🌸Cherry Blossom Palette🎨
🌸Chapter 23: "Let's Go Shopping, Senpai~!"🎨
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
PS: Bear in mind the story is third-person limited until it has a reason not to be. It's almost entirely from Naoto's perspective, so he's not fully aware of all going on around him or regarding others. His thinking isn't always in tandem with reality, so to say, and it's because his view is limited. It's how he feels, and that's real enough in one's own mind. It's especially true when you're still a kid. Keep this in mind the next few chapters. Things are gonna get kinda hairy.
ED: This chapter was something of a challenge, but it was necessary to work through before going any further in the editing process of the overall story. I again asked too much of my editor, and he came through for me better than I'd hoped. It took quite a while to turn out this one and the next.
Merry Christmas, and you'll see another chapter before New Year's Day.
Ask us anything, and we'll add a Q&A section in the next chapter. I would be happy if you ask questions.
Please enjoy what I wrote.
Saturday, July 6, 2018
By the time 4:00 p.m. rolled around, Naoto Hachioji and Hayase Nagatoro had been to and gone from several places.
After having had some shaved ice, welcome in the not-quite-so-awful heat, they'd swung by the book store. Naoto picked up a manga volume he'd been meaning to buy, and Nagatoro bought an English vocab book. Naoto had offered her a copy of the English workbook he'd given Sakura, Hana, and Gamo-chan, but she'd been wanting this book specifically.
One unimpressive street performer playing a tenor guitalele and a couple of bottles of cola later, Naoto found that Nagatoro had at last led him into the sporting goods store.
Oh, boy…! The young artist wasn't sure if he'd been looking forward to this or dreading this more.
His life experience had him leaning in favor of the latter.
Presently, Nagatoro was doing her shopping, but she'd been after a lot more than a new bikini.
Naoto stood alongside her, holding a basket rife with summertime sundries.
Nagatoro had tossed in —among other necessities—a new pair of swim goggles, a couple of swimcaps, and a new school swimsuit identical to her current one.
Despite Nagatoro's "teetering on the decision of buying a new two-piece" teasing all afternoon, once Naoto knew they were going bikini shopping, that she wasn't joshing him, the next question was what sort of game she would play with him.
He definitely had his answer. Nagatoro had earlier given him fairly mild guff, relative to normalcy, but she'd begun to lay it on pretty thick as her malevolent self-gratification commenced.
Despite this, he was glad to be spending time with her, as it had been sparse.
He was elated to be with her.
And yet, something was different.
Something about all this—everything, really—was… off.
But it wasn't… different, exactly. It all just seemed stupider than usual.
Shuffling along one of the swimsuit racks, Nagatoro pawed at a bikini; she smugly said to Naoto, "I can see this one has your interest~."
Not really… He'd been led by this rack at least once already.
His friend gave a blushing smirk, feeling the fabric of the suit. "Lewd Senpai, picturing me in this~!"
This basket's getting kinda heavy. He wished she'd hurry along if she was going to be so hamfisted about toying with him.
"I still have other shopping to do first, Senpai," she sussurated, pointing accusingly at him. "You'll just have to wait~."
And again, she did the same thing at the next rack.
He was stuttering and red-faced the whole time, but there still wasn't much to what she was peddling.
Maybe it was the lack of variety that was bugging Naoto, and its novelty was beginning to rapidly wear thin. She was typically much more creative. It was as if the girl was running out of ideas.
What are you feeding off of?! He really wasn't sure.
After the second time she'd tried pulling this gag on him, he'd stopped giving her a reaction she'd reasonably be able to use against him, but that stopped nothing.
Nagatoro turned away and walked towards the shoe section.
Naoto dutifully followed.
Staring at her back, he willed himself to say something.
C'mon, Naoto, you've practiced this! Just tell her, "Nagatoro, lay off a little."
His stomach squirmed with an unprovoked vengeance.
No, I'd better not… Not yet.
Even the other little voice in his head bade the same.
Yeah, you'd BETTER not!
In the shoe section, Nagatoro gestured at a display.
She giggled, "Aren't Crocs just the dumbest things, Senpai?"
And there were "crocs"; a store worker had painted several of the rubberized, perforated clogs to look like little crocodiles.
Naoto thought it was kind of cute.
Nagatoro pointed at the offending objects, their googly eyes gaping vacantly back at her, laughing, "I don't get it, Senpai. But someone made a fortune on these things."
He did think they were a fairly tacky product. "I saw this picture online where someone used one as a flower pot."
She lit up, "Oh, I've seen those too! How funny is that?!"
That smile! Naoto lived for it!
He wanted to jump on this departure! He wanted to see where this line of dialogue would lead!
But he had to be cool about it. Anytime he got overly eager, she'd find "fault" in it, and he'd just be giving her more munitions to tease him with.
"Yeah," Naoto allowed. "Imagine if they created a display like that at a gardening store."
He had seen Crocs for sale in many a greenhouse and gardening section. It didn't make much sense to him though, working in the dirt when your shoes were full of holes.
Still…
Man, was that lame! He scolded himself, knowing he'd just said nothing of worth.
It was even worse than being overly eager!
He knew he was in for some mockery!
However, Nagatoro didn't even seem to notice, and she moved on.
Safe! Naoto put himself at ease, the "crisis" averted.
Hanging out with Nagatoro could be exhausting!
But now I have to watch out for what's next! He reminded himself.
If she goes too far… definitely say something!
He knew he'd have the chance. It was only a matter of time before she cooked up something else and ran it into the ground.
Leaving the shoe section behind, they entered the games and toys section.
"Do you like ultimate Frisbee, Senpai?" Nagatoro held up one of the plastic discs, hiding the lower half of her face.
He liked it okay. He wasn't good at it, but they'd played it in gym class a few times, and even he enjoyed the game.
"Sure, it's fun," he said with feeling.
She smiled. "I lost my Frisbee from last year, so I've been wanting to pick up another."
He tried to be witty, "Well, we're in the right place for it."
Surprisingly, she let him have that. "Guess I'll pick one out then~."
Gawking at the flying disc rack with all its colors and choices, Naoto whistled, "So many…"
Waving around a few of them, she wondered, "Do you like the 140 gram, the 175 gram, or the 185 gram~?"
"Huh?" he fumbled.
Nagatoro giggled, "We'll just go with the 175 gram… Nice, all-purpose weight."
"Seems practical." Naoto wanted to stay neutral.
The girl grinned, having chosen one. "I like this one. I think we'll have a lot of fun with it, Senpai~."
She handed it to him.
He examined the disc; it was a fun, translucent, sparkly red color. "That's neat."
"We'll definitely have enough people the next time we go to the beach." Nagatoro took the disc back, admiring the cool design. "With your height, we could actually put together a pretty good game of ultimate~!"
Naoto's heart soared.
Nagatoro dropped the Frisbee in the basket and trundled down the line.
To Naoto, nothing was better than a little genuine praise out of Nagatoro, and he could visualize their entire party, scrambling along a section of clean beach, tossing that red Frisbee from person to person.
His height was helpful during the games he'd played, allowing him to catch and throw over the heads of almost every other student.
Maybe I'll get to play on Nagatoro's team~! He brimmed with anticipation.
The high he felt was short-lived though. Nagatoro had found something "interesting".
"Hey, Senpai~," she sniggered, snorting into one of her hands. "What's this remind you of?"
She was pointing with her other hand to a poster, and he knew immediately what it was meant to be reminiscent of:
In the middle of the poster, on a beach, was some hikikomori-looking rube, complete with a pot-belly hanging over his belt and a mass of messy, greasy, thinning hair shooting from his scalp. On each of his arms was a… well, a supermodel, each in string-bikinis. One of the two women was even tanned with a head of thick, blond hair.
The advertisement on the print suggested that no matter how stupid, ugly, dirty, gross, or inept you were, gorgeous females would always flock to men with money and power. The right label on your clothing, the right car in your garage, enough cash in your bank account, or just having things others coveted would solve all your damn problems.
Though Naoto knew vaguely what Nagatoro was referencing, he knew she could take this in many unpleasant directions.
Looks like I'm in for the old "back-and-forth" treatment again… He rolled his eyes.
Naoto had been through the like. Ebb and flow, sweet and sour, delight and torment, this was what she was all about.
Nagatoro took on a light blush. "What could this guy possibly have that you don't?"
It's just a stupid poster! Naoto reasoned.
But he was foolish enough to give her a response. "I don't know. What could he possibly have that I don't?"
His sarcastic tone rocked the boat ever so slightly, but it did nothing to flip the raft.
Nagatoro figured, her features crimsoning, "I dunno what it is, but he has two chicks when you can't even get one!"
Real creative, Nagatoro… He again wanted to roll his eyes, but she was looking right at him.
She sneered, "But hey, it's not like you could handle either one of those girls, pervert~."
You're really coming up short, here! If this was going to be the imaginative degree of her nonsense, then he'd probably be able to get through the afternoon, just like the last time they were together.
He hoped so, anyway.
Nagatoro still dwelled on the poster
"Still, you kinda remind me of this guy," she hummed. "He somehow tricked those two women just like you are~."
Naoto didn't care if she was joking—and she probably was—but he didn't like that… not one bit.
"News flash, Senpai," she informed him. "A 'study double-date' without a second guy there doesn't make it a date or make you a player~."
Okay, that hurts… He thought continuously about how hard Sakura and Hana were working and how good he felt working with them.
He loved working with the two of them, and he wanted to tell Nagatoro that. Maybe it'd shut her up!
But he kept quiet, hoping she'd move on.
"It's like you're two-timing them, and they're standing right there, just letting you do it!" Nagatoro savored.
Please don't… He silently begged, stinging.
The day before, Nagatoro was so "affected" over his situation with the two girls "tutoring" under him, she'd clammed up like some kid visiting the dentist for the first time, and she'd seemed just as unhappy.
Maybe that's why she was being unreasonably cruel and oddly clumsy about it now. If that was the case, she'd try something else to get a rise out of him, her wont of beating a dead horse.
Her voice carried over his reflections. "If you weren't a smart guy, Senpai, you'd be spending your afternoons all alone~."
Now you really are going too far! He just wanted her to stop.
She almost always kept going until she went too far, driving whatever she was working with into the dust. Even mean witticisms could be hysterical if they weren't played out or done to death. It was all about making a point or getting out the big line and moving on.
Nagatoro seemed incapable of that.
Why can't you be more like Sakura? He silently questioned.
And he surprised himself, asking that.
No, they're different people. Naoto corrected himself. Don't compare them.
Almost immediately, he was pulled out of his own head because Nagatoro had also moved on from the poster.
Could we PLEASE just hurry up and pick you out a bikini?! Naoto was again following her.
While the air conditioning in the store was heavenly, he just wanted to be done. There had to be something else they could do before their time together was over.
Abruptly, Nagatoro stopped, and she appeared to be examining something.
Oh, great! Naoto was ready to throw his hands up. What did you find now?
"Senpai…"
He jarred, behind her back.
Her voice had turned… sweet. Like, genuinely sweet.
"Yeah?" Naoto felt compelled.
She shifted out the way, and he saw what she was looking at.
It was a poster for one of the upcoming street festivals, the night of Thursday, August 1. Their entire circle of friends had been talking about it for a month, and soon, it would be there.
Naoto's face lit up in a grin. "The first festival of the year~."
It actually wasn't the first, but it was the first anywhere near them.
"Yeah," Nagatoro replied, breaking out in a big smile.
"…" Naoto fondly looked back and forth from Nagatoro's beaming mien and the poster.
It's almost here…!
"Senpai…" she addressed him.
"Yeah?" He was eager, and he didn't care this time.
"Remember last year, how I said we should wear matching yukata?"
His heart—and his dick—leapt. "Yeah, I remember."
"I don't think we'll be able to match, but I already have one picked out~."
There wasn't a milligram of insincerity to her words, and Naoto knew it.
He'd felt the bloom of good feelings rise up more than a couple times that day, and here it was again!
Nagatoro fully turned to him. "Senpai?"
His hopping heart almost flew into his sinuses. "Yes?"
"I'm really happy we'll get to go together this year."
Derp! Naoto physically twitched at that.
She laughed, not unkindly, "Yeah… I'm really looking forward to it too."
"Uh… yeah," he breathed.
Her smile widening, she began to move again, "Just a few more things I wanna grab, Senpai, and then we can finish up and leave. I wouldn't mind getting a doughnut or something."
It came out with such guilelessness that Naoto knew in his brains, heart, guts, and balls that she meant that!
He wasn't sure what had come over her, but he could tell he was in the clear!
No more being toyed with today! At least not until after we leave the store…
That, he could live with!
Barely aware of anything around him, Naoto loosely continued to follow her, his psyche swimming in all manner of rapture!
As they meandered again near the shoe section, Nagatoro found another Crocs display in the children's section.
"Hey, look at the kids' Crocs!" she resounded, pointing with both hands. "So creepy~!"
Naoto, back to cognizance, couldn't say they were creepy, but he didn't like them. On top of the rainbow of glaringly bright colors, several pairs were fashioned to look like ladybird beetles, watermelon slices, cats, dogs, ducks, and even hippopotami.
"They are pretty dumb," he submitted.
"Yeah!" she snickered. "Crazy thing is, my big brother owns at least a half-dozen pairs of these stupid things!"
Poink!
Naoto knew a sudden pang in his chest, and he almost gasped.
But he tried to overcome it. "Does he now?"
"One year, when I was little, it was so funny~!" Nagatoro reminisced. "He always wore a pair of Crocs with his yukata when we went to festivals! My big sis was so embarrassed! She wouldn't even walk next to him!"
Let's not talk about your brother… Naoto protested internally, rapidly becoming queasy. Or your sister…
He was still pushing away that discomfort that had seized him only seconds before, but he managed to humor her. "That sounds embarrassing."
She turned to him, beaming, and said, "I hope he doesn't do that this year! But I'm so excited that he's not so busy this summer! We haven't been able to go to a festival together since I was in middle school!"
Naoto froze.
…This year…?!
Nagatoro was still talking. "My big sis too! She doesn't have any classes this summer, so she's gonna be going too!"
Naoto choked, "They're going with you?"
She didn't notice anything was amiss, as excited as she was. "I'm so happy~! Wait 'til you see how good they are in the shooting gallery! Ichiro once knocked over a pair of Bose headphones! The kind that cost ¥15,000!"
A fuzziness began to descend upon Naoto's vision. The pang he'd felt in his chest—almost gone—came back with such force it felt like he'd been punched in the throat.
If Nagatoro was saying anything else, it didn't register with him.
The pang became a tightness, and his heart begin to race. He was enveloped by some nameless, heavy mass, as if a whole other person had just been piled up on him.
It was happening again…
He saw spots join the static obstructing his eyes.
…Shit…!
He realized he wasn't going to get through to her.
The heaviness extended to his arms, nearly pulling him down.
He'd known things would be better—he'd told himself in every way he could tell himself—but they weren't.
The very air around him began to close in, and breathing became even more difficult.
No…
The butterflies that had been flitting in his stomach since lunchtime had become a typhoon, tearing apart his innards.
Ultimately becoming lightheaded, Naoto had finally gained Nagatoro's attention.
She almost leapt backwards. "Senpai?!"
His stomach heaved. "Augh…"
"What's wrong?" she asked, a tremor rising in her voice. "You're all pasty!"
He shouldn't have been able to talk, but be achieved, "Sorry… Be righ' back."
…
…
…
Naoto bolted to find the restroom, all of the awfulness he'd begun to experience intensifying.
Where's the bathroom…?! He retched.
There!
Thankfully, the sporting goods store was just a little hole in the wall and not a big public place. It had two restrooms, men's and women's, and they were just single toilet designs with a sink and a lockable door.
The porcelain of the men's toilet could be seen, and Naoto made it in just before falling to one knee, slamming the door behind him, hitting the lights, and securing the lock.
He tried to make it to the toilet bowl, but he couldn't.
No!
Feeling a hot, wet mass rising in his esophagus, he threw up in his mouth.
Gagging, he tasted bile and a Devil's mixture of everything he'd had to eat and drink that day.
Swallowing hard, he willed his body to cooperate. Keep it down! Keep it down!
While forcing himself to hold it all in, he crawled and made it to the toilet, tears beginning to further cloud his ability to see.
Nevertheless, he'd been successful, not letting any of it breach his lips.
He'd gotten it back down, but now his whole head burned of stomach acid. It was in his throat and mouth and nasal passages, its vile flavor overpowering everything.
Knowing he wasn't about to immediately yak, he sat down heavily, unable to kneel any longer.
His shallow breathing wasn't the only thing he could hear. Blessedly, the bathroom had a noisy fan attached to the light switch, and there was no way anyone could've heard him outside.
His heart was pumping so hard he could feel it in his fingertips, and it puttered along like an air compressor motor.
Groping around blindly, incapable of standing, he managed to turn on the sink's faucet, and running water joined the noise of the fan. As safe as he could be, he was able to take a moment to compose himself.
His heart was still pounding, and he was nearly hyperventilating, but he was able to get his knees under him again, and the muck in his head had "diluted" some. Using the sink as support, he managed to stand, leaning heavily on the fixture.
Staring at the drain, awash with the water flowing from the faucet at full blast, he couldn't believe it.
He'd gotten his hopes up again.
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading!