Chapter 4: The Bathhouse Mishap

Yuuto Kanda trudged wearily into the gym’s changing room. After three straight days of tutoring the Genius Trio, he felt like he’d been run through a hurricane and then thrown into a volcano. His chest was sore from blushing, his brain fried from the constant chaos, and his nose… well, it was still sensitive after multiple accidents.

“Yuuto-kun!” Akari Shinozuka’s voice rang out. She was bouncing in excitement, already half-dressed for a cleaning assignment. “We’re scrubbing the gym today! Come on! It’ll be fun!”

Yuuto groaned. “Fun? Akari-san… scrubbing a floor doesn’t sound fun… especially for me!”

Mizuki Onodera peeked timidly from behind a locker. “I-I’ll help too… Yuuto-kun, please… don’t get hurt…” She clutched a towel, blushing as she glanced at him nervously.

Rika Hanabira, on the other hand, looked… regal, even while holding a mop. “I suppose efficiency is important. But please, Kanda, try not to trip over yourselves. I do not want to witness another… ecchi incident.”

Yuuto’s heart skipped a beat. Rika just called my last nosebleed incident… ecchi? He sank lower into his hoodie.

The trio moved to the gym floor. Akari, predictably, launched herself onto the wet tiles with reckless abandon. “Yuuto-kun! You mop here, I’ll mop there!”

“Okay… but don’t—”

Before he could finish, Akari slipped on the wet floor. In a panicked reflex, Yuuto lunged to catch her, only for his hand to land squarely on her chest.

“Ahhh!” Akari squealed, flailing her arms as she toppled forward. Yuuto’s face turned crimson. “I-I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean—!”

Mizuki screamed. “Y-Yuuto-kun! Watch out! You’re… you’re touching her!” She ran over to grab his arm but tripped on the mop bucket, landing right beside Akari.

“Everyone calm down!” Rika shouted, trying—and failing—to maintain order. Her glasses slipped down her nose as she pinched the bridge of it, muttering, “Impossible. Absolute chaos. How does one survive this?”

Yuuto frantically tried to disentangle himself, but in the process, he bumped into a locker, sending a stack of towels flying into the air. One landed perfectly over his head, covering him completely. He flailed, blindly knocking into Mizuki, who yelped as she tumbled over him.

“Yuuto-kun! Get out!” Mizuki screamed, clutching the towel.

“Ah! Sorry! Sorry!” he shouted, struggling under the cotton avalanche. His heart raced uncontrollably, and his nose began to tingle again.

Akari, of course, thought this was hilarious. “Haha! Yuuto-kun, you look like a mummy!” She poked him playfully, making him yelp again.

Rika, meanwhile, shook her head in disbelief. “I swear… literature, science, or athletics, none of it could prepare me for this level of… ridiculousness.” But even she seemed faintly entertained, her lips twitching in the slightest hint of a smile.

Mizuki finally managed to pull the towel off Yuuto’s head. “Yuuto-kun… your nose! It’s bleeding again!”

He groaned, pressing a tissue against it. “I… I can’t believe this… it’s just a cleaning session…”

Akari leaned over, peering at his face with concern—or perhaps curiosity. “Are you okay, Yuuto-kun? You look a little… cute when you panic!”

His brain short-circuited. “C-Cute?! W-Why would you say that?!” He waved his hands frantically.

Mizuki’s eyes widened, and she covered her mouth to hide a small gasp. “Y-Yuuto-kun…” Her cheeks flushed. “He… he’s… really red…”

Rika crossed her arms, scowling, but her cheeks betrayed her. She glanced away quickly. “Ridiculous. All of you… absolutely ridiculous…”

And then, as if the universe wasn’t done testing him, Akari slipped again, this time sending Yuuto sprawling backward into the gym wall. He landed with a thud, his face inches from Mizuki’s chest as she tried to help him up.

“Ahhh!” Mizuki shrieked, her hands flailing. “Y-Yuuto-kun! Don’t—don’t fall on me!”

Yuuto’s blush deepened to nuclear levels. “I-I’m… I’m sorry!” He scrambled backward, only to bump into Rika accidentally. Her shoulder pressed against his, and she immediately stiffened. “Don’t touch me! I said don’t touch me!” she hissed… while her own blush betrayed her annoyance.

From the doorway, Sensei Amamiya strolled in, hands on her hips, clearly enjoying the spectacle. “Well, well… Kanda-kun, you really know how to start a cleaning session, don’t you?”

Yuuto groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “S-Sensei! I’m not doing this on purpose!”

Amamiya smirked. “Of course not… but watching your flustered expressions is… quite… enlightening.”

Akari bounced up. “Yuuto-kun! We’re done here, right? Let’s go get a drink!”

Yuuto collapsed onto a nearby bench, gasping. Mizuki sat beside him, clutching her towel like a shield. Rika, after a long sigh, picked up her book again, muttering about the inefficiency of humans.

Yuuto glanced at the three of them and thought, not for the first time: tutoring the Genius Trio of Trouble was going to be the hardest thing he’d ever survived… and, somehow, the most exhilarating.

He had no idea what tomorrow would bring, but one thing was certain: with Rika, Mizuki, and Akari around, he would never have a boring day again.