Shoko Komi's Ultimate Challenge

by Ulquiorra9000

Communication 16: the magic of fabric

On a lazy Sunday morning, Shoko Komi decided to toy around with her closet and tidy things up in there, or even dig up an old shirt or dress that had ended up buried at some point. Her parents were always happy to buy her new outfits, but Shoko admitted to herself she wasn't always the best at keeping her closet in perfect shape. Time to fix that.

Shoko quietly hummed to herself as she checked all the hanging shirts, dresses, and jackets in her closet, mentally checking off each one as worth wearing this season. So far, so good. But what about the lower corners? Things were messier down there!

Shoko's eyes locked on to the hem of a bright red and yellow sundress that her mother had bought her last September, and Shoko had hardly ever worn it. What a shame. Shoko knelt, grabbed the sundress's hem, and gave it a firm tug to work it loose from a pile of clothes and hangers.

Rrrrriiipppp!

Gasp!

Shoko stared in dismay at the lower third of the sundress, which had a nasty, jagged tear on the fabric. Panicking slightly, Shoko threw aside the rest of the stuff and pulled out the remains of that dress, only for that part to rip, too. It had gotten snagged on a heavy coat's hanger.

Poor Shoko just knelt there, holding the three pieces of her ruined sundress, her heart racing. She clapped a hand to her mouth and wondered if she could just throw the pieces away without her disappointed mother seeing. If she was quick enough...

No, no, no! Shoko shook her head, chiding herself for getting carried away like this. Shuko would absolutely understand, since this was just an innocent accident. This kind of thing happened all the time to people, right? Well, maybe not to Ren Yamai, who would explode with rage if she even slightly damaged her fancy outfits.

Then Shoko slowly stood up as an idea took form in her head. What if this was a challenge in disguise? Shoko had to find new, resourceful uses for all this fabric without wasting a single thread, and she had just three days to do it. Her mom's sewing kit was fair game, at least.

Shoko pumped her fists and imagined cat ears perking up on her head. She can do this!

*o*o*o*o*

"Shoko! Shosuke! Hurry along to school so you won't be late!" Shuko's voice cried from downstairs on Monday morning. Shoko, who was working the sewing needle putting the finishing touches on one of her new creations, jumped and doubled her speed to finish the job without being late for her commute. Shoko double-checked the threading on the fabric, nodded with approval, and stuffed everything into her backpack before rushing off to school.

In homeroom, Shoko set her bag on top of her desk, then produced her newest creation. Hitohito stared at it.

"Whoa," he commented.

Shoko merely nodded again and made a happy "hmph!" before crossing the room to meet up with a certain Ren Yamai.

"Make way, girls. Komi's coming!" Ren cried joyfully, and her five gal-pals parted to let Shoko get through and meet her yandere friend.

Shoko passed a note that read: Ren, I accidentally tore an old sundress of mine, so I started making cloth goodies out of it, including this scarf. It's my gift to you.

Ren gasped with delight when Shoko handed her a four-foot-long decorative scarf, a thin one made from the red and yellow fabric of the torn sundress. Ren immediately nuzzled it like a newborn, sighing the whole time. "Y-you wore this, princess Komi? It once touched your skin? Oh, how my goddess has blessed me! I'll treasure it forever, Komi. Thank yoooouuuuu~!"

Shoko decided to return to her desk before things got any weirder. But she did make a tiny smile as Hitohito gave her a thumbs-up.

Next, Shoko visited the school library during lunch, and she marched right over to the main desk, where Himiko Agari was browsing a poetry book while eating her box lunch alone, and Gorimi was nowhere in sight. Good; Gorimi simply terrified Komi.

"Oh! Hi, mistress! Woof woof!" Himiko said brightly, wagging her imaginary tail. "Did you bring me treats? Haha!"

Shoko held out her hand: a hairband scrunchie, made with the vivid fabric of her old sundress. "It's... for you," Shoko told her friend quietly.

"A gift? F-for me? My mistress is too kind! It's a new dog collar!" Himiko tied to affix the scrunchie around her neck until an alarmed Shoko helped the other girl put it where it belonged, right in her hair. Himiko didn't mind discarding her plain old scrunchie in favor of this one, and Shoko agreed that it added some excellent color to Himiko's look.

Shoko patted Himiko's head and took her leave, satisfied with her rate of progress. That old sundress would be all gone before long!

*o*o*o*o*

Shoko got back to work that evening after homework, carefully cutting the remains of her sundress with scissors while racking her brains for more ideas. There was still plenty of material left, and she didn't want to take the easy route and just make a bunch of scarves. Every use of this dress's fabric had to be unique! But what should Shoko make next?

Then she got a few more ideas, starting with her own family's needs.

"Good evening, Shoko," Shuko said warmly when her daughter approached her in the living room, while Shuko watched the weather report. "Did you want to watch TV with me? Oh, what's that behind your back? Can I see?"

Shoko made a small smile and presented her mother's old apron, which was now patched up with square pieces of the sundress. The apron didn't need this many patches, but Shoko thought it would look cute and rustic to add patches here and there, like it had come straight from a farmer's wife's wardrobe. And it sure added a lot of color to the dull blue apron!

"Sh-Shoko! Oh my word!" Shuko clapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes sparkling with joy. "It's beautiful! Thank you! Where did you find the fabric?"

"My closet," Shoko explained meekly when she handed over the apron. "I... I'm sorry, mom. I tore that red and yellow sundress yesterday, so I... I decided to use the fabric in other ways. I know you paid a lot for it...!" She bowed in apology.

"Shoko, dear..." Shuko straightened up her daughter and gave her a tight hug. "It's just an old dress, nothing to feel guilty about! I'm proud of you for being so thoughtful and resourceful. What else did you make with the dress? I wanna know!"

"A decorative scarf. And a hair scrunchie."

"Really! how cute! What's next?"

"Well..."

*o*o*o*o*

"Nice ribbons," Hitohito commented when his best friend showed him a pair of yellow and red hair ribbons in homeroom on Tuesday. "Did your mom buy those for you? I bet Ren and Nene would love to see you wear 'em."

Shoko shook her head, then placed the ribbons on Hitohito's desk with a fresh note: I'm making stuff from an old dress of mine. These are for your sister. Be sure to tell her they're a gift from me, okay?

Hitohito's eyes widened. "Hey, that's really nice of you, Komi! Great idea! Hitomi likes doing up her hair like this -" he mimicked it with his hands - "and she'd love to wear these, especially if they're from you. She really looks up to you, Komi."

Komo merely nodded and tried not to blush. Making the Tadano family happy was its own reward, really. And Shoko had a few more gifts to give, too!

"Huh? For me?" Shinobino said when she met up with him after school. He accepted the colorful bandana in his gloved hands, looking it over.

I want to repay you for the ninja training, Shoko told him with her notebook. And I still have that throwing star. My brother has it in his room. So, here's something for you, too!

"You have my thanks, Komi." Shinobino's hands moved faster than the eye could see, and in a flash, he swapped his black bandana with the new one, becoming the 21st century's most colorful ninja. "See ya tomorrow." He ran home, holding his arms out behind him. So cool.

On Wednesday, the challenge's final day, Shoko gave away the remains of her sundress to all her friends, from a handkerchief for Netsuno to a decorative bow tie for Makoto Katai to a fabric rose for a blushing tsundere-mode Nakanaka, who pretended to not like it as she accepted the gift while mouthing thank you so much! before the girls parted ways for the day. But...

Shoko still had a square piece left, and she was out of ideas! She stared at the leftover fabric piece in her room that evening, wondering if she had miscalculated. This wasn't enough for a big fabric project, such as making a decorative pillowcase or even making a shirt for a neighbor's baby or toddler. But Shoko didn't want to make two of something... what to do...

Wait a minute!

The downstairs closet came to the rescue when Shoko dug up an old family quilt, and she held it up where her mom could see.

"Our quilt! I haven't seen it in years." Shuko lovingly ran a hand on the quilt's fabric. "Let me guess, Shoko... you'd like to update it with one last piece?"

Shoko nodded eagerly, her imaginary cat ears perked up, and she joined her mother in sewing on one last square to update the Komi family quilt. According to Shuko, some of this fabric dated all the way back to 1999, when Shuko and Masayoshi were still daydreaming about having kids. So many memories in this quilt!

As Shuko marveled at the updated quilt, Shoko marked her new challenge as complete and wondered if the Tadano family had a quilt, too. What kind of fabric would Hitohito and Hitomi use for it? Shoko could only wonder. Fabric can be so magical...