🌸Cherry Blossom Palette🎨
🌸Chapter 20: Illumination🎨
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
ED: Hey, hey! Our first (and hopefully only) hiatus is over!
Sakura and Hana have joined their senpai, Naoto, in a study group trio, hoping to finish their spring term strong. While Naoto is looking forward to working with the two girls on a Saturday morning, he has other plans later in the day. How will things turn out for our young artist?
I've started posting this story to other sites, including Quotev, Tumblr, and Webnovel (which is lacking in bold/italics/underline/strikethrough/etc.?!), so I'm hoping for some more coverage. Instagram doesn't seem all that useful for this, and Twitter wants information they don't need to know and they only use for no good, and I'm not willing to give it, so those two are probably out.
My editor's also having good times with drumming up support for the story. Some goon on Reddit created an alternate account just to beef about my story when my editor recently advertised a new chapter. Editor called them a "snake" and told said goon to "go fart in the bathtub and giggle about it". LOL. He went easy. I've seen the kind of insults he can throw.
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.
Saturday, July 6, 2018
Naoto Hachioji opened his mouth and gave a great yawn. To bed by 10:00 p.m., he'd slept plenty, sure, especially with how late he usually stayed up Friday nights, but it didn't mean he enjoyed walking to school on a Saturday morning.
It was early, man!
After a quick breakfast and throwing on his school uniform, Naoto had set off from home just before 7:00 a.m. Considering the hills in the east, the sun was shining, but it had yet to illuminate the entire city, and portions of the eastern half were still cast in shadow.
When he had reason to do so, he'd occasionally head to school this early… on weekdays.
But he had plenty of reason to head in as early as he was for a Saturday.
Having had two days of decent study with Sakura Inori and Hana Sunomiya—both of whom he'd agreed to try and help bump up their grades at the end of the semester—the three of them decided to head in at 8:00 a.m. to spend three or four hours hitting the books together.
Thankfully, it wasn't hot yet, but that would change once the sun fully showed itself over the hills. By that time, however, he'd be in blessed air-conditioning with his two kohai.
About halfway through his walk though, he almost regretted their pledge to have snacks and beverages on hand every time they met. The juice wasn't that heavy, but three one-liter bottles of orange, apple, and cranberry juice felt hefty enough after a while.
Thankfully, Sakura had volunteered to bring a half-dozen muffins, so he wasn't stuck with even more to carry, his schoolbag and three bottles of juice enough of a burden.
That had been most welcome, seeing Sakura's message an hour or so earlier:
Don't worry about donuts or anything. I'll bring 2 muffins for each of us! Just make sure you get me some cranberry juice, please~~! 😚
Naoto was knocked out by her mannerisms, and they even showed in text!
Nearly every new message from her had him reeling, lightheaded and full of joviality.
With a serene, stupid grin plastered to his face, his load felt lighter, and there seemed to be nothing but level ground ahead of him.
However, a couple more minutes saw Naoto move out of the shadows and into sunlight.
Bah… Naoto, now in the open, silently complained at Mr. Sun, creeping further over the hills and treelines. Immediately, he felt its heat on his face and arms, and he squinted at the brilliance filling his world.
But as has been stated, it wouldn't be long he had to deal with this!
Passing the ice cream shop—which wouldn't be opening for another three or four hours—he knew he was almost close enough to see the school, and—
"…Senpai-kun~…!" The salutation came faintly from behind him.
He turned, and he beheld Sakura coming from the direction he knew her house to be, the other westward tine of the forked road they traveled daily.
One impression came to mind right away.
Holy damn…!
"Senpai-kun, hey~!" She waved happily, her schoolbag and what could only be a bag of muffins dangling from her other hand.
Seeing her run up the block towards him, Naoto, mechanically raising his hand in reply, experienced a thrill of exhilaration running through him as she came closer and closer.
Her hair shown like gold in the hot morning sun, and her pretty, made up face sported one Helluva smile. Clad in big, floppy white socks, her tanned legs—more impressive than Nagatoro's, if not as toned—propelled her gracefully along, bringing her nearer. Her ample assets bounced about pleasingly but not gratuitously.
Banzai! Naoto changed his mind and gave much gratitude to the mediocre, little star at the center of all known life in the Universe.
Banzai!
Had Monsieur Sol not shown up, he wouldn't have been able to see that faultless vision as Heaven must've seen it!
Thank you, Mediocrity-dono, giver of all things past, present, and yet to come!
Slowing down and stopping short of him, Sakura panted slightly, the half of her blouse she normally tucked into her skirt having mostly come loose.
Naoto was spellbound, and he wouldn't have even realized that his jaw had dropped (thankfully, it hadn't).
She pulled at her clothing, and she muttered to herself, "Damn it, I hate wearing my uniform on Saturday, but hey, whaddaya do?"
Durr… Naoto was still struck with the image of his friend.
Sakura stood up straight, a little out of breath, fully untucked her blouse, and beamed, looking up directly at him, the tiniest bit of red sneaking in around her cheekbones.
"Good morning~," she said brightly, bending at the waist and leaning towards him a touch.
Naoto nearly leapt backwards.
Boy, was that a sight!
At least he wasn't standing like some dribbling idiot anymore, and he was able to collect himself to a degree.
He responded shakily, his knees knocking, "Good morning, Sakura-san."
The gal giggled, noticing his unease, and she was definitely blushing now. "It's good to see you too, Senpai-kun~. How are you today?"
He was damn glad to be alive and kickin' in this exact time and place, that's how he was!
"I'm feeling pretty great, Sakura-san," is what he actually said, and it was how he actually felt. "…I already have a good feeling about today."
"I'll bet you do~." Sakura was delighted to hear it. "You're meeting Hayacchi to go shopping after lunch, aren't you?"
That he was…
He'd asked Nagatoro the day before if she wanted to get a snack or something on Saturday, but she'd had other ideas, as he'd learned later on. She wanted to buy a new swimsuit, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that or how it might turn out. He wasn't even sure if she was serious.
No matter, Naoto kept his composure better than he would've in the past, though he was objectively jubilant to the trained eye. "I am."
She grinned. "That's all you've got to say~?"
It was. "It is."
"…Well, that's just dandy~." She waggled her eyebrows.
Doh! Naoto's vision inverted.
Why'd she do that?!
He found nearly anything evocative the gal said or did might give cause for a heart attack one of these days…
Sakura laughed. "It's okay, Senpai-kun. I'm glad you two are getting to spend a little time together. We're all so busy."
It also hadn't ceased to astound Naoto how quickly Sakura could change the subject or alter the mood.
She was pretty good at it!
That said, he wasn't the greenhorn he used to be, and he pulled himself up, though he pawed at the back of his neck. "I'm really happy about it."
"And here I almost feel like I'm hogging you," Sakura more or less apologized.
"Don't think that way." Naoto wouldn't put up with it. "We're studying for finals… That's important too."
Sakura returned, "Oh, I know… Mostly just funnin'…"
Naoto troubled, "Sometimes I'm not sure…"
Having not moved since she'd approached him, Sakura nudged her senpai. "C'mon. Let's get going."
She wasn't ending their conversation—she was elated for him; they just had to get to school.
"Sure." Naoto blithely began to make his way alongside her as she started off.
The air, redolent of morning dew and fresh, green foliage, filled his nostrils, and he let out a satisfied sigh.
"Yeah, it's nice out this early." Sakura shut her eyes and took a deep breath. "Wow."
Naoto inhaled and let it out. "Yeah, the basswoods are still in bloom. Nothing smells quite like it."
"Basswoods?" she echoed.
He decided to use the genus name. "Yeah, the Tilia species."
"Oh, Tilia." Sakura looked around, espying the aforementioned trees; they were surrounded by them. "Daddy calls them lindens. Tilia cordata, Tilia japonica, Tilia amurensis… I definitely have a lot of these in my neighborhood."
"You know trees?" he wondered.
"Just what's near the house." She took another snootful, enjoying the rich fragrance. "But I only know the names; I can't tell them apart by species. Daddy went through a leaf collecting phase for a while."
Naoto doubted either of his parents would know a pine tree from a bunchgrass.
"Our neighbors have a couple of them," he revealed. "I like to leave my window open when it's not too hot. It lets in the fragrance."
"That sounds wonderful. I leave my window open, all I can smell is the sea most of the time." Sakura did live just overlooking Sagami Bay.
"I think everyone can smell the sea around here," Naoto reasoned; there wasn't much to the Miura Peninsula.
"You're right about that, Senpai-kun."
Neither spoke for a moment.
Naoto, for his part, glanced towards Sakura.
Not too long ago, he'd have never pictured himself where he currently was.
Shit, it almost beggared the imagination!
He knew he was supposed to be a little easier on himself—believe in himself a little more—but the pretty girl strolling next to him…
Yes, becoming closer to her was something that was still taking some getting used to.
Pushing his trepidations aside, he set his sights on their approaching meeting with Hana.
Despite her difficulty with some of the middle steps in the math problems she was certain to face, Naoto was quite pleased with how Sakura was doing in her studies. She'd begun her supplementary study materials he'd given her, and she seemed pretty serious about doing well on her finals. If she'd done as she had said she would, her workbooks would be better along that morning.
Naoto hoped Hana had taken a healthy chunk out of her workbooks, and he didn't doubt she'd done so. He still wasn't sure why Hana had elected to join Sakura on this little undertaking, her grades being more than decent, but it wasn't unreasonable to think she wanted to take advantage of the relative quiet and solitude of the clubroom. Perhaps she thought if she wasn't working as he and Sakura were, she had no business being around once normal club activities were suspended the week before testing.
Then again, and related to the business of existing alongside her friends, it wasn't beyond the pale that she merely wanted to be included.
Whatever way, she'd asked for his help, and if he could do anything to assist her, he was more than happy to do so.
On Thursday, they'd all gone through their workbooks, mainly to personally plan out how each would tackle the extra load. Related to subjects not covered by the printouts, Naoto was glad to see that Sakura had thought to make a thick set of flashcards for English, and she'd been building them up since May.
The girls had taken turns quizzing one another on vocabulary. Some of it was beyond Hana's learning, being a year below, but she herself said she was able to remember a few more words, and that wasn't at all a bad thing.
Meanwhile, Naoto had mostly looked over chemistry, and he found the workbook in particular would be helpful in solving problems and balancing reactions.
Their goal for the weekend had been to make it through enough of their materials to figure out what they most needed to work on. For Naoto, the material was more advanced, but he felt he would struggle most in the same subject Sakura likely would.
Math.
He had a concrete grasp on the stuff Sakura needed to know, though he'd been wrestling with what came after all of that. But of course, he'd chosen the math guide he had because it would address his concerns.
Friday afternoon was more of the same, and each of them etched away at their extra materials, hoping to pinpoint what to emphasize on Saturday.
That, however, happened well after Friday's lunch, and enough had happened then.
The other girls, namely Nagatoro, Gamo-chan, and Yoshi, had been studying on their own for their own exams, but they descended upon the Art Club to have their midday meal, surprising Naoto.
They were surprised to see Sakura hanging out there; the three of them were still giving the gal her space, but they'd been curious to know where she was spending her time, if not with them.
Naoto enjoyed seeing them all, definitely, but one thing led to another, and they came to know about the situation involving him, Sakura, and Hana. He reasoned they'd figured it out around the time Hana had spilled the beans that ol' Hachioji-senpai was "tutoring" his kohai.
The term "tutoring" had opened him up for all manner of mock ridicule from Gamo-chan and Yoshi, and the stuff Gamo-chan came up with was actually pretty hysterical, even to him, if a touch extreme, but things were different than normal.
Naoto could tell immediately: Nagatoro wasn't pleased with this development.
And he knew it was bad because she didn't even tease him about it, glowering all the while.
He certainly didn't mind that she hadn't ragged him about it, but her upset didn't make much sense. It was unreasonable to him, as he didn't see the issue with helping his kohai with their studies.
It's not like he belonged to any one of them.
Anyway, if Nagatoro wanted to spend a little time with him, she could've made the time, but she'd just seemed so busy with everything she'd had going on.
Once finals were over, and they'd all (hopefully) passed their classes, they could enjoy the summer, only weighed down by the tedious make-work their teachers gave them to finish by September.
And it's not like he'd been keeping the whole study thing a secret, but he also hadn't been keen on any of the other girls trying to join their sessions. Whether they'd want that or not didn't matter to him, and he would've rejected them.
Naoto knew better than to allow all of them in a room together when there was something important to accomplish. There wasn't enough time left regardless to include them.
While Gamo-chan and Yoshi would benefit from a little extra study, it's not like Nagatoro needed help with her grades. Like him, she was markedly above average, and whatever she'd been doing so far saw her grades reliably in the high 70's the previous semester. Not bad at all. There had been some worry that Nagatoro might struggle to pass some classes that spring, but passing to Nagatoro seemed to be a score of 60.
Naoto felt the same way, though a score of 70 was barrel-bottom to him, but a true passing score was 30. Some might not consider that any worthy accomplishment, but it was usually enough to ward off excessive summer school classes.
He had offered to give Nagatoro and the girls copies of the materials he gave to Sakura, and it pleased him that Gamo-chan had asked for them. Yoshi declined, and Nagatoro just kept her mouth shut the rest of lunch.
He just didn't get the little, tanned cutie pie sometimes.
But they all had more important things to worry about than Nagatoro being cross for no good reason. In 10 days, finals would begin.
That said, he'd alleviated the "Nagatorial" situation. It was then he'd offered to hang out together with her the next day.
She'd made a show of it, calling him a letch and gross and half the other things in the book, and the other girls—save Hana—had given him very mild guff over it.
He'd tolerated it though. He didn't like seeing Nagatoro upset, and that smile told him that things between them were still good.
It seemed all was good. He longed to spend time with the girl.
Yes, some things had gone "wrong" during lunch, but Naoto was glad to say Sakura's jabs regarding his "manly urges" and his being the occasional "Asshole-kun" went unspoken.
The notion that Nagatoro, Gamo-chan, and Yoshi might learn about either of these things had seen him shitting bricks.
They'd use and abuse it!
Maybe it was presumptuous, but it seemed—despite Hana being privy—"manly urges" and the title of "Asshole-kun" were a couple silly jokes between only Sakura and himself, that it was their thing, and he liked that.
…
Senpai-kun…
…
Their thing… He liked that a lot!
…
Senpai-kun, watch out!
…
Naoto felt a tug on his sleeve.
"Huh?" He stopped walking.
Looking down, he saw a brick flowerbed just below knee level not a meter in front of him.
He'd almost barked his shins!
"Geez, a yen for your thoughts?" Sakura sounded alarmed.
Naoto had certainly perceived the flowerbed, but all was still a fuzzy blur.
"What's going on?" he asked unthinkingly.
"I dunno, what is going on?" she fretted. "You gotta stop spacing out like that; you'll get hurt!"
"Sorry." He rubbed at his eyes.
Sakura huffed, "Just watch out, would you?"
"Okay."
She grumbled over his carelessness and resumed their pace, Naoto taking a few big steps to get back in stride with her.
A few more minutes passed in not unpleasant silence between the two, birdsong filling the air alongside the sweet perfume of the basswoods.
Effectively back on the little blue planet called Earth—and making an effort to keep his mind there—Naoto continued along, Sakura at his side; he wondered, "Do you think Sunomiya beat us there?"
"I didn't see her along the way." Sakura shook her head, not knowing. "Our paths meet up about halfway between the ice cream shop and my house."
Hana was typically quite punctual, but he hoped she wasn't waiting for them. He had a key, and she didn't. The school was open on weekends, but when the main doors unlocked varied, so arriving before 7:30 a.m. was a gamble.
As if reading Naoto's mind, Sakura contemplated, "How cool would it be if you had a key to actually open the school?"
He answered at once, "I wish… But just imagine if all the school's club leaders had keys."
"It'd be, like, anarchy." She didn't fail to see the inevitable problems.
"I'm glad to just have a key to the clubroom," he said. "A lot of clubs don't have that luxury. We nearly had to give up the key when the 'morality committee' found out the Prez was taking 'dirty' pictures of herself for her portraits."
Sakura jiggled with amusement. "Oh, that Prez~…"
Naoto couldn't disagree, and he gave a lopsided smile, recalling well the "horrors" the young woman's frolics had sporadically put him through. "Yeah, the Prez."
"How's she doing?" Sakura asked.
"She's doing well," he said. "She's enjoying college… Occasionally, I'll see her with her cousin, our kohai. She hasn't changed much, I think."
"Do you think Hana-chan will end up like her?" Sakura thought aloud.
Naoto believed it was a rather tasteless question. "End up"? That had escalated quickly!
He glanced over and saw a tad of concern in Sakura.
Was Sakura bothered that Hana might turn into Sana?
He realized he'd only restated Sakura's question to himself.
Having thought on the matter, he'd still never made up his mind, but he could appreciate where the gal was coming from.
Would it be bad if Hana became more like Sana?
It wouldn't be BAD, so to say, but…
He could say truthfully, "I don't' worry about it much."
"You don't?" She raised her head.
"Hana Sunomiya and Sana Sunomiya are totally different people," Naoto stated, having slight difficulty in saying their given names aloud.
"…" Sakura thought about this.
"I've known each of them for a while, Sakura-san, since middle school," Naoto expounded. "They might seem similar, but…"
"They're different," she completed his sentence.
Naoto didn't enjoy criticizing Sana, but he really wasn't; he was just trying to be clear. "The Prez, Sana, seems like she's really got it together—she was definitely a leader, she was serious, and she did what she wanted—but… she isn't all that resilient."
"Resilient?" Sakura repeated the word.
"She gets discouraged pretty easily… confused and frustrated too," he described. "When things don't go right for her or when something trips her up, she can take it pretty hard. She has a lot of pride, and I don't think she can, y'know, let go. Everything she does seems planned, at least that's what I've started to think."
"Really?" This befuddled Sakura.
"Yes, really." Naoto affirmed. "Once I quit viewing her on a pedestal, things seemed different. When you quit thinking about someone like that, everything changes. Things really change."
"…"
"…"
"What about Hana-chan?" the gal inquired.
Naoto had to think a few seconds; he eyed Sakura.
How to explain this…?
"Well…" He wasn't as reluctant in the case of Hana. "I'm not sure how she'll be when she's older. Like I said, they're totally different."
"…"
"…"
"Oh…" Sakura sounded disappointed.
He wasn't finished. "Hana… she's not a leader… at least not yet. I don't like calling her a follower, but, yeah, she sorta is. She's more of a "go with the flow" type of person, but that doesn't mean she's not tough in her own way."
"Hana-chan?" Sakura perked up.
"Sure," Naoto brightened. "Then, sometimes, it's hard for her to get past first impressions she gets of people, but once she gets to know them and they get to know her, well, you've seen what happens."
Sakura gave a happy little hum. "Oh, yes~."
Now Naoto felt a real confidence.
"Both of them are talented and really dedicated to art, and they both do… weird things, but they're just different. Hana has fewer reservations… she's less afraid to try new things… she's actually spontaneous… she's down-to-earth… she notices everything, even if it doesn't 'click' right away… and most importantly…"
Sakura ducked into his view. "…'most importantly'…?"
It was a very precious thing to Naoto, and it was personal.
He felt corny, almost getting a lump in his throat, but he said with real conviction, "She can see the good in anything, Sakura-san. She sees the value in every person."
She sensed his feelings, and she nodded, humbled. "She does, doesn't she…?"
Naoto nodded as well, the lump retreating. "Yeah."
Sakura tried to lighten the mood. "So, other than the few things they have in common, they're like exact opposites~!"
It worked some…
Snorking, Naoto shrugged. "Something like that…"
"…"
"…"
"Aww, too serious for morning talking!" Sakura complained.
"Maybe." Naoto weighed his thoughts.
"How's your workbook stuff coming along?" She jumped ship.
Talking shop already?
Sakura was the kind of person that seemed to enjoy keeping work at work, or school in this case. Naoto wasn't any different.
She normally could find a better subject to bounce into than that.
But she got a little desperate sometimes, and he understood.
"It's been only two days, but I'm more than a third done with it all," he figured. "Thing is, I've worked past the harder stuff and just finished the easier stuff. I've still got plenty to do."
Sakura hadn't done quite that much. "I guess I'm at about a quarter—the science and English isn't that bad yet—but I'm still having trouble right away with the math."
At least we have a place to start today… Naoto determined.
"We can run through some problems like the ones you're having trouble with on the whiteboard," he quickly resolved. "You need to work through the actual problems on your own, but a few examples should help, and it'll help Sunomiya as well… maybe."
She was pleased with his suggestion, but she was curious. "How will it help Hana-chan?"
Naoto smiled a little. "As we advance in our subjects, we build upon what we already know."
"…?" Sakura gave him a quizzical look.
"You'll see what I mean." He tried to put her at ease. "It's an idea I had."
Q&A Section
Gamo chan has to fall in love with Senpai sometime. I don't see how it can't happen. What will happen between her and Nagatoro when Gamo chan figures out her feelings?
ED: You're not the first reader to wonder about this. As I said before, I'm not telling. Time will tell if Naoto and Gamo-chan become more than friends.
I will say that they will become very good, close friends, but their relationship will be complicated.
But if it did happen, you can bet Nagatoro wouldn't appreciate her best friend taking even a single slice of her "sen-pie". Gamo-chan would probably fight for the whole pie if she decided to bag her good buddy Paisen.
When is Nagatoro going to have a bigger role in the story? She has only been present physically in like three chapters.
ED: Keep in mind that only a few weeks have passed in the story. Nagatoro has been busy juggling schoolwork, judo, and free time. Judo has taken up most of her free time, and she needs to study just like everyone else. At this point, we're still seeing the beginning of friendship between Naoto and Sakura. Nagatoro will be expanded upon much more greatly in the future, and she will have a much larger part. And Naoto will become better friends with Gamo-chan and Yoshi. And with Hana Sunomiya of course.
This is a long-haul, slow burning story. But you will see Nagatoro show up in force a couple chapters down the road.
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading!