🌸Cherry Blossom Palette: Summer by the Sea🎨
🌸Chapter 5: "Let's Sing~!" [Part One]🎨
Doorway into Summer Arc
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
ED: Please don't hate me too much for the rough time Gamo-chan is having.
Things will get better for her. Poor girl. I promise.
Have another good-sized chapter! It's wordy with some exposition, but there's fun to be had too.
Naoto and the girls finally head to the karaoke club! The next chapter will continue this one.
Say "hi" to my editor when he posts the new chapter on Reddit. He's probably lonely out on the lake, ice fishing, grilling steak, watching anime, and drinking beer in his ice house.
I envy how much free time he sometimes has during the winter, but I don't envy what he's doing.
I'm NEVER going ice fishing. I'm scared of falling through. And with the stories PS tells me, seeing pickup trucks go through the ice, I don't know why he DOES feel safe out there.
Nanashi dropped another chapter where nothing happened. No surprise there. Just Nagatoro being a little tease again and someone getting in the way.
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.
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Naoto Hachioji had decided to use the time before Maki Gamo's karaoke party to put a healthy dent in his summer homework, and he was languishing away in Kazehaya High's art room, plugging away at some English grammar.
Well, maybe he wasn't LANGUISHING…
Even so, nobody liked summer homework (anyone who did was an asshole), and the day before could've been one Helluva lot better off.
He'd done a little better that morning with his attempt at running, and he did feel good about that, cold shower and all, but it did little to raise his spirits, knowing what he knew, surrounding Hayase Nagatoro, apropos her lousy performance in their final exams (and the rest of the spring semester, matter-of-factly).
Oh, Nagatoro… If only—
*Brrrring… Brrrring… Brrrring…*
Naoto sat bolt upright.
He'd been expecting this call!
Specifically, it was a video call.
Taking his phone, he unlocked and accepted, and he greeted the face appearing in the screen.
"'Morning, Gamo-chan." He tried to seem chipper, but he wasn't doing so hot with it.
She seemed to be dragging, despite being fresh and clean. "Yeah, g'morning, Paisen…"
She'd texted him a while earlier, saying she wanted to talk with him "face-to-face" after she took a morning shower, rather than typing back and forth and back and forth…
Naoto could give an educated guess, disheveled as she was in her house clothes, but he asked anyway, "How are you?"
"Aw… I'm feeling a whole lot better." She toweled her fiery hair, behaving far better than it normally would. "I think I just needed to, y'know, sleep on it… I just needed a good night's sleep more than anything."
"Good to hear." It was a relief to him.
"You, Paisen?"
He'd certainly been worse. "Yeah, sleep helped."
"You in the art room?"
"Yeah." He quickly but steadily turned his phone to the oil painting-in-progress of the room's bust. "Still planning on doing the same thing, but it'll be later on."
"Lemme know when you finish it, Paisen. I kinda wanna see it."
"I'll let you know. It's probably gonna be next week. I might not get much done today. I'm hitting the homework this morning."
"Yeah, I should prolly sit down and take a crack at mine for a couple hours. It'd be a nice distraction…"
Naoto didn't like hearing her talk like that, but she wasn't wrong.
He preferred homework HIMSELF when he was troubled; working on his art gave him too much time to think, and he didn't want to think about Nagatoro blowing her final exams…
Deciding on a quick change of subject, he returned, "I'm just glad you're feeling a little better. I imagine you were still napping when I left your house."
"Yeah…" She scratched her ear uncertainly. "Sorry 'bout that… I forgot my mom was home yesterday afternoon."
"I wasn't hungry for any dinner last night," he admitted.
To this, Gamo-chan smiled. "Mom said you were a very satisfying person to cook for~."
Naoto blushed slightly. "I wasn't expecting to get a meal out of showing up… or dessert…"
"Oh, she loved doing it, Paisen. She loves anyone that enjoys her cooking that much."
He HAD enjoyed it!
Mama Gamo had filled him full to bursting with beef stew over potatoes and a giant slice of fresh-baked carrot cake…
"You talk about her like she can't cook…" Naoto knew this implication to be far from the truth.
"You know what I mean," Gamo-chan dismissed. "She was just happy watching you shovel it in~."
Since a certain Amazon had eaten the snacks he'd brought to school the day before, "I was hungry, even after the little lunch I packed."
"She said you went full-on 'om-nom-nom' on the stuff!"
"No, I didn't…" Naoto rolled his eyes.
"…~!" she giggled. "She just couldn't believe you ate three full plates of stew… Imagine our surprise when we sat down to dinner last night and saw the pot 5 cm shallower than normal. We've been looking at the same pot with the same stew as far back as I can remember, so we could tell a lot was missing.
"Mom had to make another side dish to make up for it~. Dad and Riko were kinda annoyed we didn't have our normal amount of leftovers, but Hima thought it was funny you 'stole their stew'."
Naoto hadn't met them, but Mrs. Gamo did name off her other two children, Riko, her son in middle school, and Himari, her younger daughter still in elementary school.
"I didn't mean to 'steal' anyone's food; she just kept pouring it on…" And he'd kept eating it, only stopping when he couldn't eat anymore.
Then, later, she'd pressed that delicious carrot cake on him!
She'd insisted he stick around for the cake to finish, and while it had been worth the wait, it had killed the rest of his afternoon.
"…"
"…"
It seemed the talk had already run out of steam…
Gamo-chan sighed, "Sorry for actually calling you…I guess I didn't have a whole lot to say otherwise…"
"Hey, it's okay." He was glad to see her face. "It beats texting."
She uttered, slightly embarrassed, "I… kinda just wanted to talk a couple minutes, I guess… Sorry…"
"It's fine." He'd also wanted it. "Really, it is."
Suddenly going for gravity, she said, "Mom made me promise I'd pass it along… She says, 'thanks again for yesterday.'"
Yowch!
Naoto recovered, "I… didn't do all that much…"
All he'd done was see her home… and decimate their dinner…
"Maybe, but it was still a big help, Paisen…" Gamo-chan achieved in bringing back a smile, and this time, a pinkness came with it. "So… thanks…"
Whoo-hoo!
"Y-you're welcome." He remembered something from his time as a study-buddy.
"…~"
"…"
"I'll let you get back to work," Gamo-chan Gamo-granted. "You know where the place is, right? The karaoke club?"
"Yeah, I've got the address," Naoto acknowledged. "I'll leave school around… 11:45. That'll give me time for lunch on the way over."
"In that case, I'll see you at 1:00." She smiled pleasantly.
He did enjoy seeing her smile. "See you then."
"I gotta start getting ready." A capricious redness staking claim to her face, she hooked a finger in the collar of her shirt, pulling the neckline just low enough to communicate her considerable cleavage to him, and winked demurely. "No peeking~…"
"Ack!" Naoto fumbled, nearly dropping his phone. "…?!"
Gamo-chan guffawed, "Later, Paisen~!"
His voice shaking, same as the phone in his hands, "U-uh… later."
Bidding him a final Gamo-grin and a hearty chuckle, she ended things on her side, and Naoto's phone returned to the main menu.
"…!"
Man, oh, man! That Gamo-chan…
But he'd rather her josh him a little, opposed to going on in the sorry state she'd been in the day before.
The long day (it surely felt long) hadn't ended with "escaping" Mrs. Gamo's kitchen, and plenty had happened in between too.
More news had come through the grapevine… and it had been about Nagatoro.
As Tuesday evening went on, well after the Gamo family had polished off their depleted dinner, Naoto had heard more, all of it from Gamo-chan.
It was bad enough that Gamo-chan had gotten ahold of Nagatoro's final exam scores—this fact unknown to all but HIM—but she'd somehow "cornered" Nagatoro late in the day and pulled out of her what she wanted to know…
Naoto was positive the details had been for Gamo-chan only, Nagatoro understanding how concerned her best gal-pal was for her and telling her—seemingly—everything.
Nagatoro would probably have a fit if she knew Gamo-chan was funneling info to HIM, not that he'd asked for it…
Gamo-chan had been decidedly a wreck, relaying all this to him, so seeing her better off that morning was more than welcome.
So far as the details went, he was stunned at what he'd learned:
Nagatoro's parents had known about her struggles for weeks, and they were most displeased their youngest had screwed the pooch so badly, even when she knew what was on the line and had time to come back from it.
Things were already on edge, and the finals sealed the deal…
She was essentially grounded—indefinitely—and her parents took away things very precious to her:
No judo or Judo Club…
No hanging out with friends…
No BEACH…!
No fun…
No nothing…
Until further notice…
Naoto thought it was all kinds of harsh, coming down that hard on a girl at the dawn of her sixteenth summer, but when someone drops 30 to 40 points in all subjects in one semester?
That was alarming, no matter the reason…
Considering she was always an above-average student, her parents wanted to figure out what went wrong, and so far, there was no explanation.
Summer school started that very day, Wednesday, and Nagatoro was going for all subjects, despite breaking the threshold of 40 points in some of them.
At the moment, she was very likely at school, same as him… but he hadn't the heart to seek her out or even contact her…
She was also to temporarily go to some sort of cram school in the afternoons, beginning next week.
And she was grounded, for the foreseeable future, but Gamo-chan was confident her parents would ease off in a couple of weeks.
Nagatoro's brother and sister, Taiga and Misaki (Gamo-chan had used the unpleasant young woman's name with him, so the head-canon "Pig Vomit" was no longer necessary), weren't able to get as much out of her, and they were very concerned, so sayeth the Maki.
Gamo-chan knew more than either of them, the way things sounded…
Naoto knew they were a pair of assholes, but he didn't want them agonizing over their little sister, not that he entirely believed they were capable of such benevolence.
He could draw the line SOMEWHERE…
As far as Nagatoro's schoolwork went, her problems had snowballed on her, and she'd just kept falling deeper and deeper…
Naoto did wonder if he could've helped, but he knew he might not have done much.
She'd refused the guides he'd given his other kohai when offered, not that this might've helped her so late in the game.
A painful thing for Naoto was knowing how awful things had been going for Nagatoro, and he'd had no concrete idea how badly.
She must've been hurting quite a bit, all this time…
He'd taken no joy in Gamo-chan's upset messages to him, informing him of all the awful shit that was bedeviling Nagatoro…
But a lot more had happened in front of all this, and that brought things back to Tuesday afternoon.
…
Naoto had let Gamo-chan stay in the clubroom until mid-afternoon.
It had taken her some time to get a grip… him too…
As she had come to school in her street shoes, and he had come across a clean pair of guest slippers, he was able to "smuggle" her out of a side door—not the staff door—and get her off the campus without any hitch.
She had left her gym shoes at the martial arts building but could get them another time.
While he'd been planning to just walk her as far as the dagashi shop, it occurred to him that Gamo-chan would be better off if he stuck to her until she was home, safe and sound.
He couldn't stand the thought of just leaving her alone, and considering the bus had just shown up at the stop near the school—one that would take them almost all the way to the Gamo residence—he took it as a "sign" that he was doing the best thing…
The Gamo house was a big place, but it didn't surprise him the family might be loaded, owning and running a popular gym in town.
Naoto and Gamo-chan had just about parted ways, Gamo-chan just wanting to take a shower and a nap, when her mother had suddenly appeared on the threshold.
She was home, but nobody else was…
Unable to refuse the hospitality, Naoto had entered, but not before introductions.
The way Gamo-chan had introduced him…
It was as if she'd never had a FRIEND over, much less a guy-friend!
Naoto had only seen her that anxious when she was bordering on tears, so it was unexpected.
