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“Ah… Hijiri?”
“Excuse me Uncle Sora, I’m passing by!”

Still half asleep, Sora rose from the couch he had fallen asleep on, realizing that Hijiri had made her way into the house uninvited, making a beeline for Kou’s room on the second floor while barely greeting him.

When she got there, she found Kou curled up, her face pale as she hugged her stomach, and a red stain on the bed sheets. Seeing that, Hijiri let out an “uh oh” as her troublesome hunch was proven correct.

In a way, she had been too careless about that. Two months had passed since Kou woke up, so Hijiri had thoughtlessly assumed that it had probably already happened and passed without much issue, but in reality, this was Kou’s first menstruation.

“Umm…Kou, are you okay?”

Hijiri approached the bed with apprehension and asked in a low voice, but there was no reply. Kou merely reached for Hijiri and clung onto her while trembling.

“There, there, it must hurt a lot right? Let’s get it taken care of. Can you get up?”

Gently patting Kou’s back, Hijiri asked her, and Kou nodded and sat on the side of the bed in silence. It was obvious that Kou was not in the best mental state.

Aw man, she’s gone into full-out trauma mode.

Thinking that, Hijiri helped Kou take off her bloodied shorts. Those shorts had turned red, and she stuffed them into a plastic bag she had grabbed while running there, and then closed the bag. To make sure the blood would not start dripping, Hijiri grabbed a towel from the room and made Kou hold it between her legs.

Waking up that way had been a terrifying experience for Kou, who was behaving almost like she had regressed in age and followed all of Hijiri’s instructions while clinging onto her sleeve.

That behavior stirred a strong protective instinct in Hijiri, even amidst that dire situation. But Hijiri had her work cut out for her and could not afford to get distracted. When she tried to take Kou out of the room, she found Sora at the door with a concerned look, and Subaru behind, who had followed Hijiri there.

“Hijiri, is there anything I can help with..?”
“Sister, I’m also-”
“Ahahah, sorry but this is a matter for girls only. Please go hide in the kitchen or something.”

Hijiri smiled at the two who wanted to help, but she would not let them get any closer. She appreciated their concern, but this matter was something she could not allow them to help with.

Both of them grimaced when they heard the way she described the situation, and quickly turned around and went downstairs. That whole time, Kou had still been holding onto Hijiri’s sleeve, and now that they were alone again, Hijiri took Kou to the toilet and made her sit there.

“I need to clean up a bit. Can you wait for me here?”
“…mhm.”

Kou finally let out a thin whimper, and Hijiri patted her head before rushing back to the room. There she pulled the bloodied sheets off the bed and rolled them up under her arm, carrying them to the laundry.

Next, she opened the closet to take a bag of sanitary pads, which unsurprisingly was still brand new, a pair of period panties which still had the tags attached, a new set of pajamas to change into, and anything else she felt she needed. Then she headed to the bathroom, where she took a clean towel and soaked it in warm water before wringing it out.

It’ll be a harsh road ahead from now.

Recalling how she found her childhood friend that morning, Hijiri rolled up her sleeves and got ready to work.

◇◇◇

After almost everything had been taken care of, Kou finally snapped back to reality and managed to calm down.

Hijiri, who had come to Kou’s rescue, was still using a warm towel to wash away her lower body. Once everything was clean, Hijiri took the sanitary pads they had bought when they went shopping before, taking one and teaching Kou how to set it inside the period panties, before letting her put it on.

The branding on those panties claimed they were waterproof, and the fabric had a very distinct feel, putting more pressure than Kou was used to. There was also the pad inside, which made the area between her legs feel more stuffy and uncomfortable, bothering Kou quite a lot.

By then, Hijiri returned to her own house for a moment, coming back with a special detergent to clean blood stains, which would help wash the stained sheets. Sadly, Kou’s shorts had gotten so soaked in blood that they had to be discarded.

After experiencing all of that, Kou finally understood why Hijiri had made such a big fuss about buying so many random things when they were out.

While Hijiri did her best to clean everything as quickly as possible, Kou went to the living room and sat on the couch, wrapped in a blanket to keep her lower body warm. Her bed still needed new sheets, so she could not return there for the time being.

“Just take it easy now. Your father called the school and told them you’ll be staying home for the day. And your mother should also be coming home soon, so just tell her if anything happens.”

“Okay…”

“Also, it should be fine to use the air conditioner, just don’t let your body cool down too much. And the pad…” Hijiri pulled up Kou’s dress-like pajama and checked her underwear, but by now Kou was not bothered by it, and she had no option but to let Hijiri do that anyway.

“Mhm, it’s still in place. The pad will only last three hours at most though, so you’ll have to change it by then.”

“So…so soon?”

“Yup, and if it starts to overflow then change it immediately. I’ll leave a separate trash can for them in your toilet, so just put the used pads there.” Hijiri placed a small trash can lined with a colorful plastic bag in the toilet.

Kou watched her do that while letting out a sigh and reclining on the couch.

“Thank you…and sorry, Hijiri. You’ll be late to school since you had to help. But as a father, I really wouldn’t know what to do…”

“Ahahah, don’t worry about it. That’s what I’m here for.”

Kou could hear Hijiri and Sora talking in the laundry room. That reminded her that she and the twins were supposed to be at school already.