Chapter 16: A Good Rest

'It's clean? No, it's not clean... by my definition, this is not how 'clean' is supposed to look! Restored? That's right, my house! Someone restored it! Who could've done something so impossible?!'

Hajime couldn't believe his eyes, so much so that he thought he was dreaming. His house had never looked so spic and span before, but right now, it was restored to how Hajime remembered it a year ago. Heaving a deep breath so he could take everything in, Hajime then closed his eyes and turned around. 'My mind isn't mentally prepared for this.' He said to himself before pinching his arm. "This is not a dream? Then w— "

No words, there were no words that left Hajime's mouth as his eyes were filled with awe at the sight. The floor didn't have the usual thickness of dust on its surface, even the nook and crannies were devoid of even a speck of dust. Cobwebs that hung on the ceiling disappeared, giving it its former spacious appearance. Even the dust that accumulated in the ceiling was nowhere to be found... and adding to that, the room smelled nice, as if a girl, not a guy, resided there. 'Not to break the stereotype that girls smell better than guys, but there's no way a guy lives here if it smells like this.' Hajime said to himself.

The next destination was the bathroom, and as Hajime had half-expected, it was spotlessly clean as well. The tiles were pristine white and the broken mirror on the wall was replaced with a new one. As for the sink, well it didn't need any replacing since it only had a chink on one of its edges. "It doesn't smell like pee in here, weird," Hajime said to himself.

'Wait a minute?!'

"Did Megumi call one of their servants to clean this place up? What?! No way!" Hajime said collapsing on the bathroom floor. The squeakiness of the tiles could be heard as they scraped against his pants. "What was she thinking?!"

Suddenly, a thought sparked in Hajime's mind, making him bolt upright. He then dashed towards his room, prepared for the worst. 'Did she enter my room without permission?!' Hajime asked, but the answer was right in front of her.

As he also half-expected, his room was also cleaned from top to bottom as well. 'Even though she didn't ask permission to enter my room.' Hajime said to himself, clicking his tongue. But then again, he didn't have the right to get angry. Megumi went out of her way to clean his house, probably as a means to return the favor from this morning.

'Even the bed sheets and the pillow were all brand-new? Where did she get those?!' Hajime asked in his mind.

Those weren't the foremost thing he noticed when he entered the room, however, since Megumi was actually sleeping on the bed. His bed!

Like a mouse carefully eyeing the mousetrap, Hajime cautiously approached Megumi. He didn't want her to wake up while he was midway walking towards her because that would just cause a pile of misunderstandings. That's why, he opted to silently go up to her, and then shake her out of her slumber. "Oi, oi, Megumi, wake up!" Hajime said in a rushed tone, grabbing her by the shoulder and vigorously shaking it.

She didn't wake up however, she just rolled to the other side of the bed as if her body subconsciously didn't want to be disturbed.

"Why is she still here? She already missed all her morning classes." Hajime said to himself as if he didn't miss his own morning classes.

Suddenly, Megumi grabbed the hand Hajime placed on her shoulder, causing Hajime to flinch. For a moment there, he saw his life flash before his eyes as the thought of Megumi waking up hunted him. What would she think if she woke up with someone's hand on her shoulder? Hajime dreaded the thought so much that he violently shook his head.

"No... no... " Megumi muttered in her sleep, tears streaming down her cheeks. "No... " Her grip on Hajime's hand got tighter as if she was desperate for his presence. She clung to Hajime while repeating the same word over and over again. Since Hajime didn't know what was going on, he sat by the edge of the bed and let Megumi calm down a bit. 'I guess everyone has a difficult phase in their lives huh, not just me.' Hajime sighed, gently removing his hand from Megumi's grasp.

Since Megumi didn't have any plans of waking up and Hajime couldn't afford to miss the meeting scheduled today, he decided to just leave her be. A good rest is probably what she needed right now, and from the looks of it, Hajime could also tell that she hasn't been sleeping well. After making sure that she wasn't feverish, Hajime slowly got up and prepared for school.

"Enjoy your sleep," Hajime muttered under his breath as he slowly closed the door behind him. As to Megumi's reaction when she finds out that she missed all her morning classes, Hajime could only wonder.

.....

Arriving at school, Hajime felt another headache as the heat took a toll on him. The pain was bearable though so he ignored it. Since lunchtime just started, Hajime first thought that he should go to the classroom and put all his things there, but once he got to the classroom door, he realized that Akamine-sensei was nowhere to be found.

'Did the meeting already start?' Hajime asked himself, slowly making his way to the teacher's office. Somehow, he felt nervous, not because he was going to the meeting, but because he didn't have his parents with him. Akamine-sensei specifically told him to bring his parents if possible but as usual, he'll be entering the battlefield alone.

Before he could get there, however, someone called out to him, making him swivel his head to the back. A familiar face, but he didn't know where he'd seen her before. "Hajime?" She asked, balancing a camera in her hand.