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Essence

The chime from an incoming text message interrupted Nagatoro's Sunday morning plan to sleep in late. Dressed in her pajamas, she sat cross-legged atop her bed with phone in hand, and read Sakura's text.

The leader of S-Force, the Splatter Battle team they'd met at the sushi place yesterday, sent Sakura a link and the sign-on credentials for their Twist video archive. "You've got to see this," Sakura wrote.

"I'll check it out."

Twist, an online service facilitating the real-time streaming of gameplay, allowed its members to store recordings of their exploits. Four of the five videos in the archive featured Princess Sakura as the Monarch character. Nagatoro started the fifth clip, which featured her as the Princess.

The video opened with a closeup of her avatar standing on a cylindrical mobile platform topped by a low translucent railing. Toshi's adaptation of her Monarch character was clearly a labor of love. Gold jewelry adorned her flawless body while gold ornaments decorated her braided, waist-length hair.

"3… 2… 1… BEGIN!"

She watched the game unfold with a mixture of curiosity and horror. At one point, her Monarch character pointed forward like Napoleon leading the charge when her team took the offensive. At other times, the princess curled up in fear behind the railing bars as the opposing team's paint streams threatened her safety.

Her character never spoke, but made the cutest noises while stylized text flashed her thoughts. The game engine's accurate reproduction of her flexing musculature, alluring curves, and swaying hair amazed her. Then again, Senpai created her frame, so what did she expect?

She laughed out loud when a burly, sumo-wrestler-looking dude wielding a huge gatling sprayer stormed to the front. Behind the controls sat a much smaller unassuming fellow—someone totally in love with her. Correction, in love with her image.

Nagatoro sighed.

She'd gotten sloppy. She couldn't blame Sakura for this. Nagatoro freely chose to show off her avatar, and subsequently forgot to delete it.

"Come on, you guys!" she screamed when an opponent broke through the lines. "Protect me!"

As if they heard, her team regrouped.

"Yes!" Nagatoro pumped her fist when S-Force broke forward, then captured and doused the opposing team's Monarch, one of the default characters offered with the game. So lame.

Their victory left Princess Nagatoro largely unscathed. The blotches of blue paint adhering to her thighs, breasts, belly, and bum slid to the floor and evaporated as "WINNERS!" flashed on the screen.

"Woo hoo!"

The video ended.

Nagatoro hopped off the bed, shed her pajamas, and skidded to a stop before her drawer chest. Opening the top drawer revealed her modest jewelry collection. She donned bracelets, a necklace, and earrings, hopped in front of the full-length mirror, and posed. Sakura was right. She looked good dressed in only jewelry. Elegant.

And all of Japan knew it.

Damn.

Her phone chimed. "I found the perfect spot," read the text from Senpai. "Very secluded. Busy today?"

A familiar warmth welled up inside her. She stared at the phone. "Can't today," she replied. I need time to think about things, she didn't say. "Yes, busy," she replied.

"Next weekend?"

"I'll let you know." Isn't he the pushy one?

Nagatoro grinned at her reflection. What Gamo-chan had said the other day was true as well. "I'm not sure I know who Paisen is anymore." She'd picked up on it. The guy had changed.

Which was inevitable, considering the recent crazy antics of the painter and his model. He's a guy in his prime. How could he not change?

The girl in the mirror tugged an earring and tilted her head. I've changed too.

She returned the jewelry to the top drawer and pulled a set of clothes out of the lower drawers. Ten minutes later, she walked along the sidewalk, outside under a hazy sun, dressed in a blue top, shorts, and sneakers.

She jogged toward the ocean, past her favorite coffee shop, through the beach access, and out onto the sand. She stuffed her socks inside her shoes, tied the shoelaces together, tossed the package over her shoulder, and walked along the surf line.

Waves broke and receded, rhythmically drenching her feet. Two miles down, a crag jutted into the sea. She put on her shoes, scaled the obstruction, and dropped to the other side into a cove. A boulder provided seating and a wall of granite enclosed her as she gazed into the sea from her favorite thinking spot.

What am I going to do? Decisions, decisions.

The admonition of her history teacher came to mind. "When you need answers, look them up. Supposing is good, but finding out is better."

Nagatoro navigated her phone's browser to the Splatter Battle section of the Vapor website. From there, she navigated to the Top DLC's section. Princess Sakura still held a firm grip on the top slot by a healthy margin, while Princess Nagatoro had jumped a spot, moving from number nine to number eight.

She tapped the History icon at the bottom of the list and scrolled back to in time to the weekend when the Gaming Club first introduced Princess Sakura to the world. Her character went viral soon after the club got destroyed at the tournament—the worst team had the hottest Monarch. That notoriety and a TV story highlighting the contest pushed Sakura's Monarch avatar into the limelight. She shot to #3 on the list the following Monday and topped the list one day later.

At that time, Princess Nagatoro hadn't yet reached the top 100. She debuted at #97 three days after Sakura topped the chart. As Princess Sakura dominated, Princess Nagatoro slowly rose. Clicking on her listing revealed that her popularity came mostly from the west, predominately from the United States, though Japan certainly had its share of early adopters with Toshi likely one of them.

Still, a plurality of Princess Nagatoro's fans resided in the west, which contrasted with Sakura's extensive Japanese fan base.

She navigated to the Splatter Battle forums section and searched for the keyword "Nagatoro." She got four hits. Three of them mentioned her tangentially. One of the threads focused on her exclusively and ran twenty-two pages long. She started reading the posts.

"… and I'm getting tired of all these big-breasted bimbos. Don't misunderstand, I like boobs as much as any guy, but Nagatoro's slender figure is a breath of fresh air …"

"… When I set the hair length to long and decorate the braids, I swear, she looks like an Egyptian Pharoah's daughter. Ultimate class …

"… I love how she exudes a playful vibe, like you'd want to sing Karaoke with her …"

The forum had its share of naysayers and perverts, but most of the posts were positive.

When she zipped down to the last page to read the most recent posts, her jaw dropped.

"… Check it out. This girl is real! Can you believe it? I took this yesterday …" A picture of her posing next to a Japanese fan embellished the post.

"… No shit? I always pegged her avatar as a 3-D version of some chick from one of those Japanese animes …"

"… Holy moly, she's super cute in real life too. I think I'm in love …"

Nagatoro squinted. Nobody even had a clue I was real. No wonder Toshi looked at me like I was a ghost. Speaking of Toshi, none of his pictures made it on the board. The poor guy was probably still in shock. I hope the real me wasn't a letdown.

Perusing the image boards revealed that most of the players using her avatar didn't leave their princess uncovered. On the other hand, nobody dressed her in a standard gown either. They usually chose a swim wear option to keep things on the edge of civility—usually the briefest of string bikinis. Never a blue one-piece.

Those that used the unclothed version of her avatar—a sizable number—always added accessories, and they lengthened and decorated her hair.

She ran her fingers through her mane. Maybe I should let this grow.

She pocketed her phone and stared at the waves. This all started when she posed for him on that fateful day. She'd let the cat out of the bag, and, as cats are wont to do, it ran off to places she'd never intended.

Did she regret that decision? Would she take it back?

Her mind flashed back to Friday night's swim session to replay her underwater sneak attack on Senpai. Stealthy as a shark, swimming in close, popping up and dunking him from behind. Watching him flail his arms, spit water, and groan. Delighting in his aggravated smile.

Hell, no. I wouldn't change it for the world. She couldn't think of anything she enjoyed more than posing for her painter—even when the nearest brush was a hundred miles away.

She considered shedding her clothes and going for a quick dip in the ocean. Nobody would see her here. But neither would he, and that took all the fun out of it. She resolved to bring him here later.

She climbed out of the cove and returned to the surf line. As she walked along the beach, she glanced at the guys she passed. Nobody seemed to notice her without the Sakura magnet at her side. If she and Sakura walked side by side in Santa Monica, would their roles be reversed? I bet they would.

Nagatoro returned to her bedroom and unrolled the paintings atop her bed.

How bad would it be if the world saw these?

What she said before was true. Senpai deserved this opportunity. On the other hand, only Senpai had the right to see her naked. They had a professional artist-model relationship. She reserved that view exclusively for him.

But that cat was now loose. That ship had sailed. But had it?

She recalled the look in Toshi's eyes in light of what she'd learned. That little guy had a heck of an imagination. As he gaped at her in the sushi restaurant, his mind didn't register her clothes.

But did he see reality? He never saw her freckles or pores, or pale skin forming prominent tan lines. He'd only seen her avatar, and he'd augmented it with his modifications, which admittedly looked spectacular—thanks in large part to a certain artist's drawing talent. Senpai's essence, his view, lived in that avatar too.

The same essence he'd placed in these paintings. These scrolls depicted so much more than some random naked model. They expressed the charm he saw in one particular girl.

His… love.

The world deserved to see his work.

Author's Notes: I think a lot of this is true. I get the impression that Nagatoro is more popular in the west than in Japan. From what I've read, DVD sales for the show didn't sell as well in Japan as expected. Which sucks because I want a Season 2! What's up with that country? No cameos in this chapter, but they're coming up. Thanks again for checking in everyone. By the way, I also post these chapters on Ao3 in case, you know, something happens. See you all next Thursday! - SK