2026-07-03: Cleaning House
- Log: 2026-07-03 Cleaning House
- Cast: Ren Amamiya, Ichika Kawase, Futaba Sakura
- Where: Yongen-Jaya - Back Alleys
- OOC Date: July 03, 2026
- IC Date: Tuesday, December 04, 2012
- Summary: Ren and Ichika cannot stand to let Futaba's room go uncleaned for any longer. Futaba is perplexed but ultimately OK with this.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
When everyone entered Futaba's room not too long ago, two people specifically had a visceral reaction to the sheer mess within: Ren and Ichika. The two of them mentioned in each other's presence later that they wanted to clean it up, and after getting Futaba's permission to do so, they decided to get together on a day after school and do precisely that. Morgana comes along to keep them company, balanced on Ren's shoulder.
That day... is today! A fine, chilly Tuesday. Since Ichika's coming from farther away, Ren's the one who gathers up the cleaning goods--vacuum cleaner, trash bags, plastic gloves, feather dusters, window spray, and so on. They give an amazed Sojiro a head's up that the two of them are doing this too, and he lets them into the house with a shake of the head and instructions on where the cleaning goods closet and the trash drop-off point are if they need anything else.
With that, the two of them head upstairs with all their equipment. Ren knocks on Futaba's door, waits a moment, and then enters. ...Futaba may be at her computer, too zoned out to notice. They look at her as Morgana hops off their shoulder and onto the bed, then over at Ichika.
"So, I'm thinking one of us gathers up the crap on the floor and the other takes out the trash bags that're already here to start. What do you think?" they ask.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika definitely needs to see this room cleaned. It's worse than her partner and ex-fwb's shared apartment! (Ex-benefits. The friend part is still true). And a chilly Tuesday sees Ichika here, having taken the bus instead of driving just in case she tires herself out in the doing. If she'd had to bring the equipment, it would've been a different story... but she didn't.
"Thanks, Boss," Ichika had said earlier, and there, they are in the room. Ichika considers the division of labor...
"I'll work on getting what's already here out," she offers. Still in her Kasugayama uniform, she flexes her bicep as if to indicate that she's up to the task. "Then I can come back and start helping. We'll need to dust where she keeps her figures, too..."
Ichika is serious about this.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"And dust the figures themselves too, probably," Ren agrees. They've got cleaner solution for that. It's in a spray bottle! "All right. I'll leave it to you."
"I'll go with you, keep an eye on the door," Morgana offers to Ichika as Ren gets to work on gathering the stuff on the floor. He hops off the bed, despite having just gotten on, and will follow her back downstairs to keep an eye out and prevent any accidental locking-out.
"Do you think the chief has a washer and dryer at his house?" Morgana wonders as he accompanies her. "Futaba might need some laundry done too. If not, there's a laundromat right down the street, where the bathhouse is."
He can't actually help with any of the cleaning, but sometimes a not-a-cat has lurking insecurity-based FOMO.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
The fool disregards the mundane actions of youth.
The wise man asks: What the 'tab doin?
What the (fu)tab(a) is doing right now appears to be a video game involving shooting people. There is some kind of nonsense going on. Futaba has not been responding. Her headphones are plugged in, rendering the sounds opaque, but her screen gains a sudden yellow tint that makes her let out a brief snarl of displeasure and pivot her mouse, clicking angrily.
... Well, at least it's not hacking the government.
Probably.
Right?
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Yeah," Ichika agrees. "Cool." So Ichika takes the Lifting job, because she prides herself on her strength these days as a Boss at Kasu High.
"Sounds good," she says to Morgana, and is secure in the knowledge that she won't be locked out. Besides...
Morgana is good company. He's a gentleman.
"Maybe," Ichika says. "Probably," Ichika says. "It'd be weird for him to go up the street to do Futaba-chan's laundry..." Is she just assuming Futaba doesn't do laundry? Maybe. That may be happening.
"Lucky, though, having a bathhouse right here. We've just got the showers in my dorm--and the nearest bath is a little more of a walk than from Ren-kun's place."
Heft! Ho! Trash!
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
It's good to have a healer with muscle. So often, people decide to target the healer first, and one who can fight back keeps that from being the sensible strat.
Futaba probably knows about sensible strats, but Ren is continuing to gather up the stuff on the floor. They're separating it into piles of 'obviously trash' to 'possibly trash' to 'definitely not trash.'
"Hmm... I didn't think of it like that, but you're right," Morgana muses of Sojiro having to go to the laundromat to do Futaba's laundry. "We can ask Futaba when we get back." Assuming they can get her to tear away from her game that is.
It won't be long for them to return, anyway--there's lots of trash bags, and as strong as she is, Ichika still only has two arms. Morgana will bump the front door open for her on the way back!
Because he's a gentleman. Which Ichika appreciates, so he appreciates her back!
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
Ichika and Ren can both tell that Futaba had to be doing laundry to some extent. It is quite possible Sojiro was doing it; he may not have had a choice. Either way, there is clothing strewn around but it's normal-dirty, not...
Abruptly Futaba screams, a single high sharp "GAAAHH!!" and does some kind of angry arcane thing at the keyboard. The game screen vanishes. She slouches back hard enough to make the chair rock a little.
She stares at the ceiling, but this is at least... LESS disengaged?
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Laundry is happening. That's good at least.
Morgana agrees with Ichika, it would seem, and Ichika nods along. "Not that most people snoop on other people's laundry," she allows. "Maybe we should ask..."
The door is open! "Thanks," Ichika says to Morgana, and then--
Ichika walks in and has a couple more trash bags ready to go out just as Futaba screams.
"What?" she asks, and turns to stare a moment. Game screen gone...
"...Uhhh," Ichika says.
"You OK there?"
She looks at Morgana. Maybe not the best time to ask about laundry.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren nods to Morgana and Ichika when the two of them return. They've made some progress, but there's a lot of junk on the floor.
Then Futaba SHOUTS, and Ren snaps a wide-eyed look her way. Morgana startles in the way of a cat, and turns that into a hop up back onto the bed. Because he's not a cat!!
Ichika asks the relevant question, and Ren and Morgana return her glance.
"Sorry about your game," Ren adds. ...even though they're not fully sure Futaba's checked in enough to hear them.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
Futaba turns around, somehow, apparently using only butt-based motions, to face Ichika.
And Ren!
And Morgana!
"I think he was hacking," Futaba tells Ren. Then she looks back to the rest of them.
"When'd you come in?" She says this neutrally, a matter of mild curiosity, just as she'd say 'where'd you get that bag?'
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika nods back. There's a ton of junk, but... Ichika can help with that some more when they get done with the trash! There'll probably be enough to help with by then...
Hacking, though. "Oh. That sucks."
Pause. When did she come in?
"Little bit ago," Ichika answers, and holds up one of the bags she's carrying. "Don't mind us. We're not done yet."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"You 'think'? You don't know?" Ren asks Futaba, genuinely curious. She's a highly skilled computer person herself, but in this timeline, The Phantoms haven't seen just how skilled thanks to a lack of Medjed meddling. They don't know just how far her abilities extend.
Morgana nods after Ichika. "We came to clean your room, like we said!" he declares. (Well. Like Ren said.) "We only just got started, though."
"I knocked, but I'm guessing you didn't hear," Ren adds.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
"There's a certain level of performance which starts to get near what you can do with an aim bot and that guy was in that skill bracket," Futaba tells Ren, with confidence and precision.
They're here to clean.
"Oh," she says.
A second passes. She turns her head...
sees the garbage
Other way...
the additional garbage
At the floor... which has trash on it even if it isn't *wet* trash, mostly papers and discarded documents
"Need me to move?" Futaba asks, looking towards Ichika.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Oh. So the guy was really skilled... or cheating. Ichika doesn't play that sort of game, so she doesn't really know. Morgana chimes in for them.
"Hmmm," Ichika says when Futaba asks if they need her to do anything. She looks to Ren, and then back to Futaba. "I'm good," she says. "If you just wanna hang out, that's fine with me. But I'm on trash duty right now, and that's not really complicated. I've already got Morgana helping."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"Ah. Got it," Ren replies. They're not totally sure what an aim bot is, but they get the gist--either the guy was a mid-level hacker or was using some kind of tool to do the hacking for him.
Ichika might not need any help, since she's on trash duty and she's got Morgana minding the door for her on the way in and out. Ren, though...
"If you could help me pick up this stuff, that'd be great," they say. "I've got three piles--definitely trash, maybe trash, and definitely not trash." They gesture at each in turn. "Can you go through the second and split them up accordingly?"
She'd need to look through it eventually anyway, after all.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
"Oh, sure," Futaba answers Ichika. "Lemme know if I need to move the chair or something." It is occluding potentially moppable surface...
But then...
Ren!
Who wants her to do...
Work??? A look of terror crosses the face of Futaba Sakura! Not exactly terror, more startleness. "U-uh... oh, yeah, um..." After this, she scoot-scoots the chair over and leans towards the maybe-not trash. Which requires her to shift around. So she's... kneeling in the chair and mostly is out of it. She's balancing on a random sock that was just on the ground, which is bearing her elbow. "Um..."
trash, trash, not trash, not trash, trash, not trash, trash, trash, trash, trash, brief consideration then trash...
Maybe Morgana isn't the actual cat in the group.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Totally," Ichika says. There'll be more Ichika needs help with when she's done with all this trash out of the way. But Ren? Ren has something to do now.
Ichika is glad of that; she kind of thinks Futaba should take some ownership of her space. But she doesn't know how to say that. So, when Futaba is startled by it...
"Cool," she says. "That'll be a big help. See you guys in a sec."
"C'mon," she says to Morgana, and heads out to take another few bags out. She will not be long.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren holds back an amused smile when Futaba reacts to them asking her to do something with bafflement. Sojiro probably doesn't ask her to do much, huh... To her credit, after she spends a moment being taken off-guard, she does as they request. ...sitting as weird as possible, but she does it, and anyway, Ren has an appreciation for eccentricity. Just look at their friendship with Yusuke.
"See you soon," they tell Ichika as they continue to sort floor goods, handing anything they aren't sure of to Futaba to vet first.
Morgana nimbly leaps off the bed to escort Ichika again. The room is only so big and therefore only has so much bagged trash in it already, so she won't need to take another trip out immediately after this one.
When she returns, the floor ought to be much clearer. "Welcome back," Ren greets her. "We're still finishing up here, so could you start on the dusting?" That's something you need to start from the top down, after all; otherwise, you're just cleaning up again after the dust falls.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
By the time Ichika has returned, Futaba has sat back up. She has three manga volumes (battered) and an old copy of some comic magazine or other, along with a printed journal of neuroscience from two years ago, sitting on her knee.
The floor IS clearer. Did you know it's a hardwood floor?
It is!
The question of dusting makes Futaba startle slightly, but -- they mean Ichika, right? Right? Futaba looks at Morgana, freshly returned.
"... Oh, you're *really* cleaning," Futaba says, eventually, blinking in something like wonder. She is also going to sneeze the exact moment anyone does any dusting. (It is definitely due, if mostly up high on the top of shelves. She at least appears to consult most of her books regularly.)
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"See you," Ichika says, and off she goes. When she comes back with Morgana she spots...
"Oh, nice floor." The sukeban looks around, kind of impressed to see it. But there's Ren's welcome. "Thanks," she says. "Can do." The bags being out of the way is going to help with that; Ichika kneels down to get the supplies from the pile, and then stands up again to start over high up.
Futaba has her cue to sneeze while Ichika gets started, using her prodigious height to help her start up near the ceiling.
"Yeah," Ichika says. "My partner's place would get about like this if I didn't clean for them now and then, I bet."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"That's right!" Morgana tells Futaba with an air of authority. Anyone who suggested he should add 'Meowth!' to the start of that sentiment would get claws to the face.
Ren crooks a half-smile when Ichika remarks on the floor. "Good to be able to see it. We're making progress."
With the floor papers now sorted into two piles (mostly a 'not trash' pile, as it turns out), Ren gets to their feet. "I'll open up the windows," they say before they do precisely that. Then they start moving things out of the way of Ichika's dusting, as well as dusting the things themselves as needed--maybe not the books, but there's probably something to that effect.
After that is cleaning the windows and vacuuming the floor... Ren and Ichika can divvy that up once it comes. For now:
"By the way, Futaba," Morgana says, "how's your laundry coming along? You need any help with that? And does the chief do his laundry here at home or over at the bathhouse?"
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
*h-CHU!*
That's how Futaba Sakura sneezes.
She reaches over for a tissue, turning her head to watch Ichika move around and dust. "Do you guys all share places? I know where this guy's staying..." *honk*
After this, she looks to Ren. Before --
THE WINDOW IS OPEN!
DIRECT SUNLIGHT FALLS UPON FUTABA!
She actually does recoil, but it's at the burst of cool air. The room immediately smells more fresh despite being humid. "Gah... bright... fah," Futaba settles down. As she takes off her glasses to clean them on her shirt tail, she looks at Morgana.
"... Huh," she says. "I don't know. When I was settling in I just had a laundry basket. He'd take it somewhere... once in a while I'd find one of his socks or something, but I don't know where it went from there." Her lips purse.
"It would make sense to have at least a washer here... and he showed me around the neighborhood early on, so I know there's the washer-drier. It'd be a cash expense, but he's right next door all the time..."
Futaba turns to look at. her. computer? and starts typing in something. Several windows open. As she does this, half-leaned outwards, she continues, "Can I ask you something? Um," she looks at Ichika after this, "about, stuff."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
That is a super cute sneeze. And Ichika would never accuse Morgana of being Meowth.
She grins back at Ren, though, and gets back to work. "Cool," she says of the windows, and then to Futaba's question she answers, "Nah. I just stay over at Tsubasa's sometimes. I actually live in the Kasu High dorms... But I come visit my parents some weekends in Iwatodai."
"That's why I have the van."
Direct sunlight! The room is definitely fresher, but Ichika glances over at Futaba when she goes 'fah'. ...She seems to recover OK though, so Ichika doesn't make a big deal of it. Dust dust dust.
Ichika picks up a figure to dust under it, and remarks, "You know, I saw one like this the other day..."
Futaba answers about laundry, too. "Yeah, I could see either way I guess?"
But... stuff?
Ichika looks back to Futaba, and then smiles. "Sure," she says. "Ask me whatever."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
At least it's the tail end of fall and the sunlight won't last for long! ...Kind of sad, really, that even in this season, Futaba needs the black-out curtains. (Even if they are very cool.) But yes, it is a cute sneeze.
"Hmm... I'll take a quick look around downstairs, then," Morgana says. He's looked around upstairs pretty thoroughly already, and he didn't see any washer or drier up there, but he hasn't explored the downstairs quite as much. He hops down and heads off to do just that.
Futaba asks about stuff. Ren glances over at her, gaze quizzical, but since she seems to be asking Ichika, they don't interrupt. (They do note both that Ichika apparently cleans for Tsubasa and she has a van specifically so she can see her parents in Iwatodai, but these don't seem to bear direct remark. They continue to clean.)
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
Morgana's recon may take a while, unless he thinks to check - the bathroom!
There is, indeed, a (small) laundry machine in the bathroom. Technically, it's in the part that's for undressing and showering before you get into the (not very big, but definitely there) tub. It's a pretty recent design - one might reasonably suppose that if Sojiro's owned this house for a while, he got this laundry machine in order to support Futaba.
It even has an air dry function! (Even if you still want to hang it up anyway, it's handy in the rainy season so you're not basically hanging up wet laundry in 100% humidity and watching the mold grow for entertainment.)
"Are panty raids actually something that happens?" Futaba asks Ichika.
She seems completely serious about this.
Back to Ren for a moment: "I'd been thinking about the places I've lived. I never really did anything with the laundry." Her eyes turn downwards; it's kind of a guilty expression, or a sad one.
"How big's the van?" she asks Ichika.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika doesn't think too much about the curtains. "Cool," she says to Morgana then, and continues along. But Futaba asks Ichika--
The tall girl pauses. She has her hand still in dusting formation, and her head slowly turns towards Futaba, her expression suggesting the question: is this girl fucking with me?
But she determines--Futaba seems not to be. So...
"Not at our dorm," Ichika settles on saying, returning to her dusting, "Because we'd break their hands."
So maybe at other dorms!?
But Futaba is thinking about it; she's looking at Ren, so Ichika doesn't chime in on laundry. Instead...
"I can fit about eight people in it," Ichika says. "Fewer if I wanna carry camping stuff or whatever instead."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Laundry: found! Maybe not an ideal drying function but it is indeed better than having to pin the laundry out to dry; it might not be the rainy season but it is cold. Morgana returns to inform his fellows.
"Don't worry about it. You can learn going forward," Ren reassures Futaba. ...The question of whether panty raids actually happen or not prompt them to clear their throat and get back to cleaning. They're not a 'boy' but they're also not NOT a 'boy,' so...
Ichika's answer prompts a quiet snort of laughter, though. .........it's better than the alternative, which is that she's deadly serious.
Talk resumes about Ichika's van, and cleaning resumes of the room, and soon enough Morgana will return to inform everyone of laundry options. As the day progresses, the room will get cleaner and cleaner, and the laundry more washed, until at last it's all... done??
Indeed, at the end of all their hard word, Ren, Futaba, Ichika, and Morgana get to admire a freshly-cleaned and almost sparkling room. Even the windows and the drink fridge's front door shine!
"So how do you feel now?" Ren asks Futaba. They know that they feel better in a clean environment, though it's not so intense that they can't tolerate a little dust and mess. Maybe she will, too--feel better, that is.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
Futaba nods slightly. This information from Ichika seems positive; trustworthy in a way the Internet is not. She shifts in her chair, moving the books to hug against her stomach so she can shrimp up against her knees.
"Nice. So it's kind of the same size as Morgana in the cognitive world..."
DON'T COMPARE THEM FUTABA
Soon enough, though, their labors are achieved.
"... I was kind of sweating it when you were working," Futaba answers Ren, after a moment of silent thought. "But I knew you were helping, and if you'd messed with anything important I wouldn't have let you just break it." It seems they did not (it helps that the cable management was well designed, a rarity in these realms).
Futaba's head tilts down. "... But... it feels roomier, you know?" And for the first time in the last three hours, she stands up! Stretching her arms out to a fully extended T, stepping away from both of them and turning around in a sharp little circle.
"And now I don't have to be embarrassed by it, if I just keep it that way, right?" Futaba asks Ren, and Ichika. "Even if it's going to get dusty again eventually."
Her hands come down, folding behind her back. She rocks back and forth on her heels.
"... I don't want to keep you but I did have one other question, while you're here."
"I didn't want to mention it digitally, but... do you know what's up with the extra hour when the Internet's down?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
It's good to learn things! As to panty raids, though...
It's certainly possible to believe that Ichika is kidding.
As to the van, "Yeah! He might be part of why I went with that one..." Well, one of a number of reasons. Have you ever tried to make out with someone in a compact car?? It's uncomfortable.
But their work finishes, and Ichika smiles in satisfaction at a job well-done. "Cool," Ichika says of Futaba not letting them break important things. "I like your stuff."
But roomier! Ichika smiles back at her. "That's right," she says. "We can give you tips on how to keep it that way, too."
But... A question?
An extra hour when...
Oh, boy.
"OK this is gonna take a minute," Ichika says, "Because that is some bullshit that they call the Dark Hour..."
Ichika can explain a lot about it. Including how it totally sucks.