Chapter 8: Lunch and Other Endeavors
AUTHOR'S NOTES: As we enter the final countdown to Mardi Gras, I wanted to take the opportunity to remind my readers that our Big Roundtable discussion is happening right now on a special Discord server. I will be posting a special transcript on the discussion in the coming days, but if you have questions for your favorite authors and artists in the Nagatoro Fandom, please don't hesitate to leave a question in the Comments section.
Briefly, before I forget, I wanted to acknowledge the fans of the Manga "Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible," which is ending it's manga run this month after 143 chapters. Obviously, Junta and Nagisa's story bares a small resemblance to Our favorite couple here, inasmuch as both Junta and Senpai get pulled out of their shells by women who truly love them, although it's a lot more evident with Nagisa's feelings towards the famed "Vanishing Student of Haruka North High School." But all in all, like the departure of Kaguya and Shirogane, we bid a fond farewell to Junt and Nagisa and hope that their love blooms long into the future.
The next morning, Naoto yawned as he sat at the bus stop, his sleep plagued with dreams of him and Hayase getting married and all sorts of calamities interrupting the ceremony. He rested his head on the bento boxes, stacked into one large stack as he waited for Nagatoro, falling asleep again.
However, Yoshi and Gamo arrived first. "Sleepy Senpai," Yoshi said quietly. Sakura gently lifted his face from the bento box and laid his head back, "Poor Senpai-kun, he must have been up late making the bentos for Gamo's lunch date." She lifted the box from his lap and set it aside.
"Hey sleepyhead, you get to bed late, Paisen?" Gamo said as she arrived. Senpai's head jerked up, "I'm up, I'm up, Oww!" he grabbed his head as he felt a bit light-headed. "Easy there, Paisen, don't get too dizzy. Where's Hayacchi? Usually she's snuggling with you by the time we get here."
Senpai looked around, "That's strange, I know she got home from the funeral services all right," he started to check his phone for any messages from her.
"Funeral service? what funeral service, Senpai-kun?" Sakura asked. Gamo and Yoshi looked at him, "Oh, I guess you didn't hear. Hayase's siblings showed up at my house last night, apparently her great uncle died, and I went with her to the services last night."
Gamo sat down, "Wait… Not Shoujo-Sensei, Paisen, please tell me it wasn't Him, not Hayacchi's favorite Uncle," the Amazon looked devastated. Senpai nodded, "I'm sorry Gamo, I know how important he was to Hayase, that's why I went with her last night." Yoshi and Sakura hugged Gamo. Both weren't judokas like Gamo and Nagatoro, but they knew who Shoujo-Sensei was and how important he had been in both their lives. As the three were embracing each other, Nagatoro finally showed, but looked as tired as Senpai did. "Morning, Naoto,"she said groggily as she kissed his cheek and laid her head on his shoulder.
"You didn't sleep well either, Hayase?" she shook her head slightly, "I kept thinking about Uncle Shoujo. I'm missing him already,"
He held his girlfriend tenderly, having to endure a night like last night would be rough on anyone. "Listen, if you two want to call this off until tomorrow, I don't mind," Gamo said, looking a bit upset since learning about Shoujo-Sensei's passing. Hayase shook her head, "No, Gamo-Chan, we want to do this, it'll take our minds off Uncle Shoujo, plus you know he always liked you." She gave her a small tired smile as she snuggled against her boyfriend's arm. He leaned forward, "What say we just take the bus today instead of walking?"
All of them agreed, and quietly boarded the next bus to school. The ride took only 15 minutes, but both Naoto and Hayase took the time to sleep a little more, leaning on each other. Gamo woke the two up as they approached the school. Yoshi carried the Bentos for them, and handed them off as they changed shoes. Hayase and Naoto kissed their goodbyes before he headed up to the Art Club and stashed the bentos.
Both of them struggled through their morning classes, but by lunch time, the two had regained their energy, thanks to a timely delivery of a couple of coffee drinks from Yoshi and Sakura, and from Naoto's friend, Tadao. They got to the Art Club room at the same time, quickly embracing as he opened the door, "You feel better, Hayase?" she nodded as he opened the fridge and pulled the bentos out, laying them out for the other couple to decide what they wanted.
"Sakura got me a can of coffee between classes, it really helped, although I think you and I are gonna take a nap after class today," she said with a bit of a blush. He nodded, enjoying the thought of her asleep in his arms on the couch. There was a knock at the door, "Hachiouji-Kun? Are you here?" Hosokawa stood at the doorway, looking in at the two.
"Hosokawa-san, please come in, Gamo should be here shortly," he said as he entered and took a seat at the table.
As he sat down, Gamo popped her head in, "Paisen, I'm hungry, what did you bring for lunch?" she said, her usual grin on her face, but her face brightly red. Yoshi and Sakura waved as they closed the door behind her and walked off, going to have lunch with Hana downstairs.
"Maki Gamo, may I present Kinseki Hosokawa," Senpai said. Hosokawa stood up again and bowed, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, your reputation as a gifted Martial Artist is truly amazing," he said without a hint of sarcasm or malice. Gamo was flabbergasted.
"You're aware of it? Oh geez," she looked embarrassed. "I don't know what to say, I don't usually get complimented on my athleticism,"
Nagatoro gave Gamo a little push to get closer to the table, "Come on, Senpai and I worked hard on lunch and we don't want to waste the period just standing around talking."
The push knocked Gamo out of her paralysis and she smiled as she sat down in her usual spot, to the left of Hosokawa, who sat in Yoshi's spot.
Senpai and Nagatoro sat down next to each other on the opposite side. "I wasn't sure what you two might enjoy, so we made a bit of everything, Please help yourselves." The two look in awe at the spread, Senpai's now famous karaage chicken sat glistening in the noontime light, the lemon sauce coating it perfectly.
Hosokawa reached for one of the Spam Musubis, "Is this that famous Musubi from Hawaii? I've always wanted to try it," he said as he took a bite, tasting the perfectly fried meat as the juices from it had seeped down into the sushi rice, giving both a distinct flavor that he marveled at.
Nagatoro beamed, "I know that Gamo liked those when her family went to a convention in Hawaii a couple years ago, she kept talking about them so I decided to make them," Gamo blushed, remembering that trip, including her getting scared by a Moray Eel while snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, but thankfully, this wasn't the time to bring that particular memory up.
"I'm curious, Gamo-chan, When did you start with your Martial Arts training?" Kinseki asked, as Gamo was taking a bite of the rolled eggs. She coughed a bit as she tried to swallow the bite, "Oh, Ummm, I think I was around three years old, Mom and Dad have had a gym for years now, it was my grandfather's and Dad took over running it when he and Mom got married. That's where Hayacchi and I first met."
She looked over at Hayase, who was feeding Naoto some of the rice and smiled, "I still remember this red-headed little girl who towered over me asking if I wanted to spar with her," she giggled at the memory, "She'd never done Judo before, so she was surprised when I tossed her with an Ippon," she said as she fed Naoto one of his Onigiris with the salmon inside.
Gamo laughed, "We've been friends ever since," she smiled."What about you, when did you first get into baseball?"
He put down his chopsticks and put his hands together, taking a slow inhaling breath then letting it out, "I was 5 years old and my grandfather took me to the annual Basystars Old-Timers game in Yokohama. I fell in love with the game and as soon as we got home, asked him to get me signed up to play. He died three years later of a heart attack and I made a promise to him that I would become a great baseball player in his memory." The three of them were silent, in awe of Kineski's drive to succeed. Naoto broke the Silence, "Sounds like your grandfather and Hayase's Uncle Shoujo would have been great friends," Hayase and Gamo blushed at the mention of Uncle Shoujo, and Hayase buried her head in Naoto's shoulder, fighting the tears that wanted to flow.
Gamo sighed, "Hayacchi's Uncle passed recently, he was her first Judo Master, and she was his favorite Grand Niece." Hosokawa nodded in understanding. "You have my condolences, Nagatoro-chan, I know how that feels."
The rest of the lunch, the two talked about their respective sports, and Gamo's plans to run the family business, while Hosokawa talked about wanting to play for the Baystars, and maybe in America if he's good enough. By the time the bell sounded to end lunch, the two were laughing and talking like they had known each other for years.
"Say, what are you doing this weekend?" Gamo asked.
"I was going to go to the batting cages and work on my swing like I always do on the weekends when we're in the offseason, why, what did you have in mind?"
"What do you say to coming by the gym and getting a workout at our place? We've got an entire set of weight machines that can work any muscle you want," she smiled at him as he stood up.
"You know what? Yeah, I think I want to come hang out and work out," he said with a smile. "How does Noon sound?"
Gamo was overjoyed as they walked out talking, "Noon is perfect, here, let me give you the address as we head to class," her voice trailing off as they walked towards the staircase down to the classrooms. Naoto and Hayase cleaned up the bentos and placed the leftovers in the little fridge to take home later.
"Well, that went well, huh, Senpai?" she said as she held his arm while he closed up the room. He smiled back at her and kissed her temple. "Yeah, it did, huh? I think this might actually work out for them." The two walked to the stairs and kissed her before reluctantly letting her go so she could get back to class. "See you after class, Hayase," he whispered in her ear as she let go.
At the end of classes, the whole squad assembled in the Art Room to hear how the lunch date went. Sakura was practically bouncing off the walls since the end of lunch.
"So, how was it, Gamo-Chan?" she said, practically squealing. Yoshi looked excited and Hana, well, she looked like her normal implacable self. "I am curious how your lunch with Hosokawa-Senpai went as well, Gamo-Nee-Chan."
Gamo looked like she was going to explode. "Oh My God, it was so great! We talked about sports, he's coming to the gym this weekend, and I think he wants to do this again!" The look of joy on Gamo's face was a sight to behold. Sakura squealed as she hugged her, gleefully laughing at her good fortune, "Oh this is great, Gamo! I'm so happy for you!" Yoshi joined the hug, "Awesome!" she said as the three jumped up and down like little kids. Hana nodded in approval before turning to her sketch, "An excellent result for Gam-Nee-Chan, good work Hachiouji-Senpai, Nagatoro-Senpai," she said without looking at them.
Naoto and Hayase, who were snuggled on the couch, half-asleep, smiled, "Thank you, Hana, when the time comes, I hope that we are able to help you the same way," she said. Hana merely nodded, "It would be most welcomed, Nagatoro-Senpai." Despite her early concerns for her, being the former Art Club President's cousin, Hayase had warmed up to their collective "Bunny Girl Kouhai," especially after it became clear that she was also willing to see that their relationship got off the ground as well.
Gamo stretched herself as she stood up, "So, family, how are we celebrating?" Yoshi looked at her. "Go out on a date with him." Gamo stopped, "Huh?" Sakura nodded, "Yoshi is right, Gamo-chan, you have to at least go hang out with Him, maybe even go see him play ball." Gamo's face drained of its color, "Whoa, you mean I'm… dating him now?"
Naoto stood up, "Okay, I think we may be putting the cart before the oxen here," he then moved his hands across his body, "putting that aside," he said, as all of the girls imitated his movement, "We're making a lot of assumptions here, like whether or not Gamo actually WANTS to pursue a relationship with him, at the moment."
All of the girls looked at him as if he grew a third head and six eyes. "Senpai-kun are you nuts? Why did you go through all of this if that WASN'T the plan?" Sakura asked. Her question was brutal, but she did have a point. He took a deep breath.
"Look, I know that this relationship Hayase and I have is still brand new, so I don't understand a lot of it myself, but I saw the look that Hosokawa had when I mentioned you, Gamo," He took a hold of Hayase's hand as he continued. "I thought that maybe he might see that you were more than just that tough martial artist that everyone seems to fear, because that's Not the Maki Gamo I know."
Gamo's face turned an incredible shade of red from his words. "You told Hayase and I that you all felt like I was the older brother you all never had, well, wouldn't an older brother want to see his little sister happy?" Hayase stood up and hugged him tightly. "Even Taiga wouldn't go that far, you're too much Senpai, you know that?" He blushed. "I just wanted my friend to be happy, that's all," he said, returning the hug. The girls laughed as they realized that their Senpai had the best of intentions for their happiness, even if he was terrible at expressing it the right way.
"All right, since you two look like you need some more nap time," Sakura said as she pointed to Senpai and Hayase, "What say the four of us get out of here? Gamo, why don't you join us for dinner, at least?"
Gamo grabbed her bag, "You know what? I'm in such a good mood, I'm in. We'll see you two tomorrow, sweet dreams, you two." The girls followed behind, with Hana closing the door behind them and walking arm-in-arm with Yoshi and Sakura. the couple returned to the couch, Hayase laying on her side against the back of the couch, arms wrapped around her boyfriend's chest as the two of them let their exhaustion take hold and they slept in each other's arms for the remainder of the afternoon.
That evening, Gamo sat in her room working on her language homework when her phone beeped. It was a LINE message from Hosokawa, she smiled as she opened it immediately.
KHTheGreat: I Had a Great Time today at lunch. We should
definitely hang out sometime after Saturday, if you're interested…
MomOfZeroKids: I had a great time too, let Me know when you
are free, I definitely want to do that…
HKTheGreat: Sounds like a plan, thanks, Gamo-san. I'll be in
Touch with days and dates I'm free, See you Saturday…
Gamo squealed as she texted the girls as soon as she could get her fingers from shaking. All of them were happy for her, she felt like she could float away out of her bedroom window after the euphoria she felt from the day. As she was celebrating her triumph, Senpai was in the middle of finishing dinner when his phone went off. "Is that your Hayase texting, Nao-kun?" He checked it and a smile spread across his face. "Yeah, Mom, Hayase just said that Gamo and Hosokawa are going to get together again after this weekend, I guess lunch worked out after all."
She smiled, "Great, now we can concentrate on Dinner with the Nagatoros on Sunday."
The smile that had sat on his face melted away as the sudden realization of the coming storm hit him, "Oh, frak!" he blurted out. His parents looked at him strangely, not recognizing the phrase, "what did you say, Naoto?" His Dad asked.
"Oh Sorry, it's a phrase my teacher used in English class, it's from a famous sci-fi TV Show, he was using it to demonstrate how language can be shaped to express a feeling without offending people." His father nodded, "Okay, nice phrase, I won't ask what it's supposed to mean, though," Naoto breathed a sigh of relief that his father didn't press further. "So I was thinking since it's still not officially Fall yet, what say I pull out the grill for some steaks," Naoto thought about it, "hmmm maybe not full steaks but maybe some nicely grilled Kushiyaki? And some rice with transforming seasoning?"
His Dad laughed, "you were watching that cooking anime again, huh?"
Naoto looked a bit sheepish, "I was trying to get some food ideas. I know that My Karaage Chicken would go over really well, but I don't want to hit them with everything I got on the first try, I want to hold back at least a couple of my best pieces for later on," he said. Dad nodded in understanding, "You've barely met her older siblings, Dad, her parents, especially her mother, can be intimidating," Naoto started to inhale and exhale deeply.
Dad put a hand on his son's shoulder, "You want to know a secret? Your Grandmother Nezuko HATED Me when your mother first introduced me to her." Naoto looked shocked as his Dad told him this secret. "You know what won her over?"
"What?" Now he was genuinely intrigued as to his father's secret weapon against his grandmother's opposition.
"My Curry knocked her socks off,"He said with a wicked grin. His father, a seemingly mild-mannered golf architect, held his own in the kitchen like his son. "You get your cooking skills from both your mother and Me, Naoto, and I couldn't be prouder, I always joke about you pursuing a culinary career, but really, you already know that Food can be Art, you show it when you cook for your girl," Dad said as he took another bite of dinner.
For the first time, Naoto understood why his father was pushing him to consider training as a chef. It wasn't as a career, it was to increase his skill at using food as Art. He was doing the same thing that Sana Sunomiya would tell him, to increase his art knowledge and skill outside of his own artistic circle. "I'll keep that in mind, Dad, maybe there will be some culinary art courses I can audit when I'm in College."
After dinner, he headed to his room and sent Nagatoro a video chat request. Her face popped up, sitting on her bed already dressed for Bed, "wow, Senpai, I never expected you to be bold enough to want to see me in my bed like this, you must be having some lewd thoughts about Me," she grinned as she teased her boyfriend.
He smiled and looked away, "I was, but that's not why I called, I wanted to know if there was anything that your parents like to eat that would wow them," even though she still loved to tease him, she knew that she could never truly hurt him again like she did when they first met. Her heart wouldn't let her do it anymore. She knew that he was the most important person in her heart now, and she wanted to keep his heart safe.
"Well, they're always going on about this place in Shibuya that makes this incredible Tempura Donburi. Mom says she never had avocado tempura before and ever since then she's tried to replicate it," Senpai's mind started to turn, making mental notes as he listened to his girlfriend talk about her parents favorite foods.
"Dad suggested I make some Kushiyaki skewers for the meal, you think your parents would like that?" she giggled and blushed, "look at you, Senpai, trying to win over my parents by filling them with their favorite food, are you trying to get them to let you have your way with me?"
The grin she showed made his heart skip a beat, no longer did it scare him when she talked this way. Now that he knew she really loved him, her teasing had no effect on him, But he couldn't pass up the chance to turn the tables on her, "Ugh, you saw through my plans yet again, Hayase, foiled again!"
She laughed, "Silly Senpai, you know you don't have to try so hard, I already love you," Her face softened as her eyes sparkled, and her blush deepened, "I'm happy you want to make the effort for this dinner, Naoto."
She watched as he exhaled slowly, "I want them to see how you've become so important to Me, how you've become my muse, my reason for wanting to succeed in my career as an artist, and how much I do love you," his last works sent her heart into overdrive, she truly felt his sincerity through the phone screen.
"You're going to make me cry, Naoto, you know that" She kissed him through the phone screen, "Did you want to get together before Sunday?" Any time they could spend together now was a bonus, she wanted to do as much as she could with him before they would be apart.
"You want to come with Me to the Central Market in Yokohama? Mom and I were going to go to get the ingredients for Sunday's dinner, and I'd love for you to come with me so I know what would be good to serve them," even though his mother was accompanying them , she felt welcomed by her already.
"I'd love to, Naoto, do you want me to come over early or will you come pick me up?"
"We'll be leaving around 9, so we will pick you up. Oh and I've got leftover Yakisoba for our lunch tomorrow, Dad made a batch tonight for dinner and made extra for us for lunch." she smiled, excited to see if her boyfriend['s cooking skills were genetic.
"Okay, see you at the bus stop, I love you, Naoto," She told him and kissed the phone again, making him blush on camera.
"I love you too, Hayase, Sleep well," he responded and hung up. He got up and walked out of his bedroom and made his way to the top of the staircase, "Mom? You got a second?"
His mother walked over to the stairs, "What is it, Naoto?"
"I invited Hayase to go with us to the Market in Yokohama on Saturday so we can get some of the ingredients for Sunday's dinner that her parents will like, do you mind us picking her up around 9?" His mother grinned.
"I think that would be a lovely idea, Naoto, you really want to impress them huh? Maybe you'd like to serve them your Dad's famous Curry. You know that made your grandmother fall in love with him as a son-in-law," she smiled as she confirmed his father's story.
"Really? I didn't know that, Mom," he chuckled at the image of his stern grandmother in Fukuoka, smiling. "Thanks, Mom, good night." He walked back to his bedroom and climbed into bed.
His mother returned to the couch where she and her Husband were watching an old Kaiju movie from the 1970's. The cheesy special effects made them laugh as they watched Japan's most famous Monster defend the earth from an alien monster set on destroying Tokyo.
"Did I hear Naoto correctly, Chisato? Hayase is coming with you two on Saturday?" Dad put his arm around her as she snuggled back into place with him. She grabbed the bowl of popcorn from the coffee table as the monster fight closed in on the climactic finale.
"He wanted her to come and help pick out ingredients for some of their favorite foods. That boy is really in love with that girl, Shinji, I think she's going to be a big part of his life from now on." She laid her head on her husband's chest.
"I like her, she's good for him, you know that?" Shinji said. Chisato had been protective of Naoto when he was suffering from the bullying he used to get in elementary and Middle school. But she saw how much he had changed after he met Hayase, especially after the cultural festival the previous year.
She smiled, "She reminds me of you a little when we met," she chuckled a little. Naoto's parents met in college, where Chisato was a quiet unassuming student studying business, but who had dreams of becoming an attorney, while Shinji was a boisterous, ridiculously gifted golfer who never practiced and always preferred being at the driving range, making ridiculous bets with his friends that he could hit balls in the most outrageous ways possible.
"Oh you think so?" He asked. It was a coincidence that the two met. One of Chisato's friends was dating another member of the golf team and brought her along to a party after they won a qualifying tournament for the Collegiate Championships. Shinji caught a glance of her as she walked in and everything else in the room faded into the dark, seeing only her as she walked shyly through the room.
"Mmm-hmmm, you pulled me out of that little bubble I lived in when we met in college," she patted his stomach again. "I would have probably ended up working in some office as some anonymous drone, instead of getting me to go for my dream of becoming an attorney."
It took less than a semester for the two of them to start dating and by the time they graduated, they were married with Naoto on the way. Shinji spent enough time on the Pro Tour to pay for Chisato's Law school education, then left the tour and began working as a golf course architect, which allowed him and her to travel frequently all over Asia.
Shinji kissed Chisato on the top of her head, "I love you, Counselor, always." She leaned up and kissed him.
"I Love You too, My Gorgeous Golf Architect."