🌸Cherry Blossom Palette: Summer by the Sea🎨
Chapter 15: The Afterparty [Part Two]
Doorway into Summer Arc
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
ED:Naoto and Gamo-chan continue with their Vietnamese sandwiches and talk about a few more things.
The chapter is… different, but try to bear with it. I hope it doesn't trod on too many toes.
Keep in mind that this takes place BEFORE Naoto woke up to clean the pool, so he has no memory of Thursday or late Wednesday night, because they've yet to happen.
...
I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. PS has been busy with planting his crops, and editing the "afterparty" material is proving more troublesome than expected.
We struggled with finding good start/stop points with the "Afterparty" chapters, and it was hard to decide what several topics Naoto and Gamo-chan cover belong together in the same chapter. Either this mini arc will conclude with Chapter 16, being a big chapter, or we'll divide it up into two modest sized chapters, ending with Chapter 17.
I'd like to tell you we've decided, but we haven't, so you'll just have to see.
Then, it's a quick detour (with some good Hana-chan content) before the beach, and the beach stuff will end the "Doorway into Summer" arc.
After that, it's the "Dreamer's" arc. There'll be some serious friendshipping and raised stakes for the characters.
…
Another canon chapter where nothing of substance happened.
It's just the exact same thing again:
Another Shikki/lackeys situation.
A dull, boring character with two smug, dimwitted followers—all three with the same derpy Shikki/lackey expressions too—that enjoy talking bad behind people's backs, that Nanashi won't utilize well, was introduced at the art summer school.
And Nagatoro was jealous of the world and possessive of Naoto, whom she views only as an object.
I really hope he calls her out on that sometime, ripping his hand from hers when she tries dragging him along.
…
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.
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Naoto Hachioji's and Maki Gamo's sandwiches had shown up at the table, and after a quick "thanks for the food", they dug in.
Naoto wasn't disappointed~…
He was sold on a new type of sandwich, something he'd never eaten before:
The Vietnamese-style submarine sandwich was quite a sandwich.
"Oh, this is amazing…" He took another big bite.
It had seemed to take forever for their food to show up, the restaurant understaffed and busy, though it hadn't been more than 15 minutes…
Gamo-chan gave a Gamo-grin, gnawing on the end of her own sandwich. "Oh, don't I know it~…"
They'd both ordered the same thing:
Barbecued pork-belly with chicken liver paté, carrot, cucumber, jalapeno, cilantro, green onion, and fatty mayo on fresh-baked, crusty French bread.
The meat was fresh too, and the vegetables were freshly hand-cut~…
…
"Paisen…" Gamo-chan spoke around a mouthful.
"…" He swallowed more than any man needed to have in a single bite, just to clear his food-aperture. "Yeah?"
"Thanks again for getting your two pals to join us…" she said.
She'd thanked him at least three or four times for this…
"Sure…" he acknowledged, bemused at her level of gratitude.
Gamo-chan chortled, "If it hadn't been for that—other than you being around—the karaoke party would've been just another 'clam bake'~."
"What in the world is a 'clam bake'?" Naoto flummoxed, never hearing the term in such a context.
She very soon had him regretting asking. "It's like a 'sausage party'… but with only girls instead of only boys~."
"…?!" Naoto was glad he hadn't taken another bite; he might've choked. 'Seriously?!'
She simpered, "Got any more guys you could pull in for the beach trip on Saturday~?"
"Not really…" He knew plenty of other guys, but Shuu Aisho and Tohru Hijikata were probably the only ones he'd pull into an activity with his girlish circle of friends.
"Heh-heh~!" Gamo-chan let slip a Gamo-giggle, and she went back for more sandwich.
…
Naoto wasn't bothered too much by her joking around.
They'd broken away from the "shit", at least, the clash they'd had before their sandwiches arrived…
The issue he did presently have was a small one, but he'd keep an eye out:
Gamo-chan was still hitting the self-deprecation with a bit of clout, but she wasn't tearing into herself too much, her self-criticism being more "matter-of-fact", as opposed to just rancorous.
As long as she didn't go overboard, he'd let her vent a little…
…
Though, when it came to going too far, it could be said Gamo-chan was pushing the envelope, and Naoto still had trouble labeling such a boundary.
"Three days in a row, Paisen…" she muttered, having finished her bite. "I'm kinda disgusted with myself…"
He didn't need her to recap that she'd broken down crying every day of the workweek, as adults knew it.
It was only Wednesday, and he'd been there for most of it…
"Ugh…" she bemoaned, setting her sandwich down. "I thought I was done with all that crap yesterday. Why did I have to do that…?!"
Couldn't they just enjoy the food while the meat was hot…?
"Gamo-chan…" Naoto injected, not wanting his stomach to fall into knots (or for his barbecue to go cold). "Do you really have to…?"
"It's just I never imagined something like that'd wind up happening…" she interjected. "I guess it was the song… No, of course, it was…"
He repeated, wiping crumbs from his lip, "The song?"
She nodded glumly.
"I'm usually fine with that song, but the last time I saw the last scene from Mary Poppins on YouTube, I was pretty upset that day, and I cried when I watched it," she droned, eyes cast down. "The second I saw Yoshi put that song up, that's all that went through my head…"
Naoto knew the song she was referring to.
It had been, what, an hour…?
To end the karaoke party, Gamo-chan had asked Shuu to join her in singing, calling on Yoshi to surprise her, and Yoshi had surprised her with "Let's Go Fly a Kite". While they'd had a great time with it, the Amazon's emotions, though there was nothing to be called the "worse", had gotten the better of her.
"The thought of it happening in front of your guy-friends…!" she mused. "But when Shuu-kun started up, I just stopped worrying for a minute and enjoyed it."
'I know you enjoyed it…' Naoto held his tongue. 'We all did…'
"I was just feeling so happy when we finished up, everything just sorta…" Gamo-chan kept on. "All the mixed-up stuff just… came out…"
"…" Naoto wished like Hell he knew where to draw the line, her line of thinking playing a balancing act, the ocean just as likely a place to fall as the hard deck of the boat.
But she must've been fairly okay, the initial shock of her conduct wearing off…
He reasoned she'd just had the time to think about it, having the wherewithal to know it wasn't the end of the world.
But she'd really done it! She'd lived through her own nightmare, going to pieces in front of others…
"…" And he knew she was talking about it because she needed to just get it out of her system.
She seemed quite capable of that…
Gamo-chan recollected, "I haven't cried in front of Yoshi since… well, a while ago…"
Naoto had surmised that, the two of them touching base on the issue, two weeks back. "…"
"I don't think she was surprised at all, Paisen…" she considered. "I guess I was right about it… her knowing I was a 'closet case' crybaby…"
This, he felt, went too far. "You're not a crybaby, Gamo-chan…"
Even IF she did it in secret, crying…
"Yeah~?" she rebounded.
"You're not…" he strengthened.
She sneered. "What? Is there a more politically-correct term for it~?"
"Snrk!" He failed to hold back the smile, caught oblivious.
"Don't worry, I getcha, Paisen~…" she settled. "I'll try to stop saying it."
"Okay." He'd take it.
She exhaled roughly, "Sometimes, I wonder if I really know Yoshi… She must've known I wasn't living up to my so-called reputation as some 'iron woman'."
'You probably know her better than most…' Naoto couldn't imagine otherwise. 'You know Yoshi…'
Gamo-chan added, "She was pretty together about it too… until she thought I'd be left alone, needing to deal with the karaoke club staff."
"…" Naoto wanted to say that Yoshi probably didn't think any differently of her oldest friend, having actually seen it, what she was suspected of knowing, but he couldn't commit.
"I guess Sakura did describe it well enough…" she allowed.
"What was it that she called it…?" Naoto ventured, deciding to rejoin. "Was it 'run over by a cry truck'?"
Gamo-chan corrected, "She said I got 'hit by a cry truck'."
"Oh…" He trusted her. "That sounds right."
"…" She distractedly picked at a loose morsel of pork-belly.
Watching his kohai bring the meaty scrap to her mouth, popping it in, Naoto determined to go in for a "counterattack".
"No one else needs to know…" he moved forward, something telling him he was saying the right things. "Sunomiya doesn't need to know… Nagatoro doesn't need to find out… and Rabi-chan definitely won't be hearing about it.
"But Sunomiya… I think she'd be okay about it. It might catch her off-guard, but I think she'd be fine, once she got it. It probably wouldn't bother her."
He might've been leading in with too much, but he was still convinced everyone understood…
"Seriously, I think they all get it. They all know about the last couple of weeks… and what happened with Nagatoro… and Rabi-chan…"
"Mrgh…" she mumbled, rolling her eyes.
And he did say too much, "Most of the school knows, Gamo-chan, at least about the 'Rabi-chan stuff', so…"
She glared, glancing up. "Thanks for reminding me…"
'Yikes!' Naoto's balls retreated.
Her glare lessened, and she again dropped her gaze. "…"
"…?!" He had said too much. "…Sorry…"
"Hey, you're not wrong, dude…" she lamented, reddening, pulling over her iced tea for a drink.
'"Dude"?' He supposed she'd referred to him as that, once or twice.
Right or wrong, Sakura would've called him an asshole, with or without the "-kun"…
But the girls were different people, and Naoto knew it.
He liked that Gamo-chan would call him "dude".
It was definitely a kick better than her screeching, "Now, I'm never gonna be a bride!" or "How am I gonna LIVE?" or "If I can't get married because of this, you'd BETTER take responsibility!"
He'd seen each of those scenes occur many times over in many different anime.
Why it would be his responsibility, he wasn't sure…
And that was unlikely anyway, he reckoned, Gamo-chan taking that direction; she hadn't been rendered unmarriageable or anything, after all…
She'd just cried in front of a few of her gal-pals… and a couple of guys that weren't HIM…
…
Naoto wanted them to be finished with this subject, but—
Brusquely, Gamo-chan expelled, her trademark grin very uneven, "Seriously though, in front of your buddies…"
She was still on that?!
'Oh, crap…' He witnessed a change in Gamo-chan.
As if a switch had gone off, she'd retreated into a full-blown blush.
Maybe she'd just re-realized the "gravity" of what had taken place, an hour before…
"…!" He reached around for a way to make this better.
He and Gamo-chan had made some real progress since summer started, and he couldn't let that change…
She fidgeted, her hands pulled back into her lap, the uneven grin turning towards the moronic. "…~"
They'd already made leaps-and-bounds with one another, THAT VERY DAY, over the phone and face-to-face, and it felt like they were getting dragged backwards again…
"…" Naoto thought a moment.
Gamo-chan, by now, had gone totally cerise, the "reminder" only freshening the wound…
He wouldn't leave this.
Should he…?
"I wouldn't worry about it…" he extended.
Gamo-chan had elected to clam up, eyes between her thighs. "…"
The grin had dissipated…
Naoto made an effort, "I mean, Shuu and Tohru aren't gonna hold it against you…"
"…" She gave no tangible response.
"…"
"…"
Did she want him to SAY it…? For real…?
Naoto wasn't quite ready to go that far.
She knew exactly what he meant… but it wasn't like she could read his thoughts… so how would she know what he thought she wanted him to say~…?!
'Derp…' His brain gave the impression of being fried.
He didn't stop trying though.
"I already told you what happened back there didn't bother them." He wished she had a five-fingered appendage on the table, something for him to physically contact.
Her shoulder was more than a comfortable stretch away…
And he wasn't comfortable with prodding her shin with the toe of his shoe, though she'd been guilty of the same towards him. And Sakura had kicked him there.
He had to properly get her attention…
Taking a hard swallow that had nothing to do with his dinner, he felt his face heat up.
Was this necessary…?
"Uh… Gamo-chan?" He waved his hand near her, within her vision.
"…?" Gamo-chan reacted, whatever way, her glazed eyes brightening. "Paisen…?"
"Yeah…" He had her attention. "Hey, listen…"
"What?" She blinked.
"…" He decided it wouldn't hurt… to go "that far".
Gamo-chan would understand…
She asked, "What is it, Paisen?"
Even so, realizing that he might be going overboard, he revealed, "I mean, it's not like Shuu, Tohru, and I haven't… shared our emotions… that way… with each other…"
"W-what…?"
Naoto pursued and said more plainly, "We've cried in front of each other a few times…"
"…!" She now gave him her undivided attention. "You…?"
'Oh, I hope they'd be able to forgive me…' he consoled his urge of guilt; he decided to give a little thought to the future too. "Could this stay between you and me?"
"…?!" Gamo-chan sifted the situation, eyes roaming around, quickly ending on him. "Y-yeah, Paisen… you got it."
Her receptivity gave him heart.
Reaching for his Coke, he had a sip.
"…" He wondered how to start, but he didn't overthink it. "We've known each other since middle school, Gamo-chan… We've been through some stuff together…"
"Yeah?" she encouraged.
"Yeah…" he sighed; he'd go through with it. "Last year, Shuu's family had to put their dog down. They have another dog, and a new puppy too, but their old dog had been with the Aisho family for 13 years… since Shuu was only three-years-old.
"Shuu doesn't really remember a time before Mako was around. He was a good boy… He really was a good dog~…"
"…"
"…"
Gamo-chan said wistfully, not unmoved, "Yeah, Paisen… it sucks losing an old friend like that…"
Naoto gave it a few seconds, expecting more from her.
And nothing came…
However, he could tell there was something there.
At the Gamo residence, he'd seen they had two cats, but they were fairly young, and it wouldn't surprise him if they'd had more.
Few kids growing up with pets reached the age of 17 without seeing off a good friend…
Naoto recalled, "After they got back from the vet, that last time, Tohru and I took Shuu out for a milkshake… and we all laughed about a time that Mako had put his snout in one of our shakes… and how he did it a second time, the moment we turned our backs~.
"All it took was a dollop of whipped cream on Tohru's nose to remind us of that mess…
"We laughed~… and we cried a little too… Well, Tohru didn't… but Shuu and I did…"
Gamo-chan's eyes were of the kinder sort, and she did give him a kind, little smile. "Hmm~…"
It was hard to not feel a little warmth… over something like that…
"Mm-hmm…" Naoto scratched at his own chin.
Gamo-chan cocked her head, though not expectantly. "…?"
"…" He was sure she wouldn't press, but he'd initiated this whole thing. 'Why stop now…?'
"Paisen…?" Gamo-chan saw he was in thought.
He got back to it, "It was pretty hard for Tohru when his great-grandma passed away… I got to meet her a few times when she visited Hayama. She was a great storyteller… really funny too~…"
"…" Gamo-chan kept listening.
Naoto said, "When she died, that was one of the two times I saw Tohru cry… Shuu and I have done it a few times with each other, but… yeah, that was rough for Tohru. She was a really neat lady…"
"I'm sure she was," Gamo-chan respected.
He smiled big. "She really was… One thing she always told Tohru was to be happy… and to not worry so much about her. She'd lived long enough to see some of her other great-grandchildren graduate high school, so she thought she'd had it pretty good~…"
Naoto had to pause for a moment.
Gamo-chan waited. "…"
Her senpai exhaled, "After… after the funeral and the cremation, Tohru's parents pretty much kicked him out of the house the next day. It was summer… and it was possible that Mr. and Mrs. Hijikata told Shuu and me to show him a good time, whether he liked it or not. And we did have a good time:
"We took the train up the coast a little way, rented a canoe, rode the rental place's charter bus upriver, and paddled downriver for 20 km."
