The notice was slipped under the studio door like a paper guillotine:
"TOKYO CITY ARTS & EDUCATION BOARD – FACILITY INSPECTION"Date: Tomorrow.Reason: "Routine check for safety, curriculum legitimacy, and… appropriateness."
Kaito read it three times.It still said the same thing.
Yuuto, peeking over his shoulder, gasped."They're sending inspectors? Like, people in suits? People who don't blush easily?"
Kenji added, "Or worse… people who do blush easily, and then report you for it."
By noon, the news had spread through the student group chat:
Rei: "Great. We're about to be shut down."Haruka: "Do they… check for emotional safety? Because that's where we're failing."Kenji: "Do we get to pose for them?"Yuuto: "Kenji, read the room."Kenji: "The room wants to be drawn."
The next morning, the studio transformed into something almost respectable.Almost.
Kaito wore a button-up shirt instead of his usual paint-stained sweater.The floor got mopped. Twice.The mannequins were dressed. (Charles wore a bow tie.)Even the emergency vending machine cat was brushed.
And—most shocking of all—Haruka showed up fully clothed.
"Wow," Yuuto whispered. "You look like you might pay taxes."
"Don't push it," she replied.
The inspectors arrived at exactly 9:00 a.m.
Three of them.All in suits.All holding clipboards like weapons.
The leader, Ms. Tanaka, had the severe kind of bun that could deflect bullets.Her eyes scanned the studio with the suspicion of someone expecting to find a hidden orgy.
"Mr. Kaito," she said. "We're here to ensure your school operates within city guidelines."
"Of course," Kaito said with his best "I'm totally a responsible adult" smile. "We're a serious educational institution."
At that moment, Kenji walked by wearing only an apron.
Kaito's smile twitched. "Mostly serious."
The inspection began.
First, safety protocols.Kaito showed them the fire exits, the locked supply cabinets, and the absolutely not a wine fridge in the corner.
Then, curriculum review.Kaito handed them a binder containing lesson plans, which were… mostly real.
Ms. Tanaka frowned. "Your syllabus says 'Week 7: Experimental Poses – sword optional.' Explain."
Kaito swallowed. "It's… a metaphor. For creative freedom."
"Mm-hm," she said, clearly not buying it.
Finally, appropriateness of instruction.
Which was where things started to fall apart.
Ms. Tanaka looked up from her clipboard. "We will now observe a class in progress."
Kaito panicked internally.If the inspectors saw Haruka or anyone else in their usual state of… artistic vulnerability, the place was doomed.
"Uh… sure," he said, praying to every deity of sketchpads and charcoal. "Let's start with something wholesome."
The students were ready.Kind of.
Rei sat on the stage with a stack of bananas. "Still life," she said flatly. "No nudity. No swords."
Yuuto was drawing like his life depended on it.Kenji was suspiciously quiet, which was more alarming than anything else.
The inspectors watched.They nodded.They took notes.It was… going fine.
Until Kenji dropped his pencil.
He bent to pick it up.His apron slipped.
"WHAT—""OH MY—""Kaito, explain this!"
"It's… avant-garde!" Kaito blurted. "Symbolic commentary on vulnerability in a capitalist—"
"PUT SOME CLOTHES ON," Ms. Tanaka barked.
Kenji sighed and re-tied the apron. "Philistines."
Kaito could feel the inspection sliding toward disaster.
And then Haruka stood.
Not on the stage. Not undressing.Just standing in the corner, sketchbook in hand.
"If you're here to see what this school is," she said to the inspectors, "then look."
She flipped the sketchbook around.
It wasn't a nude.It was the students—laughing, working, talking.Moments between poses.The human part of the art.
"This place isn't about bodies," Haruka said. "It's about people. About being seen for who you are. Clothes or not."
The room went quiet.
Ms. Tanaka studied the drawings for a long time.
Then she closed her clipboard.
An hour later, the inspectors left.
Kaito braced for the worst.
But Ms. Tanaka paused at the door.
"Your… methods are unconventional," she said. "But I can't deny the results. The city will allow you to continue."
She glanced at Haruka. "And keep drawing like that."
Then she was gone.
The moment the door closed, the room erupted.
Yuuto hugged Haruka.Rei muttered, "I guess we're not criminals after all."Kenji declared, "I shall now celebrate by posing completely—"
"DON'T," everyone shouted.
Kaito caught Haruka's eye.
"Thanks," he said.
She smirked. "Guess I'm still the muse after all."
But this time, she didn't mean just for the art.
[End of Chapter 25]