🌸Cherry Blossom Palette🎨
🌸Chapter 19: The Race to Summer Break Begins🎨
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
ED: It's time for Naoto to see if he can help Sakura and Hana bump up their grades for finals!
It's another hefty chapter, and I hope you like it!
Next week will be a bi-week for the story. Look for the next chapter on December 4 or 5. I was hoping we wouldn't be doing this anytime soon, but we have a few things going on IRL. My editor is still facing some unforeseen stuff finishing up his harvest, but he's happy to say he won't have much to do besides going ice fishing, sleeping, and preparing for spring planting once we reach winter. I was working from home like crazy to finish my part of a big project for a client of my company, and it was due before Thanksgiving. We finished with time to spare, but it was naturally my focus.
On top of that, I'm doing some rewrites in the coming chapters. I see more and more, as the story progresses, why my editor wants to stay as far ahead of scheduled releases as he suggests. It's worked so far.
For those of you celebrating, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and a safe (and hopefully long) weekend.
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 4, 2018
"No, dude, I swear! That's what I heard!"
"Those two first-years are lucky they got away…"
"Did he really have Sakura Inori by the arm?! What do you think happened?"
"Sakura-chan didn't want to be there! He dragged her back there; she was trying to get away! Those freshmen said she was even more scared than them!"
"What a piece of shit! What about Sakura-sama?!"
"I don't think anyone's seen her since yesterday…"
"I saw her yesterday afternoon! Whatever he did to her, she covered it up pretty quick!"
"That slut's like a chameleon! I've seen her change clothes and reapply all her makeup in three minutes! She could've done it!"
"They must've fucked~! What else do people go back there for?"
"Inori-san won't say a word about it! I don't think anyone knows what happened!"
"Hey, someone was going to end up with her! It was only a matter of time before she thought her bed was too cold by herself."
"So, she got drilled by a monster?!"
"That guy was terrifying!"
"I heard he wasn't that big."
"No, seriously, he's giant!"
"If I ever get ahold of him, I'm gonna kick his ass!"
"Two things: get in line, and no you won't! This guy's a bruiser!"
…
Naoto Hachioji hadn't even made it past the shoe lockers before hearing all of the above and more! The allegations about his time with Sakura Inori had already and completely flooded the school.
For this special day, he'd put his glasses back on, combed and parted his hair, and made a serious goal of hiding his face.
How would he get through the day?! It wasn't even 8:30 a.m., and it seemed the entire world had heard about the fact he'd snatched away Sakura Inori to the secluded little corner of the school grounds for some awful, undisclosed something.
The afternoon before, he'd heard nothing—not even after school—and it now seemed really stupid to him that he hadn't just gone immediately home to keep his head low. But, of course, he'd met Sakura and Hana Sunomiya to begin their brief stint of study sessions.
That, however, was far from the first thing on Naoto's mind.
He'd been afraid to check social media—not that he was active by any means—and the rumors had started to appear before he sat down to a solitary dinner, his parents out late again.
Still, something at once both good and bad had happened the night before.
He'd received his first messages from Sakura! Having exchanged mails, they had yet to communicate by this means.
That was the good part.
The not so good part was the actual message, not that all of it was bad.
Yes, she'd sent him something, alright, and she'd done it with a mixture of high glee and low dismay.
Shuddering, Naoto ran it through his mind again, and it had begun with little preamble:
Hey, 🎨Senpai-kun~~! 😉 Did you hear the news? 📰 Some colossal, "scary-as-fuck" schoolboy put a death curse on some first-years, dragged me into the deepest, darkest shadows, and not even Heaven knows where he dumped what was left of my body! 😅 LOL❤️
Oh, my Gawd…! Naoto's stomach had done a cartwheel.
Pathetically, he'd responded:
Okay.
She'd seemed to understand his feelings, not even being with him:
I know. Sorry. I guess it wasn't that funny.
He'd replied:
I hope what's online isn't actually what you just said. How worried are you?
Naoto wished he'd had something better to say than that, but this kind of crap was new territory for him!
Sakura messaged back:
It's a stupid rumor, Senpai-kun. Most people won't believe the entire thing, but they'll believe some of it. I admit to slight embellishment back there. 😆 But seriously, yes, I am worried. This is pretty bad.
He was afraid of the answer, but he'd asked anyway:
So, those first-years, did they know it was you there? Did they actually recognize me?
Waiting on pins and needles, it had taken a moment for Sakura to get back to him:
They definitely knew it was me, but your name and stuff hasn't come up yet.
That did little to comfort him:
They might figure out who I am, even if they don't know now. What should I do?
She'd written:
Change your appearance. Wear your glasses for a few days. Maybe comb your hair differently or something. And keep low, and don't draw attention to yourself.
That was easier said than done, at least the last thing:
I'll try that.
He'd thought a few seconds and had added:
Are you alright, Sakura-san?
Naoto had sat in anticipation, and sure enough, she'd answered:
I'm just fine, Senpai-kun, really. Thank you. 😊 Try not to worry. Nobody bothered me last week, and I think I'll be fine now.
He would try:
Sure.
Then:
Sorry, Senpai-kun, gotta go now. Touching up my roots. Goodnight.
All he'd been able to visualize was Sakura in a bath towel, close to overflowing, dying her hair in her own bathroom, and he'd tried to stop, sending a final reply:
See you tomorrow.
He'd just about set his phone down when it dinged:
\😘/
…
Yes, that was the first ever mail exchange Naoto had with his friend.
He and Sakura had already communicated by mail that morning, and she'd told him to relax… that maybe nobody knew it was him.
I pray so… Naoto hadn't stopped praying.
But they'd keep the other posted if something crazy happened.
Had he been thinking, a more appropriate first exchange would've been for him to message her the day before to see where she was having lunch. It wound up a nonissue, of course, but it had been a gamble. Had she not been heading to the Art Club as he'd figured, he may not have found her at all.
Naoto presently resolved to get on with his day.
In homeroom, the other students were certainly talking about these fantastic tittle-tattles, and Naoto began to piece together what had happened, based on the chin-wag.
And there were a lot of discrepancies in the gossip, as was the wont of gossip, but the general consensus went something like this:
Two freshmen, an average boy and an average girl, were sharing a wholesome time in a quiet corner of the beloved schoolgrounds, enjoying their lunch.
Then!
Some 190 cm tall guy with wild hair and hungry, sex-crazed eyes had carried Sakura Inori onto the scene as if the gal was a war trophy, and under threat of great violence, he'd expelled these innocent freshmen, enabling him to clandestinely do things terminally unmentionable to his prize!
The details past that were a little fuzzy, since not a one person saw them leaving that enchanted place!
Some boys were out for this perpetrator's blood, but they were also scared of this alleged ogre, so they muttered in secrecy.
Speculation was wild, but since Sakura was around all Wednesday afternoon and was seen Thursday morning, alive and well and outwardly unharmed, another rumor now circulated that the maniac had struck out with her.
But the idea that Sakura could "transform" from a ravaged mess to picture-perfect in less than five minutes won out and quickly put a fork in the narrative that the fiend had walked out of there with nothing but his dick in his hand. He'd gotten some!
Bleh… Naoto was disgusted by the whole situation, and he almost wished to hear about Sakura and Nobuo Takata's breakup again!
What the Hell was he thinking?! He should've known those kids would blab like the couple of worthless little assholes they probably were!
Him and his "manly urges"…
…
…
…
Finally, lunchtime rolled around, and Naoto hightailed it to the Art Room, having agreed to meet Hana (and Sakura, granted she could find her way there without being followed).
He'd learned not much earlier that he—as long as Sakura didn't lure any busybodies to him—was probably in the clear. He couldn't for the life of him remember exactly how each of the first-year students looked, so he'd just avoided eye-contact all day, but unless he ran across one of them and was actually identified… Yes, he was probably in the clear.
Nobody knew it was HIM, Naoto Hachioji, the president of the Art Club, that had committed such "heinous acts" against "she of the cherry blossoms"!
The craziest thing was that he was kind of… disappointed that no one knew it was him. It was crazy as shit, sure, but he almost desired the notoriety.
