His gaze rested on me. Sharp and grinning. Certain that he'd won this misunderstanding for himself.
That was a lesson to me!
"We just had dinner!", I grumbled, "and now I'm going to wash your jacket and disappear into my bed! If you don't tell Shoko the truth, you should be grateful I don't have cursed energy!"
His grin widened. So wide, it would've hurt if I were him.
That rascal! He's got something coming!
I got up from my seat, took the jacket in my hand—and was immediately stopped. By Satoru, who held onto the dark purple fabric.
"Let it go, I'll do it."
"N-no," I stammered and had no intention of letting go, "it's my blood, so I'll clean it. No, no objections! I won't tolerate them from you anyway. You storyteller!"
"Stubborn," he snorted, before we both started laughing.
"So are you."
He let go of the garment. He wouldn't have had another choice anyway.
"You're both stubborn," Shoko remarked. "No wonder you get along so well."
I rolled my eyes, but inwardly I felt that this little comment triggered something warm in me.
I opened the door, pushed it open with my hip, and turned back to the two of them – with raised finger.
"Just dinner!" I gave them both a pointed look in turn. "We only went out for dinner! Make that clear, Satoru! And Shoko – believe me! Your soon-to-be assistant! Not him!"
We all burst out laughing then, and I left the two of them alone in the examination room.
Once I arrived at the nearby laundry room, I placed the soiled garment into the large sink and let cold water run over it. Warm or hot water was always a disaster when it came to blood. It caused the protein in the blood to coagulate, which would have led to the large stain never coming out. Especially from clothes.
Dried bloodstains came out even better if you added salt to the cold water bath. It wasn't something I needed often, but for moments like this, I had stored salt in the hanging cabinet above the sink.
In the meantime, I checked the laundry baskets for other clothes I could stuff into the washing machine as well – a habit I had developed over the years when I used to live alone.
And indeed, I had a few more garments lying around, which I threw into the drum.
After a few minutes, I returned to the sink and carefully wrung out the jacket a few times. Always mindful not to rub the stained spots, as that would've only worked the blood in further instead of removing it.
Once hardly any red water came out of the jacket, I added it to the other clothes in the machine, turned it on, and left the laundry room to do its work.
Without a stopover, I headed straight to my sanctuary.
Quickly peeled myself out of my own soiled uniform, which I could've washed as well, but that would've meant I'd have to sneak through the halls as a naked ninja again. And I was in no mood for that right now.
I draped the uniform over the back of a chair, crawled into bed, and pulled on my sleep shirt.
Finally! Peace. Silence. And no more noise!
Just me and these miserable beasts called thoughts and memories, rushing toward me now.
I turned onto my side, looking out through the large window front to the garden. At the colorful patch of flowers and lawn. In the middle, a bench inviting for relaxation. Surrounded by numerous cherry trees that provided enough shade, but still allowed strong yellow sunbeams to shine through.
Randomly, I picked a point and started staring holes into it.