Seaside Fashionista Episode 5 Part 3

Narration starts by talking about how you take Arachne to her room which it says can charitably be described as a pig sty. She freaks out about you seeing it and claims she normally keeps it tidy, but all the seasonal work for the events and measuring battles meant that she let it slip by her. You point out that this isn’t just a week’s worth of messes, say it might be equal to Tsathoggua’s mess, or say it sure does get attention.

Whichever way you respond, she yells in shame and says it’s like being stabbed with a needle right in the heart. She starts feeling faint and sits where she is with a self-deprecating smile. Arachne then comments on how this much activity seems like a bit much for her at the moment, then asks how long she slept at the hospital. You tell her she should rest now, ask if she’s hungry, and tell her to forget about work.

Arachne tries to refuse, saying there isn’t time for that as she feels her work for the event is more important than her health. But even as she says that she can’t bring herself to move. She then apologizes for being selfish and says she knows. Arachne then moves to a chair to sit in and buries her face in her hands, speaking in a pained voice.

Arachne says she heard what Hephaestus was talking about and how he called her an idiot genius. She has a little laugh about how awful his speaking style is, but admits he might have a point.

Arachne starts talking about how an image of her model’s Shadow comes to her when she’s making clothes. She explains that this Shadow is something like her model’s hidden charm, and by doing a measuring battle she can materialize it. When she sees through to the Shadow, she makes something that can display all of that person’s charm. But no one was ever pleased by it.

You ask Arachne if she’s talking about the people who exiled her. She doesn’t immediately answer, but she talks about how, like Hephaestus has said, she wasn’t born this way. She was changed to this form in her home world before she came to Tokyo.

Arachne mentions that the System of Olympus is predicated upon the idea that ones at the top of its hierarchy are infallible, which is why the world shines perfectly like gold. When she presented them her work, she ended up like this.

She says she only used her power, that she just drew out the charm of their imperfections. It should have been perfect, but she figures they didn’t like it. Arachne starts talking about how that it her enemy and is why she always worked so hard to win against it. You question or comment on it, which she reaffirms and says is why she made an enemy of the world.

She then asks you what’s wrong, so you ask her why she’s doing that. Does she enjoy it? She’s shocked by the question, then tries to apologize for her reaction because she’s never been asked that question. She says there’s no way it could be enjoyable as she looks into your eyes and sees her reflection.

Arachne sighs and says she shouldn’t lie to herself. You look at her with concern, but she says it’s okay. She talks about how the rulers of Olympus are not here, so the way she kept up with her stubbornness? It *is* fun.

Arachne then starts talking about how she didn’t want to be recognized and accepted by the world. And yet, she still did want that. She enjoyed acting like an unnatural genius, but it irritated her. She pushed things aside, and yet she wanted them. Arachne then says she might have gotten mentally stuck with fighting an enemy that isn’t there over doing what she preferred to do.

She says it’s all laughable, then asks if you think so too. You either nod or shake. Arachne laughs in either case, but admits that it’s just like everyone’s said up until now. This is her Shadow, her distortion, her true self.

Arachne claps her hands against her cheeks and greets her awful helpless self, mentioning she’s always had the wrong enemy. Then she thanks you. Arachne says she’s glad she came to Tokyo, and that she’s glad she met you and everyone else. You say the same goes for you. You’re glad to have met Arachne and you like this city.

Arachne says she feels like she’s taken a load off her shoulders, but says it’s not like she doesn’t have enemies here. She says it’s something she thought about in regards to Tokyo, about how people have lost sight of their shadows in another sense of the word. She thinks their Shadows are great, so it’s kind of a waste.

You ask her what she means by that. Arachne says it *is* partly about their hidden charm like it was with Wakan Tanka, Zabaniya, and Suzuka, but it’s more about how most people don’t even know about their Shadows being cut away from them. You still don’t understand and say it’s been a while since you’ve felt that way, or you just stay quiet.

In any case Arachne remembers something she heard something from a DJ she saw in a club one time and quotes Nyarlathotep talking about how everyone in the city is separated from their Shadow and calls them all lost sheep for not noticing.

As he kept babbling, she saw a multitude of Shadows behind him cackling in the face of her common sense. A lot of her stuff in the store was inspired from that time. You either ask about that, ask if that DJ has an odd speaking pattern, or ask her about your Shadow.

Going C, Arachne says she hasn’t gotten a clear grip on it yet. She can tell it’s a collection of small Shadow fragments and gets the feeling it can’t be expressed in the third dimension. If there is a way to make that fashion into reality...Arachne decides to stop talking about it.

Anyways, Arachne starts whining about all the things she has to do, but she corrects that to be all the things she wants to do. She starts walking unsteadily to the relatively cleaner part of her room, then says it seems like she won’t be able to get Gyumao’s approval at this rate anymore. She can’t make it in time for the fashion show and admits her inexperience.

Arachne apologizes to you and says you can stop helping her at this point. She feels like she grew a little thanks to you. Once she recovers she intends on contacting Gyumao since he did so much for her too. Then she’ll need to thank Tsathoggua too.

She collapses and goes straight to sleep, and her pent up sadness and loneliness crops to the top. You take out your phone to make a phone call as you leave Arachne’s room, trying not to wake her.

Time skips to Arachne going to Gyumao’s office. He greets her as she comes in and says he heard her talk about how she wasn’t managing her health well enough. Arachne says that was a mistaken button push, and that she was just busy with her needlework. She’s fine now, but she admits that she can’t hit her sales goal.

Arachne looks completely calm as she delivers the news, now that she’s rested and able to handle it. Gyumao notes that her sales are lower compared to other shops, so he can’t co-sign that investment for her. Arachne admits her lack of experience, and Gyumao says that she has an expression he’d hardly ever see from her.

Arachne doesn’t hear that remark and says she’ll be leaving if there’s nothing else to discuss. She says it’s been good for motivation and thanks Gyumao for things. As she turns to leave, Gyumao stops and invites her to talk about some new business. She’s surprised and ask what he means.

Gyumao talks about how sad the results were, but elsewhere Arachne’s work has been seen as being highly valuable. There’s a lot of comments on the net about wanting to see more of her fashion. Arachne asks if this is about the photos you posted. Gyumao says there’s also a lot of people asking for her to be accommodated, showing Arachne some (e?)mail he got.

Tsathoggua writes in saying he guarantees that Arachne’s clothes are the best in Tokyo. He vouches for her to be the star of the show and offers to help pay if it comes to it. Arachne is touched and asks why he’d do so when he complains about how much work anything is.

Mineaki’s message is next. He writes in to talk about how her clothes support sports and the students. He’s also writing in on behalf of the jocks and asks for some consideration to be taken. Additionally he’s sure that when the students turn pro athlete, they’ll publicize her clothes far and wide. Arachne comments on how good he is at sales promoting. She does pick up on him being a schemer but dismisses it as her imagination.

Arslan also wrote a message. He talks about how pioneer’s guidance and understanding is needed to open up the path for future prospects. In which case, she can probably make something work out. Arachne comments on him saying he thinks she has a future.

Gyoubu writes in about how nothing happens by chance and says he’s representing all of Kabukicho. He says it’s just a small note saying he supports her progression. Arachne is surprised even Gyoubu would write in on her behalf.

Amatsumara walks in and says she can probably do something great as she is now. He comments on her getting better health wise and says she shouldn’t have any problems with her work now. Arachne is about to ask him something when Amatsumara says she doesn’t really need his opinion. It’d be fine for her to be able to be in a show.

Arachne asks what he means by that. Gyumao sighs about Amatsumara spoiling the surprise. After some more confusion from Arachne he says it’s true she won’t make it in time for the standard show. But this time, there’s a special stage set up, which he calls a summer swimsuit show and the Tokyo Mode Collection’s Bonus Track.

It’ll be a week after the main show, so she should get her models by then. It’ll be a tight schedule, but he asks if she thinks she can swing it. Arachne puffs up her chest and asks who he thinks he’s talking to. She proclaims that she’s the best designer in the city and nothing is impossible, and she’ll prove it to him right now as she somehow blacks out the lights and turns on her music.

Both Gyumao and Amatsumara are shocked by this sudden development. Arachne laughs and says she brought her things just in case but didn’t expect them to help. Gyumao asks for an explanation. Arachne says if he’s concerned about the scheduling she’s going to get rid of his worries with her guerrilla fashion show. He’s shocked by this, especially since it seems like a lot of effort to show to just two people.

Arachne corrects him and says there’s only one viewer for this show: him. She starts the show, and she apparently has her own applause and cheer track on her. Anyways she describes how this is her fourth show and that it’s been days since the measuring battle. She hasn’t been just resting after all.

Gyumao asks if she already finished preparing her presentation. The spotlight Arachne somehow has focuses on Amatsumara, and he asks if this is a magic show in his bafflement. Arachne starts describing him and his burning artisan soul. She also talks about how he works out and trains his students.

Amatsumara takes in Arachne’s voice echoing out and the spotlight on him, then comes to the conclusion that this is a bodybuilding competition as he strips off. Arachne cuts the lights and says it’s a fashion show. She also asks him to not take off his clothes as he feels like. He awkwardly apologizes and says it just happened because he got excited.

Gyumao is taken aback and asks for the show to go on. Arachne apologizes and moves along with it as she turns the lights and music back on. Anyways Amatsumara is in his suit now as Arachne talks about him being an instructor as well as a smith. As a result he’ll need suits, but his muscles would then become a problem when it comes to wearing them.

As such, the cloth itself would have to be made into highly flexible fabric. In the end, this suit won’t tear even if Amatsumara is the one wearing it, and he can even make a fist and raise it in a school conference. Amatsumara laughs about how good it is and how it doesn’t tear no matter how far he stretches it. Arachne in shock asks him to not try to tear it up.

Anyways Arachne says there’s still one more gimmick to it, which should be apparent in the future. She concludes her show there and asks Gyumao what he thinks. He says it’s a good presentation and that he can go make an order without any reservations about it.

Amatsumara laughs and says he didn’t expect her to make his suit. Arachne says it’s only natural since she’s a designer. She prides herself on always completing her orders. Amatsumara then asks her what the deal is since he says he doesn’t remember asking her to make a suit.

Arachne says she went into a measuring battle without being fully prepared. Still, it felt like she was being tempered, guided during that battle. She got the impression of a teacher through that and a wish from the students to make it reality, which she then used as the form for it.

Arachne asks Amatsumara how the suit is and says it’s not just for lectures and conferences. It’s also able to keep him comfortable if he wears a suit for his family’s sake, which is what his students wanted. Amatsumara is touched they did that for him and calls his students adorable.

Arachne says she’ll redo things from here. She says she will embrace her distortions and live. Gyumao calls to his business partner and asks if this means he doesn’t need to worry about her, and you come out in response. She’s shocked to see you. You say that’s how she is and suggest you guys get a move on to get the models.

Arachne voices her surprise about you being here too, then asks if you vouched for her too. She quickly takes the question back and says she shouldn’t say something so low class. The both of you are fashionistas after all, and there’s no need for any words beyond that between you two. She suggests you guys get going without any breaks this coming week. You yell after her that she needs to rest properly as she walks out, and the episode ends as narration talks about her getting ready to meet things head on.