🌸Cherry Blossom Palette: Summer by the Sea🎨
Chapter 24: Flower Girls [Part Four]
Sunshine Arc
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
ED:Sorry for the wait. I'd like to say we're ahead, but we're only caught up. So much for our goal of being a whole month ahead of releases.
This time, we conclude the shopping trip of a senpai and his kohai, but a few surprises may turn up before the day is over.
I think you'll like it.
But I did a bad thing. The chapter got to be long enough that I divided it up. This means one more "Flower Girls" chapter and Chapter 27 for the beach stuff.
This chapter didn't go as smoothly as I liked though. Mainly, I was just having trouble portraying a Naoto/Sakura interaction, and I just never found dialogue I really loved.
But I think it went okay. I went back and reread a few passages to get a feel for it. When it comes to Naoto and Sakura, a little honesty can usually get them through anything.
…
I wasn't planning on introducing Etsuko until after the "beach episode", but her introduction was better used where I used it.
…
I tried watching the first few episodes of Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
Pretty awful, I thought, the story itself, and especially two of the main character designs. Kanamori's design is hideous, and that's coming from a tall girl.
…
But Season 3 of Metalocalypse is pretty good.
I learned that "hamburger time" is an inoffensive euphemism for "death", that drinking bleach won't help you pass a urine test, that you ALWAYS get anesthetized when you get your teeth drilled, that (learned for the third or fourth time) getting attached to Toki Wartooth might get you dead, and taking a suicidal dentist on a hunting trip is a REALLY bad idea.
And that was just one episode!
Also, don't get in the way of Pickles the Drummer and his alcohol.
I liked Season 2 a lot too.
Hurricane "Scrambles the Death Dealer" demolished Florida, the boys got stoned on a trip up the Amazon River, and Pickles the Drummer's POS brother got married.
I definitely didn't finish the series before the movie came out, but I won't have to wait for the movie when I'm ready.
…
New canon chapter was garbage. Nothing of real import happened again. Machida needs to stop being such an unfunny piece of crap. She's a black lunged slob with anger issues (and probably not nearly as talented as the Prez touted) and is a nearly valueless character, and so are her lackeys (one less so than the other). The art summer school kids are as bad as the judo club girls.
For the "less so", I do suppose the more annoying and less unsightly of the two art lackeys DID give Naoto the ONLY good piece of advice ANYONE has EVER given him about his relationship with the horrible heroine. But better advice would be for him to bark up another tree.
This lackey was also the one that beat him in the mock exam, which Naoto will probably let wreck him, even though the other guy's just some loser, and he shouldn't take it so hard.
Plus, I think that Naoto is more talented than ALL of the other artists, even the Prez, and it shows, especially when he's been going at it halfhearted the whole series and just started taking art seriously when he STARTED GOING to the summer camp. His fast improvement is a testament to that, compared to the others who worked diligently for years.
I forget if the oil painting is the last thing they do after the sketching or if they still have a practical exam too.
If there's still a practical exam, losing to a lackey might just be a setback. But if that's all for the mock exam, then maybe he WILL let it ruin him. Different translations leave different impressions of this, whether this is the end of it or not.
At least Naoto beat Machida the basket case and may get to draw her full frontal or something, which is more than Nagatoro the basket case will be able to do with HER basket case, worst girl Orihara.
But Naoto will probably not care enough to even accept his "reward" and allow the hack Machida to welch on their dumb bet.
Nanashi took three weeks, so he should've done better.
Look what Oda can do in one week with a staff. You know, when he works smart and doesn't put himself in the hospital like he keeps doing.
But if Nanashi did something interesting, like having Orihara lose badly in her own bracket, so Nagatoro didn't even have a chance to fight the brain damaged girl (maybe ever again, even blowing her chance at the Olympics and practicing judo entirely), that'd be pretty great.
Or maybe Aihara has a terminal illness and only beat Naoto because of the Make A Wish Foundation or he and Naoto will get in a fist fight. These would also be interesting.
It would be REALLY great if Naoto was so bent out of shape over losing that he skipped seeing Nagatoro's matches, causing the horrible heroine to implode.
Or if she beat the moron and Naoto wasn't there to congratulate her. That'd be a laugh.
If Nanashi DOES do well in the next few chapters, I'll go back and reread the whole story with a fresh set of eyes and give it a new opinion.
I might even start liking the story again.
I know I hate on this story, but if it's all leading up to something really awful for everyone, then it's worth giving more time.
But until Naoto REALLY confronts how horrible Nagatoro has often been to him and how little she actually respects him, there's nothing doing. He needs to call her out for all she's done.
If THAT ONE THING happened, I think I could forgive how bad the story has been since the Christmas arc.
…
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.
Friday, July 27, 2018
To their mild disappointment, the Kazehaya Art Club (and friend) didn't have much luck at the big outlet store.
But it wasn't a waste of time; they'd just expected more…
Naoto Hachioji had found a pair of gym-type shorts he liked, something to wear around the house, and the girls had picked up a handful of things between them, but the spoils just weren't all that impressive.
There'd been little to interest them, to be clearer…
Hana Sunomiya had purchased a skirt far too short for Naoto's liking, though it wasn't any shorter than any typical skirt one might typically come across.
She looked great in it, but…
He simply wasn't used to seeing so much bare leg on her, Hana almost always wearing hose and a longer skirt with her school uniform.
On the other hand, he really liked the pair of capris that Sakura Inori had found, and it didn't break his heart to hear her say that she'd wear them sometime soon, when the three of them hung out again.
That was some good news~…
In spite of this, for better or worse, Sakura hadn't seen a bikini she'd liked, so the three of them were on the way to a store where she would find one, and she'd find what she wanted, no doubt.
This, however, raised a difficulty for Naoto, but he'd been turning over the possibility of this seeming inevitability, ever since Sakura had invited him to shop with her and Hana.
If they were sticking to downtown Hayama, which they were, there was only one sporting goods store to be had, and he never wanted to set foot in the place again.
It was the store that Hayase Nagatoro had dragged him that day of their disastrous shopping date, a mere day shy of three weeks earlier.
Even so, Naoto wasn't about to tell the girls of his loath for the place (or what had befallen him), and it made perfect sense to go there, were it the only suitable store or not, being a hop, skip, and a jump to the bus stop that would see him and the girls part ways.
Sakura and Hana had no inkling as to the issue he was taking with the place…
He sturdily reckoned that none of those in his circle, sans Nagatoro, naturally, knew about the "footy puppet show" and its aftermath he'd endured.
But they did know that Nagatoro had treated him like dogshit that unfortunate Saturday…
…
'Fuck it!' Naoto was with his study buddies~.
They'd had a pretty nice day, and they were even planning to get ICE CREAM once Sakura had picked out a new swimsuit~…
He would be back home well before dinner, and he could still spend a few hours watching anime or playing a videogame or simply reading.
Any of that sounded good~…!
Then, the beach trip was the next day, and he'd be out there bright and early, finding their party the very best beachy real-estate he could get~.
Naoto and Sakura were blithely chatting about their own contributions to the trip… and those of others.
"I can't believe Tohru-kun volunteered to make steak-kabobs~!" Sakura trilled. "I kinda almost feel like I'm coming up short, just bringing a bigger basket of the same thing we had at the pool yesterday…"
PB&J sandwiches…? Fresh-cut veggies…? Potato chips…? Fruit cups…?
Naoto disagreed wholeheartedly, "Everyone'll like the picnic lunch you're bringing. The kabobs are for later."
"I s'pose," Sakura figured. "I'm just glad that nobody in our group has peanut allergies. Otherwise, I'd have had to spend a lot more on meat."
"Allergies suck…" Naoto opined, practiced in the art of late-summer sneeze-fests.
"Allergies are nature's way of saying—to all of humankind—'eff you in the a-hole'…" Sakura grumped. "Your stupid body decides that some substance—totally harmless in and of itself—is gonna kill you, so your body puffs up and tries to kill you anyway—to protect you~! It's stupid…"
Naoto chortled, "It's a little more complicated than that, Sakura-san, but that's not that far off…"
"I know people can't help being allergic to something, but it's ridiculous, like, Darwin Award-level stuff!" she maintained. "I mean, soy, milk, peanuts, cinnamon, eggs, shellfish… and more! The stuff's everywhere, and those allergies kill people…! Well, prolly not milk, but you're still in for a bad time."
Naoto didn't want to start talking about sour milk-flatulence or making one's bathroom smell like a paper mill, so he set about changing the subject.
"You're still hauling out your raft, right?" he questioned.
"Yep… and I'll make sure to check it later," Sakura said. "My brother Yoichi and his friends took it out the other day, and they were rough with it, so I wanna make sure there aren't any holes in it. It's easy to fix; I just need to know."
"You can get someone else to blow that thing up this time…" Naoto scowled. "I'm not doing it again."
"The thing's already inflated; you'd just need to top it off, Senpai-kun~."
"I'm not blowing up the raft again…" he persisted.
"Hey, we got two more strapping young men coming this time~. I'm sure that one of them would be good enough to do it, if a pretty girl asked extra nice-like~… Asshole-kuuuuun~…"
She'd called him an asshole again~…! With a smirky undertone…!
"Or maybe one of you pretty girls can do it…" Naoto challenged, getting a little big for his britches, potentially throwing her something she could really tease him with.
Sakura scoffed, "Oh! Perish the thought~! That thing tastes like old farts."
She'd let his dumb line slide~…!
"A lovely description, Sakura-san…" Naoto felt blessed for it.
She snickered, turning her attention to Hana, "Hey-ho, Hana-chan~! How big is that changing tent of yours?"
"…" The younger girl didn't seem to hear.
Sakura tried again, "Hey, Earth to Hana-chan!"
Hana didn't startle, but she fell out of whatever trance she was in. "Sakura-senpai?"
"How big is your changing tent?" Sakura repeated.
Hana rattled off, "One meter by one meter for its footprint and two meters high in the sidewall. It will be adequate."
The group had decided to bring such a tent along, as it would give them a private shelter amidst their spot on the beach.
It would be especially handy, the group not having to run to the restroom or the beach's changing rooms to change clothes…
Hana had also volunteered a folding gazebo, but they'd settled on umbrellas instead.
Sakura switched to Naoto, saying, "Nekoba said she might just leave her one umbrella at home and just rent a few once we get there. It'd suck to haul something like that all the way across town."
"Well, she'd better get there early," he resolved. "They'll run out fast…"
"You should prolly just rent them. It'd be swell to show up to a nearly-finished basecamp~. Nekoba said she'd pay you back—plus a juice~, if you did."
"Yeah, I'm thinking I will… When do they open?"
"Dunno…" Sakura ruminated; she switched back to their kohai. "Hana-chan, do you know?"
And Hana was off in her own little world… again. "…"
"Hana-chan…?" The gal rubbed Hana's shoulder.
Hana "came to". "Yes?"
"What time do they start renting umbrellas at the beach, Hana-chan?"
"Oh… I'm not sure exactly, but I've seen people getting umbrellas as early as 8:30 or 9:00."
Naoto looked on in wonderment. 'What's up with Sunomiya…?'
After they'd left Etsuko Ootori's shop, Hana had positively been a little chatterbox, but since leaving the final outlet store, she'd suddenly clammed up.
Sakura had even stopped her from running headlong into a bench…
And Hana was missing half of what her senpai were saying.
She seemed… nervy … even distant…
Despite that, Naoto wasn't too worried, and Sakura didn't seem it either.
Even Hana spaced out sometimes…
Everyone did it, and nobody needed much reason for it.
…
…
…
They entered the sporting goods store moments later, and Naoto tried to suppress the miserable feeling of some phantom hand squeezing his heart… and another squeezing his balls.
'Gawddamn it!' His stomach wasn't a happy camper either. "Why the shit does it have to be THIS place again…?'
He saw the bathroom, where he'd pretty much had a fucking panic attack.
He saw the sunscreen display, under which his testicles had rolled, temporarily lost to him and mortal man, when they'd fallen down the leg of his pants.
He saw the displays of those cock-sucking Croc shoes, still plaguing the Earth by way of their mere existence.
Nevertheless, Naoto was currently in a clearly low-pressure situation, and there were a couple things he wished to purchase.
And he was content to say that they'd come in without their multiple shopping bags, so his hands were free~, and all the girls had were their wallet-purse things.
They'd rented a locker halfway down the block, and it had been worth the small amount of money it cost, though Sakura had paid for it, unwilling to let the other two do so…
Regardless, she was running the show, their little outing, and she laid things out for her friends.
"Hana-chan, you come with me," she dictated. "Senpai-kun, you go do the shopping you need to. You said you were looking for a pair of sunglasses? Once I find a swimsuit I like, I'll let you know to come by the changing rooms."
He'd been lobbing it around, between the hemispheres of his brain, as to whether or not Sakura would actually show him what she was trying on, but he'd never really believed she'd do it.
His jaw almost dropped. "You mean, I… You want me to…?"
She cracked up, "Of course, you're gonna get to see what I'm getting~. You didn't think I was pulling your leg, did you~?"
'I DID kinda think that, yes…' He gulped. "I wasn't sure."
"I was dead serious, Senpai-kun," she said with palpable sincerity. "I said I wanted a male perspective, and I meant it."
Was this… really happening…?
Naoto eased, "So, it's okay that I…?"
She wasn't fucking with him~…?!
It didn't seem she was; she smiled gently, cheeks aflush. "C'mon, Senpai-kun, it's okay~. There's nothing weird about it. I just wanna show you. I wanna, really~. It'd mean a lot to me, buddy. Please~?"
'Derp-de-der…' Naoto wasn't about to say "no". "Uh… sure…"
"Sweet~…" She puffed up, self-satisfied in victory… but she was joking around, and she deflated. "Now, you go do your shopping. Hana-chan and I will do the same."
…
…
…
If Naoto remembered correctly, he'd learned about polarization last year in science class.
Or maybe, they'd covered it when he was a first-year…
Whatever way, though he'd worked briefly through the topic with Sakura and Hana, as they'd studied for final exams, he now couldn't recollect the exact mechanisms behind it, probably because of the sheer volume of information he'd tried cramming into his head.
It hadn't been on the third-year science exam, and he likely wouldn't have remembered THEN either…
He just knew a pair of polarized sunglasses was better for his eyes than a nonpolarized pair.
They also did that strange trick, however it worked…
Looking through the lenses he was holding up, he rotated the glasses 90-degrees, so one temple was facing the ground.
And the lenses went totally opaque…
He turned the pair again, dropping the opposite temple towards the floor, and it did it again.
But he didn't like the pair…
Naoto hadn't been thinking very much about buying a pair of sunglasses, but hearing Hana mention her own desire to buy a pair that day, having been on the hunt all afternoon, he gave it some credence.
There had been sunglasses at the other stores, but they'd been ¥500 junk, and neither of them was in the market for crap.
Naoto recalled Maki Gamo's advice, that a decent pair of polarized sunglasses would be helpful in dealing with eyestrain and headaches when out in the bright light.
He was all about not feeling nauseous and headachy from spending too much time in the sun, so…
Though a staff member had accosted him, he'd politely said he was good on his own, that he wasn't interested in spending ¥25,000 on a pair of Oakleys, and he'd been left alone.
He hadn't referred to them as "douchey" Oakleys when they'd been recommended, but he'd thought it…
The idea of spending that much on a pair of nonprescription glasses seemed about as intelligent as jerking off with capsaicin.
Naoto would look around a few minutes. He didn't need or want anything too fancy, but he didn't mind shelling out a few thousand yen for something that worked.
Now, he just needed to find a pair that fit his face… with brown lenses…
Unlike gray lenses or some more exotic hues, Naoto knew he could wear brown lenses in low light—even indoors—and still be able to see.
"…!" He spotted something. 'Those are pretty sweet~…!'
He set down the bottle of SPF 30 he'd decided on getting, needing both hands free.
He hadn't bothered with a basket, since all he was buying was the sunscreen and the sunglasses, granted he found a pair he wanted.
Nothing special, the glasses-frames he held were stainless-steel, the brown lenses polarized.
Putting them on, Naoto dug himself in the mirror backing the display.
They fit nicely~… and they had good coverage without being too bulky…
Naoto thought they looked good too, just appearance-wise.
And they were on sale~…!
Normally ¥7,000, the pair was marked down to ¥2,500, though he knew MSRP and "everyday prices" didn't mean all that much.
Still, everything else he liked was at least ¥5,000, sale-priced or not…
Moreover, he could tell just by examining them that they were more durable and better put-together than a lot of the more expensive pairs, regardless of the type of metal, and some of these were actually plastic.
And the cheaper pairs were ALL plastic crap…
It wasn't a difficult choice, stainless steel at a steal.
Placing the pair in the corresponding glasses-case allotted to them, he took them in one hand and scooped up the sunblock with the other.
"…~" He was done shopping for the day.
He debated just buying what he now carried, not having heard from either of the girls, and he found his legs were already taking him to the front of the store.
It wouldn't be a surprise if Sakura took a little time to pick out something that she liked…
Naoto was in no great hurry, but paying for the sunglasses and sunscreen would kill a little bit of time, so—
"Senpai-kun~!" the blonde bikini(s~?) buyer warbled, not obnoxiously, flagging him down from around a corner.
'Yahoo~!' He turned to face her; he tried to stay loose. "What's up, Sakura-san?"
She had… one, two, three, four, five, SIX two-piece swimsuits tucked under one arm, in addition to the basket of sundries dangling from her other arm, the handle nestled in the crook of her elbow~…!
'Ho-lee shit~!' Naoto's imagination frothed, full of all sorts of visualizations~, but they cleared up, and he barely missed a beat. "You ready?"
"Yeah, I'm good to go," she said. "Hana-chan's already waiting back there, so c'mon. Once we pick something out, we can get going. Let's not dawdle."
'I don't care if we dawdle a LITTLE~.' He wasn't in a rush. "Alright."
Leading him, Sakura mentioned, "I know we don't need to hurry, but there're still some other things to do today, so let's do what we came here for."
"Sure thing," Naoto answered. 'Oh, boy~!'
"Thanks again, Senpai-kun, so much~," Sakura said. "I really do appreciate you coming along today."
'You don't need to thank me~!' He was about to see something pretty wonderful. "Hey, it's been fun. I'm glad you invited me."
Even if she didn't show him ALL SIX bikinis, he was certain to see her in two or three of them~…
Hell, he'd settle for one. "…~!"
"I didn't coerce you~?" Sakura razzed. "You came along purely out of the goodness of your heart~?"
She almost had him there, but…
"Hey, I've had fun today, Sakura-san," he stuck to his story, no falsehood necessary. "Thanks for 'coercing' me~."
She laughed, "I'm just kidding around, Senpai-kun~."
"I know." His smile hurt his cheeks. "It's cool."
…
Contrarywise, any and all coolness was rudely strung up by the neck until dead, upon Naoto and Sakura arriving at the back of the store.
When Nagatoro had sprayed copious amounts of diarrhea-poop all over his parade, July 6, anno Domini 2018, she'd shit on him from one of the "normal" changing rooms, tucked away but not concealed from the public.
Sakura was taking him past those, past the sliding curtain, the one separating the more public rooms from what was housed in the back, a handicap-accessible room, a rarity in Hayama.
Something was off…
The specially-accessible changing room had its own waiting area, and—
*scrattle…*
Naoto's eyes darted backwards, suddenly aware that Sakura was now behind him.
And she'd drawn shut the curtain, separating them from the aforementioned public.
'WTF?!' He knew something was off.
If that wasn't enough, one look at Hana, waiting in said destination, told him plenty.
She'd gone pale as a ghost… and she was shaking in her Birkenstocks, staring at the floor…
'What the…?' Naoto's insides, sated upon entering the shop, knowing he wasn't in for more of what Nagatoro had given him, churned once more in violent remonstration.
Something was WRONG…
He ran through some very recent dialogue in his head:
In reference to the changing rooms, Sakura had said that Hana was "already waiting back there", and "once we pick something out, we can get going".
She'd said "we"…
'Sakura-san said "we"…!' Naoto's breath fell short. 'Shit…!'
He was stupefied that the thought hadn't entered his psyche:
Perhaps Sakura wasn't even after a new swimsuit for HERSELF…
It was HANA that was getting the new swimsuit…!
Naoto's first response was, 'Fuck this noise, man!'
How could he have forgotten about Hana's impending quest for a bikini…?!
Such a big deal had been made about it…!
Some sizable but unwarranted trouble had resulted from its mere mention…!
His next response was to turn around and walk back to whence he came, but Sakura barred his path.
'Are you fuckin' KIDDING me?!' He wasn't about to force his way through, not that she'd be able to stop him so easily.
"Senpai-kun…" she eased, homing in. "It's cool."
Was it?!
"Sakura-san… you tricked me…" he whisper-babbled in disbelief, the words just coming out. "Y-y-you—"
"I tricked you?" she raised an eyebrow. "Did I?"
"Y-y-you…" Naoto petered off.
Heaving a sigh, Sakura looked past him.
"Hana-chan," she said crisply.
Hana flinched, raising her eyes. "…Sakura-senpai?"
"Hana-chan, we'll be back. Just wait a little bit."
"…!" Hana said nothing.
Sakura shepherded Naoto back through the curtain.
'Aw, shit, she's not gonna drag me into one of these OTHER rooms, is she…?!' The young man didn't know what was happening.
As it did happen, she just wanted to get him alone for a minute.
"Senpai-kun…" she whispered. "Take it easy…"
She was serious as a heart-storm…
If she'd wheedled that line, he'd have very likely lost his temper.
But despite his bristling scalp and elevated pulse, he kept under control.
He still wasn't happy, feeling hoodwinked, though he watched his volume. "Sakura-san, what are you doing?"
"Prolly exactly what you're thinking…" she uttered wearily. "Relax…"
Relax…?!
By this time, Naoto had nearly mastered himself. He was angry for his own being, but there was something a lot worse on the table.
"What are you thinking, doing this to Sunomiya?!" He was flabbergasted that Sakura would spring this on their kohai. "Why are you doing this to her?!"
"…?!" Sakura had little to say in her own defense, taken aback at his ire. "I, uh…"
"Are you forcing her to do this?!" Naoto hissed.
"No, of course not!" she burst, almost breaking the hush. "How could you say that…?"
He couldn't quite contend with that. "Uh…"
"Senpai-kun, Hana-chan wanted to do this."
"She wants this?" Naoto beggared. "She doesn't look like she wants this! And what the Hell is even this?!"
"Like I said, it's probably exactly what you're thinking," she retorted. "Hana-chan wants to buy a bikini for the beach. Really."
'Fuuuuuuck…' He knew that was the bottom line, but hearing it out loud was painful. "Ugh…"
How could he neglect his knowledge of how DEVIOUS Blondie could be…?!
"It's not like we haven't been talking about it…" Sakura fortified.
Too right you…!
"When we talked this morning, this…" Naoto struggled to find words, and he could've done a whole lot better. "This wasn't part of the deal!"
"…?!" Sakura puckered crossly. "'Part of the deal'…?"
An epic fail of a line…!
"Yeah, that…" He knew he'd fucked up.
She asked, narrowing her eyes, "Why did you come?"
Naoto's brain caught up to the situation.
"Well, I didn't come with you just so I could see you in a swimsuit!" he announced with great suddenness. "Not that I'm… not up for that…"
"What?!" Her eyes bugged.
"I came because you asked me to!"
"…!"
"You really seemed to want me to come, so…"
"…"
"…"
And a little smile turned up the corners of Sakura's mouth.
"…I know that, Senpai-kun…" She improved a great deal. "At least, that's what I hoped…"
"Sakura-san…?"
"Lemme fix that, actually; I knew you didn't come just to take in a show~," she said with some tangible fondness. "Believe me, knowing that makes a girl pretty happy~."
"Well, I, uh…" he flustered.
Devious she may have been, capably so, but there was a lot more to her than that…
She renounced, "I'm… sorry for doubting you, even a little bit… Thanks… for not letting me down… Thank you~…"
'Ay-ya!' His heart skipped. "It's… alright…"
"Seriously, you know I wouldn't do anything to hurt Hana-chan… on purpose…"
"…!" Naoto's bowels revolted. "Sakura-san…"
"Yeah, I know that sounds bad… but saying 'never' just wouldn't be honest…"
"Yeah…" he agreed.
He disliked this, but it was an honest statement, and he was used to these from her… when she wasn't pretending at a vixen.
It wasn't like one could NEVER hurt another, accounting for straightforward accidents and unintentional actions…
Naoto knew how much Sakura loved Hana.
And Sakura wasn't finished.
"She really does wanna buy a new swimsuit…" she continued. "But… that's not all she wants."
"…?" Naoto's senses stopped short. "Huh?"
Sakura came out with it, "She wanted you to be here for it."
"Why?!"
"You don't know…?" she wondered.
His senses soiled themselves. "…?!"
"Senpai-kun?" She saw this plainly. "Hey… c'mon…"
Naoto somehow had the faculties to whine out a response.
He croaked, feeling like someone was clenching his throat, "You never said anything about it this morning…"
After everything else, it seemed a feeble thing to say…
"You wouldn't have come if I'd told you, right?" Sakura responded frankly. "And I really needed to get you here… for Hana-chan…"
Naoto's aptitudes were returning to him. "…!"
This was why Hana had been acting weird… and Sakura had known it…!
He thought it a little odd, Sakura being so happy-go-lucky when Hana was "off her game", though he'd given it little reflection, even if he should've.
When Hana was in dire straits—and even straits NOT so dire, Sakura typically jumped into the breach for their kohai…
…
Naoto was under no delusions that he was overreacting, but he couldn't exactly help it.
This was a thing he'd been shrinking from…
Sakura apologized, "Senpai-kun, I know I shouldn't have surprised you like this. I'm sorry. I didn't know for sure what to do, so I guess I got carried away… did something stupid…"
He was sorry too, for getting upset with her, but… "…"
"I'm pretty sure I know what you're stuck on with this…" she framed. "I remember what you told me… how you felt about this sort of thing…"
He HAD told her, if not in much detail…
"…" Ol' Senpai-kun was awfully sore about it, this state of affairs.
Sakura evoked, "I could tell how much you cared about Hana-chan, when we talked that day… even though I already knew it."
"…" Naoto would never forget that Thursday night he'd spent with Sakura.
He hadn't told her his exact feelings on seeing Hana in a swimsuit, but he'd given very little room for interpretation.
He didn't want it…!
Even so, he was moreover beset with a question that had plagued him since April:
What was he so afraid of…?!
"…!" He had an answer, of course—an extensive, meandrous one, the question being somewhat rhetorical.
But it could be boiled down to one statement:
Naoto was deathly afraid his thoughts towards Hana would turn rotten… that he'd come to view her as a sex-object… or a piece of meat.
And he never wanted that to happen…
'Would it ACTUALLY happen…?' he'd asked this of himself since pool season had started.
He'd yet to figure it out…
…
"Senpai-kun, I'm sorry…" Sakura sorrowed. "I screwed up…"
"Mm…" he sighed.
"If you're not up for this, I get it," she assured. "Hana-chan will understand too. We even talked about all this, so…"
Despite everything, something yet occurred to Naoto.
He thought aloud, "Why?"
"Why what?" she came in turn.
"Why me?" He didn't understand. "What'd you bring me out here for? And why are you making such a big deal out of this?"
"…"
"…"
"You really don't know…?" Sakura wasn't angry. "Do you…?"
Though, she hoped he'd have gotten it by now…
"No." It was beyond him. "I don't."
"Senpai-kun…" she implored. "Please trust me. I'll explain more later, but can you please trust me, for now?"
He took a good, hard look at her, the first he'd taken in a good minute. "…!"
The gal had that haggard aspect he so disliked seeing about her, the one that showed up when she was feeling particularly low.
"Sakura-san…!" he exclaimed.
If she fell any lower, she'd have her mascara running down, tears in twin waterfalls…
He knew she was sorry, and…
Shit, so was he…
Sakura offered, "Really, I'm sorry about all this, buddy…"
"Me too, Sakura-san… Sorry for losing my cool."
"…"
"…"
"So… are you up for this… Senpai-kun…?"
WAS Naoto ready…?
He couldn't say for certain.
But he chose to trust her.
Whatever was going on, he knew in his heart that Sakura had good reason for what she was doing… that Hana was at the center of it all… and that Hana DID want this, strange as it seemed…
"I'm good, Sakura-san."
He'd go along with it…
She reclaimed her smile, minute as it was. "That's great to hear."
"Yeah…" he begrudgingly droned. "Yup…"
He'd try to keep his head on straight…
The smile took over her face. "And in case you were worried, I'm still getting something for myself as well~."
"Don't push it…" Naoto exhaled, having let that part slip his mind… though finding he still wanted to see.
He could do this…
Sakura giggled, "Okay, Senpai-kun, if you're ready, we are."
He hoped he was ready. "Let's go."
He just needed to trust himself…
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading!
Questions and comments are welcome!