🌸Cherry Blossom Palette🎨
🌸Chapter 50: The Edge, Part One🎨
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
ED: During lunch between the Japanese exam and the English exam, Naoto and the girls revel in the coming summer, but conflict isn't far away.
You could say we're entering the "meatier" portion of the story.
This and the next two chapters made up two chapters until a few days ago, but we talked, and dividing things this way made sense.
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.
Monday, July 15, 2018
Midday of first day of final exams at Kazehaya High School had arrived, and the Japanese testing was over and done with.
In the art room, six friends were taking their extra-long lunch break, prior to the English exam, occurring later in the afternoon.
It was nice to be done with the first exam, yes, but there was another, smaller cause for celebration.
Maki Gamou, reliably gifted in making a show out of almost anything, before the assemblage, touted, "I hear someone started a Line account~!"
"Yes." Hana Sunomiya treated the business with far less fanfare. "Hachioji-senpai invited me to join yesterday, and I'm still setting it up. I don't have any contacts yet."
"…~!" Gamo-chan made eyes at Naoto Hachioji, across the table, bursting.
He chuckled, rolling his own eyes, "Yes, Gamo-chan?"
"Paisen, may I have the honor~?" she requested.
Sakura Inori giggled, off to Naoto's right, sharing with him a funny look.
Yeah, we thought she might…
"Go right ahead." He was happy to let Gamo-chan have it. "I thought you might want it."
Then again—
"First blood~!" Yoshi Yamazaki, at Naoto's left, dramatically tapped the screen of her phone.
At Gamo-chan's portside, Hana's phone chirped, and she picked it up; her eyes widened.
With purpose, she typed.
Chirp! Yoshi's phone went off, and she held it aloft. "And that's that~!"
"No…" Gamo-chan whined. "Did you…?!"
Hana held up her phone. "Yoshi-senpai is my first 'Line friend'."
"…!" Yoshi had begun to laugh, but she ceased just as quickly, taking in Gamo-chan's half-serious scowl.
"Pretty sneaky, Yosh…" the Maki commended her, typing on her own phone.
The Yosh hadn't soiled herself, but she did see her life flash before her eyes. "…?!"
Hana's phone gave another birdy-noise; she responded at once. "And Gamou-senpai is my second."
Gamo-chan's phone went off next, and she pumped a fist. "Awright~!"
Naoto chuckled at the silliness, knowing full-well he could've become Hana's first contact at any time before this. Finally, he sent his own request, which was granted by his fellow Art Club member.
Now…
"Hayacchi, don't keep Hanacchi waiting!" Gamo-chan told the diminutive girl at her right, not teasingly so.
Naoto had been dwelling on this possible exchange. He'd let Hayase Nagatoro know the night before—though it's unlikely she hadn't known—that he knew she wasn't a big fan of Hana. It hadn't been fun to address this, but he'd felt he needed to do so.
This would hopefully improve, Nagatoro's receptiveness to the peculiar girl.
He was also aware—despite not very much enjoying the nickname of "Hayacchi", with all it entailed—Nagatoro enjoyed even less sharing a moniker so similar to her own, Hana's being "Hanacchi".
Unless one heard the name properly, mistakes could occur!
And they had, each girl answering to the other's call and their friends using the wrong name for the girl they were attempting to hail.
It was never intentional, but it occurred.
Hana didn't give a shit about it—not the littlest mouse turd—but it peeved Nagatoro something fierce.
She may have disliked her nickname to a degree, but it was HERS, and "-acchi" had been her suffix alone for a long time!
Adding to this, Naoto couldn't remember Nagatoro calling Hana "Hanacchi" once since… since well before that rumpus raised on Friday.
Really, he could only recall hearing it a few times out of her, the karaoke night the girls had shared already some weeks back.
She'd even made it a POINT, as they were, to call Hana by her family name, "Sunomiya", using it every time she addressed the younger girl.
Naoto knew he couldn't be the only one to notice, but no one was giving away such a position.
His hopes of Nagatoro being cordial with Hana, much less friendly, weren't amounting to much.
…
Whatever way, Gamo-chan's appeal didn't go unheard.
"Yup." Nagatoro, staring at her phone, typed.
Hana answered the summoning.
Nagatoro confirmed.
"Thank you, Nagatoro-senpai." Hana said, grateful.
"Welcome to Line, Sunomiya…" she replied. "Don't get sucked in."
Oof! Naoto cringed. Had Sunomiya picked up on it? Nagatoro's chosen moniker for her, used in excess?
"I won't." Hana didn't plan on it, and she showed no visible damage at being called by her family name.
Forgetting that—
Gamo-chan patted their communal kohai on the back, simpering.
"Now you have all of us, other than…" She eyed Sakura.
Sakura rumbled, "What?"
Gamo-chan didn't get it. "I still can't believe you don't have one, even after a whole year."
"We've talked about this, Gamo-chan," Sakura tiredly defended herself. "I used to have one, but social media's caused me nothing but trouble."
The tall girl figured, "Yeah, I know… and I think I get it. It's just things would have to be pretty lousy for me to leave the internet."
"Well, it can happen~," Sakura gave a raspy, sarcastic grumble. "Drop it, huh?"
"Whoa, sorry." Gamo-chan raised her hands, riled. "I didn't think it was that big of a deal."
Shit! Naoto had thought all the girls getting together might've spawned a bad situation.
If anyone was led to simply believe that Nagatoro was on "one side" and the rest of the girls were on the other, it was more like a web, this group antagonism, each of the girls holding some sort of beef with at least one other girl.
The only one who didn't have visibly sore feelings towards another (besides Yoshi) was probably Hana, but it wasn't unlikely that the fighting itself hadn't pissed her off.
It seemed the girls had "made up", but Naoto wasn't expecting hugs and declarations of friendship. At best, he expected things to be superficially normal.
Things seemed pretty normal, though there was some heavy friction, and Sakura and Gamo-chan exchanging a few contempts wasn't the first whoopsie he'd seen that day.
Naoto liked that things had, so to say, gone "back to peaceful". Why start it up again?!
And while he himself had experienced some serious warm fuzzies and even moderate augmentation with Lil' Naoto/Dirty Harry upon seeing her, he had no prospects of intimacy from Nagatoro.
The night before, on the phone, had been a doozy, and Nagatoro wasn't fixating on him as she might.
Normally, she'd do her best to sit directly facing him or at one of his sides, but she'd made no effort, funneling Gamo-chan, Sakura, and Yoshi into this territory.
She could barely look at him, and she hadn't given him grief in the slightest!
What's more, she was rather anxious. She hadn't been keen on talking much with anyone, keeping her conversations short.
…
Unlikely intentional, one of the girls moved things in a better direction, the abrasiveness between Sakura and Gamo-chan summarily in the past.
"Ya know what? We should do a potluck thing again tomorrow~," Yoshi opined. "It was a lotta fun on Friday! We could each put together something to share. Like, four of us could make an entrée, one could whip us a big batch of some noodles or fried rice, and one could do dessert."
"Yeah?" Gamo-chan sat up at this pretty decent idea. "That sounds alright…"
The feeling wasn't singular.
Yoshi kept on, "Then we could each bring whatever we want to drink. I mean, we have, like, over two hours between the science and math exams, so why not enjoy it?"
Sakura wasn't against this. "I think that sounds awesome~! We should do it."
"Let's talk about it as we eat, huh?" Gamo-chan was hungry but meant no slight. "I've been staring at my lunch box for five minutes…"
And they did just that.
…
Admittedly, they didn't do "just that".
They ate, but instead of pondering potluck, things went elsewhere.
But it wasn't a big deal; they had time, over 90 minutes left for lunch, and they wouldn't have to sit down to the exam for two hours.
"They're not really teaching us anything new this week," Gamo-chan complained, though she was less grumpy with an open bento in front of her. "Other than testing, all we got to do today was sit in homeroom and then have that prep time, right before starting the exam."
Nagatoro said to her best friend. "You're supposed to use that 'prep time' to study, Gamo-chan."
"I'm not gonna try to stuff my head full of knowledge at the last minute." The Amazon was horrified. "Haven't you heard of students trying to cram like that, only to forget everything, almost like magic?!"
"I don't think it works like that, Gamou-senpai." Hana was eating yet more barbecued pork, as she had been for a week. "You don't just forget everything, but you are likely to become stressed, and it's unlikely that you'll retain anything."
"What Hanacchi said~!" Gamo-chan was grateful for the assist. "That actually sounds true!"
"It is true," Sakura joined. "All it does is turn you around, and then you might doubt yourself on the exam instead of trusting what you already knew."
"No one needs that," Yoshi fussed. "I've had that happen with history stuff…"
"Speaking of history, I kinda wish the social studies exam was earlier," Sakura mulled. "I'd rather have more time to study for math and science."
"Speak for yourself!" Gamo-chan spouted. "I'd wanna get those outta the way first!"
"But the cycle of Japanese, English, science, math, and social studies is the way of Kazehaya!" Yoshi reverently appealed to times gone by. "That was the way of our senpai, and so shall it be the way of our kohai, until we're all returned to the Earth…"
"Yes, I don't see it changing anytime soon." Hana expressed, pulling a few giggles from Gamo-chan.
"I know one thing I'm looking forward to…" Sakura said. "Depending on how things go in the next couple days, we may get to have a little freedom on Wednesday afternoon! We might get to go between homerooms or even visit the grounds~."
"Don't get your hopes up." Gamo-chan wasn't expectant. "They're just dangling that over our heads so we'll be good little girls and boys until the testing is finished. We may get some free time on Friday, but I wouldn't count on Wednesday."
"It would make sense to let us relax Wednesday afternoon." Hana liked the concept. "I think we'd all be a little 'less uncontrollable' than on Friday."
"You talkin' about yourself~?!" Gamo-chan was intrigued. "Whoa~! Hanacchi gone wild!"
"Hanacchi the party animal!" Yoshi hollered, causing Naoto to jump. "Lock up the women and children~! Call in the Ground Self-Defense Forces~!"
"There's no need for that," Hana flatly replied. "I just don't wish to be at school this week any longer than necessary."
This was met with more giggling from Gamo-chan.
"I think we can all get behind that, Hana-chan~!" Sakura caroled.
…
Having pushed his startled heart back to its proper spot, listening to his friends go on and on, their chatter drifting towards the Japanese exam, Naoto was enjoying his lunch more than he ever had by his lonesome, but that wasn't a new thing, not with the girls around.
It wasn't quiet…
It wasn't calm…
But it was most uplifting.
Maybe I was worried about nothing…
Nagatoro wasn't as active as she might be, but she didn't radiate any particular fury that day, and she was managing to take a small part in the festivities.
Sakura was acting less "normal" than she usually would around the other girls, meaning she seemed less the trifling gyaru and more the girl he so enjoyed his friendship with.
And Hana was engaging in good, clean repartee with Gamo-chan and Yoshi, to the amusement of (supposedly) everyone.
…
… …
…
Had our hero not been playing at space cadet, he would've heard the escalating racket before it was impossible to miss.
…
"What was that?" Gamo-chan growled.
Naoto fell off of his cloud. Fuck!
What was going on?!
"Gamo-chan!" Sakura barked. "Watch it…"
"You mind your own business!" Gamo-chan sizzled, glaring at the gal.
Holy shit! Naoto's stomach turned. What happened?!
He was about to find out, and not only was it one of the last things he'd imagined he'd see, it was probably the last thing he wanted to see.
Hana didn't bat an eyelash, shoulder to shoulder with Gamo-chan. "You studied hard, Gamou-senpai, and you just said you were fairly satisfied. I don't think you need to worry. The rumblings around the school say all three years had a difficult Japanese exam this time."
Ah, damn it! Naoto sensed the same apprehension that Sakura, Nagatoro, and Yoshi were visibly experiencing.
It had yet to become a problem (until, well, now), but Gamo-chan had come to lunch in a marginally foul mood, which she'd been cultivating all morning; it was only avoiding the issue that had kept her from blowing up on someone.
And that someone was Hana, somehow stumbling into the freshly-tilled garden!
Whether anyone might've been able to curb this altercation in the art room ceased to matter, because it was too late.
Hana didn't back down, not even waiting for a response to her last sentence. "I don't understand why you're so upset."
"Yeah, I guess you don't, so shut your mouth, kid!" the older girl snarled, twisting in the direction of her kohai.
…
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! Naoto couldn't give enough "fucks" about this. Gamo-chan's losing it on Sunomiya!
The very pressure of the air in the room weighed heavy on the body, crushing even the lungs!
But it might've just been how Naoto was taking it…
Regardless, no one was taking it well.
Even Sakura wasn't able to raise her voice!
Hana was impassive, even before her daunting senpai.
What happened next, Naoto—and the rest of the room—needed to see to believe.
…
Hana nudged her bento between them and said, "I'm sorry, Gamo-senpai… Please… have some beef brisket."
?! Naoto wasn't the only person knocked for a loop.
Gamo-chan was knocked for a loop, no doubt.
"Beef brisket?" Utterly disarmed, she stared, her eyes traveling between the bento and the Hana.
"This hasn't been sitting in the fridge, Gamou-senpai," Hana let her know. "My father and uncle made so much barbecue last weekend that we froze some right away, and we still filled our freezer. This is freshly-thawed. I didn't even know we had any of this left until I went looking. I was tired of just pork. Please try it."
"You're… you're offering me more barbecue…?"
"Of course," Hana encouraged. "Please have some."
Gamo-chan took a piece and popped it in her mouth.
She food-gasmed, "Oh, this stuff is so good~…!"
Hana plucked up a piece between her chopsticks. "I told my father and uncle how much the meat has been enjoyed by everyone. They were very happy to hear it. I brought more of my uncle's sauce you liked from last week. Put a dab on the brisket."
As this new tête-à-tête furthered itself along, the rest of the room sat in complete astonishment, the pacified Gamo-chan happily and graciously complementing Hana's lunch, the younger girl readily telling her about the large brick BBQ pit her family had constructed for the occasion of her grandparents' anniversary, all while they shared the beefy goodness.
It was a spectacle!
Gamo-chan bubbled, savoring the meat, tender and flavorful as candied bacon, "How did you get to be so awesome, Hanacchi~?"
As awesome as she might've been, Hana merely and mildly blushed. "…"
"…"
"…"
Gamo-chan sighed, "Thank you, Hanacchi~… I feel a little better…"
Hana returned, right back to where she'd been, moments ago, "Truly, Gamou-senpai, I don't think you should upset yourself over the Japanese test, you said—"
Not again! Naoto wanted to head for high ground, and he wasn't the only one.
Though—
"No, no, I do feel okay about the Japanese test," Gamo-chan had cut off Hana, not so rudely. "I'm really glad I worked harder this time. It was hard, but I'm sure I passed."
"Oh." Hana 10-4'd.
The big girl shrank. "I'm… mad about something else. The test was okay, but I was… distracted…"
"…"
"…"
"You don't need to share, Gamou-senpai," Hana assured. "I'm sorry for being so persistent. It just concerned me to see you so bothered… I think all of us are feeling a little stressed."
"Even you?" Yoshi balked, the first of the rest of them brought back from the communal stupor.
Hana faced Yoshi.
"Japanese and English aren't my best subjects, Yoshi-senpai, so I think today will be the hardest day for me; I can relate to Gamou-senpai's thinking, and I'm pleased to be getting these out of the way first," she coolly shared. "As it seems with second and third-year, the first-year Japanese exam was difficult compared to the other testing during the semester. It was cumulative, but that's not why it was challenging; it was simply a hard exam. I think I did well, but I'm a little nervous."
"You're right, Hanacchi, about the test being hard," Gamo-chan gave a low whistle, her gaze directed at the ceiling. "There was criticism last semester that the exams were too easy. I didn't think they were too easy, but… yeah, the averages across the school were a lot higher than normal."
"If this continues, we will likely see the opposite this time," Hana deduced. "After this morning, I think most of the students are trying to do last-minute reviewing for English; some are even skipping lunch."
"Not me~," Gamo-chan rippled, savoring another morsel of brisket. "I've done all I can do as far as studying goes, at least until tonight… I'll go through math and science for a couple hours, but for now, I'd much rather be here~."
"Me too, Gamou-senpai," Hana agreed. "I know all of us worked hard, so I think our best will be enough."
"That's a nice thought~…" the Amazon lounged, snuggling into her seat.
"You did make it through the study guides Hachioji-senpai gave you."
"Yeah~," Gamo-chan grunted, getting comfy. "I did… It was really hard, but I don't feel as bad about English, math, and science as I always do."
Her focus turned to her senpai.
"Thanks again, Paisen~." She grinned in a way far less feral than the norm, surveying him.
He trembled and said, yet almost too bewildered to speak, "Uh, sure, Gamo-chan. I'm glad they helped."
"It's nice to feel prepared," Hana put in. "I know they helped Sakura-senpai and I."
"Mm~…" Gamo-chan grinned, letting her eyelids droop shut.
A few seconds passed, and she abruptly frowned, her eyes snapping open. "…"
Hana was the first to notice the snag. "Gamou-senpai…? What's wrong now?"
For a couple minutes, Gamo-chan had quite forgotten the degree of her poor conduct towards her kohai.
She heaved a heavy sigh and said, "I'm… really sorry I snapped at you like that, Hanacchi… And I sit here, smiling and eating your brisket… And I didn't even say 'sorry' until just now!"
"It's okay," Hana pardoned.
"It's not okay…" she about mewled, appearing as guilty as a dog caught crapping on the kitchen floor. "I lost my temper… It was stupid…"
"…" Hana didn't think so. "I'm sure it's nothing stupid, Gamou-senpai."
"…"
Naoto's eyes darted around. Besides Hana, all the girls seemed as cats on a hot tin roof.
He needed to say something! He was the senpai!
"Hey, everyone just relax…" he endeavored counsel. "Sunomiya's right. We're all a little burned out, so let's just try to take it easy."
"…" The quiet hum of the light fixtures was the only thing to be heard.
I… should just keep my mouth shut…
Despite this, he was backed up.
Sakura submitted, "Gamo-chan, have you looked into things for the karaoke party? We have a date, but…"
Gamo-chan's eyes lit up, glad for any distraction. "Uh… yeah! I booked us at the new place for 1 p.m. on the 24th in one of their big rooms. I paid in advance, so chips to me, sooner than later, please. I'm short on money. I'll make sure to contact everyone, so leave it to me."
Naoto had his reservations. Even Shuu and Tohru?
But he'd go with it, and so would everyone else, given Gamo-chan's disposition that day.
He'd talk to them, post haste, about the date and time.
"Awesome~!" Sakura enthused. "Guess that means we should have lunch beforehand."
"That's the idea," Gamo-chan granted. "I wasn't too worried about getting a room that day, but I'm not taking chances, with us having… one, two, three… …eight or nine people. We need a big room. Based on what everyone said last week, 1 p.m. seemed to work the best. And… that way, if anyone has friggin' summer school…"
The tall girl dropped off, grousing.
Sakura stifled a laugh, "Don't worry, Gamo-chan! Like Hana-chan just said, we all worked hard, so let's have no more negativity~!"
"…I just want everything to be perfect…" She rested her chin on the table, her mind dwelling on karaoke as much as anything.
Hana urged, "Everything will be fine, Gamou-senpai… But I will miss having another duet with you, if things come to that."
"I really wish you were going, Hanacchi," the Amazon said, radiant at the memory. "That was so much fun~."
Her kohai shared this view. "If we don't get back from visiting Sana-neechan by Tuesday, as you've said, we can go another time. It's still up in the air, so we'll see. We do need to finish our 'setlist'."
Gamo-chan, Yoshi, and Sakura all laughed; the first day of summer had seen their session end before the songbirds—Gamo-chan and Hana—finished their selections from the catalogue.
All the while, Naoto's uneasiness retreated some, and the art room's pessimism ceased.
The girls seem okay now…
…
They seem okay, besides, I guess, one of them…
Unbeknownst to all but two of the people in the room—one of them was him—the same two were going to be taking part in a little project, coming up Friday afternoon.
The end of exams was supposed to bring relief, letting them all breathe a little easier, and the results of the exam would bring closure, whatever "closure" equated to a given person.
But Friday afternoon would bring something big.
Naoto had been distracted in the morning, preoccupied with the Japanese exam (and again having the privilege of walking to school with Sakura and Hana), but now that he had some time to think, it loomed.
Unfocused as he'd been and as floored that she'd said "yes" the night before, he was gradually realizing how big a thing it was he'd asked of Nagatoro.
He wasn't sure just what was going on in her mind, but if her manner was to be trusted, she was possibly freaking out more than he was. She could still barely look at him, and if she'd been taciturn with the other girls, she'd not said a word to him that day!
She'd sent him a "good luck" text in the morning, and he'd sent one back, but that was all their "written" or "verbal" exchanges had amounted to.
One might conclude that she was caught up in the "exam jitters", and maybe she was, but Naoto knew that had little to do with her inability to look at him or talk to him; he knew better.
She's just as nervous as me…!
He wasn't sure if this made him feel worse or better.
…
But Naoto settled on "even"; he was even with her.
They were on "level ground", so to say.
They were both on edge, and she probably knew it as well as he did.
If that was the case, maybe they could tackle this "project" with a little maturity!
He dearly hoped they would.
After all, she was modeling for him on Friday.
If it was a portrait or a full-body session, it wouldn't be any big deal.
If it was just one-half of what he planned to accomplish that day, it would be different, but it would be wieldy.
But not only would she be modeling her hands, hopefully adding to his portfolio, she'd be modeling her feet.
And that was a strange and awkward place in which to be! For both of them.
… … …
… …
…
"—but I think that last question of the literature section wasn't so bad." Gamo-chan, her despondency vented, was back to talking about the Japanese exam sensibly. "That poetry made no sense, but if you remember what that windbag said it was supposed to mean, you're golden~!"
"But I think I got that poem mixed up with another poem," Nagatoro fussed. "I think I did that a lot this morning…"
"Your best subject has always been Japanese, Hayacchi." Gamo-chan took a transitory break from shoveling her lunch into her mouth. "You had a lot on your plate this term, but I'm sure you did fine. I mean, do you think you did fine?"
"I guess…" She wanted to leave the morning behind her, and she rapidly turned acerbic. "Do we really need to relive the exam? We just finished, and we're right back to it in a couple hours."
"I thought you wanted to talk about it." Gamo-chan took another offered piece of Hana's brisket, giving a dumpling in exchange.
"I did, but now I'm good…" Nagatoro cemented.
It wasn't any skin off Gamo-chan's nose. "Okay…"
"…" Nagatoro fizzed.
"Well…" The big girl took a swallow of her juice-box. "I know another thing I'm looking forward to~."
Yoshi leapt in. "Ant-Man and the Wasp~!"
"You know it~!" Gamo-chan gave her trademark feral grin. "The Avengers was great, and Black Panther was really cool, but we still need to see the next one!"
Naoto was excited for this too!
He'd gone to Black Panther with Nagatoro, Yoshi, and Rabi-chan back in March.
An interesting Saturday THAT had been!
He'd gone to see Avengers: Infinity War with Shuu and Tohru in May.
That day was remarkably routine, save for the movie.
The whole group, sans Hana, not exceedingly interested, had seen both movies, but something had always prevented them from seeing a Marvel movie all together.
This time would be different!
"You'd better start looking into tickets now," Sakura voiced. "Group tickets are getting hard to come by."
"Can't someone else do it?" Gamo-chan half-whined. "I took care of karaoke…"
"It's cool; I'll do it," Sakura volunteered. "We can all talk about it after the week's out."
Yoshi proclaimed, "Sakura saves the day!"
Naoto smiled at the girls' antics.
Things are going pretty well!
He felt good about the morning, his own exam being manageable, and he wasn't all that mussed about the English test either.
Only a couple things could screw up this Helluva fine time…
He wasn't ashamed of having Sunday brunch with his study-buddies, but he wasn't keen on the whole room knowing either.
It would prolly just be a headache…
Though, he was possibly ashamed of what he'd be doing with Nagatoro at the tail-end of the semester!
NOBODY else needed to know about that!
But he was confident the three girls would keep these matters to themselves.
He'd wanted to express this feeling to Sakura and Hana, to implore them to no mention his part in the Sunday fun, but he just as much didn't want to mar their otherwise delightful walk to school.
That was special, notably their little agreement over the "hope" amulet…
For all he knew, the girls had agreed to keep quiet about it.
Still, it was no secret the gal and her kohai had gone shopping the day before.
Regarding his concerns over brunch becoming known, he was all the more reassured he was "safe", in that the girls had already shared the fun pics they'd taken, and no one had tried to pull him into the conversation.
All seemed well!
On the contrary, this didn't stop Sakura from putting him on the spot over something else.
"Hey, Senpai-kun, do you notice anything about Hana-chan today~?" she chirruped, motioning to the girl.
As a matter of fact, he did.
Almost unconsciously playing it safe, he said, "I think I do… She's wearing a different eyeshadow from the last time I remember. Was she wearing it this morning?"
Too scatterbrained in the a.m. to notice, he wasn't sure if she'd had it on.
Sakura was surprised. She wasn't surprised he'd noticed the eyeshadow; she just didn't expect him to know the difference from the old.
"She was…" The gal blinked. "And it is different. We picked it up yesterday."
Naoto turned to Hana, pawing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry for not noticing, Sunomiya… I just had a lot on my mind. It looks nice."
Hana was delighted, either way. "…~!"
Sakura was proud as can be. "Doesn't it~?! She did it all by herself."
"You're getting better, Sunomiya." He knew enough to know this, and he was impressed. "Really, it looks good. Really subtle. I… can't tell with the other makeup though… if it's new or not."
Indeed, she was wearing more than just eyeshadow.
"Thanks, Hachioji-senpai…" Hana pinkened. "It is new. Sakura-senpai and I had a successful 'hunt' yesterday."
"Did we ever~!" Sakura exploded. "With my Prada bag and our good looks, those clerks were eating out of the palms of our hands! We got so many high-end samples, that it oughta be a crime~!"
"And we found great prices online for most of them," Hana added matter-of-factly. "We can find what we like and buy it at a big discount."
Naoto's study-buddies were two clever girls!
Nearly busting a gut, Gamo-chan howled, "You're so bad, Sakura~! You've corrupted Hanacchi!"
"Next thing ya know, Hanacchi will be a full-blown gyaru~!" Yoshi put in. "And then she'll show up with a spray-tan~!"
Sakura giggled immoderately, "No, she won't! Will you, Hana-chan~?"
The gal turned to her good friend, beaming.
All this attention pulled a tiny, timid smile out of Hana, and the girls melted.
"Did you all see that?!" Gamo-chan polled the room, pointing with abandon. "She smiled~!"
They saw, alright!
"Oh, that is so adorbs~!" Yoshi let the world know.
Sakura squeed, rounding the table, draping herself over Hana's shoulders, "Cutie~!"
Hana went beet-red, writhingly basking in the glorification, unsure what to do. "…~!"
As for Naoto, he sported the stupidest, corniest, shit-eating-est grin he'd likely ever sported, and he hid his face.
In hiding his face, he came to face Nagatoro, enduringly sitting right where she'd been, across the way.
She leered, and his heart just about skipped a beat.
Crap! He squirmed, "clean-slating" his appearance.
It seemed she'd been cured of her inability to make eye-contact!
A look of utter disgust upon her, Nagatoro went back to her lunch.
Naoto let it roll off.
However she chose to respond to what was happening, something told him she wouldn't enjoy being fawned over, so it was doubtful her personal turmoil stemmed from that but from any one of the reasons he'd been turning over in his head.
He wouldn't condone Nagatoro's feelings, but he thought he understood why she was in such a state.
It hurt sometimes, feeling like you were being compared to someone "better" than you…
Though, it will be reiterated for the umptieth time, he reveled in the firm assertion that all the girls were special.
And the only one comparing Nagatoro to anyone else was Nagatoro.
The girls loved Hana, and it was unlikely they were exalting her with intent to be hurtful to any living creature.
She was just such a delight!
But even this adulation towards Hana, the pleasure it was, took its course, and things moved along.
There was… probably nothing to get so worked up over…
Unless Nagatoro found reason to back out on Friday, Naoto would try not to dwell on things out of his control… things best left alone.
It might prove verily easier, the coming week, if he stuck to this.
Q&A Section
Trivial but fun question: Long hair Sakura or short?
ED: It's not a trivial question. One of the only things I actually like in the canon story is Sakura's current hairstyle. Given that hair grows about six inches (15 or 16 cm) a year, it's how she'd look. I really like her hair without the clips in it.
PS: I'm a fan of long-haired Sakura. The very first thing that disappointed me in the anime was that she wasn't introduced at the very beginning with the hair she had in her earliest manga appearances.
Decisions like that are made in anime and retroacted in manga for consistency's sake, but it was still terribly lame to see happen.
People cut their hair all the time. It's not unheard of to see a young woman with hair down past her elbows, and the next time you see her, she's raised it above her shoulders.
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading! Questions and comments are welcome!