“Sachi, you gotta help me! You’re an expert cleaner, right? You need to know how to get the worst smells out!”
“R… right…!” Sachi’s eyebrow twitches. “W-well, it really depends on what caused the odor!”
“I got sprayed!” Michiru moans. “By a very stinky wet cat thing!”
Sachi exhales and shakes her head. “W-well, meet me at the communal bath. I’ll leave a bag for those clothes and… and I’ll grab the rest I need.
Before Michiru can even thank her friend, the maid-dressed representative is off, running through the woods and away from the horrors that they hold.
Michiru stands there, her hand outstretched, mouth agape… but only for a moment because the scent gets in her throat. Grabbing at her nose and puffing out her cheeks, Michiru runs away from the attack site and back towards the baths, hoping desperately that no one else would have to smell her horrible mistake.
Over at the track-and-field runners, they test their speeds with the blow of a whistle. Each of the girls has worked their lives to become the best of the best and push their bodies beyond the limits of human endurance. Still, on that day, a streak rushes past all of them. They all cough and wheeze, stumbling and falling out of their lanes as something genuinely horrible hits their noses.
Michiru will never know the records she broke that day, nor would she care. All that matters is that no one notices that it’s her that’s making all the stench.
Once inside, she practically parkours over chairs and sneaks crouched past open doorways. People are coughing and falling over and calling emergency services to report gas leaks all the way through. But, she doesn’t let that bother her. She’s almost there, almost to the baths!
The water drips on the bathtub, and Michiru lowers herself into the soothing water, letting her tense body relax. She was so silly to let something like a smell bother her. After all, a bath would clear that up right away. She leans her head against the wall and takes a long, deep breath, only to splutter and spatter, diving down under the water as the rotten, disgusting, demented odor hits her again.
She splashes back up to the surface, scratching over her scalp. “Gotta clean it up! Gotta clean it up! Gotta clean it up!”
Deep breaths through foggy lenses see the desperate struggle before Sachi, who pushes her cart up towards the pool's edge. With a long pair of tongs, she picks up the drenched clothing and stuffs it into a bag laced with all the cleaners she could muster. As she ties up the thing, she even slaps on a seal to prevent evil spirits from getting out—just in case.
“Are we ready, Michiru?” She asks.
Michiru burns a bright red, covering up her chest, and spins around, only to find the imposing figure with big rubber boots, rubber gloves, and her gas mask standing behind her.
Michiru pouts, her eyes watering in a pathetic look. She nods, her lips quivering.
Sachi nods and produces a large bottle of industrial soap. She uncorks the lid and pours it.
From far away, anyone who watches could see the suds bubbling up all around and the imposing shadow of the representative in full cleaner gear, ready to pass judgment on all offensive odors.
Scrub, scrub, scrub! The sounds of exfoliating soaps working their magic upon smooth yet stinky skin fill the room. Sachi’s endeavor to rid  Michiru of the foul odor started quickly enough. Various oils and sprays were applied, claiming to leave the wearer feeling cleaned and refreshed, but after application, things became serious.
“I’ll need to get in there,” Sachi says, undoing her maid outfit. She gulps as she drops her last attire, saves for her gloves and gas mask, and dips into the bubbling concoction of abrasive cleansers.
Michiru blushes heartily as Sachi joins her, allowing her friend to get oh-so-close while applying a washcloth to her cheeks and chest, rubbing vigorously with one mixture.
Soon enough, the two of them had gone through half of Sachi’s supply. Sitting in the bath, a haze of chemicals blurring Michiru’s vision and fogging up Sachi’s goggles.
“So,” Sachi says, voice filtered through the mask. “Did it work?”
Michiru takes a tentative sniff, and she perks up. “Hey, I think… yeah! That’s it!” She takes a more significant whiff, her lungs filling with beautiful scents, only for the foul odor to make her double over in a hacking fit.
“I-Impossible! Sachi gasps. She undoes the straps on her mask and lifts it up just enough to get her nose free. She coughs with her own inhalation, scooching away and readjusting the covering. “W-why isn’t it working!? I’ve never had such a stain stuck to someone before! How did it get even worse than it was!?”
The door opens, and their friend Amane arrives, pinching her nose shut and scanning around the room. Her eyes land on the two in the bath, and she quirks up an eyebrow at the scent. “What’s going on here?” she asks nasally to free herself from the stench.
Michiru, seeing Amane’s reaction, follows suit. Her voice becomes squeaky and nasally as she recounts her terrible ordeal.
“Did this weird cat… have a stripe down its back?” Amane asks
Both girls immediately perk up. “Yeah! How’d you know?” Michiru asks, sloshing up to the edge of the bath.
“I don’t know how it could have gotten here,” Amane admits, “But what you’re describing sounds like a skunk.”
“A… skunk?”
Sachi tilts her head, folding her arms over her chest. “Aren’t those… native to North America?”
Amane shrugs. “Usually, yeah. Maybe it escaped from a zoo or something. But… just to be sure, it’s a skunk….” She says this, her fingers trembling. She lets go of her nostrils and takes a quick sniff, only to cover up again, coughing and sputtering as she steps back. “Ooooh yeah, that’s a skunk, alright! And you two made it so much worse by trying to douse it off with water. That only intensifies the smell! However, it got here. At least I know how to take care of it. But, uh, you’re not really going to like it.”
“Please!” Michiru says, whining and splashing about in the bath. “I’ll do anything to get rid of this terrible stink!”
“I’ll go get what we need!” Amane says. “The market should still be open, and tomatoes are on sale!” She slams the door behind her and rushes out of the hallway, and she hopes to escape the stink for at least a little time.
“T… tomatoes?” Michiru asks.
“They do have an acidic property,” Sachi says, nodding. “Most of my remedies have been alkaline in nature. Maybe, that’s what the issue has been?”
“So, uh… what do we do now?” Michiru asks in her nasal voice.
“Well, I’m getting out of this bath before the stink gets on me!” Sachi declares, climbing out and wrapping herself in a towel. “You stay in there… maybe you’ll get stained with the floral scents of the cleaners and at least mask your stench.”
Michiru whimpers as the waiting begins.
It feels like forever, but it was basically enough time for Sachi to get dried and dressed before Amane finally returns, carrying a bag brimming with tomatoes.