Second floor of Rabbit House.
"There, that should do it."
Asakura pasted a slip of paper with the words "Ministry of Magic Temporary Operations Command Center" onto the door. He stepped back two paces, surveyed it with a critical eye, and nodded in satisfaction.
"Can't you just go through the back door to get to that little room?" Yukino looked at Asakura as if he were an elementary schooler. "Doing this is completely pointless, isn't it?"
"Temporary workers shut up! This is the romance of a secret organization!" Asakura said with hands on his hips, sounding quite serious.
"I don't recall ever being a temporary worker," Yukino replied composedly. "And isn't there a bit too much 'romance' in this secret organization?"
Last time, when she suggested making the uniform just gloves or a face mask, she was turned down by Asakura for the exact same reason.
"In any case, everyone should have brought their own designs, right?"
Asakura ignored the girl's rebuttal and pushed the topic forward.
In the room at that moment were the Ministry of Magic members. Besides the usual faces, even Hitori had been temporarily "abducted" by Asakura using the tactic of "if you don't come, your uniform defaults to a dog collar." She was currently shrinking into a corner, trembling and looking completely out of her element.
"Well, I did bring something..." Kaju scratched her cheek. "But honestly, I don't have much experience with this kind of thing, so I just drew the most ordinary version..."
She spread out her paper to reveal the contents.
It was a drawing made with colored pencils, possessing a strange picture-book quality. It featured a little witch in a cloak and a pointed wizard hat, drawn in a style similar to a child's doodle.
"Oh, how cute!" Yui's eyes sparkled as she looked at Kaju's drawing.
"Ahaha... thank you for the compliment, Yuigahama-senpai," Kaju responded politely.
"It is indeed a very traditional wizard outfit. Even though you drew a witch, a male wizard wouldn't look much different," Asakura nodded. "It can serve as one of our backup options. Next... Yanami."
"What kind of order is this?" Yanami grumbled. "Normally, shouldn't Ruri-chan be next based on the flow?"
"Counter-clockwise from my perspective," Asakura answered.
"Entirely subjective?!"
"You didn't come unprepared, did you?" Asakura narrowed his eyes.
Yanami suddenly bounced up like a rabbit sensing danger.
"Of course I'm prepared! I even prepared three versions!"
"Surprisingly diligent. I thought you wouldn't have much interest in this." After all, you can't eat clothes.
"The first one is this." The girl took out her artwork.
Asakura glanced at the paper, and the corner of his mouth couldn't help but twitch. It was a cloak with red clouds on a black background.
"Setting aside copyright issues, if something happens in the future that forces the Ministry of Magic to appear before the public, once we safely retreat, a certain mangaka named Kishimoto-sensei will definitely be dragged away and interrogated by the police..." Asakura remarked.
"Then how about this one?" Yanami swapped the paper.
This time it was a relatively normal white greatcoat. It actually looked quite decent—if it weren't for the word "Justice" written on the back.
"The core problem hasn't changed at all; it's just that the person being interrogated has been swapped for Oda-sensei! Don't tell me your last sheet is a Shinigami robe?"
"No, it's an orange training suit with the character for 'Turtle' on it."
"Absolute pass!"
"I guess the one with 'Demon' would have been better then..."
"That's not the point, is it?"
"Toriyama-sensei has passed away, so the police won't take him away!"
"That makes the problem even worse! Apologize to Toriyama-sensei right now!"
Asakura massaged his forehead. "Yanami, you usually look quite thoughtful with your casual wear, so why did you slack off so much on the Ministry of Magic uniform?"
"Casual wear is casual wear, and uniforms are uniforms. You can't lump them together!" Yanami said righteously. "Of course I care about looking good in casual clothes when I go out, but uniforms don't matter! If I liked uniforms that much, I would have gone to Ishibuki High with their four ribbons instead of Sobu High with only one!"
What the heck are four ribbons? Is there really a school uniform that gaudy? Usually, anyone nearby who can get into Sobu High comes here because of the high advancement rate, don't they?
"Sorry, I can't understand your sensibility at all..." Asakura sighed. "Next... Ruri, did you make a design?"
"I made one version for the time being."
Ruri rose gracefully and took a stack of papers out of her bag. "Besides the basic functions, I actually added some functional modules based on requirements. If we can produce them all at once, I think they would be very useful."
Asakura saw the stack of papers—definitely more than ten—and suddenly realized that most chuunibyou individuals have a tendency to be "setting geeks."
From the top sheet, it was clear that the main image of the uniform she designed was a form-fitting black leather outfit. It was decorated with skulls, crosses, bats, and various metal accessories, giving off a heavy dark-punk vibe.
In fact, the "flavor" was so strong that it was hard for an ordinary person to accept. You could tell just by the way Yukinoshita and the others frowned the moment they saw Ruri's design.
The subsequent pages used a massive amount of space to explain the settings for almost every single part on the first page. The text was tiny and dense, and some items used katakana converted from made-up English words, further intensifying the feeling of "I know every character, but I have no idea what this gibberish means." It was enough to trigger anyone's trypophobia.
Asakura remained silent for a moment. Meeting Ruri's expectant gaze, he felt a bit conflicted. He cleared his throat and, instead of direct criticism, said, "I didn't expect your aesthetic to be so similar to Hitori's, Ruri."
"Haah?"
Ruri wore an expression of disbelief. She glanced at Hitori shrinking in the corner, then back at her own punk design, her brow furrowing.
"N-now that you mention it... it seems... that was a thing." Hitori spoke up softly with Asakura's encouragement. "W-when our band was designing stage outfits, what I drew at first... was similar to Miss Gokou's... but without so many silver ornaments. To add a metallic feel, I added lots of zippers... Miss Gokou's design feels very rock-and-roll... I-I really like it!"
"...I'm on the same level as her?" Ruri silently sat back down on the tatami, reorganized her designs into her bag, and began to emo while hugging her knees.
Hitori looked at Asakura with a face that looked like she was about to cry. Even though she couldn't say a word, Asakura understood what she meant: Is being on the same level as me really that big of a blow to her?
Asakura was silent for a moment, then reached out and gently patted Hitori's head. This silent action felt more like a confirmation, making Hitori collapse into an "OTZ" pose.
"Honestly, none of you are taking these designs seriously. I guess I, Anon-sama, have to step up!" Anon stepped forward proactively. "Tada! This is my design!"
Asakura looked at the sketchbook in the girl's hand. It featured a T-shirt with the word "Unknown" written in a stylized, decorative font.
Asakura blinked. "That's it?"
"Great, right!" Anon's confidence was through the roof.
"Mediocre. Next."
"Wait! Isn't this great?" The pink-haired girl bared her teeth in dissatisfaction. "What exactly are you unhappy about?!"
"Its existence," Asakura said.
"That's mean!" The girl teared up.
"First of all, why a T-shirt?" Asakura asked.
"Didn't you say, Asakura-kun, that we shouldn't care about the fabric or type of uniform? I think T-shirts are easy to wear; they're universal," Anon said.
"Universal in the sense that it looks like a cheap, mass-produced T-shirt bought with class funds for a school sports day," Asakura remarked pointedly.
"Even if we ignore the type of clothing, surely you have no problem with the pattern?" Anon tried a tactical retreat.
"So what is this 'Unknown'? Are we some kind of Gurongi?" Asakura continued to roast her.
"In fact, isn't it already a leak?" Yukino suddenly chimed in. "Even though the uniform itself is supposed to interfere with cognition, you went and wrote your name on it."
"Um, but if I do that," Anon stammered, "won't I be unable to use words like Anone, Annouimo, or ANON TOKYO?"
"Don't use them in the first place! What kind of obsession do you have with exposing your own name?!" Asakura couldn't help but shout.
"How disappointing..." Anon slumped onto the low table, dejected.
Asakura's gaze turned toward Yukino. The latter rarely avoided eye contact with him, but she looked away this time.
"Unfortunately, I am just a temporary worker and have no intention of participating in your design activities." It seemed she was still unhappy about what he had called her earlier.
"Yukinon's design is right here with me!" At that moment, Yui waved the papers in her hand. "She was with me all day yesterday discussing how to design the uniform."
Yukino shot Yui an annoyed look, while the latter offered a goofy smile. Asakura glanced at Yui as well. Unlike Yukinoshita, Asakura felt that Yui wasn't as simple as she appeared; even "betraying" Yukinoshita just now was likely to prevent a bigger rift from forming between Yukino and Asakura.
"Oh? Let me see." Hearing this, Asakura stopped staring at Yukino and looked at the drawing in Yuigahama's hand.
The style of this drawing showed clear signs of sketching experience. Whether it was Yukinoshita or Yuigahama who drew it, the person clearly had a certain level of artistic foundation. Though, of course, it was nowhere near Eriri, the ace of the Toyogasaki Art Club.
Their design looked a bit like a shirt under a jacket. The jacket design resembled sportswear (with long pants) and seemed very suitable for movement. Because it had two layers, the jacket part could be easily put on or taken off during operations, further increasing flexibility.
One could say this design had almost no flaws, except for the complete lack of a "Ministry of Magic" feel—they had even designed matching sneakers.
"The completion level is quite high... in fact, except for the silhouette being a bit odd, everything else is great." Asakura nodded and put it on the shortlist.
Then his gaze landed on the last person. "Asagumo, do you have a design?"
"I drew a bit." Asagumo took out her design. It was a simple cloak pattern, quite plain, not even matching Kaju's—at least Kaju had a wizard hat.
"Is it just unfinished?" Asakura couldn't help but ask.
"No, that's it," Asagumo shook her head. "I was just afraid not a single person would draw something serious, so I drew a basic version to serve as a floor."
"Honestly, you have too little faith in our Ministry members. They aren't that unreliable..." Asakura started, but as he looked at the others again, his voice lost its confidence.
He paused, deciding it was better not to pursue that sad topic, and took out Eriri's sketches. "This is the pattern I designed, though I had someone else help me refine it."
"Setting aside whether the drawing is good or not, having someone else refine it means the uniform design has already potentially leaked, hasn't it?" Yukino noted sharply.
"The one who drew it is Eriri... that girl from the School Festival. She's on our side, so it's fine." Asakura didn't mind.
"Wow, it's drawn so well!" Yui and the others exclaimed in admiration as they looked at Eriri's sketches. Clearly, as a professional-grade artist, the girl's skill had won them over.
"Can I ask why the male model in this drawing only has a three-view diagram, while the female model has so many different poses—most of which emphasize the chest and buttocks?" Ruri, who had participated in many "Holy Wars" (Comiket), was the only one to notice something.
"That can only be attributed to the artist's personal preferences," Asakura said regretfully.
Ruri hummed softly but said nothing more. Asakura had a feeling she recognized Kashiwagi Eri's style; after all, the style of that ryona-type master was quite recognizable. But since she didn't point it out, Asakura was happy to pretend he didn't know either.
In the end, the trench coat designed by Kashiwagi Eri was naturally the most popular, receiving the most votes and becoming the official uniform of the Ministry of Magic.