"Oh, you're finally back. How was your first day?"
Kaoru Gojo peeked his head from the living room and saw his grandson taking off his shoes in the doorway.
Wakana looked up at his grandpa and smiled.
"Pretty fun."
Seeing the genuine smile on Wakana's face, Kaoru chuckled.
"That's good. I'm just about to paint some Hina doll faces. Do you want to come and help?"
"Sure." Without any hesitation, he agreed, following his grandpa into the house and outside the courtyard to the back, sitting beside him cross-legged on the clean, wooden floor of the workshop.
"You haven't been slacking on practicing your painting skills, have you?" Kaoru teased, handing him a perfectly smoothed doll head.
Wakana let out a light laugh.
Without answering, he picked up the menso brush and a Hina doll head, and began to paint with the precision of a master.
He took his time with the process, focusing carefully, trying to avoid making mistakes along each delicate stroke that defined the character and expression of the doll's face.
Looking at his grandson's seemingly impeccable painting skills, Kaoru felt a swell of pride. "Not bad. At least even if you don't succeed in your dreams of becoming a world-renowned fashion designer, you'll still be able to run Gojo Dolls when I die."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure you live long enough to see meet your great-grandchildren. And don't say such unlucky words." Wakana rolled his eyes.
"Wahahaha!" Kaoru held his belly and laughed loudly.
...
Friday.
A couple of days later, the class settled quickly after morning announcements.
Wakana Gojo had finally fully integrated himself with the class and the rest of his classmates.
He was currently focused on copying the notes from the board when a voice in front of him broke his concentration.
"Say, Gojo-kun, what are your thoughts about anime and manga?"
Wakana looked up from his book and into Marin's clear, bright eyes. She had twisted around in her seat, resting her elbow on the back of her chair.
"Anime and manga?" Wakana tilted his head in confusion. "What about them?"
"Their story, characters, and most importantly…" Marin turned around and grabbed her bag, looking inside its contents.
"Found it!" She pulled out a small, well-worn paperback book with vividly drawn anime characters pictured on the front and back of the cover.
She stretched her arms with the book in hand and hovered it in front of Wakana's face. "Their outfits!"
Wakana read the red capitalized manga title in front of him: Fairy Tail.
Staring at the manga in front of his eyes, he blinked. "Fairy Tail?"
"Yes! Have you ever seen it before?" Marin gave a closed-eye smile while putting the manga near her face.
"Well, I watched it when I was younger," he admitted.
Marin moved her face closer to his with undisguised joy in her eyes. "Really?!"
He nodded. "I would say I've watched plenty of anime before I got too busy with fashion designing."
Marin suddenly leaned back, her focus intensifying. "Gojo-kun, have you ever used a sewing machine before?"
"Naturally. I do occasionally try and create the clothing I design," he confirmed, wondering where this line of questioning was going.
"Yatta!" Marin cheered quietly. "Listen, Gojo-kun. Can I ask for your help with something after class?"
"Sure. What is it about?"
Marin stretched her finger over in front of her lips. "It's a secret for now~ Hehehe~"
After getting what she wanted, she turned back around and focused her attention back to the teacher, leaving Wakana with question marks floating around his head.
"So mysterious?" he muttered to himself, intrigued despite his confusion.
...
The final bell rang, echoing through the Kashiwanoha Junior High campus.
Wakana had already packed his books, mentally preparing for the quiet ride home later and creating another design to submit.
Marin, however, was clearly not in a hurry.
She waited impatiently for the last few students to leave, practically vibrating with pent-up energy.
"Are you sure you're staying here, Marin?" Nowa and the other girls, Daia and Rune, asked.
"Yup. Gojo-kun and I have some business to take care of first."
"Okay~" Nowa turned towards Wakana and waved. "Take care of our girl for us, 'kay, Gojo-kun?"
Wakana nodded. "Don't worry. You girls get home safe."
"Bye bye~ Marin, Gojo-kun~" With a wave of her hand, Nowa and the other two quickly disappeared around the corner.
Wakana turned his attention back to Marin.
"So what now, Kitagawa-san?"
Marin grinned, her pink eyes sparkling with conspiracy.
She grabbed her school bag and another mysterious, folded bag. "Follow me, Gojo-kun. It's a bit of a walk, but it's worth it."
She led him through quiet corridors and up a back staircase, eventually stopping at a heavy, old wooden door tucked away in an unused corner of the third floor. It had a small, faded sign that read "Handicraft Club."
Marin unlocked the door and motioned him inside.
The room was dusty but spacious, filled with shelving units holding old projects, spools of yarn, and half-finished knitting. In the corner, next to a large window, sat an old, heavy-duty sewing machine.
Wakana looked around, slightly awestruck. "What is this place, Kitagawa-san?"
"This is the old Handicraft Club room," Marin whispered, closing the door behind them. "It hasn't been used officially in years. I've been using this room during my second year for personal reasons. And because it had a sewing machine."
Wakana tilted his head, his curiosity piqued. "Personal reasons?"
Marin placed her bags on a clean desk and turned, suddenly taking on an air of fierce determination.
Without another word, she reached up and began unbuttoning the crisp white blouse of her school uniform.
Wakana's mind completely seized up. His eyes widened, his face instantly went from pale white to bright, blazing red, and his hands flew up in a gesture of utter shock.
"K-Kitagawa-san?! What are you doing?!" he stammered, his voice a panicked squeak.
The sight of her bare shoulders and the start of her collarbone as she pulled the shirt open was utterly overwhelming.
Marin's own face flushed a deep red at his reaction.
She quickly put a hand up to cover her chest, slightly surprised by his intensity, but she kept the blouse open. "C-can you turn around for a while, Gojo-kun?"
Wakana immediately did as told, snapping his body around to face the dusty wall, his heart hammering against his ribs.
What the hell is happening?!
Behind him, he heard a rustle of clothing as she quickly changed.
"Okay… you can turn back now," Marin said, her voice a little breathless but firm.
Wakana slowly turned around, preparing himself for the worst.
But the sight that greeted him made him freeze, though his face remained bright red.
Marin stood before him, wearing a clumsy, clearly homemade approximation of a familiar signature long red dress, complete with the white ruffles and pink waist details.
"Mirajane Strauss' dress?" Wakama immediately recognized it.
However, it looked poorly made.
The red fabric was thin, cheap polyester that sagged under its own weight.
The famous ruffled hemline, which should have been voluminous and structured, was a sad, uneven gathering of white trim, floppy and deflated.
The delicate pink sashes were crudely tacked onto the waist, twisting awkwardly.
Marin held the poor creation out, her face flushed with embarrassment, watching Wakana's face anxiously.
"I… I wanted to try making a cosplay for my favorite character in Fairy Tail, Mirajane Strauss," she confessed, her voice barely sounding. "I wanted the dress so badly, and I thought, 'I know how to use a needle!' So I went and bought some fabric and tried to make it using the sewing machine here last year."
She held the dress higher, exposing the worst parts.
The seams were pulled tight and puckered in some places, and in others, they looked like they were barely holding together.
The small, white bow at the bust was lopsided, its center collapsing inward.
"I even tried to look up tutorials online, but… I don't think I got past the second step without messing up the measurements," Marin admitted, looking down at the floor, totally defeated. "It's pathetic, right? It looks nothing like Mirajane's actual dress."
She clutched the fabric, her voice shifting from self-pity to fierce loyalty. "But that's why it has to be perfect. Mirajane is so cool! She's beautiful and kind, she runs the guild bar, and she's like a big sister to everyone. But when she's fighting, she becomes so powerful, this absolute demon. I love that duality, that she can be both so gentle and so strong. If I'm going to embody that, the dress can't be this sad, cheap thing. It has to look like something a genuine S-Class Mage would wear."
Wakana stared at the dress, and then back at Marin.
He saw the poor construction, the bad tension, the wrong fabric choice, the absolute lack of structural support, but he also saw the fierce desire to create.
He felt a deep, respectful awe for the attempt.
He walked carefully in front of Marin, knelt, and gently touched the skirt. "May I?"
Marin nodded.
Wakana took a moment, immediately falling into his professional tailoring mindset, his panic momentarily forgotten in the face of a technical challenge.
"Well, Kitagawa-san," Wakana began, his voice soft, almost clinical, "First, I want to say that the effort you put in is amazing. You figured out the core shapes of the bodice and the skirt without a proper pattern, which is impressive."
He gently guided his fingers along a seam near the shoulder strap, where the fabric had been pulled too tight.
"But if you look here, the tension on your machine is too high," he explained. "This causes the stitches to pucker the fabric, especially since this polyester is very thin. You need a lighter hand and better-matching thread tension."
He moved to the large skirt. "The fabric you chose is a cheap polyester, right? For a garment that needs this much volume and flowing movement, you need something with more weight and drape. This material is just too light to hold the desired shape."
Wakana touched the infamous white ruffle at the hem. "This ruffle looks like you just gathered the fabric directly onto the main skirt. For a structured ruffle that stands out, you need to use a stiffer material for the ruffle itself, and you also need interfacing inside the hem of the red skirt to give the whole thing structure."
He finished his analysis, stepping back and looking at Marin, who was staring at the dress with wide eyes, completely overwhelmed by the technical terms.
"It is not pathetic, Kitagawa-san," Wakana concluded earnestly. "It shows you have an incredible eye for design and the motivation to create it. You just lack the technical skill and the right materials."
Marin slowly let the dress droop back down.
Her eyes were no longer defeated; they were sparkling with a terrifying, hopeful intensity.
"Gojo-kun…" she began, her voice gaining strength, "You know exactly what needs to be fixed. You know the fabrics, the tension, everything."
She looked him straight in the eye, and a rising tension built up between them.
"So… I know this is a huge thing to ask, and you don't even know me that well yet," Marin rushed out, taking a large, trembling breath. "But will you make cosplay clothing for me? I want to cosplay as Mirajane, and I want her red dress to be perfect. Only you can do it."
She knelt beside Wakana and grabbed his hand.
"I can't really do anything myself..." She lowered her head and continued. "But even so, I want to do something for Mirajane Strauss... I love her, so I want to do this!"
"Please Gojo-kun..."
The weight of her request, the trust, the monumental task, all crashed down on Wakana.
But when he looked into her vibrant, passionate eyes, he couldn't find a single reason to refuse.
Her pure devotion to the character was intoxicating.
"Kitagawa-san, you don't really have to beg me, you know."
Marin raised her head and stared into Wakana's charming, yet kind eyes.
"I've already decided to help you the moment you asked me. After all, we're friends, aren't we?"
Marin Kitagawa didn't say anything and only continued to stare at the boy's face in front of her.
Soon, her eyes started turning red, and tears started to form and fall down her cheeks.
"Eh?" Wakana quickly froze up in confusion.
"Wahhh~ Gojo-kun..."
"W-why are you crying, Kitagawa-san?"
"Thank you for being so kind to me... Wuu~"
Seeing a new side to the beautiful girl in front of her, Wakana could only laugh helplessly.
A few minutes later, Marin finally stopped crying, and Wakana handed her tissues to wipe her tears with.
"My make-up is completely ruined..." Marin hicked as she grumbled.
"Don't worry, you still look beautiful."
Without any warning, Wakana, unaware, suddenly dealt a high crit damage to Marin Kitagawa.
"Eh?" Marin turned her head towards him, only to see Wakana so focused on the dress she was wearing.
"I've never made a cosplay costume before, Kitagawa-san," Wakana suddenly admitted, running a hand through his hair. "But it shouldn't be too different from regular outfits."
"I can definitely do it," Wakana said firmly. "I will make you the perfect Mirajane Strauss dress."
Marin gasped, her eyes immediately started welling up with another round of tears of joy.
Her relief was overwhelming, and she threw her hands over her mouth to stop a sob.
"Thank you, Gojo-kun! Thank you so much!" she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.
Wakana nodded with a smile. "You're welcome. However, we still need your measurements. It's too late for that now, though. Do you wanna come over to my house tomorrow?"
"Your house?" Marin tilted her head.
"Sure!"
"Alright, let's exchange PINE contact details and I'll send you my address later."
"Okay~! Thank you very much, Gojo-kun~!"