🌸Cherry Blossom Palette: Summer by the Sea🎨
Chapter 30: Beach Episode! [Part Two]
Sunshine Arc
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
ED: My editor told me a lot of stuff about hacky sack, but only a few things will be making it into this new chapter. It sounds like a fun game.
This chapter will be shorter than one of my "normal" chapters. I plan to edit the "beach episode" into smaller chapters, so we'll see how it goes.
I do think that they'll be fun.
…
I started watching The Boondocks at my editor's behest. It's CRAZY FUNNY! I'm shocked by the stuff Uncle Ruckus says.
I just finished the episode where a certain Season 1 baddie comes back and possesses another character, and Ruckus and the Freeman family performed an exorcism.
"I command thy black n*gga soul back to the depths of Hell."
"Ha-ha-ha! Is that all you got, n*gga?"
"Oh, no, n*gga. That's just the tip of this iceberg. Read, n*gga, read!"
"NO!"
The world really has changed a lot since my editor was finishing high school or early in college. There's no way something this good would EVER fly in today's messed up wannabee woke world.
…
Nothing new in the canon chapter. Everything "revealed" has already been shown ad nauseum.
Nagatoro has friends, has someone who loves her (whom she truly doesn't respect), has all a girl could ever need, and appreciates none of it, having no idea how fortunate she is.
Orihara has no friends, has no one that loves her, is definitely jealous of Nagatoro for having everything she doesn't, probably hates her for it, and I think she'll try to hurt Nagatoro. She thinks her only reason for existing, the only thing she's any good at, is in danger of being lost, so she's desperate, and Nagatoro is in trouble.
As Nathan Explosion said in Season 3 of Metalocalypse, "I just don't want some guy with no reason to live f*ckin' with my mouth. You know what I mean?"
He said that of his fear of visiting a DENTIST, that occupation having the highest(?) suicide rate of any profession, but I'd feel the same way about getting in the ring with a despairing person.
And both girls hate themselves. Just beautiful. Where they each are is their own faults, but still…
Naoto doesn't hate himself like he used to, but he's got no respect for himself either. If he did, he'd either demand better from Nagatoro or leave her behind.
…
Ask us anything, and we'll add a Q&A section in the next chapter.
It's good to know that you keep reading, so I would be happy if you drop comments and ask questions.
Please enjoy what I wrote.
Saturday, July 28, 2018
"It's all you, Nao-kun!"
"Got it, Shuu!"
"Again!"
"Okay… got it!"
"Don't get cocky, 'cause here it comes again~! 1, 2, 3, pow!"
"Hey, Shuu! Tohru's right over there!
"So?"
"Send it to him every once in a while."
"But you're better than Tohru~. 1, 2… You've only dropped it twice. 3, 4, pow! I stopped counting with 'Short-pai'~."
"Fuck you, guy."
"Aw, don't be like that~."
"I'll repeat myself: go suck dick in the sewer, Shuu!"
"I'll take all I can get~!"
"And I hope your nose falls off~. Syphilis is still a thing, y'know."
Among the half-dozen or so parties now dotting the beach's landscape, Naoto, Shuu, and Tohru were still passing around the hacky sack, and they weren't exactly living up to their glory days, playing the game.
So far—and at most, they'd managed only 26 "kicks" in a row, keeping the bag alive amongst the three of them, and half of those had been Shuu juggling it, trying to set up easy passes for the other two… or when he was just talking shit, which was a rarity for him.
But it was fun, and the filthy banter was engaging …
"Hey, look!" Shuu grinned, abruptly catching the sack in his hand, pointing up the sand with the other.
Naoto and Tohru followed the gesture, and they saw a welcome sight, dressed in a t-shirt and cutoff jean shorts.
It was their "host", the one who'd brought them together that day~!
"Guys~!" Gamo-chan waved, ambling their way, the shade of her ballcap doing naught to hide the big smile on her face. "'Sup, dudes~?! Playing footbag?"
"Footbag" = hacky sack, the boys knew…
Shuu was the first to move, bounding over like a happy Labrador. "Hey, g'morning, Gamo-chan~! We sure are! How are you?"
"I'm good, Shuu-kun~. You good?" She seemed tickled at the warm greeting.
"Great morning, so far!" Shuu was very pleased to be able to communicate this.
Naoto and Tohru weren't far behind Shuu. "Hey, Gamo-chan." "Hey."
"Hey, yourselves~!" She met them; she nodded to the side. "That our spot?"
"Yup." Naoto bobbed.
Gamo-chan turned and headed that direction. "Looks like a good one!"
Having spun around, she revealed what she was carrying, alongside her personal bag.
It was a mesh bag, the kind one might see a sports team use to carry a bunch of basketballs or something…
So, it didn't confront the boys that the bag had a couple volleyballs, a football (soccer), a hand-egg (American football), and a stack of Frisbees.
Fun~!
Setting down the mesh on a blanket, Gamo-chan said, "I didn't bring the volleyball net (obviously)… I chatted with Sakura, and she said it'd be better to just use the city's, if we can."
Naoto thought the gal might've called her, having heard this opinion himself.
"I'm the fourth one here?" Gamo-chan asked the boys. "First girl?"
Tohru affirmed, "Yeah."
She grinned. "Well, well, well, at least the 33 percent are all accounted for~!"
The young men stared at one another. 'The 33 percent…?'
"What are you talking about…?" Shuu wondered.
She seemed to think it was the wittiest thing she'd come up with in recent memory. "There's Paisen~… and Short-pai~… and Shuu-kun~. That's three. Three boys, six girls, so you're 33 percent… and one-third, I s'pose."
"…"
"…"
"…"
She tried to save it, still motivated but faltering, "Yeah~, so it's, uh…"
It was FAR from the wittiest…
It was a dud, and she knew it. "…!"
And then there were STILL her monkeyshines from the karaoke party, raw enough in their memories…
"Heh-heh-heh…" Tohru gave a little laugh, the joke's bombing funnier than her actual joke.
Naoto and Shuu couldn't bring themselves to laugh, the Maki turning quite red.
She'd already blown a gag…!
But they let it go.
"I thought Yoshi-san would be with you, Gamo-chan." Naoto pulled at his t-shirt, already a little sticky under the arms. "You didn't come together?"
The girls were fresh out of a Disney sleepover…
She more than tolerated leaving the bomb in the past. "Naw, Yoshi ran back to her house for the grill and stuff. She'll be along."
"She has to carry it on her own?" Tohru couldn't see Yoshi doing so.
Gamo-chan denied, her blush fading some, "Nope. I lent her my old Radio Flyer, so she can pull it here. It's not like my little brother and sister ever played with it, so they're not gonna miss it for a day."
They could meet her at the boardwalk to help, if need be…
"Hoo!" The tall girl was enamored with their position on the beach, moving into the retaining wall's shadow. "Paisen, you did good~! I'm loving this spot!"
He reasoned, "Maybe I didn't need to get here so early, but…"
None of the other beachgoers had parked anywhere NEAR them, choosing to be out in the open…
"Hey, I'm glad you did~," Gamo-chan said with some spirit. "Someone else might've taken up here."
The Amazon was quite energetic, almost shaky with it…
"…?" "…?" "…?" It didn't seem all that strange to the boys, but she was wired.
Tohru wanted to say something, so, "Hey, uh, Gamo-chan…? You have a good rest of your week?"
A few people had been thinking of her wellbeing since Wednesday, even if they hadn't made it public…
"…~!" Distracted by another something, she kicked off her slides, stepping onto their blanketed claim. "Shuu-kun, is that your cooler of snacks?"
He acknowledged, "Yup. Tohru's kabobs are at the bottom."
"Ooh~… What snacks did you bring?" She crouched, sitting on her heels.
"Take a look," he extended.
Naoto peered over her shoulder as she cracked the cooler; he hadn't given it any real thought, what Shuu had brought.
Inside, there were definitely snacks, and they were healthy ones, no less.
Bananas, apples, oranges, grapes, granola bars…
"Hey, nice, Shuu-kun~!" Gamo-chan delighted. "This is awesome~. I was afraid you'd just bring chips and junk."
He fiddled, pleased with the approval. "Sakura said we'd be good for chips, so…"
Man, did she seem joyed over a bunch of fruit…
She pointed into the cold depths. "It's early, but do you mind if I…?"
Shuu just went with it, glad to see her cheerful.
"You don't have to ask, Gamo-chan," he chortled. "It's cool~."
"I didn't wanna seem greedy…" she murmured, eyes elsewhere.
"Go ahead. That's what I brought it for. It's for all of us. Someone has to be the first."
"Nice!" She snagged a banana, perfectly and choicely ripe, and a granola bar. "I skipped eating breakfast… Woke up later than I meant… Thanks, Shuu-kun~."
"No problem~," he obliged.
Naoto didn't have to be paying that close of attention to know that Gamo-chan was slightly off.
She was better-mannered than she might be among only girls…
Still, it didn't weird him out, and he'd go with it too.
Tohru would try again, right after—
"Anyone else want something?" Gamo-chan asked the boys.
They were of the same breed. "Naw…" "I'm good, thanks." "Later."
"Suit yourselves." Gamo-chan shut the cooler and took a seat on the blanket, contentedly going to town on the snacks.
It seemed at once to settle her down a little…
Now, Tohru tried again, going in a bit lighter, "So… Xena… you have a good rest of your week?"
"Can't complain too much…" she said around a bite. "Had to help out with that lousy judo tourney on Thursday, but it was good otherwise."
An uncanny thing happened…
Naoto… felt a change in her, and he'd know. "…?"
Neither Shuu nor Tohru could pick it out, barring the slightest edge in her voice, but their senses told them to let her be.
It was very sudden… and seemed very final…
"…?" "…?" Both found it odd, but—
"Uh, Nao-kun?" Shuu asked. "Wanna get back to it?"
Naoto dismissed, "You two go pass it around for a while. Think I'm gonna sit for a few… take a breather…"
"Your 'exercise' took that much out of you?" Tohru fetched back some bravado. "You've already been at it for a week~."
Naoto wasn't about to tease his vertically-challenged pal, Tohru being about as in shape as asymmetry.
SHUU was the athlete among the three, and he was nothing special…
Naoto just insisted, "You two go on ahead. I'll be back out in a while."
Neither argued and did as they were bidden, eyeballing their newish female friend on the way out.
Naoto really did want to take a break, but he also didn't mind keeping Gamo-chan company… in whatever it was that she'd just brought on herself, it being her choice to answer as she had.
She'd almost finished the banana, and he'd at least wait until her mouth wasn't full.
Once she'd swallowed, gathering up the peel, she leaned back a little.
"You good?" he inquired, hoping to get a bead on her.
She removed her hat, her gradually straightening, fiery hair under greater control than ever, even with the humidity.
"Yeah, I'm okay…" she answered with a sigh. "I just had to eat something… Suddenly couldn't think straight…"
"Oh, you're just excited." Naoto worried less than he might but wished to ease in. "I know what that's like, empty stomach and all."
Gamo-chan eagerly opened the granola bar and munched on it.
This was one hungry kohai…
Naoto just took in the view… of the beach, that is. "…~"
And before the girl was done with her last bite, she was on her knees, already crawling back to the cooler.
"Sure you don't wanna piece of fruit?" she asked Naoto. "A bar?"
Maybe a little something WOULD be nice… and it would give him another reason to sit with her…
"Sure," he accepted. "Fruit, please."
"What do you want?" Gamo-chan was quarrying about.
"Surprise me."
What she proposed was far more surprising than his favorite fruit. "I don't want a whole 'nother piece right now, so wanna share an orange?"
"That sounds pretty good," Naoto took to the idea.
Gamo-chan wormed back to his side, a new granola bar in one hand and the orange in the other.
"Could you peel it~?" she implored, holding up the orange. "I always leave too much of the white stuff…"
"Sure." He took it, immediately rolling it firmly between his hands.
She looked on. "What are you doing?"
"Warming up the peel…" He could already smell the oily zest, rubbed from the surface of the orange. "It also loosens everything up, separating what we want from what we don't want. The whole works will come off in one go, usually."
Gamo-chan looked on. "…?"
After a moment, Naoto wedged a thumb into the peel, working it underneath, and he began to shear off the bitter rind, finishing in about 10 seconds.
"Wow~…" his friend crooned at the picture-perfect pare. "You weren't kidding. You peeled that thing like it was one of those tiny tangerines~."
"Hey, it works." He split the orange, offering her half.
She took it. "You didn't even need a spoon to get in there. Where'd you learn to do that~?"
He wasn't entirely sure. "I think I saw my dad doing it when I was a little kid, and I've just done it ever since. But everyone in my family does it, so…"
Whatever way, they had a nice, sweet, juicy orange between them, and they enjoyed it.
"Yum~…" Gamo-chan appreciated, savoring it. "That banana was great too. Shuu-kun really came through, huh?"
"He knows good produce," Naoto would give him the credit.
Eating the orange, they sat a bit longer, watching Shuu and Tohru play.
"…"
"…"
…
'This is NICE~…' Naoto reflected.
A good friend at his side… the still-mild summer weather—at least until noon… the clean beach before them… two more friends knocking around a beanbag ON said beach… a fine specimen of his favorite fruit in his hand, with more in the ice-chest…
Even with the more recent additions, he was reminded of another time he sat next to a pretty girl on the beach… but this time…
No one seemed to be in danger of hurt or humiliation… or being used as a doormat, having sunscreen stomped onto the body…
That the pretty girl next door had done to him all of these things…
It was…
…
"…~" Gamo-chan was still picking away at her portion of the orange, leaning back on one elbow, ankles crossed in the sand.
Naoto thought about joining her on-level, but… "…"
"…~" She was loving this, whatever her "this" was.
He was too, but… "…?"
Gamo-chan was bursting. "…~"
"…What's up with you?" he finally asked.
She wriggled around. "I'm just happy to be here~…"
"You just seem… eh…"
"Yup, yup… calming down~…" She tried containing herself and did, save a jiggling foot, almost bouncing.
Naoto attempted reading her again, her eyes straying back and forth.
Gamo-chan was staring—dare he say—fondly at the two boys, passing around the hacky sack… and glancing at him.
"I'm glad you're here… I'm glad they're here~," she suddenly gushed, her voice not very contained at all. "This is gonna be so much fun today~!"
Naoto opined, "You just seem… really excited."
And her half of the orange was really GONE…
She prattled, "I've just been really, really, really looking forward to this~…"
He was too, but… "…"
"Oh, man~…" Gamo-chan enthused. "I can't believe we're here~!"
Naoto wasn't used to seeing her this jittery. "…?"
"…~" The mirth was coming out of her ears, so full of it was she.
"…"
"…~"
Was she doing that "deflecting" thing again…?
Naoto thought so, and he knew how to put a stop to it.
Though, it might've been a little cruel, bursting her bubble…
He tried getting something more out of her, "What was up with that '33 percent' stuff?"
"…!"
"…?"
Gamo-chan's demeanor shifted, and she surrendered at once.
"Pbbt…" she sputtered, scowling a mite. "Yeah, you got me~!"
"I got you?" Naoto forwarded.
She puffed up, hunching her back, her cheeks taking on some color. "You couldn't just leave that alone?"
"…"
"…"
"What was that about?" Naoto pressed.
"A bomb, that's what it was…" she capitulated, going from lounging to more of a tuck, hugging her knees at the edge of the blanket. "I wanted to…"
Leaning in, he could guess, "Be funny?"
"…Yeah…" she Maki-mumbled. "With Wednesday and all… I wanted to… set a precedence, I think. I think that's what a smart person would call it."
He sat. "…"
"I feel like a dork…" she picked up.
"You're not a dork," Naoto assured. "Wednesday? Some of it was funny and… it's just some of it wasn't."
"What an endorsement~," Gamo-chan sarcasm'd. "Just focusing on the funny… You forget the other crap…?"
No one had forgotten the other crap, least of all him…
"…" He drummed his fingers on his opposite elbow. *drum, 2, 3, 4… drum, 2, 3, 4…*
"…" She absentmindedly scrunched her toes, digging into the sand, tartly peering between her kneecaps. *scrunch, dig, scrunch…*
"…" *drum, drum, drum…*
"…" *scrunch, scrunch, dig, dig…*
Naoto wanted her to know, "There's no need to be nervous, Gamo-chan."
"Nerv—" She jarred, rounding on him, her fingers and toes jutting in all directions, but stayed her reaction any further. "I…"
"…?" He observed her knowingly… but not judgmentally… and with less dread than what "one-month-ago Naoto" might've undergone.
Her feedback wasn't unexpected…
The big girl exhaled, going back to hugging her knees. "…"
"…" Naoto watched her stew a little, her low gaze focused on the two boys in the sand.
She was minutely pissed, but she was also resilient. "Sorry, Paisen… I dunno exactly what to do with all this…"
He happened to think she'd done great on Wednesday… when she wasn't trying too hard.
She'd even showed the boys her soft underbelly, for better or worse, and there was a lot more to that than crying a little in front of them…
So, Naoto conveyed this, "Shuu and Tohru had lots of fun the other day, Gamo-chan. I think it was a good day for everyone."
"Mm…" she Gamo-grunted.
He added, "You don't have to impress anyone, Gamo-chan. Just have fun."
"…"
"…?"
"Phew… Okay, Paisen…" Gamo-chan breathed. "I'll try."
"Cool." She didn't sound as sure as he wanted, but reciting her Wednesday victories didn't seem like it would help the matter.
"Thanks, Paisen…" she said gratefully.
He freely returned, "You're welcome."
"…~" she hummed. *dig, scrunch, scrunch*
"…?" He pondered what was in store for him, and he didn't have to ponder very long.
With the previous unpleasantness out of the way, some Maki-menace flooded back.
She playfully sneered in his general direction. "…~"
"Wh-what is it?" He became almost as nervous as she was, among the boys.
"So… exercise?" She dug in. "What's that about~?"
"…!" He'd hoped she wouldn't ask… but he'd just done the same sort of asking to her.
She didn't let up. "…~?"
Naoto heaved a sigh. 'Why the heck not…?'
Gamo-chan immediately eased up, aware he was about to spill. "…?"
He supposed he hadn't told her much about it, if anything. "I've started running… jogging… walking every morning. Whatever I feel up to doing. I ran in the surf for a while, before you all started showing up."
"Why?" she tendered, dropping the roguishness.
He might ask her, "Why do you think?", but it was a fair question.
"…After everything that went on with last week… I just needed something to change, I think."
"…Okay?" Gamo-chan puzzled, wading in.
Naoto would forgive her skepticism. "I decided I wanna try getting in better shape this summer… even a little. I have a goal… for running."
"I see." She wasn't disinterested, hearing something more concrete. "What goal?"
"It's just 5 km… I know it doesn't sound like a whole lot, but it's more than I've ever run at one time. I could walk it… partly run it, but I wanna run five whole kilometers without stopping… at a reasonable pace."
She cocked her head, giving nothing away. "…"
"Like I said…" He pinkened. "I know it's not much, but—"
"Hey, it's a fair goal, Paisen," she told him.
He thought so, but he thought others might think differently. "Yeah?"
"Yeah~, I mean… you gotta start somewhere—and I don't mean that in a bad way. You wanna run 5 km at a decent clip by the time September rolls around? That's definitely doable."
"…!" This relieved Naoto. "Glad you feel that way… I wasn't sure."
"I'm sure." She gave him a Gamo-grin. "Do your best~!"
She'd said the latter in a most cliché fashion, what one might hear in some sappy shonen cartoon, during an "inspirational" moment.
But Naoto got her point… and her esteem. "Thanks, Gamo-chan… I'll give it a go."
And he put up his own Gamo-grin, staring into space.
"…"
"…"
"Uh… Paisen?"
"Yes?"
"…" She debated even saying it. "I shouldn't've shooed away your pals like that… just now…"
Whoa! Subject changed!
Naoto wouldn't argue though, not in the slightest. "Yeah…"
The atmosphere had changed too…
"…" Gamo-chan lowered her forehead to her knees. "I've been thinking about it all morning, how Hayacchi's parents—Hell, maybe the school was in on it too—wouldn't allow her to enter the tourney on Thursday…"
Naoto didn't suppose that there was any sort of conspiracy afoot; he thought that Nagatoro had effed up and was being penalized, though he doubted the girl next to him wanted or needed to hear it.
It was a risk, but he attempted, "Gamo-chan, I don't think she'd have been at her best. That was a lot for Nagatoro to go through… She made herself sick from stress over the semester… and she was afraid to tell any of us she was having problems."
"Hoo…" the girl beside him respired, unwelcoming of this. "Hoo, I'm getting angry, just thinking about it…"
'Oh, boy…' He mulled over his options.
…
It pissed him off when people played Devil's Advocate (and those that gaily played it must've wanted to meet ol' Mr. Lucifer, all but asking to be killed~), but he was infrequently guilty of it himself.
And he was so now, and he should've been more careful than he was in vetting his accounting. "Summer school started on Thursday anyway… There's no way she would've been excused from that."
Before he was even done speaking, he was already pleading hindsight. 'Crap-a-rola! Was that a dumb thing to say!'
At least he hadn't mentioned Orihara's winning on Thursday… in Nagatoro's weight class…
He very highly doubted that Gamo-chan wanted to hear that.
And how DID a dummy that tall with that build stay in Nagatoro's pint-sized weight class?
To him, Orihara didn't look like she was being eaten alive by some body dysmorphia malarkey, not in the least.
Maybe she had a HOLE through her mid-section, like a doughnut… or no brain—that'd knock off about a kilo…
…
It was almost certain that Gamo-chan had heard Naoto's foolishness, but she didn't tear into him.
She just sat, hugging her legs closer, sandwiching her feet in the grit. "…"
Naoto seized this as an opportunity to lay down the law.
"Look, Gamo-chan… don't bring your frustrations here—not today," he advised.
She was up for such advice. "I didn't mean to answer Tohru-kun like that… It just… happened."
"I don't think it bothered them that much," Naoto shared.
She wasn't so sure. "I didn't want to have to start answering a bunch of questions…"
"I think it's alright, Gamo-chan. Just take it easy."
"Yeah, I'll try… and try not to do that again…"
"…" Naoto felt it odd to be giving someone else such guidance, but even a stopped clock was right twice a day.
Gamo-chan quietly asked, "Should I apologize?
"Naw, I don't think you need to, Gamo-chan… You were hungry, weren't you? A little out of it?"
It wasn't meant to be an excuse or a crutch, but it WAS true… and very human…
Gamo-chan didn't show her face, but she did nod. "Yup…"
"And you saw how happy they were to see you? When you showed up?"
"…Yup."
"Just relax…" Naoto was reassured. "It'll be okay."
"…"
"…"
Presently, Gamo-chan did show her face, tiredly raising her head. "So… anything new, Paisen?"
"Urk!" He'd expected at least another moment of silence. "Uh, I guess…"
There WAS the manga she'd be receiving that day~!
He'd take a whack at it, "You wanna see what manga I brought for you? It's in my bag."
It seemed a safe and welcome thing…
"No…" Gamo-chan canned it. "I think I wanna wait until Sakura and Hanacchi get here, so I can see theirs… and maybe not even then. We're gonna be here all day, Paisen. It'll give us something fun to do in the afternoon or something, when we need a break… Beats dickin' around on our phones, I think."
Naoto welcomed the pleasant smile accompanying her words.
"Yeah, that sounds nice~." He found her answer very satisfying.
"Mm~…" she approved.
"…~"
"There is something else though, Paisen…"
"What is it?"
"Tell me about hacky sack?" she tendered.
He perked up. "You don't know?"
"No, not really… but it looks like fun~." She gazed towards the water.
…
And Naoto had fun telling her a few things:
It was best KNOWN as "hacky sack", though Hacky Sack was actually a name brand…
Through the magic of generic trademarking, most footbags were known as "hacky sacks"…
Hacky sack, beloved all over the world, waxed and waned in its popularity, but it never went away…
There were countless games to be played, and what he and the boys had been doing was the basest—and most enjoyable (to them)—form of it…
…
"Shuu can juggle hacky sacks," Naoto chuckled. "He can do two pretty easily, but I've seen him do three."
"Ooh~…" Gamo-chan tried picturing it.
Naoto would probably always remember, "Shuu's personal best—just kicking one bag—is 162 without stopping."
"…?!" She was wowed. "Is that some sorta record~?"
Shaking his head, his chuckle became a full-blown laugh, "Oh, no! You can look up videos of guys doing hundreds—even thousands—of kicks. There's this one guy that got 1,000 in five minutes."
"You gotta be shittin' me~…" Gamo-chan Gamo-goggled.
He wasn't. "There was a guy that got, like, 63,000 consecutive kicks in under nine hours."
"You are fuckin' with me," she derided. "Consecutive?"
He wasn't. "Look it up."
"No way…"
"I'm telling you the truth…"
"Hey, I'm joking…" she giggled. "I trust you."
"Oh…"
Gamo-chan scrutinized, "It's just that it's amazing that anyone can do that."
"Yeah…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
Naoto added, "But Shuu's still the best I've ever seen… in-person. I say he's the best in town, and I'm probably right. He was the best in middle school, I can tell you that."
"I never tried playing…" Gamo-chan said, some longing evident.
"You haven't?"
She waned, "No… kids played footbag at my old schools too, elementary and middle school. The boys never let the girls play… said it wasn't for girls…"
"They said that to you?" Naoto did some goggling of his own.
Speaking in such a way to the mighty Amazon~…?!
"You're cruisin' for a bruisin', Paisen~…"
"Oof… Sorry."
"Just messing' with ya~," Gamo-chan slackened. "But… yeah, they did dare say that to me…"
"…"
"…"
"We never had any girls interested in playing with us," Naoto regretted. 'Prolly 'cause we were the class geeks…'
"Hmm…"
He did want to say, "Of course, saying it's not for girls is bull. It's for anyone that wants to try."
"…" Gamo-chan looked into the distance.
Naoto cogitated. "…"
It was obvious what must be running through her mind…
"…" *scrunch, dig, scrunch, dig…*
"There's not much to it," Naoto kindled. "I'm sure they'd like playing with you, especially with me sitting out."
"…"
"…"
Gamo-chan didn't turn her head. "You think they'd teach me?"
Hell~… yeah, they would!
"There's not a lot to it…" Naoto chewed over. "They'll tell you the basics, but a lot of it, I think you just kinda figure it out."
"…~" She shifted.
"…?"
Gamo-chan sprang up, startling her senpai.
"Ack!" He scooted away.
Reaching down, she patted him heartily on the back. "Aww, did I scare ya~?"
He looked up.
"…A little…" He never liked admitting it, but she had spooked him.
Snickering, she beamed down at him, "You comin' too~?"
"…~?!" That sensation Naoto had felt a few times, that wonderful whack of something she'd given him, boiled up.
She shone, titillating, "How about it~?"
It was an extraordinary thing, the love of a friend~…
Naoto did all he could to keep his voice from quavering, and he just about got it, "I'll be out there soon. I have a little bit of orange to finish up."
He displayed the remainder of the sweet treat, proving his proclamation.
Gamo-chan presented a textbook-example of her namesake smile. "Don't take too long. If I look back over here, and I find you're stalling on us…? I'm a-comin' for ya~."
"…!" Naoto believed her. "S-sure!"
She ruffled his furry head. "Attaboy~! See you in a few."
With a wonderful whack of something all her own, she jogged out to meet the other boys.
"Hey, Short-pai! Shuu-kun! I want in~!"
As Naoto predicted, his pals were pleased to show her the ropes.
And he took in the show for a moment.
He couldn't make out all they said, but it sounded happy.
Furthermore—
"…~" He never imagined that Gamo-chan would suck so much, even starting out.
But she was having a gas, and the same could be said of Shuu and Tohru…
Confident that the girl might drag him away if he took too long, he downed the rest of the orange.
Additionally, he found that Gamo-chan hadn't even opened her second granola bar, so he adopted it as his own.
She wouldn't miss it, and plenty more where that came from…
Taking a pull off his water bottle and cramming the entirety of the bar into his mouth, he went out to join his three friends.
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading!
Questions and comments are welcome!