[ Ah. He visibly deflates, because right— he was doing that bit, wasn't he. With hindsight, Taichi recognizes that his tactic was on par with guys who wait outside movie theaters and hit up cute girls with terrible pickup lines: "my girlfriend just dumped me and now I have an extra ticket".

Shoulders scrunched up to his ears, hands shoved in wet pockets, he mumbles: ] Uh, well, I don't actually have a big bro. That was just, y'know— acting practice, I guess.

[ Wilting... ] I wasn't trying to trick you or anything, promise! I don't... have a fever, either. Sorry. [ Even if he's bright red!! From embarrassment!! In his mind, he's thinking: boy did you fuck up big time, me. ] That was really douchey of me, huh... I'm really sorry!