As Tetsuya snipped the last thread, he had officially completed the production of the four girls' stage outfits.
All that was left was to wait for Sakiko to finish the final adjustments, and then all five outfits could be declared complete.
However—
"Ch-Chihaya-nii..."
Sakiko, who was putting the sample garment on a mannequin, suddenly wore a somewhat awkward expression.
"I've... run into a small accident over here."
"What kind of accident?"
"Do you know Soyo's specific bust measurements? I need both the upper and lower bust."
"..."
Hearing this, the experienced Tetsuya immediately understood what kind of accident Sakiko was talking about.
"Because the four outfits I was working on were all loose-fitting, one-size-fits-all, you subconsciously forgot about this, right?"
"Yes..."
Sakiko looked at the sample garment in front of her with considerable frustration.
"If I go by the mannequin's bust measurement, then the transformation process will definitely go as I envisioned... but the problem is, this is the mannequin's bust measurement, not Soyo's, so I have no way of guaranteeing the actual effect of this outfit now."
"...This is a pretty classic mistake."
Tetsuya walked over to the mannequin and looked at the part that was the focus of Sakiko's design.
"If her bust is larger than the mannequin's, then there will be a very noticeable tightness before the transformation. If it's smaller, the critical tension won't be enough for it to open up completely..."
At this, Tetsuya imagined the specific effect in his mind.
"No, it's not just the bust; the proportions of the waist and abdomen are also very important. When I modified the pattern for you, I also considered the stretch from below. If you only adjust the bust, it will throw the entire silhouette out of balance."
"Eh!?"
Sakiko's face fell in dismay.
"Then what should we do? Do we still have time to adjust it?!"
"We should have enough time, but... honestly, if we want to pursue the best transformation effect, it's best to make adjustments based on the model's actual figure."
With that, Tetsuya took out his phone.
"I'll ask Nagasaki-san when she's free. To finish this outfit, we'll need her help."
"...Eh?"
...One hour later...
When Soyo arrived at the address Tetsuya had sent, it was already nine o'clock at night.
As soon as she walked into the [KaZoKu] studio, she immediately saw Sakiko at the worktable, seriously writing something down with a pen and paper.
"...Good evening, Soyo."
Hearing the door open, Sakiko looked up and spoke apologetically to the slightly breathless girl in front of her.
"I didn't plan to bother you at this hour, but... for the upcoming live, I had to trouble you to come over."
"It's no problem at all, Sakiko."
Soyo quickly smiled and shook her head.
"I'm happy to be able to help you, Sakiko, not to mention you're the one making my outfit!"
"I didn't expect you to come over tonight."
Tetsuya said as he walked out of the stockroom carrying a packaging bag.
"It would have been perfectly fine time-wise even if you came tomorrow evening."
"If it was just you, I definitely would have come tomorrow... but since Sakiko is here, I wanted to help her finish her work as soon as possible."
Soyo shot Tetsuya an annoyed glare.
"I don't want Sakiko to lose out on rest time because of me."
"Actually... the problem this time is entirely on my end."
Seeing Soyo's slightly sharp tone towards Tetsuya, Sakiko quickly interjected to explain.
"If it wasn't for my oversight, this problem should have been solved much earlier."
"It's okay, Sakiko, you don't need to explain so much. This person already explained the whole situation to me."
Soyo shook her head, then walked over to Sakiko's side and sat down directly in Tetsuya's chair.
"He said these problems are inherently difficult for an apprentice to handle, and that he should have considered it when he was writing up the sewing instructions. So in the end, it's because this person was inconsiderate... Those were your original words, right?"
"Mhm, that's right."
Tetsuya nodded and admitted it readily.
"And for a beginner who is designing and making clothes for the first time, you've already done an outstanding job, Togawa. All you need to do now is accumulate the lessons from small mistakes like this and turn them into your own experience."
At this, he handed the tape measure from his own workbench to Sakiko.
"Alright, I'll wait outside for now. I'll leave the measuring to you. Just jot down the numbers in your notebook, and I'll come back in to make the adjustments later."
With that, he gave a wave and left the studio, leaving the two of them in a quiet environment to complete the measurements.
"As experience? Mhm, I understand."
On the other side, after hearing Tetsuya's gentle words of comfort, much of the self-blame in Sakiko's heart dissipated.
In order to make up for her oversight, she adjusted her mindset and stood up from the worktable, preparing to start measuring.
However, just then, Soyo, who had just been feigning complaints at Tetsuya, inexplicably froze.
"...W-Wait! Sakiko!"
The moment Sakiko picked up the tape measure, Soyo suddenly stood up in a panic.
"Is Chihaya Tetsuya going to be the one adjusting the outfit later!?"
"Mhm."
Sakiko gave an affirmative reply.
"Considering the time we have left and the difficulty of altering this outfit, if I were to do it myself, we might not make it in time, so Chihaya-nii has to do it."
"How could this happen..."
Soyo's expression immediately became incredibly conflicted.
"Doesn't that mean... he'll see my measurements later..."
"That... mhm... well, yes, that's right."
As a young girl herself, Sakiko naturally understood the shyness and embarrassment Soyo was feeling at this moment, but for the quality of the final product, Soyo would just have to endure it a little—
"By the way, after the adjustments are done, are you planning to go straight home, Soyo?"
In order to help Soyo relax as much as possible, Sakiko chose to change the subject.
Soyo replied truthfully.
"Mmm, I suppose I could, but at this hour, it's a bit too late to go home even by taxi."
"Eh? Then what will you do?"
"It's fine. We already discussed it before I came."
Then, Soyo gave an answer that almost made Sakiko drop the tape measure in her hand.
"I'll be staying over at Chihaya Tetsuya's house tonight."