Another Major Cleaning Operation, and Trouble

Mahiru liked cleaning a fair bit.

Right after they had met, she had been kind enough to help Amane clean

his apartment, and she had completed the task extremely skillfully and

thoroughly.

Amane also tried his best to clean and maintain things, but once in a

while, Mahiru would check and point out places where he had been

careless.

Of course, she didn't nag him incessantly. It was more like explaining

ways to make dirt easier to remove or suggesting ways to make daily

maintenance easier, so Amane was always grateful for her input.

"I shouldn't be surprised you tend to overlook grime in places that get

wet. Looks like you've been cleaning the places you can see, but there's

some left around the back and in the corners. Basically all the places that

are hard to get a look at."

Mahiru peeked in suddenly while Amane was cleaning his bathtub and

immediately noticed a spot of grime he had missed.

She was wearing a little smirk, as if she had suspected as much.

Just as she'd pointed out, there were spots of black mold on the rubber

seal around the shower door and in the back of the shampoo shelf.

These places were hard to see, so he hadn't noticed the mold, but now

that Mahiru had pointed those spots out, they were going to bother him.

Amane had started paying attention to all sorts of things after cleaning

with Mahiru the year before, but of course, she made him realize that he

still had a long way to go.

"Bathrooms are humid even if you ventilate them, and it's easy for black

mold to crop up. Especially in corners and blind spots like this rubber seal.

This is what happens if you don't make a conscious effort to clean them."

"You're right."

"…I'm not scolding you, okay? I mean, if you just kept going and didn't

pay attention, this is exactly the kind of grime that ends up plaguing most

households."

Mahiru nodded earnestly and insisted that it was a common problem, but

when she noticed Amane scrunching his shoulders up, she smiled

awkwardly.

"Don't look so defeated. I think you've done a great job cleaning

everywhere else."

"Thanks for saying that, but…"

"You just have to pay attention to it from now on, so don't mope about

it. If you have time to feel bad about it, then you can take care of it right

away… Actually, would it be all right if I helped?"

Mahiru slapped her upper arms for emphasis, eager to put her skills to

use. For some reason, there was visible excitement in her eyes.

Either because she liked cleaning or because she was just a naturally

helpful person, it actually seemed more like Mahiru wanted to clean rather

than like she was resigned to it.

Amane knew that failing to pay attention to the details was one of his

weaknesses, so it helped to have her point things out, and her offer to help

clean did make him happy.

At the same time, he felt incredibly guilty about letting her do it.

"…Isn't that unpleasant for you, Mahiru? Cleaning someone else's

bathroom?"

"I don't really mind. But does it bother you? It's not an exaggeration to

say that this is your private space."

"I'm not particularly bothered by you seeing it. After all, you've used

my bathtub before. It's a little late to be embarrassed."

She had once forgotten her key at Chitose's house and spent the night in

Amane's apartment, and she had already used his bath on that occasion.

Plus, she often used the sink that was right outside the bathroom, giving her

a clear view of the interior.

In that sense, it was too late to feel bashful, but he was worried about

whether Mahiru was all right with entering the bathroom of a member of

the opposite sex.

"…Th-that's true, but—"

"I can't say anything self-important, since I'm the one getting the favor,

and I'll take you up on your offer, if you don't mind, but I can do it myself

if I need to. Though I will ask you to supervise."

He was grateful she was checking his work, since he was likely to

overlook spots of grime, but for some reason, Mahiru seemed ever so

slightly agitated and was letting her gaze drift around the room.

"…N-no, I'll do it, if that's all right. A bathroom is too cramped for the

two of us to clean together anyway."

"Really? I feel kinda bad making you spend a precious day off doing

this."

"No, it's fine. I like cleaning."

"In that case, I'll leave it to you. I've got no other plans, and you're

being so generous, so I think I'll go clean the kitchen. I want to try

polishing the sink."

Naturally, letting Mahiru clean while he relaxed by himself would be

terribly rude, and he wouldn't be able to stand the pangs of conscience, so

Amane intended to clean something else on his own.

The other day he had just happened to see a video of someone polishing

a sink, and it had piqued his interest, so he decided to take this opportunity

to challenge himself.

The important thing seemed to be to take the time and polish it

thoroughly and evenly. Amane figured that even he should be able to do it.

"Do you have all the right tools? You need waterproof sandpaper and a

polishing agent."

"…I'll go buy them now."

It was something he had suddenly made up his mind to do, so it wasn't

as if he had the tools on hand. He was about to make a shopping run, but

Mahiru's exasperated look was painful.

"Right, I thought you'd say that. I've got both in my apartment, so I'll

give you some. It's best to get all your cleaning supplies together ahead of

time."

"I don't suppose I should be surprised. You're so thorough, I feel bad."

"Well, the very fact that you felt like you wanted to do it is a big deal."

"Don't try to be nice about it."

"Heh-heh. All right, I'm going to change. I'll bring the stuff back with

me."

"…It must be some serious work if you're going to the trouble of

changing clothes."

"I'm about to do some serious cleaning, understand?"

At the moment, Mahiru was dressed in a long gray skirt with a

herringbone pattern, plus a matching black knit top. It was a subdued and

modest outfit that suited her well.

She probably could have cooked as usual in those clothes, but they

looked as if they would be very difficult to clean in, and he had no doubt

that it would be a disaster if she got detergent on them and bleached the

fabric.

He quietly mumbled something about her once again dressing in a cute

outfit that looked difficult to move in, and Mahiru pressed her lips tightly

together, then ground her fist into his waist for a reason he really didn't

understand. Of course, it wasn't exactly a punch, so it wasn't really painful.

He just felt a light pressure.

"What was that for all of a sudden, Miss Mahiru?"

"…Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"You're pressing awfully hard over nothing, though."

"It's nothing."

Amane was bewildered. Clearly it wasn't nothing, but Mahiru turned

away and hurried out the door.

When Mahiru returned from changing her clothes, she handed Amane a

metal polishing kit, and he quickly got to work on the sink. She had

changed into casual clothes, wearing pants with her hair up in a bun, and

went straight into the bathroom wearing rubber gloves and bursting with

motivation.

She had been all fired up to do the cleaning, so Amane timidly left her to

it, figuring it was all right to accept the favor.

Determined not to be outdone, Amane started going to work on the sink,

sandpaper in hand.

He properly ordered the sandpaper by grit, carefully smoothing out any

scratches that had originally been on the sink surface, while taking care not

to scrub too hard and cause new ones.

Since he lived in a rental apartment, there were also probably traces

from when the people before him had lived there. The sink wasn't filthy,

but its surface was cloudy, a far cry from the glistening new ones he saw on

television.

He polished patiently, trying to cut through the cloudiness, and his mood

improved when he realized on the second set of sandpaper that the metallic

luster was steadily coming back.

With visible results, his enthusiasm soared, and Amane, who had always

been the sort of person who found it difficult to stop once he focused on

something, continued polishing away in silence.

Suddenly, when he looked to the side, he saw Mahiru standing beside

him, silently watching him work. He had no idea when she had gotten there.

"…Say something if you're in here! You totally startled me."

"Sorry, you seemed really focused, so I didn't want to interrupt."

"You still could have said something, but…did you finish cleaning?"

"No, right now I'm letting some stubborn grime soak, so I've got an

hour to spare. I'm taking a short break."

Amane couldn't help but smile as Mahiru explained all this with deadly

seriousness, as if issuing a grim warning that letting the detergent penetrate

was crucial for getting rid of grime.

"Amane, you…still have a ways to go, huh? It's looking better, but it'll

take a while before you get that to a mirror finish."

"I've got one more sheet of high-grit sandpaper to go through. After

that, I'll wipe it down with a cloth soaked in the abrading agent. This is a

lot of work…"

"Well, it takes time and effort to make something look nice. You can

shorten the life span of the sink if you polish it too hard, though, so please

be careful."

"Rrrrroger!"

Indeed, since the sink was rental property, he understood that going

overboard was strictly forbidden. After all, the owners of the building ought

to take care of general maintenance.

"By the way, have you been polishing this whole time?"

"I guess so. I really got lost in it."

"This kind of work is fun, isn't it? That's the good thing about

cleaning."

"Well, I'm not taking it as seriously as you do, Mahiru."

"You say that, but you don't look like you're taking a break anytime

soon. It's just as important to get a proper amount of rest, Amane."

With an elegant laugh, Mahiru took out a glass and opened the

refrigerator.

"Are you thirsty, Amane?"

"We've got some orange juice in there, so I'd love it if you'd pour me a

glass."

"Got it."

Apparently, she was going to get Amane a drink.

He was grateful for her consideration. She took out the orange juice that

he had purchased earlier and poured a glass.

For some reason, she stuck a straw in it and held the glass to Amane's

mouth.

"Here you go."

She was offering him the juice with a grin, but it was obvious that she

had no intention of letting him take the glass from her.

She pointed the straw carefully toward him, as if urging him to drink,

and held it to his mouth.

"Thank…you?"

"Your hands are dirty, so I thought this would be the best way to do it."

It was true that his hands had gotten stained with black liquid while he

was polishing, but he could have easily washed them. He didn't need

Mahiru to go out of her way to take care of him like that, but she didn't

show the slightest sign of backing down.

He glanced over at Mahiru, and she looked back at him with an

invigorating smile, as if to say she had only the best intentions.

"…Won't I look really dumb?"

"I don't think so…probably not."

"Probably not, huh?"

"Just joking. But that black stuff won't come off unless you wash your

hands really well, so it would be extra effort to do that when you're still in

the middle of the job, right? That's why I think this is more efficient."

"That may be true, but—"

If that's the issue, couldn't you just set it beside the sink? Amane

thought. But he knew that even if he said that, Mahiru wasn't going to

relent.

He figured that there was no use in arguing further, and when he gave up

and put the straw in his mouth, Mahiru's smile of satisfaction grew.

As the fresh, tart sweetness of the orange juice spread through his

mouth, Amane concealed the bashfulness that was slowly welling up inside

him.

"…Is it good?"

"Mm, it's good. Thank you."

Since she had only filled about half of a glass that wasn't that large to

begin with, he quickly finished the juice and thanked her.

While he was at it, he shot her a look that said You don't need to do that

again, but Mahiru just chuckled softly.

"Please call me anytime you want a drink, okay?"

"No, next time I'll wash my hands like normal and get it on my own."

"Oh, too bad."

Now she's teasing me.

Every so often, Mahiru did things like this. It made him wonder if giving

him a jolt to the heart was a game for her. They were minor things, but her

pranks always gave him quite a shock.

This time, although she was undoubtedly teasing him, she also had good

intentions, so he couldn't even complain.

Exasperated, he shot her a reproachful look, but Mahiru laughed happily

again.

Mahiru went back to her own cleaning, and Amane scrubbed the sink over

and over again, changing the grit of the sandpaper as he went, until all that

was left was the final polish.

The sink was already mirrorlike, and he knew that it would shine even

more beautifully once he put on the finishing touches.

Thinking it was about time for the final polish with the abrading

compound, Amane had just washed his hands so he could search for an old

towel when the loud noise of something large falling over rang out from the

bathroom.

He dashed over without even turning off the running water, expecting

the worst, and saw Mahiru on her backside. It looked as if she had

collapsed.

She seemed kind of stunned and didn't try to get up, even as she got

soaked by the spray of water from the shower nozzle that had also fallen on

the floor.

"Are you okay?! I heard a huge noise just now?!"

"I let my feet slip… I'm not injured, but my butt hurts. That was my

mistake."

As if Amane's voice finally broke the spell, her eyes darted around the

room in shame as she looked up at him.

Apparently, she had slipped and fallen while rinsing the walls. There

were still little clumps of bubbles in the corners of the tub, pushed there by

the overflowing water, and Mahiru's clothes were completely soaked

through where she had been hit by the spray on her way down.

"Sorry; this is because I left the cleaning to you…"

"No, I was the one who suggested it, so…"

Amane turned off the running shower right away and offered his hand to

Mahiru, who was still sitting on the floor looking up at him. "You didn't

twist your ankle, did you?" he asked. "Can you stand?"

Mahiru cast her eyes downward in embarrassment, then gingerly took

Amane's hand. "I just landed on my rump. I was crouching to begin with,

so I didn't have that far to fall. It only made so much noise because the

washbasin fell down with me. It was my fault, so don't worry about me."

"No, I'm definitely still worried, and…you're dripping wet, too…"

Amane planted his feet firmly on the floor as he helped Mahiru up. He

did not want to let her fall down again. He looked her over once more, to

confirm that she wasn't injured, and froze.

Mahiru had been soaked by the running shower. And her clothing, which

she had chosen for cleaning indoors, wasn't very wintery, just a simple

long-sleeved white shirt and a pair of leggings. That fact spelled Amane's

doom.

Her tight-fitting clothes gained a terrible destructive power when they

got wet. The silhouette of her body was extremely apparent, as was the

color and shape of what she was wearing underneath.

Under her shirt, Amane could see the color of her skin, and he caught a

glimpse of something lime green showing through the fabric before

averting his eyes in a panic.

Amane felt like he might die of shame if he looked directly at her, and

he could imagine how upset Mahiru would be if he stared.

On the other hand, he knew that she would suspect something if he

blatantly avoided looking in her direction, so once he helped Mahiru up,

Amane grabbed a towel from the adjacent changing room and somehow

managed to wrap it around her shoulders without looking.

However, Mahiru apparently realized the awful state she was in, and she

appeared to take Amane's act of desperation as one of kindness, so she

smiled at him.

Seeing her smiling face made it even harder for Amane to look directly

at her, and he turned away.

He felt as if he wanted to punch himself for thinking such perverse

thoughts, even for a moment, but he somehow used reason to calm his

overly excited body.

"I'll lend you a change of clothes, but if you want to go home after you

change, you should wait until you're dry. If you go outside wet in this

temperature, you'll catch a cold."

"Thank you very much for your concern… But if I look so funny that

you have to turn away to laugh, I'd rather you just laugh in my face."

"Why would you think I was laughing?! Your shirt's see-through, so I

was just trying not to look!!"

He had been doing his best to evade the subject and give her a chance to

change, but since Mahiru had groundlessly misunderstood his intentions, he

had snapped at her without thinking. Now he was in real trouble, because

Mahiru's cheeks were turning red.

She glanced down at her own body, and her face flushed in an instant,

then she quickly pulled the towel closed around her. Amane could finally

catch his breath.

That said, he still couldn't meet her eye and was letting his gaze wander

around the room.

"Uh…um, r-really, thanks for your concern…"

"…It's mostly my fault for letting you do the cleaning, so for now, if

you would get changed, I'd appreciate it. If you want to take a shower to

warm up, that's okay, too. I'll bring you some fresh clothes."

Mahiru probably did not envy Amane in this situation. And Amane

found it hard to stay rational, alone with her.

He found the perfect excuse and made his escape.

After passing Mahiru some clothes, Amane again focused intently on

polishing the sink.

He wanted to preserve his willpower of steel, but certain urges were

steadily eroding it, threatening to make it collapse. In an attempt to scrape

them away, he emptied his mind as he polished the sink with the abrading

agent and tried to the best of his ability to banish the earlier incident from

his thoughts.

Mahiru had gotten quite chilly, so she was taking a shower. He could

hear the sound of water running and striking the floor from the bathroom.

There's a girl taking a shower in my home.

When he had this objective thought, he realized the unthinkable reality

of the situation and shook his head to quickly dispel any wild fantasies.

Beating himself up for his thoughts, he polished away at the sink, trying

to clear any uninvited ideas from his mind. It wasn't exactly a flawless

finish, but the metal now smoothly reflected the light well enough that he

could see his own face on the surface.

The face that he saw reflected in the sink was bright red. He knew that

he had to get ahold of himself before Mahiru came back.

It was no laughing matter that his feelings of guilt, born from shame and

pangs of conscience, were stronger than his excitement at finishing the

polishing.

Forget it, forget it.

Figuring that he was probably about done with polishing, Amane rinsed

away the last of the abrading agent from the sink and then washed his

hands.

Then he vigorously splashed his face with water. If he couldn't get the

terrible heat under control quickly, he wouldn't be able to face Mahiru.

Over and over, he splashed himself with the cold wintertime water,

enjoying how it cooled his face and head. He was still splashing when he

heard the sound of the fittings on the bathroom door creaking open.

He knew that she would be coming out before too long, so as he forced

his pounding heart to settle down, he put one spoonful of honey and a

splash of milk into a mug for Mahiru and stuck it in the microwave.

Just as it finished warming up, Mahiru slowly emerged from the

changing area, slapping the floor with her slippers as she walked.

"…Thanks for letting me borrow your clothes," she said to Amane, who

was still in the kitchen. She had just gotten out of the shower, so warmth

was radiating gently off her and into her surroundings.

In reaction to the earlier incident where her shirt got soaked, Amane had

intentionally chosen to loan her a sweatsuit that was too large so that her

silhouette wouldn't show.

Thanks to that decision, she looked very comfortable in his house

clothes, but for some reason, her appearance still made his heart pound, and

he couldn't help but feel that he was never going to calm down, no matter

what he did.

"Here you go. Take this, too."

"…Thank you very much."

He had more or less gotten to the point where he could look directly at

her again, so keeping himself as calm as possible, he took the hot milk out

of the microwave, stirred it with a spoon, and then handed it to Mahiru.

Mahiru liked sweets, and when she noticed the smell of the honey, she

smiled gently. Then she looked at the sink behind Amane, and her smile

grew.

"Oh, you finished that beautifully. You really worked hard at it. Good

job."

"…I guess."

He wasn't going to tell her that he had done it to drive away his worldly

desires, so he just nodded and gave her a vague reply. Then Amane casually

brushed past her and sat down on the sofa.

As he was taking deep breaths, Mahiru also trotted over and sat beside

him, making it impossible for him to settle down. The fact that he could

smell the scent of his own body soap wafting toward him made it all the

worse.

When he glanced over at her, he saw her hands poking out of the sleeves

of the much-too-large clothing, gripping the mug as she earnestly blew on it

to cool down its contents.

She looked strangely adorable as she brought the drink up to her mouth

once, immediately pulled away because it was too hot, then glared at the

offending mug with a frown.

Though from her perspective, she was probably just trying to cool down

her milk, the oversized clothing made her look especially small and

adorable.

Even an unfashionable sweatsuit looked cute when Mahiru wore it.

What a terrifying thing a beautiful girl could be.

After struggling for some time, Mahiru happily sipped her hot milk once

it finally reached a drinkable temperature. She must have noticed Amane

looking at her, because she took her mouth off the mug and cocked her

head.

"Is something the matter?" she asked.

"Uh, no…just worried that you might be hurt."

Amane wasn't lying, but he wasn't telling the whole truth, either.

He was concerned that Mahiru might have hurt herself in the fall, and he

was also concerned about her catching a cold. However, at the same time,

quite a lot of his mind was occupied by his agitation at having seen the

suggestive curves of her body when she was completely soaked, even

though she hadn't actually exposed any skin.

Mahiru had no doubts about Amane's words, and she frowned in

vexation, then chuckled. "…Sorry for being such a bother today."

"No, don't be silly. I'm the one who caused trouble for you. Are you

sure you're not hurt?"

"I'm fine now, it doesn't even hurt to touch my backside where I hit it…

I'm not letting you touch it, though. Got that?"

"I wouldn't!"

"Just joking."

Mahiru snickered at Amane's instant response. Still grappling with his

complicated feelings, he grumbled quietly, "…Don't tease me."

"It's just that you seemed kind of down. I was the one who suggested I

clean, so there's no need for you to fret over it, Amane."

"This only happened because I didn't pay attention while cleaning on

my own, so I do feel bad."

If Amane had cleaned properly on a regular basis, Mahiru never

would've needed to roll up her sleeves, meaning there also wouldn't have

been any opportunity for her to get soaked in the first place.

"Well, I can't deny that, but it's quite a difficult task to get everything

perfectly clean. You don't have to look so sorry."

"…Even so—"

"Oh, come on. Everyone makes mistakes when they're doing something

unfamiliar. You just have to be careful next time… Now you know what to

look for when you're cleaning, right?"

"I'm taking this deeply to heart."

"Great. So don't worry so much, okay?"

Amane was seriously contemplating the fact that he had neglected the

grime, which had led to Mahiru's fall and her subsequent accident, but

Mahiru must have taken his demeanor as an expression of earnest apology.

A small smile appeared on her face.

She set her mug down on the table and used the extra length of her

sleeves to slap at Amane, trying to cheer him up. "Don't be so down in the

dumps!"

Naturally, since Amane was on the taller side, and especially since he

had purposely given her clothes that were too big even for him, Mahiru had

quite a lot of extra sleeve to work with. They had so much extra fabric that

if she didn't put her arms through them and roll them up, they covered her

fingers with enough extra to fold over on themselves.

Evidently, she had decided to weaponize those sleeves and seemed to be

having fun whacking Amane with them.

"Owww."

"You sound like a robot!"

"No, really, it hurts, it hurts!"

