Period

As they walked upstairs, they passed near the bathroom where Miyumi was having a bath.

Seiji was checking something on his phone, while Hideaki walked before him.

'She's his crush.'  Hideaki thought. Then he gazed at the door to the bathroom. 'Let's see what more he can do to actually get her... Hehehe...'

Suddenly Hideaki made a red aura appear on his hand, signaling his Magic Ability use.

"Huh..?" Seiji noticed it, seconds before—

—Suddenly, a loud, panicked scream echoed from the bathroom. "AAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!" Miyumi screamed.

Seiji's eyes widened, his calm demeanor quickly shifting into concern. Without hesitation, he rushed to the door and knocked sharply. "Nakano-san? Is everything alright?" His voice was steady but laced with urgency.

"N-no! Not really!" Miyumi's voice trembled from inside, clearly frightened by whatever had occurred.

Hideaki, noticing the panic, simply smiled darkly. He moved to the guest bedroom, uninterested in helping, and began searching for anything valuable.

Seiji was more on edge than usual, because of today's unexpected and stressful events, and now was again something new. 'This day will drive me crazy...'

He pressed his hand against the door, calling out again,

"Nakano-san, what's wrong? I can help, please tell me what happened."

"Please, just... it's nothing!" Miyumi's voice was shaky, but she sounded too embarrassed to explain further.

"It clearly is, something." Seiji's voice remained even, but there was a sharp edge to it now.

"N-no! I m-mean... It... It's a girl's issue! So you can't help!" Miyumi replied shakingly.

Then, Hideaki returned from his search, looking at Seiji with mild disinterest.

"Do you know what exactly 'a girl's issue' means?" Seiji asked, still baffled by Miyumi's vague response.

"Uh... How should I know!? Do I look for someone who ever had-" Hideaki, cut out.

"—Tch!" He hissed irritated, and got embarrassed "I mean... It's p-probably some hair stuff or something!" Hideaki replied with dismissive shrug, covering his face with hair strands. But with corner of his eye he gazed back at Seiji, with a subtly forming vicious grin on his face. A grin that perfectly said - I know what I did there.

"Damn it... This probably isn't just about that." Seiji's irritation seeped through, his normally collected tone slipping a little. "She seemed really scared. This is serious."

Hideaki, went near Seiji.

Still nonchalant, he raised his leg as if preparing to kick something,

"You want to play as a 'hero' for her, right?"

Instead, he nudged the bathroom door with force, causing Seiji to stumble inside,

"Shit! Hideaki!!!" Seiji screamed.

"So go be one!" Hideaki shouted, before walking away, chuckling silently under his nose.

Inside the bathroom, Seiji saw Miyumi, who was completely naked.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Miyumi in one second let out a loud high pitched squeak from being seen like this.

Seiji blushed intensely but didn't lose his senses and tried to cover his eyes with his hand. "Nakano-san I'm so so sorry!!"

Quickly, Miyumi took a towel to cover herself.

Seiji quickly turned back behind the bathroom door, shielding his eyes. "I'm so sorry!" He apologized,
"My roommate... he... pushed me into the door. I didn't-"

Then, he felt something... something else down in his pants turned on, on Miyumi's naked looks....

'Damnit!'

He cursed and tried to discreetly cover it...
"I-I am just really sorry!" he repeated, trying to steady his breath.

On the tile floor under her was a sizable stain of blood that Seiji noticed at the last moment.

Just now, his concern deepened.

"Nakano-san, I'm not going to look at you. But... Can you tell me what happened?"

Miyumi, still shaken, clutched the towel tighter. "Something terrible happened! I-it... It's... It's a girl issue! It's about m-my... p-period..." she sovered her mouth from embarassement.

"Period!?"

"M-mhm... You see... I... was supposed to have one in two weeks... But, t-then... when I was washing under the shower before e-entering the bath, I suddenly felt something strange down there... and w-when I looked down, it suddenly poured a huge amount of blood! I... I don't know what is g-going on! Sekiguchi-san! I'm so s-sorry that you had to see this! I am feeling so embarrassed right now!" The girl cried.

Seiji didn't want to leave her alone in distress, but he also couldn't just walk freely into the bathroom after what he saw.

He frowned, his logical mind already starting to piece things together.

"A sudden amount of blood, two weeks before your period? That's... not normal."

His concern grew, but he kept his voice steady, trying not to alarm her more.

"Was this the first time something like this happened?"

"Y-yes.." the girl replied. Her voice trembled with the weight of the situation.

'I n-need to calm down... a-and.. c-clean that up... Oh my... Akihiko.. Why did you have to have that buissness trip just now..?'  tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Alright.." Seiji sighed, realizing how serious this was.

He glanced at the blood on the floor again and then noticed Miyumi's incredibly shaking legs.

His brain worked quickly to analyze the situation. "Miyu-chan, I mean, Nakano-san! Please try to calm down. This have to be something that could be explained logically." Seiji's voice remained steady, though the concern in his tone was clear.

Miyumi nodded despite how much stress she felt at that moment.

"I-I'll try... taking big breathes. To c-calm myself..."

"Okay." Seiji stepped back from the bathroom door and replayed the details, filtering out unnecessary emotion to focus on the facts.

'A sudden, significant amount of blood. She said it came unexpectedly, with no prior warning. That amount... it's unnatural for a typical menstrual cycle.'

His gaze hardened.

'She mentioned it poured all at once. Blood doesn't behave like that without external manipulation.'

He crossed his arms,

'Forced bleeding. That's the only logical explanation. Either through injury or some other external influence.'

Seiji thought back to the events leading up to the scream.

'She didn't seem to hurt herself in any way before... She went upstairs and then we came... I didn't notice anything dangerous. Hideaki was walking near me,'

Then his memory replayed Hideaki's subtle movements, his body language, and -most notably- the faint red glow on his hand, he noticed a seconds before the tragedy happened.

Realizing it, he gasped.

'Of course... How I could be so obvious. Hideaki used his Ability.'

A sinking feeling settled in Seiji's stomach.

'He was the only other person near the bathroom. His Blood Control Magic Ability would probably make something like this child's play for him. It all makes sense.'

Seiji's expression darkened further. His fists clenched as the pieces aligned, eyes flicked toward the guest room where Hideaki had disappeared.

'You won't stop, will you, Hideaki?'

He straightened his posture, resolving to confront him later. First, he needed to make sure Miyumi was okay. But then... He heard soft sobbing.

"Nakano-san,"

He paused, thinking quickly, as his mind worked through the scenario.

Miyumi stood up. Her towel covered up as much as it could. Yet, her body still trembled, both from the shock of what happened.

The overwhelming embarrassment of being in this vulnerable position in front of Seiji.

Suddenly, her face flushed a deep red, the tears that were welling up in her eyes started to fall as she tried to steady her breath.

"I... I didn't want you to see me like this..." she muttered, her voice barely audible, embarrassed and frightened by the entire situation.

Seiji looked at her.

Her shoulders rising with each uncontrolled breath.

His cold eyes softened.

"You shouldn't apologize." There was a note of warmth in his voice, though he remained composed. "This isn't your fault, Nakano-san. Whatever happened, you're the victim. You shouldn't feel guilty for needing help."

She nodded, and took a rigid breath, holding the edges of her towel in her hands.

"I know this is humiliating. But I'm not here to judge you." Seiji hesitated, then added, "I'm here to help. Even if I can't understand everything, I'm not going to leave you."

Miyumi nodded again and sat on the stool near the rising shower.

"T-thank you S-Sekiguchi-san..." She replied, tugging the cloth.

Seiji gently reached for the bathroom door, pulling it open just enough to peek if everything was alright.

Miyumi noticed him. She gulped and spoke relateivly calm "You can c-come inside... Don't worry."

He let himself in

"I'll help clean up the blood."

He said gently cleaned the area. He avoided looking directly at her, keeping his actions professional and respectful.

"If it doesn't stop, we might need to seek medical attention right away." He said.

Miyumi nodded, but the fear in her eyes showed that she slowly couldn't handle it anymore.

While cleaning, Seiji remained composed but his mind raced with the possible implications of Hideaki's involvement.

'Hideaki... you've gone too far,'

Seiji thought, his fists subtly tightening as he worked. His actions showed no panic, though. He was focused on Miyumi, not on his growing fury with Hideaki.

At least for now...

Seiji soaked his towel in water and leaned in to wipe away the last stain of blood, careful not to look without permission.

After that, he sat on the edge of the bathtub, turned away from her to give her a sense of privacy. His voice was quiet but calm, trying to help her steady her breathing.

"Take a deep breath. Slowly. Inhale... and exhale."

Miyumi did as he told.

"That's it. One more time. You're safe." Seiji said gently.

Suddenly, he heard a quiet sob again. And after a moment, Miyumi replied in a trembling voice:

"T-thank you... Sekiguchi-san... Really... thank you..."

Seiji didn't turn around. He didn't smile broadly. But when he replied, his voice was warm.

"You don't need to thank me. Let's just take care of you, alright?"

Miyumi silently nodded, but her mind was racing with self-consciousness.

'Calm down, Miyumi. You can handle this...'

she thought, trying to force herself to stop shaking.

'It's just... it's just probably an early period, but with a way much more blood than I expected.'

She tried to steady herself, to rationalize this whole mess. But despite her attempts to act calm, the tremors in her hands were a clear sign of how rattled she was.

"I-I'm so sorry," she whispered again, her voice shaking as she wiped at her eyes, trying to regain some composure. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

She felt so small in this moment, exposed both physically and emotionally, and she couldn't help but feel more alone than ever.

Miyumi's thoughts flickered to her partner, Akihiko, who was away on his business trip.

'If only he were here...'

she thought, but quickly pushed that thought away.

'Stop... I can't rely on him all the time. I have to take care of myself...'

Her eyes flitted nervously toward Seiji, knowing he was still there.

'At least Sekiguchi-san's helping. He's trying to help... As much as a friend can do. He always was there for me back in high school.'

With shaky hands, she wrapped the towel tighter around herself, trying to preserve some sense of dignity.

"I... I'll clean myself up. I can't just leave myself like this..."

She winced as she stood up, her body still weak from the shock. But despite her anxiety, she felt a slight relief knowing Seiji was trying to keep things together.

"Are you sure? You might need a rest now." Seiji asked concerned.

"Y-yes. D-don't worry. I'll be fine," Her voice, trembling but grateful, "T-thank you, Sekiguchi-san."

Taking a deep breath, he turned his focus back to the corridor. "Alright. But I'll be right in the guest room if you need anything. Just... take your time."

The girl nodded and bowed apologizing.

Seiji walked a few steps down the hall, his back rigid with tension. His mind sharpened its focus, switching from comforting Miyumi to preparing for his inevitable confrontation with Hideaki.

'This won't go unanswered. That idiot... First hospital, then Miyumi... He is the worst person I ended up with so far...'

His mind was focused and sharp, the fury building within him. This all had gone too far, and he couldn't let his roommate get away with this.