🌸Cherry Blossom Palette🎨

🌸Chapter 66: Off-the-Cuff Modeling, Part Four🎨

[The First Half]

Written by EmtenDew

Edited by P. serrulata


Author's note:

ED: PS and I ran into some technical difficulties (again), so we agreed to put out half of the final chapter of this part of the story.

Writers far greater than I have done this, and I'm tired of waiting.

With this chapter and its other half ends the "spring saga" of the story. After that, we begin the "summer saga".

Naoto and Sakura conclude their modeling session.

This was another challenging chapter, and I thank PS for putting up with it.

Yet another nothing chapter in canon. Maybe we'll learn Nagatoro's sister's name though. I don't think calling her "Pig Vomit" is the best permanent solution.

Ask us anything, and we'll add a Q&A section in the next chapter. I would be happy if you ask questions.

Please enjoy what I wrote.


Friday, July 19, 2018

Near the tail-end of the sketching session he was holding, Naoto Hachioji became a little lightheaded…

Maybe there was a gas leak coming from the chemistry lab downstairs…!

But the dizzy-spell he was experiencing was from a far less explosive source.

It must be said, whatever, letting down a pretty girl—a friend—who was depending on him seemed nearly as scary as conflagration!

Well, maybe she wasn't DEPENDING on him, but that things made sense was walking out the door!

Try as he might, Naoto hadn't been able to communicate the posture he wanted from his volunteer hand/foot model, Sakura Inori.

She'd been very patient the whole night, but he didn't want to test her patience any longer, and he could only think of one thing to do!

He asked the gal sitting on the Art Club's big table, "Could I show you?"

She cocked her head at her senpai, opposite her, in his chair. "Show me?"

He affirmed, voice a bit shaky, just managing to raise his eyes to her face, his eyes otherwise level with her torso, "I can picture it exactly like I want it, so… I think I can show you."

"Okay…" She blinked. "So, what? You'll sit on the table and show me?"

"Uh… no," he maneuvered, his gaze to the side. "I'm asking if I can… uh, touch you."

"…"

"…"

Sakura stiffened. "…What…?"

"Yeah…" speaking to her, he shook like a leaf, his tenor alike. "There's a certain perspective I want, and I think I can show you how to do it… if I can touch your…"

He may as well have been riding a jackhammer… or leaning on the washing machine during the spin cycle!

"…!" Sakura understood.

Her senpai was asking to touch her… her LEGS… her FEET…

"…" Naoto opened and closed his hands distractedly, which the gal saw clear as a cloudless day, the dotted lines shooting from her eyes lasered-in on them.

As much as Naoto was playing at air-knocker jockey/bored housewife, Sakura may as well have been staring down Jack the Ripper!

"…?!" Revolving on her butt, she hiked her feet behind her and out of Naoto's view, pulling his gym shorts as low on her calves as she could get them.

The look she gave him…!

Naoto had seen this sort of avoidance out of her before, but…

It was like she was being menaced by some outer space creature from outer space!

Sakura didn't blush.

She blanched.

YIKES!

"…!" Naoto couldn't divine how/why he'd just asked the gal such a question.

Oh, my Gawd…! He crumpled.

Sakura was HORRIFIED!

He knew he'd fucked up about as royally as Charles XII, Napoleon, and Hitler, when they'd each hounded the Russians into the winter on the Ruskies' own turf!

And those were only the best-known of the ill-fated forays into the largest country on the planet!

"Senpai-kun…! You…" Sakura sputtered, face splotchy, unable to finish.

He didn't need to hear her say it.

She was sickened!

He could tell what it might be, approximately.

It wouldn't be far from "What the Hell do you think you're saying?! That's disgusting!".

The cloud of shit he hadn't been caught in the dust of since Monday cast a pall on the room.

It must've been hard enough for her, doing this, and he had to ask her such a warped question?!

Things turned fuzzy for Naoto, and his senses swam.

He'd REALLY fucked up!

He knew Sakura was repelled by him.

She'd undoubtedly already known about his, uh, FETISH when he'd offered her first aid that Friday night… and all the times he took a deliberate look at her…

Becoming nauseous, Naoto's insides went BRBRBRBRBRBRB, and he couldn't tell if he was about to puke in his lap or crap in his shorts. He could feel it from his heart and lungs down to the base of his balls.

I blew it! I blew it! I blew it! I blew it! I blew it! I blew it!

He'd made a pretty good friend, and he'd ruined it by asking something perverted!

But he WASN'T perverted!

He didn't ask to touch her for his own jollies, but it didn't matter…

He… He'd fucking done it… This was it!

But he hadn't done any of that stuff—offering first aid or wrapping his mind around her form through his eyes—with anything terrible in mind!

Senpai-kun!

He knew his friend had trusted him, and he'd just shown her this modeling session was apparently anything but innocent!

But he hadn't meant for that to happen!

He just wanted to—

Hey, Senpai-kun!

Naoto heard what was probably his favorite personal moniker, somewhere in the vicinity.

"Eh?" His vision cleared, and his friend was in his face.

On her hands and knees, Sakura was perched at the table's edge, concern etched upon her features.

"Senpai-kun…?" she worriedly enunciated.

Her eyes were as sad as Gamo-chan's!

Naoto gasped, "Sakura-san…?"

"…"

"…"

"Senpai-kun… are you okay…?" Sakura eked out.

What did he have to say for himself?!

"…"

"…"

He definitely wasn't okay…

"Sakura-san, I'm sorry…" Naoto choked.

She flinched. "…?!"

He dredged, "I'm really sorry for asking you that…"

"…?" She considered him.

Naoto gritted his teeth. "Even though I knew that you knew that I like… legs and…"

He couldn't finish, indisposed to utter a certain F-word that wasn't "fuck".

"…"

"…"

Sakura's tone was far from promising; she yielded, shifting to her flank, a bit unsteady, "So… you really do…"

As if she'd been denying it?! Had it not sunk in?! Hadn't she been sure?!

Naoto gritted his teeth all the more, unable to face her. "Yes… I do…"

"…" The knowledge… it took for Sakura… this time.

And Naoto discerned the realization as it crossed her aspect.

What else was there to say…?

He could think of something, shrinking in his seat, and dropping his regard to the floor. "I get it… why you didn't want me giving you first aid that Friday night… why it bothers you when I don't keep my eyes to myself…"

He didn't DARE look at her…

"I'll… get rid of the sketches… if you want…" he offered. "I get it… if you feel that way…"

Of course, she would want that…! He was a sicko!

"…" Sakura gave him nothing.

"…" All Naoto could see of her were her knees and hands, resting at the table's edge.

It was over…

"…"

"…"

Normally, things would be over.

However, things between these two were far from "normal".

"Senpai-kun…?" Sakura wormed.

Oh, shit…! He could only guess at what was about to come out of her mouth.

"Senpai-kun…" She swallowed hard. "I, uh…"

Here it comes! Naoto braced for impact.

Oh, why did God make him?!

"…"

"…"

"It's…" Sakura at once sounded sure and unsure. "It's not like anyone can really help what they like…"

Ack!

She continued, "merciless" in her advance, "I mean… I agreed to this… even though I was pretty sure you felt that way… It's not like you're taking advantage of me or anything."

Oh, geez…

"And I know why you did this…" Now, she seemed sure. "Whatever you might like, you didn't do this for your own enjoyment. I know you're serious about your portfolio."

Naoto refused to look up. Please, just stop…!

Sakura professed, "I… bet that's pretty difficult, being caught in the middle like that."

He couldn't take it anymore!

"Please, Sakura-san, don't…" It was impossible for him to just listen. "You don't need to say all this… I know how you must feel about this…"

Immediately, she retorted, swinging her legs back around, "Senpai-kun, no!"

The upset in her voice upset HIM!

"I… just…" Naoto's voice fell off.

"Senpai-kun, listen…" Sakura's didn't. "It's not you… It's me."

She has to go with THAT cliché…? It was perhaps the least welcome thing to hear in a world full of undesirables.

"…!" Naoto roiled in his own husk.

Sakura scooched to the table's edge, allowing her legs to dangle.

She didn't let up on her senpai.

"I'm serious, Senpai-kun!" she exclaimed. "It's not you at all!"

"…!" He balked at her passion.

And… then… for some reason…

The monsoonal storm of excrement—always swelling up at the worst of times—initiated a full retreat.

Naoto was convinced enough to listen…

Finally, he looked up and faced a girl most earnest. "…Sakura-san…?"

She took heart, and she tried to make herself clear.

"You remember Thursday night?" she questioned. "After we stuffed ourselves…?"

He'd never forget it!

He answered, "Yes."

Sakura's confidence was growing, enough for some senpai/kohai peculiarity to manifest.

"Thursday night… you said some things that sounded kinda weird…" she reminded. "But you explained yourself, and I understood better."

This was true… Naoto recalled. "…"

She beseeched, "Could I please explain? Myself?"

"…!" He… didn't know what to say.

"Please…?" she implored.

Naoto could, however, nod. "…"

"Okay…" Sakura took a breath. "The reason I didn't want you touching me the night at your place… and why I'm weird about this sorta thing… It's…"

Confident or not, she was fast less convincing of the former.

Naoto willed himself to take whatever she had to offer. "…?"

"…" The gal began trembling, and it took crossing her ankles and pulling her heels under the table to still her lower half.

"…?!" Her senpai would have to try to not see this.

What could she…?!

"…" Sakura relayed the apprehension of a Sasquatch preparing to pull a Band-Aid off his nut-sack.

Naoto had hair in certain places, but not that much. "…?!"

In spite of all tackiness, Sakura yanked off the little adhesive bandage with a categorical ferocity.

"I, uh… brr…" She shivered, not able to throw out her discomfort. "I don't want people touching my feet… I really just don't like it."

What?

She shuddered. "Ever since I was a little girl, it just… Urgh… It skeeved me outSeriously…"

What are you…?

"My parents… doctors… it didn't matter," she went on. "I could usually tolerate it, but… It sorta just freaks me the fuck outOkay…?"

Sakura-san…?

"And it's only gotten worse in the last few years…" she let drop.

"…!" Naoto could almost see her skin crawling.

Sakura came on stronger.

"And I told you I don't like people staring in general… but it's not like it's a constant thing!" she contended. "What am I gonna do? Never wear sandals and stuff?! No!"

Naoto wouldn't think so.

She questioned, "You know the thing, 'blending in by standing out'?"

He did. "…Yes…"

"It's like that…" she settled. "It works, being kinda flashy."

"…"

"…"

"Okay, uh…" Despite what he'd just heard, a few things stuck out to Naoto. "But I thought you were all about pampering."

"Pampering?" she returned.

He nodded. "Yeah, like pedicures and manicures and massages and spa visits…"

She'd given the impression of this and not infrequently talked about it.

"Yeah, well…" She rocked in place. "That's mostly me just playing the part… It's massage chairs and manicures I'm okay with… I can take a back massage, but… I'm not too comfortable having hands all over me."

The gal winced at the idea.

And she had more to say, "I'm fine with hugs and stuff, but I told you I prefer to… initiate contact. That's why…"

"…"

"…"

Something… changed in the air…

Naoto hazarded, exhaling, "I feel the same, I guess… Someone touches the back of my neck or blows in my ear… I can't take it…"

Sakura snorked, "Hey, I think everyone is like that, Senpai-kun… and I'd prolly wig out worse than you. S'not like I haven't seen you take it."

"Yeah…" he suppressed his own small bark of laughter. "That's happened a few times…"

"…~"

"…"

Maybe, just maybe, it wasn't over…

Naoto and Sakura had shared enough laughs, tears, awkwardness, bizarreness, and truth to not let something stupid mess up whatever sort of friendship they'd developed.

And they WERE friends!

Naoto felt assured of that.

He also saw now… why Sakura didn't want to be touched… or ogled.

What he'd seen the time he offered first aid wasn't "I've had a rough night; please don't touch me!".

It was "Nope, nope, nope, stay away from my feet!".

She surely hadn't hesitated to show him a little "Sakura-ness" at the park, though she'd been guarded.

So, there was NOTHING odd about her not being comfortable with his outlandish request!

Naoto hoped things were cool.

"Sakura-san…" he ventured. "Would you be okay to do this last pose… but something else?"

"Huh?" She didn't seem to expect this. "You still want to?"

He didn't see the issue. "Yes, it's not like it's that important, what I specifically wanted."

"You're sure?" she fostered. "After I…?"

What are you…? It beggared his imagination that she'd push the matter. "After you 'what'? It's okay, Sakura-san."

"…" She considered him. "Really?"

Naoto was so happy he hadn't blown it.

It seemed things WERE cool!

"I know I asked something crazy there…" he allowed. "When I was doing my research, I saw something, and I couldn't get it outta my head. I wanted to sketch it. I got carried away. Sorry for that."

Sakura stared at her hands, fiddling in her lap. "…"

"I just didn't see another way to get the 'look' I wanted," he told. "You actually came close, so I think we can get back to it, and even if we can't, there are a few other things we could do."

"You're sure?" She wondered.

Sure, he was sure! Things were cool!

Naoto busied himself, rearranging his equipment. "Yeah, Sakura-san, I get it."

"…" She watched as he straightened his pencils.

He continued rejoicing; he hadn't scared off his friend and model. "…~"

"…" Sakura bit her lip.

"…~" Naoto was shuffling through his papers.

"…" She swished the contents her mouth from one cheek to the other.

"…~" He hummed.

"…"

"…~"

"… it was you…" Sakura murmured.

Her voice had come so quietly, Naoto wasn't even sure she said anything.

He glanced over, looking up from his supplies, "Huh?"

She spoke up, trembling one or two seconds, "You can. Touch me…"

… …

… … … …

… … …

… … … … …

… …

Naoto must've been having a stroke.

Do I smell burning toast~? His busy hands halted. "What…?"

Sakura's eyes had fallen back to her lap, but she looked up enough to make eye contact.

She gulped, lacing and unlacing her fingers, and said, "If it was you… I think I'd be okay with it."

"…?!" Naoto was astonished.

Any second now, the left side of his body would go slack!

Sakura raised her eyes higher, and her cheeks had gone about as red as red could be red.

Naoto's mouth moved, and something came out, "Sakura-san, what are you…?"

"I, uh… You said this was something you really wanted to do, so…" Raising a hand, she twirled her hair between her fingers. "And I know you're not gonna try to hurt me or do anything bad, so…"

It wasn't the first time Naoto had seen that, his kohai playing with her hair. "…!"

"So, if you want…" Sakura tendered. "You can touch me…"

Holy poop on a stick…!

"Not if you're uncomfortable with it!" He went about rejecting this offer, golden platter and all.

Yikes!

"Hey, it's alright, Senpai-kun…" She wiggled her butt, unable to keep steady. "I'd let you do it…"

Naoto floundered, stammering, "I… I, uh…"

"C'mon, Senpai-kun…"

Derp…! He almost missed the shit-cloud being around.

Sakura lost center.

The gal snapped, possibly redder than ever, "Do you wanna do it, or don't you?!"

If she was offering, YES!

He wanted to do it. "…!"

Maybe Naoto wasn't having a stroke.

Maybe he was just dreaming!

But he physically pinched the skin over his tricep, and—

Yowch!

He wasn't dreaming.

This was real!

Going ahead with it was…

Pathetically, Naoto inquired, "You're sure…?"

"If I wasn't… I wouldn't be saying it…" Sakura countered, scrunching up.

She didn't SEEM so sure…

"…"

"…"

Naoto already had his materials set up just as he liked, so there wasn't much stalling to be done.

It didn't mean he didn't try…

"Wh… What should I do?" he emitted feebly.

"Like I should have to tell you…" Sakura advised, averting her gaze. "Just do what you did all the other times. Tell me the basic pose to start with, and we'll go from there."

"…" Naoto mired.

"…" Sakura grumbled.

"…" He just couldn't help but muck up the works.

"C'mon, just do it already…" She grimaced.

Oh, boy…

"Hey, cool it." Naoto was doing his best. "You're the one that offered."

"And if you keep shillyshallying, I'll take it back!" she nipped.

"Okay, okay…" he resolved, focusing on anything but her face, the gal still hesitant to look fully at him. "Sit on your bottom, like you'd sit Indian style, but put your right foot directly under your right knee, so you could hug your knee."

Sakura did so.

Naoto wanted to be specific. "I want you to put your left thigh out about 70° to your left, and tuck your calf and heel about parallel to… your shoulders. Kinda like that stretch where you put the soles of your feet together, spread your knees as far as they can go, and press your knees to the floor, but with just your left leg."

She was more flexible than him, and doing so wasn't a problem.

That was the basic position…

Now, he just had to…

He had to adjust it to what he remembered.

"Do you think you can hold this for a while, Sakura-san?" Naoto had asked more of her, but he was willing to delay going in, even by a few seconds.

"I'm fine," she asserted.

At this absurd moment, he couldn't help but say, "Thanks… Thanks for doing this."

She sighed, finally meeting his regard, "It's fine, Senpai-kun. I wanna help you."

She really did.

Naoto warned, "It may take a couple of… 'step back and take a glance' to get it right. I'll probably adjust you a few times."

"I understand."

Is this really about to happen?

"Let me know if you're uncomfortable," he required. "Please. It's not like refixing the pose would be hard."

"I know…" she acknowledged. "Do what you gotta do."

Naoto had the go-ahead.

He looked down at his pair of size 25(?) subjects, ready as he'd ever be.

But he'd ask forgiveness for his spacious apprehension.

His track record with this sort of thing was peculiar…

Though Naoto had touched Nagatoro similarly, it was under far different circumstances.

Part of him had loved it, though the "healthier" portion of his soul was loath.

But he had to remind his faithless ass of something:

Unlike Nagatoro, Sakura wasn't giving him a hard time…

Sakura wasn't going to howl at him or call him a freak when he touched her, and he knew it.

Be that as it may, he was grateful she hadn't given him, "Please be gentle with me."

He doubted he could take it, whether serious or in jest!

She was trusting him, despite her predisposition to being touched, and he wasn't going to betray the trust.

This wasn't dirty!

The two of them were friends, and they'd been through quite a bit together the last month.

Naoto had found a girl he was almost universally comfortable with.

They gave each other a little grief, but they'd been there for each other, and…

He'd maybe found a best friend in her… at least as far as girls went…

It would be hard to quantify his friendships with his gal-pals, but Sakura was probably on top of that pyramid.

He loved Nagatoro, but that was different than a normal friendship.

Sakura was his friend.

And if that wasn't enough—

To top it off, they'd been working together since the late afternoon, and it was turning out to be the best modeling session Naoto had ever been a part of.

They'd had a nice dinner, they'd had fun…

They'd yakked and joked and had told each other some things they'd maybe never tell anyone else.

And that was nothing new!

Naoto realized something:

There wasn't really anything to be scared of!

Still, no amount of big talk could obscure what he was about to do.

Was he really going to do this?

He supposed he was, and he moved in, making a point of not seeing Sakura's face.

She tensed up again, and he could feel it in the wood of the table, but she didn't refuse.

Naoto knew what he wanted to do with her left, and he placed the palm of his hand on the ball of her foot. He needed to flex and spread her toes towards her shin, so he wrapped his fingers around them, and—

COLD! He recoiled.

Her feet were FREEZING! Her pigs were like little pink-and-tan icicles!

Sakura took none too kindly to his feedback.

"What the Hell's the problem?" Her irritation was more powerful than her mortification, and she collapsed back to Indian style, crossing her arms.

Naoto didn't bother holding his tongue. "Your feet are freezing, Sakura-san… Are you okay?"

Her annoyance subsiding immediately, she grabbed at her own toes and rationalized, "That's normal for me. It's cool in the room, and I haven't been moving around much."

"…" He absorbed this.

Before Naoto said another word, the gal placed her hand on the back of his.

"My hands are always cold, see?" she established.

He barely flinched—from the cold or the contact. "It's normal?"

This was… unexpected…

"I'm kinda surprised," she admitted. "You're always so warm, and your hands definitely are, so I don't know how you didn't notice."

Everyone's hands felt cold to Naoto!

That was probably why he rarely gave it a thought.

Along those lines, though he'd been able to put Nagatoro mostly out of mind, one of the things that had struck him—in all the times the two of them had been up to some form of podiatrical mischief—was how warm she always felt.

He supposed Sakura's hand had been quite frigid when he'd taken it and lugged her off the sofa.

"You're not cold?" He wanted to know.

"I don't feel cold. This is normal for me."

He contended, "You don't feel cold at all?"

"…Maybe a little…" she furnished.

Naoto didn't like that. "If you were cold, you should've said something."

He'd let his model sit in discomfort…! Not that she'd told him…

Sakura contended, "Really, I'm good. You should feel my bedroom. It's like a refrigerator. I sleep better that way, under a mountain of blankets~."

At least he finally got another "~" out of her…

But Naoto wouldn't leave things this way.

"The AC doesn't need to be on full blast." He stood up. "It doesn't need to be on at all. Even the table's cold. You've got goosebumps."

He regretted taking her away from the comfy couch!

"Hey, don't mind me, Senpai-kun." Sakura didn't want to be a bother. "We're almost done, aren't we?"

"Don't be silly." He shut off the AC and opened the window. "You're the model. Your comfort is paramount."

Turning on the nearest fan, the balmy evening made its way into the room.

It was nice~…

"It's still this toasty out?" Sakura felt the warm air, enjoying it.

Naoto figured, "With how warm it was today, I guess."

"I like it cool, Senpai-kun~," she divulged. "I'm no good with extreme cold, but I like it cool. I sweat less~."

"I hear you, Sakura-san…" He was of the same opinion. "I know you're not a fan of high heat either."

"I'm a real temperate weather type~," she chirped.

Naoto smiled at her. This was another thing they could agree on.

Sakura laughed, "Tee-hee~."

Her senpai beamed. "…"

"…~" She—

"…?!" Naoto couldn't pigeonhole her countenance.

"Mm~…" Sakura burbled, all her focus on him.

He fumbled, "Wh-what…?"

"I gotta say, Senpai-kun…" The gal's eyelids flagged at half-staff. "You're pretty good to me~."

Woot!

"I just want you to be comfortable," he countered, hoping to keep above water.

"That's all~?" She fluttered her lashes.

"Ack!" He was caught off-guard, and he needed to turn away. "Sakura-san…!"

She let out a most girlish giggle, "Heh-heh-heh…~!"

Naoto blushed hard.

If his blush was a mineral, it'd be a 9.5 on the Mohs!

"There he is~." Sakura's tint might've scored a 9.0.

"Huh?" he fluxed stupidly.

Sakura giggled doubly.

Naoto wished to find a little traction. "…!"

But his sporadic inability to do so wasn't such a terrible quality.

"It doesn't hurt your case, Senpai-kun…" Sakura breezed. "You really don't have an agenda~."

That STILL sounded like virgin-shaming to him!

Notwithstanding, he knew it was said with great kindness. "…"

"I know how much you care…" she cooed. "You're really looking out for me. It makes a girl feel pretty special~."

Naoto was touched. "…!"

He succumbed, his cheeks giving a passable impression of candy-apples, trying to "meet halfway", "I really just wanna do a good job with this."

This only served to fan the flame of her charmed laughter.

"Ooh, you're Senpai-kun the 'politician' again, eh~…?" she teased, cerise. "You really know how to answer the tough questions, don't you~?"

As was principally his wont, he gave credence to only part, a concerted effort placed against fiddling with his glasses, in absentia. "Questions, nothing…"

Sakura just bubbled. "…~"

"…" Naoto re-cracked a grin, pawing at the back of his neck.

It seemed they were still good and all…

"But, really, Senpai-kun, thanks for being such a gentleman about this~," the gal commended.

He reluctantly but gratefully accepted the praise. "Y-you're welcome, Sakura-san…"

Naturally, things moved on.

And Sakura relaxed… or tried to. "Hey, I, uh… think I got the butterflies outta my stomach…"

I dunno about that… Naoto had his doubts.

"Well…" His friend poised herself. "You wanna get back to this?"

Back to what…?

Sakura abandoned the pose she'd taken up before this tangent, returning to what Naoto had described not long before. "I'm okay with it if you are…"

"…!" He couldn't seem to compute. "Sakura-san…?"

She breathed in and out, obviously a little nervous. "Let's do this… before I change my mind."

Naoto was about to ask her if she was sure, but some of the lessons learned managed to take root in his mind, and some opportunities just needed to be taken.

After all, they HAD been through quite a bit as a pair… and this wasn't even the strangest thing they'd done… maybe…

"Roll your ankle in… and… there."

"You didn't do this last time, Senpai-kun."

"I didn't get to it, but I did things in the wrong order. It makes more sense to start proximally and adjust distally."

"WTF does that mean?"

"Think of the proximal as your hip and the distal as your toes. 'Distal' means 'most extreme point'. It's easier to start with the gross motor and wait until that's done before adjusting the fine motor."

"Your hands are really warm, buddy~…"

"C-cut it out! Geez…"

"Ha-ha~…"

"Okay, now… hug your knee, and raise your heel so your sole is at about… 30°."

"Like this?"

"Yeah, just like that, Sakura-san…"

"Turn out your ankle… that far… and try to hold it."

"That's it?"

"Just about. Do you think you can hold all this for 10 minutes?"

"You got five minutes~."

"We can take a break, if you need it."

"Aw, so serious, Senpai-kun~."

"Yeah, yeah…"

After a moment, Naoto had Sakura just as he wanted her.

It was… just right.

Wow, was it awesome to see this right in front of him! With a REAL woman!

"Stop ogling and start sketching~…" the gal advised.

"I'm not ogling…" Naoto agitated.

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too-oo~!" she warbled.

Naoto pulled up his pad and pencil. "Shut up…"

"Tee-hee~."

Bwaaah! This gal was going to be his end.

On the other hand, however…

It started to come together very quickly.

Naoto's hand flew across the paper. "…!"

Sakura rather liked seeing him work, she'd quickly realized…

But she couldn't stop chuckling at the thought in her head, "Oh, man…"

Her senpai raised his gaze. "Sakura-san?"

"Sorry…" She didn't mean to distract him.

He figured it wasn't nothing. "What is it?"

She gave in and told him.

"I gotta say…" she chuckled immoderately, positively lit-up. "This is pretty wild, huh~?"


Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading!