Pants and pockets go together like peanut butter and jelly.

— Chiyuki’s dad did ask Ikuto to cheer her up, so he does care about her. There’s no reason why he couldn’t do it instead, but oh well, you take what you can get…? I dunno, man. I don’t want a lousy father to get off on the bare minimum, y’know? He knows she’s sad, and he knows that she needs a pep talk. So why didn’t he do it? Sure, everything works out for the best with Ikuto, but I have to question a man who doesn’t immediately try to save his children from hurt. I say that even as someone who has no intention of becoming a father.

— Well, everything was working out for the best… until Ikuto got fresh and called her cute.

— Ikuto is inspired by Chiyuki’s perseverance so the theme of his show is gonna be about typhoons and wind. Alright then. Guess I’ll just have to wait and see how it all comes together. But like I’ve said previously, I haven’t super impressed with any of the designs in this series.

— The girl talks a bit about how she wants to prove her doubters wrong, and she asks Ikuto if he has anyone like that in his life. Toh immediately comes to mind. The bad guy always has to be a silver-haired bishie, huh?

— Chiyuki drags Ikuto to Hazime’s place so that the two men can make up and kiss. Unfortunately, he’s not in. Instead, we get Chiyuki’s first realization that Ikuto’s talented friend is Kokoro. This is the first time all three of them are in the same scene. Welp, here comes the drama.

— Our heroine catches up to Kokoro and tells the latter not to give up on her dreams. Tell? More like yelling it out in public without any shame. Fight, fight, fight! But of course, Yu is here to shit on everyone’s parade. She pretty much insults everybody. Good thing the street is oddly empty.

— So Chiyuki decides to sacrifice her place in Ikuto’s show. Instead, she’s gonna model for Kokoro instead. After all, if Kokoro can make a shorty like Chiyuki look good, then she surely has talent, right? Ah, you guys… like I’ve said before, I just don’t understand the hold that Yu has over Kokoro. As a result, I haven’t been taking this subplot seriously at all. Kokoro’s got bigger issues if she literally can’t say no to her agent.

— In any case, Chiyuki will become Ikuto’s rival, yadda yadda yadda.

— We cut to Toh in his workshop, and he pretty much yells at his team much like Hazime would. Nevertheless, this girl defends him at all costs. She argues that Toh’s harsh treatment is helping these patternmakers improve, so they should just suck it up. It’s a bad argument, though. Nobody is saying you can’t improve under a terrible environment. The counterargument is that you would improve more under a nurturing environment.

— In a quiet moment away from the storm, Toh’s grandma tells him that he doesn’t have to push himself so hard. Quelle surprise! An adult who doesn’t act like a child?! Nevertheless, Toh tells her that he has to push himself or he’ll forever find himself living in her shadow. Apparently, she’s the greatest designer in the world.

— The spotlight returns to Ikuto, and he just can’t help being a martyr. It’s like it’s in his blood or something. He initially decides that he shouldn’t try hard, because he’d be shitting on Kokoro’s dreams if he wins. First, that’s kinda arrogant. How do you know that you’ll even beat her? Second, I doubt she wants to win by default. In any case, it’s up to mom to save the day again!

— Ikuto’s mom tells him that she intends to see his fashion show. In fact, his whole family will be there. As a result, the kid resolves to do his best. Welp, that was easy.

— By the way, he freaks out at the thought of his mother writing a will, and I know why he would react that way. But it’s just a smart thing to do. We shouldn’t fool ourselves into thinking that the terrible can’t happen. I dunno, it kinda reminds me of couples breaking up because one of them wants a prenup. When done correctly, these agreements are meant to protect all parties.

— Without his original source of inspiration, Ikuto has to come up with a new theme. He eventually settles on pants. Well, that’s not a bad idea… as long as you give them pockets. Boy, do I hear women complain about their lack of pockets. This is where art vs. practicality come to blows. Maybe pockets would make a pair of pants look worse, but I bet you would make a whole more money with them.

— On the one hand, Ikuto is determined to prove Toh wrong. On the other hand, he still wants to thank the guy for all the help he’s received. What an annoyingly nice kid. Like seriously, it’s sickening.  My petty ass soul can’t deal with it.

— Ryunosuke begs to be on Toh’s team, but the latter wants nothing to do with the former. As a result, Ikuto begs Ryunosuke to help him out. They’re not exactly friends — in fact, Ryunosuke doesn’t respect Ikuto at all — but I guess he doesn’t mind giving our hero a tip or two if it means sticking it to Toh. See? This is the pettiness that I live for.

— So we see Ryunosuke tell Ikuto a thing or two about pants, and the latter reveals his theme: finding the perfect harmonic balance between femininity and masculinity for pants. Yeah, that’s cool and all, but like I said… pockets. Men’s pants have pockets. Sometimes, we have way too many pockets and this turns girls off. But still, pockets…

— Since Ikuto is working alone, he doesn’t need a design on paper…? Really? Really. He proceeds to tear them up in front of Ryunosuke. I feel like I would have kept them around ’cause it couldn’t hurt, but I’m no genius designer…

— Anyways, the episode ends with a montage of everyone working super duper hard! So maybe next week, the big show can start.