“Seriously…?” (Souma)
I opened the door leading to the living room and was left speechless by what I was seeing in front of me.
The floor was filled with trash.
Trash, trash, trash, trash, trash, it’s everywhere. On top of that, the clothes were left hanging out in the open.
Uniqlo plain sweatshirt. Half-finished cup of ramen. Leftover convenience store café au lait. Cardboard boxes from online shopping sites. The underwear I caught a glimpse of before scattered around. A pile of snack wrappers. A flock of empty plastic bottles. A towering pile of energy drink cans that look unhealthy. Yellow and white wrapping paper from a certain hamburger restaurant near our location.
We live in a pretty luxurious apartment. The living room of our apartment is so spacious that the extra space is wasted for only one person to live in. However, this living room has now become so cluttered that it’s difficult to even make out the pattern on the floor.
“You…” (Souma)
I turned around and called out to Shizuka, who was standing motionless by the entrance looking lost. No, I couldn’t quite figure out what to say. Shizuka was avoiding eye contact, lips pressed together slightly, and looking upwards with a hint of embarrassment.
“I told you to not be too shocked…” (Shizuka)
“Well, even if you warned me beforehand… this is just too much.” (Souma)
I took a step into the living room, trying to get a grasp of the situation.
*Clang*
I accidentally kicked something away.
…It was a container of an Ultra Spicy Peyoung.
“This… from a week ago… ugh!?” (Souma)
The moment I realized it, a strong, pungent odor assaulted my nose. The living room that had been pristine just a week ago had already transformed into a sea of decay.
“No, this is bad. This is way too much.” (Souma)
I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I closed the living room door and sought refuge at the entrance.
“Clean up after eating.”
“Put your laundry in the basket.”
“Don’t leave trash on the floor.”
Such common sense rules kept coming to mind, but in front of me was the appearance of a beautiful girl with the mess of an adult and the life skills of a baby. I didn’t know where to start, and all I could do was gaze at Shizuka in silence.
“…”
…Shizuka and Ette-sama are not the same.
The admiration and respect I held for Ette-sama, was crumbling audibly.
◆
In any case, something needs to be done about this For now, I pushed Shizuka into my house.
I placed Shizuka’s groceries, which I was helping her carry, on the living room table and had Shizuka sit in an unoccupied chair. It was the second chair that I seldom used.
“…It’s quite clean here, isn’t it?” (Shizuka)
Perhaps feeling embarrassed about being seen in such a messy, or rather hoarded, state, Shizuka mumbled with her head lowered.
“No, this is normal. It’s your place that’s abnormal.” (Souma)
“Ugh…” (Shizuka)
“Shizuka, was it like this back at your parents’ house too?” (Souma)
“No… my mom took care of everything… even cleaning of the rooms…” (Shizuka)
“………I see.” (Souma)
In other words, the generous support of her caring mother led to the creation of this adult monster. I can see why Shizuka’s mother was worried about her living alone. Although. she probably didn’t expect her daughter to be this helpless.
“Ugh, you must be disappointed… after seeing something like that.” (Shizuka)
“……….” (Souma)
Shizuka looked up at me with upturned eyes.
Seeing those childlike eyes… I found myself unable to push Shizuka away.
Certainly, I was disappointed, and my feelings toward Ette-sama had somewhat dispersed. However, within those emotions also exists a small light of “Well, if that’s the case, then it can’t be helped”.
“…I was disappointed. But well, that’s also because I had created my own fantasy about you. I knew nothing about you and yet I labeled you as someone with a high level of ‘girliness’.” (Souma)
“……….?” (Shizuka)
Shizuka looked at me as if not understanding what I was saying.
“I assumed that since you look cute, you must also have a high level of ‘girliness’. But well, that’s just my own biased reasoning.” (Souma)
“Wha-…!?” (Shizuka)
Shizuka’s expression suddenly brightened, a complete change from just a moment ago. What’s with her? Does she really understand the situation?
“Anyway, we’re in this together now. I’ll make sure you can live on your own.” (Souma)
“Souma-kun…!” (Shizuka)
“But before that… let’s clean up your room first. We can talk more afterwards.” (Souma)
I’m glad Shizuka moved in next to me, and I’m glad that we become friends. Someone needs to help Shizuka become a proper human being, or else she’ll end up as a garbage collector. In any case, it’s good to start early.
◆
“Hey! That’s my underwear! Souma-kun ecchi1!” (Shizuka)
“Shut it. These are just bacteria-ridden panties. You can tell me that once you do laundry by yourself.” (Souma)
I picked up the scattered clothes and threw them into an empty laundry basket sitting beside the washing machine.
Even with both of my hands full, I couldn’t get all of them, so I had to go back. After three rounds of back-and-forth, I successfully gathered a week’s worth of clothes.
Blue, blue, pink, pink, purple, orange. I won’t say what I am looking at.
“Shizuka, how many pairs of underwear do you have?” (Souma)
“Wha-why do I have to tell Souma-kun about that?!” (Shizuka)
“Well… I was just wondering what you were going to do once you run out I doubt you were planning to pick up and wear it again, right?” (Souma)
“I-I would never do something like that! What do you think I am!?” (Shizuka)
“For now, I think of you as a local garbage collector.” (Souma)
“Ugh…” (Shizuka)
While saying that, I loaded about twice the size of the laundry basket into the washing machine. Shizuka’s washing machine was a state-of-the-art drum type, making the loading and unloading process quite convenient.
“…I was thinking of buying new ones for now… and maybe if I felt like it, I would try washing them… but I don’t even know how…” (Shizuka)
“You were thinking of buying new ones? Seriously? Come here, let me show you. Laundry is easy. This one’s the latest model.” (Souma)
“Y-Yeah…” (Shizuka)
*Pitter-patter*
I heard Shizuka’s footsteps as she lined up beside me.
“First, you put the detergent in here. The amount should match this thick line. Then, when that’s done, turn this knob to this position────” (Souma)
As I explained to Shizuka, a question arose in my mind. It was about the pink underwear peeking out from the washing machine.
“…Souma-kun?” (Shizuka)
“Sorry, just give me a second.” (Souma)
I pulled out the underwear from the pile of clothes and checked the tag inside.
“Wha-what are you looking at so intently! Hentai! Hentai!” (Shizuka)
“Ow, stop hitting me. It’s not what you think. I’m looking at the tag!” (Souma)
Checking the tag, it seemed that the underwear could be washed in the machine. There were some stylish patterns on it, so I was worried it might be hand wash only.
“Mouu! Let go of it! Put it back!” (Shizuka)
I casually put the underwear back into the washing machine, while Shizuka was waving her fists around at me.
“Hah… hah… you finally let go…” (Shizuka)
Shizuka was breathing heavily. Her face was red. If she didn’t want to be seen that much, she shouldn’t leave it lying on the floor.
“Shizuka, do you have a laundry net?” (Souma)
“…Laundry net?” (Shizuka)
Shizuka who was glaring at me with a piercing look, tilted her head in response to my words.
“Yeah. I think it’s probably better to put underwear in a laundry net. If you don’t have one, I can bring one from my place.” (Souma)
“I probably don’t have one… but what’s a laundry bag?” (Shizuka)
“Got it. I’ll go bring one. In the meantime, fish out your underwear. Both the bra and panties.” (Souma)
“O-Okay.” (Shizuka)
I fetched a large laundry net from my home and returned to find Shizuka holding a pile of colorful underwear in her hands.
Even with all this used underwear worn by the beautiful girl right in front of me, I can’t believe I’m not getting excited at all.
I worked with Shizuka, who was making sure not to let me touch her underwear, to place them into the laundry net and close the lid of the washing machine.
“Well, now all you have to do is press this button. It will take care of everything including the drying. Go ahead, give it a press.” (Souma)
“Got it… Eh, is it really that simple?” (Shizuka)
“If it didn’t have a drying function, you would have to hang them up yourself. But this one has it. Well, there is also the downside that cleaning the drum can be a bit of a hassle.” (Souma)
“It’s… surprisingly easy.” (Shizuka)
Shizuka was staring intently at the washing machine without even blinking.
As I observed her profile, I couldn’t help but wonder if this would bring her a bit closer to being a proper human being, if she was even getting closer.
TL notes:
Thanks for reading!
MC is in full house-husband mode, ain’t got time to worry about ecchi stuff. Well, this is about what I expected from all the foreshadowing. But, leaving half-eaten food alone for who knows how long is pretty bad lol.
Btw this chapter is actually called “First-class Hoarder House Architect – Rinjou Shizuka”. Hoarder house is a Japan term for when houses which are not intended to be garbage disposal sites are filled with garbage or something like that. I didn’t quite understand it and it sounded weird so I changed the title to what it is now.