🌸Cherry Blossom Palette🎨
🌸Chapter 22: Expectancy🎨
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
ED: If Naoto's level of horniness bothered you last chapter, my editor came up with most of that. I wouldn't pretend to know what a teenage boy feels, and he doesn't know precisely what a young lady goes through. The stuff about the ice water in Naoto's body especially freaked me out a little bit, so I toned it down quite a bit.
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
As Naoto Hachioji made his way downtown, the delightful, honied smell of the basswoods inundating much of the city had mostly faded, and it was largely replaced by the smell of car exhaust from the streets and grilling meat and baking bread from the restaurants.
The air was less open, it was more crowded, people everywhere, and was it ever noisy!
But nothing could spoil his good mood!
Just walking around, doing the occasional fist-pump or spinning on his heels as he went along, he'd worked out most of the "horny male energy" he'd had pent-up a short time earlier. Sitting with Sakura Inori and Hana Sunomiya, after a delightful lunch and a productive morning of study, his carnal energy had skyrocketed, imagining where he'd soon be.
If he was an electron, he might've jumped a few orbitals!
He hadn't meant to work himself into such a frothing frenzy. But waiting to part ways with the two girls and allowing his mind to go a bit berserk over what his unfolding afternoon had in store, he'd fallen into it.
Still, his two friends, understanding why he was in such a state (though unaware of just how lathered up he was getting), were glad to wish him well as he left.
He had something of a date with Hayase Nagatoro, his crush, a "shopping date" specifically, and the world was his oyster.
With the end of the semester fast approaching and their conflicting activities and schedules, he'd been unable to spend as much time with her recently. They'd hung out a few times of late, but not nearly enough.
But that would change with summer break only two weeks away! Hell, it was changing now!
He didn't know just what his farm-tanned friend had in store for him—he couldn't always tell if she meant what she said, in that she claimed she was buying a new bikini—but it didn't beleaguer him.
Naoto was just ecstatic to have the afternoon with her! Whatever they wound up doing, they'd manage to have fun.
Presently, he wondered what she'd be wearing! No matter how she dressed, she was cute and charming in a fashion very precious to him.
And since it was summertime, that opened up a few more options than cold weather permitted, sending him further and further into happy-land as he envisioned what she might bless his eyes with that day.
Whatever it was, he hoped she'd show him a little leg~.
Wow…! Ha-ha! The possibility of it had him over the Moon.
Clenching his fists, he took a deep breath, a smile most foolish pasted on his mug. He wanted to shout and whoop and hoot and holler!
Wild horses couldn't drag this good feeling out of him!
The only iffy thing in reachable memory, it seemed, had happened the day before, and even that didn't bother him much.
Shoot, he wasn't even thinking about it all that hard, the happenstance being far from the front of his mind.
…
…
…
One day earlier
School was finally over for the day! It was over for the week!
Sweet freedom… from "normal" school, at the least.
A tired and grateful Naoto headed to the art room. The halls were already empty, most students having gone home or elsewhere.
A bit logy from sitting in class all day, the thought of where he'd be next perked him right up.
He was about to meet Sakura and Sunomiya for their second full afternoon of studying together for the final exams. Feeling good about what they'd accomplished on Thursday and confident they'd get some good work done that day, the fact his circle of friends now knew about the trio's mission didn't bug him too badly.
He'd received some marginally unmitigated shit over the arrangement, certainly, but —
"Paisen, hey!"
He winced at the voice and stopped, immediately wary, knowing full well who it belonged to.
Gamo-chan had given him a pretty hard time at lunch over his working with Sakura and Hana. She was joking, yes, but she'd let loose with both barrels. The term "unmitigated" wasn't used needlessly.
"'S-s-sup?" He turned her way.
Seeing him quake, she took on an unusually peaceful and kind demeanor, raising her hands. "Hey, hey, it's okay, Paisen. I'm on my way to Judo Club. I just wanna talk a couple minutes."
Naoto gave a puff of relief, and he wished he could show less "occasional fear" towards her. He knew it hurt her feelings.
"Yeah, sorry things got a little out of control at lunch," Gamo-chan apologized, slightly regretting how bad the ridicule had become. "You know we didn't mean it."
Naoto felt a prickle of happiness/discomfort ride up his spine, and he had to stop himself adjusting his erstwhile glasses. "It's fine, Gamo-chan. It was pretty funny stuff."
And it had been.
He was glad to see her relax at that; he knew she could be pretty hard on herself when she thought or knew she'd gone too far.
"Hanacchi just had to use the word 'tutoring'…" Gamo-chan shook her head, amazed at Hana's occasional gawkiness.
"I thought I'd die when I heard her say that…!" Naoto shuddered, even though, looking back, he was highly amused by the whole scene.
"It was pretty wacky, Paisen." She shook with merriment. "Absolutely."
He couldn't disagree in the slightest. "Oh, yeah. Sometimes, I don't know what I'm gonna do with her."
"I just wish Hayacchi would think it was funny…" Gamo-chan let off the gas and grumbled, remembering well what a grouch her best friend had been about it all.
Naoto felt assured. "Don't worry about her too much."
This was easier said than done.
He knew Gamo-chan was still having some difficulty with her recent breakdown regarding Nagatoro; she was a sensitive girl, and she loved her friends.
She shrugged, "Yeah, I know you're right. I think she's just missed spending time with you."
"I know," he accepted, feeling some heat creep into his face. "But there's nothing for anyone to freak out about. Sakura-san and Sunomiya wanted to study together with me, and it's going okay."
The girl wasn't so sure, but what was she going to say?
She said, "Just be sure to show Hayacchi a good time tomorrow. I think she'll feel a little less stressed out if you two can have a little fun."
"We're meeting up around 2:00 p.m.," he divulged, the creeping red beginning to take over his face. "We agreed to eat before showing up, so we'll probably get some shaved ice or something."
"So, you'll have a study-buddy lunch too?" Gamo-chan smirked.
"I don't know," Naoto almost whined, fatigued from the erstwhile derision. "I doubt it."
He wished Sakura and Hana hadn't run their mouths so much about their assemblage, the other girls now knowing all they did about their snack/juice ritual.
Gamo-chan chuckled, "What kinda man takes two girls out to lunch… Paisen~?"
"Don't look too much into it," he implored, piloting back towards the notion of snack time. "Sakura-san and Sunomiya really like it, and they're becoming pretty good friends, I think. It's something we do for fun. It breaks up the day."
Gamo-chan still couldn't believe the two very different girls had become so close so fast. "That's the weirdest thing I've seen in a long time, Paisen: Sakura and Hanacchi acting like besties…"
Naoto didn't particularly like her calling their relationship "weird", but he couldn't deny it was more than mildly shocking upon first realizing it was happening. However, he knew how much Sakura had agonized over it and how much their new friendship meant to each girl, so opposition won out.
"I had a hard time believing it too, but they really are friends," he countered.
And I think they've really helped each other!
Gamo-chan withered some at his seriousness. "I didn't mean anything bad by it, it just…"
It was something to behold.
"I know." He did.
"It's crazy though, how Sakura's been lately," Gamo-chan observed. "She's seemed a lot happier the last week or two than she's ever been. I'm glad you two are becoming actual friends."
That they were.
Naoto might have chosen his words a little better. "She's a pretty great girl, Gamo-chan."
Whether she gave his line a second thought or not, she opined, "I think it's just fantastic she's spending some time with a decent guy for once."
He didn't always view himself as such, but he didn't need to ask what she meant by "decent guy". Gamo-chan had made it no secret that she really looked down on most of Sakura's male acquaintances and relationships, not to mention much of Sakura's past behavior.
He knew Gamo-chan was jealous, in different ways, of both Nagatoro and Sakura, and it was painful for her. She'd admitted to the former, and the latter wasn't difficult to deduce, though she'd refuse it to the death.
Why she was jealous of Nagatoro didn't make much sense to him. She'd told him she was jealous of "how good she had it" or something like that. It sounded like malarkey to him, but he also had no idea what she'd meant.
With Sakura, he could without difficulty understand her jealously. It was pretty obvious, knowing full well Gamo-chan longed for a boyfriend or more friends besides him who were boys. She at least pined after the idea of these.
Though perhaps most importantly, Gamo-chan was wholly and thankfully uninformed of most of Sakura's trials and tribulations. She didn't know what she was on about.
With all of the above in mind, Naoto told her, "Please don't say that."
"What do you mean?" Gamo-chan thought he'd agree with her. "Nobody knows what ended up happening with her and that Takata jerk, and she just loves being the 'circle queen' to all her devoted subjects in the Videogame Club."
The mocking tenor of her voice didn't help her case.
Yup, she was Hella jelly.
"They're just toys to her, Paisen, all of 'em!" she went on tartly. "I mean, you know you're the only guy she's ever respected, don't you?"
Naoto wouldn't let this go, but he wouldn't divulge too much either. "Don't talk like you understand everything, Gamo-chan."
"…Huh?"
"You don't," he reaffirmed, showing her a little more backbone than she was acquainted with.
Gamo-chan stared him down, not hostile but inquisitive.
Naoto could see an awareness coming to light in those blazing orange eyes of hers.
She raised a hand slightly and slackly pointed at him. "You know something."
There was no purpose in hiding it, but Naoto stood mute.
There were a few things she could guess at. He thought about this, and he began to sweat bullets.
He'd "rescued" Sakura from her date, "knocked some sense" into her at his place (and kept her overnight), chatted rather intimately a few times—one of the times being in the "shame corner". Then he'd "brokered a peace" between Sakura and Takata, and Takata had sent him a manly, heartfelt message of thanks.
Of all but one, she likely had no means to the knowledge.
And for that one, all it took was a little logic, and she figured it out.
Still, she took the indirect route, a slight leer now drilling into him. "I… really can't picture you whisking Sakura away to that dirty little corner we talked in, but if you did, why would you do it?"
Naoto had already soaked the collar of his shirt from the tension.
He answered in turn, holding a little more conviction than his nerves should've allowed, "If I was worried about Sunomiya and needed to clear something up…"
Unable to think of how to end that sentence, he didn't bother trying.
But Gamo-chan more than got the message; she let up on the leer. "I gotcha."
Naoto had revealed a bit of courage, but courage wasn't the absence of fear. He gave an obvious and audible sigh, provoking a chuckle from the girl.
"Kids talk way too much, Paisen." She still grinned rather ferally. "Those dumb rumors got crazier and crazier and wound up making that guy sound like some kind of demon king."
He got jitters, seeing that grin of hers; it sometimes did that to him. His "occasional fear" of her wasn't a thing completely in vain.
She giggled, "If only everyone could see what kinda fella that scared off those stupe freshmen must actually be like… Wouldn't that be something?"
Naoto managed, "Yeah… it sure would be."
Again, Gamo-chan's whole character softened, and she gave him a gentle smile. "I think we'd all be really lucky to have a senpai like that watching out for us… Senpai~."
He jarred at her declaration.
She parted with, "Later, Paisen. See you Monday if not sooner."
"Y-yeah, see ya."
With that, she walked off.
And the young artist, finding himself alone again, made for the clubroom, wishing he had a dry, clean shirt handy.
…
…
…
Present Day
Lordy, had that encounter with Gamo-chan rattled Naoto!
He shivered, though it was plenty toasty out on that July day.
Yeah, okay, maybe he was dwelling on it just a little bit.
What a mystery Maki Gamou could be!
Still walking towards the city center, he wracked his brains.
So… he, Sakura, Takata, and Sunomiya knew at least something about what happened on the Friday night that kicked off this whole chain of events.
He, Sunomiya, and the partcipants, Sakura and Takata, all knew about the little Monday afternoon summit between ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend.
Just about everyone in their circle of friends knew he'd decided to help Sakura and Hana study, and the girls had asked for his help.
And most recently, Gamo-chan, on top of Sakura, Sunomiya, and himself, now knew the truth about the "ogre kidnapping the fair maiden". He decided that Gamo-chan understood and wouldn't look at it with through any other lenses than the correct and only prescription existing. Nor would she divulge the issue to anyone. He hoped so.
However, as far as he knew, no one else knew about his talk with Gamo-chan and himself. And none knew of his other chats with Sakura besides the gal and himself (and Hana, probably, by some method).
That just about covered the big stuff going on. Only a handful knew about anything of real consequence, and he wished it would stay that way.
Naoto wasn't keeping any dangerous secrets or lying, but it was hard to keep all this straight and keep his wits about him.
He turned all this over and over in his mind, and before he knew it, he was at the agreed upon meeting spot.
A new smell, not at all pleasant, greeted him as he reached the decorative water fountain.
Naoto could tell immediately that the fountain's filtration system was dirty or simply broken, and the chlorination did little to mitigate the stink of murky water.
He hadn't expected the fountain to smack of algae and dead fish (though there were no fish), but what better place to meet?! It was impossible to miss for anyone with functioning eyesight.
Staring into the depths, despite the muddied appearance, he could make out the many hundreds of coins littering the bottom of the reeking reservoir.
How often do they empty this out? He wrinkled his nose at the odor.
Were he of a different mind, he might've pilfered the fountain of its capital. The coins ranged in value from ¥1 to ¥500!
He could understand dropping a few hundred yen into a collection bin in a shrine at the beginning of a new year, but this was just throwing away money. It wasn't much of a wishing well, if that was the reasoning.
Why the Hell would anybody—
"Hey~!"
The sweetest sound in Naoto's memory banks registered, and he forgot all about the stinky water and the three Playstation 4 Pro models he could buy with the kind of cash padding the fount!
He turned and saw her.
"Senpai~!" Nagatoro beamed, jogging up to him.
Oh, wow! Naoto felt a dull, painless whock of something slam through him; it was reminiscent of that awful, juddering sensation one feels, startling into full wakefulness—for no apparent reason—while teetering on the edge of sleep.
His prayers with regard to his cutie-pie coming into court as a cutie-pie were answered in full, with disproportionately high, compounding interest!
Under a red beret, adorable as its wearer, her medium-long hair, the color of midnight-sky, wafted behind her, shimmering in the midday sun. That face of hers—that face he loved so much—shone. Her poofy, ruffled blouse—the palest pink—waved on the breeze she herself created as she pounded the pavement. And Naoto got him some leg! A deft, blue denim miniskirt clung to her hips, showing nothing but her slender legs, ending in a pair of mismatched Converse with mismatched crew socks, blue shoe/red sock on the right, red shoe/blue sock on the left.
Holy crap! Naoto's mind swam!
She looked like a doll!
He'd only managed to screw is head on straight by the time she'd made it to him.
"Whassup~?!" she let it rip, drawing it out, evocative of one-and-a-half decades past.
Whassup?!
Naoto hadn't heard that term in a while!
And he definitely wouldn't emulate her, going with something more reliable. "N-Nagatoro, 's-sup?"
With such pleasantries out of the way, she pointed at his school uniform, her voice frisky. "You couldn't even put on something decent~?"
"I was at school all morning." He didn't think he was being unreasonable. "It's not like the uniform screams 'Kazehaya' or anything. It just didn't seem worth bringing a change of clothes today…"
Shutting one eye, her open eye staring into his entire being, she shrugged, giving him a heavy-duty smirk. "And here I went through all the trouble of cutening myself up for your virgin eyes~."
In a pig's ass you're NOT a virgin. Naoto, always annoyed to hear that, sincerely didn't understand why she fell back on this.
One day, he'd turn it around, but today was for peace and relaxation.
"You look nice," he offered, fully meaning his words.
Apparently enough to set off her "creepy meter" but not flummox her, she answered, snickering, "One can only imagine the word you'd like to use, Senpai~."
You look nice! End of story! What more did she want from him?
"You do look nice," he insisted. "Is that the same beret you wore to the zoo?"
At this, she seemed pleased. "You noticed? It's the only beret I actually have, but it's probably my favorite hat~."
Nice! Naoto could casually but sincerely complement her; that could help steer things in his favor.
He could do it!
Not daring to check his phone or watch—it was tactless and not something to do when you're supposed to pay attention to your best girl—he glanced at a clock on the side of a nearby bank:
1:52 p.m.
Man, was Naoto glad he'd arrived early. Making Nagatoro wait wasn't anywhere on his bucketlist.
Thanks, girls! He'd have to acknowledge Sakura and Hana for that little "push out the door" they'd given his wishy-washy ass.
"What do you want to do first?" he asked her.
Nagatoro moved in close, tittering nastily, "I know you wanna go straight for the sports store."
He couldn't help himself, faltering; he shifted, asking, "W-why would we go there? Shouldn't we get some ice cream or something?"
"Don't try to play it cool, Senpai~." She darted back into his view, leering. "I'm sure you've been curious about what kinda bikini I want to buy. I'll bet you couldn't even sleep last night, thinking about it. Lewd Senpai~~!"
Her face, lighting up crimson, sent him spinning!
He had his answer, supposedly. They were going bikini shopping.
Keep it together, Naoto! He scolded his weakness.
"But I guess we could get some shaved ice," Nagatoro decided. "I have a sweet tooth today, and I don't wanna carry around the new stuff I buy all day."
"Makes sense." Naoto tried to remain logical, hoping to combat the shakes he had cropping up.
"It does make sense," Nagatoro replied evenly; she gave way to a far more suggestive demeanor. "So… you'll just have to wait~!"
"…!" He jerked.
She giggled at his jumpiness.
He had to stop himself from "adjusting his glasses"; it wasn't the first time he'd tried doing it that day.
As quickly as Nagatoro had turned up the dials, she turned them down again, facing in the direction she wished to go.
"Let's go, Senpai." She set off.
"Y-yeah!" He followed, barely hesitating.
After just a moment of walking abreast with her, the tinglies he'd felt earlier had returned, and his scalp prickled… in a good way!
Boy, was he getting excited again!
The unpleasant shakes were already gone, and he suddenly felt more confident.
This is gonna be a great afternoon! Naoto enthused.
Yes… He had this!
Glancing sideways to his friend, he remembered the last time they'd hung out, a couple weeks earlier.
Then, he'd been unable to make himself clear to her. He hadn't been able to articualte his feelings, but he knew things would be better this time.
She'd already gotten to him a little that day, catching him unprepared, but he wouldn't let it happen again.
This time!
This time he'd get through to her!
Q&A Section
Who are your favorite characters to write about?
ED: Yoshi is best girl, but the story's not about her. She'll have a lot more impact later, but she's not my favorite character to write.
Sakura is my favorite character to write about. I particularly like her interactions with Hana, who is also fun to write. Additionally, I really like to write Gamo-chan material, especially her interactions with Naoto. I think I often enjoy these two interactions more than the Naoto and Sakura dynamic.
How did you come up with the story's title?
ED: I was going to call the story one of several names. I considered When the Cherry Blossom Starts to Bloom, Dog Days Duet, The Sakura Puzzle, and The Pathos of a Gal. I didn't think any of them really stood out or had any "mystique" behind them, but all of these names became chapter titles. Two of them are yet to come.
My editor and I threw around a few other names. I decided I wanted to incorporate something about the two main characters, Naoto and Sakura. With Sakura, the obvious way seemed to be cherry blossoms. Naoto was harder, but he's an artist, so that opened a few options.
What's a palette? It's a surface used to carry multiple colors (usually of paint). You can mix the colors, isolate them, use them, not use them, save them for later, hit them with paint thinner or let them thicken up, create something wonderful or terrible, etc. That means to me that Naoto has options in his life and can do whatever he wants with it. He'll have to make decisions.
The title doesn't mean "cherry blossoms on a palette" or "a palette of cherry blossoms". It's just the two things together in a title.
I thought Sakura Palette sounded awkward, using her name in the title, but we agreed on 🌸Cherry Blossom Palette🎨. I just liked the way it sounded, and it had some cute emojis handy to use (that wasn't the deciding factor, it was just a nice touch).
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading!