo... Ah, forgive me."
That was Taira Yukiko's first meeting with Taira Ryuta.
###
Afterward, as the son of Taira Saburo, Yukiko had expected some manner of connection with Taira Ryuta. Yet she never imagined they would end up living under the same roof.
Following Taira Danjo's orders, Ryuta began working at the Taira Group Human Resources Development Center where she served as director. When he mentioned he was looking for a place to live, the words left her mouth before she could think: he should stay in the private villa attached to the center.
She still did not understand why she had offered. But once spoken, the words could not be taken back.
Yes, this young man who had not yet fully shed his boyish air was not at fault. If anything, he was pitiable. She later learned he had been bullied throughout his school years for growing up without a father and for being Korean-Japanese.
Though their first encounter had been unpleasant, Taira Yukiko resolved to treat him kindly.
On the day Taira Ryuta first arrived in Yotsukaido City, where the center was located, Yukiko—rarely blessed with free time—drove herself to meet him at the station.
"Hello, Mother."
Taira Ryuta possessed a rather sly personality. She had told him to call her Mother, yet she had not expected him to say it so casually to a woman barely ten years his senior.
"Yes. Was the journey uncomfortable?"
"It was just the train. Nothing special."
"Sit beside me."
As he settled into the passenger seat, she felt his gaze boring into her thighs. Strangely, it did not offend her. Instead, a quiet pride bloomed inside her—I must still be attractive enough for a young man to stare so intently.
"By the way, does someone already live inside the Human Resources Development Center?"
Had I not mentioned it? Yukiko realized she had only told him there was a place available and invited him to stay.
"There is."
"How many people?"
"Including you, two."
"It can't be that the other person is you, Mother?"
"It is. I disposed of the house I once shared with him. It was too... quiet. I grew to hate it, so I simply got rid of it."
"Ah... I see. Then you and I are neighbors?"
Even though she had spoken of something painful, Taira Ryuta smoothly changed the subject. What a considerate child, Yukiko thought.
Before they reached the villa they spoke of cars and all manner of trivial things, and the time passed without her noticing. It had been so long since she had spent time alone with a man talking about anything other than work. It felt like an age.
"Follow me."
"Yes."
Once inside the villa, Taira Yukiko gave him a tour.
"The third floor contains the guest rooms and empty spaces."
"For laundry, simply place it in the basket in front of the first-floor laundry room. The housekeeper washes everything daily. If you need anything or have a craving, tell her."
Ryuta's eyes sparkled as though he had never had a housekeeper before. Without meaning to, she found the sight adorable.
"I've only ever seen housekeepers on television. It's fascinating."
"Is it? You'll grow used to it soon enough. Also, I will set two house rules. No guests. And if you plan to stay out overnight, inform me in advance so I won't worry. Just those two—can you keep them?"
"I can manage that much."
For an instant Taira Ryuta overlapped with Taira Saburo in her mind, and Yukiko gave a small start. Though a housekeeper was present, having a man in the house made her feel strangely secure. Her husband had been dead only a short while, yet already she was thinking such things. The realization filled her with self-loathing.
"Good. Go to your room and unpack. I'll see you at dinner."
"Yes. Oh—I forgot to thank you. Thank you for driving to pick me up."
"It was nothing. Dinner is at six-thirty, so please be on time."
Without realizing it, Taira Yukiko had answered rather coldly. Only after she shut her bedroom door did she recognize her own frostiness.
That boy has done nothing wrong... Why am I acting this way?
Once again, she blamed herself.
###
As expected, sharing a roof with someone whose daily rhythm differed so completely was not easy.
The incident occurred the very day after Ryuta moved in.
"Have you eaten dinner?"
"I ate at the office, so you may go home now."
The housekeeper had asked right as Yukiko returned from work. When the woman replied that the young master had already returned and eaten, Yukiko felt a jolt.
Ah! That's right. I'm living with someone else now...
It was only on the second day that the reality truly sank in.
She hung up the suit she had worn to the office and changed into comfortable loungewear, then headed straight for the bathroom to wash.
"Oh!"
She came face to face with Taira Ryuta emerging with half-dried hair and nothing but a towel around his waist. Had he been walking around like that every time he showered?
Taira Yukiko let out a sharp cry.
"E-even if you've just bathed, p-put some clothes on!"
"Ah, I'm sorry. I forgot to bring underwear with me."
At the word "underwear," Yukiko's gaze unconsciously dropped to his groin. Could that be...?
It was clearly not aroused, yet the unmistakable outline of an enormous member—more than sufficient even by foreign standards—showed plainly beneath the towel. Her face flushed crimson. She swallowed hard without thinking at the sight of something far larger than her late husband's.
"G-go to your room and dress at once!"
"Yes."
After Taira Ryuta vanished into his room, Yukiko stared at her clothes for a moment before entering the bathroom.
Even after sinking into the hot water, the image of what lay beneath his towel refused to leave her mind. It tormented her.
Five years earlier, after learning she was infertile, her sex life with her husband had changed. The acts slowly dwindled until, by the time she entered her thirties—when a woman's desire burns hottest—they had become a completely sexless couple.
She did not know how Taira Saburo relieved his own urges, but Yukiko had endured her boiling desires by throwing herself deeper into her work at the Human Resources Development Center.
She had still loved her husband, yet the lack of intimacy sometimes made her resent him.
But the Taira Ryuta who entered her home after Saburo's sudden death was different. He possessed an even more handsome face than his father, a powerful body that radiated raw male pheromones, and eyes that burned with open sexual hunger whenever they looked at her. He was a man who clearly welcomed such desires.
Until today she had simply thought, He's young; of course his sex drive is high. Yet after seeing what hung between his legs, she now worried that she might begin viewing him with those same hungry eyes.
Without realizing it, Taira Yukiko's hand slid between her thighs.
"Haa...!"
The bathroom filled with the sound of rushing water and unrestrained moans.