Only then did Sui notice that two buttons were missing from his clothes.
Additionally, there was a large tear under the armpit, and remnants of white laundry detergent were visible on the cuffs.
He suddenly remembered that Erina had washed his uniform for him the night before, and a deep sigh escaped him, his forehead creased with frustration.
He made his way to the tsundere's bedroom, only to find her in the middle of changing clothes.
Upon seeing Sui enter, Erina quickly covered herself and yelled shyly, "Don't you know you're not supposed to barge into a girl's room!?"
Holding up his school uniform with an exasperated look, Sui said, "Is this the laundry you did for me?"
Erina's face turned crimson as she stammered, "I-I wasn't paying attention while washing."
Regret washed over Sui. He should have known better than to let such a Tsundere girl handle his laundry.
"Erina, with this level of care, who would ever want to marry you?"
Sui couldn't stop himself from blurting out.
"That's none of your business!" Erina's blush deepened, and she gritted her teeth in annoyance. "I'll be more careful next time, okay?"
Just then, Hisako's voice called from downstairs. Hurriedly, Erina threw on her school uniform and dashed out of the room.
With no other choice, Sui donned the school uniform as it was and left the mansion after the girls departed.
His first class of the day was Jun Shiomi's spice lecture.
"Good morning, Sui," greeted Megumi with a sweet smile as soon as she saw him.
"Morning," Sui responded with a friendly nod.
"Hey, Sui, where are the buttons on your shirt? And it looks like it wasn't washed properly," Tansho commented, eyeing his uniform in surprise.
"Oh, that… My roommate helped with the laundry, but, uh, she's not exactly skilled at it," Sui said helplessly.
"Your roommate's a girl?" Megumi asked, sounding a little curious.
"Yeah," Sui nodded.
"She doesn't seem very good at housework," Megumi observed. "Her future husband is going to have a tough time."
"You're telling me," Sui nodded again. "I doubt she's getting married anytime soon."
Megumi hesitated, blushing as she finally summoned her courage and lowered her head. In a quiet voice, she said, "Sui, if you ever need help with your laundry… I could do it for you."
Huh? Is she… interested in me?
Surprised, Sui glanced at her and replied, "Let's talk about that later."
The two attended their next two classes together, both earning A's.
"Sui, you're amazing!" Megumi praised him happily, knowing that following Sui meant she no longer had to worry about failing exams.
"Well, I have nothing planned this afternoon. Want to come by my research group to hang out?" Sui suggested. He had a stockpile of milk and jelly eggs and wanted to experiment with some dessert recipes.
"Sure!" Megumi agreed excitedly. "Should we invite Ryoko and the others?"
"That won't be necessary," Sui replied, wanting to keep the group small since the ingredients were limited.
"Sui, you're planning to use some new ingredients, right? Thanks for the invite!" Yoshino suddenly appeared out of nowhere, grinning with excitement. "You're not just going to invite Megumi, are you?"
Sui: "…"
"But let's be clear—no more people can join," he said firmly.
"Don't worry! I'm known for being tight-lipped!" Yoshino promised seriously.
Soon after, Megumi, Sōma, Yoshino, and Sakaki followed Sui to the research group.
"…Didn't you say you're known for being tight-lipped?" Sui shot Yoshino a side glance.
Yoshino stuck out her tongue. "I only told Ryoko. Yukihira overheard it by accident."
Sui rolled his eyes. From now on, he reminded himself, no secrets should be entrusted to Yoshino. She had an impossibly loose tongue!
The group arrived at the Rare Ingredients Research Society. As Sui opened the door, his phone rang. It was a call from Kobayashi Rindō.
"Hey, kohai! Got any interesting ingredients lately?" Rindō's voice chirped on the other end of the line.
Sui sighed. "Well… a few."
"I want in!" Rindō declared immediately.
Sui could practically picture her mischievous smile and the glint of fangs she often flashed.
"No," Sui replied flatly. With three extra freeloaders already, there was no way he was adding another.
After gathering the ingredients, Sui returned to the research group.
But as he entered the room, he realized there was one more person present.
"Hey, Kohai! Did you bring something tasty?" Kobayashi Rindō grinned, flashing those familiar fangs as she waved at him.
Sui: "...How did you know where to find me?"
"Oh, I asked Erina-chan for the address of your research group, and she gave it to me," Rindō said, stepping closer to inspect the Chansey Eggs he had brought back. "What kind of eggs are these? They look like ostrich eggs, but the shell's color seems off."
"These are Jelly Eggs," Sui replied.
"I want to eat them!" Rindō said eagerly.
Sui could only sigh. Since she was already here, it felt too rude to kick her out.
"Fine," he nodded reluctantly.
"What are you going to make?" Rindō asked, clearly intrigued.
"Egg tarts," Sui replied, since both the milk and eggs would go well together.
"I'll help!" Megumi offered, already familiar with assisting Sui.
"Thank you. You can handle the tart crust," Sui said, pointing to the basic ingredients and kitchen utensils in the activity room.
"Got it!" Megumi took out the flour and began preparing the tart crust.
However, just as Sui pulled out the milk, another interruption occurred.
"What kind of milk is this? The smell is so rich!" Rindō exclaimed as she leaned closer to the milk bottle, eyes wide with curiosity. "Can I have a sip?"