When Soyo finished washing up and entered Tetsuya's room, she immediately saw him tidying his messy bookshelf.
"...Sorry, Nagasaki-san, please give me another moment."
Tetsuya said while waging a losing battle with the row of books that simply would not line up neatly.
"This is weird. They were fine when I took this book out, so why won't it go back in now?"
"..."
Soyo's gaze also shifted to the bookshelf in front of him.
It was a massive wooden bookshelf, five rows high, with each shelf almost completely filled with books.
When she took a closer look at the contents, she couldn't help but widen her eyes.
Numerous books related to fashion were a given, but on the lower shelves, there were also a large number of books on diverse subjects like architecture, history, and geography.
What surprised her even more was that on the second shelf, the part he was currently organizing, she clearly saw books in four different languages.
"English, French, Chinese... and what's the other one?"
"Spanish. They're all foreign languages I'm currently studying."
Tetsuya answered.
"But aside from English, the other three are basically just entry-level books for daily conversation."
"...Do designers really have to learn so many languages?"
"Generally, no, but if you're aiming to be a top designer, then these few languages are unavoidable. French represents the highest tier of fashion and English is the most widely used, so those are a given. The vast markets for Chinese and Spanish are also gradually being valued by the fashion world. Considering that many high-end brands have started shifting their focus towards the low-to-mid-range market in recent years, following this trend, perhaps Chinese and English, the two most spoken languages, are what I should focus on in the next stage..."
Halfway through, Tetsuya suddenly realized he might have said a lot about topics an outsider wouldn't be interested in, so he quickly shook his head.
"Sorry, I got a little carried away."
"It's nothing. I'm the one who asked, after all."
After quietly listening to everything Tetsuya had said, Soyo couldn't help but remark with feeling:
"But I can tell, you really do love the fashion industry."
"...Honestly, I don't know if 'love' is the right word to describe my feelings for the fashion industry."
Tetsuya hesitated for a long moment before answering.
"After all, a large part of the reason I was able to enter this industry as a latecomer was due to my experience as a child laborer at the orphanage. That memory holds absolutely nothing beautiful or worth cherishing for me, but the experience it brought me did indeed become the foundation that has allowed me to get to where I am today."
"Rather than choosing to become a designer because I love it, it's more like I was simply pushed onto this path by fate. As for my motivation to keep going, it's not because of the joy I feel from making clothes, but for other reasons, like repaying the Chihaya family, and my transference of feelings for my childhood companion. Those two reasons alone are enough to make me work my hardest."
"..."
Although she had already heard a lot about Tetsuya from Anon, hearing him speak about it himself gave her a completely new perspective.
As a working adult, Tetsuya certainly had an experience and maturity that she could in no way compare to, but in the end, he was just a peer, only three years older than her. Behind that trustworthy reliability was a past far more complex than that of an ordinary person his age.
Just like Sakiko.
Thinking about it now, a large part of why she had been drawn to Sakiko was precisely because of the complexity she carried, wasn't it?
Having experienced a family tragedy and a complete change in her living environment, she could never become true friends with those carefree young ladies.
She held no prejudice or ill will towards those innocent and cheerful girls; she simply couldn't see them and her own overthinking self as the same kind of people.
And in that situation, the existence of Togawa Sakiko was the perfect companion for her.
Sakiko, who also had a complex past, shared her conspicuous sense of being an outsider and feeling of being ahead of their peers. On top of that, the outstanding excellence Sakiko displayed, and her confidence in always walking the correct path, had also deeply attracted Soyo, someone who was an outcast yet lacked a goal.
But... as time went on, and as she continued to grow, her thoughts on this inevitably began to change.
Sakiko choosing to run away in the face of misfortune made Soyo realize that she, too, had her own weaknesses and limits.
And Tetsuya's words just now also made her understand that a person's strength isn't something to be taken for granted, but is tangibly shaped by different experiences.
She was still inevitably drawn to them, but... rather than blind admiration and followership, other thoughts were gradually forming in her heart.
She wanted to understand their pasts more, to figure out what they were thinking, to witness from the closest possible distance what kind of futures each of them would greet from now on.
And herself... perhaps in that process, she could gradually find her own direction forward.
...
"...That outfit for Hoshino Ai, I looked it up online when I got back. It's truly a masterpiece worthy of its reputation."
Soyo suddenly said.
"Even after personally completing an outfit that was acclaimed by everyone, you still couldn't feel any joy from it?"
"That outfit is a bit of a complicated situation."
Tetsuya tilted his head, and the movements of his hands came to a stop.
"After all, that outfit was designed for Ai and Ai alone, so other people's opinions don't really have much value to me. More than that... I'd rather hear what Ai's own thoughts are on that outfit."
"In that case, you should be able to hear them soon."
Soyo said as she sat down on his bed.
"You two are meeting the day after tomorrow, after all."
"...If the situation allows, I will ask."
Finally, with great difficulty, Tetsuya managed to shove the book in his hand back into its original spot on the shelf.
"Alright, that's finally done... Well then, I won't disturb you any longer. Please get some rest, Nagasaki-san—Hm?"
Just as he was about to turn and leave the room, he was horrified to see Soyo slowly pull another book out from under his duvet...
"...You've got to be kidding me? There's more?"
An unprecedented despair appeared on Tetsuya's face.
"I had to fight for my life to get that last book in..."
"..."
Seeing the end-of-the-world expression on Tetsuya's face, Soyo couldn't help but shake her head with a laugh. She then got off the bed and walked over to his side with the book in hand.
"I'll help you tidy up... Let's see, this is an English book? So it should go on the second shelf, right?"
"Uh, yes."
"...Ah, no wonder you couldn't put the book back. Look here, there's something stuck in the middle of this book... a pencil?"
"Eh? Ah! Right, I was taking notes with a pencil while I was reading, so I must have accidentally left it inside."
"...You're even worse at housework than I thought."
"Sorry... I really wasn't paying attention..."
"It's fine... Now that I look closely, your other shelves are all crooked, aren't they?"
"At least they're still staying up there, right?"
"It's too irritating to look at! Alright, you hold this book for a second. I'm going to reorganize this shelf."
"There's no need for that, is there? More importantly, Nagasaki-san, you really should be resti—"
"It won't take long at all to just rearrange a few books. The only reason you think it's a pain is because you're so bad at tidying up... Here, you hold these too."
"Oh..."
And so, Soyo's bedtime was delayed by at least another fifteen minutes.
However, she also gained a new and fresh experience she'd never had before—tidying up someone else's room.
Novelty can sometimes be an important factor in a person's growth.
At least in this room, Soyo had just developed a new, slightly strange hobby.