Gamo-chan brightened. "That sounds fun~…"
"We had no idea what we were doing~," Naoto snorted. "I bet we capsized 10 times. We made it back to the rental place and to the train station when it was already dark. We had to take the last train back, and Tohru's parents came to pick us up, because the buses had quit running.
"We were tired and sunburned and dirty and kinda sick from being on the river all day, but it was still fun… just that the three of us were together. Had a lotta laughs that day."
"Mm~…" Gamo-chan appreciated.
Naoto wasn't done. "We got cleaned up and ended up having a sleepover at Tohru's house, and we were playing some games, and… I don't know what got him going, but Tohru just started crying, and he couldn't stop…"
This, Gamo-chan grieved. "Ooh…"
That gentleness he was somewhat unused to seeing in her face was still there…
"Yeah…" Naoto harmonized.
"I'm sure he just… missed his grandma," she believed. "It prolly just hit him again…"
"Yeah…" Why he was still talking, Naoto wasn't positive. "It was so bad, Shuu and I got kinda scared, but Tohru didn't want his parents to worry, so we just sat with him for a while… until he fell asleep."
"…" Gamo-chan nodded slowly, thoughtfully.
Naoto felt a little better, being able to say, "And… he was just fine the next morning. The three of us paid our respects to his Grandma; the funeral had been at their house, so they hadn't finished tearing down.
"Then, we went out for breakfast at our favorite restaurant and spent the rest of the day at my place, covered in aloe vera, playing video games together and getting takeout~."
Gamo-chan chuckled, refreshed at the happier ending, "…~"
"It was a pretty good day… besides all the leftover nausea and the sunburn…" Naoto allowed.
"I'll bet~…"
"Yeah…"
"…"
"…"
"Hey, uh… Paisen?" the tall girl questioned aloud, a hesitance to her voice. "You sure you should be telling me this…?"
She wasn't asking to be cute…
'Aw, shit…' He juddered, more aware of just how much he'd been running his mouth.
Gamo-chan smirked, genuinely floored at his lack of stoppage. "Guess not, eh~…?"
"Yeah, that might be… yeah…" he fumbled. "I don't think Shuu would have a problem with you hearing that, but… Tohru might kill me…"
She shook with an amused horror. "You think~?"
"Not literally…"
"S'not like I'd tell them…" she replied. "I won't tell anyone… Don't sweat it."
"I don't know what I was thinking…" Naoto eyeballed the extra-long sliver of jalapeño poking from where he'd left off on his sub; it was big enough that he picked it out, not wanting to deal with that much spice. "I thought it might help, you hearing something like that… Guess I got carried away…"
"Hey, I get it, Paisen…" she submitted. "We all know what it's like…"
"Mm…" he grunted.
"…"
"…"
"So… what about you…?" Gamo-chan imparted.
Naoto looked up. "Me?"
"Yeah…" She stared intently, full of a morbid but decidedly considerate curiosity.
"…!" He couldn't not believe it.
She wanted him to share his OWN "I cried in front of the boys" story…
He didn't really want to.
And did he really have to…? Hadn't he covered himself in Shuu's story, with the milkshakes…?
…
Naoto had to face it:
He'd dug a grave for himself…
For the "offense" of weeping, he'd thrown under the bus his two pals, and he had an assumed (to him, at least) obligation to follow through, being guilty of doing the same thing in front of them.
Thankfully, he'd never cried over Nagatoro to them…
However, that which had never happened didn't even occur to him.
He had something else.
…
"I had a great-aunt," Naoto folded. "My dad's paternal aunt… She was the kind of aunt that would just spoil you… She was more like an uncle, I suppose… I guess you could've called her a tomboy, even when she was a grownup…"
He could tell he'd already developed a "stupid" grin, reminiscing, and he'd only started.
"She was my dad's dad's only sibling, but she was a lot younger than him," he explained. "She was young enough to be my dad's sister; she was actually only a couple of years older. I guess I should tell you she was my grandpa's step-sister.
"Their dad remarried a young widow, who had a daughter, my great-aunt, after his first wife died, and my great-aunt was just a little kid when that happened, so we weren't actually blood related to her.
"She never had kids. It was only after she died that I found out she couldn't have any kids… When she was young, she wound up with her husband divorcing her, because he wouldn't have her, for that reason, that she couldn't have kids."
Gamo-chan sat pokerfaced. "…"
"My dad's dad only had one son, my dad, and I'm an only child, so I'm the only grandson… and I was the only niece or nephew out of that side of the family. So, she spoiled me, but not with toys or anything.
"She'd do things like take me to two movies in one day or take me to the zoo or museums or ballgames or out to eat… You name it, she probably took me there."
"…" Gamo-chan had remained silent.
Naoto was suddenly unwilling to continue. "…"
"…?" Gamo-chan couldn't have missed it.
"…"
"So… what happened…?" she asked, breaking her peace.
He now regretted using this as his example.
But he sighed and got on with it, "She used to live just outside of Yokohama, so she wasn't far off, but her work took her far away. That was when I was… a fourth-year in elementary school, I think. I saw her once in three years, when she came to visit the family out here. I missed her a lot at first, but you know how quick a kid can get over something like that."
"Yes…" Gamo-chan nodded slowly.
Now, he was to the regrettable part.
"I barely thought about her anymore, but one day, back in my first year of middle school, when I got home… my parents sat me down and told me she'd died…" Naoto struggled a little with getting it out. "She'd killed herself…"
Gamo-chan startled. "…?!"
He noticed, but he'd finish with what he'd started, "She took three whole bottles of sleeping pills…"
His friend was aghast. "Why…?"
He was beggared why he didn't pick something else, but… he had cried in front of his buddies over it… not that he'd get to sharing that part with her.
"We don't know…" he revealed. "We still don't know. She didn't leave a note or anything, and nobody that knew her said they noticed anything weird, so…
"We just don't know… and I have no idea. I sometimes think about it, but… nothing…"
"…"
"…"
"Damn you, why'd you tell me that…?" Gamo-chan murmured, turning away slightly, repelled.
Naoto's sandwich suddenly didn't taste so good.
He blanched, his stomach nearly rejecting his dinner. "It was the first thing to pop into my head. I… just started talking about it… and didn't really think of where it'd wind up…"
"I'm sorry I asked…" she murmured, not overly interested in her own sandwich either. "I'm sorry, Paisen…"
"Me too…"
"…"
"…"
As it happened, Naoto didn't need to include the "crying" part of his story, the assumption already there.
"Any man would cry over that stuff, Paisen…" Gamo-chan prescribed. "It all makes me being upset over a little girlish drama look pretty stupid."
"Y-yeah…" he exhaled, his blood chilling. "I'm sorry for even starting this."
"Yeah…" she muttered. "If you really were trying to cheer me up… Yikes, you blew it, man…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…!" Naoto was struck with another idea.
This was a pretty big gamble…
…
Gamo-chan was a sensitive girl, but she could also be a rough girl… and her sense of humor sometimes stuck pretty near to the gallows…
And it wasn't like Naoto didn't occasionally go for a little black wit, not that his inkling was overly grisly.
It WAS fucked up, but… often, in life, you could either laugh or cry…
Naoto knew which one he preferred.
…
But all that could mean nothing…
…
Truly, he wasn't sure why he felt compelled to do it.
Maybe he was just sick in the head…
…
His brain told him his idea was ill-advised.
His gut and heart said the same thing…
…
His balls though…?
Naoto wouldn't usually listen to what they had to say, not when the other three of the Four Horsemen of Manly Decision-making were saying "nope".
…
But his balls weren't saying anything; they'd only just come out of hiding…
…
It must've been IMPULSE… which was funny because he hadn't acted on it yet…
…
Thankfully, he was a man able to control his impulses, and he'd NEVER resort to such—
"I guess, instead, I should've told you about the time—this spring—the three of us saw the new Avengers movie," he breezed. "All three of us cried when Spiderman died."
"…!" Gamo-chan jolted.
Naoto realized what had just gone flying out of his mouth. "…?!"
"…?!" She gaped.
"…" He grimaced.
Maybe she'd be able to comprehend this misfire of his… if he was allowed to apologize…
…
Be that as it may…
"…" The corner of Gamo-chan's mouth twitched.
Naoto balked. "…!"
"Hork…~" she snuffled.
He couldn't believe it. "…?!"
"…~!" Her cheeks inflated.
Naoto sputtered, "Phsh…~!"
It escaped Gamo-chan, her everything dimpling, "Pfft~!"
"Pfwaw~…!" Naoto puffed, the air farting its way out between his lips.
Bursting at the seams, her eyes squeezing shut and her mouth dropping open, the Amazon guffawed, "BWAH-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha~!"
"Hyeh-hyeh-hyeh-hyeh…" Naoto wheezed, banging the back of his head against the booth's upright, giving a fine impression of a sleep apnea sufferer.
The two of them positively howled, and it was heard in all corners of the little restaurant.
All at once, they realized how loud they were being, and they did have a little sense, so they quieted down, though with some difficulty.
Turning slightly to the side, Gamo-chan hid her contorting face in her hands, her explosive laughter reducing to a repetitive squeak.
Naoto was still cracking up, but he hadn't been as boisterous in the first place, so his dials turned down a little more easily.
Smiling at her senpai, Gamo-chan wiped her eyes, the tears streaming down her cheeks. "Wow, what's up with you, Paisen~…?"
Her wonderment wasn't lost on him.
"I dunno…" He pawed the back of his neck, blinking away the tears of mirth brimming in his own eyelids.
She giggled, crimson, "You really are crazy~…"
"Yeah…" he relented. "Maybe…"
"Shee-hee-hee-hee-hee~…" Gamo-chan rasped away, a la Muttley. "H-hee~ee-h-hee~ee~…"
"…?!" Naoto had never heard a "Muttley laugh" out of a girl.
Neither of them actually HAD apnea…
It did set her to coughing though.
"Koff! Koff! Koff!" she hacked violently, resorting to pulling the top, unbuttoned portion of her blouse over her nose. "KOFF! Koff! Koff!"
Naoto gathered she was choking, and he wasn't wrong.
'Yikes!' He urged the spare glass of water with no ice he'd ordered towards her. "H-hey, take a drink…!"
He hadn't touched it…
Gamo-chan didn't hesitate, probably not even thinking about that.
Finding a break in her respiratory expulsions, she took up the water. "Glug… glug… glug…"
As she'd finished downing the water, he plied, "Hey… you okay?"
"Y-yeah…" Her breathing settled out. "I'm good…"
"…"
"…"
Naoto fussed, "Sorry about that, Gamo-chan… I thought it'd be funny, I guess…"
"It was funny~…" she assured him.
He wasn't so sure. "I need to think a little harder before I speak…"
"D-don't worry about it, Paisen," she assured, hiccupping with laughter. "I'll keep all this quiet… including the fact you're nuts…~"
This was kind of messed up, but…
"I'd appreciate it," Naoto rattled.
He doubted anyone else he knew would've enjoyed that as much…
They may have made a spectacle of themselves, making enough racket that they were nearly asked to leave, but they felt better.
The world felt a little saner…
Regardless, their appetites returned.
…
…
…
Gamo-chan drew the contents of her second glass of iced tea up her straw. "Hey, Paisen…"
"Yeah?" He was on his second Coke.
They'd expected the boot—or, at least, encouragement from the staff to not loiter—as soon as they were done eating, but the restaurant had suddenly emptied out, the dinner rush over, and even the people that had been waiting outside like cattle had plenty of elbowroom.
Since they had plenty of time before their 8:00 p.m. buses, they'd settled on sitting around a little while…
Gamo-chan set her glass down with a light thunk. "Did you get to meet Kukki and Bikke yesterday?"
Naoto had already thought about the Gamo family's cats, the subject of pets earlier touched upon. "Your mom said they were sisters?"
"Yeah, from two different litters, a year apart." She adjusted herself. "Same father though."
"They didn't seem all that interested in me," he divulged. "Your mom pointed them out when they were nearby, but they kept their distance.
She burbled, "Oh, they warm up to strangers, at least after a while~. Good thing too, with how kids can be. House sees a lot of young traffic, Riko and Himari bringing their friends over."
It was a good thing the Gamo residence had the space for that, only a step down from being a small mansion...
Naoto couldn't imagine his own normal-sized house, full of elementary and middle-schoolers, running around and making noise.
"Sure…" He was okay with being an only child.
If only he'd known where this would lead…
…
Naoto knew it wasn't the best manners, but it wasn't like Gamo-chan hadn't been doing it, so he checked a few things on his phone.
In the days of smart phones, a lot of old hat had flown out the window…
'A new podcast!' He beamed to himself, having begun to follow more than just that comedian he liked.
He'd have to listen to that later~!
'Maybe, I'll listen on the bus…' he considered; he'd probably get through most of it by the time he got home.
For now, though, he was enjoying the after-dinner with his friend…
He set down his phone and pulled his Coke close.
He didn't notice right away, but Gamo-chan was… looking at him strangely…
"…?" He'd seen the same look before, but he couldn't quite place it.
The look wasn't QUITE the same either…
She was steadfastly stagnating. "…"
"…?" He was a little weirded out…
She wasn't exactly focusing on him. "…"
But it seemed she was thinking…
"What's up?" he asked evenly.
She jolted, "Eh?!"
She'd been spacing out… sort of…
"Sorry…" he said. "I didn't mean to startle you."
Gamo-chan sat up higher, shaking off her confusion. "Nah… it's no big whoop…"
"Did you want something?" he tried again.
"…"
It seemed she'd made up her mind, whatever was going on…
Gamo-chan cracked into a very mild form of the Gamo-grin.
"You ever have a cat, Paisen?" she questioned.
NOW, Naoto knew where he'd seen that prior look; the Maki had just shown it for an instant, but he knew it…
…
He'd seen it stuck on her the Friday before finals week, when they'd had that mostly swell "potluck" lunch:
Somewhere between demure and expectant, Gamo-chan had REALLY wanted to see Hana's pictures of her grandparents' anniversary party…
And she'd gushed over them, right along with Yoshi and Sakura.
Naoto saw it:
Gamo-chan had been chomping at the bit, wanting to start in on this with him…
…
Gamo-chan leaned closer. "Have you~?"
"…?!" He flinched at her eagerness.
She was really invested in Naoto's pet ownership status…!
'Wow…' He was slightly taken aback at her manner. "We had a cat, but that was years ago…"
Gamo-chan endorsed, "I kinda always wanted a dog, but Mom's a cat person, so we've only ever had cats."
"Ah," he returned, trying to find his balance again.
He'd been correct about the Gamo family having past cats, not that he'd given it any conviction…
Gamo-chan twinkled, saying, "That's not to say I don't like cats; I love 'em~. It's just I think I'm more of a 'dog person'; Yoshi thinks so too~."
"…" Naoto had met Bertie a few times, Yoshi's mini dachshund.
Maybe Twin-tails had a bead on that sort of thing…
"…~" Gamo-chan took a drink.
Naoto did the same. "…"
"Say, Paisen…?" she spoke, cutting the drainage short.
"What's up?" He ceased his own siphoning.
Gamo-chan brightened in a way quite unfamiliar.
"I wonder, do you have a favorite animal~?" she gleed.
It showed in her dimples, eyes, and hue…!
'Wowza!' He wondered where this girl had been hiding. 'Stay calm, Naoto…'
He was able to do so.
Taking a few seconds of consideration, enough time for another pull of cola, he thought.
He wanted to have something worth saying to her…
"No, I can't really say I've ever had one…" he realized.
"Really?"
"Yup…
"I thought maybe it was the sheep~."
"Ha-ha…" he gave a humorless laugh. 'I might've thought it would lead to that…'
With a snicker, Gamo-chan went back to her iced tea. "…~"
Naoto wouldn't say it, but… he had animals he didn't like.
But he wasn't about to feed Gamo-chan any negativity…
'Fuckin' penguins…' He soured. 'Noisy, tuxedoed turd/vomit factories, playing kickball with their frozen eggs they carelessly drop on the ice and getting eaten by smarter birds that can actually FLY…'
...
Then again, he didn't hate penguins THAT much...
They just reminded him of bad things.
Gamo-chan interrupted his mental diatribe, cheery, "Speaking of pets, when I was young, I thought having an otter would be cool. They're so cute and fun~. We used to know a family that had a couple of them."
"Otters?" Naoto supposed he had heard of people owning otters.
Hell, he'd SEEN videos of people with otters for pets…
"Otters are so adorable ~," Gamo-chan delighted. "They're like little swimming clowns~."
'Holy…' Naoto was knocked-out with this version of the mighty Amazon.
This was… pretty cute, seeing her like this~…
He'd have been lying if he said he didn't want to see more.
"Are otters your favorite animal?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Nope. I like otters—a whole lot, but my favorite animal is the skunk~."
"The what?" He wasn't sure he'd heard her right.
"The skunk~," she fortified, ready to lecture him on the smelliest members of Musteloidea. "Y'know, those black-and-white things. Like 'Flower' from Disney's Bambi?"
"I know what a skunk is, not that we have them in Japan." Naoto ensured her. "But why would the skunk be your favorite?"
It didn't make much sense, really…
But he supposed most of the girls he knew were a little gonzo…
Sakura had pet snakes and tarantulas and was… different, Yoshi was… well, Yoshi, and Hana was as much Hana as Yoshi was Yoshi…
Gamo-chan had her reasons, and she was pleased to share.
She said, "It's the same reason I like otters, on top of being cute, I guess: it's their funny behavior and the adorable noises they make~."
Naoto puzzled, 'Noises…?'
Animals could make cute noises, sure, but a skunk…?
"What kinda noises do they make…?" He had absolutely no idea.
She whipped out her phone and set it between them. "Check out this video~."
…
(If you want to see the videos, you might have to visit another site I upload at.)
watch?v=vszWsYOdnPg
…
'Okay…' Naoto had to admit that was pretty cute, four baby skunks following their mother, the little family stopping in the middle of a road to investigate a cyclist and his bike.
And he'd never heard such a strange sound from another mammal…
"Isn't that just so adorbs~?!" Gamo-chan shone. "The mama puts her little paw on the guy's shoe~."
"They seem kinda ungainly…" Naoto opined. 'And what sort of animal went "nee-nee-nee", whirring it out like a little machine…?'
He wouldn't have thought they were such awkward little critters.
Gamo-chan defended the black-and-white mammal, "It's that their legs are so short~… and they don't walk like dogs or cats; they walk more like bears. They don't see so well either."
This level of expertise reminded him quite a bit of Sakura…
"I don't understand why so many animals have lousy eyesight…" Naoto mused. "How do they get by?"
It was like they were asking to become a snack…
"I'm sure it helps when you can spray your enemies with liquid-stink—and aim it too—from glands around your butt~…" she reasoned. "It's their greatest strength."
He couldn't fight that. "Makes sense."
If humans lost their logic, THEIR greatest strength—and the only thing that separated them (besides artistic expression) from the rest of the animals—they wouldn't last a week in an unhospitable world…
…
The ability to reason was what will probably KILL them too, likely by way of warfare…
And sometimes, that seemed to lack ALL reason~…
…
"It'd be so much simpler if we were like the other animals…" Naoto spoke, only marginally aware of what he was saying.
Gamo-chan pulled a face. "What are you talking about now, Paisen…?"
She knew WHAT he was saying; she just didn't know WHY he said it…
"Just sayin'…" he determined, catching himself.
"Well, whatever…" she let it go; she again brandished her phone. "I got something else to show you. There's a skunk named 'Jasper' on YouTube. He's a character~. Not much lately, but he's old now and doing okay."
"A skunk YouTube star…?" Naoto didn't mean to sound incredulous.
"Sure~!" If she cared about his lack of faith, she didn't betray. "I've been following his channel since he was a baby~…"
…
watch?v=VbbcpwEI18k
…
Naoto had been seeing some crazy shit of late, and Gamo-chan squealing like a little girl over the weird striped "kitten" waddling after his owner didn't quite place on the list, but it showed.
"Boy, he's a noisy little stinker…" Naoto commented.
Gamo-chan trilled, "Aw, he wants to be picked up so bad~!"
"He sure does…" he agreed.
"How cute is that, Paisen?"
"It's pretty cute…" he also agreed with that.
"You oughta see his other baby videos~."
…
"…" It wasn't a goal of his, but it was hard to ignore something when it was front and center.
And it wasn't the baby skunk…
…
Now…
Naoto would never make a big deal about it, but he actually didn't mind tattoos on a woman.
Though, as cute as Jasper was, he took issue with the… distal appendages attached to his lady owner's legs.
…
A lot of people were totally against women—also men, but ESPECIALLY women—getting tattoos, but Naoto wasn't one of them… not exactly…
He'd seen a lot of tasteful tattoos on women—though rarely in public and mostly in magazines or online—and he thought some of the work was quite beautiful, so long as the woman under the ink was also beautiful.
Traditional 'Yakuza' tats often looked INCREDIBLE on a woman's back, shoulders, and upper-arms…
He even had a thing for tattoo-sleeves on a woman—arm and leg—
So long as the ink terminated below the neckline, above the wrists, and at least 5 cm above the ankles…
Jasper's owner violated this personal convention of his.
…
Maybe he WAS just an asshole, but he was the one that had to look at it, and he had his own opinions…
He'd concluded years earlier:
Women tattooing their feet was the worst!
'You don't scrawl a bunch of awful graffiti on a work of art, and you don't put tattoos on the best part of the female body…!' Naoto would stand by this conviction 'til the cows came home, not that he'd yell it from the mountaintops.
It was like taking a diarrhetic dump on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (not that doing so would be easy, a ceiling being what it was)…
…
Maybe he WAS just an asshole…
Whatever way, Gamo-chan didn't mention this, the most glaring part of the video, even to someone without his attention and "partialities".
Shee-yit, was he glad Gamo-chan didn't tease him, knowing what she knew about said partialities.
She merely scrolled to another "Jasper" video.
"Check out this one, Paisen~," she squeed.
…
watch?v=LkkRUpK7m4E
…
"What's he doing?" Naoto figured the Maki might know.
"Something fell on the floor and wound up under the stove…" she replied knowledgably. "That's what the description says. He wants it."
He watched Jasper pace all around the video's kitchen, making his funny noises and sticking his funny little face in the camera.
"Ooh, sniffies~!" Gamo-chan nudged him.
Jasper didn't need to be anywhere NEAR the camera for his sniffing around to be heard…!
Continuing to watch, Naoto uttered, "I don't suppose you'd want one of these for a pet, would you?"
"Nah…" Gamo-chan shook her head. "I'm not sure if they're even legal to have as pets in Japan, but it wouldn't surprise me either way. I wouldn't want one for the same reason I wouldn't want an otter."
"Why's that?"
"They're related to ferrets and stuff, so even without the stink-glands, skunks stink… and their crap is really nasty, and they have weird diets. Also, otters and skunks are wild animals, y'know… not domesticated, really. They haven't seen centuries of breeding to be ideal pets."
"That makes sense."
"I just think they're cute, Paisen~."
"Yeah, they are…"
"…~" She went back to her phone, probably in search of more adorableness.
He beamed at the sight of his fiery friend, so engrossed. "…~"
…
Naoto took a mental step back, to better get the bigger picture.
This truly was some kind of wonderful…!
Gamo-chan never really struck him as a girl who loved cutesy-wutesy animals, but she did love Disney, not that this was a prerequisite.
A lot of girls DID like cute things…
And Gamo-chan was a girl.
…
This girl didn't leave him to think very long either.
"Paisen, Paisen~!" She dragged him out of his own head. "Flying 'doggos'!"
Waking up, Naoto found her phone in his face.
…
watch?v=WVz8rvIl_vY
watch?v=KN_YHVx14Vk&list=PLrFuHJgrjqU-xLBTdJKK-FzpIq3ljpfxk&index=45
watch?v=WaPXhYaFReY&t=41s
…
Fruit bats gave even more impressive sniffies than SKUNKS…!
Naoto had never seen animals argue as fruit bats did.
"I see what you mean by 'flying doggo'…" he remarked.
Gamo-chan twittered, "How about a 'sea doggo'~?!"
"A 'sea doggo'?" he echoed.
"Seals!" she clarified. "Behold the chonk~!"
…
watch?v=4qeY7dmrsR8
watch?v=FetshU808k8
…
Maybe she WAS a dog person…!
…
'Wow…' Naoto, despite what was right in front of him, could barely fathom that Gamo-chan had this side to her.
She'd never been like this with Yoshi… that HE saw…
He considered, 'HAS Yoshi seen it?'
He didn't know, but he did know that it seemed strange to him, that they'd gone from death and tears to animals being cute.
Maybe that was just the concept of duality at work…
Q&A Section
Quasanova from AO3 asks:
Do you read many fanfics? Any you recommend?
ED: I used to read a lot of fanfics. Mostly Harry Potter, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and some anime/manga stuff.
At the moment, I'm not reading any fanfics. I'm just working on my own.
I do encourage people to check out Nagatoro fics. Some fandoms' fics are better than canon, and Nagatoro is one of them.
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading!