🌸Cherry Blossom Palette🎨
🌸Chapter 30: The Cognoscente and the Posterity of Folk Etymology... Huh?!🎨
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
ED: Another strange chapter title my editor came up with when I couldn't think of one. This one's really obscure, but it fits once you know WTF it means.
I know many of you are Gamo-chan fans, so you'll probably like this one. It's not a huge chapter, but it's a hefty one.
Also, I'd like to give a shoutout to all the readers this story has on Reddit! I have Serrulata handle everything Reddit, so I don't get to interact with most of you. Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading my story! For those of you with accounts on one of the sites I post the story on, I'd be tickled pink to hear from you.
Please look at the Q&A section I set up at the end of the chapter. Ask us anything, and we'll add another section in the next chapter. I would be happy if you ask questions.
Please enjoy what I wrote.
Wednesday, July 10, 2018
The three sharing the same route home for a portion of the city, Naoto Hachioji, Maki Gamou, and Yoshi Yamazaki had made it to their first parting, one of them taking a detour.
"There it is," Yoshi said, pointing down a side-street. "Shortcut to the store."
"What are you picking up?" Gamo-chan wondered. "I didn't ask."
"Mom asked me to get some fresh chicken, carrots, onions, and potatoes," Yoshi answered. "Grandma's making her special curry!"
Naoto, in charge of cooking at his house that evening, was wishing he'd chosen a simpler dish (like curry) than seafood paella for his parents. He recalled Yoshi's family was extended, her grandparents living at the Yamazaki house too.
"Ooh, boy!" Gamo-chan raved. "I remember the last time you brought leftovers of that to school. She still won't give up the recipe, will she?"
"She still won't tell me," Yoshi festered. "She didn't even teach it to Mom until she'd been married to my dad for 10 years."
"Your grandma's funny like that, huh?" Gamo-chan simpered.
Yoshi ducked off the main road. "I'll see you tomorrow! Bye, Gamo-chan! Bye, Sensei!"
Naoto raised a hand. "Goodbye."
"See ya, Yosh." Gamo-chan waved. "Message me later."
Rounding the corner, Yoshi was lost from view.
Gamo-chan urged Naoto continue walking.
For a short stretch, neither said a thing, thankful to be walking in the shade on the south side of the street. It wasn't miserably hot, but it was July.
Naoto wasn't disappointed with how the walk home was going. Running into Gamo-chan and Yoshi had been surprising, and sure, the girls had given him some mild guff, but talking with them was generally nice.
Putting not only the cherry on top, but the nuts and whipped-cream too, it was rare to be alone with Gamo-chan. He tended to see her more thoughtful side when she didn't have someone else (Yoshi) tagging along, which was a delight.
The delight was seeing the different faces of Gamo-chan, not the fact they were rid of Yoshi.
Gamo-chan spoke first.
"I think Yoshi's parents have her under some kinda curfew… home nearly every day by 4:30." She laced her hands behind her head. "They want her to do better, so they're making sure she has the time to study. I think that's what's going on, but she won't say much. They're probably just having her run through drills in books. And I bet they think keeping her on a schedule will help…"
"Well, you're all second-years," Naoto argued. "You want to do well on your first big exams."
"I wouldn't mind doing well, but I'll settle with passing," she proclaimed. "I know I should care more, but I kinda don't. I'm not going to college… at least not university level."
He didn't want to assume, but, "Family business?"
"Of course." She glanced about them, looking at nothing in particular. "I complain about it some, but I like it okay. I could probably learn all I need 'on-the-job', but I'll probably go take a few business classes at one of the community or tech colleges around here or something. Whether I wind up running the gym one day is for 'future-Maki' to worry about."
"I still haven't decided where to apply." Naoto wasn't dwelling on it, concerned with the immediate couple of weeks, but it was still there. "I need to think about things before I jump in though. I haven't done much of that. I mean… what am I gonna do with an education in art? It's what I want, but I'm not sure what to do with it."
Gamo-chan leaned to one side, stretching. "The options are limited."
"Don't I know it…" Naoto briefly let the gravity of this fall on him. "I know I've gone on about art school, but maybe I should think about a normal university that just has an art program."
It occurred to him this was the first time he'd mentioned this to another person.
"You really should reflect upon that, Paisen," she laughed grimly. "You don't wanna end up as some 'salaryman-senpai', do ya?"
But I'm okay with it being Gamo-chan…
"I had that exact same thought on Monday," he laughed with even less humor, so much that it became funny again. "No, I don't want to be 'Naoto Hachioji… salaryman'."
"Yeah, you got some thinking to do," she reiterated. "Most definitely."
"Sunomiya thinks I could be an art teacher." It just came out of his mouth; he wasn't sure why he'd let it.
"You? An art teacher?" She wasn't scorning him, mayhap; she just didn't see it.
Naoto's belly shook, getting that. "Pfft… That's the same thing Sakura-san said when Sunomiya mentioned it."
"…"
"…"
"Paisen?" Gamo-chan voiced.
"'Sup?"
"I'm sorry for making the ogre wisecrack back there," she murmured. "I couldn't resist, but I didn't think it'd blow your cover or anything. I don't think Yoshi would make the connection or something."
Oh, she might! Naoto wouldn't underestimate the Yosh; she'd surprised him a few times.
Direr was that Gamo-chan had plainly admitted to him being "the ogre that subjugated Sakura", or whatever other malarkey people were calling that unsavory phantom.
But what point was there in getting worked up?
He'd already known that she knew. And if Yoshi did learn his identity, it wouldn't be the end of the world… would it?
Prolly not!
"Don't worry, it was funny," he reconciled. "At least Yoshi-san only pretended to chew on my ear."
"Glad you feel that way…" she sighed. "That's a relief."
"…"
"Paisen…"
Uh-oh! Naoto braced himself, detecting the melancholy note she'd sung.
"Yeah?"
"Uh…" Gamo-chan's face became a grimace.
"What is it?" He wasn't sure what had her bent out of shape so abruptly, but he was surely about to find out.
"I'm sorry, Paisen… about what I said to you on Friday."
The mockery at lunch? Or the stuff about Sakura and Hana later?
Either way, he didn't require it. "You don't need to—"
"Yes, I do."
"…"
"…"
Naoto listened, unsure if she had more to say.
Not surprisingly, she did. "The fun at lunch aside… I said some pretty bad stuff about Sakura on Friday."
Why apologize to me about it? It didn't seem necessary, him the one hearing it and Sakura never knowing about it.
"You were right, Paisen," she accepted. "I had no idea what I was talking about, saying those things, especially to you. You probably understand Sakura better than any of us… even Hanacchi."
"…" He had no response.
"…" She may not have even been expecting one.
He had something else he wanted to say though.
"Gamo-chan, I'm sorry for snapping at you back there… When you asked about the rumors? I shouldn't have done that… It's not your fault—at all."
"Hey, it's cool…" She shook her head. "I know it's been bugging you. It's not like I helped."
"…" Naoto watched her.
"I really am happy that you're Sakura's friend," she conveyed. "And I'm also really glad Hanacchi's become her friend."
"I'm really glad for it too." What else could he say to that?
"Paisen… I've never gotten Sakura," Gamo-chan confessed. "I don't understand her… how or why she did the stuff she did. I had a hard time thinking she'd, y'know, change. Then seeing her act the way she's been, getting so close to Hanacchi all of a sudden… I just didn't get that either."
Senpai-kun… I've always had a hard time making friends…
Those were some of the more painful words Naoto had heard out of Sakura, and he'd heard a few.
Though Naoto didn't want to ponder on and on about it, he couldn't deny that Sakura and Hana had been, deep down, very lonely girls. They'd come from different situations, but…
He imparted, "I think they each just really needed a friend."
"…"
"…"
"…I can see that." Gamo-chan knew that things weren't always overly complicated.
Naoto reasoned that he'd perhaps been too bothered at Yoshi's asking why Hana had wanted in on the study group. Maybe he was right… or maybe he was wrong regarding the erstwhile, outwardly friendless girl's desire to be part of something with Sakura and himself.
Due to Gamo-chan's intervention, he hadn't even had to begin to explain his thoughts to Yoshi. Whether it was her being logical or understanding what he did, it had helped.
Thanks for lending me a hand back there! He wanted very much to say this to the girl walking alongside him, but he'd yet to see an opening.
Maybe it wasn't something that needed to be said in the first place.
He could live with that.
Beside him, Gamo-chan was doing her own ruminating.
She said, "I am glad—really—that Sakura had a pretty clean breakup with that Takata guy, or so that's how the story goes. I've seen that gal go through a half-dozen boys since last spring, but I think he's the only one that she got attached to."
Naoto would've been blind to not realize—at least with some accuracy—what was going on in Gamo-chan's head.
Her expression was a strange brew of regret, respite, envy, compassion, distaste, satisfaction, and pleasure.
In a word, she was conflicted.
Naoto realized—as sure as night was dark and day was light—that he'd be opening a can of worms, but he popped the lid all the same.
"Takata's not a bad guy, Gamo-chan." He allowed the sentence to bypass his prudence, and it escaped into her knowledge, where he'd never be able to take it back.
Gamo-chan juked. "Hmm?"
He kept his eyes forward.
Many dismissed Gamo-chan as a brute, but Naoto knew better. She saw plenty.
"…"
"…"
And she must've seen something. "What was it like… getting in between him and Sakura?"
"Not as scary as you might think." He was already regretting facilitating her revelation. "But it was scary."
"Yeah, I wouldn't want to be in the front row for that," she determined, glancing his way.
"…!" He shivered, a cold running through his entire body.
"…" Her gaze was still on him.
"Please don't ask anymore…" he pleaded, averting himself, springing from a threat that likely didn't exist anyway.
"I don't really wanna know…" she let on.
That had him breathing a little easier.
Naoto showed it too, getting a bit of a rise out of Gamo-chan.
"Meh, whatever happened, I'm sure it doesn't live up to all the rumors we've heard the last couple of weeks…" She was certain of it. "Eh, Paisen?"
"It doesn't."
Gamo-chan smirked, not callously, "You really love those two… Hanacchi and Sakura."
He wasn't exactly comfortable with her throwing around a word like "love" so freely, but he got her meaning. "…"
Her smirk broke into the feral grin she so often fell back on. "They really do have a good senpai to watch out for them. Makes me wonder what else you get up to behind the scenes."
"…" He liked to think he wasn't doing much.
Gamo-chan thought differently.
"Who else has 'Mr. Ogre' dragged back to the 'BJ grotto'~?" she joshed.
Oh, cripes! Naoto's insides twisted. Not this again…
Gamo-chan figured, "Maybe Yoshi will wind up back there too when she needs to… wring out her soul, I guess."
Naoto continued to stand mute, but not literally; they were still paddling along.
Fortunately, Gamo-chan let up on him, shifting the focus.
"Sakura and Hanacchi? I'm kinda jealous of them, Paisen." It didn't aggrieve her to own up to it. "That friendship that just popped out of nowhere. It totally reminds me of how things were when I was little… Y'know, when life was simple, before things got complicated with age and shit."
Naoto harmonized, willing to hop on board with that, "Yeah, definitely."
"…"
"…"
"Paisen…?" Gamo-chan hailed her senpai.
"…Yeah?"
She asked him, "Would you believe me if I said that Yoshi used to be the one that I followed around?"
Poink! He just about felt his bowels loosen.
He rounded, stunned. "…?!"
Her feral grin—at least the toothy part of it—was long gone, replaced by a deep, unknowable smile, her eyes still afire with some intimate, treasured insight.
Naoto wasn't sure.
"I… dunno…" he replied. "Probably not."
"Well, there's something to that…" she giggled, back to ogling him. "It's complicated."
"…!" He noticed her peering, and he determined to keep his eyes forward.
"…~" She kept up her one-sided staring contest.
"…?!" He was trying to figure out what she was up to.
"…~~" the girl tittered noiselessly.
Was she baiting him?
Did she want him to ask?
How did you and Yoshi become friends?
…
He was curious.
Admittedly, he was definitely curious about Gamo-chan and Yoshi's friendship. He knew they'd lived right next to each other since they were little more than babies. It might've explained why the two girls, so unalike, had been and remained friends to that day. There was a time they'd been more "on level" with one another. Had they met later in life, they may have never even become properly acquainted.
He didn't know, and he may have been undeniably wrong, but that's what he pulled from it.
What interested him far more was the friendship between Gamo-chan and Yoshi when Nagatoro became involved. Gamo-chan was Yoshi's best friend. But Yoshi wasn't Gamo-chan's best friend; Gamo-chan's best friend was Nagatoro and vice versa.
There was something to it, and that he was curious about, but he wasn't sure that he was ready to hear about it.
…
Nope, he wasn't about to ask.
"I'm good for now." He let her know he at least acknowledged what she'd said.
Positively grasping that he wasn't going to nibble on her tantalizing chunk of enticement, Gamo-chan sputtered, laughing, "Boring~…!"
"Yeah, yeah…" he dismissed.
"…"
"…"
"Hey…" Gamo-chan sparkled. "About Hayacchi…"
What now…? Naoto fretted.
She'd said Hayacchi, not Hanacchi, meaning they were now entering Nagatorial terrain.
He put on a neutral face. "Yes?"
"I wanted to say it earlier, but Yoshi prolly woulda said something dumb," she prefaced. "I wanted to tell you seriously—no crap on the side."
Why do I…? Naoto had a creeping sensation in his lower belly.
"Hayacchi?" Gamo-chan positively twinkled. "She said she had a really good time with you on Saturday, Paisen~."
Urk! A pain, deep in his intestines sharply made itself known.
Consciously, he hadn't thinking about it all that much, vowing not to, but subconsciously, it had never been far out of sight.
Now it was reexposed, and there was no burying it.
All at once, Naoto realized he felt angry.
The night and morning after the "date", he'd known only hollowness and a vague, excitable energy he willfully chased to get away from that emptiness. Then after talking with Sakura and resolving to "give things a chance" and not cogitate his ass off, he knew peace.
Now he was just angry. The scab was pulled off, and the wound was raw once more.
That Nagatoro had considered the entirety of Saturday to be fun, it pissed him off.
Goddamn it! His lifeblood began to simmer.
His teeth creaking at the clenching of his jaw, he unclamped. "That's nice."
He wouldn't tell Gamo-chan things had gone poorly. He wouldn't tell Yoshi things had gone poorly. And he hadn't wanted Hana to hear it, but she had.
And telling Nagatoro herself that he loathed the time he'd shared with her?
That card wasn't even in his recipe book!
Damn it! The intruding mood wouldn't leave him.
He knew a fair number of girls in school, but only five current female students really held any pull over him: Nagatoro, Hana, Sakura, Gamo-chan, and Yoshi.
He knew what a day with Nagatoro could be like; he'd had several of them, and the last one had been a shart-on-the-wall bust.
The others though…
What would it be like, spending a day with Hana? It would be a little awkward… at least for him. Hana, for herself, would be able to find some enjoyment in anything they wound up doing, and he had faith in that inkling. They could suck on a couple of cans of iced-coffee and sketch the convenience store they'd just visited, in a prone position, at a 45-degree angle from the storefront. They could literally do that, and she'd think it was an unusually great day. Really, that didn't sound bad at all to him either!
A day with Sakura? He'd spent a couple afternoons with her, so he could see that going well enough. Whether she took the lead or they just went with the flow, he was confident they'd both have a pleasant time.
Yoshi? He wouldn't even know what to do in that situation, but knowing what she was like when she didn't have her wingwomen backing her up, he'd probably have the "strategic advantage". Maybe a movie… and definitely food… lots of food… maybe even an all-you-can-eat place.
But Gamo-chan?
…!
That could be… fun. Like, a lot of fun. He had no idea what the day would look like, but he was convinced they could have fun.
Naoto Hachioji and Maki Gamou, hanging out for a day!
Whoa… that'd be some kind of strange.
…
Even so, with all the girls, there was one thing Naoto was sure of. In fact, he might just wager his left testicle on it!
Hana, Sakura, Yoshi, and Gamo-chan… Not a one would treat him like a used tampon when all he wanted was for the two of them to have a good time.
Yeah…
And where did this strange, seemingly out-of-place tangent come from? Why was he thinking this way about the other four girls at school that really mattered to him?
Well…
If he was being straight with his own feelings, he'd rather spend a nice, relaxing Saturday with one of them—any one of them—instead of reliving what he'd been through four days prior with Nagatoro.
Paisen…?
He at least knew the other girls had some actual respect for—
Hey, Paisen…!
…
"Eh?" Naoto's vision cleared.
"Paisen?" Gamo-chan eyed him, mildly concerned.
He shook it off, trying to convalesce. "Yeah, what's up?"
"…?!" To look at her, you'd think she'd just seen his skin slide off his body; she said, "You just absolutely spaced out."
He knew he had. "Yeah… s'been happening a lot."
"…"
"…"
"Say something…" she urged. "You okay, Paisen?"
"I guess." He shrugged, carefully avoiding her eyes.
She stopped him, physically grabbing his wrist. "Seriously, what is it?"
"…"
"…"
Naoto could tell: Gamo-chan knew something was really bothering him, not that it wasn't obvious.
He could tell, but he could also sense it.
It was no secret to him that she cared powerfully for her friends.
And it's not like he wasn't her friend.
It was a leap of faith, but he took it, trying to keep an even keel. "I didn't have a good time on Saturday afternoon. She mostly just goofed on me… and she did something that hurt pretty badly."
That didn't come out well.
He didn't like the tired, sad timbre she'd just gotten out of him either, and he didn't like hearing it himself.
Saturday had been painful, and he knew his face genuinely showed it.
It was pretty clear what he'd hear next.
But she always does that!
She was just having fun.
It couldn't have been that bad.
Don't be such a wuss!
Naoto fully anticipated to get one of these lines or something similar.
What he didn't envision was for Gamo-chan's face to fall.
"Oh…" She shrank slightly, her hand limply uncoiling and dropping off Naoto's wrist; her speech petered out. "I'm sorry to hear that…"
Naoto wasn't astounded by this, but he was surprised, seeing her wither. "Uh… Gamo-chan?"
She heaved a sigh, regarding the concrete, "… …?"
He'd heard her say something, and he was about to ask her what it was, but he immediately realized what a bad idea it might be, so he kept his mouth shut.
"… stupid…" Gamo-chan barely but angrily whispered, and her senpai realized she was mouthing to herself.
"…"
"…"
This was getting them nowhere.
So, with some thoughtfulness, Naoto began, "Gamo-chan… Hey…"
She stopped muttering to herself, flinching; after a couple seconds, "Yeah?"
He took a relaxing breath. "What's wrong?"
For a good moment, she studied him. He could see the gears turning in her head.
And she must've decided him worthy of suffering what she had to say. "It's… what I said to you last week…"
Which part? He could guess, but he couldn't be sure.
"Yeah?" he encouraged her.
She exhaled, her words flowing out of her. "I told you that I'm jealous of Hayacchi. You must remember."
"…Yes."
"…"
"…?" Something didn't add up for Naoto.
He recalled what he'd heard alright, and he knew Gamo-chan was especially upset because she felt so very resentful of her own best friend.
But there was more; something still didn't ring true for him.
"Uh… why?" He realized asking might be suicidal, but he had to know. "Why be jealous of Nagatoro?"
The look of disbelief Gamo-chan gave him was shattering, and it's not like Naoto missed it, but her expression rapidly changed and evened out considerably, like she'd just dropped something heavy that she'd been struggling with.
"She's just so cute," she quickly said, not looking directly at him. "I was always big, even when I was younger… and I was never all that cute."
"…?" Naoto couldn't believe she was serious, but he certainly felt a degree of relief, that expression he'd just seen fading away.
That's why she was jealous? She envied Nagatoro's cuteness?
And the idea Gamo-chan wasn't cute?
He'd certainly never seen a picture of her when she was little, but he'd disagree, even now. He happened to think she was from time to time very cute.
Even if "cute" isn't the perfect word, she's beautiful!
He only processed so much, because Gamo-chan kept talking.
"Boys don't like me; they're scared of me." She crossed her arms tightly, hunching her shoulders. "Whenever I hang out with the girls and some guys show up, all they do is ignore me or look at me like I'm gonna tear their lungs out."
He'd felt that way a few times, the way she sometimes glared at him.
"You see that crap on TV… where the guy says to the girl, 'I want to protect you.'" Her face showed unending disgust. "It's such dogshit… No guy would ever want to protect me…"
Why are you talking like we're in an anime, throwing around a word like "protect"?!
A lot of this didn't make sense to him, but he surely just didn't understand. He was a young man, and she was a young woman. They were different regardless.
The jealousy?
He'd figured it out, why she was bitter, though she'd practically told him.
Gamo-chan was jealous of Nagatoro for being so cute and perky and petite and popular.
By extension, it was clear enough to him that she was also jealous of Yoshi and Sakura because they were cute. Hell, she'd pretty much said that too.
She was envious because boys were interested in her three closest friends and not her.
…
Again, Gamo-chan thought differently than Naoto did, but he still thought it was dumb.
He felt there was no reason to be covetous of the three girls.
Sakura had problems. There was something awful that he wasn't seeing, and she'd corralled all those boys and sought all that control to combat something. And Nagatoro… was occasionally nothing more than an insensitive asshole; though he was head-over-heels for her, the truth was merited.
Gamo-chan had wrongly thought Sakura didn't (at least currently) have any respect for men, but he knew that Nagatoro respected no man outside of her family, and he was an outsider.
As for Yoshi… Naoto had never before imagined that Gamo-chan might be jealous of her oldest friend. Other than the fact that Yoshi had a most impressive set of mammaries, something in which Gamo-chan needed no upgrade, he didn't think there was much reason for any female to begrudge her.
Naoto liked Yoshi, and she was his friend, but as with the extent of Nagatoro's assholery, he had to merit the truth.
Really…
There was no reason for Gamo-chan to envy any of them, especially when she had so many good things going for herself.
Naoto was saddened to say it had taken her exposing her soft underbelly a couple of times for him to truly notice it, but Gamo-chan was a lovely girl in her own right! He thought she was dynamite! A fantastic girl!
But how the Hell would he tell her that?!
You won't, you pansy! His brain told him.
That didn't mean he had nothing.
He went for it. "I wish you wouldn't think like that, Gamo-chan."
"Huh?" Her eyes, dulled, rotated towards him.
Naoto knew he at least had her attention! He had to be cautious.
"Being jealous is… just kinda stupid, Gamo-chan." Easing his way into telling her that she was fine the way she was bothered him, but he didn't know how to say it outright. "I mean, there's really no reason for you to be jealous of Nagatoro or Yoshi-san or Sakura-san."
At the mention of the concluding name, she practically convulsed, causing Naoto to recoil.
Whoa!
…
Not properly facing him, Gamo-chan slowly turned towards him. "What did you just say?"
Her eyes, not long before blazing, most recently dull, were presently livid.
Derp! Naoto knew he'd just stepped on a landmine. He began inching away without even realizing it.
She had a direct view of him. "What did you just say about Sakura?"
Who are you kidding, Gamo-chan?! Naoto's asshole puckered.
He knew she was jealous of Sakura, and he'd been sure she didn't want mention of it.
But he hadn't been thinking, he'd lumped her in with Nagatoro and Yoshi, and needless to say, she didn't like it.
Even so, he didn't know what the big deal was! What had he said wrong?! If she was green-eyed over Nagatoro and Yoshi, then why get so fuming mad when Sakura was in that same boat?
Never mind, there were more pressing things to contemplate than why, considering the furious 168 cm maiden languishing in front of him.
Gamo-chan twitched, balling up her fists.
Oh, shit! She's pissed!
As he had on Saturday, Naoto knew a pang making its way into his chest. It wasn't as bad as before, but it robbed him of a breath of air.
"You think I'm jealous of Sakura…" She bristled.
Oh, no… In addition to Naoto's asshole puckering, his balls had started hurting.
Gamo-chan had scared him pretty good a few times, but she'd never gotten that to happen.
Shit! A blurriness, his eyes apparently going out of focus, clouded his image of her.
Something big's coming!
That terrible, overwhelming sense of dread came over Naoto's awareness.
He had sudden flashes of… well, just about everything that had been freaking him out of late:
His inability to express himself to Nagatoro…
His fears surrounding Nagatoro's family…
Being 18-years-old…
Getting into college…
Coming to better grasp the issues that his friends themselves had…
Having to say so long to all the time he'd been spending with Sakura and Hana…
…
Despite all this, his body and his brain stayed connected on some level.
His logic was trying hard to find a way out of this.
His instincts fell to fight-or-flight.
The thing was, it wasn't just fight-or-flight.
There were also behaviors known as "posture" and "submission".
Posturing included actions such as putting on a threatening or off-putting display or attempting to appear bigger than actual size in response to a threat. Humans did it all the time, usually acting a fool in the process.
And submission was interesting. It was why two animals locked in a vicious, apparent death-struggle might end a fight with neither dying. A dog will roll on its back, pull its paws to the chest, and give up, and that's the end of the fight, the other doesn't tear the throat out, both going about their business. Humans seemed to do this one less often.
Now, Naoto wasn't thinking about all this gobbledygook—he was much more focused on the angry girl in front of him.
Gamo-chan leered, hissing, "You think I'm jealous."
You keep repeating yourself!
"I what?" he replied automatically, the slim hope it was.
"I'm not jealous of Sakura, Senpai," she growled.
He knew that trying to cover his tracks would do nothing, but lying was a form of posturing. "Well, you said all that stuff about childhood friendships and how Sunomiya and Sakura-san were like that, and—"
Gamo-chan bore down on him, abounding with what he could only see as wrath.
"Yeep!" Naoto's stomach turned, and a gag wasn't far behind; he could already taste what he'd had for lunch.
"No." It wasn't a thing she was about to let go; there was no hiding from her. "You think I'm jealous of Sakura for other reasons, don't you?"
That got his knees a-knocking.
"Why don't we just—?" He could smell the ass-whupping coming and was giving off a pretty good tremolo.
"…!" She noticed he'd begun to decompose; she gawked at him, head to toe, repulsed. "What the Hell's wrong with you…?!"
Naoto hadn't caught that, following the rut he'd tumbled into.
Gamo-chan didn't even need to open her mouth again, his momentum carrying him.
"C'mon, Gamo-chan," he begged, his legs turning wobbly.
He was at his limit.
Say something! Anything!
"Why are you asking me such a loaded question?" he yowled, writhing like a snake trying to escape the talons of a hawk.
It had been something, but it wasn't much for last words!
His breath finally caught in his pipes.
He held up his hands, inadequately shielding himself. Here it comes!
"Don't hit me!" he heard himself holler, breathless.
But just when he was about to give into despair, falling to his knees to grovel for his measly life—
Nothing happened.
For a solid five seconds, nothing happened.
Naoto hesitantly opened his eyes, which had screwed shut at some point.
Gamo-chan was stumbling backwards, trembling, her hands clasped over her mouth.
"Paisen, I…" she squeaked, her words like an unoiled hinge.
"…!" Naoto was slow to process all this.
His friend stopped retreating, her concealed face going splotchy, her breath shaky. "Pai…sen…"
Naoto snapped out of it as quickly as he'd fallen in.
He eked out, "Gamo-chan?"
She jolted, uncovering her eyes. "Paisen…"
Naoto had no trouble interpreting what was in front of him.
She was horrified!
"Uh…" He took a step.
"…!" Gamo-chan gasped, eyes bugging.
Naoto opened his mouth, but his words failed him a second time. "Ah…"
"…!" She scrunched up, edging further away.
She's gonna bolt! Naoto couldn't let that happen.
There was only one thing he could think to do.
"Hey, it's okay…" Speaking softly, he raised his hands to shoulder-level. "It's okay… You just scared me a little. Take it easy… Don't go…"
Her expressions illustrated her thoughts better than most. The way she looked at him…
She didn't need to say a thing. What's going on with you, Paisen…?!
Naoto wished he knew, his kohai giving off the impression that she'd just run over her own pet cat with her own bike (whether or not she had one, he didn't know).
Had she even been that rancorous? Was he just a jellyfish?!
He didn't know that either, but he increasingly came into a calm detachment, his head clearing.
The tightness across his chest had mostly receded. The spots and fuzz shrouding his eyesight had faded away. His wind had returned to going in and out and in and out, continuing to steady. His footing was back, firm on the ground. And the vice-grip had let go of his testicles, though he still knew a dull ache.
Something new happened.
An awful, slithering bother slithered across his skin, Gamo-chan's manner taking him back to the previous Monday, when she'd wept beside him on that bench.
Oh, please don't look at me right now…
Gamo-chan hadn't run away, but he'd never known her to be this close to… well, fracturing.
She was nibbling on her lip, eyes lowered, superficially far smaller than she was.
Naoto was sure she'd start crying.
Oh, man…! He didn't want that.
If it happened, it happened, but he didn't want her to. What had just happened wasn't worth it.
He wasn't worth it.
On the other end, Gamo-chan's hands clutched together over her bosom, and she seemed to be coming down.
Naoto, slowly lowering his hands, crept closer. "Hey, hey, it's alright…"
She didn't edge any further away, but he could see her tense up.
It crossed his mind to take her hands or put his on her shoulders, if only to establish contact… let her know he was there.
In his mind, he reminded himself he'd been able to do this with both Nagatoro and Sakura.
Despite this, he couldn't bring himself to do it, and at arm's length away, he fully dropped his hands to his sides.
He cussed himself, Naoto, you coward…
Whether that was true or not, he didn't see any easy way out of this mess.
Still, he was her senpai. She was in bad shape, and he couldn't leave things this way.
He was in a hurry to make it home, but he wasn't in a big hurry.
"…"
"…"
"Gamo-chan." He tested the waters.
She couldn't look straight at him, pulling her hands even closer into her chest. "Paisen?"
"You need to sit a moment?"
It took a few seconds, but she made up her mind. "Yes."
Naoto didn't really need to look around; he walked this route at least five times a week… had for more than two years.
"Over there." He pointed to the nearby dagashi shop, routinely the point where his path and Gamo-chan's and Yoshi's ways home split off. The three of them had even gone in together a couple of times for a soda.
Gamo-chan nodded quickly, wanting very badly to…
Actually, she wasn't sure what she wanted. "Okay."
Q&A Section
Are you thinking about or working on any other Nagatoro fics right now? Please say that you are.
ED: Cherry Blossom Palette is the only fanfiction I'm working on. By the time it's finished, I don't think I'll be doing another one. CBP is a long story, and we have a way to go.
I'd love to see my editor pull out all the stops and write a Naoto/Gamo-chan story! I know he could come up with something really special, but I'm sure he wouldn't want to commit to it. I think his story would be funny, crude, poignant, bizarre, sexy, and good enough to shut up all the people mindlessly whining about ntr, which my story is not. It would be what I want my own story to be.
I'm just so happy he's stuck with me as I write, for what, almost nine months?
Will the Prez enter the fray in a future chapter?
ED: I wouldn't say she'll join the fray, but Sana Sunomiya will definitely be showing up "in person" in the future. You'll hear about her more than seeing her, though she has a part to play in the big picture.
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading! Questions and comments are welcome!