Yuji and I exchanged a quick glance and swallowed hard.
Steeling my resolve, I reached for the handle of the Clothing Lab door, slid it open, and called out.
"Pardon the intrusion. I believe our club members are in your care."
As I peeked through the door with a polite greeting, every girl in the Clothing Lab snapped their attention toward the entrance—straight at Yuji and me. These were the members of the Handicrafts Club. At first, they looked merely surprised, but once they realized two boys were visiting a room filled exclusively with girls, their expressions shifted into wary, suspicious glares that seemed to ask what business we could possibly have there.
Hey, it’s not like we’re here to hit on anyone.
"Ah, Onii-chan!"
The one who rescued Yuji and me from those uncomfortable stares was Mika, who was busy at a table in the back of the lab. I reacted instantly to her voice, raising a hand as I replied.
"Yo, Mika! Is the costume-making going smoothly?"
"Yeah, great! We’re just doing the final assembly now!"
"I see."
Thanks to that loud exchange across the room, the suspicious looks from the Handicrafts Club members softened. They seemed to realize Mika and I were siblings and lowered their guard.
Excuse us.
Yuji and I let out small sighs of relief, offered another brief apology for the intrusion, and stepped into the lab.
We gave slight nods to the club members working at the tables near the entrance as we passed, making our way toward the station where Mika and the others were gathered. As we arrived, Mika seemed to have reached a natural stopping point, so I spoke to her.
"Good work. So, Mika, how’s the bear coming along?"
"‘How’s the bear,’ Onii-chan? The way you say it makes it sound like we’re keeping a live one as a pet."
"Haha, fair point. Let me rephrase: how’s the suit coming along?"
"Hiiragi-san is sewing the last parts together right now."
Mika pointed toward the window, where I could see Hiiragi-san’s back. She was hunched over a sewing machine, intensely focused on stitching a large piece of fur. She looked so absorbed in her work that I hesitated to even say hello.
As I wavered, Saori-chan, who was busy tidying up the workstation, called out to me.
"Good work today, Onii-san."
"Ah, Saori-chan. Good work."
"Yes. Is your side of the project already finished?"
"Yeah, pretty much. We managed to get everything into decent shape. We came to check on your progress while we reported our own completion."
"I see. As for us… well, it’s as you see."
Following Saori-chan’s prompt, I looked over the partially cleared table. Although the tools had been organized, scraps of bear fur and cloth cut into specific patterns were piled high on the surface, leaving no doubt that they were in the middle of a major project.
"Hmm. Looks like it’ll still be a while before you’re totally finished."
"Yes… Oh, but the temporary assembly is almost done. We were actually going to come get you once it was ready. We need Yuji-san to try it on for a final fitting so we can make the fine adjustments."
That made sense. You couldn't do the final tweaks without a fitting. Wait, a fitting?
"……"
The moment the realization hit, I glanced around the Clothing Lab at the members of the Handicrafts Club and then looked at Yuji. He had clearly reached the same conclusion, and his face was twitching. Well, I couldn't blame him.
As I gave Yuji a look of profound pity, he asked Saori-chan a question in a voice that sounded like it was being squeezed out of a constricted throat.
"Saori-chan. Is the fitting… going to happen here?"
"Yes. If Yuji-san tries it on here, we can make adjustments immediately. Why? Do you have somewhere you need to be?"
"No, it’s not exactly that…"
While Yuji struggled to find a way to voice his reluctance, Mika—who had clearly guessed the reason—leaned over and whispered into Saori-chan’s ear as the latter tilted her head in confusion.
"Listen, Saori-chan. What Yuji-san means is…"
Once Mika finished her explanation, Saori-chan’s eyes went wide, and she bowed her head in a panic.
"Oh! I-I’m so sorry! I didn’t think that far ahead…!"
"No, you don’t have to apologize, Saori-chan. In the end, it’s something I’ll be showing off in front of the whole student body anyway… the whole… student… body…"
Yuji's voice trailed off as he repeated the words, his face flushing crimson as he stared at the floor. In all fairness, most high schoolers wouldn't dream of parading around in a mascot suit unless it was for a part-time job or a school festival. Doing it on the day of the sports festival was one thing—the frantic energy and general absurdity of the event provided a natural shield. But doing it here? In the Clothing Lab? After school, with the Handicrafts Club watching? That was a special kind of torture.
I closed my eyes and offered a silent prayer for the slumped Yuji. Rest in peace.
While we sat at the chairs by the workstation trying to encourage the dejected, blushing Yuji, the rhythmic thrumming of the sewing machine by the window finally stopped. A moment later, Hiiragi-san let out a breath of pure relief.
"…Done!"
It seemed the final pieces had finally been joined.
"…Oh? Kokonoe-kun, Hirose-kun… when did you get here?"
"Ah, just a little while ago."
Hiiragi-san must have been incredibly focused, as she only just noticed our presence. She looked slightly surprised as she took us in. If Genya-san ever found out about this, he’d probably scold her for getting so absorbed in a task that she neglected her situational awareness.
"Is something wrong, Hirose-kun?"
"……"
Hiiragi-san tilted her head, confused by the way Yuji was silently staring at the item in her hands with a look of pure dread. Well, I couldn't blame him for being preoccupied when the source of his impending doom was right in front of him.
Hiiragi-san turned her gaze away from the unresponsive Yuji and spoke to me.
"Kokonoe-kun? What’s with Hirose-kun? He’s acting strange."
"Hmm? Well, it’s a bit of a long story…"
I scratched my cheek, keeping my answer vague. It was hard to tell Hiiragi-san—who was clearly proud of finishing the suit—that Yuji was currently dying of embarrassment.
"I see… well, whatever. More importantly, Hirose-kun, sorry to rush you, but could you try this on?"
Hiiragi-san brushed off my vague response as she stood up and walked toward us, holding the completed suit.
"…O-Okay."
"Please. Oh, and you can use the prep room over there to change."
As Yuji took the suit with a stiff expression, Hiiragi-san pointed toward the Clothing Prep Room. Yuji closed his eyes for a moment, let out a slow breath, and spoke with a voice of grim determination.
"…Understood. I’m going."
Holding the suit, Yuji trudged toward the prep room with heavy steps. Godspeed, Yuji.
After Yuji disappeared into the room, I turned to Hiiragi-san to ask the question that had been bugging me.
"Hey, Hiiragi-san? Can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Before I came in, I heard the Handicrafts Club girls complaining that they couldn't work with the bear fur at all. How did you guys manage it? You were just using a regular sewing machine, weren't you?"
Needles snapping, scissors dulling, and sewing machines groaning in protest—those were the sounds of defeat I’d heard from the hallway. How had Hiiragi-san succeeded with the same equipment?
When I posed the question, Hiiragi-san lightly clapped her hands.
"Oh, that. It’s true that it’s nearly impossible to process the fur directly with the tools they have here. But…"
Hiiragi-san shifted her gaze toward Saori-chan.
"Saori-chan. That thing I lent you…"
"Yes. This, right?"
With those words, Saori-chan pulled a wooden object out of a bag on the table. Wait, that’s…
"We used this to cut the fur."
"Is that… your Kaiken?"
What Hiiragi-san showed me was one of the Kaiken—the sub-weapons we used during dungeon exploration. Indeed, with those blades, even bear fur that laughed at normal tools would be cut like paper. In fact, if the Kaiken couldn't cut it, we wouldn't have been able to slay the bears in the first place.
"Exactly. We drew the patterns on the fur, and then I had Saori-chan cut them out with that."
"But Hiiragi-san, even if you can cut it, you can't sew it with a regular needle, right? Did you poke holes in the fur with the tip of the dagger first?"
"That’s one way to do it, but we went with a different approach this time. If it were just the raw bear fur, that might be the only way… but we attached a backing cloth to the underside."
"…A backing cloth?"
As I tilted my head, not quite following, Hiiragi-san picked up a small scrap of material and showed it to me.
"Yes, a backing cloth. We used fabric glue to stick this to the underside of the fur. A normal needle won’t go through the hide itself, but it will go through this backing cloth."
"Heh…"
"The Handicrafts Club members told us we shouldn't use glue because it would damage the fur… but given how ridiculously tough this hide is, there wasn't really any other way, was there?"
"I guess not…"
As I processed her logic, Mika and Saori-chan chimed in.
"But Onii-chan, the Handicrafts Club girls are still trying to find a way to process it."
"The results are… well, see for yourself."
Mika and Saori-chan glanced toward the club members, and I followed their gaze. Over there, the members of the Handicrafts Club were struggling desperately with the scraps of bear fur that Mika and the others had given them.
I saw one member brandishing a hammer—likely borrowed from the workshop—trying to drive a heavy iron nail into the hide. Wait, are they serious?
The sound of the hammer striking the nail echoed through the Clothing Lab.
"Ugh, even this won't work!?"
"Sigh… if we can't even make a hole with a hammer and nail, then we're at our wit's end."
"I suppose so. At this rate, we'll have to use backing cloth like they did…"
It seemed the hammer and nail had been their final, desperate resort. A tragic atmosphere of defeat hung over the Handicrafts Club. Seriously, who tries to sew something by using a hammer and nails?
"It looks like even the pros in the Handicrafts Club couldn't manage it. I guess Yukino-san was right to give up on processing the hide itself early on."
"You're right, Mika-chan. If we had tried to work with the fur the traditional way, we might never have finished."
Mika and Saori-chan watched the dejected club members with a sense of relief. After seeing that disaster, I could understand why.
"Anyway, that’s why we moved forward with our own method. Thanks to that, we managed to get it mostly done today. Once we check the fit on Hirose-kun and do the final adjustments, we're all set."
Hiiragi-san spoke with a hint of pride in her voice. Well, as long as it worked.
Suddenly, the Handicrafts Club members began to stir. We looked toward the center of the commotion and saw a strange figure emerging. It was covered from head to toe in plush, jet-black fur. The hood featured a pair of large, round eyes and a charmingly simple mouth. It radiated a sense of harmless whimsy rather than the primal terror of a forest predator.
"…That’s Yuji, right?"
"Yes. It turned out great, didn't it?"
"I mean, it’s certainly something…"
I wasn't sure how to respond to Hiiragi-san’s pride. I just continued to stare blankly at Yuji’s transformed figure. I never expected it to look like this. When I heard they were making a bear costume, I had imagined a realistic taxidermy-style suit like you’d see in a museum. Apparently, I was way off.
"How is it, Onii-chan? Isn't it cute?"
"A-Ah. Yeah, I guess so…"
Mika boasted about the costume's quality, and while it was cute, it was a very specific kind of cute. It was a stylized mascot suit—the kind of "yuru-chara" you see representing a prefecture or a brand.
The completed costume was a mascot, not a beast. I could only imagine the internal turmoil Yuji was currently facing, dressed as an adorable, fluffy bear.