Mrs. Gamo turned out to be a lanky though big-chested lady, not as visibly ferocious as her daughter, her kind face framed by short, fiery, wavy locks, but exuding a serious "mama bear" aura.
Besides how normal she seemed, there were a few things that surprised him.
Naoto remembered hearing that Mr. Gamo was 185 cm tall, so he'd been expecting a shorter woman in Mrs. Gamo, the Maki logically being the "average" product of their union.
But Mrs. Gamo was taller than his buddy, Shuu Aisho, and nearly as tall as HIM…
Naoto could've sworn he'd heard in home-ec or sex-ed that girls more-or-less quit growing (in height) when they were in their early teenage years, while boys might not stop until the age of 20.
Whether it was true or not, Gamo-chan was the height she was, and that was that, but it wouldn't flabbergast him if she put on a few more centimeters.
Misaki, the 20-something-year-old bitch, had a full 15 cm on "Hayase-chan", her little sister, so it was very possible some girls might sprout one final time in their later teens…
And since Gamo-chan had absconded on him, set on cleaning up, napping, and very possibly dreading to be in the same room with her senpai and mother, Naoto was left with Mrs. Gamo and immediately plied with a Dr Pepper.
Gamo-chan's mother was… very warm…
Naoto hadn't known what to expect out of Mrs. Gamo, truly, having never thought about it, but he was relieved he didn't have to meet Papa Gamo or their other kids.
Too much for one day…!
However, that wasn't the reason he'd rejected the offer to stay for dinner.
He'd had to go grocery shopping and cook for his own parents, ironically preparing food he never ended up eating…
Since he'd never said why he was passing on dinner, it was at this point Mrs. Gamo had fed him, and he really wasn't hungry later on.
But once he'd eaten his fill, they'd talked.
It had been illuminating…
Whatever Gamo-chan feared in a three-way conversation with senpai and mother, Naoto had been able to tell right away that Mrs. Gamo wasn't the sort to go out of her way to embarrass her children, even passively.
She seemed to understand teenagers better than most parents, and it wasn't due to the lack of her raining family photos and tales of Maki-mortification upon him…
She… really seemed to take him seriously.
He found it very agreeable—immensely so—being pulled into a friend's house by their older family member and not treated like some… oozing disease or fucking insect by some cunt-eyed bully, whose greatest future contribution to the world would be introducing paint-thinner to her own rectum.
…
Since Naoto felt he could trust Gamo-chan's mother, he told her what he thought she needed to know, and that her daughter had somehow obtained Nagatoro's test scores wasn't part of that.
Learning that Mrs. Gamo had known about Nagatoro's struggles beforehand, on close terms with the Nagatoro family, she'd not merely already known, but she'd known for a while.
So, Naoto did tell her what she needed to know, and it was little more than her daughter was devastated over the situation.
Nagatoro keeping her friends in the dark hadn't ended well…
And she knew that Nagatoro's parents had told her daughter the basics, and that Maki had basically "guilted" Nagatoro into telling her the rest (and that was all Mama Gamo needed to know about that).
Mrs. Gamo thought it maybe would've been good for her daughter to know beforehand, but she didn't stick to the idea for long.
To reiterate, Naoto didn't see the good in Gamo-chan OR the other girls having prior knowledge either…
…
Happily, they'd chatted about some more positive things too, the carrot cake doing its thing in the oven.
Mrs. Gamo already knew about him, and her daughter had absolutely mentioned him.
Naoto had smelled trouble, but he was assured that while mention of him consisted, flippantly, of "this and that~", the understanding boiled down to the heartwarming realization that he'd been a real friend to all the girls.
It was beyond gratifying… humbling too…
Mrs. Gamo had never expected her daughter to bring a boy home, though Naoto assured her it was more that he didn't want to leave her when she needed a friend by her side.
All the same, it was welcome to know that her Maki had a good friend who was a boy.
