🌸Cherry Blossom Palette: Summer by the Sea🎨
Chapter 32: Beach Episode! [Part Four]
Sunshine Arc
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
ED: This is the 100th chapter of the overall story!
Give my editor some love when he posts on Reddit!
Also, he's agreed to do Reddit promos for TheGoldCard's story "Away We Go", so keep an eye out for that, and support TheGoldCard.
…
In Chapter 100, some shenanigans occur!
Shuu simps!
Sakura (dyed) and Hana (natural) cross a fiery line, leading to the foundation of a tale of sweet revenge~.
…
I finished South Park: The Stick of Truth. That game was crazy.
I knew what was coming a lot of the time, but I still wasn't ready to fight a giant dead baby that Khloe Kardashian didn't want. It was a Nazi zombie and had an umbilical cord that could kill you, and it bisected two soldiers before coming after me.
I also wasn't ready to go spelunking in Mr. Slave's back door. That was really gross.
I guess I'll get a copy of The Fractured but Whole and play that next.
…
I also finished The Boondocks cartoon, and PS was right, Season 4 was awful. It had a few good ideas and cultural references, but the series creator not being involved killed it.
Huey Freeman was an interesting kid.
One good thing about the final season was that we finally got to meet Ed "Eddie" Wuncler II. I wanted to see him since the beginning of the series, considering what kind of people his father and his son are.
Ed Wuncler, the elder, opened a soul food restaurant with the explicit purpose of driving down the property value of the park across the street so he could buy it and build condos.
Ed Wuncer III is a moron who is crazy, but the worst thing he did was try robbing a store and accidentally wind up a hero. But I guess that he, his friend Gin Rummy, and young Riley Freeman DID try to kidnap Oprah Winfrey, not that it worked out for them.
But Eddie Wuncler?
It takes a special kind of man to convince Grandad, Robert Freeman, to sell his own family into slavery, just so he can win a $5 bet with his assistant.
What's more, Eddie forced them to work in a plantation themed theme park called "Freedomland".
…
I was surprised by the canon Nagatoro stuff. I truly thought something WOULD happen this time, but nothing did, unless you count Nagatoro being a habitual hypocrite/coward with no respect for Naoto and getting to see Sakura with long hair.
My editor would love the Sakura part, if he still read the manga. Otherwise, it was just Nanashi wasting another three weeks of time for those of us that can't let go.
…
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
On the increasingly warm sands of Hayama Beach, five high-schoolers waited for the rest of their party to show up.
Three of them were out in the open, relishing the time, space, and camaraderie.
One of them was up to some "serious business" though…
"Go, Shuu-kun~!" Gamo-chan encouraged. "Woot!"
"Hey, hey," Tohru protested. "Let him concentrate."
"…!" Shuu wasn't really paying attention to them, juggling a hacky sack by himself.
Gamo-chan shut up but continued to watch. "…~!"
Tohru had seen this many times. "…"
It wasn't like Shuu was trying to break his high score of 162 kicks, but he liked seeing how many times he could do it before failing.
"…" He steadily worked the bag. '… 43, 44, 45…'
…
From the shade of their "umbrella camp", Naoto and Yoshi surveyed the scene, not that they weren't relishing the same time, space, and camaraderie as the others.
"…~" Yoshi was working on an apple pulled from the cooler, reminiscent of a squirrel with an acorn.
It was nice to see her mellowing out a bit…
Naoto just sat there, dinking around on his phone, glad to see his four friends enjoying themselves. "…~"
He did wish that Rabi-chan would show up with her cooler full of bottled water.
Considering the prices, nobody was keen on buying any, not when a tub of it was on the way, and nobody trusted the NONPOTABLE water-spigot down the way, so they'd "suffer" for a little while, just until it arrived…
"…" Naoto knew part of the issue was that they'd never agreed to a time for everyone to be there, at least no further than the thought to attack Sakura's and Hana's picnic baskets at around 11:00 a.m.
…
"Whoops!" Shuu exclaimed, having hit the hacky sack at a bad angle.
