🌸Cherry Blossom Palette: Summer by the Sea🎨
Chapter 12: Post-custodial Conundrums [Part One]
Doorway into Summer Arc
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
ED: My editor and I had a productive break, so let's get on with the story!
On the heels of cleaning the pool and feeding best girl duo some gelato, Naoto nurses his sunburn, plans a little, and has a phone call.
…
They finished the dubbing job of the Nagatoro anime, so I'm happy I won't have to see anything about that for a while. Crunchyroll needs to stop if they're not going to try harder. Companies in Japan aren't even trying that hard to produce good anime, so it's not like there's much to work with. Distribution companies should return to even more of the classics and distribute those.
…
Another nothing chapter in canon. The judo club girls really are terrible characters.
For those of you that wonder, a "something" chapter will involve one or more of the following:
Naoto demanding respect from Nagatoro and the other girls and not tolerating their disrespect anymore.
Naoto calling out Nagatoro and the other girls for taking advantage of him so often or trying to and treating him like they want him to off himself.
An actual love confession from Naoto to ANY of the girls or any of the girls to Naoto; one between Naoto and Nagatoro must be mutually accepted, but any other is free of that stipulation.
A mature kiss, second base, third base, or intercourse between Naoto and one of the girls.
Nagatoro crippling Orihara or one of her two older siblings, or at least one of the latter three meeting a fiery end in a squalid car crash.
Nagatoro fighting dirty, showing her true, desperate nature.
Nagatoro's siblings getting cancer, a fatal STD, or having a giant incest space baby together.
The nipple ticket being cashed.
…
Until one or more of these happens, nothing is happening.
I'd like to point out a few of these are ones my editor threw back at me when I was bothering him with my qualms about the story, which I often do, LOL. How he decided to use the term "squalid" to describe a wreck, I don't know.
I don't think he knows what I'm talking about most of the time. He quit reading the manga almost two years ago.
…
Please look at the Q&A section I set up at the end of the chapter. Ask us anything and we'll add another section in the next chapter. I would be happy if you ask questions.
Please enjoy what I wrote.
Thursday, July 26, 2018
Naoto Hachioji was on his back, on his bed.
The sun was still up outside, but it tended to do that during the summer, even when it was 9:00 p.m.
Beside him, on his nightstand, lay the list of needed art supplies he'd been working on.
What had started with the goal of procuring some specific "B" pencils for Hana Sunomiya had turned into a whole lot more:
…
-Pencils 8B to B, HB, F, H to 4H (top off stock)
-Colored pencils, soft wax core (check stock)
-Colored pencils, oil (ask Sunomiya for specific colors needed)
-Colored pencils, watercolor (full array?)
-Charcoal pencils (ask Sunomiya)
-Charcoal sticks (ask Sunomiya)
-Asst. blending sticks
-Unscented, untreated tissue paper (take from home?)
-8(9?) sketchbooks
-Sketching paper (check amount and sizes needed)
-Graphing paper(?)
-4 drawing boards (check sizes)
-5 meters canvas (that brand and texture that Sunomiya likes)
-3 meters canvas (the other kind)
-Approx. 10 meters framing wood (check on hardware)
-Oil paints (ask Sunomiya)
-Watercolor paints (check stock)
-Acrylic paints (bulk assortment?)
-Asst. fan paintbrushes
-Asst. angled paintbrushes
-Asst. round-tip paintbrushes
-Paint thinner, acetone, turpentine, mineral spirits (check stock)
-Cans of compressed air
-Fixative (check stock)
-Spray adhesive(?)
-Epoxy
-Wood glue
-Hobby knives (check stock/prices)
*Check all eraser types/numbers*
**Check all paintbrushes**
*Consider special project necessities (ask Sunomiya)*
…
Hana had messaged Naoto earlier in the evening, requesting a few more items, on top of the pencils, having since parted ways with him and her other senpai, Sakura Inori, after they'd finished the not-as-horrible-as-it-could-have-been task of cleaning the Kazehaya High School pool.
Since Hana's need for a few various "B" pencils and other odds-and-ends wasn't "urgent", and he'd gladly shell out several hundred yen to buy her some at any time, whenever required, he thought it was high time to stock up on what the Art Club needed for the long-term.
He hadn't meant to go so hog-wild with the list, but the club hadn't topped off its supplies since he was a first-year.
Once a year, most years, the Art Club would make such a large purchase, and a while back, Naoto had elected to do so at some point over the summer.
The student council and staff had refused to approve the list Sana Sunomiya, the former president, had submitted in 2017, citing the list as "excessive".
That was why they made smaller purchases overtime…
Naoto knew the cock-stains possessing power over all of the clubs' budgets wouldn't deny it this time, because they needed to top off their supplies… and because he could perform far under the budget their club was supposed to be allocated but was screwed out of regardless.
He wouldn't brag about it, but he was FAR better than the Prez at finding bargains on quality supplies… and making the numbers seem less unappealing to those unfit few making the decisions…
He'd helped the Prez inventory and procure club supplies on numerous occasions, and he'd done it by himself too, so he already had a good idea of what was needed.
It didn't make sense…
His list was even more comprehensive than Sana's, but instead of costing ¥70,000, his list ran at an estimated ¥26,000, though it might wind up closer to ¥30,000, granted he added a few things he expected to be adding…
…
Actually…
He needed to correct himself:
It DID make sense…
The Prez had overwhelmingly preferred to support local vendors and was quite inflexible about it, hence the obscene price tag, the imminent threat of going overbudget (which she didn't seem to give a shit about), and the subsequent rejection.
For everything she had going for her, she seemed to think money grew on trees, never having been in want or in need of any material thing in her life… and she had a stubborn pride that brought her monumentally more harm than good… and as with most peoples', it was either baseless or misdirected…
Naoto saw her point, at least as far as the part about supporting small businesses, but it wasn't good enough for him to like it, and he had no problem with buying supplies online—the same stuff—at a fraction of the cost, sometimes cheaper than wholesale, taking care to search around.
It was realistic and practical, their local, grossly overpriced vendors be frigged, and he'd do what he had to do to get what Hana wanted… and what HE wanted… but mostly what Hana wanted…
He figured that Hana might not need to make another purchase this size until she was a third-year, if that.
Maintaining supplies at such a level with small purchases would be easy enough, and they could simply rotate the materials, using the oldest stuff first…
…
He'd made a special note to reassess the paintbrush situation later; he knew for sure what needed replacing, but it had been a while since a bulk purchase of them, and extras never hurt.
Then, a lot of them were worn out anyway, and they'd passed on buying new sets of paintbrushes the previous year…
Even well cared for, they didn't last forever, and he knew it.
He'd talk to Hana again, absolutely, which he'd also made plenty of notes about, and it wouldn't hurt to run through their whole stock with her, seeing as it would be her responsibility the next year.
'Oof…' The thought of that had him feeling a little sad, but it was nothing to agonize over. "…"
…
All-in-all, Naoto couldn't complain too much.
Other than the sunburned tops of his feet, sticky with aloe vera, he was quite comfortable, still feeling fresh and clean from his earlier shower, and a nice, light dinner not overpowering his insides.
Additionally, it was difficult to complain when he had Sakura on the horn… with video~.
He wasn't sure WHY she'd called him up, but it's not like a girl needs any special reason to call her senpai~…
He rather enjoyed seeing her name light up his phone.
"I don't know why I didn't expect to see you and Sunomiya at some point today, Sakura-san," he expressed, holding his phone horizontally before his eyes.
Had he learned nothing~…?
Her pretty face smiled back. "Ha~! You should've seen your face when we turned up at the side of the pool, Senpai-kun~…"
He was certain he'd looked pretty stupid; he'd deemed himself stupid.
"It was a surprise…" he allowed; he became serious. "Please tell me you didn't put Sunomiya up to calling me an 'asshole' this morning…"
In the four-and-a-half years he'd known Hana, he could probably count the number of times he'd heard her cuss on one hand… though he MIGHT need a finger or two from the other, just to be safe…
Sakura giggled, "No, what do you take me for~? I mean… she's heard it from me a few times, but she did that on her own."
"I felt like an asshole…"
"Naw, we cleared all that up. Anyway, she wouldn't call you 'Asshole-senpai' if she was really steamed at you; she'd do something else. She was just being a little goofy~."
"I guess…"
"Don't worry, buddy, Hana-chan understands~. I do too."
Naoto wasn't about to say it, but he only wanted one girl to call him an asshole; he could see her face.
He so enjoyed that they had something silly like that between them…
"Did you just shower, Sakura-san?" he asked.
Obviously, she had, looking so, with a towel wrapped over her hair, resting on her own bed.
"Yeah…" she groaned, scratching at her shoulder, groping under the collar of her nightclothes. "You got a problem with that~…?"
He replied, "I cleaned up as soon as I got home, is all. You get busy or something?"
"Yeah, Daddy needed help with some yardwork, so I did that for a couple hours. I didn't get cleaned up until just a little while ago. We hand-weeded the garden and some other stuff. Mom's been Hella busy with work this week, so she was totally zonked on the couch, and Yoichi's at a friend's overnight."
'The Inori family has a GARDEN…?' His family didn't have the space (or time) for one. "That sounds like a lotta work…"
"We don't literally use our hands… not for everything. We have tools. Daddy grilled up some T-bone steaks—a perfect medium-rare~—while we were at it, so I wasn't about to bitch about it. Mom did wake up when she smelled the meat cooking; she's good for that~."
'T-bones~?!' Naoto had been perfectly happy to eat leftover fish, grilled with asparagus, and rice. "I didn't know you had a garden. You must have a pretty big property."
"It's decent-sized, if I'm being modest. The land was reasonably cheap; most of it away from the house can't be used for anything structural, so we have a whole bunch of it attached to our lot."
"Ah."
"The house and stuff isn't in any danger of falling into the sea though… We're anchored into the rock, and the edge of the property won't really erode anymore, so we're good."
"So, you're right on the shore?"
"It's kinda more like a cliff, but, yeah, our property pretty much rides the shore." Sakura loosened the towel covering her hair. "But Daddy knows how to read the land. He spent, like, three days surveying our place before he and Mom committed to buying it, so I'm pretty sure we're rock-solid~."
"Huh…" Naoto remarked.
She chirped along, "I was hoping to get to my manicure and pedicure and stuff tonight, but my back's a little sore, with all the bending over today. Think I'll stretch a little tonight and do it tomorrow, so I'm fresh for the beach~."
"That sounds nice and relaxing~," he mulled. "It'd be nice to take it easy tomorrow…"
"I did apply nail polish remover though." She waved the back of one hand at her camera, showing him. "The green is no more; I did a pretty good job of cleaning up~."
"I thought the green was kinda neat," Naoto tendered. "It was a fun color."
"That was only five of my nails," Sakura giggled, steamrolling over his complement. "Wanna see the other 15~?"
"No," he resolutely refused the bait. "I'm good."
She'd already gotten him a couple times that day, chastising him for "lookin'", and he wouldn't let it happen again so easily…
"Aww, that's too bad~…" she mock-pouted. "It's not often you'll get to see them all-natural, in-the-buff, and stuff~."
He tried hard to not smirk. "I'll live~…"
"…"
"…"
Sakura brought them to "normalcy".
She asked, "So, Senpai-kun, did you have any sunburn show up? We kept you pretty well-covered today~."
'What's the harm in saying?' He didn't think there was any. "The tops of my feet got it some… I applied sunscreen five times from the knees down, and I still got singed. It just kept washing off, I guess. That's all though, but I guess I feel like I spent too much time out in the sun."
"Yeah, my sunscreen wouldn't stay on down there either." Sakura surveyed herself, eyes pointing past (and between) her sufficient cleavage, reviewing her own lower extremities. "I'm gonna have some funny new tan lines by tomorrow, shaped like the straps on my sandals~."
Naoto related, "That's happened to me a couple times… once the sunburn healed."
Sakura tittered, "I remember, this one year, I had three or four different pairs I wore, and the different tan lines all intermingled. It was the funniest-looking thing, like spin art or something~."
"I guess I've seen that happen…" Naoto recalled.
"I talked with Hana-chan a little while ago," Sakura commented. "I expected her to burn as badly as you, but from what she tells me, it seems she's more inclined to tan. If she doesn't cover up, she'll wind up looking like Hayacchi."
Things hit a wall, the force of it tooth-rattling…
Naoto winced at the mere mention of Hayase Nagatoro.
'I don't wanna think about Nagatoro right now…' He found it easy to dwell on her predicament when he wasn't otherwise occupied. "…"
"…?"
"…"
"You okay, buddy?" Sakura tilted her head.
'Shit…' He didn't like that she'd noticed something was wrong. "…"
She'd offhandedly said something completely innocuous, and he had to get all dopey over it…
Sakura took in his countenance.
"You just look kinda sad…" she opined. "You good?"
He sighed, knowing he could talk with her about most things, "I'm just trying not to… think of Nagatoro…"
"Oh…" She was pained to hear that, and it showed. "Sorry… Wasn't thinking…"
"Hey, it's alright…" he answered. "I just keep thinking about it all…"
"…"
"…"
"You wanna talk about it…?"
'What's there to talk about…?' He had plenty though. "…"
"…?" Sakura appeared as open as a 24-hour coffee shop at Narita International Airport.
It was more accurate to say Naoto needed to talk about it.
But it's unlikely he would've brought it up if she hadn't asked…
"Nagatoro and I were messaging the other morning, but I haven't heard from her since…" he shared, barely taking the time to reflect before speaking. "After… finding out, I decided to leave her alone the rest of Tuesday, but I messaged her yesterday morning, and I still haven't gotten back a word."
Sakura's expression, sympathetic upon her noticing something was up, softened, becoming more neutral.
"I see…" she acknowledged.
'That's all…?' Naoto expected more, but he wanted to keep it going. "I'm trying to not think about it… If something… happened, I'm sure that Gamo-ch—"
Her demeanor had changed, hearing him say that, looking concerned. "…?"
That wasn't what made him stop though; he'd caught himself…
"…" He'd said to much.
Sakura considered, "You're sure that Gamo-chan would tell you~?"
"…?!" If the gal had wheedled or given him the "Sakura-simper", Naoto might've been angry.
But she'd said it with something of an affected admiration…
Naoto gulped, taken aback at her gently handling his running of the mouth. "Yeah…"
"It's not really my business, but what did you say to Hayacchi?"
"What she didn't respond to? I… just told her to call or text me if she needed to talk… that I was thinking of her."
"Sweet of you~," she complemented.
He knew his cheeks were crimsoning. "…I guess…"
"You were pretty worried about her when you thought she was sick, weren't you?"
Naoto knew that Sakura meant no offense, saying "you thought", but there was no way to stop it from hurting. "Yeah…"
And Nagatoro had repaid his concern by turning their Sunday night exchange of messages about their missed modeling session into a "teasing session"… and lying to him further when she'd FINALLY gotten back to him, not hours before he'd learned the truth…
"…" Sakura seemed to be waiting.
Naoto wasn't happy that Nagatoro had deflected him and lied to him and everyone else, but the circumstances could be called extenuating.
"I'm still worried," he came to terms. "And about a few things."
"…"
"…"
"I guess we sorta skirted the topic last night, but is there anything I should know about Gamo-chan?"
Naoto hadn't contacted her that day, but touching base might not've been uncalled for.
"I haven't talked with her at all since last night, when we were all talking about what we're supposed to bring to the beach on Line," he chose. "As far as I know, she's fine. Today, she just supposedly worked that judo tournament at school with the rest of the Judo Club members that weren't participating. She and Nagatoro didn't compete, I know that. She wasn't happy about helping, but she is a team player. She was on school grounds, just like us, but in the martial arts hall."
"…" Sakura contemplated.
Naoto raised, "Sakura-san?"
"Senpai-kun, listen."
"O-okay."
"If you don't know… or if you don't wanna answer me, it's okay. Do you understand?"
"…" He could only imagine where this might head. "I understand."
"…" Sakura gathered her thoughts.
"…?"
"I heard a rumor that Gamo-chan disappeared from the tourney setup on Tuesday morning…" she probed. "…Is that true?"
"…"
"…"
'Should I REALLY tell her…?' He was about as sure as to where he wished to go to college.
But he trusted this girl…
He affirmed, "It's true."
"What happened?"
He wouldn't be specific, but he told her, "Gamo-chan found out about Nagatoro's grades… Monday night… and she knew more… Tuesday morning… She was upset, so she left setting up… and came to the art room. She stayed until almost mid-afternoon."
"…You made sure she got home safe?"
"Yeah…" The rest, he'd keep to himself.
"Well, I could've guessed. She was doing okay yesterday, for the most part."
'I met her mom~…' he mused. "…"
"…"
"…?" Naoto thought he could read something in the gal. "What is it, Sakura-san?"
He wasn't counting on anything good…
She gave a resigned sigh, "It's…"
"…Yeah?" he encouraged her, why, he didn't know.
"If you don't know, just tell me so, but… do you know how bad it actually is…? Hayacchi's… situation?"
'I was afraid of that…' Naoto wasn't floored that she'd ask though. "It's pretty bad; I don't wanna say any more than that. Please…"
He wished to be firm…
She seemed to respect that. "I see. I'm guessing that Gamo-chan wants it quiet."
"Yes. Let's please keep it that way."
"Of course, Senpai-kun…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
It was Sakura's turn to "read something"; she gave a friendly smirk, saying, "It seems you have something you wanna ask now~."
It wasn't her wheedling voice; it was her kind, gentle voice, the one that sounded like… well, LOVE…
Regardless, Naoto could've excused her, even if she had wheedled.
He let it out, "I don't know what to do about the… whole thing with Nagatoro… and Sunomiya…"
Sakura didn't smile, even with kindness, her good humor taking a powder. "Yeah… it's rough, Senpai-kun. I don't exactly know what to do about it either."
"…" He gave a few seconds of thought to what he wanted to say. "I know we talked about it some, but… I'm… afraid of what might happen if Nagatoro shows up in the art room when Sunomiya is there… and the other way around too…:
"…" She was attending.
He felt dirty, just bringing it up. "You didn't see how angry Sunomiya was last Monday… Not only did she tell Nagatoro that we'd be better off if she left, she told her to 'get out of our Art Club'. That's what she said…!"
"I know Hana-chan said that," Sakura returned. "She told me—prolly verbatim—what happened after I left the art room, you remember?"
'Cripes…' He'd forgotten that. "That's right… you did say that…"
Her words stung… and he felt stupid for pulling them out of her, not that he could anticipate EVERYTHING…
"…" She watched, rather impassively.
He could feel her penetrating gaze, like she was reaching inside him. "…!"
Sakura must've found something in there, because, "You might as well say what you're gonna say; it's not like I can read your actual thoughts."
'Oof!' His scalp prickled.
Nearly all of his life experiences told him one thing:
There was little chance what he was about to say would sound remotely correct… or intelligent… and in reality, it was probably neither.
Things may very well have gone beyond such simplicity…
He decided to get it over with. "I had this idea… and I know it's stupid… that Sunomiya… might be able to… get over it… since she knows what a rotten semester Nagatoro had."
"…!" The gal's eyes narrowed, and any friendliness evaporated.
Naoto's balls hid away. "…?!"
"'Get over it'?" Sakura's tone had quite the fine edge.
He hadn't expected a positive reaction, truly. "…Yeah…"
"That's how you wanna put it?" she perplexed, her tone now razor-sharp. "Try again."
"I told you I knew it was stupid…" he very nearly whined. "I had the idea…"
"…"
"…"
She exhaled, "Hey… sorry…"
"…?" He realized he was safe-ish, at least for the moment.
"I shouldn't take it out on you…" she bemoaned. "You might not know; I doubt Hana-chan would bring it up to you. And she might not like me talking about it, but…"
Naoto wanted to say, "Then don't tell me. I don't wanna know," but he stopped himself. "…?"
"…"
"…"
Sakura cleared her throat. "I want you to listen."
He "stood at attention", still lying in bed. "Yeah?"
"Look, I'm sorry for snapping at you back there… but I really didn't like how you said that, not that you think that way…"
"…" He was silent.
"You listening?" she asked.
He nodded. "Yes."
"Okay…" she commenced. "Last Monday was pretty awful, Senpai-kun. I know it, you know it, and pretty much everyone that knows us knows it. I'm not saying you had an easy time of it—I know you didn't—but Dr. Akashi taught me something…"
'Dr. Akashi?' Naoto hadn't heard that name since before finals, but he'd not forget what went with it.
She WAS Sakura's therapist, back in middle school…
Sakura didn't stop, "She taught me that when you 'put yourself in someone else's shoes', you need to think especially hard about why they feel and react the way they do. You follow me?
"A lot of times, we only go halfway, wondering about how others might feel, keeping to 'action and reaction'. What I mean is, I'm sure that you know how bad it must've looked to everyone else, but you need to think about why it was so bad for them. That's what it means to 'walk in another's shoes'. You need to think about what motivates them."
Naoto got what she was saying, but he could feel his own forehead creasing, wondering where this was going. "…?"
And Sakura perceived this. "There I go again, spouting a buncha 'mind-fuck stuff' I didn't come up with on my own, not that I should call it that. I think I messed it up anyway… It made more sense the way Dr. Akashi said it."
"…" He elected to keep himself on mute until—
Sakura snorked, "I think I'm just a little tired~."
"No, I can see what you're saying, Sakura-san, but…" he petered off.
He was tired too.
"…" She'd taken on an unusual pallor. "I think it's best if I'm just straight with you about it…"
Naoto would wait and see, the truth of that. "Okay."
"…"
"…"
"Here's how it is, Senpai-kun: it's not impossible, Hana-chan letting bygones be bygones, but I doubt she'll ever want to be Hayacchi's friend again, not that they were friends."
'This isn't a great start…' His entrails fizzled, his mind not doubting the gal's words. "I see…"
Not so long ago, this news might've incapacitated him… but there'd been changes…
"…" Sakura took her time. "I don't need to tell you what happened last Monday. You were there, and I don't think you wanna hear it again."
"I don't," Naoto confirmed, grateful he wouldn't have to relive it.
…
Hana had seen a lot:
The tensions between the girls, most of them having issues with at least ONE of the other girls…
Maki Gamo's upset, facing weeks of public embarrassment in the face of her "feud" with Rabi-chan…
Her artwork trashed…
…
Naoto still felt a little ill when he thought of that, Hana, on her knees, clutching her ruined artwork…
…
And Hana had been through plenty more:
Naoto being hurt through Nagatoro's sheer meanness… and his lying about it…
Standing up to Nagatoro, demanding she disappear…
Gamo-chan's anger… and her awful fighting with Nagatoro…
…
Even when Gamo-chan had demanded he go to the nurse's office—even when Hana had begged he go, that she would come along—he refused.
He'd clamped onto the table, freezing up and refusing to move… like he was broken…
…
And Hana had seen him when he'd finally snapped, both her and Gamo-chan unable to stem Nagatoro's cruelty.
He'd blown his stack, and that had been bad enough…
He'd turned his anger on Gamo-chan…
He'd said TERRIBLE things about himself… even suggesting he kill himself for Nagatoro's amusement…
That he'd said that in front of Hana… in front of ANYONE…!
Moreso, he really WOULD rather DIE than have Hana know his thoughts, the dark ones, when he'd been out chasing Nagatoro…
…
But there had been some good things too, and a lot of them were fueled by Hana:
She'd comforted Gamo-chan when she'd been feeling blue, a thing no one else might've had the courage to even ATTEMPT, but she'd done it with nothing but love for her senpai driving her…
She'd bullshitted around with the girls, joking, shaking her jugs, and causing NO small amount of laughter among her friends…
And—before the work had been destroyed—she'd entertained Gamo-chan and Yoshi Yamazaki, sketching that North American "freshwater barracuda" and chatting with delight over how funny its name was…
…
Sakura thought hard for a moment before opening her mouth again.
What she had to say was no base issue. "Monday broke Hana-chan's heart."
"…!" Naoto's very core was stabbed at. 'God…'
Sakura battled on, "Like I said before, Hana-chan told me everything she saw and heard while I was out of the art room."
Naoto was far from stoic; the aide-mémoire set him to cringing.
He just kept quiet about it. "…!"
Returning to the current day, she asked him, "You prolly didn't notice, but did you catch Hana-chan staring at that awful bruise you still have on your foot? The one Hayacchi so thoughtfully gave you?"
"…?" Naoto hadn't noticed. "…No."
He himself thought about the bruise every time he took a step, the yellowed thing yet giving him some very odd sensations… and he definitely didn't need a reminder of who did it…
"Well, she was…" Sakura brought him to reality. "Hana was zeroed-in on it."
"…!"
"And she kept looking at it," the gal illuminated. "And every time, she had this really off-putting, faraway expression going on."
"…?" He wished he knew what to make of that, not that it needed overanalysis.
"She's still very upset about it, Senpai-kun…" said Sakura. "I knew she was upset about it, but I didn't think it was that bad… until I saw her today…"
That wounded him. "I… didn't realize she felt that way…"
"In the infamous words of best Evangelion girl, 'Anta baka?'"
"Please don't kid around, Sakura-san…"
"Well, are you?"
Whether he was retarded or not, "Sunomiya seemed fine on Friday… and today and yesterday, when she called Gamo-chan, and up to then…"
Sakura sadly shook her head. "She wasn't going to show that to you…"
"She wished Nagatoro and me luck… that the modeling session would go well… even when Gamo-chan was making fun…" Naoto droned, almost absently. "She even seemed upset, later, when she knew the modeling session wouldn't happen…"
"Well, she felt differently, when she didn't know you'd been hurt," Sakura reasoned. "But even with all that happened, don't think she isn't torn over this crap… It's complicated, even with how she feels…"
"…"
"…"
…
A part of Naoto found it somewhat odd—
Sakura was being relatively impartial about this whole thing…
One of the most memorable things from her on Friday night had been a doozy, hearkening back to a time that she, Gamo-chan, and Yoshi had clandestinely excluded Nagatoro from a screening of the Toy Story movies, Nagatoro having mocked them for enjoying "Disney kid cartoons".
…
"Sometimes you gotta just cut out the cancer for a little while, if you wanna enjoy life."
…
And Gamo-chan had told him just a few days prior, before singing her blues to him, that she loved the Disney animated movies—some more than others—and had a very special place in her heart for them.
…
Speaking of Gamo-chan…
Upholding his general inability to find the right moment, he had related worries concerning the big girl.
He just spit it out, "I don't know what to do for Gamo-chan… as far as the Nagatoro/Sunomiya thing goes…"
Sakura stared into him another moment.
"So, the two of you talked about that last night…?" she sighed.
"A little…" It had been enough. 'We never got far…'
"…"
"…"
"Well, Hana-chan doesn't know what to do about it either… when it comes to Gamo-chan," Sakura gave over. "I was… hoping to ask you."
'I didn't hear that right…' Naoto's brain farted. "Pardon?"
"I was hesitant to say anything, but… here we are…" Shuffling further up her pillow, she pulled the towel from her hair, folded it, and rested her head on it, the pillow below. "I think we need to talk about it."
'I don't "wanna talk about it", seriously…' Naoto mentally rebounded the words she occasionally asked of him. "Really…?"
She didn't remark on the reluctance.
"Please, I'd like your thoughts…" she simply said, brushing her golden, temporarily lank locks from her eyes.
'Oh, man…' Naoto fretted, knowing this could mean a few things. "What is it?"
"Hana-chan… told me a few things I didn't expect to hear."
"…"
"…"
'This really COULD be anything…' Naoto exhaled. "Sakura-san…?"
"Yes?"
"…" He wasn't fully convinced he was doing the right thing. "I can trust this will stay between us? Like, seriously…?"
She was a bit tense but approved, "You have my word, Senpai-kun…"
"…"
"…"
"I'm not sure where to start…" Naoto laid his cards on the table.
Sakura gave the tiniest grin, sad but ironic. "I hear ya, buddy… I imagine we know different things… and what need is there to break all confidences?"
"There isn't any."
"Nope, we don't need that. This is for our friends, nothing else."
It was… and that was slightly reassuring…
Q&A Section
I wanted to ask what inspired you to make Sakura a creature connoisseur? It honestly subverted my expectations that she'd be so keen on snakes and such, but granted this whole story has been about subverting expectations. I'm not dissing on it at all it's actually a really cool and interesting note to her character but I'm curious as to how it happened.
ED: I have six brothers, five of them older, and a younger sister. Among all eight of us, we probably have almost every interest/hobby covered. Two of my brothers were interested in such creatures, one keeping snakes and one interested in arachnids, specifically scorpions and their relatives.
I wanted to give Sakura another quirk to make her a little "weirder", not that a girl being interested in such fauna is that weird. I was creeped out handling their critters, but I thought they were interesting.
PS showed me an interesting YouTube channel called Exotics Lair, when I asked advice on Sakura having "exotic pets". The content has gone down in quality, and the guy might be becoming an animal hoarder, but there was a lot of interesting older stuff about tarantulas.
My one brother had a camel spider, which is one of the weirdest animals I've ever seen.
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading!