Side: Clariossa
Koutarou came over to clean at Clan’s place whenever he felt it was starting to get a little too out of control, which was usually based on her appearance. Whenever she got busy, for example, it was obvious in her messy hair and pale complexion. It was clear when she wasn’t taking care of herself... much less the cleaning. So whenever he saw that happen, Koutarou would make his way over to the Hazy Moon to help out.
“Oh?”
But strangely enough, it was clean when he got there this time. Clan had been looking tired recently, so Koutarou just assumed it would be the usual pigsty. Yet contrary to all expectation, the place was spotless.
“What’s gotten into her?”
Curious, Koutarou walked over to Clan’s room. Based on the layout of Clan’s ship, her bedroom was conveniently right next to the lab, only one door down.
“Hey, Clan.”
“...You have some nerve entering a lady’s room without warning.”
As Koutarou walked in, Clan—who was still lying in bed—greeted him with a frown. She wasn’t wearing her glasses, but she could still see his face clearly. Clan actually only wore her glasses because they were a keepsake; the lenses were as plain as could be.
“Can’t you at least knock?”
“If you don’t want anyone walking in, lock the door.”
“If I did that, then you couldn’t come over and clean.”
“So you have no intention of cleaning yourself?”
“Oh, I do sometimes. Like when you don’t show up.”
“Yeah, I’d say that qualifies as having no intention of doing the cleaning yourself.”
“Then you got me.”
In the past, Clan had hated the idea of Koutarou seeing her sleeping. She’d grown indifferent to it, however, after all the time they’d spent together, and smiled at him from her bed.
“So what brings you here today?”
“I thought it was about time to show up for some cleaning after I saw that wicked bedhead of yours yesterday.”
“My, how noble.”
Clan knew what Koutarou’s standard for coming over to clean was, and she knew what it meant when he brought up her bedhead.
“But to my surprise, the place is already clean. What’s up with that?”
“Well... That’s simply because you showed up before it got dirty again. You do remember you were here just last week, don’t you?”
“Huh, now that you mention it...”
As messy as Clan could be, she wasn’t actively trying to trash the place. It wasn’t like Koutarou needed to come to clean every few days. Realizing that, he nodded in satisfaction. But that still left one question unanswered.
“Then what’s with the bedhead?”
“...”
“What’s wrong?”
“I-I don’t want to say.”
Clan blushed and looked away. It was pretty cute, and Koutarou couldn’t help wanting to tease her a little for it.
“Come on, tell me. We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“There are some things I wouldn’t even tell my closest friend!”
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll take everything but your cutesy clothes and go do laundry.”
“You coward!”
“You call me that so often it’s kinda lost its effect.”
“Jeez...”
There, Clan heaved a heavy sigh and resigned herself. She was embarrassed to admit the truth, but if Koutarou absconded with all of her normal clothes, she’d be forced to go out in... something cute. And as proud as she was, that would be even more embarrassing.
“I... I’m having muscle pains, so it’s hard to move! That’s all!”
“Muscle pains? Why’re you having those?”
“B-Because of my diet.”
“Oh, you did mention something about gaining weight.”
“Which is why I tried to exercise!”
“Ah, and that’s how you ended up with muscle pains.”
“That’s right!”
“Which was also why you had a grand old case of bedhead and why you can’t get out of bed now.”
“...”
Clan blushed and buried her face in her pillow. Telling Koutarou the truth was better than having to go out in public in cute clothes, but it was still humiliating.
“So much for being a genius princess... Don’t you know how to hold back?”
“I did! But I still ended up like this!”
“That’s because you never exercise. I’m always telling you...”
“I’m busy!”
Clan had tried her hand at some exercises intended for beginners. But because she’d never exercised in her life, she was completely ignorant of good fitness habits and ended up in so much pain that she couldn’t even get out of bed or fix her hair.
“Whatever. Come on now. Go ahead and get up.”
“It hurts, so I don’t want to.”
“If you stay still, it’s only going to last longer.”
“That must be easy to say when you’re not the one in pain, Veltlion!”
“Once you get up, you can get someone to give you a massage.”
“I wouldn’t dare shame myself in such a way! You’ll have to be the one to do it...”
“Goodness gracious...”
In the end, instead of cleaning up her ship, Koutarou spent the day giving Clan a massage. It wasn’t what he’d come to do, but he couldn’t complain too much. He had a little fun getting to see Clan in pain, after all.
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