Volume 2 - CH ss

Short Story: Laundry

“Wow, you’re really handy, ain’t ya?”

Asami said, standing next to me with her textbook open while I was folding the clothes I had washed.

“Huh?”

“The way you fold clothes – it’s so quick and nimble. Don’t ya think it’s amazin’?”

“Oh, really? I think it’s normal.”

When I tilted my head, Asami tilted her head too while scratching it.

“I’ve also been watchin’ ya cook for a while now, and I noticed that the speed at which you do household chores ain’t normal for a JK.”

When Asami said that, I couldn’t help but look down at the laundry at hand.

“Well, even when I was at home, I did a lot of household chores. So I guess that’s why.”

“Wow, you’re pretty serious ’bout it, huh?” 

Asami’s concentration was ruined by our conversation, so she put a sticky note on the page of the textbook and closed it.

“I’ve never done laundry in my life.”

“Huh? Never?”

“Yup, never.”

Asami nodded casually and pointed to the laundry next to me, all folded and stacked.

“The housekeeper does all that for me.”

“Oh… a housekeeper.”

“Yeah, a housekeeper. She comes to my house every two days. She cleans the house, does the laundry, and then leaves.”

“I knew there was such a job, but I never thought I’d hear about it from a friend.”

When I expressed my honest opinion, Asami giggled with amusement.

“The school I go to has many rich families, but I’ve hardly ever heard of one hiring a housekeeper. Well, it’s not a big deal.”

Asami let out a bitter smile and pointed to Yoshida-san’s T-shirt, which I had subconsciously pulled into my hand while listening to her story.

“Lemme try.”

“Huh? What?”

When I asked, Asami frowned deliberately and pointed to Yoshida-san’s T-shirt again.

“As I’ve said, I wanna try foldin’ it.”

“Oh, you want to?”

“Yup.”

As she said this, Asami took Yoshida-san’s T-shirt from me and placed it on her lap. Then she smiled at me.

“You said that you’ve never done it before, so I wonder if it’s something you’d want to bother with.”

“I said I wanna do it, so why don’t ya let me? Here, what do ya want me to do?”

Despite my puzzled look, Asami showed great enthusiasm.

But she really didn’t seem to know what to do and was looking at me while pinching the hem of her shorts. I couldn’t help but feel weak and burst out laughing at the same time at the sight of her glittery eyes.

“Wait, what are ya laughin’ at?”

“Nothing… Well, first of all, you’re facing the wrong way. Turn the collar side towards the floor and spread it out.”

“Aight.”        

“Then, fold both sleeves toward the body.”

“What’s the ‘body?’”

I took my time to teach Asami, who had no skill in her hands due to lack of experience.

Every time she finished a step, Asami would ask me, “How did I do?”, with a huge smile on her face. It was refreshing to see that smile of hers. It’s so different from her noisy yet mature demeanor.

“I did it!”

“Well done.”

“Can I do the others too?”

“That would be helpful.”

I handed her a few T-shirts, and she started folding them by herself, without asking for my instructions.

Seeing that, I felt my cheeks relax again.

She was so immersed in folding the clothes that she began to drop her gal speech.

Maybe it wasn’t that ingrained in her. She’s probably unaware of it, but when she’s serious or concentrating on something, she reverts to speaking normally.

“There! It’s perfect, isn’t it?”

“Perfect, perfect.”

Asami smiled as she casually lifted the neatly folded T-shirt. As I nodded my head repeatedly at the results, Asami contentedly placed the T-shirt on the floor, picked up another one, and began to fold it.

I plugged the iron into the outlet, placed a dress shirt on the ironing board, and sprayed water upon it. Then I slowly ironed it.

Asami took care of the T-shirts and I took care of the dress shirts, and soon we were done folding the laundry.

“Thanks, you helped me a lot.”

“No, it’s my pleasure. It’s been fun.”

Asami snorted with satisfaction and smiled.

“I, Asami, have folded laundry for the first time. Sayu-sensei, how much is my score?”

“Hmm, out of a hundred points… a hundred.”

“Damn, a perfect score. I knew I had a knack for it.”

Asami nodded with such a smug expression on her face that I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Why are ya laughin’?”

“No… I mean, I’ve never seen anyone who enjoyed folding clothes as much as you.”

“It’s fun to do something you’ve never done before. You might not want to do it again after a few times, though.”

Asami said that and lied down on the floor. She then lowered her voice a little and continued to speak.

“Y’know, the part-time job, it wasn’t really necessary for me.”

“Ah… That’s right.”

Asami’s family is quite well-off, to say the least. There is no reason why a rich, high school student like her has to work part-time, and I’m sure she can easily get an allowance if she asks her parents.

“I don’t listen to my parents, I wear my hair like this, and I’m always tryin’ to be rebellious. So, it would be pretty crazy of me to ask them to give me an allowance just like that.”

Asami laughed as if she was making fun of herself.

“Well… I have my parents pay for my tuition, so I think it might be a good idea to do my best with just a small amount of money.”

“That’s not true.”

When I spoke, Asami just looked at me while lying down. As if prompted by her gaze, I continued to speak.

“I didn’t get along with my parents, but they gave me an allowance. Until now, I’ve only done things that I’ve had to do, and I’ve done them reluctantly. That’s why it’s great that you can choose to work hard at something you don’t have to do.”

At my words, Asami’s expression darkened for a moment, but then she immediately raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“Thanks. But, my case’s a li’l… different.”

Asami said that and then heartily raised her upper body.

“After all, I only wanna do what I wanna do.”

She said while tapping the pile of folded T-shirts.

“I just wanted to have fun with the money I earned instead of using the money my parents gave me.”

She then jokingly stuck out her tongue for a few seconds.

“I see…”

I knew that this wasn’t the only reason, but it would be unwise to point it out.

Just as I thought, Asami is tough and straightforward.

“So, next time, why don’t you try the washing machine?”

“Hmm?! I’m in!”

At my suggestion, Asami jumped at me as if she was going to bite me. I burst out laughing again at the sight of her.

“Next laundry will be in two days.”

“In two days?! I’ll definitely come. If you do the laundry without me, I’ll be mad.”

“Okay, okay, I won’t.”

It wasn’t like I minded doing it.

“Well, now I’ve somethin’ to look forward to!”

“I’ll be sure to tell Yoshida-san that you folded these.”

“Tell me about Yoshida-cchi’s reaction later.”

I looked at Asami, who was smiling happily. I felt that I would like to do the laundry even more.