Chapter 6: Weekend, Little Sister, and Shower

“That’s right, it’s the weekend—”

Ruah, about to jump out of bed after checking the clock, burrowed back under the covers with a blissful smile.

Naturally, Felix Academy was closed on weekends. There were teachers on duty, but it wasn’t Ruah’s turn yet.

‘Which means, I don’t have to leave my bed all day!’

Even if her body had changed, her good-for-nothing spirit remained the same.

It was her first day off since the entrance ceremony. To fully enjoy this precious day, Ruah had no intention of stepping outside her faculty dorm room.

A simple room consisting of a bed, a desk, a kitchen, and a bathroom was the entirety of Ruah’s planned domain for the day.

‘The students are off on weekends too….’

Time moved slower now than in the game.

When playing Hunter Hunting Academy on the computer, day and night changed every few minutes in-game. It was a sort of game mechanic for the player’s convenience.

But now, there was no such convenience. A day was still 24 hours, and day and night changed once a day. This meant she had more time to use.

‘So, it’s okay to rest on the weekend.’

“Haaawm.”

Ruah yawned widely and buried herself in the blankets. she planned to sleep until the afternoon, wake up and make ramen when she was hungry, and then go back to sleep if she felt tired.

A perfect plan.

However, things never go as planned.

—Ding-dong.

Just as she was drifting off to sleep, an irritating bell sound rang out. It was the doorbell.

“……?”

—Ding-dong.

Ruah frowned. SHe wasn’t expecting any visitors.

‘They’ll go away if I ignore them.’

With that thought, Ruah covered her ears with the blanket and closed her eyes. Whoever was daring to disturb her weekend bliss wouldn’t get their way.

—Beep, beep, beep, beep.

“Kuuul…”

With her ears covered, Ruah started snoring.

—Unlocked.

—Clatter!

An unknown entity opened the door and entered, but Ruah had just entered dreamland. The intruder looked around the messy room, sighed, and strode towards Ruah.

“Mmm… my stomach… no…”

“Sigh.”

Looking down at Ruah mumbling in her sleep, the intruder grabbed the blanket with both hands—

—Rip!

And yanked it away.

“Ugh?!”

Ruah’s eyes shot open. Suddenly exposed to the cold air, she curled up. Lying there in her pathetic pajamas, she looked up at the entity that had disturbed her sleep.

“Sleeping in again!”

“Suah…?”

A girl with bobbed hair stood there, hands on her hips. It was Ruah’s younger sister, Han Suah. Despite it being the weekend, she was neatly dressed, just like at school, but in comfortable casual clothes.

“Suah, you’re cute….”

“Wh-what, suddenly?”

Since coming to the academy, Ruah had seen Suah most often and for the longest periods. Combined with their familial relationship, she had grown comfortable around her.

“Now’s my chance!”

While Suah was caught off guard, Ruah snatched the blanket back and covered herself. She wrapped herself in it like a caterpillar so she couldn’t take it away again.

Seeing this, Suah sighed deeply.

“Sister, we made a promise, remember?”

“What promise?”

“To clean your room on the weekend!”

“Ugh…”

Ruah burrowed her head under the covers. Cleaning was one of her top three most hated words. Even if she had made such a promise, it was before she possessed this body, so she didn’t remember.

“C-cancelled. I’ll do it next time.”

“Oh, come on!”

—Whoosh!

Suah grabbed the edge of the blanket and lifted it. Ruah rolled a few times before landing face down on the bed.

“What are you going to do if you keep putting it off? You’ll get sick if you keep eating and sleeping in a dirty place.”

“I can use the power of [Healing]…”

“No way!”

Suah’s hands reached under Ruah’s armpits, lifting her up. This time, there were no butterscotch candy bribes; her grip was firm.

“Here, look with your own eyes, sister. Isn’t this a pigsty?”

Suah gestured at the disastrous state of the room. Leftover convenience store lunch boxes from last night, empty beer cans, and various documents from school were scattered everywhere. However, Ruah merely tilted her head.

“It’s clean…?”

“……”

Suah stared at Ruah with a dumbfounded expression. But for Ruah, this was actually relatively tidy. In her old apartment, she only took out the trash when it was overflowing, and she only did the dishes when she felt like it. Honestly, even when things got really bad, she often just endured it because she didn’t want to go outside.

“Alright, I’m not letting you off the hook today.”

“Huh?”

Suah brought over a chair, lifted Ruah again, and sat her down. Then, she placed a large teddy bear, which had been in a corner, on Ruah’s lap.

“What’s this?”

“You hold this while I clean.”

“Should… I help?”

Feeling a pang of guilt, Ruah offered. But Suah replied with a refreshing smile.

“You staying put is helping!”

“……”

Suah efficiently started cleaning. She opened the windows, collected the trash, and tidied the furniture. All while Ruah sat on the chair, hugging the teddy bear. Her deft movements were something Ruah could never achieve.

“Um… how many times have you cleaned like this…?”

Ruah suddenly felt curious and asked. The way she knew exactly where everything should be suggested this wasn’t her first time.

“I used to come every week when I was a freshman.”

“D-did you?”

“Back then, I was so surprised that a room could get this dirty in just a week….”

She hadn’t known Han Ruah had this side to her, as she only appeared in the infirmary in the game.

Either way, Suah was an angel, both in the game and now. A younger sister coming to clean her good-for-nothing older sister’s room.

“Suah.”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“……”

Suah, who was tying up the garbage bag, paused and looked back at Ruah. Seeing Suah’s wide eyes, Ruah chuckled nervously, wondering if she’d said something wrong.

“A-ahaha…?”

“Hmph, if you know, try cleaning up after yourself.”

Suah averted her gaze, seemingly embarrassed.

After taking out the trash and washing her hands, Suah returned to Ruah and took the teddy bear, placing it on the floor.

“Hmm.”

“?”

Suah scrutinized Ruah, who shrank back under her gaze.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“I’m done cleaning….”

Suah narrowed her eyes. Ruah avoided her gaze, but Suah’s face drew closer.

“Wh-what is it?”

“…Sniff.”

Suah picked up a strand of Ruah’s hair and sniffed it, then frowned slightly.

“Suah…?”

Her sister continued to close the distance. She even grabbed the back of Ruah’s head and nuzzled her face into his neck, sniffing.

“Eek!”

Ruah flinched as Suah’s warm breath touched her neck. She pushed her away with her goosebump-covered arms.

“Wh-what are you doing?!”

“Sister, when was the last time you showered?”

Ruah racked her brain.

“Um… the evening before last?”

“What? So you went to work yesterday without even washing up?”

“W-well, I’m just stuck in the infirmary anyway….”

“What kind of school nurse has such poor hygiene? You’ll really get sick!”

“That’s why I can use the power of [Healing]!”

“I told you, no!”

Suah’s hands reached out and lifted Ruah again.

“Let me go! I’m going back to bed now that the cleaning’s done!”

But her protests fell on deaf ears. Suah carried her to the bathroom. Ruah immediately tried to escape back to her bed, but she couldn’t get past Suah’s national-team-goalkeeper-level blocking.

“Now, take your clothes off.”

“Eek…”

Suah’s hand reached for Ruah’s pajamas. Ruah jumped back, clutching her clothes.

“I-I’ll wash up by myself! I don’t need help!”

Even though it was Suah, she was embarrassed to be seen naked. She was his younger sister now, but she was also a character he used to think of as a heroine.

“No way. I told you I’m not going easy on you today.”

“B-but…”

“I bet you don’t even bother with shampoo and conditioner usually. I’ll wash you.”

“Ugh.”

In the end, Ruah found herself undressing in front of Suah.

The only saving grace was the thick steam in the bathroom, obscuring the details.

“Okay, here comes the water.”

From behind Ruah, who was sitting on a bath stool, Suah rolled up her sleeves, held the showerhead, and turned on the water. As the warm water flowed down from her head, Ruah involuntarily let out a sigh of relief.

“See? Doesn’t it feel good to wash up?”

“Y-yeah…”

Ruah had been tense, but the warm water gradually melted her defenses. She found herself completely surrendering to her sister’s ministrations.

Suah squeezed out some shampoo and gently massaged Ruah’s scalp. Her soft and delicate touch felt good.

“I’m sorry, sister.”

“H-huh? What for?”

Suah suddenly apologized. Ruah opened her eyes in surprise, only to get soap in them, which she quickly rinsed out.

“I feel bad for bothering you on your day off, after you worked all week.”

“Oh, no, it’s okay. I should be the one apologizing.”

She meant it. What kind of older sister made her younger sister clean and bathe her? If Ruah had been more responsible, Suah wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble.

“I’ll try to keep things clean from next week.”

“Huh?”

“I can’t keep acting spoiled with my younger sister forever, even if I am the older one.”

“Sister…”

—Squeeze.

Suddenly, Ruah felt a soft, squishy sensation against her back.

“?!”

Suah had hugged her from behind, overcome with emotion, even though her clothes would get wet.

She couldn’t open her eyes because of the shampoo, and the slippery and soft sensations persisted. Ruah felt her face flush.

“You’ve grown up, sister.”

“You’re younger than me!”

Suah held her for a while longer before letting go. Even after finishing her shower and stepping out of the bathroom, Ruah couldn’t shake the feeling of floating on air.