The two of them arrived at Jahy's bedroom door. Tanaka Masao knocked.
"Hey, Jahy, you up? I'm coming in."
After a moment, Jahy's voice answered from inside.
"Come in. The door's unlocked. I'm busy—no time to spare."
When he heard that, Tanaka Masao opened the door and stepped inside.
Compared to before, Jahy's room had picked up quite a few decorations. She'd even taken some figurines from Masao's room to use as ornaments—anything to help her feel like a star again in the demon realm. There were also some clothes and basic supplies the Tanakas had bought her.
Jahy was sitting at her desk with her back to them, completely absorbed in fiddling with something. Masao walked over and saw a chaotic pile of disposable chopsticks, tape, glue, rubber bands and other odds and ends in Jahy's hands. He had no idea what she was making.
"What are you doing—some craft assignment the teacher gave you?"
"What craft assignment?"
Jahy glanced at Masao, indignant.
"I am creating a weapon. A weapon, you know? Its power will be tremendous—so powerful it could destroy the world. I'll use it to teach that damned crow a lesson. Now go away—don't disturb me."
Honestly, couldn't he see she was working on something great?
Masao looked at the contraption: a few disposable chopsticks and pieces of cardboard taped and glued together in the crudest way imaginable. He couldn't help but laugh.
"You… you call that a weapon? Hahaha. If that is a weapon, then anyone with a kitchen knife could rule the world."
Even steady, composed Yukinoshita Yukino couldn't suppress a quiet chuckle, covering her mouth as she stifled a laugh.
"You dare mock the weapon I made? Do you dare to test its power?"
Masao patted his belly with a grin.
"Go on then—hit me with it. I'm not scared."
"Hmph. Underestimate me at your own risk."
Jahy wasn't shy about it—she aimed her handmade "weapon" at Masao's stomach.
"Take this!"
With a roar, she launched a sharpened disposable chopstick at Masao. It pinged off his belly and fell to the floor.
Masao rubbed his stomach. "Feels like a mosquito bite—kinda itchy."
Jahy picked the stick up off the floor, baffled.
"Why's the power so weak? It didn't pierce his stomach, but it should at least have made him fall over screaming in pain!"
She aimed the contraption at her own arm to test it.
"Well, since it didn't even hurt Masao, it definitely won't hurt me. I'll have to improve it."
"Enough. Don't waste time tinkering with that junk—study time now."
Masao tried to stop Jahy from continuing to tinker and urged her to go study. Naturally, Jahy refused.
"No! I won't. Today I must finish a proper weapon so I can get revenge on that crow."
Masao looked to Yukinoshita for her opinion. She thought a moment, then said,
"Jahy learns fast. She's already covered most of what she needs for the exam; barring anything unexpected, she should be able to get a decent grade. Besides, contemporary education values practical skills. Spending some time making a craft—or, ahem, a weapon—can't hurt."
"Snow's the best," Jahy cheered when Yukinoshita sided with her, making a face at Masao in celebration.
Masao didn't say much in response.
Half an hour later, in the living room—
"Hey, Masao, you used too many supplies."
"Can't help it—my weapon is superior."
"Hah, you boastful fool. My weapon's definitely stronger."
"You wanna bet? Let's duke it out."
"Humph. You're just copying others' designs—how could you beat my original weapon?"
After agreeing to let Jahy build her little weapon, Masao couldn't resist joining in. Yukinoshita's original goal for tutoring him had been simply to get him to pass his exams; he'd already reached that target, so she allowed a little downtime.
Masao had found an online tutorial showing how to make toy guns from paper, rubber bands and wooden sticks. The video covered pistols, rifles, short shotguns… he picked a relatively simple handgun to build. "Relatively simple" still required some effort: parts had to be pre-made and then assembled. Fortunately, he had help.
Yukinoshita, intrigued by the video, lent a hand. With her nimble fingers, the assembly went much faster.
"This piece should go here… but it doesn't quite line up—force… "
Masao was trying to channel his "special power" of improvisation. Yukinoshita quickly stopped him.
"Wait—your method's wrong. This part goes like this…"
She took the part from his hand and snapped it together effortlessly.
"Oh—so that's how it goes. Next step is—"
They crowded around the phone together, repeatedly checking the steps.
"Okay, Yukinoshita—hold this for me."
"All right, be careful, don't break it."
Making crafts can be absorbing to the point of forgetting everything else. Both Masao and Yukinoshita were so focused on assembling that they didn't notice how close they'd gotten; during the cooperative assembly, a few accidental touches happened without either of them paying attention.