It didn't, of course, but the adorableness of her actions caused some

noticeable pangs in his chest.

Mahiru had no way of knowing that was happening as she scolded

Amane sweetly with a cherubic smile.

To Amane, it was unbelievably cute, and he wasn't sure what to do.

"I'm good already, just relax… Well, I am still sorry that you ended up

having to change, though."

"I fell down all on my own. If anything, this showed me that I need to

watch my footing. I feel bad that I had to ask you to lend me a change of

clothes."

"No, but…"

"Stop. If we go back and forth on this any longer, you're going to start

another pity party in your brain, so this ends now. Got it?"

Mahiru smiled somewhat impishly after gently covering Amane's mouth

with the extra-folded-over sleeve, and Amane also couldn't help breaking

into a grin.

Vowing to shove the memory of what he had seen as far down as he

possibly could, he looked at Mahiru in the baggy sweatsuit again.

"Do you want to go home for a bit and change?"

He made the suggestion assuming that it must be difficult to move

around in such baggy clothes and that she'd prefer wearing her own clothes,

but to his surprise, Mahiru shook her head slowly.

"No, I'll stay like this a little longer."

"…Okay."

Mahiru hid her mouth with the excess sleeve, but he could tell from the

way the area around her eyes softened that she was feeling bashful. For

some reason, he felt an intense urge to pat her on the head.

"…You're pretty tall and skinny, aren't you, Amane? I was shocked by

the size of these pants. The waist is surprisingly small."

"I guess that's because overall, it's harder for me to put on weight than it

is for girls."

"I'm a little jealous. I knew that, but I still envy you."

Amane figured there was bound to be a difference between men and

women, since men generally have higher metabolisms than women and

therefore have a harder time gaining subcutaneous fat, but that was neither

here nor there.

With a very serious look on her face, Mahiru slid right up to Amane,

who shrank back. Without any hesitation, she patted his waist with her

palm.

Amane knew he was on the slender side, so he figured that as long as

she wasn't talking about muscles, he had no reason to stop her, and he

decided to let her do as she pleased.

And then as he was holding still, he was suddenly filled with the intense

urge to go back and wallop the Amane who had chosen those clothes for her

about an hour earlier.

He had chosen his largest sweats, with the goal of obscuring her figure

so that he wouldn't think about her body. But now his strategy was

completely backfiring.

He didn't feel comfortable with fabric pressing against his throat, so he

preferred sweatshirts that were made somewhat loose in the neck, but that

had been an inappropriate choice to give to Mahiru.

Since she was so small, the neck of the shirt slouched forward, and the

fabric was pulled down by gravity, leaving a large gap between the shirt and

her body.

He could see her translucent, milky-white skin through the neck

opening.

He could see that, just as the fabric obeyed the law of gravity, so too did

it heavily emphasize the weight of those things that Mahiru had and Amane

didn't—the things that formed a great white valley that was normally

hidden from view.

Amane looked to his heart's content at the bounty that had been wrapped

in light lime green and wet cloth earlier. Then he averted his eyes with great

force.

His heart was thumping loudly.

She's gotta do something about leaving herself so defenseless in

situations like this.

On the whole, he didn't think that Mahiru was particularly careless.

She did not wear revealing clothing in public. Usually, she chose sturdy,

protective garments that only allowed the skin on her hands and face to

show. Her modesty was almost admirable.

And yet here they were.

Even though Amane had caused the issue, at the moment, Mahiru wasn't

considering the position of his face. She probably never thought that Amane

would look there. She was in a defenseless state on account of her trust in

him, he thought.

From the back of his mind, he recalled the sight of her wet underwear

and curvy silhouette, and his heart pounded loudly again.

"…Amane?"

When he heard her say his name in a voice that was less suspicious and

more curious, Amane bit his lip and stood up with great force.

He heard a small, cute exclamation but couldn't look in her direction.

"…I, um…I think I'll take a shower, too. I got sweaty doing all that

polishing!"

As soon as he said that, Amane attempted to flee the scene, retreating

from Mahiru, who, while innocent, still possessed great destructive power.

Leaving behind her bewildered voice, Amane burst into his bedroom,

grabbed some clothes, and escaped to the bathroom, feeling ashamed and

despicable for looking directly at them, even if for just a moment.

Only a minute passed before, this time, Amane fell down in the bathroom,

and Mahiru came running in a panic.