Hey! Sorry for taking so long with this chapter! First I came out with a first draft of it, then I completely scrapped it in the hopes of getting to Natsuki's character more… Then I was busy with school and I had no time to write during the weekend. So, all of this was done based on the notes I had taken during the week, but it just so turned out that more of it was done on Monday than I had originally intended. Anyways, this is the ending to the Natsuki storyline arc. I love how everyone's reacting to her because I worried about her characterization through the whole process. So, to the reviews:
TheNewGenOtaku: Well, Natsuki mostly writes herself and it's a blessing and a curse at the exact same time. When the muse is working, Natsuki, Naoto, and Charmaine interactions flowed easily. I also thought that giving her a social circle (no matter how small it was) was useful in anchoring the character. I noticed with Tomomi that because I was introducing all new characters, it was hard for me to balance them. Even worse, Naoto didn't really have anyone to bounce off of except for Charmaine and Tomomi only had Naoto to bounce off of. I thought that putting in some other relationships with Natsuki would give everyone a better grasp of her character. (Tomomi's going to get the chance to do that in her omake for sure). Oh, sorry for rambling. Thank you for reviewing.
Wolf's Honor: If I'm getting you to like all three characters, then that is good. :-) And that was particularly what I wanted to do with Natsuki. I wanted her to remind people of a younger sibling of their own in one way or another. They always say that the best characters are the most relatable. Hopefully, you like this chapter.
48691412: Charmaine's reliable, at least. But, it's really because of the role that she plays in the story. She works much closer with Naoto because he doesn't have the experience that Keima does at capturing girls. But, Charmaine's happy that you think that she's smart.
Anyways, read and review! And, disclaimer: I do not own TWGOK. I don't even know what I'd do with it if I did, honestly.
Flag 4.0: The First Step
Day 5 (cont.)
Although Naoto understood the situation better then in comparison to just a few hours prior, there was still work for him to do.
It was a Saturday afternoon. Many people had already left school; they had better places to be than just stick around school. However, Naoto did not. The best he could do for himself was to stand at the opened metal gates to the school. On the contrary, it was the best thing that he could do for himself.
The reconnaissance was finished but the chase was only beginning.
It was obvious what he needed to do. He needed to create some kind of strong impression outside of what he had already done. There was no point to an event's time period if the player could not get close enough to the girl to initiate it. Although it was not Naoto's full problem, it was the best comparison he could do for this situation. What he needed to do was to figure out a way to contact her on that day. A simple invitation to a birthday party would be easier; there would be more people, thus it would be easier to orchestrate interaction then. There would be other options floating around, but the more solutions he thought up of, the more intruding that he would have to be.
'Asking for her phone number… Asking for time together tomorrow…' Naoto named off in his head with a concerned look on his face. It was not only the larger possibility that Natsuki would say no, it was also the fact that he would have to say it while her brother is with her. He might not even get a chance to hear Natsuki's response; her brother might answer for her instead. Naoto was sure of that. He heard a small whistle- a sign from Charmaine that the target was approaching. He cast a glance towards the front of the school to see the two Senda siblings walking in his direction.
To Naoto's left stood the tall, short blonde-haired third-year male named Yuji. The older brother in both appearance and actuality, the one thing that stood out about him was the body that lied under the Amekura uniform. Even though it barely made a difference under it, one would notice how tightly the standard uniform fit on him. Soccer had done well for his body at least. With his brisk strides, his head and eyes almost always focused on the road in front of him, and his walking posture of his right hand in pocket while his left hand swung with his stride, he protruded an air of confidence. It was an aura that Naoto had seldom seen and one that made approaching him a chore at times. He was presently engaged in a minute conversation with the girl next to him.
Natsuki's long, straight hair was of the same shade of his and reached down to her waist. Unlike the male beside her, her eyes would look up at the older male as he spoke to her, before her eyes returned to the road in front of her. It was her who recognized him first; Naoto expected that. She put on a small smile before she greeted him, "Hey, Fujimoto-kun. Waiting for Williams-san?"
Naoto rubbed the back of his head, only making his messy hair look even more disorganized. "Yeah," he replied bashfully. "She's busy with something; she didn't tell me what it was."
"Oh, I see," Natsuki nodded in agreement. Although her curiosity seemed to the quenched for the time being, her older brother continued looking at Naoto with furrowed eyebrows and a strange glint in his eye that Naoto could not attribute to being one particular thing. Said eyes soon drifted away from him as Yuji passed by Naoto, Natsuki trailing behind him ever so slightly. However, Naoto's attention was not on what he was seeing, but more of what he was hearing. He could hear a growing, rhythmic pitter-patter approaching in his direction. He glanced to see Charmaine approaching him, right on time.
"Ah, isn't that Senda-chan?" Charmaine spoke up as she approached them. Natsuki stopped in her tracks to look to Charmaine and her brother, almost as if he was attached to her, halted as well. As Charmaine approached, she looked over to Naoto before apologizing, "Sorry for being late." Naoto simply nodded in acknowledgement; he didn't look too angry about it. Charmaine's eyes then drifted to Natsuki. "I haven't seen you for a couple of days. I'm sorry I couldn't come up onto the roof yesterday; you wanted to tell me something, I know."
"Y- Yeah," Natsuki affirmed. "I just wanted to thank you for the help with all of the fashion tips… It was really a success, the whole thing was." Natsuki nodded, almost as if she was trying to convince herself of what she was speaking at the same time. She then cast a glance to Yuji, who was patiently waiting a few feet behind the trio, before looking back to Naoto and Charmaine. "Anyways, we should get going."
Naoto bit his lower lip. If they left, then it would be difficult to get a means to meet with Natsuki. As the girl spun on her heel, an action that to Naoto looked in slow motion, Naoto tried to gather the courage to say something to her. His mouth opened, enough to mutter, "It's your birthday tomorrow, right?" Natsuki looked in the direction of Naoto, making Naoto think that she heard what he said. But, a moment passed and Natsuki's mouth didn't move to respond; instead, her head cocked to the right in curious fashion. So, Naoto repeated, this time louder," It's you birthday tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah." Natsuki ran her hand through her hair. "I'm not doing that much, though for it."
"I will buy something for you," Naoto declared, removing all chance of Natsuki to deny him, "Have a happy birthday, though, if I don't see you tomorrow."
"Would you like to come over our house tomorrow?" Yuji suddenly asked, alerting Naoto and Charmaine. Natsuki was quick to turn to her older brother, who promptly explained himself, "We usually do a small get-together, but the plans fell through." Naoto could notice Natsuki's eyes drift towards the ground. "But, we should at least head out and do something. So, why not just reorganize it?" Naoto looked in the direction of Natsuki, whose eyes are still focused on the ground. He could imagine that if the girl wanted to, she would let the ground swallow her. Naoto then looked to Yuji before he posed the question, "Do you want to come? We'll probably meet around eleven."
"Sure," Naoto agreed a little bit too eagerly for his taste; Yuji didn't notice it, though.
"Cool," Yuji replied, a small smile on his face. He then motioned to Natsuki to come in his direction. "Let's head home, Natsuki." Natsuki just wordlessly nodded. Her cerulean eyes, however, did not stop gazing at the dusty dirt beneath her feet. "See you." Yuji flicked his hand, a hasted and chaste farewell if there ever was one. Natsuki turned her head to Naoto and Charmaine and waved to them with a smile on her face before she turned back around and jogged to catch up to her older sibling.
'That was not what I was expecting,' Naoto mused with a slight incredulous look on his face. He began to contemplate, however, what this could mean before he looked to Charmaine. "Should we head home too?" he suggested, still a little bit surprised.
"Yep," Charmaine agreed, nodding her head. "I'll try to make something with the raiment for tomorrow."
Natsuki, on the other hand, was trying to gather the confidence to say something to her older brother. 'We both know that we usually don't have anyone over during that day other than Kyosuke-kun,' Natsuki rambled on in the back of her head. 'Then again, getting him to come tomorrow sounds unrealistic considering the situation…'
"Kind of sudden, isn't it?" Yuji asked, snapping Natsuki out of her daze to notice her older brother looking at her, focused on the expression on her face. She was showing her doubts on her face; she was sure of that. "But," Yuji stretched out his back with a small sigh exhuming from his mouth, "it shouldn't be too bad. Mixing things up is nice every once in a while." Natsuki's gaze went towards the ground in an attempt to mask her emotions from her older brother. "Besides, you seem to get along well with them. It won't be anything special; we'll just go out to Wagmaria and eat some lunch. It's starting to get hot too, so maybe we can get some ice cream afterwards, too…"
As her brother continued to ramble on, Natsuki's gaze continued to focus on the ground in front of her. Eventually, the sounds began to tune out and the only thing of importance to Natsuki was the conversation in the back of her head. 'Still, though… I want it to be the same as it's always been.'
Day 6
"And there will be rain later on in the day and will continue until nightfall. For all families heading out, please execute caution on the roads…"
Natsuki could hear the television from her own room, as her groggy self stirred. The approach of summer meant earlier sunrises and as Natsuki rolled in her bed, covering her eyes from the sunlight that was peeking in through the blinds of her window and bouncing off of her white walls. All she could do was curse the light. It was Sunday; it was a day off. So, why did she have to get up early that day?
Well, there was one.
Beep beep beep
Natsuki's head could only lift a little bit off of the pillow as her eyes peered open. Her attention is turned to the nightstand near her bed to see a digital clock resting on top of it. She heaved a sigh before her head hit the pillow. The sound was emitting from the digital clock and it was annoying Natsuki. She inched towards the nightstand before she raised her arm up in the air. She brought down the arm and it hit the nightstand with a thud. 'Missed,' she sighed once again. She began to move her fingers towards the digital clock, the fingers inching towards the device as if they were walking on their own. Running into the base of the clock, she raised her arm up once again and hit the snooze button. The sound was now gone, but she knew full well that she needed to rise for the day.
Natsuki's arm fell off of the nightstand and was now dangling off of the side of the bed. 'I should try to get up…' She slithered over to the side of the bed and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she eyed herself in the mirror across the room from her. Her usual straight blonde hair was sticking up in multiple directions. Her blue irises could barely be seen with her eyelids squinted close together. Natsuki rubbed her eyes before she let out a yawn. Her head was beginning to ache and Natsuki could notice bags under her eyes as she looked to the clock once again.
'Four hours of sleep…' Natsuki sighed. 'And I have to go out for the small gathering in three hours too. I have barely any time left to sleep…' Natsuki yawned once again, covering her mouth out of courtesy. As the young lady began to stroll around the room in her sky blue slippers, her eyes travelled the well-kept room before her eyes rested on the chair to her desk. 'At least I made the effort to pick them out…' Draped over the back of the chair was a set of clothing. Natsuki looked to the clothing absentmindedly for a few moments.
Knock. Someone was knocking at her door.
"Natsuki! Are you awake?" The voice belonged to her older brother. The voice snapped Natsuki out of her daze and her eyes quickly turned towards the door. "Mom has breakfast ready; it's a huge birthday breakfast."
Natsuki easily managed a smile. 'Same as every year,' she mused. "I'll be down once I finish fixing myself up." Natsuki could hear no verbal response from Yuji, but was at least able to hear his footsteps leaving the area in front of the door. With one more glance to the clock, Natsuki proceeded to head out of her room and towards the bathroom. 'Today is my birthday, after all. I should be in better spirits!'
"The anime, PenguinMarch, will have the voicing talents of Kanon Nakagawa, and today we have Kanon-chan here to talk about her experiences! So, Kanon-chan, about working with other idols on this like Airi-chan-."
"Kanon Nakagawa…" muttered Charmaine. "I've been hearing a lot about her."
About ten minutes away from the Senda household was the Fujimoto household. The three youngest members of the house, namely Naoto, Charmaine, and Taiki were in the living room, their breakfast resting in front of them. Naoto was sporting a gray, sleeveless t-shirt that loosely fit his person and a pair of dark blue shorts. His hair was the same mess as it always was and his eyes were not as focused on the screen at the pink-haired idol known as Kanon Nakagawa as his two contemporaries. All three of them were still in their sleepwear.
"She is a top idol after all," Naoto commented before he took another bite into his food. He looked in the direction of Charmaine, as she rustled slightly to readjust herself so she could see the television. Her head tilted to the side like a bird as she continued to watch the television. 'Well, she's probably never had something like that… What would a Hell idol be anyways?' His attention is turned towards the television to see his younger brother situated right in front of it. "Don't sit so close, Taiki."
"Yes, Onii-chan," Taiki replied before he shuffled away from the television slightly. "PenguinMarch is coming out soon; it's supposed to come out on Tuesday afternoons. Could I watch it?"
"Depends," Naoto swallowed his food. "Remember your homework."
"You'd make a real good mother, Naoto-kun," Charmaine slyly smirked with a just as sly laugh came out of her mouth.
"And you're turning into quite the snarky commenter, Charma-chan," Naoto replied; his voice was stuffed with sarcasm. "Anyways, Tai, we're going out later today, so Mom will watch after you."
"Okay," Taiki sung as he continued to look at the television. It had now transitioned from talking about Kanon to the anime that she was to provide her voice in. Naoto raised his eyebrow as he looked at it, even more at Charmaine's response to it.
"Those poor penguins; they look so cute, too," Charmaine sighed. "Why do people have to abuse them?"
"Well, one of them was kind of looking up girls' skirts…" Naoto deadpanned.
A couple of hours passed and Naoto and Charmaine were just outside of the gate to the house. Naoto scratched his head once again as he looked to his own clothing. He was wearing a white, short-sleeved shirt that was still warm from the ironing that was done on it. His light blue jeans looked as if it had been unsuccessfully bleached and had many signs of wear and tear on it. Finally, his white sneakers had scuff marks all over it. In his right hand, he lightly gripped an umbrella- and for good reason, as the sky was beginning to gray. Overall, his clothes looked like regular wear. Maybe it was too regular, actually. "You ready?" he asked, looking in the direction of his demonic partner.
Charmaine wore a light blue, sleeveless shirt with dark blue shorts that reached down to the halfway mark on her thighs. They clung tightly to her, so much so that Naoto almost jokingly wondered if they were attached to her. Her usual shoes for school was replaced with a pair of white sandals that had a sunflower resting on the strap that kept her feet in and separated her bigger toe from all the rest of her toes. The only consistency that there was between her usual wear and what she was wearing then was the soul sensor that remained resting on her head, same spot as it always was. "As ready as possible," she responded with confidence.
The walk to the Senda household was one of strategizing. The duo had gone through most of what they needed to do, but they both also realized that their chances of succeeding were based on the reactions on the part of the others as well. There was no real planning that they could do to completely change Natsuki. But, they were confident. They had put in all of the effort that they could in trying to capture her.
"Alright, then. I'll try to bank on that," Naoto reasoned. Charmaine simply nodded.
Being only a short distance away from the house, they noticed a figure standing in front of the house. As they approached it, the picture began to get clearer still, as they saw the raven hair, slicked back and the tall, imposing figure that only reminded Naoto of two people: one was Yuji. However, the other was…
"Kurada-senpai?" Naoto asked as he and Charmaine approached him. 'Just as I thought. Their relationship is so close; there's no way he wouldn't at least make an effort to reach out to them during Natsuki's birthday.'
Kyosuke turned to focus his gaze on Naoto and Charmaine. He blinked a couple of times, and sadly enough, Naoto could almost guess why. "And you two are?" he asked.
"Naoto Fujimoto," Naoto chastely greeted. "I'm part of the soccer team."
"Charmaine Williams," Charmaine followed. "I'm his foreign exchange student."
Kyosuke nodded once slowly, as he looked to the door once again to the house. Naoto could tell; he was in between knocking the door and leaving. He gathered his spit, contemplated knocking on the door, before casting his eyes down. So preoccupied in his own thoughts, he didn't even bother to ask the reason why Naoto and Charmaine were even there. Naoto knew that he had to do something, not only for the sake of the trio, but also for the sake of his conquest. Having Kyosuke be there and be recognized by Yuji or Natsuki was a bad move; it would lessen the impact of his event and have Kyosuke take primary focus.
"So, what are you doing here? Are you here for Senda-chan's party?" Naoto asked.
Kyosuke snapped out of his thinking before he looked in the direction of Naoto and Charmaine. "Are you two here for the gathering, too?" he asked, an incredulous expression put on his face.
"Oh, I see…" Kyosuke's mood had noticeably worsened. "So, Yuji invited you two to come… Natsuki doesn't have many friends. So, I was surprised to see you two here."
"I heard everything from Natsuki, actually," Naoto informed him. "I think that she really wants to see you." Naoto looked in the direction of Charmaine, who wordlessly nodded in agreement.
"Yeah," Kyosuke sighed. "Honestly, I didn't think it would have turned out this bad… We grew up together, but I never noticed her feelings. So, I was in shock, really, when she confessed to me. In my head, I drummed up multiple reasons as to why this wouldn't work out… But, at the end of the day, I said what I said. My word choice was terrible and I ended up hurting Natsuki as a result. I came over here, only because I wasn't even sure if they were going out today, but I can't even muster up the confidence to knock on the door…"
"At the end of the day, though," Charmaine began; Kyosuke's eyes automatically drifted to her, "she wants to see you. How she wants to 'see' you… You can probably guess it better than I can. But, she wants to see you."
Kyosuke's eyes drifted towards the ground as Naoto sighed. "Anyways," he began, "you shouldn't be here if you're not ready. Natsuki will wait until you are, though. She's that kind of girl." Kyosuke put on a small smile before he nodded in agreement. In the back of his head, he was probably thinking about how Naoto would know so much about his childhood friend. But, whatever questions he had he kept to himself before he proceeded off of the property. 'Now, the only real thing that I can do now is just hope that this will work out…' Once Kyosuke was out of sight, Naoto and Charmaine knocked on the door to the house.
The person who answered the door was Natsuki, dressed in a yellow, short-sleeved shirt and white shorts that went down to her knees. She wore three beaded bracelets around her right arm, two bands of pink and one band of yellow in the middle of them to be precise. She was walking barefoot, but Naoto could notice a pair of white sandals dangled out of her right hand. Behind her was her older brother, Yuji, who was dressed in a red shirt with the word 'champ' written in big, bold yellow letters. He also was wearing a pair of white shorts, similar to soccer shorts, and black sneakers.
"Right on time," acknowledged Yuji. He looked back into the house as Natsuki proceeded to put on her sandals. "We're heading out, Okaa-san, Otou-san!"
"Bye, Okaa-san! Otou-san!" Natsuki followed.
Wagmaria was a standard family diner. It was relatively loud, considering that it was lunchtime on a Sunday. Many little children were running around, which made the four high school students feel relatively out of place. Yuji looked to Natsuki, who was sitting on the inside of the booth, and laughed nervously, "Well, the last time that your birthday landed on a Sunday, you were only turning ten. That was six years ago…"
"This place probably looked cooler all that time ago," Charmaine assumed, trying to drum up some conversation with Natsuki. However, the female doesn't bite and Charmaine is left feeling as if she was simply ignored. Charmaine looked in the direction of Naoto, who was on the inside with Natsuki, and nudged him. Naoto could only sigh before he looked in the direction of Natsuki, who paid no attention to him and instead looked out the window. But, Naoto realized something: at the table was a person who didn't know much about life in the human world (Charmaine), a person who is mostly excommunicated from it (Naoto), and someone who will just keep her mouth shut if she needed to (Natsuki). There was possibly no real chance at any kind of real conversation getting done during that time. Naoto sighed, realizing that his goal was a tough one still.
Naoto is able to see Natsuki's eyes widen as a male comes within her sights. Naoto then looked himself before he sighed. It was Kyosuke, someone that he was expecting to come, but his appearance then was relatively surprising. 'Well, he sure gained confidence fast! I have the worst feeling that he just ended up following us,' Naoto thought, goose bumps beginning to appear on his arms. Kyosuke caught sight of Naoto and Natsuki before he moved into Wagmaria and, luckily for them, Yuji didn't notice him until he arrived at the table.
"I'm not too late," Kyosuke sighed. Yuji's eyes snapped to him before he sighed himself. Although it was only noticeable for a moment, Naoto could see a small smile appear on Yuji's face.
"I'm surprised that you had the confidence to come out here," intimidated Yuji. He glared in the direction of Kyosuke. "I actually wondered if you were just going to let the day go by without doing anything."
"Good point," Kyosuke replied. "Because you usually act like this, Yu-kun, I was not sure how I should approach you two."
"'Because I always act like th-?"
"Please, no more fighting," Natsuki spoke up, tapping the table. It was small, almost as whimper, but her older brother and Kyosuke looked at her, slightly surprised. Natsuki's hand began to slip off of the table, almost as if it was an indicator of her ever-slipping confidence.
"You should sit. It's an important day, after all," Naoto assured Kyosuke. Natsuki looked to Naoto as a small smile came across her face, as well as Kyosuke's. Yuji turned his head towards the window and Naoto moved his body closer to the window as Charmaine moved over as well to give Kyosuke room to sit.
However, Naoto soon realized that even getting Kyosuke to sit down only gave more tension to the table. Now, he and Charmaine were almost inclined to stay silent because they were the outsiders. Natsuki was more or less bound to stay quiet to give Yuji and Kyosuke room to talk. Finally, Yuji and Kyosuke were busy talking to each other through their gestures instead of their mouths.
As a girl with pink hair walked up to the group, she put on the brightest smile on her face. If anything, Naoto had the slightest feeling as if he had seen her before, but he couldn't put his finger on it. She wore a white dress shirt with a short, black skirt. Over it, she wore a plain white apron. Her pink hair was tied up with a band, possibly so it did not get in the way while she worked. Her green eyes were the first thing that attracted their attention, as it reflected the energy that the girl had. "Welcome," she greeted, "is there anything that you want to start off for today? Like a drink?" She closed her eyes, tilted her head over a little bit to her right and put on a wider smile.
"Water," Naoto replied bluntly.
"Make that two," Charmaine replied almost as quickly, only so she would not be stuck with something that she didn't know.
"I'll take a Mist," Yuji nodded.
"Me too," Natsuki agreed.
The table then turned to Kyosuke, who was at least slightly surprised to notice all of the gazes on him. "I'll take a coffee," he hesitated to say.
"Old man," Yuji grumbled with a small smirk on his face.
"Coffee in the afternoon is better than in the morning," Kyosuke reasoned.
Despite this, however, Naoto could only sigh. 'We need to do something about this…' Maybe it was just a slight of the foot, but he ended up accidentally tapping against Natsuki's leg. Natsuki was alerted out of her own thinking. She looked to Naoto, only to see Naoto look back at her with a confused expression. Regardless, though, with Natsuki's attention, he could try to do something. He mouthed 'Follow me' to Natsuki before she silently agreed. "Mind me getting out?" asked Naoto to Charmaine and Kyosuke. "I want to go to the bathroom before the drinks come."
"Me too," Natsuki informed Yuji.
Natsuki's POV
My attention is mostly on Fujimoto-kun's back as he and I headed towards the bathroom. It is an awkward situation. I'm happy that Kyosuke-kun came, but I didn't want things to turn out like this. We can't even communicate. Fujimoto-kun and Williams-san must feel out of place. I would. He turned to me once we were out of sight. I was waiting for reprimanding; maybe the two of them would leave early. For some kind of reason, I feel empty when I think of that.
"Really awkward indeed," comments Fujimoto-kun.
Nothing of that kind comes… And I'm left relatively surprised. Is Fujimoto-kun still busy trying to help me? My cheeks couldn't help but get hot. I've never had someone spend so much time on trying to help me outside of Kyosuke-kun and Onii-chan. So, it is a surprise to me.
"You feel guilty for this, don't you?" Fujimoto-kun asked.
I'm surprised. Not only for the sudden question… It was deeper than that. It was like I had heard something that I had hoped for someone to notice. It resonates within me and I could feel my heart's door begin to open. Ever since that confrontation on the school rooftop, I was wondering how much he was starting to figure me out. It was relatively scary. I didn't think that anyone would put in the effort to learn me. Yet, one person- no, Williams-san is probably doing the same thing- Two people are trying to make the effort to understand me.
"It's my fault," I explain. "Because I made the effort to change my relationship with Kyosuke-kun, I ended up breaking both of my relationships. How can I spend time with both of them when they can't get along with each other?"
"I think they do, honestly." My eyes drift to Fujimoto-kun's eyes. "If you told them that they should make up, then I think they would."
"Why?"
"Because they listen to you. They pay attention to you. They're arguing because they care about you." My eyes widen. Everything I was wondering about was beginning to make sense. Or maybe, I just want them to make sense so I can feel better about it. "Kurada-san, as well as your older brother, saw your sad state. If you looked at it from a distance, then your brother and Kurada-san must have both said something. That day when I saw you for the first time… Your older brother said something to you, didn't he? That's the reason why you didn't look up at all…"
What is with this guy? He must just be grasping at straws… That's what I thought before.
'Things always change, Natsuki.'
My brother's voice bounced off of the walls of my head.
'All we can do is just work through it.'
"I- I don't-," I manage to say. What am I supposed to do? I felt as if my older brother was just throwing away Kyosuke-kun as is. I didn't want that. At the exact same time, though, I felt hurt by his words. I felt as if he had completely shut down the present me. Even worse, it may have made me lose all chances with him. Being close to him; did being close to him before I even knew what a crush was enough to ruin my chances with him when I was older? Maybe I just didn't want to face the truth…
"I don't want things to change…" I mutter.
"But, sometimes you can't stop them," Fujimoto-kun replies. My eyes drift towards the ground. I was hoping for a better answer than that. "However, you can try to grab it again." My eyes snap back to Naoto. I'm confused, but I was told that I could do something to fix everything again.
"How can I do that?" I ask.
"Gather the courage," he explained. "You had that back then, where Kurada-san showed up. Remember that and make the leap of faith. Even if you fail, it's better than feeling guilt. Make a leap of faith…" Fujimoto-kun brushed my hair out of the way of my face to look at my eyes intensely. In that moment, I feel as if I had a door into his heart. "Become someone who won't be called an older sister; keep everything that you have while doing it. All you can do is just take a leap of faith. Take that first step."
What he's saying sounds like a stereotypical drama or anime speech. Yet, it touches my heart. My heart begins to beat faster, something that I only seemed to get when I was around Kyosuke-kun. And yet, I understand why. Fujimoto-kun began walking back towards his seat as I stood in place for a few moments. "I'm such a hopeless romantic," I mutter to myself, as I touch the part of my chest right over my heart. "I wonder if this is the whole 'Youth' thing that Otou-san keeps on talking about." I began to stroll back to the seats.
By the time I come back, my drink is already resting near where I was sitting and the woman who is our waitress was already back. "Oh, good timing." She noticed me. "Your group decided to split a pizza, if that was okay."
"Old tradition of ours," I inform with a small smile on my face. "Could we have ice cream for dessert?"
"Guessed that," sounds off Yuji with a smile on his face. "Strawberry, right?" I nod.
"Maiko-chan! We need some help with Table Six's orders!" cries out one of the people from behind the counters.
"Got it!" the waitress calls back. "Anyways, strawberry ice cream for the siblings, chocolate ice cream for tall and dark, chocolate chip cookie for Ms. Europe, and strawberry-vanilla swirl for Mr. Golden Boy." She begins to run off as Fujimoto-kun turns away, probably out of embarrassment.
"Looks like you made an impression," Williams-san teases.
"Yeah, right," Fujimoto-kun replies, the blush on his face getting more prevalent. I couldn't help but giggle at his response as he looked at me for a split second before looking away towards the window again. It makes me think, though… I want to laugh with Onii-san and Kyosuke-kun like this too…
The pizza may have lasted less time on the table than it did in the oven, as only twenty minutes had passed and the five teenagers were waiting around for their ice cream.
Natsuki fidgeted in her seat, Naoto's words and disposition still in her head. Even if she did deal with Naoto, however, she wouldn't feel complete until she addressed her main problem. Her fidgeting in her seat slowly began to stop and her eyes looked up to meet Naoto's face. He was sitting very compact, keeping his body still and all of his body packed in together. There was no body part that touched Charmaine's body, nor the window. It was very self-contained. However, he noticed Natsuki's eyes on him and he smiled at her. It was a little smile, but one that gave her the confidence that she needed.
"Everyone," Natsuki began, standing up from her seat, "I wanted to thank all of you for coming here today. I really had a good lunch with each one of you." The air around the table began to lift ever so little, Natsuki could tell. "I- I want us to be close friends." She looked over to Yuji. "Onii-chan…" Her gaze then directed to Kyosuke. "Kyosuke-kun… I want us to be the same as always. I want us to be the trio we've always been. I don't know if we can." Natsuki swallows her spit. "I really honestly do like Kyosuke-kun.
"But, I'd rather have the two of you with no strings attached. There is a lot of changing I'm going to do… And Kyosuke-kun, you may start seeing me as a woman someday. Other people are. But, right now, I'm fine with how we are." Naoto put on a small smile as Charmaine did the same and nudged Naoto, almost as if she was patting him on the back. "And I- Well, I-." Natsuki's mind began to go blank. 'I think that was it… But, it would ruin the speech if it ends like this.'
The silence in the area rained prevalent as Natsuki began to slump back down into her seat, her face flushed. A few ticks to the clock later, Yuji chuckled to himself. "You've really grown up, Natsuki. It's almost scary," he commented. "I guess I don't need to protect you as much anymore." He looked over to Kyosuke. "I couldn't help but get angry at you, though. I've always considered you a brother to me… So, I couldn't help that I felt a little bit apprehensive."
"I know," Kyosuke replied. "It's your only strong quality, isn't it?"
"Well, thank you for the vote of confidence," Yuji sighed. "But, still, though. I'm happy to hear that you have grown up a teeny bit."
"It is my birthday, y'know," Natsuki informed him matter-of-factly. "I have grown up."
"You know what I meant," Yuji retorted.
As Maiko approached the group, she announced, "Ice cream for five." The eyes of all five teenagers lightened up before they took their cups of ice cream.
Naoto looked in the direction of the window once again to notice that a couple of droplets of water had hit the window. 'Rain?' he wondered to himself before he dug into his ice cream.
"Ah, it's really pouring out here," Yuji commented. The group was now in front of the Senda household. Naoto and Charmaine had luckily taken their own umbrellas. Well, only Naoto really did. Charmaine had managed to make a red one with skulls on it with her raiment. However, only Kyosuke had bothered out of the trio to actually bring an umbrella, so all three of them were huddled under one of their own.
"Same as always," sighed Kyosuke, exasperated. "You two should make the effort to get more conscious of your surroundings."
Yuji let out a sigh of his own. "Well, sorry," he snapped back. He then looked to the house before he pointed at it. "If you guys want, you can stay here until the rain passes."
Charmaine looked to Naoto before Naoto shook his head. "We should get going." He put on a smile before he continued, "I have a little sibling of my own to take care of back home."
Yuji nodded in agreement. He could understand where Naoto was coming from. "Got it." He then looked to Naoto and Charmaine. "Sorry for getting you in our mess," he apologized bashfully.
"No problem," Charmaine explained. "I'm just happy to know that it all worked out at the end."
"England sounds like a very interesting place," Kyosuke mentioned, "as well as France."
"Well, thank you," Charmaine replied with an awkward smile on her face. She needed to make conversation somehow. After all of the tension dissipated, everyone was much more talkative. Even Naoto would have made better conversation if she hadn't made the effort to explain where she came from. 'Picture books… I seriously got saved by picture books,' she acknowledged.
"Anyways, we should get going," Naoto explained. He looked to Natsuki. "Happy birthday and sorry I couldn't get anything for you."
Natsuki shook her head. "Don't worry," she reassured him. "Your presence was enough." Naoto could only blush in response to what Natsuki said before he cleared his throat.
"Anyways, see you." Naoto and Charmaine began walking down the street, but what Yuji and Kyosuke noticed was not the pair walking away, but the girl that was left. Natsuki's gaze was unfocused, but she was definitely looking at the ever minimizing backs of Naoto and Charmaine. The trio proceeded into the house and as Natsuki proceeded to take off her soaked sandals, Kyosuke held out a raincoat to her.
Natsuki looked at Kyosuke with a confused expression on her face. But, Kyosuke stayed firm in his disposition. "Don't you have something else to tell someone?" he asked her before he nudged his head in the direction of the bleak world outside. "Honestly, I can't imagine you as anything other than a sister right now… But, wasn't there someone who you already found an interest in during all of this?" Natsuki's mind quickly drifted to Naoto and Charmaine and remembering how the last week had worked out, her face only managed to turn red, like an apple.
"All you can do is just take a leap of faith. Take that first step."
Naoto's advice to Natsuki echoed in her head as she proceeded to take the rain jacket. "I'll be back soon," she told the two males.
The rain had begun to pour down and Naoto and Charmaine were strolling to the house, each under their own umbrella. "Do you think you fixed up Senda-chan's gap?" Charmaine asked, wanting to break the silence. In the back of her head, as well as Naoto's, the conquest was still on their mind. Even though they would definitely not call the day's endeavor a failure, they were still left without much of a chance at getting to Natsuki's heart. It really made Naoto wonder if he had only done the right thing because it made him feel better about it. He couldn't figure out Natsuki's gap, so he decided to fix at least something nearby, hoping that it was the gap.
"I really think that I did," he affirmed, although his tone was less than encouraging. "We still have some time so-."
"Fujimoto-kun! Williams-san!" cried out a female voice. Naoto stopped for a moment, hearing the splashing footsteps that approached the two of them. He and Charmaine looked back to see Natsuki, laboring to continue running. Her labored run slowed down to a trudge as she approached them. "I wanted to thank the two of you for helping me." She struggled to breathe as she looked up to Naoto. Naoto tilted his umbrella forward, covering at least parts of Natsuki's body, as Natsuki continued looking up at Naoto in awe.
"It's fine," Charmaine giggled. She then turned on her heel and began to walk away. "I'll be heading home first. I'll see you at home, Naoto-kun."
As Natsuki continued to stare up at Naoto, her breathing beginning to slow to its regular rhythm, Naoto had to wonder if he should make the first move or not.
The scene was tranquil; the only real sound that was prevalent was the raindrops hitting against the ground. But, to Natsuki, the sound of the raindrops meant nothing. The beating of her heart sounded stronger than it. Even though the breathing had calmed down, the heart still beat as if it was to leap out of her chest and say the words that she wanted to say before she even had the chance to do so. She opened her mouth to speak, but her voice caught in her throat, creating a small whimper instead. Her face flushed, and all of a sudden, the cold air got even colder to her. Her legs even shook, but she wasn't sure if it was because of the cold. "You know?" she began, her eyes casted down towards the ground. "I really wanted that."
"Hm?" Naoto raised an eyebrow, intrigued by what Natsuki was saying.
"I wanted everything to go back to the way it was," Natsuki explained. "Now that I think of it, I wanted it all this time… But, I couldn't muster up any kind of courage to do it. I always believed that I was stuck on a straight course, heading towards whatever it was. When I saw Kyosuke-kun and Onii-chan fight, I couldn't help but think that I was right the first time." She then put on a bright smile. "However, looking back at it, I really wanted to change. I wanted to step out and do something. But, I didn't have the courage and when I failed and everything unraveled, I felt guilty for having them in the first place."
"Well, you know-," Naoto began.
"Please, let me talk," Natsuki interjected. "If you don't let me finish this, then I don't know if I'll have the courage later on to do so." Naoto stopped speaking on the spot and after a few moments pass, Natsuki smiles wider. "I really didn't think I wanted you and Williams-san… I wanted my older brother and my childhood friend to make up. I was afraid to step out, though, and voice it. Even worse, I grew afraid of change itself…
"But, if I didn't change, then I wouldn't have met Williams-san… I wouldn't have met you." Natsuki's cheeks flushed, as well as Naoto's. Even though Naoto was preparing for something similar, he was still completely bewildered as to what to do. Natsuki hugged the taller Naoto, possibly as a way to hide that she was blushing, before she gazed up at him. "I will change. And I won't be afraid of it. But, my courage supply is running low for today. So, let me just use the remaining confidence I have left to say something…"
Natsuki began to stand on her tip-toes, and Naoto, wanting to help her, lowers his head a little bit. Their foreheads met and Natsuki stared into Naoto's eyes with a wide smile on her face. "Naoto-kun," Natsuki began. Naoto's eyes widened and his cheeks turned rosy. It was a distinct difference from when Charmaine always said it. It was laced with a different emotion. It wasn't familiarity; it sounded like something similar to longing. "I want you."
Natsuki placed her lips on top of Naoto's, closing her eyes. Her lips tasted like strawberry ice cream, no surprise. Naoto couldn't help but feel a little light-headed. Even after Tomomi, he was still not used to it all.
Meanwhile, above the pair was Charmaine, tapping the jar that she was holding as she waited for the spirit to come out. From the clear umbrella that Naoto was carrying, she could see a flash of light emit before a ghastly spirit emitted out from it. 'Number two,' she counted to herself as she began chasing the spirit.
The end of the school day was the same as usual, with people hustling to go home. Naoto, on the other hand, though, had no club today- soccer team was cancelled because of how bad the field was. He also had no immediate calls from his mother. His head was propped up by a loose fist made by his right hand, nestled against his right cheekbone. Even with all of the chatter swarming around the room, his eyes remained focused on the visions outside of his window. The rain from the day prior had made the ground damp and darker on sight and the leaves of the lone tree still had little droplets of water resting on them. Some of the wind had even blown some of the leaves off of the tree and scattered them all over the damp ground.
Nevertheless, Naoto still found some interest in the world beyond the window- at least more interest than that of the one he was actually part of in the moment. It was a tranquil day and one that he didn't need to worry about getting his head cleaved off. He was happy for at least that. He looked in the direction of Natsuki's desk, only to see that she had already left. He was apparently so focused that he couldn't even notice the amethyst eyes staring at him.
"Gather the courage."
Charmaine was surprised to know that Naoto had said those words to Natsuki. Yet, at the exact same time, she could only giggle at the irony of it. When she met Naoto, he came off of an aloof person who made the personal effort to avoid people. However, as she noticed with Tomomi and the basketball team, as well as Natsuki, was that maybe his personality was not that self-destructive. Maybe, back when she met Naoto, he was not isolating himself just to avoid people… Maybe he had accepted at that point in time that he had already given into the fact that he would never amount out to anything more than he already had. That was irony of it. Hell had decided to send her to a person who could have had a gap in his heart if he was a girl. Yet, his personality allowed him to make those connections with the girls and his emotions allowed him to come up with those answers when he needed to.
Maybe, one day, someone would need to say those words to Naoto.
"What are you looking at?" Naoto asked, snapping Charmaine out of her thinking. Her attention was brought to the forefront to see the golden irises of her human buddy looking at her. His bag was already packed and he had already risen to his feet.
"Nothing in particular," Charmaine replied with a small smirk on her face.
Someday, someone would need to say those words to Naoto… But, unlike Natsuki, he wasn't ready to hear them yet.
So, that is Natsuki's storyline arc. If you're wondering the reason why Natsuki didn't get an 'ending' appearance, it's going to be next chapter. So, delving into the development of Natsu-chan!
Natsuki was actually, admittedly, not supposed to be part of the story. Even more so, the way she worked out was not what I originally thought up for her. I thought up of her after finishing Tomomi and revisiting the girls that I was planning on writing and I realized that the girl I had thought up of was similar to Mio. I didn't like that; I promised myself that I would change it up a little bit, so I actually roamed around for a little bit and found inspiration for her ranging from all over the place. Natsuki was supposed to be the overshadowed younger sibling; it's been done enough in anime, I think, to get an idea of it. The story was primarily going to be about her increased distaste of the term 'little sister' because of her older brother and Kyosuke's rejection.
Then, a person who was really close to me suffered a loss in her family in between Chapters two and three. Then, I rearranged the story to being something a little bit more substantial, I thought, as being the concept of changing and how destructive and reconstructive it can be. It's touched in anime very often; you may see situations between Kyosuke and Natsuki even play out in your own classrooms to much worse effect. In exchange, Yuji went from being one-shot character to being an important side character, so maybe I'm thinking about putting him in some other chapters as well.
But, anyways, I think that's the reason why I was able to write better. Sadly enough, Chapters two through four turned out to have more work done on them than Chapter one and as a result, came out progressively later but I'm satisfied with the product.
So, let me see… The schedule for next week will be that I will release one full chapter at the beginning of the week and then Tomomi's omake (which will be about 2,000 to 3,000 words) a few days after. As you're probably noticing, I'm trying to toy around with my writing style (another reason why the release dates for all these chapters never work out). So, please I will accept any kind of critiques you have, just as long as they're constructive.
Oh, and let me see about the anime references in this chapter... Uh, PenguinMarch is a reference to Mawaru Penguindrum. It's a series airing right now and the penguins in it remind me of Prinnies from Disgaea (yes, they get that badly abused at times for comedic effect). Wagmaria is a letter change of Wagnaria. First season is coming in America under that name; the Japanese name is Working! and it'll be airing in Japan in a few weeks.
Anyway, I hope you all have a good week! I'll be back for Chapter 5 next week!