She and her husband worried sometimes…
It was difficult to surmise how much Gamo-chan had told her mom, but she'd said a few things.
For instance, her mother knew that he'd given her daughter some extra material to help her with her exams, and she'd been thrilled to see her of "reasonably good temper" for a change, the girl usually, typically, and consistently quite sour during such times.
Likewise, Mrs. Gamo was thrilled to hear he'd enjoyed her chocolate chip cookie recipe.
She'd have loved to offer him a plate of cookies and milk, but the family had already obliterated the remains of the super-size batch the girls had baked during their sleepover…
She'd also seen the need to thank him for his patience/apologize, knowing perfectly well the girls sometimes got a little unruly on his watch, but their art room abode had become very precious to them.
Bringing things down, Mrs. Gamo also knew that her daughter had spent a couple of hours on Monday cooling down in his clubroom, even getting a little rest, after her taxing morning.
She was MOST grateful her eldest child had a safe place at school where she could let her guard down a little…
Naoto strongly got the impression that she was aware that he was aware of the certain meetings contributing to her daughter's "taxing mornings".
But knowing for sure would've meant ASKING, and that had seemed out of the question…
Lastly, she'd been most interested in hearing about his pursuit of art and his hope of getting into school for it.
As it turned out, young Himari enjoyed art and was becoming more and more talented in it. She was likely going to Naoto's old middle school, as opposed to where Maki and Riko went, so Mrs. Gamo was happy to hear about the Art Club he'd been a part of when he'd attended.
Himari had gone gaga, visiting his old middle school's activity day, particularly the Art Club's events…
Naoto wasn't sure why Himari would be visiting a middle school her siblings hadn't gone to… and wasn't activity day usually on a weekday…?
Who was he to judge though…?
He was a few years removed, but he'd had some good times in his old club—the best he'd had in middle school.
After all, he'd met Sana and Hana Sunomiya there…
It was good to hear that an elementary schooler was so gung-ho about art.
He wished he'd had some of his work with him, but he hadn't any…
It would've been nice to show Mrs. Gamo something—even a sketchbook.
…
In the end, before his "escape" and subsequent trip to the grocery store, Naoto experienced something of a riddle from the kindly Mrs. Gamo.
With a broad smile and an inoffensive mirth, she'd told him how surprised she'd been by him, having finally met him.
And she wasn't surprised in a BAD way…
When he hesitatingly asked why, she'd answered his question with one of her own.
Had he ever met a hero of his, only to find they were just a very, very normal person?
…
"…?!" That stumper had stumped him.
…
Tallying up everything, Naoto could say a few things:
In his attempts to console Gamo-chan, he'd told her way, way, WAY, WAY, WAY too much, but he'd meant every word…
What happened with Nagatoro was upsetting, but they'd all live to see another day…
And Gamo-chan's mom cooked a MEAN beef stew~…
…
Finally, Naoto mentally chanced upon something he'd been disconnectedly batting around, upstairs in the old brain, since the day before… something Gamo-chan had told him.
…
I think I can see how a girl could like you, I really can…
…
Last Monday, when she'd stood up for him, he'd had that foolish, fleeting thought that Gamo-chan might like him.
…
Seriously, I think you could make some lucky girl really happy~…
…
It would make him happy if any girl as awesome as Gamo-chan liked him that way.
…
You really are… a pretty good guy, Paisen~…
…
He didn't want it, but… she really was a pretty wonderful girl… and he'd be rooting for her.
…
In his heart and soul, he already had a wonderful girl with whom he was very much in love.
Still, knowing Nagatoro probably needed a little space, at least for a few days, he'd try to let her be…
That her summer might be royally screwed, it hurt him too, but he'd try to support her.
And hopefully, he'd get to see her soon…
Overthinking wasn't helping anything, so he opened his phone and sent her a message:
…
Hey, Nagatoro. Text or call me if you need to. Thinking of you.
…
Prayerfully, it wouldn't upset her, his message, but it was all he could think to do for her at the moment…
Furthermore, Naoto hoped she wouldn't turn what he'd sent her around on him, mocking him for giving a damn about her.
It left him with a sour feeling in the pit of his stomach…
…
…
…
His belly underfilled with a quick meal of convenience store cup-noodles, partially filling the pit in his stomach, Naoto pondered two things, heading to the karaoke club:
Did they have a decent hot snacks menu at the club? Were their appetizers any good?
—and—
Was he an ass for thinking that Hana might be able to forgive Nagatoro… given the circumstances?
From the late morning on, Nagatoro had gone through the rest of the previous Monday, knowing she'd just bombed her Japanese final exam… and she maybe hadn't felt much hope for the next four either…
She'd had lunch with the rest of them, KNOWING she was probably splendidly fucked, that her parents would lay down the law, and that her summer break wouldn't be the same as the one in 2017…
She'd struggled through the semester, her friends none the wiser, and she'd acted out, regrettably, at his expense.
Trying to forgive and understand Nagatoro, even knowing what he now knew, had been back-and-forth, a figurative tennis match in which the score staunchly remained love-love, the ball moving but never landing true on either side.
Hana…
If everyone's kohai knew what had been going on for Nagatoro the whole semester, would she be able to give her another chance?
Given he still had that ridiculous bruise discoloring his metatarsal, yet tender to the touch, it seemed like a 50/50 shot…
Either way, he tried pushing it out of his mind.
As much as he hated that Nagatoro wouldn't be having fun with any of them in the next week, at the least, he probably didn't need to worry about Hana and Nagatoro clashing.
"…!"
Unless Nagatoro decided to hole up in the art room when she wasn't in class…!
Damn it! He tried even harder to put it out of mind.
He wouldn't have to worry about things AWAY from school, and he wouldn't need to worry about the beach, not when it came to the above two girls!
At any rate, he could leave it at that.
While he was disappointed and sad that Nagatoro wouldn't be around as much, he wasn't under any delusion it was anyone's fault but hers that she'd "screwed the pooch".
Hopefully, she'd take it in stride and just deal with it, not holding the fun the rest of them would be having against them…
Naoto wouldn't want any of his friends to miss out on summer fun just because he decided to blow his exams.
He'd be upset and green-eyed, but he wouldn't be so to the point that he'd wish bad upon them…
He just hoped Nagatoro felt the same way.
Unfortunately, he wasn't stone-cold certain this was the case…
…
Naoto hoped Gamo-chan would accept the little "gift" the rest of her summertime carolers had in store for her.
Since Gamo-chan—in grief or apathy—hadn't rounded up a replacement for Hana and certainly not one for Nagatoro, it would just be seven of them at the little party.
At Sakura Inori's suggestion, the six—sans Gamo-chan—had elected to divide the cost of the two unused slots, not leaving Gamo-chan with the fee, if they couldn't get the ¥5,000 refunded.
Apparently, Gamo-chan had told everyone Nagatoro wouldn't be going, but it was doubtful she'd said WHY…
Naoto anticipated difficulty with this.
Fuck…!
…
He decided to (attempt to) look on the brighter side of things—again—and zero in on something good.
The four study guides, the first and second-year math and science workbooks, he was giving Yoshi Yamazaki were nestled in his bag!
He'd even exchanged messages with the Yosh over lunch, being contacted first:
…
-Hachioji-kun, I hope I'm not interrupting your lunch or artwork (Gamo-chan told me you were at school this morning). Did you remember to bring the workbooks with you today?
-I'm just eating something at the convenience store. It's alright. I have them, Yoshi-san.
-I visited my parents' friend this morning to come up with a gameplan for my summer homework. She was very pleased to hear you were giving me the material later today.
-Yeah, I know it's a lot of extra stuff to do, but I'm happy you want to keep working on math and science. You did well this semester. You really should be proud.