Hell, yeah, it was stupid, but it was the most celebrated/infamous he'd ever been!
Talk about messed up!
His delusional, pansy-assed fantasies aside, and far more important, he hoped Sakura was doing well. He hadn't heard from her for hours or even seen her that day, and he'd avoided Nagatoro and their other friends, so he had no idea how it was going for the gal. There probably wasn't one person at school who didn't know who Sakura was…
Rattle!
Sliding the door of the art room open, Naoto beheld Sakura and Hana, poring over Hana's sketch-work of Sakura's hairbrush that she'd lent her kohai.
The girls looked up.
"Ahh~!" Sakura warbled. "It's Senpai-kun~!"
Ooh! Talk about a warm welcome! Naoto almost felt as if he'd been pushed backwards from the heat!
Hana gave a more sober greeting, but she appeared pleased to see him. "Good afternoon, Hachioji-senpai, how are you today?"
His ass was grass, he felt!
He wouldn't trouble Hana if he didn't have to though. "I think I'm doing alright, Sunomiya, thanks."
The first-year girl nodded. "Your glasses are back".
He almost forgot he had them on.
"And you ran a comb through your hair," Hana scrutinized.
"Yup, I sure did…" Naoto hoped she wouldn't hound the topic; he turned to Sakura. "It's good to see you, Sakura-san… Uh… have you been okay?"
He could tell she appeared slightly frazzled… not bad, but she didn't look her best.
"I'm fine, Senpai-kun," she replied. "But I don't have to tell you the word on the street."
Naoto felt an entire world better, seeing his friend in decent spirits, but he still felt like an ass.
He'd shut the door and walked to the table. "I'm sorry…"
And he couldn't say it enough!
The gal simpered, "You and your 'manly urges', huh~?"
"Yeah…" He sighed wearily; he'd let her have all the fun she wanted in this situation, but he hoped it would all blow over soon enough.
He'd been kicking himself the last 24 hours over his "manly urges"!
Naoto was thankful Hana was concentrating on her art, and she hadn't seemed to hear the crap about "manly urges".
It was obvious, but he asked anyway, opening his bag, "What are you girls up to?"
Sakura chirruped, "Hana-chan was explaining how she used a 'blending stick' to 'render' the edges of the hairbrush."
That was specific enough.
Moving over to his two kohai, Naoto looked down at Hana's work. "Hey, those turned out well, Sunomiya."
Hana gave him a pleasant expression. "Thank you, Hachioji-senpai. Sakura-senpai was curious, so I'm showing her before we eat."
Sakura pined, "This stuff is so cool~. When we're not busy, could you two show me how to do this?"
"I'd be happy to," Hana immediately responded.
Naoto said nothing, but it probably wasn't necessary anyway.
He nodded, Sakura having turned his way. "Yes, we're just going to talk about later, but I have some stuff to give you both. It'll just take a moment."
The gal set her lunch on the center table. "That's fine~. I think we got a lot done yesterday, but I'm ready for today!"
Naoto smiled nervously. "We at least know what we need to work on."
Sakura's recent scores hadn't wowed anybody, but it wasn't totally hopeless.
"I'll try not to let you down, Senpai-kun," she declared. "I'll do my best!"
"Are you going to act like there's nothing going on?"
Naoto and Sakura twisted towards the noise.
Hana had said that.
It wasn't accusatory. It wasn't rude. It wasn't even prying.
She was concerned.
It seemed a little odd; not a moment earlier, she'd been agreeing to show Sakura how to sketch. It had all but come out of nowhere!
Naoto stood up straight. "…Sunomiya?"
Sakura appeared thunderstruck. "Hana-chan, what's…"
Their kohai didn't let up, emotion rising slightly in her voice.
"Are you two okay?" Hana wondered, hunching somewhat.
Naoto and Sakura were both a little taken aback.
She'd addressed them both! What did she know?
Hana persisted, "The other students are saying a lot of strange things. Are you two alright?"
Slowly, Naoto nodded, a bit stunned at Hana's outpouring.
Sakura, not overly eager to get into it, said, "Yes, Hana-chan. We're both okay."
Before anything else happened, Naoto watched Sakura, only having sat down, stand up.
She went and sat down next to Hana again, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Really, Hana-chan, it's okay. Don't be upset."
Giving a reassuring pat to the back of their friend, Sakura turned to Naoto with an inquisitive, worried gaze.
Naoto, as clueless as he could often be, bobbed his head once in agreement.
They couldn't leave Hana in the dark on this… It just wasn't right.
There wasn't much way around it, and Sakura knew it.
She just went ahead and nervously bit the bullet. "Hana-chan… what have you heard about me since last night?"
"Things I don't believe, Sakura-senpai," the first-year girl stated plainly and without hesitation. "I'm sure you and Hachioji-senpai only talked at lunch yesterday."
Together, Naoto and Sakura started; they voiced as one, "You know?!"
Hana stared back between the two impassively. "I was hoping we'd have lunch together, but I'm sure you had something important to talk about. I saw you two walking across the courtyard. Sakura-senpai's hair stands out."
One reason Hana liked sitting where she sat in the clubroom was the view!
Naoto felt humbled. "I'm sorry, Sunomiya… If I hadn't been worried about something stupid, we all could've had a nice lunch together."
He'd pulled Sakura away from a pleasant time because of his poor judgement! Some good had come out of their chat, but…
"I'm sure whatever it is was important," Hana reiterated. "It's fine."
"Thank you." Naoto was grateful for that.
Sakura put in, relieved, "Everything's fine, Hana-chan. It's just a bunch of nonsense, and I don't want you to worry about it. It's all a bunch of lies. Let's just think about us and what we have to do to get ready for our exams."
And we'll try to do the same! Naoto shouted in silence, knowing that wasn't an easy task.
Hana seemed more positive. "Okay, Sakura-senpai."
Naoto had debated whether to say anything or not, but it came out regardless. "If I hadn't pulled Sakura-san away yesterday, we would've had teatime at lunch."
Sakura gave him an odd look.
He grimaced; his words had been clumsily placed (and arguably unneeded).
However!
"But that just meant I could enjoy yesterday after school even more than usual," Hana twinkled. "We had cookies and coffee and tea and juice, and we got to start working together for our finals."
It could be said Hana had her own brand of resilience!
Naoto peeked over to see Sakura smiling.
It touched Sakura to know how much Hana appreciated the treat they'd shared. She'd meant to let Hana know the cookies were a "thank you" for cheering her up when she needed it, but she couldn't find the words… Not that it really mattered.
Hana was her friend, after all.
Naoto felt reinvigorated, having cleared things up, and it was time to get started.
He had called the girls together to explain their "battle plan" for studying while they ate.
"Let's eat, and I'll break out the materials," he suggested.
No argument there!
The girls pulled out their lunches. While Hana was gratified to steadily and quietly eat, Sakura badgered Naoto good-naturedly as she shoveled it in.
Now, Sakura had told Hana to not worry about all the garbage she'd been hearing about her and the entire mess surrounding it all, but it didn't mean there wasn't a laugh or two to be had!
The blonde simpered, taking a bite out of a croquet, "So, Senpai-kun, what's the stupidest thing you've heard today about our little encounter yesterday~?"
He writhed, just recalling some of what he'd heard, but he tried to be cool as he set out stacks of paper from his bag. "Things I wouldn't want to repeat…"
Sakura nodded sagely, a smirk present. "Yeah, it's pretty ludicrous, especially the one about me rising from the dead and that I'm actually a zombie, walking around in search of another man to nibble on!"
Could that even be possible… that the other students could be that stupid?! Naoto found fault in this.
Ah, sure it was possible! But Naoto didn't want to discuss the worst of what was circulating.
He groaned, "I guess that's what happens for me being all impulsive."
"Yeah, you and your 'manly urges'." She rocked in her seat, trying not to bust out laughing.
"'Manly urges'?" Hana looked up, eyes full of incorruptibility, the tail of a shrimp poking out of her mouth.
Not Hana too! Naoto felt like he could curl up and die.
He'd hoped "manly urges" wouldn't become a thing!
But it was likely too late for that.
Still, Sakura calmed it down, digging further into her bento. "It's just a joke, Hana-chan, don't worry."
Hana, likely taking that at face value or even perhaps understanding it was something immoral, simply finished her mouthful and went back for more.
For a moment, Naoto watched the girls eat.
He reflected on their first day of studying:
He'd mostly assessed both girls' situations based on their quiz and test scores that semester. Hana was hovering near the top quarter of her class, and that wasn't bad; some focus might see her higher than that. Sukura was in the 39th percentile, and she didn't have a bad chance of passing some of her classes, but she had a lot to do if she wanted to be close to average and pass all of her classes. Her situation was better than he'd expected.
Having read something online a while back, he'd gotten an idea, and it was something he wished he'd thought of years ago.
Sometimes, nothing beat a good workbook in a given subject as a study aid. But these books could be expensive, and the selection would be limited locally for physical copies—and ordering anything would bring them far past the actual exams—so Naoto turned to the internet.
Paging through a "digital stack" of material, he'd handpicked several workbooks online in math, science, and English, put together by people who hated spending money on the real deal. He'd printed some for himself too. Legal or not, he didn't care; he'd just hit "print" on his computer. It wasn't his fault if something wasn't above the water.
Naoto felt pretty good about his strategy. Yes, the workbooks were a lot more to do, but based on the last two years of exams at the school, he felt these specific books asked the right questions and covered the necessary materials for their purposes.
He stood before the girls. "Sakura-san, Sunomiya…"
The two set down their utensils for the time being, and Naoto had their attention.
The young man tried to seem carefree, though he wasn't.
He began, swallowing his apprehension, "I'm glad you two want to spend a little extra time studying for our exams. We don't have much time, but we have a solid week-and-a-half before the exams begin. That gives us time to work together in the clubroom. Normally, clubs are shut down the week leading up to the exams, but we're not here for Art Club activities… Plus, I have a key, so don't worry about next week. We'll meet here after school and on the weekends."
The girls were rapt.
Naoto went on, "We'll talk more after school today about how we'll study together, but we'll be able to get a couple hours in. I have a plan, and it should help us. Also, I think it'd be nice if we took turns bringing in snacks. I'll start today, and we'll have a few granola-bars and bottles of juice this afternoon. Sound good?"
Sakura was on board. "I like the sound of that."
Hana, serious in the face, concurred.
Naoto revealed the "secret weapon". "In addition to us meeting, I've printed off some workbooks from online. I didn't bother printing off any of the Modern Japanese or social studies materials because the exams will be tailored to what we learned in this school, especially when it comes to literature and history. You're better off studying your own notes and materials from those subjects; while the other three subjects are more objective and generalized, these two aren't."
Hana nodded.
Sakura squirmed.
Naoto noticed, and he regarded Sakura; it wasn't like their grades between and amongst the three of them were any secret. They'd openly discussed them, and he certainly wasn't perfect.
"Sakura-san," he addressed her. "You're not doing all that badly in Japanese and social studies, so make sure you get through these books. I guarantee you: you'll have an easier time with the kind of math, science, and English you'll be seeing once you're done with them."
The gal was reassured. "Yes, Senpai-kun."
Having already divided the stacks for each of them, he pushed two of the stacks to their respective owners. "Take these now. When you have a little time today—before we meet—take a quick look through them. This material will be slightly more difficult than what you'll most likely see on the exams, so if you can make it through this, you should be ready for the end-of-term exams.
"I want you to spend your spare time going through these. The books aren't overly long, but they cover all the elements we'll likely see. We have at least 10 days to get through them. A couple hours a day, and you can finish them. Finish the workbooks successfully, and things will likely be okay."
Both Sakura and Hana felt they had a plan.
Naoto smiled; he actually felt pretty good about all this. "If we do this, I think we'll all do just fine."
"Banzai!" cheered Sakura.
"Okay," Hana exuded.
"Any questions?" Naoto asked the room.
Met with silence, it seemed the girls got the message, so Naoto figured they were good.
He tucked away his own workbook, sat down with Sakura, and pulled over his bento.
To the delight of them both, Hana uprooted herself and joined them at the center table.
With business out of the way, they enjoyed their time, not that it went off without a slight hiccup or three.
Out of left-field, Hana popped a question.
"Is Takata-senpai doing okay?" she inquired.
Derp!
Naoto swiftly endeavored to corral this utterance, eyes darting to Sakura.
She might not like this…
"I think so," he guessed, having not heard from Takata since receiving the letter; he'd only seen him once in a hallway, in passing. "This is the first day in a whole week I haven't heard anyone talking about him."
Smooth, Naoto! That didn't come out right!
Looking back and forth from innocent Hana to remorseful Sakura, his brain, performing some intricate mental gymnastics, had already taken a nasty spill.
Thankfully, Sakura saved the day.
"You don't need to fuss about me, Senpai-kun," she put out. "I know I messed up, but you don't need to walk on eggshells. It's okay."
Naoto's exhale of relief was almost audible.
Thank goodness!
Sakura asked Hana, wistfully, "A lot's been happening for him, huh?"
Hana nodded.
"I just hope he's happy," Sakura mused. "He really is a good guy."
"Yeah." Naoto knew just as well. "I don't envy him though… not now."
Sakura took on an air of amused horror. "I've never heard of a guy getting so many love letters that girls start throwing each other's out. It's like something out of a cartoon."
Naoto—taking a shot in the dark—tried, "My buddy Shuu compared it to cuckoo chicks."
This caught Hana's attention. "Cuckoo chicks?"
He nodded. "Cuckoos are birds that 'nest parasitize'. They'll lay one egg in other bird species' nests, and the other birds will raise it once it hatches. The thing is, they hatch before the others, and even if they don't, they're big and strong. Their first instinct is to push everything else out of the nest."
Hana frowned. "That's unpleasant. But I see the 'cuckoo chicks' metaphor."
Sakura piped up, "I've heard about those birds. That's messed up, the first thing you ever do in life being pushing all your adoptive brothers and sisters out of the picture."
Hmm… Naoto had brought this whole "cuckoo" thing up for one main reason.
Since Sakura had seemingly "geeked out" on him the day before, he was wondering if there was any merit—any at all—to her being a geek of some kind, much less an otaku.
Diametrically, Sakura was a member of the Videogame Club and seemed to enjoy games, but that meant nothing in that day and age! Most people played some games.
He'd figured he was wrong anyway…
"Hey, Hana-chan." Sakura turned to their kohai. "You ever read Fruits Basket?"
Huh?! Naoto balked.
"No, but I watched the older anime when I was younger…" Hana replied. "My cousin Sana tried to lend me the books, but I just wanted to watch the TV show, so we watched her old DVDs together."
"That show came out before you were even born~!" Sakura giggled. "Me too!"
Really? The Prez had owned the series? The anime AND the manga?! The PREZ?!
He'd been pretty young when the series came out… an infant, actually!
Sakura munched on a few almonds in her bento's salad. "That's where I learned about cuckoos! On Valentine's Day in the series, girls kept on throwing away each other's chocolate, just like cuckoo chicks throw out the competition."
"I don't remember," Hana admitted. "I think I was a third-year in elementary school when we watched it…"
Hearing the girls chatter on, Naoto was thinking.
It was a really popular series for girls in the past—and then there's the anime of it—so it's not THAT unusual Sakura might've seen or read it… OR Hana and Sana Sunomiya…
Pulled out of his "thought bubble", he realized the girls were back on the subject of Takata.
"It really does seem like a cartoon," Hana opined.
The gal mulled, "I'm sure this is all a little overwhelming for Nobu-kun, but when he decides to get back out there, I hope he makes a real catch~."
Hana gave a very small but meaningful smile. "I hope that too."
Sakura sighed, her smile falling off, suddenly sullen. "I really blew it with him, Hana-chan…"
The younger girl remained silent.
"Still…" Sakura took on a bittersweet mien. "I think the two of us could be friends again someday. I'd like that… I really would~."
She was a little more optimistic than Naoto about it.
Still, Naoto wished he could encourage her on the matter, and it's not like he had nothing to stand on. He'd never stake his life on it, but he believed Takata had forgiven or could or would forgive Sakura. The letter Takata had dropped in his shoe locker showed the kind of young man Takata was, and Naoto was glad to know him, the little that he did.
But he'd keep the matter "between men" as Takata had requested.
As happened quite a bit, Naoto had fallen back into his little world, and this time, he was brought out of it with Sakura's crowing guffaw.
"You heard that one too, Hana-chan?!" The gal was shaking with laughter.
"Yes, Sakura-senpai." Hana was getting at the last morsels of her lunch. "The one about an ogre carrying you away to his cave? I'm sure it was a figurative cave though. He wouldn't have had the time to get you into the mountains."
"Naturally~!" Sakura shrilled.
It seemed Hana was totally fine with all this crap when it was put into context!
The girls continued their banter, and Naoto almost felt left out!
Reliably though, Sakura brought him back into relevancy; she simpered to Hana, eyeballing their senpai, "It seems you're the only person besides us to know that Senpai-kun is the ferocious ogre~."
Hana blinked. "Hachioji-senpai? An ogre?"
Naoto jumped as Hana's head rotated his way, her eyes scanning him up and down.
"No, he doesn't look like much of an ogre." Hana turned away.
And Naoto saw the very faintest shadow of a smile crossing her face!
Hana had made a joke! An actual joke!
Sakura appreciated it. "Ha! Nice, Hana-chan~!"
Naoto could appreciate it too, but he'd been so surprised to hear that from Hana that he wasn't sure whether to sit there like a lump or blush and feel embarrassed.
Unable to figure it out, his body did both.
Sakura pointed, fit to bust. "Look, Hana-chan! You got him to turn into a cherry~!"
Hana observed, "He is quite red, Sakura-senpai."
The gal laughed hard, and their collective kohai looked somewhat pleased with herself, though it was hard to tell.
Now Naoto was definitely embarrassed, and he could feel it in his own face.
But he smiled foolishly, and he couldn't stop.
As Sakura and Hana went on with one another, Naoto again slipped the bonds of reality.
What a place he'd found himself in!
Here he was with one of the most popular girls in school and their peculiar kohai, and both girls were still—and might always continue to be—something of a mystery.
And the fact they'd want to be friends with a guy like him—much less depend on him—kept on mystifying him!
Putting that aside, his thoughts still dwelled more heavily on the current state of affairs.
Sakura Inori was in the middle of another wild batch of idiotic speculations, and… yes, he was partly to blame.
He hoped and prayed that no one besides Hana recognized him as "the ogre" of legend, but it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that someone might figure it out.
Yet, he felt selfish for putting himself first.
A man would take responsibility… EXPLAIN things to the ignorant masses…
But that seemed even more foolish than the gossip itself!
He was nobody!
People might listen to Takata if he wanted to say something, holding a distinction Naoto would never dream of with their fellow students, but Takata had been having more than his own share of trouble. If things had quieted down for him, then good on him!
Sakura had insisted that all this stupidity would calm down as it "ran its course"; it was stupid, but most of the students weren't that stupid, so most of them would just scoff at all the drivel floating around.
It still bothered Naoto though… Was Sakura having a hard time? The things people were saying about her were ridiculous. People usually shut up (or talk in quiet awkwardness) around the person they're yammering about, but he knew well enough that plenty had sounded within Sakura's earshot.
Was she okay? Really?
Was anybody tailing Sakura, looking for romance or other trouble? Was she herself even giving it all that much thought?
Hardly anyone frequented that part of the building over lunch, but Naoto had a prickly feeling in the fore of his mind that someone might burst through at any minute, sticking their nose where it didn't belong, accosting either Sakura or him!
And then there were his suspicions surrounding Gamo-chan!
She had to be doing something!
It was difficult to comprehend Sakura's overall lack of bothersome admirers since she and Takata had ended things.
Someone had to be watching out for Sakura, and who else would do that? It certainly wasn't HIM performing this duty!
…
Senpai-kun~…
Hachioji-senpai…?
…
Naoto thought just talking with Gamo-chan might be a good idea.
Yes, she would readily admit to it if it was her…
…
Wake up, Asshole-kun!
Sakura-senpai?!
…
Naoto "woke up".
"Uh, why did you call him that, Sakura-senpai?" Hana asked the other girl, a little put off.
"I call him that when he's not performing the obligations of a proper senpai~," Sakura lightheartedly illuminated. "Sometimes he's a bad senpai and needs to be corrected~!"
"Ah…" Hana's incomprehension was satiated.
Great… Now Hana knows about Sakura's "nickname" for me! Naoto's first conscious recollection had been hearing it.
The young man blinked, clearing away the fuzzies in his cognizance.
"Are you not hungry, Hachioji-senpai?" Hana considered him.
Further stirring himself, he focused and looked down in front of himself.
He'd barely touched his lunch!
"Boy, are you ever off in la-la land today, Senpai-kun~, Sakura chortled, resting her chin in her hands.
He sat up straight, avoiding direct eye contact. "Uh, yeah, sorry…"
She chuckled, her tender expression causing him even further mortification.
"Lunch is almost over, Hachioji-senpai," Hana noted.
"You'd better hurry and eat your bento, Senpai-kun," Sakura radiated. "We're almost out of time."
"Right…" Naoto took up his chopsticks.
While the girls joked (mainly, it was Sakura pulling Hana's leg) about him needing his strength to perform his "senpai-ish duties~" that afternoon, he once again ambled away mentally.
He felt a gladness in his heart, sitting before his two friends, and he happily ate, giving thanks that he had these wonderful young women in his life.
Q&A Section
Explain your editing process.
ED: I'll just explain the whole writing process. It doesn't take much time (to explain it).
When I began writing this story, I created an outline that runs from June 2018 until the story's end. I put major and minor events where I want to put them and try to check sources for accuracy, like when Japanese schools are in or out of session or if there's actually a KFC in Naoto's city (there appear to be five within 10-mile radius of Hayama, but none of them are close enough to utilize in the story).
I completed the outline and began the actual writing. I put in some transitions, embellish everything, and create dialogue. That's really all there is to it, at least to have something to work and improve upon.
Once I have a chapter written, I reread it a couple of times, checking for consistency and overuse of words. At this point, I turn the chapter to my editor, and he reads it a few times, watching for grammar, continuity errors, and other things, namely "fluidity" and "plausibility" and "genuineness". One word for all those things is that he wants it to seem natural. He writes notes or comments (I finally bought a decent copy of Microsoft Word) and gives suggestions on how to enhance the language.
I think he has a dictionary/thesaurus for a brain, and I'd love to include some of the crazier things he recommends to liven up the language and make it much more colorful, but then I'D have to use a thesaurus to understand it. What's more, while the story itself isn't explicit, a lot of his metaphors and commentary are truly outlandish, and I'd have to bump the rating to "mature" across the sites this is posted on. Some of the things he nonchalantly comes up with I didn't imagine even existed.
He definitely respects the fact that it's my story and not his, and he tries to not insert too much of his own "proclivities" into it. He has an almost obsessive desire to NOT end sentences in prepositions. Read his Reddit essays on Nagatoro's friends, and you'll see what I mean. It may sound and feel natural to him, but it's too fancy for me.
One fear he has is that the story sometimes looks like it was written by a man, but most times it's obviously written by a woman. This happens with entire sections, especially when I want him to pad gaps that I don't know what to do with. No one else has brought it up, which surprises me, but I can see what he means, but he knows and understands things I don't and the opposite. I admit I imitate his style to a degree. I would LOVE to read a fictional story by him, but I don't see him writing one. He claims he wrote a "fragmented memoir" of his years in his college fraternity, but I think I'd be afraid to read it! LOL!
Getting back to the writing process, we pass it back and forth until we're both satisfied with it. I have the final say of course, but I don't throw out his ideas lightly. We've finished chapters in two days, and other times it's taken more than two weeks. We try not to work on a new chapter until the current one is finished. It's not as professional or regimented as either of us would like, but it's worked so far.
I hope that's a good enough answer. It's not very structured, but I trust that he wants to help me make the story as involving and interesting as possible. I would've given up weeks ago if he hadn't been around and convinced to me keep going.
I guess it did take some time to explain.
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading!