Akira continued to help Wakana until evening. The fabric that was originally scattered all over the room had taken on the detailed look of a finished product.
Akira and Wakana lay on the floor of the room, panting.
"It's really exhausting," Akira sighed.
Then he sat up. "Wakana, I can't help you anymore today."
Wakana tried to stand up but failed. "Is Akira-kun leaving?"
"Yes, I still have my part-time job at the restaurant," Akira replied.
Since he had already taken time off to care for Sajuna, it was better to go to work as usual today.
If he always thought about being lazy, he might as well have cooked at home to hone his culinary skills.
There would be no need to work part-time to increase his cooking experience. Wasn't he working part-time to quickly increase his experience points?
As Akira thought this, he looked at his status panel.
[Cooking Lv6: 86/100]
[Slightly Accomplished: Your achievements can be even higher!]
[Reading Lv6: 10/100]
[Slightly Accomplished: Keep striving, climb the peak of knowledge.]
[Social Lv3: 25/100]
[Beginner: Good interpersonal skills are a prerequisite for interaction.]
The levels of his cooking and reading skills were already close to his expectations, and his social skills were also slowly increasing through his part-time job.
Thus, the next skill to grind experience for was the sewing skill he was currently learning.
But he had to get through this period first.
Akira thought this as he arrived at his part-time job, went to the changing room as usual to put on his uniform, and then went to the back kitchen to help Kota.
After work, Akira reviewed his gains and felt quite satisfied so far.
But he always felt like he was too lax?
Although he said he wanted to work hard to train himself, it was only to increase his skill experience points.
And all the rest of his life seemed to revolve around "love."
Is revolving around "love" not good?
If this were a story, the theme of love would undoubtedly be good. Readers would look forward to the interaction and emotional development between the male and female protagonists. But if he lived his life with love as his main focus, Akira would feel like there was something wrong with his brain.
Returning home in the evening, Akira took out his phone as usual and sent a message to Sajuna.
[Akira: Sajuna, good evening.]
[Sajuna: Good evening.]
[Akira: Is your cold better today?]
[Sajuna: My cold is much better.]
After the message was sent, Akira was still thinking about how to reply to Sajuna when her message came in proactively.
[Sajuna: Akira-kun, what did you do today?]
[Akira: Is Sajuna checking up on me?]
[Sajuna: ...]
[Akira: If you're checking up on me, I'll tell you.]
[Sajuna: ...Then I won't ask.]
[Akira: This afternoon, I helped a friend make a cosplay outfit at his house.]
Akira thought for a moment and added another sentence.
[Akira: There were no girls there.]
[Sajuna: I don't care if there were any girls there.]
[Akira: Sajuna doesn't care about cosplay costume making?]
[Sajuna: I don't care at all.]
Sajuna, holding her phone, was lying on her bed in an oversized T-shirt, her legs bouncing on the bed. Looking at Akira's message, her cheeks puffed out slightly in annoyance.
[Akira: But the outfit isn't finished yet, and I'm not the main one making it, just helping out.]
[Sajuna: Oh.]
[Akira: When it's done, Sajuna, don't be too surprised.]
How could that be?
How could anything surprising happen?
Sajuna hummed, saying it was just a boy her age. Could he really make a world-class outfit?
However, if Akira-kun made an outfit for her himself, that would be great.
As soon as this thought came to Sajuna, she couldn't hold back. Her fingers tapped on the screen, and the message was sent.
[Sajuna: Akira-kun, why would you make clothes?]
[Akira: Because Sajuna is a cosplayer. If I couldn't make clothes, wouldn't I always be making Sajuna ask other people for help?]
Sajuna suddenly remembered Akira asking Shinju to teach him photography. Was he trying to learn everything related to her?
That would be too much of a waste of time!
But she also felt too shy to tell him not to do it, and she was a little happy herself, seeing that he seemed to enjoy it.
Sajuna was conflicted.
Akira waited for a while and, finding that Sajuna hadn't replied, figured she was either shy or busy with something else. He put down his phone and went to the bedroom to take a shower.
When he came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, Akira was still thinking about his life.
Was there anything he wanted to do besides dating Sajuna?
Thinking this, Akira still decided to communicate with Sajuna.
[Akira: Sajuna, do you have any future plans?]
[Sajuna: ?]
[Akira: Like, what kind of profession you'll pursue in the future.]
[Sajuna: I actually want to draw manga.]
To become an artist?!
That's a great decision.
After all, heroines who can draw make up a large proportion in romance stories.
The rest are either naturally lively heroines or artistic girls with a scholarly aura.
Akira paused when he thought of this.
Artistic girl, writing, novel.
Once this idea appeared, the thoughts in his mind became uncontrollable.
He couldn't help but want to open his computer and record his gushing ideas.
In this world, he hadn't tried writing yet!
---
Wakana's Struggle
My head hurts so much, my stomach is so hungry, and my brain is dizzy.
I feel like my body is numb, I want to throw up, and I don't even want to move a finger.
Wakana lay sprawled on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling.
He no longer had the energy to continue making the clothes.
Even though Akira-kun had helped him with a large part of it this afternoon, there still seemed to be a lot of work left.
He hadn't slept for some time recently, even though he had been working hard to finish this outfit.
Why couldn't he finish the outfit at a time like this?
Did he really have no talent for making clothes?
Wakana's mind wandered. Although he had dark circles under his eyes, he had no desire to sleep at all.
He hadn't practiced with dolls for many days because of making clothes, even though he wasn't even skilled at making dolls yet.
Should he not have persevered at all?
Not everything requires a return. What if he couldn't even become a master in the end?