ALL OF THE GIRLS YOU LOVED BEFORE | fushiguro tōji

8 | the laundry

as y/n approached the apartment door, she could hear loud barks from the opposite ends of the door. megumi placed his bag onto the ground and zipped open it. he then took out his house keys and fumbled with it.

"sensei, i can't reach the lock."
megumi handed his housekeys to y/n who took it. there was a small keychain on his keyring. it being his first name.

as megumi helped to push the door open with his body, two dogs rushed towards him. a wide smile adorned megumi's face. megumi squatted down to give pats to his two huskies. the white husky named shiro then went on to sniff y/n's legs while kuro continued licking megumi's face.

"i'm home, shiro, kuro."
megumi said, giving the two head pats and then telling them to sit for y/n to get into his house.

"this is my sensei, y/n. don't be mean."
megumi stated with his eyebrows a little furrowed. shiro barked a reply. y/n couldn't help but gush over the cuteness of megumi with his dogs.

right then, a chirp was heard and y/n directed her attention to the bird that was chirping at the two.

"that's nue."
megumi pointed and dragged his bad into his room. y/n followed the boy who reached onto his toes to grab the door handle. kuro and shiro were in the living room, playing a game of tug-of-war.

he then opened his room which was filled with many, many storybooks. his whole room was a library. there were colourful drawings pasted on his walls and an array of colour pencils sprawled onto the ground.

what was alarming was the amount of clothing that was lying listlessly on the ground. his clothing basket was already filled to the brim with clothes. megumi swam his way through the sea of clothing and placed his bag on top of a low cabinet.

"that's a lot of clothes on the ground gumi."
y/n stated the obvious with a sweatdrop. is no one in the house doing the laundry? y/n mentally asked.

"papa doesn't do laundry. i don't know how to do."
megumi replied with a frown. y/n raised an eyebrow at megumi's words.

"what about your mama?"
y/n asked. megumi moved to his bed and sat on the edge of it. he patted a free space with big eyes to get y/n to sit beside him. the question y/n asked was a tough blow on megumi. him being young made him oblivious to the love of a mother. the mere presence of one was foreign to him.

"mama isn't here. papa said she's not coming back."
y/n followed megumi's stead and took a seat on his bed. holding in a breath, y/n tried to figure out what megumi was feeling. he had a solemn expression on his face, yet confusion laid in his eyes.

his mother isn't present in his life. poor kid. y/n thought to herself. she could empathise with megumi just the slightest. despite having two parents, they never once thought about her opinion nor cared about her.

as y/n grew older, she came termsp with it. but the younger version of her detested her parents. she didn't know what megumi exactly meant by 'she's not coming back'.

there were many different meanings to that sole sentence.

death. abandonment. loss. hatred. childbirth.

"i'm sorry to hear that megumi."
y/n replied. megumi shifted himself to y/n's lap.

"sensei don't have to be sorry. i have sensei. that's enough."
the words melted y/n's heart completely. red dusted megumi's cheeks as he gave y/n a small smile.

he didn't like it when yuuji would tell him about the activities him and his mother did. he disliked it when nobara talked to him about her grandmother's antiques.

"you are just the cutest."
y/n pinched megumi's cheeks. the boy responded by giving y/n a bear hug.

would i be intruding if i offered to clean his room? y/n thought to herself. you're already intruding the fushiguro estate. that's like S class case of intrusion. the voice in her head rationalise.

"gumi, is it okay if i help to clean your room?"
y/n asked. the boy was swaying left and right whilst on y/n's lap. an excited nod left him as his eyes brightened.

"can i help?"
megumi asked, his green eyes shining and brimming with anticipation.

"of course."
y/n ruffled his dark hair. megumi jumped off y/n's lap and started picking up his colour pencils. y/n kept that image in her mind. he is going to be the death of me. how can one be so adorable?

"y/n-sensei, where should i put this?"
megumi showed his fistful of colour pencils to y/n.

"do you have a pencil case?"
megumi blinked and seemed to be in deep thought.

the boy then dropped all of his hard work onto the ground and fumbled his cabinet to bring out a pencil case. y/n stifled a laughter down.

"i found it!"
megumi gave the pencil case to y/n who couldn't contain her laughter anymore. the boy then diligently pick up his colour pencils for y/n.

"where's your washing machine?"

"what's that?"

"gumi are these clothes washed or worn?"

"i don't know."

"y/n-sensei, the clothes are moving weirdly."

"they're supposed to be like that gumi."

two whole hours passed and y/n managed to operate the washing machine since it was the same model as hers. as y/n put her housewife mode on, megumi watched her with stars in his wife. he was absolutely enchanted by y/n's movement.

the women who entered his house at late hours also ended up in his father's bedroom until they exited.

"can i help?"
megumi asked shyly. with intent eyes, he thought that he was ready to offer a hand to y/n who was hanging his clothes. he watched her repeat the motion about 5 times until he finally felt that he was able to execute it.

"of course gumi."
y/n handed one of his yellow t-shirts to him. megumi fumbled with the t-shirt and tried to fir it into a hanger to the best of his ability.

his first try was a bit off but practice made perfect. a proud smile plastered onto his face when he finally conquered the feat of drying clothes.

"sensei look!"
megumi showed y/n his nicely stretched t-shirt.

y/n returned the smile and ruffled his hair with her free hand.

"good job gumi."

sensei just praised me! i have to do more now! megumi thought to himself and did his very best at the chore.