🌸Cherry Blossom Palette🎨
🌸Chapter 67: Off-the-Cuff Modeling, Part Four🎨
[The Second Act]
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
ED: First off, I've decided to make the "summer saga" into an entirely new story.
The story will be called "Summer by the Sea", so watch for it in the next few weeks.
What you're reading now is actually the SECOND TO LAST chapter of Cherry Blossom Palette. I screwed up.
So, here's the SECOND part of "Chapter 66" of THREE parts.
When I said we had technical difficulties, I meant that I lost most of chapter 66, only the first 1/3 of the story was intact. It'll be at least several days before the third part of the chapter is ready.
I really wanted a LOTR size final chapter for the first part of the story, but I'll settle for this.
I asked my editor to be a little less hands on than he normally is (mostly because I screwed up and deleted most of Chapter 66), so I essentially told him to help me less this time. I like to think I've gotten better in my own right, and PS thinks so, but I wanted to see how it came out. I hope things come out clean and clear enough. You won't miss anything, but it may feel different.
To me, it seems less "streamlined" when he doesn't clean up.
…
In canon, three beneficial things happened, which is more than normal:
Nagatoro's sister is "Misaki". I don't have to call her "Pig Vomit" anymore, and "Hatsue" won't be needed.
Her brother is "Taiga", not "Ichiro", so we have a correct name for him. We'll go with "Taiga" in the second story. I won't bother going back to change it in this story… too many instances and too many fic sites.
Sakura looks great in long hair. PS agrees.
I'd love for Naoto to gather the courage and tell Nagatoro's siblings to go take a couple of dirt naps for the way they treat him. You don't seemingly treat your little sister's love interest like you hate him or want him to stay away or off himself. It's terminally stupid when he doesn't get it. The two of them are just $$holes.
I know why they pretend to treat him like garbage, but I don't care. Naoto's head doesn't work that way, and neither does Nagatoro's, which is funny, because all her siblings ever taught her was that teasing and hurting others is how to deal with the problems that she's too inept to cope with healthily.
That's lovely. All they teach her is how to hurt. It's where she gets it from.
Oh, well. Pornographers aren't good for much more than porn. They're certainly not much good for running comparatively "not evil" things either.
…
Ask us anything, and we'll add a Q&A section in the next chapter. I would be happy if you ask questions.
Please enjoy what I wrote.
Friday, July 19, 2018
Senpai and kohai had finally completed their impromptu modeling session.
Having wrapped up fixing and drying the final portrayal, Naoto Hachioji went through his creations, on the sofa, alongside his friend.
For reasons best known to the Omniscient, they critiqued the last sketch first.
As well as things had gone, Sakura Inori had a few reservations… maybe.
She unequivocally kept Naoto guessing!
"I'm totally sure I gave you this pose at some point, Asshole-kun…" she accused, leaning on her senpai. "Are you sure you didn't just wanna fondle me~?"
Cripes! Naoto held onto his composure like a drowning rat to a floating hunk of shit.
"I told you that you were close!" He reached to adjust his glasses, and—surprise—they were still at home. "But it wasn't quite right…"
"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say…" Sakura scoffed. "And you said it wouldn't take long."
Naoto deflected, "You didn't want me taking a picture or video for reference, so…"
"Is that something you really do?" She broke off the horseplay. "Take pictures of your subject and work off that?"
"Sometimes, it's the best way," he informed. "The stuff the Prez did? For the last two school festivals? It was the only way to do a self-portrait like she wanted, unless someone else took the pics for her."
She probably would've had HIM do it if she'd thought he'd been okay with it!
Sakura mused, "I guess I'm glad she was never actually caught taking nude 'selfies' in the art room; the school just knew about it. You said you almost lost the keys for that?"
"She almost lost us the keys," Naoto clarified. "I didn't get the keys until she graduated."
…
It seemed the night was finally winding down!
Calamity had almost fallen upon the session, but a little honesty and maturity seemed to go a long way, Naoto felt.
That wasn't to say Sakura hadn't given him a little grief during that final rendering he'd done!
But her good humor had gotten them through—no point in denying it—the powerful awkwardness following her senpai physically touching her legs and feet to correctly position the last pose, the contact something she vehemently dreaded.
It was less like a child terrified of needles and more a 45-year-old man getting his first prostate exam… or any other thing that gives one manga-sized heebie-jeebies…
And since Sakura could be funny without being overly cruel, rarely running a joke into the ground, into a wall, or off a cliff, Naoto could dig her comedy.
He loved the banter they shared!
For a time, they continued to cycle through the day's work, senpai telling kohai what he'd been trying to accomplish in each piece, kohai taking an active interest.
Sometimes, things just seemed perfect.
It defied a sane brain that things could be so good, given the large-scale poo-stabbery the week had begun with.
Still, here they were, having a pretty damn good time!
But it had been a long night, and neither of them was able to keep entirely on task.
…
"I feel a little bad, Senpai-kun…" Sakura confessed. "It's not like we've had the time to do it, but Hana-chan wants to try doing pedicures with me. She's never done one before, and I want her to learn how to do it properly, but I… sorta weaseled my way out of giving her an answer."
Naoto could guess what the problem was, examining some shading of one of the sketches of Sakura's hands. "Kind of uncomfortable, I bet…"
"Yeah, I just couldn't figure out how to tell her I was weirded out by the idea of her touching me there… and me her…" The gal watched as her senpai flipped a page. "I really want Hana-chan to know how to do it right but not have to watch a YouTube video."
"I don't think you should worry too much, Sakura-san."
"You think?" She toyed with the hem of his gym shorts she'd borrowed, left on upon admitting she was a little chilly.
Naoto had faith. "I think Sunomiya would understand if you told her how you felt. It's not like she's not bothered or not 'skeeved out' by something, so I don't think it'd be a problem if you just explained."
"She is understanding when you tell her like it is…" she delighted. "Maybe I could just show her."
It seemed so simple!
Sakura got off one train and hopped another. "So, you say you wanna borrow some Eyeshield 21?"
"Oh, definitely." Naoto was glad to jump on the possibility. "I'll return the favor."
"If you're offering, then~…" Sakura adopted a roguish milieu, equine spirit restored.
Uh-oh!
"I'd like to try out Paradise Harem, Senpai-kun. I know you read it~."
Oh, shit!
There was no point in hiding; he said, "Yeah, but I wasn't about to suggest it. It's embarrassing…"
"Well, I'm not about to let you be embarrassed alone~." Sakura moved in for the kill.
She didn't LOOK embarrassed!
"I doubt you know this one," she waxed smartly. "Ore no Himegutsu wo Haitekure."
Naoto passively pressed the advantage, "Yeah, Put on My Princess Shoes. I know about it."
Sakura gaped. "You know it?!"
"I read it."
"Eep!"
"I remember you referenced it last Thursday, Sakura-san…"
This was the manga about legs and perverts!
"You read it…?" Now, the gal seemed embarrassed.
Naoto reddened. "It's not like it was hard to find; I have a VPN. I read it Saturday and Sunday… It only took a couple hours."
"I guess it is only three volumes' worth of story, Senpai-kun…" Sakura kicked about, turning devotion to her reinstated floppy socks, a cordon shielding the world from her radioactively green pedicure.
But how many roentgen were her manicured HANDS still giving off?!
"I actually learned a few things," Naoto commenced. "I only started looking in on that stuff about the shapes of hands and feet after I read the manga."
The blonde couldn't deny, "There was plenty of that sorta stuff in there…"
He wasn't sure what had him asking, "When did you read it, Sakura-san?"
"I read it right when the series concluded. Found it by accident," she replied, eyeballing him.
Naoto realized she was eyeballing him. "Hmm?"
"So… what did you think~?" she wondered.
Talk about a loaded question!
There was no need for him to fabricate anything though. "I… liked it. It was a nice, contained story."
"I thought it was kinda hot~," Sakura owned up. "It could be a little messed up, but it was a real gas~."
Oh, my Gawd! This gal!
"You read it upon its completion?" Naoto shook his head. "It didn't seem like something a junior high girl should be reading…"
"Weren't we just talking about Berserk a little while ago~?" Sakura pipped.
"You got me there…"
"And I'm sure you never had anything 'not age-appropriate' when you were younger~." She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Besides Berserk?"
"What do you think~?"
"You got me there…"
Sakura fancied, "How awesome would it be if Princess Shoes got an anime~?"
As much as Naoto wanted to answer in the affirmative, "I think it might be a little too niche… and the subject matter…"
"I s'pose…" She hated when that kind of crap got in the way of anime progress. "They'd have to butcher the series… kinda like when they never included Guts's childhood properly… or the sordid king/princess stuff and Wyald from Berserk…"
"We already covered that about Berserk…" Naoto recalled. "And that part with the king and his daughter was messed up…!"
"I never saw that coming…" Sakura wrinkled her nose. "One page, he's like, 'So, he touched these lips…? So, this body… was touched by his tongue… his fingers…?!'. Next page, he's all… bbbrrrrrrrrrrrrr… yech!"
He was aghast. "You remember it verbatim?!"
"Hey, it was traumatizing~." She sneered at him. "At least I didn't act out the 'om-nom-nom-nom' part."
"Yech, yourself…" Naoto gave a mildly appalled, all-in, wheezy laugh, shaking his head. "That's disgusting…"
"…~" The gal puckered and flipped him off, emitting a kissy sound.
The artist shuddered, still quaking in dismayed amusement. "…"
"But as far as Princess Shoes goes, I wanna see an anime~!" Sakura sermonized, pointing to the ceiling as Galileo pointed to the stars. "I think a 4-episode OVA would to the trick. There are plenty of manga they wait a long time to animate. It could go straight to video or premium, and those assholes wouldn't have to carve it up for TV~!"
Yikes!
"I wish I'd kept my mouth shut…" Naoto had been happy to move away from talk on that series, regretting even starting in on it.
This was humiliating!
"…"
"…"
"Why's it so embarrassing for you?" Sakura asked, decidedly shucking off her own Princess Shoes discomfiture as the mortal husk is shucked from the corn of man's eternal soul.
It might've been the shared knowledge both of them had read something in which (quite graphically) the protagonist paid a call-girl for sex, only for him to lick her feet whilst boondoggling his own boogie… She hadn't been pleased about it.
Naoto, recalling that and many other unwholesome scenes in the story, viewed that as a rhetorical question. "Well, why do you think…?"
"…"
"…"
It was a good thing the two of them were getting better accustomed to the other's idiosyncrasies, because—
"I think I understand how you can find women's legs attractive," Sakura fired this mortar-shell on Ft. Naoto.
Oh, fuck! What was she up to?!
"Sakura-san!" he gasped. "What are you…?!"
"They do so much for a person, bearing the literal and figurative weight of life. And they are pretty, women's legs~." Rather than wheedling, she exuded legitimacy.
Hoping to hold onto his head, Naoto caught himself. "…!"
He could agree to that… and she was only talking specifically about LEGS, fortunately…
But the young artist wasn't that lucky.
"Feet are sorta weird and gross, but that adds to the fun of it, I think~," Sakura disclosed. "I mean, I think women's feet are beautiful; the whole female body is beautiful."
Is she kidding me with this?! Naoto's sphincter cinched shut on him.
Taking note of his balking, the gal speculated, "What, you can't appreciate another man's handsomeness?"
"Not in that way!" he cried out.
She gave ground, "Yeah, I guess I can see that… No offense meant, but men's bodies are sorta gross… and ugly… not that I don't like them~. It's complicated."
Only some things were simple with Sakura!
Naoto stewed, no offense taken. "…"
"Don't read into it too much, Senpai-kun," Sakura recommended. "You know I'm a little weird~."
He already knew that very well!
His manner told her so.
Maybe it was his idiotic grin, reminiscing her antics in the park, filling the divot under her swing with public water, playing in the sand and such.
Sakura scolded, her right hand forming a pincer, "You wipe that look off your face, Asshole-kun, or you're getting the crab-claw."
"…!" Naoto retreated across the cushion, in no mood to get pinched.
"Yeah, that's what I thought~…" she stated with satisfaction. "I can't read your mind, but I can see what you're thinking."
He didn't doubt it, and he went back to his arty analyses. "…"
"…"
"…"
After a moment or two—
"Hey, Senpai-kun…"
It didn't take a detective to single out Sakura's sudden downtroddenness.
"Yes?" Naoto's attention peaked.
She stared at her hands, clasped between her thighs. "It's about Gamo-chan…"
This could be bad… Naoto was wary. "What is it?"
"I know you're prolly not keen on the subject, but it has to do with the deal with Rabi-chan."
She was right! He WASN'T keen on it!
But he provided her, "I see."
He hadn't thought much about Rabi-chan, the girl herself, focusing chiefly on the Maki.
In the whole mess, Rabi-chan was more a name than anything else, as if Gamo-chan had been hurt and insulted by some vague and intangible thing.
But Rabi-chan was very real, and she'd wounded Gamo-chan.
"Yeah…" Sakura sighed. "That…"
Naoto wished he already knew what his artificially blonde friend was about to throw at him, if only to prepare himself. "…?"
She didn't keep him waiting.
"One time, a few weeks back, before things blew up, Rabi-chan said Gamo-chan looked mannish…" she spat with contempt.
Where the Hell did THIS come from?!
How the new subject fit in with the old subject—if it did—he didn't know.
Be that as it may…
Naoto didn't think Gamo-chan was mannish!
As far as he was concerned, the Amazon was a whole lotta woman!
She could even be very cute!
Predictably, perhaps, Sakura heatedly detailed, "Rabi-chan said it—on purpose—in earshot of some boys. She said Gamo-chan's hands and shoulders and feet looked mannish, and she knew Gamo-chan wouldn't be able to defend herself… It was so cruel, Senpai-kun!"
Fuck! It's about Gamo-chan's magnificent body! He might've known!
Notwithstanding, he "fell into" it.
Concerning Gamo-chan's features, he'd endeavored to not stare long enough to determine the validity of these declarations, but he did have eyes, and he couldn't synchronize with Rabi-chan's nonsense.
"That's awful…" The young man felt slighted on behalf of the burly girly.
Sakura nodded. "Yeah."
"…" Naoto waited, certain there was more, and he wasn't to be let down.
"Me? I know Rabi-chan's just jealous," the gal discoursed. "I completely and totally disagree with what she said. Gamo-chan is beautiful. I get that any girl would envy Gamo-chan's legs, but Rabi-chan's just said some rotten things lately."
Oh, please don't start talking about Gamo-chan's legs! Naoto thought his kohai was being somewhat tactless, harping on this to him, but he fast understood the new topic's orientation to the old.
"I only saw it once, but Gamo-chan wore a pair of pumps to karaoke this one time~." Sakura all but drooled. "She couldn't walk for shit, but her legs just looked epic! Like, stellar!"
Still unable to reason why she would tell this to him, Naoto could imagine these words were true, and he struggled to keep a clear mind. "…"
"Rabi-chan has those short legs…" his kohai persisted. "But that's no reason to be so terrible… I mean… I dream of having long, gorgeous legs, but I'm more like Rabi-chan."
Nope! Naoto had NEVER thought about any of that, not at all! NEVER!
It had him sweating. "…!"
And he STILL didn't know why Sakura was bent on this!
But… he supposed girls had "universal insecurities", just like boys did.
It seemed a fact of life!
…
"…it really hurt Gamo-chan that another girl would do that to her." Sakura scowled. "That doesn't even include shaming her like she's been doing."
Shit! Naoto had let his mind wander for a few seconds. "…!"
But he'd picked up enough to form an opinion.
For a few days, he'd tried to not be angry about it, but…
Naoto didn't feel hurt every time he was virgin-shamed?!
He hazarded, "I think I can understand. I know what it's like to be (virgin) shamed."
Actually saying "virgin" was out of the question, but it was taken to be understood.
"Hmm?" Sakura perked.
Naoto didn't WANT to make it about him or Nagatoro, but… he started to feel angry again.
"I'm getting pretty tired of being (virgin) shamed…" he rankled. "Nagatoro's been bad with it most of the semester, and on Monday? It would've felt good to turn it around and fire it right back at her… She was really asking for it that day."
HER attacking HIM about being a virgin?!
Talk about throwing rocks in a glass house!
He didn't get how/why she'd harass him when—at the side of even a guy like him—she was a virgin of "greater than or equal to" value.
It was as stupid as fingerpainting with your own shit!
…
Still…
It occurred to him he was possibly being harder on Nagatoro than was justified, but he'd seen some trying times with her.
He knew he was probably talking far too freely, that his filter was down for maintenance, but he sometimes needed to vent, and he and Sakura took turns in playing sounding-board for one another.
And after all, it WAS virgin-shaming they were talking about!
Even so, things took a fast turn for the young man.
"Hey, you watch yourself, Senpai-kun…" Sakura dressed down. "You're getting out of your element."
He was WHAT?!
Whatever view she held on his filter, tagged "do not use", she urged, "Don't be an asshole… I really don't think you wanna do that."
This irked her senpai!
He knew better than to ask, but, "Why's it okay for her?"
"It isn't, truly." Sakura performed a few needed mental gymnastics. "But she can pretty much get away with it, unless you do something constructive about it."
Constructive? All manner of fantasies were crapped into Naoto's consciousness. Like bumping uglies…?
Sakura was heedless of his inklings. "Hayacchi says that sorta thing because it never occurs to most girls that a guy might turn it against them."
Before Naoto could even open his trap to suggest such reprisal, the gal pointed at him, shushing him—which he obeyed—as if her index finger sprouted from the Hand of Doom.
She chided, "I know you're frustrated, but (virgin) shaming a girl—however true it is—isn't the answer."
It only shocked Naoto a very small amount, akin to touching a doorknob in a dry house, that Sakura had just obscurely called Nagatoro a virgin in front of him.
"Well, that sucks…" he spoke with only partial sarcasm, doubting reasoning with Nagatoro would work, and adopting that shaming her was out.
"It's different for girls, Senpai-kun, the institution of abstinence, involuntary or otherwise." Sakura didn't want him to even entertain the idea. "It just is… It's a whole other set of troubles."
He'd trust her on this…
He trusted Sakura in many things, and she could take the wind from his "stupid sails" in a hurry.
…
But what would happen if he "shamed" Nagatoro? Really?
He tried to put it out of sight and out of mind.
Thankfully, doing so wasn't as hard as it might be.
He had an excuse, his review of the sketches!
The two got back to it.
And it was pretty swell!
Sakura was asking all the right questions, he was eager to explain the reasons they'd done what they'd done, and she seemed glad to be a part of his work.
For a while, they continued this happily.
Naoto was becoming blissful, besieged by levity!
Sakura poked fun, "What're you so very goofily smiling about, Senpai-kun~?"
Indeed, he had another stupid grin lighting up his countenance.
And in his carefree cheerfulness, he imparted something problematic.
Eyes glued to the concluding sketch he'd done, he supposed blearily, "I was just thinking how pretty your feet are."
It didn't click right away, but Sakura caught on pretty fast.
"What?!" she exploded.
Naoto's gallows' floor fell out from under him, and he dropped through the door, hanging his figurative self.
Oh, criz-ap!
Concealed as they were by socks of flop, it was no stretch to reason Sakura would protect her tootsies, sitting on them the most readily available means.
Naoto was shitting cinder blocks.
He was plainly gawking at the final piece he'd worked on…
How hard would it have been to say, "I was thinking how pretty THIS is."?!
That would've been a lot more innocuous!
"Seriously?!" Sakura glared.
Aw, damn it! Naoto's senses submerged.
…
The idea that a thousand thoughts could run through someone's head at one time was farfetched, but Naoto gave a pretty good go of it!
What he'd just said juked him as roughly as it had Sakura, and he knew he was in Dutch.
He'd meant it, but it couldn't justly and properly be summed up in the one brief statement.
Blessedly, Naoto wasn't completely inconsistent in his ability to keep cool.
It helped when he could back up his thoughts and actions with honesty.
It also helped that he'd run into this situation before… and that the girl currently with him wasn't Nagatoro!
…
As cross as Naoto was with Nagatoro at times, she was his girl!
At least, he hoped that would be the case… and soon.
But getting through to her could be difficult.
He could tell her something in the most honest—and clear—terms, and she'd HEAR it, but she wouldn't listen.
The situation he had in mind was the instance of showing the girls the Prez's self-portrait from 2016.
Nagatoro refused to comprehend one's—his—ability to admire such a work for its composition, technique, quality, and execution.
It was hard for Nagatoro to see past the fact the Prez had painted an image of herself, nude, when her frequently and frightfully resentful mind was rarely anyplace but the gutter!
All she was capable of seeing in that work was the dorsal segments of a naked young woman.
And that was pretty fucking worthless thinking…
Whatever, at the moment, that didn't matter to Naoto.
…
To restate, Sakura WASN'T Nagatoro.
Naoto had been panicking earlier, and in his anxiety, he'd blown out of proportion how Sakura was responding to the handful of disasters pouring out of him.
She wasn't some damsel-in-distress, molested by some outer space creature from outer space!
And HE wasn't Jack the Ripper!
He was just overreacting.
He'd done this with Gamo-chan, notably, believing the world would end when she'd barked at him.
Anxiety or not, that had been pathetic!
…
What was he?! Some man-child with a worthless B.A. in his basement bedroom, watching the minutes tick by, hearing his half-lame, 55-year-old mother lumber down the steps, knowing full-well he was about to lose ALL of his Good Boy Points, the inevitable failure of Pee-Pee Inspection Day upon him?
"No tendies on YOUR plate, you vagina-ruiner…"
No, Naoto wasn't such a creature.
…
In Sakura, he was dealing with a reasonable girl.
She wouldn't jump to conclusions she couldn't seem to shake.
She might lose it for a BRIEF moment, but she wouldn't hold onto such nonsense as the rat with the hunk of shit, lost in a sea of piss and God-cares-what-else.
The gal wouldn't become indignant or green-eyed for some frivolous reason, not over this!
He just had to be honest…
…
And even if that wasn't enough…
They'd been through enough to step over this pebble in the road.
But Naoto had faith it would be enough.
All he had to do was explain himself.
…
Yeah…
She was a little bit pissed off… mildly disgusted… very unsure… but not a lost cause.
And facing the gal, Naoto knew things would be okay.
She wasn't about to lambaste him over a slip of the tongue…
"Sakura-san…?"
She jarred. "Senpai-kun?!"
Crap… she was a little jumpy…
He couldn't blame her. He'd gone space-case on her.
But he knew what to do!
He'd done this before, the previous Thursday.
And he'd tried to do it in the fall, Nagatoro unwilling/unable to comprehend his meaning.
Shoot, SAKURA had done it that very night!
She'd been honest with him, clarifying something, willing to become quite personal to let him know things were alright.
He just had to say what the artist within him recognized.
He tried to keep on-level. "I, uh… need to do that thing, Sakura-san… where we try to explain something before things get even weirder than they need to be."
"Oh…" The trepidation largely left her.
Naoto had authenticity on his side… and a confidence only possible of candor. "Will you please listen?"
"…!" Witnessing his candor, she was taken aback, but she nodded.
…
İDios mio! Naoto had never figured on sharing what he was about to share, but if he had…
Well, she was right beside him…
And she was the "item" in question anyway.
…
He'd told her in a roundabout way that she was pretty—or at least closer to her best—when she'd been worried about her appearance…
He'd told her she was weird—the awesome kind of weird—and that he loved that about her.
And…
And he'd told her how much her friendship meant to him… how he felt so very much at ease with her…
…
He could tell her the things he wanted to tell her.
And he would, even if it took a while to get there.
…
Quite the leap of faith ahead, Naoto pondered, scratching his ear, eyes towards the corner of the ceiling, "Now… where to begin…?"
He could tell his face was on fire with a flaming blush, but what the Hell?
"…Senpai-kun…?" Sakura was all-ears… and rather pink in her own cheeks.
Well… here goes… The young man took a stirring breath. "…~!"
The hard part would be putting into words that which words cannot do justice.
As luck would have it, he wasn't outright worthless in this area.
He was an artist!
"Sometimes…" he discoursed. "Sometimes, you see something that just seems right. It seems right…"
One of Sakura's eyebrows shot up. "'Seems right'?"
Naoto didn't let the gal's perceptible sneer get in the way.
Nope! That wasn't happening!
"Even if you can't describe it very well, it's something that just… speaks to you…"
"…Okay…?" Sakura wasn't sneering anymore, but her other eyebrow joined the party, both now betraying mystification.
Oh, shit… here we go… Naoto steeled himself.
He had a certain confidence in what he was about to lay before her, but it didn't make it unscary.
"Try to hear me out, Sakura-san," he pleaded. "Please… this isn't easy…"
And… she softened.
She took on a tranquilness, the sort Naoto longed to see in her, whenever he began waxing poetic or spouting incorporeal.
"…?" She was thoughtfully invested, and she inched closer.
Good… Naoto sighed.
He still had her onboard…
Studying those big, brown, soft eyes, he thought he'd be able to get it across to her.
He just needed to keep it together!
"It's like this…" Naoto presented. "I hope you can understand…"
Sakura blinked innocently, full of a now-untroubled wonderment, all the closer. "Yes?"
Oh, Gee-zuss… He hated that her pleasant, receptive demeanor might disappear for a while.
But she'll understand…
He stated, soaking his shirt-collar, "Sakura-san, I… think the most beautiful things in the world are a pretty girl laughing—for real laughing—and… …and the way women move…"
"…?!" She created some space between them.
"…" Naoto had nothing with which to combat her feedback.
He didn't even try.
Sakura's sneer—skeptical but rational—returned. "Huh…?"
She wasn't blushing now!
He didn't let it faze him; he'd shared the two things he wished to build from.
He could also tell her how much he loved the thought of a girl in a sundress with flowers in her hair, lying beside him in a pasture in springtime, but he didn't wish to go overboard~!
In the sight of the conflicted girl, Naoto acquiesced, "I feel a little stupid telling you all this… but…"
Not anticipating the… well, the ardency forthwith emerging in her senpai, Sakura's scowl fell far from the precipice her manner had scaled, and rediscovering it might take a search party, a cadaver-dog, and 20 sack-lunches.
"Senpai-kun…?" She unlocked the make-believe door separating them.
Naoto wasn't impelled in any way, whether the point-of-entry was open, shut, or blasted from its hinges.
It didn't hurt to start at the beginning.
Taking a piss in the wind, he let fly, "It was really beautiful, seeing you running up to me the Saturday morning before last."
"…?!" Sakura's cheeks colored more rosily.
"You ran up to me, waving and calling me 'Senpai-kun', the sun at your back," Naoto relished. "It was… a vision…!"
His kohai yelped, "Heek?!"
Maybe two kids playing grab-ass in the woods could apprehend the gal's grimace!
"Seriously, it was one of the most beautiful things I've seen in my life~!" He didn't give a fuck—not now—not over this. "I don't think I could've ever gotten tired of watching that…"
"…!" Sakura was doing something, but Naoto wasn't paying it much heed.
He wasn't going to stop.
"The afternoon Sunomiya showed me those pictures of her grandparents' anniversary… and that video she took of them, saying such kind things to you and me…" Stopping might've been a good idea, but he was apparently out of good ideas. "I was really happy that afternoon… I was so happy…
"I really didn't mean to, but after you and I said 'goodbye', I watched you walk away for a minute, swinging your hips… That was… Fwoo…!"
Before he knew it, he was leaning forward, lacing his fingers behind his head, his insides tying themselves into knots.
He didn't want to cry, but if it happened, it happened, and he didn't even know WHY he might near that "ultimate bad thing" he'd let Sakura—and Hana—see a couple times.
He just thought it might happen.
It was difficult for him to put into words, even more so than what he was already trying to communicate.
Tightening his jaw, Naoto sat up a little, resting his elbows on his knees, clasped hands pressing into his mouth and chin.
The rattling breath he gave had him wanting to clear his throat.
"Ahem…" He did so. "And those were just two of those sorts of times, Sakura-san… Watching you move is just… It's like magic!"
Whether it was courage, and even if it was nothing, he turned to Sakura enough to see her from the corner of his eye.
"…~!" She seemed to be broken.
Naoto wasn't after any advantage; he just wasn't quitting. "Seeing you play in that puddle last Thursday, that was… That was really weird… But something about it was just… beautiful… and peaceful…
"I said things 'just seem right', and I don't have any idea how else to put it… It's always… fun seeing you have fun yourself."
That brought him back even further, the aftermath of the Friday at his place and the subsequent weekend.
"When I saw you on that swing, the Monday that Sunomiya chased you away from school, it just didn't seem right that you couldn't swing…! The way you smiled when I told you I'd push you… and how much you liked it… and how you looked doing it… That made it totally worth being sore the rest of the week!"
Naoto came close to zoning out, a shiver running up and down his spine, chilling his blood.
"But it was after… the puddle… after you used me to help rinse off your legs… in that cool, green grass, that was… It was gorgeous…!
"When I followed you, waiting to see what you'd do or say next… I don't think I could ever get tired of that either, watching you… breeze around like that, wandering in the grass~…! It was like music…
"The thing about watching a woman move is… there's so much going on! It's never just one thing that moves! Everything shifts around, every movement, balancing here and balancing there!"
With that, Naoto turned his whole torso towards Sakura and made eye contact. If she hadn't already retreated out of reach, huddling up in her own arms and legs, he'd have probably tried clutching for her hands.
It gave him pause long enough to break off his gaze and take a respite, not that it lasted long.
"My favorite thing though…" he tendered. "My favorite thing is seeing you laugh."
"Laugh?" Sakura hadn't said much beyond a squeak for a good moment.
"Yeah!" Naoto championed excitedly. "I really do like… seeing you laugh… … …"
Again, he hung his head.
And he respired, "Hoo…"
"…?" Sakura cocked her head, unknowing what might happen next. "…?"
Naoto swallowed hard and bade abruptly, "Sakura-san?"
"Yes?" She almost jumped, though she might've expected anything by this time.
"…" This stretch, Naoto did take a few seconds to gather his thoughts. "I've never seen anything like it, Sakura-san… you sprawled out, lying beside me in the park… laughing that way… It was breathtaking…
"And the way you laughed after dinner? Walking with you was so much fun, and… … …Wow~…"
…
And… he was spent.
Yikes! He'd said a lot… and he knew it.
"…?!" Sakura and her heart-shaped heinie had made it all the way back to the opposite armrest. "…?!"
Naoto might've gone on about the details, how entrancing it was for him, watching her bosom rise and fall as she gasped for air, having winded herself in her merriment… or how knocked-out he was at the face she gave him, having been crowned Queen Weirdo in his heart.
But he decided it was enough.
…
Finally taking an actual pause, it dawned on him that he really, truly, no doubt had said a lot.
Unusual for him, he'd caught himself gesturing wildly a few times, no real aim or purpose besides expending energy.
He was embarrassed, sure, but he was more USED UP than anything!
"Oh, boy…" His folded hands obscured his nose and mouth.
Spilling one's guts could be tiring!
There wasn't much point in avoiding what was happening a meter away from him, so he dropped his hands to his lap and passed a glance in her direction.
Sakura didn't seem to be menaced by him or any other despicable being, but her cheeks were about the same color as the Code Red Mtn Dew she'd only been able to try once.
Cerise she was, but completely speechless she was not.
"Senpai-kun…" she uttered in stupefaction.
The little voice in Naoto's head told him this wouldn't end with the gal borrowing his phone and changing the label on his contact info to something cute.
However, the same little gremlin didn't advise him the gal would slither back over his way.
And he had no forewarning she would take his hands, much as she had on Thursday night.
But it didn't flabbergast him…
Chewing her words, she finally breathed, "Whoa…"
Heaving another mighty sigh, Naoto concurred, "Yeah…"
The tomatoey ripeness somewhat faded from Sakura's face, but she kept eyes forward, "Man, you never know what's gonna come outta your mouth…"
"Yeah…" he surrendered, his eyes pointing at an eraser he'd dropped and forgotten to pick up.
…
It seemed anticlimactic, but what did he THINK would happen?!
The answer is, he didn't know…
…
Yet, he knew he was "safe", and what's more, his kohai hadn't run for the hills.
As gauging Sakura's rejoinder, the matter of understanding wasn't a thing to put aside.
Why stop now?
"Maybe you don't understand…" Naoto reminded her of why he'd developed diarrhea of the mouth. "I don't think I do…"
Sakura mulled it over, her expression becoming quite laissez-faire.
"Yeah, Senpai-kun, that's heavy…" she contributed. "I dunno if I understand it either, but…"
Naoto turned to her. "Hmm?"
"I think I get it though…" Her muddlement diminished, replaced by something new.
"You 'get it'?" he duplicated, not failing to see the change in her.
Whatever she understood or didn't, she capitulated, "Yeah, I think I do get it…"
In this case, capitulation was an obliging smile!
"…!" Naoto was floored.
Sakura purred, beaming, "And do you really need to understand something to get it~?"
Whoop! He was unprepared to hear his own words regifted.
In fact, it overwhelmed, but he was too wound up to get lost in it.
His thoughts hadn't changed. "Definitely not."
"…"
"…"
"Senpai-kun?" Sakura became more serious.
"Yeah?"
"I guess what you said wasn't that crazy…" she considered.
Naoto would take "crazy" over a lot of other things!
"…" He was happy she seemed to be taking this in stride. "I guess…"
"You just don't hear somebody try to make sense of things that far out. But those things definitely exist."
Naoto could get on board with that. "Yeah…"
"There are things out there beyond description…" Sakura mused. "I don't even try most of the time. It's easier to find a way around it most of the time."
That it was!
"I usually would, Sakura-san…" Naoto conceded.
She said, "I'm thankful you didn't though~…"
So was he.
"…"
"…"
"There is one thing though, Senpai-kun…" Sakura brought up.
"Yeah?" He hoped it was nothing too awful.
She was half-amused and half- annoyed. "That didn't tell me why you said what you said about…"
"About what?" Naoto wasn't seeing it.
She gestured to the distal areas of her legs, having learned what "distal" meant.
…
RIGHT! That's what started him this mess!
Had he really said it though?
"I was just thinking how pretty your feet are."
He surely had said that.
All the same, he thought he'd confronted it somewhere. "I didn't?"
"Not specifically…" Sakura was a little flummoxed with how collected he was; she'd thought to catch him.
Partial numbness served a purpose at times.
"Huh…" He supposed he hadn't.
She chuckled, "Aw, c'mon, I said I think I get it. It sorta sounds like you appreciate them from the artistic standpoint… mostly."
Naoto wanted it to be entirely!
But, "At least I didn't make a complete fool of myself, Sakura-san."
She didn't pinch him, but she grabbed at the meat on his upper-arm and kneaded it. "Don't say that… You didn't make a fool of yourself~…"
"Not at all?" He plied.
A pinkness retaking the territory over her cheekbones, she simpered, "Not any worse than usual, so nothing to be too embarrassed over~."
For the first time in some time, Naoto allowed himself a little laugh, "Good to know… I guess I'm only feeling a slight chagrin…"
She prodded, "Would you feel any better if I made a fool of myself too~?"
"Not necessary," he shut her down.
"…~" Sakura chirruped, clucking with pleasure. "Fine…"
"…"
"…"
"Sakura-san?"
"Yes~?" She began to elbow him. "You're ready for me to make a fool of myself, right~? That was quick!"
"I'd really like to work with you again," Naoto said.
Sakura wasn't ready for that. "Eep?!"
His trepidation was back, and he flustered, "It doesn't need to be this sort of thing again… I'd like you to sit for a portrait sometime…"
"…!"
"…"
She squirmed. "Y'know, I think I'd like that…"
"Really?" Naoto was thrilled.
"Really, really~."
Sweet! He repressed the urge for a good fist-pump.
Sakura had something else, "Hey, I know you weren't planning on this at all, so…"
"Hmm?" Naoto let off the fanfare.
She ruminated, "The stuff you did of Hana-chan and me… or even a portrait of just me, I don't think there'd be any reason to worry about it, but… this? What we did tonight?"
"Yeah?" He fueled.
"I think we need to keep this a secret," she suggested. "What do you think…?"
Oy vey! Naoto exclaimed internally.
He knew at once she was right.
How had this not occurred to him?!
The whole session, they'd been ignoring this elephant in the room.
But it was more like they hadn't thought of it.
Sakura fussed, "It didn't even cross my mind until now…"
The same was true for her senpai.
He'd been so caught up in just… doing what they'd done, not much thought had been given to the consequences or whatever else came after.
There were many situations possible, undeniably, but one got Naoto's goat above all others:
What would Nagatoro think, knowing he'd followed through on the sort of modeling he'd asked of her, and that he'd done it with another girl?
To him, it shouldn't have mattered, but he had the feeling she'd be hurt.
And he didn't want that…
He'd only done this because she'd suddenly been unavailable.
She'd gotten sick, booting her guts out like a small but growing number of students and faculty, but it wasn't really HER fault.
It just was.
Had he crossed a line?
Was this like "cheating" on her?
Had he cheated by using another model in such a way?!
He wasn't sure, but he saw trouble ahead.
…
Sakura had made up her own mind, becoming more concrete. "I don't think anyone else needs to know about this."
She didn't share her reasons with Naoto, but he could guess why.
They didn't need their friends knowing they'd done something like this!
Things didn't have to be any more complicated than that.
…
Naoto settled, "I agree…"
"Okay," she approved. "You got a place to put this stuff?"
Sure, he did!
There were so many pieces—past and present—filed away in the art room and its prep-space, one could lose a sketch or 10 indefinitely and maybe even longer.
Naoto squared away the materials, and unless he went looking for them himself, they might not be found until Judgement Day.
It blew goat scrote to see some of his better work squirreled away, but what was he going to do?
Tacking them up next to Hana's sketches of an empty juice bottle seemed out of the question.
So, Naoto and Sakura cleaned up the "evidence" of their unusual joint effort, and all that was left was the repositioned bust and the unfinished oil painting Naoto had half-assed earlier, covering what he'd really been trying to do.
It was as if nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened.
That should've been the end of the night, but…
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading!