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Hajime takes a deep breath of the scent of his new lilac detergent and sighs contentedly. It’s a lazy Sunday morning, and he’s just finished pulling his wet laundry out of the washing machine and packing it into his basket.
While he takes a second to enjoy the flowery smell, he hears footsteps rushing down the hall. A moment later, Koga bursts in, loudly talking on the phone.
“...Yeah, I’ll be out in a minute, I just have to get my damn laundry first. Seriously, this is such a huge dorm, why can’t we have more than one machine? Anyways, I’ve gotta go, see you soon.” He ends his call before noticing Hajime. “Oh, hey there, Shino, hope I didn’t keep you waiting on the dryer. I’ll be out of here in a minute!”
Recovering from being startled, Hajime shakes his head and stammers out, “H–hi Oogami-senpai! I just pulled my clothes out, I wasn’t waiting or anything–!”
He just nods and walks to the dryer, yanking the door open to reveal what appears to be some dog blankets, jeans, and T-shirts, all balled up in a wet mass at the bottom of the dryer. One shirt flops out and lands with a decidedly wet splat on the laundry room floor.
“Oh, for fucks sake, I do not have time for this! Of course the one day I need to hurry to meet Adonis is the day the dryer breaks!” Koga growls. He casts his eyes around the room for some solution before shaking his head in frustration. “Arghhh, I’ll have to tell Adonis I’ll be late and run these to a… laundromat? Do those even exist anymore..?”
Timidly, Hajime clears his throat. “O–Oogami-senpai? If it would help you out, I can take your laundry up to the rooftop garden and hang it up to dry!”
Koga looks at him apprehensively. “I can’t ask you to do that for me. I’m sure you have better things to do with your free time than hanging up laundry.”
Hajime waves his hands. “It’s really no trouble! I’ll have to hang my own stuff up anyways, so it won’t even be an extra trip! Besides, don’t you need to get going soon?”
“Shit, you’re right… Alright, I’ll find a way to thank you for the laundry when I get back!” With that, Koga rushes past Hajime and leaves the laundry room. Humming, Hajime posts an “out of order” message on the dryer, gathers up his and Koga’s laundry, and makes his way out to the rooftop garden.
“...There!” Hajime steps back and smiles at the line of laundry that he had just finished hanging up. A light breeze flutters the clothing and blankets. “It’s lucky the weather’s so nice today. Between the sunshine and the wind, everything will dry in no time!”
“Well, if it isn’t Jimenyan!”
“Oh!” Hajime jumps at the sudden voice and spins around. “Ibanyan! I didn’t even hear you coming! Are you here to enjoy the garden?”
“Not today, although I must say, you’ve outdone yourself with these flowers!” Ibara’s expression shifts from blandly pleasant to something more crafty. “I heard tell that you were hanging up others’ laundry and came to check it out myself.”
“Oh, you mean the stuff for Oogami-senpai? The dryer in the laundry room broke down and he was in a rush, so I offered to dry everything for him. Did you also have some clothes that need drying? I can get them hung up for you!”
“Eden’s clothes get sent to a dry cleaner weekly, so that will not be necessary. I really came here to give you some advice.”
“Advice?” Hajime tilts his head and blinks innocently at Ibara.
“Yes. If the building’s only dryer is broken, anyone who wants to wash their clothes will have to find an alternative way to dry them. This will leave them with two options.” Ibara counts on his fingers. “Option one: haul the wet clothes somewhere else to dry. After some research, I’ve discovered that the nearest laundromat that operates on weekends is five kilometers away, which is too far for most idols to lug clothing by foot. And option two: hang the clothes up to dry. A few might try to hang everything up in their dorm rooms, but obviously the best option is to use an outdoor clothes line, and the only ones at Seisoukan are here, in the rooftop garden.”
Hajime nods along. “That makes sense, but what does it have to do with me?”
