Two People’s Laundry

It was the first Saturday after I started living with Airi. I was getting ready to go home from school when Kazuma stopped me.

"Minato, you're not working today, right? Let's go play."

"I'm sorry, I've got some things to do today."

I didn't actually have any errands, but I'd like to go home and do some housework today.

Although I cooked breakfast, I left dinner and baths to Airi. I wanted to go home early and help her, at least today.

"What do you have to do? Are you playing video games again? If you're so into it, then lend it to me next time when you're done."

Kazuma smiled with a hint of dismay, as if to say, 'Can't help it.'

It seemed that Kazuma thought that my refusal was because I wanted to go home and play video games.

We didn't mind it that much as we had often refused invitations from each other saying that we'd rather play games, and it was more convenient to keep it that way.

"Yeah, I'll lend it to you sometime. Sorry, you'll have to ask me out again next time."

"Don't worry about it, I'll invite you again. See you."

When Minato apologized, Kazuma smiled and patted him on the shoulder. He then headed for his other classmates.

Since I didn't work out, he was off to hang out with his other classmates. I walked out of the classroom, impressed with the guy who had such a wide range of friendships.

I was never the type to clean every day, I always did it all at once on the weekend.

I tried to do the same this time, but Airi gave me a puzzled look.

"What are you trying to do…?"

"I'm going to clean the room."

When I told her this, she smiled awkwardly.

"You don't have to do it."

"Eh, did you already clean it today?"

"Not just today, I've been doing the cleaning little by little, so there's not much I need Kujo-senpai to do."

It was true that there was only a little dust in the room for the past few days.

Apparently, Airi had been cleaning it after she came home from school.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave you in charge of all that."

When I apologized that it was not my intention to make her clean, she denied it shaking her head.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. I don't have anything to do, so it's a good way to pass the time."

However, I didn't think it was a good idea to make her clean the room all the time.

As I was thinking about what I could do, I heard the sound of the washing machine. It had been a while since I had heard this electronic sound, and I felt uncomfortable.

Suddenly a question came to mind.

(Hey, what have I been doing with my laundry for the past few days?)

Come to think of it, I didn't think I had hung out my laundry since Airi arrived.

Before I knew it, my laundry was folded and I never went to the balcony in the first place because I noticed that it was already taken in.

I had a bad feeling, but I had to ask her.

I asked Airi fearfully,

"Did you… by any chance, do my laundry?"

"Yes, I did it while I was cleaning the room."

"Ah…"

I was taken aback when Airi gave me a coy smile as she said this.

Immediately, I put both knees and hands on the floor. I also put my head on the ground,

"I'm truly sorry."

I got down on my knees wholeheartedly.

"Eh, what's the matter with you all of a sudden? Please stop."

"I just felt like I had to do this. Let me apologize."

Airi told me to get up in an impatient voice, but I didn't stop.

She had been doing dinner, the bath, cleaning and laundry. But I didn't even notice the last two.

I could only get down on my knees like this now.

"It's not something to apologize for."

"No, this is something I'd normally be pissed about, I'm really sorry."

"I understand, but please raise your head for the time being."

I apologized again with my head down, and Airi forgave me with a sigh.

At any rate, I raised my head and she looked at me with a dumbfounded expression on her face.

Fortunately, I brought up the subject.

"Can you at least let me do the laundry?"

"You come home late from your part-time job, don't you?

"Then at least let me do it today! Please, let me do it, please!"

My conscience couldn't take it anymore. With no shame or pretense, I desperately begged her.

Airi gave me a slightly reluctant look, as if she was looking at someone strange, but it didn't hurt or itch me at that moment.

I kept looking at Airi with the intention of not giving up at all, no matter what she said.

After staring at her for a while, Airi shook her head as if to say, 'It can't be helped', and finally gave me permission.

"Yes, yes, I understand. Please take care of it."

"Yeah, please leave it to me."

As I was hanging out the laundry, I found a lump of cloth wrapped in a net, which must have been Airi's because I didn't have anything like it.

When I took it out of the net, I found that it was underwear.

(I see, so that's how you wash them).

It was just a piece of cloth. As I was about to hang it up, Airi came out of the room with a anxious expression on her face.

I wasn't doing anything strange, I was just trying to hang out the clothes normally.

I wondered if I had done something wrong, but since I didn't know the proper way to dry them, it was a good time to ask.

"Ninomiya, how do you dry your underwear?"

