"Huh? Sakuragi-kun, are you done already?"
Haruko looked up from the apple she was peeling, puzzled to see Sakuragi returning from the bathroom with an unusually confident grin.
"Oh, don't worry, Haruko-chan!" Sakuragi beamed, thumping his chest with pride. "The washing machine is all set! Just leave it be, and I'll handle the rest!"
"Really? That's amazing, Sakuragi-kun!" Haruko smiled warmly. "I always get so nervous when I do laundry—I have to keep checking it every time."
"See? I told you, I'm a genius!" Sakuragi chuckled.
But then—"Ouch!"
"What's wrong, Haruko-chan!?"
Sakuragi rushed forward, full of concern.
"Ahaha… it's nothing," Haruko scratched her head sheepishly. She held up her hand, showing a small cut on her finger. "I was so focused on our conversation that I slipped and nicked myself."
"Varied!!!" Sakuragi's eyes bulged in panic.
"We need a bandage! No—a first aid kit! Maybe an ambulance!!"
"Sakuragi-kun, calm down!" Haruko laughed nervously. "It's just a small cut. I'll be fine."
"No! We can't take chances!" Sakuragi ran around like a headless chicken, yanking open drawers, pulling out cabinets, even sticking his head under the sink. "Where is the first aid kit!?"
"Sakuragi-kun! That's the kitchen! What are you doing?!"
"I—I don't know!!" he cried, spinning in circles.
Haruko grabbed his waist to stop him from tearing the place apart. "Please calm down!"
Suddenly, Sakuragi bolted out of the kitchen, heading for the living room like a man on a mission.
There, Oliver lay slumped on the couch, trying to recover from the chaos of the day.
Sakuragi grabbed his shoulders and shook him violently. "Wake up, Oliver! It's an emergency!!"
"W-What?! OW! My head!" Oliver groaned, waking up in confusion. "What happened!?"
"It's Haruko-sister!! She—she cut her finger!! It's bleeding!! A lot!!"
"WHAT!?"
Oliver sprang up in a panic, his fever momentarily forgotten. "Is she okay!? Where's the medical kit?!"
"Upstairs, in the storage room—"
Before Sakuragi could finish, Oliver was already gone.
"Sonic Dash, activate!" he shouted internally.
Ding! "Warning: The host is currently injured. Skill use will greatly increase fatigue."
"I don't care! Start it!!"
A gust of wind blew through the staircase. Within ten seconds, Oliver returned, panting, but victorious, medical kit in hand.
"Huff… huff… Got it! Where's Haruko? We need to bandage her, fast!"
"Um… over here…"
Oliver looked into the kitchen and froze.
Sakuragi was casually placing a Band-Aid on Haruko's finger. Haruko, meanwhile, looked more amused than injured.
"...Huh?"
Oliver blinked. "That's it? That tiny cut?"
The bleeding had already stopped on its own.
"Wow, thanks Sakuragi-kun!" Haruko smiled, holding up her finger. "It barely hurts now."
"…You've got to be kidding me."
Oliver's shoulders slumped. All that effort for a scratch that a paper towel could've handled.
"That injury is lighter than what a toddler gets from playing with plastic scissors…"
He nearly collapsed on the spot.
"Ah! Oliver-kun, the apples are ready!" Haruko suddenly chirped, holding out a plate of cute bunny-shaped apple slices.
"Oh, Haruko-san, you're amazing!" Sakuragi praised loudly.
"Oh no, it's nothing..." Haruko shyly waved off the compliment.
"You two are unbelievable…" Oliver muttered. His head throbbed, the room spun, and his body screamed for rest.
"You should lie down again, Oliver-kun," Haruko said, concerned. "Your face looks pale."
"Yeah… I think I need to—"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A sudden thundering noise echoed from the bathroom.
"...What now?" Oliver muttered.
Haruko frowned. "Wasn't the washing machine running?"
Oliver's eyes narrowed. "Sakuragi… how much detergent did you use?"
Sakuragi froze. "Uh… a little more than a spoon?"
Oliver bolted from the sofa and raced to the bathroom.
A second later, the entire house shook from his scream.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
Bubbles. Mountains of bubbles.
They poured out from under the bathroom door like a scene out of a cartoon. Oliver opened the door and was nearly swallowed by a tidal wave of foam.
Inside the bathroom, the floor, walls, and even the ceiling were coated in white froth. It looked like a bubble kingdom.
"SAKURAGI HANAMICHI!!!!"
Sakuragi flinched.
Oliver emerged from the chaos, holding an empty bag.
"You used the WHOLE BAG!?"
"W-Well, I thought it needed extra cleaning power…"
"IT WAS ONE SHEET, YOU IDIOT!!!"
Sakuragi pointed to the bag. "I mean, it looked like detergent…"
Oliver's face turned red. "You used more soap on one bedsheet than an entire hotel does in a week!!"
His blood pressure spiked. His legs trembled. His vision went black.
And once again—thud—Oliver fainted.
"OLIVER-KUN!!!"
"OLIVER!!"
Haruko and Sakuragi rushed to the couch, dragging his limp body to safety. Haruko checked his forehead and sighed.
"He's burning up again…"
The house was a complete mess. The kitchen was a disaster zone, the bathroom looked like a princess bubble bath, and poor Oliver lay unconscious, draped in a towel that somehow smelled like laundry soap and foot scrub.
"...We should clean up," Haruko said after a long silence.
"Yeah…" Sakuragi nodded, picking up a mop.
Haruko returned to the kitchen, trying to salvage what she could. Sakuragi diligently wiped the floors and cleaned up the bubble flood, occasionally muttering, "Genius… I'm still a genius…"
"Okay, take two!" Sakuragi shouted. "Let's wash the sheet again!"
He shoved the sheet back into the washing machine, grabbed another bag nearby, and dumped the contents inside.
"Wait, wait—Sakuragi-kun!" Haruko cried from the kitchen. "Remember to use just a little this time!"
"No problem!" he yelled back. "This genius has it under control!"
He pressed the button confidently, and the machine whirred to life.
Sakuragi wiped sweat from his brow and leaned on his mop. "Hah! See? I told you I'm a laundry master!"
He glanced at the bag he'd just used and grinned.
Too bad he didn't notice the label on the back.
It read: "Edible Salt."
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