The day started with a THUMP.
Then another.
And another.
"Ow!"
Harumi emerged from the middle of the boxes like a defeated spirit.
Her hair was a mess.
Her shirt was crooked.
And a piece of cardboard was stuck to her head.
"Who put this box here?!"
Silence.
Izumi appeared in the hallway.
"You did."
"Lies."
"You stacked everything yourself yesterday."
"I WAS TIRED!!"
"You were dramatic."
Izumi said that—
And sneezed.
"Achoo!"
Then again.
"Harumi—"
"ACHOO!"
"Are you okay?!"
"ACHOO!"
She took a deep breath.
"I am currently inhaling Japanese history in the form of dust."
"That's called mold."
"That's called a public health crime."
"Ouch… that one hurt."
"You complain about their grandpa's house—ACHOO!—but this one is WORSE!"
Harumi turned toward the living room.
Took a deep breath.
And then she saw Mei.
Standing.
Silent.
Too still.
Way too still.
"Mei…?"
The girl was sitting on the floor.
Her face…
Green.
Harumi's eyes widened.
"SHE'S BEEN CONSUMED BY THE MOLD!!!"
"WHAT?!" Izumi yelled.
"THE MOLD GOT THE CHILD!!!"
"I'M GREEN?! Haru, am I going to die??" Mei asked, suddenly worried.
Takeru appeared from the kitchen.
"What happened now—"
He looked.
Pause.
"Harumi."
"YES?!"
"She's normal."
"Haru, I think you're the one infected by mold."
Mei slowly raised her hand.
Silence.
Harumi dropped to her knees.
"AM I GOING TO DIEEEEE????!!!!"
"…Calm down," Takeru said, far too calmly.
After the improvised breakfast…
Harumi climbed onto a chair.
Hit a pot with a spoon.
CLANG.
"FAMILY MEETING!"
"Is this a military base now?" Izumi asked.
"No."
Harumi pointed dramatically.
"This is a mission."
"What mission?"
"The SUPREME CLEANING MISSION."
Takeru crossed his arms.
"We don't even know how many rooms this house has."
Izumi raised her hand.
"Actually… how are we supposed to clean if we only know three parts of the house?"
Silence.
Harumi froze.
"…."
"…."
"…."
She pointed at Takeru.
"You're smart."
"Only compared to you three."
"Make a map of the house!"
"…."
Mission: Explore the House
Estimated time: 10 minutes
Actual duration: 1 hour and 20 minutes
Result: Total confusion
First Floor
"This is our bedroom," Harumi said.
"No," Takeru replied.
"…No?"
"That's the storage room."
"THEN WHERE'S THE BEDROOM?!"
They opened another door.
"This one."
"But I was sure this was the bathroom."
"It is the bathroom."
"AAAAH."
Izumi wrote everything in a notebook.
"Okay… so we have:
Four bedrooms
Two bathrooms
Kitchen
Living room
…a GIANT hallway
A huge veranda
An EVEN BIGGER backyard"
She paused.
"And a mysterious room outside."
Harumi blinked.
"A mysterious room?"
"That one."
She pointed outside the window.
Harumi squinted.
"I thought that was a chicken coop."
"There are no chickens."
"Yet."
"…Do you want to buy chickens?"
"It's in my two-month plan."
Time for the Second Floor
They stopped in front of the staircase.
The staircase looked…
Old.
Very old.
Covered in dust.
With strong Japanese horror movie energy.
Harumi pointed.
"Takeru goes first."
"Why?"
"Because you're the bravest."
"Lie."
"Because you're the tallest."
"Also a lie."
"Because if something attacks us, you can fight it."
"I'm thirteen."
"DET— WAIT, THIRTEEN?! I thought you were older…"
They started climbing.
The first step creaked.
CREEEAK.
The second too.
CREEEAK.
Harumi breathed deeply.
"I'm not scared."
A spider fell on her shoulder.
"I AM SCARED!!!"
After opening several doors…
They discovered:
Seven bedrooms
Two bathrooms
A living room with an old TV
An office full of books
Harumi was shocked.
"SEVEN BEDROOMS?!"
"Yes."
"Who lived here?!"
"Maybe it used to be an inn."
"AN INN?!"
Izumi looked around.
"That explains the infinite hallway."
Harumi pointed at the TV.
"GUYS LOOK!"
"What?"
"TELEVISION!"
Takeru looked at it.
"Tube TV."
"RETRO."
"Old."
"VINTAGE."
"Probably broken."
"STYLE."
Finally…
The map was complete.
Harumi held up the paper.
"Our house has 14 rooms."
Silence.
"We live in a maze."
"THAT'S AMAZING!! My new house is so beautiful and big!!!"
Mei spun around happily.
"It's not our new house, Mei."
Mei and Harumi made the exact same pouty face.
The kind that says: "You're annoying."
"Cleaning time!!"
Harumi tied a cloth around her head.
Grabbed a broom.
Raised it dramatically.
"I DECLARE WAR ON MOLD!!"
Izumi grabbed a feather duster.
"I'll handle the dust."
Mei lifted a tiny duster.
"I'll help!"
Takeru sighed.
"I'll organize things."
Best decision.
Because he was the only remotely organized person there.
The Cleaning Begins
Harumi became a domestic hurricane.
She:
scrubbed the walls
cleaned the windows
removed mold
swept twenty years of dust
painted parts of the wall white
verbally fought with a mold stain
"YOU WILL NOT WIN!!"
Takeru walked by.
"…Who are you talking to?"
"The enemy."
"…Right."
Meanwhile, Izumi and Mei cleaned furniture.
"Izumi," Mei said.
"Hmm?"
"Why does dust come back?"
"Because it's persistent."
"…Is Haru a type of dust?"
Meanwhile…
Takeru organized everything.
Pots → kitchenClothes → wardrobeBooks → shelves
He also separated 25 bags of clothes for washing.
He took a deep breath.
"I want to retire already…"
Hours Later…
The house looked completely different.
The living room shined.
The bedrooms were organized.
The kitchen looked usable.
The hallway no longer looked like a horror movie set.
Harumi collapsed onto the floor.
"I WON."
Takeru looked around.
"The backyard still needs work."
She slowly turned.
Looked out the window.
Tall grass.
Wild plants.
A suspicious pond.
A frog jumped.
She pointed.
"That's a problem for Tomorrow Harumi… or some other day."
Night fell.
And the house finally looked like…
A home.
Harumi smiled.
"We did it."
Takeru nodded.
Mei spun around in the clean living room.
Izumi sighed.
"…Okay. That actually worked."