I woke to the sound of steady rain.
Pulling back the curtains, I saw that an entire night had passed, yet the downpour showed no sign of letting up.
Glancing at the time, I realized it was already late, so I hurried through my morning routine and knocked on the door across the hall.
Soon, the door opened, and Hifumi greeted me warmly, ushering me inside.
After greeting Hanako, I noticed that Koharu and Azusa were still asleep. But perhaps disturbed by the sound of my entrance, Koharu let out a muffled groan and slowly sat up, eyes still closed, clearly unwilling to fully wake.
"Ah, good morning, Koharu-chan," Hanako said cheerfully, but received no response. She didn't seem to mind.
Hifumi, watching the rain outside, turned back: "Good morning. Azusa… doesn't seem to be awake yet."
At the mention of her, Azusa hummed softly and turned over in bed.
Koharu opened her eyes, puzzled: "What's wrong? Azusa usually wakes up so early…"
"She's probably been pushing herself too hard until now," Hanako said quietly, worried. "Let her sleep a little longer…"
I nodded in agreement.
After returning late last night, I had first activated my abilities to check, confirming four steady breathing patterns in the room. Azusa had safely returned and gone to bed, before I relaxed enough to shower and change. Luckily, my physical resilience kept me from catching a cold.
For Azusa, this was probably one of the few times in recent days she could sleep in uninterrupted.
"Mm…" Azusa murmured suddenly, "No… so cute… soft… ugh, not good…"
Hanako chuckled: "And it looks like she's having some kind of pleasant dream?"
Even in her dreams, she's thinking about Momofriends!?
Impossible. I need to urgently consult Hifumi about this.
Just as this thought crossed my mind, a clap of thunder jolted me back to reality.
"Ah… ahh… it's thundering too…" Hifumi murmured.
"…Ah!" Hanako suddenly exclaimed.
"What is it?" Koharu asked, as if playing the straight man.
"I forgot! The clothes I washed are still outside…!"
With that, Hanako dashed out of the room, and after a brief moment of shock, Hifumi and Koharu followed suit.
I followed to the doorway, glanced back at Azusa. Now fully awake, looking around in confusion, probably unable to return to sleep, and spoke briefly before heading outside with them to the laundry line, beginning the urgent rescue operation.
But after a night of wind and rain, the clothes they had washed yesterday were either completely soaked again or had fallen on the ground and gotten dirty.
Because of this, the recovery took much longer than expected, and there were mishaps. Someone slipped from rushing, getting mud on themselves and everyone nearby.
Yes, that was Koharu and Hifumi.
Once all the clothing had been retrieved, the slightly disheveled group gathered back in the room.
After reluctantly accepting that none of the clothes could be salvaged and everything had to be rewashed, the girls faced an even harsher reality:
"…I have nothing to change into," Koharu said pitifully.
"…Eh!?"
Hifumi, who had just suggested everyone remove their soaking clothes to avoid catching a cold, gasped.
At the next moment, Azusa calmly raised her hand: "That goes for me too. My uniform and gym clothes are wet, and I don't have anything else prepared."
Hifumi's expression darkened: "Then I… ahh…"
What a terrible situation!
To my shame, Hanako, upon hearing this, smiled teasingly: "Ahaha∼ Don't you think it'd be fine to just go to class in your underwear?"
I had, somehow, fallen to Hanako's level… surely it was Koharu's shenanigans in the hallway last night that had infected my thought process.
"What are you saying!?" Koharu started yelling again. "Idiot! That's shameless! Why would you even discuss something like that!?"
But Azusa actually nodded: "It does make sense. I have extra underwear, and as long as we wear socks, we can keep warm."
Good, good! That's perfect!
I immediately lit up and planned to offer my spare shirts for everyone to use.
"Don't just agree like that!" Koharu shouted urgently. "It's dangerous to go to class in just your underwear!"
That wasn't true here, there's no one else around.
Hanako tried to coax: "But Koharu-chan, imagine this…"
"Quiet!" Koharu interrupted before Hanako could finish. "Wash the clothes quickly, dry them with the machine, and use towels for now! If anything happens, Sensei can handle it! There's no need to rush studying right now! Why are you in such a hurry to study!?"
She said it all in one breath, coherent and reasonable, impressing me with her clear-headedness.
Hanako interjected: "Even if we do that, during that time we'd still be in just our underwear, right?"
Azusa sighed: "I want to study, but I can't go to class before the clothes are clean. Let's just take off the wet ones for now."
Hifumi nodded: "Ahh… can't be helped… we'll just have to remove them…"
"Why does everyone want to take them off!?"
After Koharu's scolding, the girls went to change. As a gentleman, I returned to my room, showered, changed into clean clothes, and managed Shalé business while patiently waiting for everyone to finish.
Suddenly, with a loud boom, the lights in my room went out.
I rushed to the hallway, only to see the outside dark as well, while cries and chatter came from the laundry room.
…Probably a power outage caused by the thunderstorm?
From what I could gather, the girls were coming out one by one after discovering the washing machines had broken down.
Even in the dim light, everything was visible.
I blinked, speaking before Koharu could scream:
"Anyway, if you need shirts, I have spares here."
"Hehe~ thank you for your kindness∼" Hanako replied, shaking her head mysteriously, "But I have another good idea too."