About half an hour after Ritsuka had been dragged into the changing room by Crane, the curtain finally opened.
Looking as if all her dreams had come true, Crane stepped out from the changing room, her face slightly flushed with excitement, hugging a thick notebook to her chest.
Seeing her, Naoki could only twitch the corner of his lips—Fujimaru wasn't harmed, was she?
"Crane… what exactly did you do to Fujimaru?"
"Mr. Natsukawa! I'm so incredibly grateful!"
Crane suddenly bowed deeply to Naoki, hugging the notebook tightly as she shouted her thanks: "Seeing her in person is truly incomparable! No matter how many pictures and videos I've seen, no matter how much I've simulated and imagined, nothing compares to the inspiration a real person brings! Look, Mr.—even though these are just sketches, there are so many of them!"
"With this much inspiration, I'm certain I can create enough Mystic Code designs to fill Miss Fujimaru's entire wardrobe! Though, of course, finalizing them will take some time… Honestly, I can't wait to get started! I'll be locking myself in again now—please don't peek!"
"Oh, and Miss Fujimaru is still inside. She seemed a bit exhausted. If you could, Mr. Natsukawa, please help her out later."
After saying this in a rush, Crane immediately disappeared through another door, still hugging her notebook. That door, Naoki remembered, led to the empty storage room next door, which Crane now used as her personal research space.
Seeing Crane like this, Naoki felt slightly relieved—she seemed fine. Now, he just had to wait for her to finish the designs and hand them over to that genius. With her involved, creating the Mystic Code wouldn't take long at all.
"Well then, let's retrieve our Gudako now."
Arriving in front of the changing room, Naoki knocked lightly on the doorframe. "Hey, Fujimaru, are you okay?"
"Ugh… Huh? Chief? I… yeah… I'm fine. C-can you wait outside a moment? I'm still changing—uwaaa!"
Before she could finish, a startled cry came from inside, followed by the sound of clothes hangers clattering to the floor.
Naoki frowned, placing a hand on the curtain. "Fujimaru, are you alright? Did you fall while changing?"
"Ugh… Not changing… more like taking off clothes… The outfit Miss Crane gave me is kind of hard to remove. I can't reach the knot at the back… I can't take it anymore! My arms are so sore!"
Inside the changing room, Ritsuka struggled to stretch her arms behind her back, desperately trying to untie the knot. But it was positioned in a spot nearly impossible to reach.
After several failed attempts, Ritsuka, arms aching, let out a resigned sigh. "Haaah… Miss Crane's clothes are beautiful, but why are they so hard to take off?"
"Then, Fujimaru, would you like me to help you take it off?" Naoki suddenly offered from outside. "If you can't reach it, I'll just undo it for you. It's just one knot, right?"
"C-Chief wants to help me take it off… Ugh… O-okay—"
Ritsuka slightly parted the curtain and turned her back toward Naoki.
And the moment Naoki saw the outfit Ritsuka was wearing, he immediately recognized it. Coincidentally, he had quite a bit of experience removing this particular garment—on the order of dozens of times.
"Uhh… This outfit… Fujimaru, why are you wearing this?"
"Huh? Miss Crane said it was the most suitable for a girl, and I thought it looked beautiful, so I put it on. What's wrong?"
"Nothing… It's just that… this outfit… Hmm… Its structure is a bit special. If that knot you're talking about is undone, the entire outfit will just fall right off." Naoki said awkwardly.
As mentioned before, Rei could freely alter her body size and create various outfits at will, so she frequently changed clothes.
However, even though she wanted to change, she first needed a design. And conveniently, Crane was always enthusiastic about making clothes. So Rei would visit Crane every so often to restock her wardrobe, then wear the new outfits and show them off to Naoki.
The outfit Ritsuka was currently wearing happened to be the one Rei wore most often. After all… it was the outfit Rei had personally decided to wear as a bride in the future.
As for why Naoki knew the details so well—well, let's just say practice makes perfect.
Hearing Naoki's words, Ritsuka's face, already turned away, flushed completely red.
(I-it's a jumpsuit?! Wait, now that I think about it, the structure does seem like… Miss Crane, what kind of outfit did you even give me?! It's beautiful, sure, but why is it designed like this?!)
All girls love beautiful things. Since such a gorgeous outfit was offered without conditions, of course there was no reason not to try it on. But… right now, Ritsuka felt her embarrassment was about to explode.
"In that case, Fujimaru, shall I help you take it off?"
"W-wait a second, Chief—"
Before she could finish, Naoki's hand had already done the job. Accompanied by a sudden lightness on her back, Ritsuka suddenly felt all the clothing on her body—except the stockings on her legs—sliding down.
"!"
She quickly grabbed at her clothes to keep them from falling, her face burning red. Ritsuka glanced quickly behind her—the curtain was already closed, though she couldn't remember when, and judging by the indentations on the side, it had been firmly pressed shut.
"C-Chief… did you see anything?"
"No. I undid it with my eyes closed. I'm very familiar with that outfit." Naoki's calm voice came from outside. "Anyway, I'll wait outside. Hurry up and change, then come out. There's still another place we need to visit."
"O-oh… okay."
(Thank goodness he didn't see!)
Ritsuka, hugging her clothes, felt a wave of relief. If the Chief had seen her in her underwear, she wouldn't have been able to stay calm for at least a whole day.
(But… the Chief could remove this outfit even blindfolded… Is the Chief just… too skilled at this kind of thing?)