Clover

Today, it was Tsumiki's turn for laundry duty. Since everyone had come to the island with only the clothes on their backs, there was never all that much at a time, so it made sense to do multiple students' laundry at once. Currently, Tsumiki was working on a load consisting of mostly outer wear.

It had been meant to be Saionji's turn, but she had bullied the other girl into doing it instead. Not that Tsumiki minded all that much, really; clean clothing was important for good hygiene after all.

Turning pockets inside-out was essential in order to avoid tissue mishaps, she had learned. Gundam's coat pockets had contained a large handful of empty seed shells, which wasn't unexpected, really. The hamster fur might get stuck to everyone else's things, though. Better set it for a double rinse.

Going through Komaeda's jacket, however, yielded some unexpected results- Both pockets were filled to the brim with vibrant green clovers, and upon further inspection, all had no less than four leaves.

"Need any help with that?" the white haired boy asked, gesturing toward the basket of wet laundry that Tsumiki was beginning to hang outside.

"Oh, um…that's okay. I can handle it, really..." she mumbled to the basket.

"I want to help, though. Would you deny a person the satisfaction of doing his own chores? At least let me take care of my own jacket."

Komaeda grabbed two clothes pins out of the bin and hung the jacket up so neatly that it looked like a scene out of an ad for laundry soap.

"K-Komaeda-san?" Tsumiki began, as the boy reached for more pins. It would seem that he had plans to hang all of the jackets all along. "I, uh, found something in your pockets…"

She fished around in her apron pocket, pulling out a handful of greenery.

Komaeda blinked in confusion at the girl's open palm. Tsumiki took the cue and finally looked to her hand as well- The clovers had turned into an unrecognisable mass of wilted mush, as if a small swamp monster had crawled into her pocket and perished.

"Oh no! I-I'm so sorry! I just didn't want them to get ruined in the washer, but instead I was so careless with your things…I…"

"Tsumiki-san!" he placed what was meant to be a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Instead, it only caused the girl to yelp and drop the green mess onto the ground. "Tsumiki-san, it's okay, really. I've just been finding them around the island lately and picking them up. I didn't even have a plan for them, and if I had, I'm sure it would've been a pretty lame one... Besides, I'm sure I can find more just as easily."

"Y-you're not mad?"

"Of course not! You were just trying to keep them safe for me. You're really a very thoughtful person. Hey, would you feel better if I asked you to come with me and help me find more?"

"Are you sure you don't mind having someone like me along?"

"Not if you don't mind my wasting your time on such a silly mission!"

It was true, Komaeda truly did have quite a knack for finding four-leaf-clovers. Tsumiki really shouldn't have been surprised, given his special talent. Still, she had never found a single one in her entire life. There had been times when she had lay on the ground, bleeding and bruised, that she had looked as best she could see with her face all swollen up, hoping to find one, passing the time until the pain had subsided enough for her to get up and take care of herself. A single clover never appeared for her. She had always taken it as a sign.

"Tsumiki-san, you haven't found any yet? I feel kind of bad, like I'm hogging them all…" Komaeda frowned at the plants he carried. He had brought a basket along this time, so as not to repeat the previous incident.

"Oh, that's alright! I had a great time just walking around with you! I never had anyone to take walks with back home…" Tsumiki shuffled her foot in the dirt, as if maybe a clover was hidden there like buried treasure.

"I never really did either, after my dog died, I mean. That's why I didn't bother to collect the clovers before now. I've always seen them, anywhere I go that was a little grass, but I never had anybody to show them to or share them with, so I just left them."

"I see…" the girl was walking even slower now, eyes fixed at the ground.

"I'm sorry, that was selfish of me. I shouldn't have bothered you with a story like that. You know what? I think I finally decided how to use these clovers. Sit down, if you don't mind. This might take a few minutes. Oh, and close your eyes too."

Tsumiki briefly considered that he might be playing a cruel joke on her, but he didn't seem the type to trick people just for fun. Any previous deceptions of his had been for a reason, even if they had only made sense in his own head. She complied and settled onto the grass, shutting her eyes tightly.

Judging by the rustling of grass, Komaeda had also seated himself. Things were quiet for a few moments before Tsumiki heard the soft sound of humming.

"T-that's a very nice song…"

"Hm? Oh, is it? Sometimes I could hear the man who kidnapped me, back when I was little, humming it in the other room. I guess I picked it up… but here I go wasting your time with my sad stories again! You can open your eyes now, Tsumiki-san! It's all done!"

She did as told, and was greeted by the boy's face awfully close to her's.

"Wha-what?" she squeaked, scooting backward.

The boy laughed. "Feel your head."

The last time someone had told her that, she had found that she had been relieved of some large hunks of hair.

She patted her head frantically, then removed something thin and circular.

"It's a clover crown! I thought that maybe some of my luck might rub off on you if you use it, and then you might find some clovers of your own! …or it might do absolutely nothing at all, considering that I'm the one who made it…"

Tsumiki's expression suddenly turned from dismayed confusion to one of determination, as she crawled forward back toward the boy, finally placing the crown onto Komaeda's head instead.

"I-I don't think I need any more luck today. Just to have someone do something so thoughtful for me… I've never felt luckier!"

The end