“I was just getting to that. The way I see it, Jimenyan, you stand to make quite the profit off of this situation. You can offer to hang up anyone’s laundry while the dryer is broken, provided they pay a small fee to reimburse you for your labor. This way, idols get dry clothes, and you get some personal funds to use however you see fit. It’s a win-win! Ahahahaha!”
“Hmm… I appreciate your concern, Ibanyan, but if I did that, wouldn’t I be taking advantage of people? I don’t want to upset anyone…”
“It’s not taking advantage of people to offer a paid service, it’s just clean business! Besides, you can treat it as a fundraiser for Ra*bits’ next live or something rather than keeping the cash for yourself.” He glances at his watch. “Oh, would you look at the time! I have a meeting to attend, so I’ll leave you to it. Best of luck on your ventures, Jimenyan!” Ibara disappears as quickly as he had arrived.
“Wow, Ibanyan sure is busy, isn’t he? A fundraiser for Ra*bits, huh… If that’s the case, I think I can do it!”
“Shinonon, we’re here! Woah, what’s all this?” Subaru blinks at the assemblage of baskets and hampers lined up near the wall of the rooftop garden.
“Akehoshi-senpai!” Hajime rushes out from behind a sheet he had been hanging up. “Oh! You brought Hidaka-senpai with you?”
“Hello, Shino-kun. I was with Akehoshi when he got your message and decided to tag along. As your roommate, I figured I could help you out.” Hokuto gestures at the clothing on the lines and in the baskets. “What’s going on here? Is all of this really yours?”
Hajime laughs and shakes his head. “There’s no way I could have this much laundry! Let me explain.” He tells them about the broken dryer and his conversations with Koga and Ibara. “Several idols have come up here and paid me to hang up their laundry, but I’m not the fastest so the baskets are piling up…”
Bouncing on his toes, Subaru exclaims, “Ah, so that’s why you sent me that message to meet you in the rooftop garden!”
“Yes. I was wondering if you’d be willing to help me hang these up? I can pay you! And of course, don’t worry about it if you’re busy!”
Subaru shakes his head. “I could never be too busy for you, Shinonon! And don’t worry about paying us, we just want to lend you a hand! Right, Hokke?” He turns to Hokuto with pleading eyes.
“Don’t just sign others up for work without their consent, Akehoshi. Well, I do want to help Shino-kun, so I’ll stick around.” He pinches a wet shirt and lifts it out of one of the baskets. “I have to admit that I’m not too familiar with hanging laundry. My parents always sent our clothes to the dry cleaners, and we have the dryer at Seisoukan. I’ll have to trouble you to teach me the ropes.”
Hajime claps his hands delightedly. “Thank you both for helping me! And don’t worry, Hidaka-senpai, hanging laundry is really easy! I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it in no time!”
The three get to work, Hajime trying desperately to teach Hokuto that it doesn’t take many clothespins to hold up a shirt while Subaru breaks down laughing at Hokuto’s attempts, saying things like “It looks like a hedgehog!” and “You’re truly hopeless, Hokke!” Soon enough, the baskets start to empty, even as more customers arrive.
Hajime is folding the last of Kohaku’s clothes when he hears a muffled voice from the stairs.
“Dash dash!” A moment later, the door to the garden slams open and Mitsuru comes running out. “Hajime-chan, I’m back!”
“M–Mitsuru-kun! Be careful running up the stairs, you could trip and hurt yourself! And what if you ran into someone coming through the door so quickly?”
“Ah, sorry, Hajime-chan! I’ll be more careful next time!”
Hajime nods. “Good. What have you been up to anyhow, Mitsuru-kun? I barely finished telling you about the dryer earlier before you ran away; did something come up?”
“Oh yeah! I almost forgot what I came here to tell you about! I saw you working so hard for Ra*bits and figured I could help out by doing some advertising!” Mitsuru pulls out his smartphone and shows Hajime a picture. “Here, look at this!”
“This is… You made a poster? These drawings are super cute, did you do them yourself?”
“Ahem! Yep, I made it and hung it up in the laundry room so that anyone who wants to do laundry will see it! Oh, but I didn’t draw all of the pictures myself. I actually ran into Sora-chan and Shinobu-chan in the common room and they offered to help!”
Drawn by the commotion, Subaru and Hokuto come up behind Hajime and take a look at the phone.
“Ooh, this poster looks so sparkly! And you said So~ran helped? I’ll have to tell him I liked it when I see him in the dorm later!”
“Ah, so this is why so many idols have come up here today. I was wondering how they all found out about Shino-kun’s endeavors.”
“Wow, thank you, Mitsuru-kun! I had no idea that you were working on something like this! I’ll make sure to thank Harukawa-kun and Sengoku-kun properly later.”
As the sun starts to set, the four idols pack up and return the last of the clothes. They lean against the wall to rest and chat for a bit. Suddenly, Hajime has an idea.
“Oh! Why don’t we have a tea party tomorrow evening? Oogami-senpai brought me a really nice-smelling blend as thanks for the laundry, and I have some extra cash now, so I can pick out some nice snacks to go with it!”
Mitsuru jumps up and runs in a little circle. “Yay! I love Hajime-chan’s tea and snacks! Oh, can we invite Shinobu-chan and Sora-chan?”
“Of course! I was already planning on inviting them!”
“I’ll help you shop for snacks, Shinonon~,” Subaru volunteers. “There’s a new shop on Time Street that sells interesting treats, and I bet you’d love it!”
Hokuto chimes in, “Should we have it in our dorm room then? I’m sure Hasumi-senpai wouldn’t mind.”
As if on cue, the door to the rooftop garden opens and Keito strides out. “Shino, what is the meaning of this?”
Startled, Hajime sputters, “H–Hasumi-senpai! What do you mean?”
Keito holds a piece of paper up to his eyes. “‘Hajime-chan’s Super-Fast, Ra*bit-Powered Drying Service.’” He shakes his head. “Why didn’t you just tell me the dryer is broken? You do know I’m the dorm manager, right? And why did you make a business out of drying other peoples’ laundry?”
“Ah, well, I helped Oogami-senpai with his clothes, and then Ibanyan–”
“‘Ibanyan’? Ugh, I should have known Saegusa was involved. How incorrigible. I’ll have to lecture him about the thoughts he’s putting into your head later.” He finally seems to register the others. “Wait, you’re here too, Hidaka? Seriously, both of my roommates are involved and neither of you thought to tell me? Why am I the last to know about this?”
“Tenma, I see you trying to sneak off over there.” Mitsuru stops in his tracks and sheepishly returns to the others, hanging his head. “You didn’t ask permission for this poster, did you?” Keito waves the paper in his hand. “You can’t just use the walls of Seisoukan for advertisements without getting the proper permit first.” He waves off Mitsuru’s protests. “I know you didn’t mean anything by it, but if I let your poster stand, I’d have to let everyone else advertise too, and we’d be in a tricky situation.”
His expression softens. “Shino, you’re usually so well-behaved, and I can tell you were just trying to help while the dryer’s broken. As such, I’ll let this slide, but I really do hope that you just come to me directly next time something like this happens in the dorms.”
Looking slightly less downcast, Hajime responds, “I understand, Hasumi-senpai. I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble.” He smiles hesitantly and turns his rather large eyes onto Keito. “Um, would it be okay if Hidaka-senpai and I held a tea party in our room? You’re welcome to join us too, of course! I wanted to thank everyone who helped me out today and thought that would be a fun way to do it.”
Keito sighs. “You know I can’t say no to you when you give me that look, Shino. Just make sure everyone behaves themselves and doesn’t get too loud, or I’ll have to send them out.”
Mitsuru and Subaru shout, “Yay!,” and even Hokuto gives a rare smile. Keito just sighs and mentally prepares himself for what he suspects will be a very noisy tea party.
Hajime’s heart feels full, and although he has had a much busier day than he anticipated, he wouldn’t trade it for the world.