Although Akira said that there wasn't much he could do, he was quite aware of the convenience the system brought him.
For example, regarding the sewing skills Wakana possessed, Akira was able to reach half of his level in just two months, which was already quite astonishing.
There are many difficult things in the world, and sewing, which doesn't seem very hard, requires a lot of effort if one delves deeper into it.
Wakana started learning to make Hina dolls when he was a child, and even now he can only barely make clothes for Hina dolls; larger-scale cosplay outfits require even more exploration.
Making clothes is such that anything made in less than three to five years is shoddy. Apprentices at old tailor shops would start doing odd jobs at seven or eight, and the master would only begin teaching them at fourteen or fifteen. They wouldn't become fully fledged until they were over twenty. Not to mention the unique skills each master kept secret, which were another major hurdle to learning.
What Akira was fortunate about was that once his sewing level increased, he would become proficient in all sewing techniques of that level. Even if he hadn't learned them, when it came time to use them, the corresponding muscle reactions and relevant knowledge would subconsciously surface in his mind, allowing him to master his skills more completely.
It was as if he had only learned how to make a few Japanese dishes, but in his mind, he also knew the twenty-eight cooking methods required for Chinese cuisine: frying, stir-frying, braising, sautéing, quick-frying, boiling, blanching, shabu-shabu, steaming, stewing, simmering, stew, braising, pan-frying, baking, stir-frying, shallow-frying, deep-frying, braising, saucing, mixing, quick-pickling, pickling, freezing, marinating, drunken, roasting, and smoking.
However, although he was already proficient in Japanese cuisine, the Chinese cuisine it brought with it, due to its vast variety and complex types, made Akira temporarily disinclined to make some Chinese dishes.
It was purely because the more he knew, the more ignorant he felt, and the more Chinese food he made, the more skills he felt he needed to master. Akira didn't want to experience such an obsessive-compulsive thing.
Akira picked up the scissors Wakana had prepared for trimming, pulled up Black Mountain Terrier's picture on his phone, and started trimming the wig to match a character from an anime.
After about 20 minutes of tidying, Akira slowly blew on the wig in front of him, reached out to smooth it down, made sure every part was handled well, then took off the wig and put on Nikaido Shion's wig.
Little Shion was the character Sajuna was going to cosplay, so Akira was clearly more serious. After about half an hour of busy work, he finally finished processing both wigs.
Wakana was busy with the epaulets on Black Mountain Terrier's outfit. Golden tassels hung from the epaulets, turning the shoulder pads into gold.
Wakana held the rectangular epaulets in his hand, using golden thread to sew the purchased golden tassels one by one onto the epaulets. After sewing the last tassel, Wakana slowly hid the stitches, then took the scissors, cut the thread, and poked the thread end into the epaulet with a long needle.
"Phew."
Wakana wiped the sweat from his forehead with a sigh of relief, took a deep breath, and then put down the sewn epaulets.
Akira walked over, picked up what Wakana had made, and looked at it. He saw his dense stitches, all indicating Wakana's meticulousness during the creation process.
"Wakana is really amazing."
Akira couldn't help but exclaim.
"I'm just used to it. After all, I usually make clothes for Hina dolls."
Wakana said modestly. Hina doll outfits require more delicate craftsmanship, so these simple epaulets didn't seem as impressive.
Akira nodded, then looked at the next part to be done.
Next to it was a swimsuit, the upper part of which had already been cut by Wakana. It looked like it was going to be sewn together with the prepared fabric.
"Wakana, is this part for Black Mountain Terrier?"
Akira pointed to the swimsuit on the ground and asked.
Wakana looked in the direction of Akira's finger, and his cheeks immediately turned red, as if he had thought of some embarrassing scene, and his tone became urgent.
"Ye-yes."
Wakana tried his best to calm himself down, but as soon as he thought of Kitagawa-san wearing this outfit that day, he couldn't help but blush.
"It, it was Kitagawa-san who recommended it."
"And it's a swimsuit, not what Akira-kun is thinking."
Akira put on a strange expression, as if he didn't understand, and said.
"Of course I can tell it's a swimsuit. What else would it be?"
"But Wakana, why is your face so red?"
Of course, it was because many things had happened at that time, not only did Kitagawa-san wear the swimsuit to let him see the fit, but some unspeakable things had happened before that.
Unspeakable, meaning he couldn't tell Kitagawa-san, and of course, he couldn't tell Akira-kun either.
Otherwise, it would definitely be social death!
"It couldn't be that Kitagawa-san wore it, could it!"
As soon as Akira's words came out, Wakana quickly waved his hand.
"How could that be? It's a new swimsuit. How could it be one that Kitagawa-san wore?"
That would be too embarrassing, Wakana said, unable to help but turn his face away.
"However, in that case, I'd feel awkward making Black Mountain Terrier's outfit with you."
Akira replied, after all, Black Mountain Terrier's outfit seemed much more revealing compared to Nikaido Shion's.
He still wanted to participate more in the making of Nikaido Shion's cosplay outfit, as it was an outfit Sajuna would wear. Although his craftsmanship wasn't very good yet, he still wanted to contribute more, so Sajuna would definitely be happier.
Thinking this, Akira asked Wakana.
"How is Little Shion's outfit coming along?"
"Most of it has already been cut and sewn. The general shape has been made."
Wakana had a smile on his face as he took out the Nikaido Shion outfit he had sewn from a nearby cabinet.
Placing the finished outfit on the plastic mannequin in the corner, Akira could roughly see the specific appearance of this cosplay outfit.
A purple-black velvet half-skirt, with two layers of pure white lace along the edge of the skirt. Due to the initial processing, only a part of the white lace had been made, but the stunning finished look could already be discerned.
Akira gently caressed the fabric on the mannequin, feeling the faint warmth from his fingertips transmitted by the velvet fabric, then took a deep breath.
Slowly, he took off Little Shion's cosplay outfit, spread it on the ground, then picked up a needle and thread from the side, and began to work on the lace on the dress.
Akira sewed the lace on the skirt hem stitch by stitch, his eyes incredibly serious and patient. The exquisiteness of everything in the world cannot be achieved without exchanging it for time.
Akira thought, if he wanted Sajuna to feel his affection, he would have to make the stitches on this dress not so easy to see.
When something appears naturally perfect, the impression left when its perfection is discovered will be even deeper.