🌸Cherry Blossom Palette🎨
🌸Chapter 31: Naoto and Maki🎨
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
ED: Naoto and Gamo-chan talk at the candy shop. I really love their dynamic. I've come up with most of the stuff on my own, but I also shamelessly took a few ideas regarding their relationship from an essay my editor wrote on Reddit. "The ardency of Gamo-chan and Senpai" is something I recommend to those more interested in the "lore" behind my story. His other essays might tell you stuff too, and they gave me more ideas.
This is a shorter chapter than last time. I think you'll get a kick out of the next one.
Pokédex meme is cancer.
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
Maki Gamou sat sullenly on the shady curb in front of the dagashi shop, taking in an imperfection in the cement between her feet. "…"
She'd just blown her stack at her senpai.
Then again, maybe she hadn't blown her stack, but she'd gotten angry over something he'd said, and he hadn't taken it very well at all, just about going to pieces in front of her.
"Just like I did to him…" she whispered to herself, ashamed, holding her knees. "And like I was just about to again…"
She—
"Gamo-chan?"
The Amazon looked up to find Naoto Hachioji holding out a soda to her.
"Here you go." The artist handed it to her. "They had the kind you wanted."
"Thank you…" she replied, taking it. "You really didn't have to."
"It's fine." He brushed it off, plopping down beside her. "I owed you from last week."
"…"
"…"
"I'm real sorry, Paisen…" Gamo-chan murmured, peeling the seal off of the Ramuné Lychee he'd purchased for her. "I lost it back there a little."
"Take it easy for a bit." By some means, feeling about as chill as he'd ever felt, Naoto was a little further ahead, by now popping the marble on the bottle of strawberry he'd chosen. "Just sit a while."
He waited for Gamo-chan to pop her own marble, and he offered a little cheers.
"Kampai?" He held his bottle between them. "Gamo-chan?"
It wasn't clear—even to him—why he did this. Maybe he just wanted to get things rolling in a positive direction.
She didn't seem to believe he was serious, her eyes darting between him and his soda, but she soon saw that he was.
She sighed, giving him a tiny, bittersweet smile, she clinked bottles with him. "Kampai, Paisen."
They each took a drink.
The familiar, bubbly tartness of the strawberry, tickling his nostrils, evoked long ago memories for Naoto, and he happily took another sip.
I hope this doesn't hurt things… he devotedly pleaded to whomever or whatever was listening.
And it didn't seem to, not at all.
Gamo-chan gave an appreciative little grunt, savoring the fizzy goodness, "Mmm…"
Naoto tried not to chuckle, his friend wiping the back of her hand across her lips, having over-tilted slightly, spilling a few drops.
"Lychee was my favorite flavor after I tried it for the first time," she said, resting her forearms across her lap, her bottle dangling from between two fingers; she looked to her senpai. "Is strawberry yours?"
He liked it, but, "Nah… same as most everything else, I like the orange the best."
"Trying something new?" she chortled.
He ho-hummed, "Just wanted strawberry when I saw it. It's my second favorite."
"My second favorite's the original one." Gamo-chan once more wiped the corner of her mouth, lifting and admiring her bottle. "Man, I haven't had one of these in about a year. They're just too small to make me feel like I've had something. But having one just sounded really nice…"
"I don't remember the last time I had one," Naoto reckoned. "Has to have been a few years, at least for the little glass ones. I just know I always liked them when I was younger."
"You wanna talk about younger…?" she proffered, jiggling her marble before her eyes. "I've been coming to this dagashi shop since I could walk, I guess. I don't even remember when I started coming here… I literally don't remember…"
He wasn't unfamiliar with such. "I don't think I can remember anything from before I was three… maybe four-years-old."
"I think that's how everyone is, Paisen." Gamo-chan stretched out her legs and flexed her ankles, rocking on her heels, as much as her position allowed. "I think the earliest thing I remember is the 2004 Olympics on TV… watching that Michael Phelps fella from America obliterating everything in the pool."
"I remember that…" Naoto evoked. "My parents aren't big into sports at all, but they're glued to the TV during the Olympics."
"That's also about as far back as I remember being friends with Yoshi…" she recollected. "Nothing in particular, just that… she was around… But I definitely remember everything after that summer… all we got up to."
"Hmm…" he weighed in.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…" Gamo-chan, leaning back, finished off her Ramuné.
"…" Naoto had emptied his before the preceding ellipses, the bottle already on its side in the gutter.
Small talk had quickly run out.
Both had improved a little, a refreshing little piece of the past opening them up to a stroll down Memory Lane, but 200 mL and a couple of commonalities could only take any two people so far.
"…"
"…"
"…" Gamo-chan took a deep breath and blew out.
Naoto opened his ears. "…?"
"I'm really sorry for getting so angry over nothing like that, Paisen…" She curled up, again looking between her loafers at that little blemish on the curb. "I just… got swept up… focused in on it… got carried away."
He knew plenty about anger, and it hadn't been nothing, so he could at least relate. "I know…"
"…I… dunno what to say." She put her forehead between her knees, hugging her legs. "What happened…?"
That's what he wanted to know. "Eh…"
Bracing herself, she put forth, glancing sideways, "I know I got angry like that… But… why? Why'd you wig out like that? I mean… whoa…"
Naoto thought about why, but he couldn't help but apologize.
"I'm sorry, Gamo-chan…" he said. "I know it… hurts… when I get scared…"
What am I doing?
Raising her head, turning to him, she seemingly read his mind, her voice fluttering and her air incredulous. "Why are you saying you're sorry to me…?"
He shook his head, unable to find a good reason. "…I don't know…"
Huddling up, Gamo-chan whimpered, a tiny sob threatening to make its way out.
Oh, no… Naoto floundered.
"Please, Gamo-chan, don't cry," he pled. "It's okay."
A sniffle sounded from the hunched girl, her back heaving.
Naoto, floundering all the more, couldn't believe this was happening again. Reaching through his pockets and not finding any, he went for his bag but quickly remembered he'd run out of tissues.
He couldn't even do that for her.
His kohai had stopped quaking, and all he could make out was another sigh.
Torn between or among saying something or patting her back or doing nothing or just losing it, his mind ran wild a few seconds, trying to make itself up.
Whatever might've happened, Gamo-chan made up it up for him.
She raised her head, just enough to make herself heard.
"Am I really that scary…?" she asked quietly, dripping with an abject misery.
"…!" The hopelessness in her mien broke Naoto's heart! What do I do?!
"Hiff…" She snuffled, burying her face in her arms.
"No…" he said, meaning it; he almost put his hand on her shoulder but relented. "No… You're not. I just scare easily… Every once in a while, I'll just… I dunno, panic, but it's just me overreacting, really. It happens over stupid stuff… and things just sorta… close in."
"…!" She started.
"…" He'd at least been able to say it.
"Really?" she wondered, rotating to peer up at him.
Knowing she could see, he merely bobbed his head in assent.
"Does… it happen a lot?" She sat up a little higher, her elbows on her thighs.
Something about being able to see her eyes put him at ease. "…It… seems to happen a couple times a month."
"How can you be so relaxed about it now?" There was no getting past the sorrow in her voice. "You're acting like nothing happened…"
"It's only been bad in high school…" He wasn't enjoying this. "But I've felt like this for years… Guess I'm kind of used to it… It's normal."
"…" Gamo-chan slumped, crossing her arms.
"…" Naoto twiddled his thumbs.
"…Maybe you should go get that checked out some time," she vaguely suggested, after a time, returning her gaze to him. "If it happens that much… It doesn't sound right."
Naoto was relieved to see that she hadn't actually started to cry, her eyes merely watery, though slightly red, but he knew immediately:
She didn't know how to respond to what he'd just told her. She wanted to get away from this.
And so did he.
"Yeah… maybe…" he noncommitted, eager to put this behind them.
It's normal to feel this way sometimes, right? It must be.
Whether it was or wasn't, he gave it no more thought.
And perhaps she didn't either.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
Gamo-chan spoke first, "Just… again, I'm sorry. I'll try to keep my cool a little better. I know you didn't mean anything bad by what you said."
Naoto answered, "Yeah… Please, don't worry about it too much, really."
"…"
"…"
"You're right though." Gamo-chan bunched up the hem of her skirt in her hands.
Naoto was all ears. "…?"
Her words (conveniently in the English alphabet to serve this metaphorical personification) came out of her as if they were dragged, kicking and screaming, vowels flailing about, mostly worthless in their shapes, and consonants doing all they can to find traction, their angular forms a little more useful for the task. "I am jealous of them… and other girls too. I'm not saying it's an excuse or anything, but…"
"I understand." It cannot be said enough; Naoto was well acquainted with anger, and it wasn't fun.
Gamo-chan took on an ironic, devilish face. "I tell you, though… I got ticked off when you said Sakura's name, but if you'd said… Rabi-chan…"
Naoto saw her tendons pop out on the backs of her hands, mentioning Rabi-chan. He also didn't fail to notice the edge to her words.
Did he want to know what was up?
…
No, he didn't friggin' wanna know!
…
Gamo-chan snorted, nodding sagely.
"Yeah, you don't wanna know~." Somehow, she'd again read his mind. "Smart, Paisen. It's girl stuff. It's just stupid girl stuff."
"…" Naoto barely knew Rabi-chan, but he knew emotions in the second-year girl's circle of friends could run pretty hot.
"But Sakura…" Gamo-chan mulled. "It pissed me off that she had all these boys that wanted to be her friend or date her, and she just… shit on 'em. I watched her do it for a whole year. That's why I got mad, I think… being compared to her. I don't like thinking about it, but I'm probably more jealous of her than most. It just seems so easy for her."
Bleh… Her senpai didn't wish his knowledge on her. "Seems" being the keyword, there.
"I don't wanna play victim or make things up about you, but I think you might know how I feel when it comes to guys…" she rationalized. "You know what it's like to not have girls like you or ignore you. You barely knew any girls, and suddenly, you had a few of us around, and we all became pretty good friends."
He wouldn't disagree. "…"
Gamo-chan huffed, a self-deprecating grin spreading wide across her face, "But me? Pfft!"
Naoto winced. He knew Gamo-chan considered him a friend—and a man too—but he was still only one man, and he decided he got what she was getting at.
It invoked whimsies of some fetching, cute-as-pie, not Mary-Sue anime schoolgirl… the kind who for some reason—despite having no truly deleterious flaws—only has one male friend, her childhood playmate, her best friend. She longs to meet more boys and maybe find a boyfriend, but God or the writers just won't let it happen. Then after a lot of mess, a lot of heartbreak, and a lot of nasty menfolk doing her no good, she realizes her oldest, dearest friend has been there and in love with her the whole time, supporting her through all trials, and she finally reciprocates, recognizing she feels the same, though she's probably felt that way since before the two of them started growing in their curly "down there" hair.
…
I'm pathetic… Naoto almost laughed.
He knew he didn't qualify as such, but he dearly wished he could offer her offer words of comfort in that vein.
Hey, you got me.
I'm your friend, what about me?
Hey, over here, Gamo-chan!
He didn't, of course, knowing it would ring hollow and that it wasn't what she wanted or needed to hear.
He thought about things.
Gamo-chan, big picture, probably wasn't entirely sure what she even wanted. He knew she wanted male friends and maybe a boyfriend or at least liked the idea of these. The real thing and the idea of were very, very different.
Though Naoto would never more than glance off of the issue, on the face of it impossible and crazy as it was, he resolutely couldn't offer more than friendship to Gamo-chan—his heart belonged to Nagatoro—and she deserved more than just that from someone… if it was what she indeed desired.
She deserved to be happy.
He wanted her to be happy, to be loved.
There was absolutely a lot about her he didn't know, and he was cocksure that she was about as imperfect as any average "not evil" person could be, but he would unwaveringly stand by the notion that Maki Gamou was a real catch.
To reuse his own unspoken words, she was all kinds of lovely, dynamite, and fantastic. It wasn't totally clear to him why he saw these things, but he knew he saw them, and he trusted in this.
Some fortunate guy would one day cross her path, and he'd declare of her entire being, not just from the heart, but from his brains, guts, and balls too, 'Behold! A great beauty!'"
…
To close his tired monologue, Naoto really didn't like hearing Gamo-chan speak poorly of herself.
He knew what he wanted to say. "Gamo-chan."
She'd been rolling around in the mud of self-pity, but the crispness in his voice pricked her ears, "Yes, Paisen?"
He psyched himself up. Here goes sumthin!
"I'd like for you to listen to me." He sat up straight. "I don't know everything, but I think you should hear this. Please, just a few minutes."
She looked at him oddly, unsure what to make of this. "…Okay…"
Naoto hadn't thought about it, and he certainly hadn't rehearsed it, but he knew that Gamo-chan would probably benefit from what he had to say.
Perhaps he'd just be running his mouth, but he didn't think so. This confidence wasn't completely baseless.
He began, just letting it come out:
"I won't say that there's nothing wrong with being jealous, because there is, but it's not like it's not a normal thing.
"You think I'm not sometimes jealous of some of these guys I see, walking around, girls hounding them all the time?
"I see these star athletes running around in the courtyard at school, and I get teased, 'He's the same age as you, and he's a superstar and is gonna turn pro… while you're just a jealous loser.' And plenty of other guys too. Yeah, I think I want what they have, but do I?
"It's pretty normal, being jealous, but it's also pretty dumb. Everyone's different, and they all have troubles. Some guy I'm jealous of might be stupid… or boring. I don't want to be stupid or boring.
"Maybe he lives on food scraps in a broken-down house… or gets beaten by his parents… Maybe he doesn't have a family…
"He might even look at himself in the mirror every day and want to eat three or four bottles of sleeping pills, just to make sure that it's… 'done right' and can't be taken back.
"Or he may just be an asshole who hurts others or steals or peeps on children or gropes junior high girls on the train… Y'know, a really worthless human being, deep down. You never know."
Gamo-chan, rapt, still looked at him as if he'd just admitted to chicken-fucking or male-impotence, her eyebrows cocked and face dumbfounded. "…Wha…?!"
He quickly said, "Those are just examples, so you know; I'm kinda just pulling them out of thin air. Nasty stuff… Just listen."
He trusted that would appease her defensible misgivings.
In conclusion, he declared, "Neither of us should be jealous of anybody. Instead of wanting what they have… we have to do better… or make do with what we have."
"…"
"…"
"Look at you~…" Gamo-chan teased. "Paisen the Wise… You pull that out of some manga book or something?"
Naoto understood she was only half-serious in her disdain. She'd gotten it.
He shook his head. "No, I just mostly came up with it now."
But he'd silently give credit where it was partly due. I'd be lying if I said Sakura hadn't given me something think about, similar to this.
There was no way he could've invoked anything that philosophical without her example to follow.
"Makes sense, Paisen," she mused, impish. "And how's it done for you~?"
He didn't mind her mild cynicism. "It's something I wish I could live by. It's not untrue."
She repeated, paraphrasing, "I gotta do better or make do with what I have… If only it was that easy."
"I think it's true," saying this, Naoto had no need to bullshit his way through it. "That's just me…"
"You really think you can stop being green with envy, Paisen?" She doubted she could do it herself, much less anyone else.
"No, but things… are pretty good for me." He'd realized this several times in as many days. "They really are. It's helped put things in perspective. We need to count our blessings, I guess."
It would've been easy for Naoto to list off his recent and lifelong blessings, but it didn't seem like the time or place for it.
Her eyes focused on nothing in particular, Gamo-chan approved, "I get you, Paisen. I'll try."
Happy for that, he said, "Great."
She wrung her hands. "I… I'm really sorry for making a big deal out things back there."
Naoto more than accepted her apology. "It's fine."
He'd made a big deal over her barking at him a little, so he got it.
"I just had to get pissy and humiliate myself like that…" Gamo-chan gave a wry smile. "But at least I didn't cry about it this time…"
It would've been nice to see her stop riding herself like that, but Naoto knew it was "within her character", so it didn't alarm him.
He so dearly longed for a way to tell her that she was pretty great as she was.
There were so many good things to say about her!
She was cool and funny and attractive and a stalwart friend.
He knew exactly what he wanted to say, but there was no way he could just come out and say it.
How do I just say—?
You're a great friend.
You're a very pretty girl.
I think you're pretty special.
….
You won't! Noato reminded himself. Don't forget you're a big, ol' pansy!
A pipedream, was the above!
He chuckled at himself, knowing his being so pansified wasn't 100% true.
Anyway, he decided he'd made his point, and that was good enough.
Neither of us should be jealous of anybody. Instead of wanting what they have… we have to do better… or make do with what we have.
He knew it was a tall order, and he couldn't put aside Gamo-chan's thoughts.
Yeah, if it only was that easy!
…
"Don't worry about it, Gamo-chan," Naoto said. "Just go easy on yourself, huh?"
"…"
"…"
"I'll, uh… try…" She would! "I'll try, Paisen."
"…"
"..."
"…"
"Hey, uh, Paisen…" she extended. "You want another soda?"
"Another one?"
"Yeah, my treat."
"I thought we were even now…" he commented, though he was well aware a couple of Ramuné sodas were worth a little more than the juice out of the school's vending machines.
"Don't worry about who owes who a little bottle of soda or juice." She jabbed him, a throaty, girlish giggle emanating from her. "A kohai can't buy her senpai a little treat every now and again?"
Her jabbing kind of hurt/tickled, and he gave in, unable to fend her off, laughing, "Okay, okay… How about an orange?"
She simpered, allowing him to breathe, "How 'bout a surprise?"
"I—" he began, but he was quick to change his mind. …Why not…?
"Well~?" Gamo-chan purred.
Naoto smiled, his spirit lifting, and said, "Yeah. Surprise me."
…
…
…
Naoto, head back and mouth wide-open, shook out the last few drops of his Ramuné Original.
I can't remember the last time I had one of these! It may not have tied with orange, but it possibly beat out strawberry in his book for second-place!
Gamo-chan had wound up trying a Ramuné Orange, unable to recall when she'd last enjoyed one. It didn't beat Lychee or any of the other flavors—and she'd tried everything produced in her lifetime—but it was still pretty good.
She rocked, catching herself and bouncing up to stand. "Hup!"
Looking down at her senpai, she gestured.
He took it to mean he should stand up, and he did.
They chucked all their bottles into the little recycling bin the dagashi shop kept, and they prepared to part ways.
"Hey, thanks for the soda, Gamo-chan." Naoto hefted his bag. "That was pretty tasty."
"It's totally alright, Paisen," she assured him. "It was pretty great having a couple of those after all this time."
"Most definitely," he agreed. "Next time, let's get some proper Ramu Bottle sodas."
"'480 mL of tooth-rotting yummy' is what Yoshi and I used to call those," she enlightened him.
"Nah…" He thought she was jerking his chain. "Nobody ever called it that."
"No, seriously!" She was adamant. "Yoshi's grandad once told us we'd rot our teeth out drinking so much of that crap. I said, 'So, what? It's yummy!', and Yoshi said, '480 mL of tooth-rotting yummy!'. Really."
That… Naoto could believe that, and he snickered, "Okay…"
"Hey, we hadn't even started to learn multiplication or division at that point," she said, sticking up for lil' Maki and lil' Yosh. "We said that for a while though. We came up with all kinds of dumb stuff."
"I didn't mean to laugh…" he apologized. "That's kinda cute."
Whoops! He thought it was careless, tossing around the word "cute", after the afternoon they'd shared.
If it bothered Gamo-chan, she didn't make it known. "I'd better get home, Paisen. My parents will gripe me if I'm not already sitting down to study a while before dinner."
"I gotta get home and start cooking." He'd be hightailing it out of there himself.
"What are you making?" she asked.
"Seafood paella," he said proudly.
She whistled, "Oh, that sounds good. I think Mom's got a hot pepper pork-roast in the crock. Always a big hit with us."
Naoto had never pressed her, but he knew Gamo-chan had a younger brother and sister.
Maybe I'll ask her sometime…
For now, he settled with, "I hope it turns out well. I should've just done something like that…"
"I'm sure the 'rents will like it, Paisen." She had no doubts. "You can slap together a pretty good spread."
He blushed slightly, never overly comfortable with praise. "Yeah…"
"…"
"…"
"Paisen…" she sounded.
"Yes?" He regarded her, and he jarred at what he saw.
Gamo-chan was a little pink in the cheeks herself!
"I feel better." She toed the ground, half-looking his way. "Thanks… for always being so sweet."
Being told that, he abruptly viewed the world in four-dimensions, bright lights and everything, his mortal perception of reality taking a great, big shit.
All he could do was blush more, giggling stupidly. "Duh…"
It wasn't too hard to crack up Gamo-chan, and that did the trick.
She cackled, not nearly as red as he was, "You're always such a riot, Paisen!"
He shyly grinned, scratching at his scalp. "…"
"But really, dude, I gotta go." She began to jog away.
"Y-yeah…" His eyes followed her.
She spun around once more, peddling backwards. "I hope to see you tomorrow, but if it doesn't happen, you take care, Paisen."
He felt a warmth welling up. "Same to you!"
"And try to keep a couple of days open the week after next!" she yelled, already a fair distance away. "You said you'd come to karaoke, and I'm gonna hold you to it~! You're coming this time, even if I have to drag you by your short-hairs! We'll get everyone together and blow the roof off the dump!"
"Yeah…" He waved in reply, his voice small, his words catching. "Let's do that."
It's possible she hadn't even heard, Naoto's volume failing him, but she'd seen him wave, and she returned it. "See ya soon!"
Whatever way, that was the end of their conversation, and Naoto watched Gamo-chan turn forward, and she soon disappeared down another road a block away.
…
Naoto stood there for some time. The warmth building in his chest had reached a little higher, and he had to swallow hard to keep the tightness at bay.
In some ways… he was sure he'd never felt happier than he'd felt in the last week.
Had a playful cleverness made itself known, it might've occurred to him that he'd need not only all his fingers, but his toes too, to count his many blessings.
But he took in a grateful lungful of air, expelled it, and made to complete his own trek home.
Eyes on the prize, Naoto!
It was a little later than he'd have liked, but he most likely had plenty of time to finish making the paella before his parents got home. Even if he didn't finish, they'd arrive during the final stages, the delicious smell permeating throughout the house. That'd be a dandy "welcome home"!
Notwithstanding, it would be a bit before he'd be standing in the kitchen, preparing dinner.
It gave him time to think, and he couldn't help but do so.
What was going on?
He could understand the upset at Sakura's name coming out in the same breath as Nagatoro's and Yoshi's. The gal had taken things to such an extreme, leading Gamo-chan to feel differently about her than her other friends. Then again, he was sure that she felt quite differently about every person she knew.
However, why would she be that distraught over his time with Nagatoro sucking so much? It wasn't really her concern.
It still didn't make sense.
Only a dope would've missed that exact second that Gamo-chan's mood had taken a dive into the shallow end of the pool, but that wasn't the issue.
A piece of the puzzle just seemed to be missing.
But what?
…
Maybe… it was because Gamo-chan supposed that Nagatoro had a guy who wanted to hang out with her, and she "didn't appreciate it".
Hmm…
Or maybe she just cared about him, upset he'd had a lousy time.
He wasn't sure, but both made enough sense. Things didn't always need to be so convoluted.
Shoot, both were probably true, and it was nothing worth wracking his brains over in the first place.
That satisfied him, and he went home.
Q&A Section
What the heck did the title of chapter 30 mean? I had to look up all those words and still don't know what folk etymology means.
ED: LOL. I'll let my editor handle this.
PS: "The Cognoscente and the Posterity of Folk Etymology" is a mouthful.
A "cognoscente" ("cognoscenti" is the plural form) is a person with great skill or knowledge in a given area or subject. The word "connoisseur" is sometimes used interchangeably, but that's a complex explanation and beside the point. Calling someone of great ability a "maestro" would also be appropriate. The word can also be interpreted as "artist". Senpai is definitely an artist.
"Posterity" means "progeny" or perhaps "offspring". In this case, "posterity" is used in place of Gamo-chan's name. I like calling Gamo-chan the "Amazon", and it was my idea to incorporate that into the story, giving her another title besides her given name or surname. Sakura is "the gal" or "the blonde", Yoshi is "the Yosh" or "Twin-tails", and Gamo-chan is "the Amazon".
The Amazons—which many may already know—were mythical female warriors of great strength, virtue, and rigidity. The term "Amazon" is known as a folk etymology. A "folk etymology" is a prevalent but incorrect belief about the origin a given term. "Amazon" is derived from a Greek word for "breastless".
Some portrayals of Amazons in art and literature depict these women having purposefully removed the right breast. This was supposedly done to aid in archery or the use of other weapons, giving the right arm more freedom and range-of-motion to draw the bowstring or handle a sword. Even in myth, the idea that mastectomy was practiced by these warrior-women is probably wrong.
It's a thorny mess to explain, but I'm saying the term "Amazon" is the product of this (maybe) false belief.
It was just a needless and fancy alternative to "The Artist and the Amazon".
Do the other characters have a name for the back part of the school where Naoto talked to Sakura and Gamo?
ED: Sakura calls it the "shame corner" and Gamo-chan calls it the "BJ grotto". The name "tuggy/blowie cave" was discussed as a name, but we decided against it, though that's something Yoshi might say.
While this little nook on the school grounds may make another appearance, no one else has a special name for it. The location may sometimes be referred to by one of these two names in narration or in Naoto's thoughts.
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading! Questions and comments are welcome!