Kaito thought the inspection was the storm.He was wrong.The real chaos came after.
It started two days later, when the studio's inbox exploded.
Apparently, Ms. Tanaka's assistant had posted an anonymous blog entry titled:
"Inside Tokyo's Most Unusual Art School – Where Vulnerability Meets Vision."
It wasn't scandalous.In fact, it was weirdly flattering.She'd described the school as "a rare place where the human body is drawn with more honesty than any textbook could teach."
Kaito didn't know whether to frame the article or hide from it.
By the weekend, people were showing up at the door.Not just curious art students—everyone.
A chef who wanted to learn "sensual vegetable sketching."A breakdancer who wanted to pose mid-spin.A married couple who insisted on joint nude portraiture as therapy.
Yuuto, checking the sign-in sheet, whispered, "This is… a lot."
Rei muttered, "We're not running an art school anymore. We're running a circus."
Kenji beamed. "Every circus needs a ringmaster. I call dibs."
"No," everyone said.
Haruka watched the growing crowd from the corner.
"You know this means you'll have to raise tuition, right?" she told Kaito.
He winced. "I hate talking about money."
"Then let me do it," she said, with the tone of someone who had absolutely negotiated a record label contract in a smoking room at 2 a.m.
The next class was… chaos.
There were twenty people crammed into a space built for twelve.Easels collided.Pencils rolled under tables.Someone brought a parrot. (The parrot bit Rei.)
The day's model—a shy literature student—nearly fainted when she realized she was posing for twenty strangers instead of the usual handful.
"Breathe," Haruka told her. "You're not meat on a plate. You're a poem in skin."
It worked. Sort of.
During the break, Kaito escaped to the supply closet, breathing like he'd just run a marathon.
Haruka followed."You look like a man who just realized his dream comes with paperwork."
"It's… a lot," Kaito admitted. "I wanted this place to be alive, but I didn't think it would be this alive."
Haruka leaned against the wall. "Welcome to success. It's messy. And sometimes has parrots."
He laughed despite himself."Why are you helping me so much?"
She hesitated."Because if this place goes under, where else am I gonna swing Brenda without getting arrested?"
By the end of the week, the Art of Undressing had doubled its enrollment.Kaito was overwhelmed.Yuuto was exhausted.Rei was perpetually glaring at newcomers like they were trespassing on sacred ground.Kenji was… Kenji. ("I've named the parrot 'Nude-ini.'")
And Haruka?Haruka was more radiant than ever.
She'd taken on the unofficial role of mentor, guiding the shy, the awkward, the overconfident.And somehow, she was still Haruka—sharp-tongued, unpredictable, but with a softness she no longer hid.
One evening, after everyone had gone, Kaito found her sitting on the modeling stage—not posing, just… thinking.
"You're still here?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I like the quiet after the mess."
Kaito joined her.For a moment, neither spoke.
"You ever think," she said finally, "that maybe this school isn't just about drawing people… it's about drawing them out?"
Kaito smiled. "That's the nicest accidental philosophy I've ever heard."
She smirked. "I'm full of surprises."
And for the first time since the flood of new faces, Kaito didn't feel overwhelmed.He felt… ready.
Because maybe chaos wasn't a storm to survive.Maybe it was the very thing that made the art worth making.
[End of Chapter 26]