"Get it, get it, get it, get it!" Gamo-chan willed.
But there was no saving it, and the bag plopped into the sand, Shuu unable to move under it in time.
"Aww, shit," the big girl lamented. "Too bad, dude…"
"That was 71, Shuu," Tohru told him.
Shuu panted, "71? I thought I was at 70…"
"No, I was counting," Tohru said. "You made 71."
"Short-pai's right, Shuu-kun," Gamo-chan entered. "I counted 71 kicks."
"Well, alright~…" Shuu wasn't mussed. "That was the most I've done in a long time… What next?"
"Wanna play a new game?" Tohru asked him.
Gamo-chan volunteered, "I wouldn't mind finding a drink of water… I'm tired of waiting."
"If you don't wanna buy any, you could run to the women's room and drink from the faucet, Xena," Tohru suggested. "It's clean, at least."
She nodded. "Not a bad idea. I think I might, Short-pai~."
"…!" Shuu got an idea of his own, rather unrelated to H2O; he faced the others. "You go on, Gamo-chan, if you need to. There's something I wanna try for a couple minutes."
"What?" She cocked her head.
"Tohru…" Shuu held out his hand towards the diminutive senpai. "You still got the other two sacks in your pocket~? Gimme one."
"What, are you gonna try going with two?"
"Yeah~! I haven't tried it in a while."
"Two of them?!" Gamo-chan squawked.
"Yeah."
"You can really do two?!"
"I can try, Gamo-chan."
She grinned a big, old Gamo-grin. "If you're doing that, I can wait a little while. I gotta see this~!"
"Alright, then…" Shuu decided. "You and Tohru keep count. I can't think about it; I need to concentrate."
…
Naoto checked the time, and he found it was 10:10.
Just over three hours since his arrival…
Getting there so early had sucked a little bit, but he didn't regret it too badly, seeing how the seashore was quickly filling in with beachgoers.
Hayama wasn't exactly a "destination", so it was mostly locals and people from around Miura Peninsula that showed up, he'd discovered.
Tourists were rare in Hayama, at least for the beach, but some came in from Yokohama, looking for something nearby but small and "out of the way"…
"…!" Naoto caught what Shuu was now up to, though it was almost impossible to not see, his attention focused in that general direction.
Setting down his phone, he nudged Yoshi and immediately thought saying something might be better, but she reacted most moderately.
"Sensei?" She left off from her apple.
He pointed out the hacky sackers, Shuu in particular. "…~"
"…~!" Yoshi sat up higher. "Is he…?"
"Shh…" Naoto shushed. "Yeah… he can juggle more than one."
She quieted, "Oh…"
"Yup."
"He can do two?" She'd never seen anything like it.
Naoto chuckled, and he told her the same thing he'd told Gamo-chan, "He can do three."
"Really?"
"Once he gets into the swing of things… I'm not sure if he's tried it lately."
Yoshi goggled in wonderment, her words soft but awestricken, "Footbag master~!"
"Yeah, he's pretty good~." Naoto sometimes envied how easily the quirky yet mundane came for Shuu.
In the past had been Shuu's habit of annoyingly seamless pen-spinning… and his ability to solve a Rubik's Cube in about 30 seconds… and that time he'd flipped a little cup of coffee creamer—end-over-end, landing it right-side-up—19 times in a row…
"…~" Naoto referred to them as parlor tricks, which Shuu didn't mind.
The tricks had won a few bets previously…
At the moment, Shuu wasn't minding much of anything, focused only on keeping the two sacks from hitting the ground.
The taller of Naoto's two pals did goof, having to start over, but he was finding his tempo.
So enthralled were Naoto and Yoshi, they hadn't heard the next two members of their party show up.
"Hey, Yoshi, Senpai-kun~," a welcome voice graced the air. "We're here."
Naoto and Yoshi weren't horribly surprised, Sakura making her presence known gently.
The seated pair turned to the side, and there stood Sakura and Hana, both wearing aviator shades.
'Whoa!' Naoto goggled at the pair (well, at Sakura—not so much Hana).
Sakura, sporting a sunhat, was in her new bikini and beach skirt, and over the upper, she wore an open crop-top blouse, its strings tied between her belly and the lower entrance to her "boob-canyon".
Holy shit, was she going to turn heads that day, despite her "concern" to the contrary~…!
Hana, under a bucket hat, wore a Hawaiian shirt that Naoto thought she'd passed on during their shopping trip and a pair of cargo shorts.
She was cute~…
"…!" Yoshi was about to trumpet a greeting, but she caught herself, wishing to keep near to silent. "Sakura, Hanacchi, look at Shuu-kun~. Keep quiet though; he's in the zone."
"We saw~," Sakura whispered back, keeping her voice down. "I hope we didn't startle you."
Naoto addressed the newcomers, "You're good. Hey, girls."
"Hey, Senpai-kun~, how goes it?"
"…~" He'd yet to tire of that moniker. "I'm good, Sakura-san. You?"
"Great~."
"Nice." Naoto was pleased to hear it.
Hana greeted, "Good morning, Hachioji-senpai, Yoshi-senpai."
"Hey, Sunomiya." "Good to see ya, Hanacchi~." Naoto and Yoshi were joyed to return pleasantries.
Their kohai regarded Shuu, "What's Aisho-senpai up to?"
Naoto said, "It's hacky sack… footbag. You've never seen it?"
"No." Hana was knowledgeable, but who was without gaps?
"A hacky sack, it's basically a knit beanbag you can play games with," Naoto explained. "There are a lot of things you can do with one, but at its most basic, you or you and other people try to keep it aloft without using your hands and lower-arms. Right now, Shuu's trying to juggle two of them."
"He seems to be succeeding," Hana observed.
Sakura smiled at the sight. "Yeah, he sure is~. I didn't know he played."
"Actually, Shuu, Tohru, and I used to play a lot," Naoto described. "We played together for the first time in a couple years today, and we taught Gamo-chan too."
"Neat~," Sakura trilled.
Yoshi eyed the new arrivals; she asked, "Where's the stuff?"
The flower girls seemed bereft of their beachy offerings…
"Hey, it'd be kinda dumb for us to stand here like a couple of goons, weighed down with all that jazz~," Sakura said. "We set it down."
She hiked a thumb behind her, pointing out the gear.
Naoto and Yoshi saw the raft, loaded with a couple of picnic baskets and what must've been Hana's fold-up shelter for changing clothes.
"You two carried that all the way from your house, Sakura-san?" Naoto couldn't envision it.
"Of course not~," she chirped. "We only had to haul it from the parking lot. Remember my neighbors I mentioned? The ones with the greenhouse?"
"Yes." It was thanks to the money that Sakura had gotten for watering their plants which bought him that swell kalbi at the yakiniku place.
She seemed proud of her resourcefulness. "The Masuda family has an old pickup truck~. I begged Mr. Masuda for a ride, and he seemed tickled pink to give us one~."
'I wonder how you accomplished that…' Naoto wasn't sure he wanted to know. "I see."
"It was shameless, Hachioji-senpai…" Hana evoked. "She didn't have her blouse tied that way before going to ask him."
"Okay, I didn't wanna know that…" he gave voice to his thoughts. 'Yikes!'
"Hana-chan, stop talking about Mr. Masuda like he's some dirty old man!" Sakura scolded her.
Hana denied, "I didn't. I think he would've done it if you'd just asked."
"Insurance, Hana-chan!" Sakura bolstered. "You go in, firing on all cylinders! He might've said 'no' or shirked otherwise… or denied driving the raft back for us, y'know, later this afternoon~."
'Oh, what a world…' Naoto wondered what Yoshi was up to.
"…?" Yoshi wasn't doing much, appearing about as disinclined to hear all of this as he was… and a little bewildered.
But this bit of pageantry blew past, and Sakura sauntered over to the raft.
She'd thought better of leaving the baskets out, and she moved them to the shade. "Don't want these in the sun though…"
Hana followed but for a different reason.
"Hachioji-senpai?" she beckoned.
"Yes?"
She hefted the portable shelter… or tried to. "Could you please help me set this up?"
"Definitely." He was the tallest… and she'd asked.
Yoshi stood up. "I'll help too~."
"I'll just stand here and watch the show~," Sakura burbled.
Naoto simpered at her, "Shuu? Or us putting up the tent?"
She giggled, "I'm joking, bud~. If you need an extra hand, I'm here."
…
A stone's throw away, Shuu was doing pretty well, flawlessly cycling the two footbags.
"…~" Gamo-chan delighted in this sort of thing.
Tohru waved around the third hacky sack. "Ready to try for three, Shuu?"
"What happened to quiet~?"
"You seem to have this handled. You want the other bag?"
"Naw…" Shuu was absorbed in his pursuit. "Not even close~…! Please tell me that one of you is keeping count though."
Gamo-chan was, and she enlightened, "…23, 24, 25…"
"I guess so," Tohru chortled. "Good thing too, 'cause I lost count when you restarted again."
Shuu had crapped out twice already, attempting to reach 50 cycles, but he still thought he was doing alright. "Thanks~, Tohru…"
"Oh, you got it, Shuu, always~," he answered with equal sarcasm.
"…~" The Amazon silently continued counting.
To save his third attempt from an untimely end, Shuu spun on his heel, just making it. "Ha!"
He'd been facing away from their spot group's against the retaining wall, but rescuing the wayward bag saw it reenter his view.
And Shuu saw a pretty gal, watching him from the edge of the blankets, along with three other people of lesser consequence, pulling some tent-looking thing out of a bag behind her.
"…~?!" Electricity ran from the base of his skull to the tips of his fingers—and possibly to the tingly tip of his lil' Shuu, and his legs went numb, the jolt terminating approximate to his tailbone.
Needless to say, he distractedly dropped both hacky sacks, far short of his goal.
"Aww, piss!" Gamo-chan mourned, unable to see the reasoning behind his flub, simply knowing he'd lost the tempo.
Tohru, at a better angle, had noticed Shuu falter. "What the Hell was that…?"
"Duh…" Shuu bumbled, a shiver going up and down his back.
Closer inspection told Short-pai what had occurred, and he scowled at Shuu, having seen for himself that certain pretty gal, watching from the edge of the blankets~. "Seriously, Shuu…?!"
"What's up, Short-pai?" Gamo-chan didn't understand Tohru's frustration; and she never made the connection, merely noticing another of her gal-pals had landed. "Hey, it's Sakura! Hey, Sakura~!"
"Hey, Gamo-chan~!" The blonde waved in reply to Gamo-chan's; she then waved to the boys. "Shuu-kun! Tohru-kun! What's up, guys~?!"
Shuu's dick might've been inclined to climb towards such a twelve-o'clock orientation; his hand definitely was, waving like mad. "H-hey! Sakura…!"
He didn't even bother picking up his hacky sacks, hurrying alongside Gamo-chan to meet the gal.
"Oh, fuck you…" A muttering Tohru, cursing Shuu's doltishness, retrieved the two footbags, shaking them free of sand and bringing up the rear.
The trio made it back to base.
"Hey, all~!" Sakura twittered. "Good to see you!"
"Likewise~," Gamo-chan harmonized. "When did you and Hanacchi get here?"
"Just a moment ago," Sakura replied.
Gamo-chan sneered, peering past her. "Don't you feel bad~? Standing here while the others put up Hanacchi's shelter~?"
"Naw~!" she cast aside. "They have six hands; that should be good, but I'm here if needed."
"G'morning, Sakura," Tohru welcomed.
There was no reason to be upset with HER; Shuu was the one getting a chub…
"Hey, Tohru-kun~," she returned; she turned to Shuu. "You good, Shuu-kun~?"
He hadn't been able to pipe up—at least not prior to Tohru. "Y-yeah, I am, Sakura, thanks. You?"
"Doing great~!" she squeed.
Hana sounded from behind, "Sakura-senpai… that extra set of hands…?"
Tent struggles…!
"I got it!" Shuu undertook.
Sakura beamed. "Thanks~."
"…~" That was all he needed.
Gamo-chan entered the fray, "Hanacchi, let me get that."
Everyone's kohai didn't argue, getting out of the way, and the three tallest present finished erecting the changing shelter, Yoshi staking it out.
"Mission accomplished!" Yoshi declared.
They dispersed from the set-up.
Naoto wiped his brow. "Thanks, Shuu… Gamo-chan…"
"Yeah, we needed the assist!" Yoshi supplemented.
"Yup…" "You got it." Gamo-chan and Shuu had been happy to do it.
"…" With seven young people there, Naoto saw it was time for more introductions.
Had they ever properly met…?
He wasn't sure, so he called on his guy-friends, "Shuu, Tohru?"
"Yeah?" "Hmm?" Both were accounted for.
"I can't remember, so…" Naoto motioned to his fellow (and sole) club member. "Guys, this is Hana Sunomiya."
Removing her hat and shades, Hana bowed, slightly but respectfully. "Hello, my senpai."
"Sunomiya." Naoto motioned to the boys. "This is Tohru Hijikata, and this is Shuu Aisho. Sorry that I can't remember if you three ever formally met."
"I don't think we have," Tohru said; he faced Hana. "Good morning, Sunomiya-san."
Shuu was more definite, saying, "No, we haven't, but I'm pretty sure we know of each other. Hi, Sunomiya-san."
"Aisho-senpai, Hijikata-senpai, it's a pleasure," Hana answered. "It's good to meet Hachioji-senpai's friends."
"Thanks, you too," Shuu responded. "If you like, Sunomiya-san… you can just call me 'Shuu'. I prefer it over my family name."
"Very well, Shuu-senpai." Hana was cool with it. "You may call me 'Hana', but you don't have to."
"I'd be okay with that~." Shuu liked the idea. "Hana-san."
"Same with me," Tohru brought up. "Just call me by my given name. And if you don't mind me using your given name…"
"Please go ahead, Tohru-senpai. That would make me happy."
Yoshi blared, "Familiarity!"
Sakura hadn't done so, but she complemented Naoto, "I'm liking the location, Senpai-kun~. You done good."
"It's ideal," Hana put in. "A fine spot."
Yoshi wasn't far behind. "Good find!"
"Thanks, girls…" Naoto pinkened, the remaining regrets about his 7:00 a.m. advent down the tubes.
It was smooth sailing, but there was always SOME chop to navigate…
Gamo-chan derided Sakura, "Seriously, girl, you really have to bring those ratty, old things~?"
She was referring to the archaic sport sandals the gal had elected to wear, as she had the last time they went to the beach… and as she'd worn for the pool cleaning, not that the event need be known to interlopers.
"This again…?" the gal puckered, having been griefed a time or three before. "That's how you're gonna start off…?"
"From the ankles up, you look like you just stepped out of a swimsuit catalog, Sakura," Gamo-chan touted. "And you still wear those tacky things? You're like a little kid… or an old man~."
"Screw you!" Sakura had retorted as such multiple times. "They're comfy."
"You should follow Hanacchi's example," Gamo-chan admired. "Hers are adorable~."
"Adorbs!" Yoshi interjected. "Pretty in Pink (Adidas)!"
"Thanks, I like them," Hana remarked.
Sakura supported her own, "I like something with straps that won't come off if I don't want them to, so there."
"But they're just so geeky~," leaked a Gamo-giggle.
The gal was obstinate. "We'll see if you're still yammering like that, watching yours float away with the current…"
"…" Naoto was wishing that Sakura had worn her new Nikes, just to avoid this sudden situation.
But it didn't last…
"Meh…" Gamo-chan left off, coming to something more important. "So, what's that you brought, Sakura? Shuu-kun set the standard pretty high with his snacks. Seriously~."
"Aw, it's nothing…" Shuu had just done what he thought was best.
Sakura said, "Hey, we talked about what I was bringing: enough PB&J sandwiches to feed everyone, chips, and fresh-cut veggies—carrots, celery, some dressing too. Since Shuu-kun was bringing fresh fruit, he told me not to bother with fruit-cups."
"I meant the other thing—that paper bag on top~," Gamo-chan referenced.
There was obviously some tasty confection within~…
"Oh, that," Sakura acknowledged. "Before Hana-chan and I met at my house to assemble the sandwiches and cut the veggies, I ran by that Americana diner—got there at 7:00. I skipped breakfast, hoping I could get a fat batch of those awesome caramel rolls~!"
Gamo-chan's sweets-radar pinged. "You mean those ones you're always talking about~…?"
"Damn straight~. I got six of them. And this hungry girl wants some! Who's up for the best caramel rolls in Kanto~?"
"Six is a 'fat batch'?" This seemed on the low side to the Maki.
"It's the most they'll give someone that didn't make a special order and pay in advance," Sakura illuminated. "That's why I grabbed a plastic knife. Everyone gets a half, and then we can decide what to do with what's left."
Not a single argument was raised, and the blonde split four of the rolls, leaving two-and-a-half for later—a half for Nekoba, a half for Rabi-chan, and one-and-a-half for what have you.
They sat on the blankets, eating.
The rolls were amazing~…
"Oh, that's good~!" Gamo-chan inhaled her portion. "Thanks, Sakura~."
Affirmations rose, "Yes, thanks." "Good stuff!" "*nom-nom*" "I've never had one of these~…" "This is great~!"
Sakura blushed slightly. "Oh, I was happy to do it, guys~. They gave me some wet-naps too, if you wanna clean your hands."
She set out a mound of the wrapped alcohol-towelettes.
Gamo-chan, accepting the offer, noted something.
"Hey, Hanacchi…" she brought up, washing up. "You painted your nails again?"
Hana nodded, licking a speck of caramel from one of her knuckles. "More accurately, Sakura-senpai and I did each other's nails last night."
"It was fun~!" Sakura had thoroughly adored the time.
Gamo-chan chuckled, "I'm feeling a little underdressed, coming in plain~… I guess I saw Sakura's rainbow thing, but what's that you have, Hanacchi?"
Hana wasn't one to flash her fingernails at people, and her toes had been overwhelmed by the sand.
Now, she showed them, made all the easier with her Adidas pinks off, the slides lying at the edge of their cover. "I saw this on the internet: painted like ivory dice."
"That's pretty cool," Gamo-chan admired.
"Craps~!" Yoshi lauded. "C'mon, baby! Yoshi needs a new pair of shoes~!"
"You do 'em at Sakura's house?" Gamo-chan asked Hana.
Hana shook her head. "No, we did them at my grandparents', out by the shrine."
"I got to go to a grill-out~!" Sakura warbled. "Hana-chan's family made steak~!"
"Sakura-senpai, don't brag…" Hana thought it unbecoming; she turned to Gamo-chan. "Sakura-senpai got to meet my family. And we both painted my Grandmother's nails too. She thought it was fun; she hadn't done it since she was about our age."
"That's nice~." Gamo-chan was all about friends and family. "And steak, huh~…?"
…
"…~" Naoto was still a little sad that he'd passed on sticking with Sakura and Hana after shopping, but seeing the girls having a good time served as a balm for many ailments.
There was, however, the matter of the girls chatting about manicures and stuff, and Naoto checked on something, having spaced it out.
'Fuckin' of course…!' He hid his scowl behind what was left of his sweet roll. 'I should've known…'
Shuu was eyeballing Sakura's pedicure, Naoto found, though young Mr. Aisho was undoubtedly more interested in the whole enchilada, so to say… but he currently had eyes for the calves on down.
And he'd probably been doing it for a while, judging by the mindless 1,000-yard stare pasted on his mug…
But Naoto decided to shuffle it out of mind; he'd expected this of Shuu.
As long as he didn't start ogling the handiwork on HANA too much… or got caught "lookin'"—which might've been in the cards, it was a nonissue…
However, he was soon to learn that such a state of affairs might've been small potatoes compared to what happened next.
…
"I guess I noticed Hanacchi wearing one, but you have one too Sakura." Gamo-chan was still wiping her hands with a wad of towelettes. "What's up with the matching anklets?"
It got everyone's attention. "…?" "…?" "…?" "…?" "…?"
"…!" Sakura squirmed a little, feeling the rest of the group's gaze upon her.
She and Hana exchanged looks.
They had agreed to wear the anklets that day, for fun and for flower girl solidarity.
Hana was cool as peppermint candy. "…"
But…
"…!" Sakura was more hesitant, now faced with accountability.
Not only did she feel kind of embarrassed, but she felt it a personal thing between her and her kohai… and both of them with their senpai.
That she was even a LITTLE BIT embarrassed about it hurt her, but she'd been dreading someone calling her out over it…
She didn't want to tell the lot of them that the anklets were of the friendship variety, because she didn't want to risk mockery.
And it wasn't off the table, a chance of mockery, benign or otherwise…
Still, she said, a minor redness rising, "I wanted to give Hana-chan a gift, so I made us matching anklets. They were gonna be bracelets, but they wound up being too long for that."
"You mean, like, friendship bracelets?" Gamo-chan tongued around the inside of her mouth, finding bits of caramel stuck everywhere.
Naoto's scalp prickled. 'Uh-oh…'
"…?" "…?" "…?" The other members were collectively rapt, the air tense.
Sakura sighed, "Yes. Yes, they are."
"…" Hana made known little.
Happily, Gamo-chan didn't tear into them. "What's the beading say?"
WOULD she even do such a thing…?
This time, Hana did act, untying her own hemp anklet.
Sakura jarred. "…?!"
"Here, Gamo-neechan." Hana handed it over, no discomfiture to be had on her part.
"…?" Gamo-chan took in the work. "'Flower Girl'?"
"Yes," Hana replied. "We were singly named to esteem the cherry blossom and the hibiscus. The hibiscus emoji on mine? Sakura-senpai's anklet is the same but with a cherry blossom."
Sakura worked up a little courage, and, "I got the idea the other day, when I was looking to finish them… I thought it was fitting~."
"Hmm~…" Gamo-chan reflected; she considered Yoshi. "Hey, Yosh, remember the ones that we used to make~?"
Yoshi recognized, "Yep! Fourth-year elementary girls, was we! Mine are all in my treasure box~!"
"I still have all of mine hanging on my bedside lamp~…" Gamo-chan conjured, handing Hana's anklet back to her.
Sakura blew out a breath of relief, apparently safe from ridicule, "Phew…"
…
Oh, was Naoto ever mollified. "…~!"
Though, he wondered if Hana was displeased with Sakura's reluctance.
She didn't appear to be, and hopefully, she wasn't…
"…~" Naoto reasoned that Hana would understand Sakura's apprehension.
It DID—superficially—seem juvenile, but none that knew the friendship of Sakura and Hana would cruelly mock the hempy representations of their bond…
Even the rest of their party seemed to relax into it, not that anyone besides Shuu and Tohru were on the "outside-looking-in" side of things.
However, there was STILL the matter of "bigger potatoes", and not ALL mockery was cruel…
…
"Well, well, well, Sakura…" Gamo-chan flaunted. "You two may be BFFs now, but Hanacchi and me? We're honorary sisters~."
Sakura's smile lessened. "…So?"
"That means she's my lil' sis~!" Gamo-chan professed. "We're like family~."
"And…?" Sakura was wary.
But Hana could have fun with it, and she did…
Gamo-chan hailed their kohai, giving her a thumbs-up, "My lil' sis~!"
"My neechan~!" Hana venerated, raising a fist.
It was nice to have fun~…
…
"…!" Naoto, on the other hand, saw the powder-keg filling up, an open flame far too close for safety.
Even if it was all in good humor—even on both sides, things could still blow up…
Yoshi, Shuu, and Tohru weren't unaware of the general notion (especially Yoshi, well-versed in the group ethos). "…!" "…?" "…"
…
Fortunately, Sakura could have fun with this too…
"Hanacchi," Gamo-chan illuminated. "We should do something to commemorate."
"Rrrrr!" Sakura growled, baring her teeth and sharpening her claws. "Don't copy us~."
Hana didn't see a problem. "Sakura-senpai, I have another ankle and two wrists. There's room for more distinguished attachments."
…
"…?!" Naoto couldn't tell—not for the life of him—whether Hana was joking or what she was about.
She never ceased to amaze…
Naoto also wasn't sure how all of this was funny—or even fun, though the three girls were enjoying it.
Maybe he was missing something…
As for the rest—
Shuu felt a bit lost. "…?"
Tohru wondered where this weirdness would go. "…"
"…?! …?!" And unsettled Yoshi found her eyes instantly trained to whichever girl was speaking. "…?! …?!"
…
Gamo-chan moved, indicating Hana, "Perhaps we should cement ourselves as honorary sisters~…"
"Hmph~!" Hana pumped both fists.
Sakura shook her head in mock-sadness. "Hana-chan, Hana-chan, Hana-chan… I never thought you'd betray me~…"
"Fear not," Hana allayed. "Friends and siblings are like apples and oranges, Sakura-senpai."
"I was thinking tattoos, Hanacchi~," Gamo-chan said. "Like, we could both get a heart tattooed on our butts, and there could be a little hibiscus flower and a boxing glove inside the heart~."
"Neither of us are of age to get inked, Gamo-neechan."
"We could wait a few more years!"
"I did see a documentary about prison… I suppose… we could do it ourselves."
"We could?"
"The construction of a 'homemade' tattoo-gun was covered in the show; all we'd need is a broken ballpoint pen, an electric razor motor, two disposable lighters, one AA battery, and some tape from a first aid kit."
"Ha-ha! I'll pass on that… not that I don't trust your steady hand~."
…
"…!" Naoto was flabbergasted at the back-and-forth.
…
Sakura wasn't flabbergasted but thought that this tête-à-tête of the girls inking the other's butt was as far as things had to go.
"Stop talking nonsense… Just do bracelets, if you're serious about it…" she exasperated.
"Oh, we wouldn't do that," Gamo-chan plugged. "Bracelets and stuff are kinda… well, elementary-ish~."
Hana disagreed, "I don't think so, not at all."
Sakura took greater "offense".
"Elementary-ish?!" she sneeringly defied, standing up. "Don't mock friendship bracelets, or you're gonna regret it~."
"Heh-heh~…" Gamo-chan rose as well. "It just seems a bit childish~."
"'Childish', you say?"
"Mm-hmm~!"
"Oh, yeah~?!" Sakura discharged. "Well, you can kiss my luscious gyaru ass~!"
"Yeah, whatever~…" Gamo-chan waved her off with a nasty smirk. "I think 'luscious' is a little much~."
…
Were they really going to just do this with three young men (and Yoshi) watching…?
…
Sakura, deeming her ass to be quite luscious, laid it out, a cupped-hand motioning to her down-there region, "Hey, eat me, 'frotch'~!"
"'Frotch'?!" Gamo-chan reeled.
…
Oh, geez…! They WERE…!
…
A pokerfaced Hana crossed her arms, suddenly appearing, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Sakura, the gal grinning big, squarely concurred, "Yeah, what she said."
…
Oh, shit…!
…
"Mm-hmm~!" Sakura triumphed, raising her clenched hand, presenting it to Hana.
Her kohai obliged the gesture, bringing up her own. "Indeed."
*"flower girl" fist-bump~*
…
Considering the golden fleece—the pyrite carpet—Sakura had residing between her OWN legs, it seemed awfully high-and-mighty of her to make fun…
…
Naoto wondered (probably) the same thing Yoshi, Shuu, and Tohru were thinking:
How would Gamo-chan contend with such outright infringement…?!
…
~~FIND OUT NEXT TIME, IN CHAPTER 33!~~
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading!
Questions and comments are welcome!