🌸Cherry Blossom Palette🎨
🌸Chapter 59: The Conclusion of Spring Term, Part One🎨
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
ED: Thanks for sticking around for the long "Monday" arc. 10 chapters…! Maybe I should divide the story into real arcs, giving them all names.
Weekender arc, Monday After arc, Puzzler arc, Study Buddy arc, Bluesy Ladder arc, Kalbi arc, Brunchy Munchy arc, Finals arc… That would bring us up to present.
Then, I guess the next would be the Doorway into Summer arc.
This week's chapter serves as partly a recap. Naoto's been through a lot, and it wouldn't hurt to remind ourselves of that. It's cheerier than last time, I can promise you, and it serves as a transition as we see the last few chapters of the spring semester.
Some good things happen for Naoto, but no day is perfect.
I hope you keep reading even if you were hoping that Naoto wouldn't forgive Nagatoro; I know some of you didn't want it to happen. But a lot more is to come. I like to think there are reasons for everything in the story, and I think I'm doing okay with that. Things will "level out" and become clearer to Naoto.
Last chapter was a little much. I asked PS to help me bring some real anger to Naoto and now almost wish I'd asked him to hold back a little. But when a girl habitually and daily treats the guy that loves her like she outwardly wants him to kill himself, that might make an unassuming young man rage a bit when pushed too far.
PS definitely led me on a different path with some of the material last chapter. The rambling stuff he suggested with little or no punctuation was something I've never seen before. He said he "loosely based it stylistically" on stuff by Mackinlay Kantor and Dalton Trumbo. I read a few excerpts he gave me and found it uncomfortable and unnerving, so we agreed to try it! It was going to be a bigger section of rambling thoughts, but we agreed that Naoto had vented enough for one day.
Something my editor and I have never seen eye to eye on is the "nonessential" use of the word "that". Sometimes it isn't grammatically necessary, but I like it because I feel it gives more clarity to a sentence and consistency to a written work as a whole, using it where appropriate. Maybe that makes it a stylistic thing to me. PS was "conditioned" to not use the word when it wasn't absolutely needed and tends to avoid it. He goes on about flow, fluidity, and emersion, and I trust him when it comes to certain things.
It's not a big deal, and I don't think it bothers most readers one way or the other, but I can see his side of the argument. They TRIED to condition me in middle school and high school. My teachers in English and grammar would cross out the word "that" during the grading of papers if they found it to not be needed. Then a professor I had in technical writing told us to be as clear as possible and use the word whenever we felt it could be useful. I fall to the technical side, you might guess.
One of my biggest problems coming into this story was that I tended to have trouble with "conversational" writing, which I agree hurts immersion, but I think I'm getting better.
I was mostly correct about my predictions for Chapter 112, though Hana didn't bounce around as much as I thought she would, and it was another wasted two or three weeks of waiting for nothing to happen. It does, however, seem that Gamo-chan has two left feet, so I bet she won't be dancing with Naoto at the end of the sports festival or in the firelight the night after the culture fest.
It truly is disgusting how much Nagatoro is jealous of her friends for having more interesting bodies and how insecure she is about her own. I know I complain about being a blond, 5'11" (181cm), C-cupped Amazon able to clean-and-jerk 175 lb. (80kg) in a world where men tend to prefer cuter, littler cupcakes, but I don't hate my friends for it. Be that as it may, my editor told me I was pretty, and he was sober when he said it, so I must not be too bad.
Ask us anything, and I'll add a Q&A section to the next chapter. I would be happy if you ask questions.
Please enjoy what I wrote.
Friday, July 19, 2018
On the last day of the term, Naoto Hachioji sat in homeroom, doing nothing in particular.
As was typical, near the entryway of the school, the top 20 students in each year and their exam grades had been posted.
He was 15th in his year!
He was pleased but surprised. 425 wouldn't normally be that great of a score, but the first semester was often the worst, and students would be more serious for the tests in the fall.
They'd better be, at least, the seniors' average being 358 points for the spring exams…
As it turned out, all of the tests were more difficult than normal, just like the Japanese test had been, so maybe the average wasn't that terrible, and very few students actually failed, most very close to the average, whatever side they'd fallen on.
It was the tallest, narrowest bell-curve a person had ever seen!
The extra studying and supplementary work had helped Naoto, and he hoped it'd helped Sakura Inori, Hana Sunomiya, and Maki Gamou as well.
Unfortunately, he'd been unable to check for the first and second-year grades.
"…"
Well, he wasn't unable to… It was just too crowded for his liking to stand in line for something that wasn't his.
He'd hear soon enough how the girls had done.
Homeroom hadn't even started, but he was already feeling a little drained, raring for the week to be over.
That Friday would be mostly lip-service, doing a few things for their classes, but they'd be able to relax and talk and—if the teachers were feeling charitable—travel in between classes or even around the school grounds.
But first, they'd be getting their exams back.
While Naoto knew he'd received a 425 for his total score, he wouldn't see his separate, specific scores until the results were handed out.
"…"
Without his unfounded worries of his own pass/fail concerning him, he reflected upon the week, and he didn't contemplate his exams.
There was a lot!
His foot still hurt, a horrible bruise spreading from his ankle to the base of his toes, but it was better…
"…"
Gamo-chan had been delighted to hear that his buddies, Shuu Aisho and Tohru Hijikata, both wanted to join their group for karaoke and the beach.
It staggered him just how delighted she'd been!
She'd be even more tickled about it when she found out that Shuu liked karaoke almost as much as she did!
Naoto was looking forward to seeing Gamo-chan smile over that…
"…~"
He was also looking forward to horseback riding with his parents on Sunday, something he'd done with them a few times a year since he was a little kid.
He wasn't bad at it either!
"…~!"
There were other "less important" things, but not many, and they petered out.
…
He sighed, now brought to the more important things, "…"
There was even more to think about…
There was no way to gloss over what had happened during lunch on Monday.
That had been bad… and painful to dwell upon.
…
The school had almost cracked down, ready to kick everyone out of their clubrooms, lock all of the doors, and confiscate all of the clubs' keys until the semester was over.
Naoto had, after all, given them a reason to finally implement the rules so loosely enforced…
But the administration was still too lazy to go that far, so the school simply reminded the students that no club activities were to take place until the semester was ended.
Half-assed as it was, the school buckled down on the students, and the rumor was that the Art Club was at the center of the trouble.
This didn't win Naoto any popularity points, but nothing had really come of it.
…
The personal aftermath of his going off the deep end was far more meaningful to him.
He and his friends hadn't met that day after school for ice cream or sodas, and they certainly hadn't held the Tuesday potluck.
He thought about the girls—his friends—whom he'd hurt.
They hadn't talked much more about it, but Naoto had apologized to Hana, Gamo-chan, and Yoshi, in person, after school on Monday. Hayase Nagatoro had already left, not that she'd been "invited".
It hadn't been easy…
And he undeniably thought about how he'd first asked for their forgiveness, messaging them like a complete tool, so he viewed himself.
But they'd seemed quite understanding, and they'd read his text prior to the English exam.
Sakura Inori seemed pleased with his apology but had shown some real concern over the anger he'd displayed. The same could be said of the others.
If only they knew how far it had gone…
And Naoto had some real concerns of his own about Sakura's proposed measure of trying to set things right, apologizing to Nagatoro, even if he didn't mean it.
It wasn't a thing easily dismissed, her goal of reconciliation and harmony at the cost of the truth, no matter WHAT was at stake…
…
He hadn't the foggiest idea of how Nagatoro and Gamo-chan had made up. He wouldn't even pretend to know how that had happened. He wouldn't even begin to pretend to understand, but they had.
A friendship lasting well over a decade wasn't so easily crushed, but it had been pretty dreadful, what occurred.
…
Then, he'd been too elated with "setting things right" with Nagatoro to think all that hard about it, but had he "betrayed" Hana in the process? After she stuck up for him?
Hana had been cordial with him all week, but was she just being polite? Did she actually despise him?
Even if she made it back in time from her family's trip to Tokyo, would she refuse to go to karaoke? The beach?
He'd certainly done Gamo-chan a great disservice, fuming at her, especially after she'd defended him, dropping her own defenses and admitting to some painful things, not only in front of her two oldest friends, but Hana too.
She'd had such a terrible time on Monday… and she'd wept over it…
…
Sakura and Hana had been the only ones besides Naoto to return to the art room the rest of the week, for eating or for anything. The three had been together for lunch on Wednesday, but Naoto had eaten with Shuu and Tohru twice.
Happily, Hana had gone to meet Sakura's classmates, and to Naoto's pleasure, they'd had no ill intent; they were just interested—and not unreasonably so—at the kind of girl Sakura had befriended so quickly, though the "befriending" was quite mutual. They were charmed by the first-year girl, it was gathered.
…
Naoto had gone into the rest of his exams feeling pretty good, and he was so very relieved that he'd patched things up with Nagatoro. He'd only seen her in passing, but they'd met each other in the mornings, smiled, and wished one another luck on their exams, though briefly, knowing the other was just trying to concentrate.
He was beyond glad, it might go without saying, that she'd come after him and that he'd had second thoughts about just turning his back on her.
There really DID seem to be a peace and understanding between them…
He'd told Sakura in private that her advice saved him. She wouldn't say she told him so, and she hadn't, but he'd expected it.
But it still didn't sit too well with him, her means—his action—to that end.
…
Another thing bugging him was the altercation between Nagatoro and Gamo-chan, specifically the stuff about the Maki's past.
Gamo-chan had come apart. Do you really think that of me? That I'd just beat up Rabi-chan like that?
It wouldn't be the first time. Nagatoro had really seemed to enjoy it.
…That was a long time ago… Gamo-chan hadn't appreciated the reminder.
Nagatoro had. Not really~…
"…!"
What was Nagatoro referencing?
And how cruel had it been to confront Gamo-chan for "being afraid" of everything… for being afraid of him?
She'd done this in front of Hana, Yoshi, and himself!
Gamo-chan had told him that she often felt this way, and Nagatoro had now said it too.
But what did that mean?
Was she scared of him? Gamo-chan? Of him?! Really?!
He didn't know how to pile into that!
And he couldn't make any excuse for how terrible Nagatoro had been to Gamo-chan, no matter HOW heated and nasty their exchange had become…
…
What's more, he'd seen all the girls besides Nagatoro since Monday, and they'd all told him—give-or-take a word—the same things.
They didn't say much about him blowing his stack or his apologies, but they'd said a few things, and it was plenty.
They understood why he got so angry.
Nagatoro was out of line, he was stressed out, and it just happened.
That said, they implied that his groveling apology had been somewhat excessive, and he didn't disagree.
He'd meant it though, ungainly as it had been…
…
As if the above wasn't enough, there was his loss of control, which no one else besides he himself was aware of.
It was bad that he'd yelled at Nagatoro… that he'd vented his spleen in front of the girls.
It was worse that he'd screamed at Gamo-chan.
But those thoughts he'd had—after—raging with the vehemence of a man longing to burn the Earth?
That had been fucked up…
Then, so it gave the impression, at the very least, all it had taken was Nagatoro shedding a few tears and telling him some things he'd longed to hear from her for him to abandon his apparent passion to see all reduced to ashes.
He'd really gone in on it, pulling off a resounding 180 °, falling to pieces for her.
That he'd had time to think, the peculiarity of his reversal wasn't lost on him.
It wasn't normal…
Perhaps, it was normal for him to be mildly angry at Nagatoro and what she'd put him through on Monday.
And he was…
He was a little angry…
But it hadn't shown up until about Wednesday.
…
Finally, having had more time than was comfortable to ruminate over the worst of the last few weeks, Naoto had come to a bleak but decidedly healthy conclusion:
He blamed himself far too much for things that weren't really his fault… and things out of his control… had been as far back as he could remember…
No one could deny that there was plenty of blame to go around.
And all being well, he'd be wise enough to remember that.
He hoped to hold onto that grounding, but with his track record on "having learned his lesson" as it was…
…
Things had seemingly worked out for the best, but…
Too much… Too much…
…
The school bell rang, and after Naoto's teacher expressed disappointment over the lackluster average the seniors had achieved—particularly in math—their actual results were handed back.
Naoto did well enough on exams, once he was able to see his marks in detail, not that 425 points with a top 20 placement hadn't given him a general idea that he'd finished strong.
He was satisfied and more, though he felt he'd made some dumb mistakes.
He was pleased with his score in math. It had been difficult, and the average was not great.
He might've done a little better with English, but he'd not been all there, though he'd felt normal enough after getting so angry he thought he might stroke out.
It was as follows:
…
Hachioji Naoto
Japanese 84 (73)
English 79 (74)
Science 89 (71)
Math 82 (60)
Social Studies 91 (80)
Total 425 (358)
…
He smiled, viewing his grades, almost indiscernibly pumping his fist.
He'd done alright!
And he hoped the girls had done alright!
With the semester over and a set of good grades in the bag, he'd be able to meet with Nagatoro and hopefully have a successful session together, her modeling for his portfolio.
As long as they were out of there by 6 p.m., the staff didn't care.
Speaking of the staff, the students had been on edge, waiting to see if they'd actually get any of that "fabled free time", on the precipice of losing it thanks to a certain asshole Art Club.
But they were to be given plenty of free time that day, though they still had some classwork to do.
It was up to the teacher in charge, and Naoto's let them have the hour to do what they wanted, but they couldn't LEAVE the room.
It wasn't the most popular, but it beat booking.
While the rest of the class chatted, Naoto contemplated his next move.
He wanted to share his grades with Sakura and Hana, but he'd never been one to do it by text…
Beep! Beep!
He started at the sound of his own phone, but when he saw who it was, he eagerly read the message:
Hey, Senpai-kun~! I got my grades back! Look!
She'd attached an image, a snapshot of her grade sheet, and it read as follows:
…
Inori Sakura
Japanese 74 (64)
English 67 (70)
Science 65 (52)
Math 61 (57)
Social Studies 68 (68)
Total 331 (311)
…
Holy shit! Naoto wanted to jump for joy!
Sakura had beaten the total average!
He didn't jump, but he pounded on his desk with such violence that every set of eyes in the room centered on him.
He didn't care.
"Yes…!" he pumped his fist again.
The gal had done good! She'd done REAL good!
He typed back:
Congratulations, Sakura-san! That's great!
She replied:
I didn't quite make the average in English. I JUST missed it, so I guess you owe me dinner! But I'm SO happy with my grades! You and those study guides were lifesavers! Thank you! Thank you!
Naoto beamed. "…~!"
A follow-up text arrived:
How did YOU do, #15?
She'd seen him on the list!
Figuring it wasn't a big deal—and she already knew he'd done well—he sent an image of his own grade sheet.
Sakura shot back:
Awesome, Senpai-kun! Let me know if your teacher next period lets you run free. It seems MINE will, so let's meet if you're at liberty!
Wowza! What an invitation that was for him.
He returned:
I'm not sure yet, but I'll let you know.
Finally:
Yay~! ️ See you later~!
He hoped so!
Putting down his phone, his thoughts turned to Hana.
How had she done?
He hadn't checked to see if she'd placed in her grade, and maybe Sakura didn't know either, so he figured he'd find out later.
"…!"
And now, he wanted to know how the rest of the girls had done!
He wasn't about to send his results to all of them, but—
Beep! Beep!
"…~!" picking up his phone, he eagerly woke it up.
Was it Sakura again?!
Maybe it was Hana!
It was…
It was from Nagatoro!
Oh, boy! He knew it was probably either about her grades, which he was sure were fine, or about modeling after school.
Or maybe she even wanted to ask about HIS grades or have lunch~!
He read, and it said:
Senpai, I'm sorry, but I'm going home sick today. I haven't gotten much sleep the last few days, and it's caught up to me. I think I picked up that bug going around. I won't be able to model today. Sorry!
…
"Shit!" Naoto cussed aloud but not loud enough to cause a fuss. This is just great!
But he might've seen this coming…
Nagatoro had seemed to run herself ragged that week!
Maybe she'd caught the same crud that had started showing up the day before, scattered throughout the student body.
Damn it!
But it's not like there was anything to be done about it…
He replied:
Just take care of yourself. I'm sorry that you're sick. Don't worry about this afternoon. Just rest.
He added:
It's okay. We can do this another time.
She responded:
Thanks, Senpai. I'm sorry. I started to feel it last night, but I hoped it was nothing.
He wouldn't hold it against her:
Just relax. Week's over. Let me know if you need anything.
It took a moment, but she sent an affirmative:
I will, Senpai. Thanks.
He set his phone down.
That was the end of that…!
"Fuck!" he hissed, under his breath.
…
…
…
Sadly, and to the consternation of many, Naoto's classes had all been "in class".
Either they were allowed to mill about their homeroom or they did ACTUAL work…
That meant that he couldn't see Sakura—or any of the other girls—until lunch.
And that's what he had in mind, his noontime meal, knowing the art room wasn't a bad place to start looking for his friends.
The lunch hour wasn't as long as it'd been on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and it did actually come to an hour.
An hour of time to do whatever…
Naoto was happy that Sakura had done so well, he expected that Hana had done well, and he hoped the others had done well too.
The thing about Nagatoro going home sick was one Helluva bummer though!
"Fuck…" he hissed, for perhaps the hundredth time in three hours.
He was still elated that he'd made up with Nagatoro, but he'd been SO ready to work with her, and now—
"Senpai-kun~!" a voice warbled, coming up fast.
He turned just in time to see Sakura leaping into him, arms outstretched.
Barely managing to catch her, he twirled her around himself and set her feet back to the floor.
"Sakura-san!" he gasped. "What are you—?"
She moved into hug him properly, her girls smooshing his arm as she wrapped herself around him.
"Bwaaaah!" Naoto shuddered, her ample assets separated by his elbow.
She backed off at once, realizing she'd given him a squishy hug. "Sorry, Senpai-kun…"
He was fast to recuperate. "It's okay."
"…"
"…"
"So, uh…" Sakura eased in but finished chipperly. "I guess we did alright, Senpai-kun~!"
Naoto tried moving past the brief, awkward silence. "Yeah, we sure did."
He tried not to blush, but it wasn't possible.
He was just so PLEASED that things had gone well for the gal!
She was eager to talk about grades, evidently, and she pulled out her results:
…
Inori Sakura
Japanese 74 (64)
English 67 (70)
Science 65 (52)
Math 61 (57)
Social Studies 68 (68)
Total 331 (311)
…
"Well, again, I hit all but one average… the English test was pretty hard for me," she discoursed. "I actually did worse on social studies than I do on average—the test was really selective—but these are still the best grades I've had since middle school~!"
Naoto was curious. "Were all of your tests harder than last time too? I mean, we've been talking about it…"
"Yeah, I guess it was a lot worse than most people thought," she reasoned. "311 is not a good average, and I only beat it by 20 points. Considering how hard I studied for English, I was hoping to do a little better."
He concurred, "Yeah, same for me…"
"English was a weird one this time; the average was higher than the rest, but students either did very well or pretty badly. I'm one of the few 'in-betweens'. I'm one of the few in-betweens, period. It seems people either did pretty alright or pretty terrible overall…"
He happened to think she'd done just great, and he didn't want to hear her criticize herself too much. "I'm proud of you, Sakura-san."
"…!" She jarred a little. "Senpai-kun?"
"I'm proud of you, Sakura-san, really."
She blushed. "I… did blow my old grades away, didn't I~…? …Other than in social studies…"
"You did," he endorsed.
"I already told my parents…" She'd gone cerise. "They were really happy with the grades. Even a few of my teachers told me they were happy to see that much of an increase."
"That's good."
"My parents say 'thank you'~," she murmured.
Naoto jolted. "…!"
"They're happy you were willing to do this… Thank you~."
She moved closer.
What? Naoto couldn't tell what was up, but he found out quickly enough.
As she had the night that they'd both eaten themselves silly at the yakiniku restaurant, she kissed her index and middle-fingers and patted his cheek.
"Seriously, thank you, Senpai-kun~," she burbled, her cheekbones the hue of a good sunburn.
Up was down, down was somewhere on the wall, and Naoto took a little trip to space.
Yippee-Ki-Yay!
It took about all he had in him to keep a level head. "Y-you're welcome, Sakura-san."
She smiled. "…~!"
He returned it. "…"
She jumped gears. "Enough about me; you did great! Have you ever placed like that?"
"Not that high," he admitted.
"You made the top-20~!"
"Yeah…" He had.
"Congratulations, big guy~."
Big guy?
"Same to you…" But he didn't dare respond with the title of "curvy girl".
She'd been chomping at the bit to ask, "Did you hear about Hana-chan's scores~?!"
"…No." Naoto hadn't.
Sakura was slightly disappointed. "I was hoping you'd have heard… But now you can ask her yourself. I think you'll be pleased~."
Of course, Hana had told Sakura!
"…"
Wait…
"Heard"?
That meant…
Did Sunomiya make the top-20 too?! It wouldn't surprise him.
But Naoto didn't have time to dwell on that, because Sakura changed things up again.
"Both of our classes were free at the same time, so I went to go visit Hana-chan in her homeroom."
Whoa! He wouldn't have minded seeing that! What did the class think of Sakura?!
She answered him, despite his not asking formally; she giggled, "I think I scared 'em all a little~."
He couldn't laugh at that, but it was probably true. "Hmm…"
"I just wanted to see her for a few minutes, because I'm not heading to the art room for lunch," she explained.
Right! They were in lunch period!
Naoto was let down, hoping they'd been on the same path to the same place. "Oh…"
"Sorry," she apologized. "I'm gonna go eat with a few girls I've been 'ignoring'."
"Tell Gamo-chan and Yoshi 'hello' for me." He couldn't be upset with her for wanting to see her friends.
She shook her head. "Not them, some other girls."
"Oh."
"You might be able to tell them yourself~." She poked out the tip of her tongue, reddening again.
He smiled, knowing they were probably already in the clubroom.
Walking away, she said warmly, "Tell Hana-chan and them I said 'hi'~!"
"Sure!" He raised a hand in reply.
"…~" She gave him a kissy face and paddled off.
Ya-hee! Lil' Naoto gave a howdy-doo.
And the rest him reeled on the spot.
…
Wait…
…
Shoot!
He forgot to tell Sakura that Hana was leaving immediately after school for her family's trip to Tokyo.
But the gal was already gone…
"…" He let it go for the time being.
It didn't confront him; he'd send her a message once he'd sat down to lunch.
There, he would probably find how Hana, Gamo-chan, and Yoshi had done on THEIR exams.
He was slightly nervous but hopeful.
…
…Hey…
…
"…!" He'd also meant to ask Sakura about Nagatoro, the girls all being in the same homeroom, but he'd totally spaced it.
…
Oh, well… He was about to see Gamo-chan and Yoshi anyway; they'd know.
If they were indeed waiting in the art room…
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading! Questions and comments are welcome!