Cleaning and Cleansing

In a last, desperate attempt, I try to protect Koyori's eyes from seeing the lewd cover of the magazine but it's already too late. The young girl is on her knees, the magazine held tight in her little hands, seemingly frozen in her stance.

Awkwardly, I reposition myself until I'm kneeling next to her, though at a safe distance. I'm already prepared for the worst but then my eyes fall on the particular piece of media she picked up.

It's the doujin that idiot Jun recommended to me. Good, she's just seen the cover, it's still relatively harmless…

"Absolutely do not open this magazine, I'm begging you," I tell her with my best impression of a stern teacher voice. My eyes fall on the cover and I feel the heat rise into my cheeks again.

'Relatively harmless' is a relatively poor description of it. A high-school-aged girl drawn in anime style is posing on the cover, wearing… nothing at all. Her breasts are bulging towards the viewer and they are huge. Really huge. A watermelon could easily compete, that's how big they are.

Only through extremely convenient means, strings of her unnaturally long, blonde hair are censoring not only her nipples but her crotch as well. Koyori is wordlessly studying the cover for a while. There is no doubt that she’s never seen anything like it before.

I’m too scared to say a word or move a muscle but I’m expecting her to scold me this time around.

Wait, what is she doing?

Suddenly, she puts the magazine down in front of her. Yori’s eyes fall on her own chest, scanning it critically, then travel back to the magazine for a bit before returning to their original destination. And then, she looks at me. I’m blushing. She’s blushing.

“I-investigation canceled, I repeat, investigation canceled! Yori-chan out and over!”

Maybe she’ll at least return to talking normally now?

"Geez, I told you not to look at that, this is on you, you know?"

Well, technically I’m at fault here for leaving this in plain sight, oof! Anyways…

I’m grabbing the magazine along with some other raunchy stuff, stuffing it into the next best drawer to hide them away before any additional harm can be done. Koyori is still red as a tomato when I return. A sudden feeling of guilt prompts me to start a weak attempt at explaining myself.

“Uhm… Yori?” A knot is forming in my throat. “F-forget what you saw, okay?” Seriously, I’m the worst, exposing her to stuff that’s clearly porn.

“Cleanse it from your mind if you can, okay?”

Scold me, yell at me! Anything! Just don’t give me the silent treatment, I’m feeling guilty here!

Suddenly, Koyori erupts into uncontained laughter.

“Y-you should see y-your f-f-face ahahahaha!!!”

Koyori’s hysterical laughing fit chains her to the ground where she’s holding her stomach in an attempt not to suffocate. My perplexed expression is merely additional fuel, keeping her going until she’s literally too exhausted to guffaw at the absurdity of the situation any longer. Snapping for air and massaging her sides, she eventually manages to leave a final review of the whole situation. 

"Still good for a surprise just like back then, Kei-kun!"

I gawk at her in shock. She’s alright with this?!

“Alright, Yori-chan is back, ready to sweep this place clean!”

I’m not gonna waste any more brain cells on her, I’m giving up…

“Yeah, l-let’s get this over with…” I mumble.

-

Before long, I organized some cleaning tools sponsored by my smug mother. I’m working hard on putting things back to where they belong while Koyori is mopping and vacuuming the floor while constantly humming merrily as if nothing had happened.

Every now and then, while bringing my desk back into shape, I’m sheepishly peering in her general direction as if doublechecking on her mental sanity. I still can’t believe that she’s not even judging me for having something so lewd in my possession. And I’ll have to pray to god she’s never telling Mom about it…

I feel reminded of the time Koyori entered my life many years ago. She never asked questions or judged me for not wanting to play with the other kids. Rather than fretting over trivial matters, she’d just laugh her worries away and made a fool out of herself if it cracked a laugh in me.

The more I think about it, the more I’m recognizing this in the girl who’s dancing through my room with her mop, even turning an activity as dull as cleaning up into a festivity of joy and laughter. The more I’m peeking at her from behind instead of wiping a year’s worth of dirt out of my desk, the more I’m able to discern that Koyori is still the same girl I met many years ago, still the same bundle of joy spinning through my life like a whirlwind.

Meanwhile, I’m a shithead exposing her to the dark side of my otaku life...

Any other person would have moved out already but she’s still looking forward to this. I’m literally so much worse than I was as a kid. Still, she acts like I’m her treasured pet or whatever who can get away with anything. Maybe I should try to piss her off to rule that out for certain?

I’m taking a quiet glance at her only for her to catch me in the act. She’s striking a pose, doing a peace sign with her fingers before resuming her graceful mopping dance.

On second thought, she’s too pure. I couldn’t do it…

Grunting, I return to work though my mind is spinning in my skull.

It doesn’t even matter to her that I’m such scum or that I’m so vastly different from her. Either she’s desperate or her standards are way too low, I’m actually starting to worry about her… god I hate cleaning.

After a few more listless swaps over the surface of my desk, I catch myself looking over at her yet again. Part of me wishes to have retained the same innocence that she hopefully didn’t lose today. Koyori can probably see me as nothing more and nothing less than a friend without a struggle but it’s so much more complicated for me…

The girl bows down to sweep under the sofa, pointing my gaze straight at her butt.

I can’t even admire her pretty dress without parts of my mind fantasizing about everything underneath, that’s just wrong on so many levels! This is Yori, the cute little girl who chose to become my friend, not some horny waifu! Fuck my hormones, honestly!

Koyori catches me staring again so I’m quickly saving the situation by forming a ‘thumbs up’ with my fingers, much to her enjoyment.

There’s so much I need to grasp about her and my feelings, I’m going to need a timeout later so I can sort my thoughts properly…

-

After putting some effort in, my room is hardly recognizable. There’s still a lot of dust gathering in various places but the floor, my desk, and the sofa are presentable again. Wearing a face of accomplishment, Koyori plants herself on the freshly cleaned sofa. A sudden sense of exhaustion prompts me to follow her example, plopping into the softness of my couch. I’m leaving approximately enough space between us for another version of me to fill the gap comfortably. Looks like I’ve figured out my safe space at least…

“You know, Keiichi.”

Her voice sounds a little tired when she addresses me but her cheerful nature hasn’t wavered at all.

“I have to admit that I’m surprised about many things.”

Wait, is she going to roast me after all? I’m not prepared for that right now, ah!

“I’ve barely been here for a little while and already I’m having so much fun again! Honestly, I’m truly happy!”

False alarm, she just wants to thank me for… what exactly? What did I even do? My feelings are conflicted too! I’m not even sure if I’m happy!

“Maybe you have a few new hobbies that are unfamiliar to me - and maybe you’ve changed a tiiiiiiny little bit, but you’re still Keiichi! I want to be friends with this new Keiichi too!”

Why that’s reassuring. She doesn’t seem to hate me for anything that happened so far. Still… I’ve screwed up a lot today. At the very least, I should say something nice in return, I guess?

“I-I’m trying to be someone who’s worth being called your friend b-but a lot happened.”

Damnit, that’s not encouraging at all! I can indulge in my shortcomings anytime but now!

“I t-thought it was obvious already but I-I also want to be your friend, Koyori.”

Stop stuttering already, she’s not even doing anything weird!

“Yeah, a lot happened indeed,” Koyori suddenly sighs, a sudden sense of melancholy overshadowing the joy she showed just moments prior when I confirmed our friendship.

“Let’s talk about these things another time, I think I’m going to nap for a bit,” she admits sleepily. A slight chuckle escapes my throat when she slips a hearty yawn.

Great, that gives me a chance to take a break from her… wait that sounded wrong.

“Sure uhh… give me a sec.”

I climb behind the sofa where I’m keeping a blanket and a few cushions, pulling them out and positioning them for her.

“Kei-kun, give me a lap pillow.”

What?!

“In your sleep stories!” I retort quite rudely before softening my tone. “Uhh I mean… sorry…”

“Aww, meanie,” she scolds me playfully before accepting the regular pillow I’m offering her and throwing the blanket over her body.

“Nighty-night, Kei-kun…” she mumbles dozily. By the time I’ve decided on a reply, her breath is already going in a regular rhythm, a content smile manifesting on her expression.

Well, at least she’s happy.

I’m throwing one last glance at her, making sure she’s drifted into the world of slumber before leaving her alone to deal with my thoughts