"Kujo-senpai, stop! Inside there is my…"

Airi, who had been slurring her words, froze when she saw the underwear I was holding.

"Um, Ninomiya?"

"..."

I called out to her fearfully, but she didn't respond at all. The same happened when I waved my hand in front of her.

I decided that it would not be a problem if I left her alone for some time so I was about to continue hanging out the clothes when I was suddenly grabbed really hard by my arm.

Even though we lived together, I rarely touched Airi.

I was immensely surprised and when I looked at her face, I felt a little nervous at the touch of Airi's cold hand.

(This is too scary.)

When I looked at her face, I saw that she had eyes of absolute zero, about 30% more than usual. I wondered if she could kill someone with this look.

It was supposed to be quite warm at noon in spring, but it felt strangely cold.

Then, Airi went on to say in a cold voice,

"I'll take over."

"No, Ninomiya agreed to let me do it, right?"

"I'll take over."

"That's why…"

"I'll take over."

The icy eyes and the complete lack of expression were terrifying. And the fact that she only said the same thing again and again, like a broken machine, made it a bit of a horror story.

It was no use, so in a voice as gentle as possible so as not to irritate Airi, I proposed a compromise.

"All right, why don't you hang up your underwear, Ninomiya? I'll do the rest."

"Please… Can you just let me do it?"

Airi squeezed my hand that was holding her underwear and stared at me. She looked as if she was about to burst into tears.

As I froze, unsure of what to do, her eyes began to water and tears began to well up.

I never saw her cry. I realised that she didn't want to be seen. I decided that it would be a bad idea to try to push this any further.

"Then… Please do the laundry."

"Please leave it to me."

There was nothing I could do if she cried, so I had no choice but to give it to her. Airi, who had been entrusted with the task, looked deeply relieved.

I told myself that it wasn't my fault, because Airi had given me permission to do this.

Disgusted with myself for not being able to even hang the laundry, I went back inside with a big sigh.

"I need to talk to you."

That's what Airi said to me after she finished hanging the laundry.

We sat facing each other on the cushions. Looking at her like this, reminded me of our first day living together. Her face was still tearful, though.

"You're not allowed to hang out the laundry, Kujo-senpai."

She said something outrageous at the start of the conversation, which I thought was too unreasonable.

This made me unable to do anything, and I couldn't approve of it.

"Rejected, it was Ninomiya who allowed me to hang the laundry today in the first place, right?"

"That was because I forgot that I was washing my underwear, I wouldn't have allowed it if I remembered. Also, I was pushed by Kujo-senpai's intensity."

Apparently, she had seriously forgotten about her own underwear.

As for my intensity, I hope she forgave me as I couldn't give it up either.

"You already washed your underwear, right? You don't have to be so embarrassed about it."

"…Pervert."

"Oi."

She glared at me with flushed cheeks and teary eyes.

I didn't have interest in getting excited by washed underwear.

"You can't look at underwear whether it's washed or not. You have no sense of decency."

She said reproachfully as she turned her head away. I didn't mind, but apparently she did.

If you put it that way, maybe I wasn't considerate enough. I guess I shouldn't be allowed to see her underwear in the first place.

I decided that I should be the one to apologize here.

"I'm sorry, I'll be careful next time."

"No… I was out of line too. I'm sorry."

We apologized to each other and let out a sigh to calm ourselves down.

It seemed that Airi had returned to her normal state. Her expression was back to her usual expressionless one.

It looked like we could finally have a proper discussion.

"Well… It's embarrassing to have your underwear seen, no matter how much you wash it."

Her cheeks were slightly red and she was squirming. Although she had returned to her normal state, she was still embarrassed.

"Then, I won't do the laundry when Ninomiya washes her underwear. Is that okay?"

When I proposed the idea, Airi put her hand on her chin and thought about it.

"With Kujo-senpai's part time work, is there ever such a timing?"

"Honestly… I think it will be difficult, but I want to do that much. It's too much of a burden on Ninomiya to continue on like this."

I knew she would say that. But if I conceded, Airi would have to do most of the housework.

When I looked reluctant, Airi smiled at me as if to say not to worry.

"I don't think it's a burden. You don't mind if I do it as before, do you?"

"Are you sure you're okay with this…?"

I asked anxiously, but was reassured with a soft smile.

"I'm fine. I'll take care of it."

When she said it with that kind of face, I couldn't say anything.

Once again, I bowed my head and asked for help.

"Please take care of the laundry. Really, thank you very much."

"Those words are enough for me."