-I am. My family is too. Really, thank you.
-You're welcome.
-Enjoy your lunch. See you in an hour.
-Thanks, Yoshi-san.
-Bye, Sensei.
-See you.
…
Naoto had a feeling the Art Club would soon be an air-conditioned educational oasis, and Gamo-chan and Yoshi would flock to it like seagulls flying to fresh garbage, not that two made up much of a flock.
He wouldn't mind one bit if the girls showed up to study and do their summer homework, joining Sakura, Hana, and himself… as long as they were actually doing their schoolwork!
Fun wasn't off the radar, but being study-buddies was a "business before pleasure" sort of outfit.
And hopefully, he'd get to work on his art in occasional relative peace…
…
…
…
Here it is!
Naoto rounded the corner and was only a few storefronts away from the city's newest karaoke club.
He was sure he wouldn't be the first one showing up, it being 12:50 p.m., and looking ahead, he was right.
Three of them had beaten him there…
Nekoba, her back to him, was easy to pick out from her frame and shorter hair.
He could hear her chatting with Gamo-chan and Yoshi, and Yoshi was the first to spot him.
"Sensei, ahoy!" she screeched, pointing at him in a way reminiscent of Don Sutherland in the Body Snatchers remake.
Gamo-chan peered around Nekoba, the latter turning his way.
"Hey, Paisen~!" the big girl greeted, smiling widely. "There you are!"
Naoto raised a hand, walking to them. "H-hey, girls."
Nekoba beamed, one eye making contact with his and the other with his left shoulder. "Hey, Hachioji-kun!"
He was glad he'd gotten over the spectacle of her strabismus…!
"Hi, Nekoba." He wasn't sure about calling her by her nickname, but for the life of him, he'd never heard her real name mentioned, and no one seemed to use anything besides "Nekoba"…
She DID have cattish characteristics, impressively and even more so than Nagatoro…
The girls… were garbed curiously, Naoto thought.
Their sartorial was more interesting than his school uniform, to be certain!
Since Nekoba was nearest, he got a good look at her:
The slender girl was in a sleeveless polo shirt, medium skirt, and flats with crew socks.
Wow, did she look cute today…!
But it wasn't Nekoba's modest outfit that was curious, in and of itself.
It was the contrast, when compared to what Gamo-chan and Yoshi were wearing!
…
The Maki and the Yosh…?
Both had on power suit jackets, better placed three or four decades earlier, almost comically big in the shoulders, with pencil skirts, Gamo-chan in blue velvet, Yoshi in pink.
Other than her white Panama hat, Yoshi almost resembled Jackie Kennedy, in her famed pink Chanel suit!
Gamo-chan wore a straw fedora, and to Naoto's amazement, she'd straightened and arranged her hair in a single braid in back.
He hadn't been able to tell immediately, but Yoshi's hair was also different. Instead of the usual twin-tails, high on her head, she wore pigtails, low and behind the ears.
While Naoto took all this in, Gamo-chan grinned.
"No trouble finding the place?" she asked him.
His attention gained, he replied, "Nope. No problems."
Oh, man, did Gamo-chan and Yoshi look wild in those outfits!
He'd seen pictures of his grandma and a great-aunt or two in similar fashion.
Shortly, Gamo-chan's familiar leer expanded. "So… Paisen?"
"…!" He jerked. "Y-yeah?"
"How do we look~?" Gamo-chan gave a slow spin in place, wiggling her butt a little.
Yoshi followed suit. "Twist-and-turn~!"
Woot!
Naoto wanted to say they looked 30-odd years out of place, but he knew better, though he acted fast.
"You all look nice," he fared, meaning to include Nekoba.
He PRAYED the innocuous remark wouldn't bring the hammer down!
Yoshi crowed, "Sensei approves~!"
"Was there any doubt~?" Gamo-chan gyrated.
Jeepers! Naoto turned his gaze elsewhere, happening upon Nekoba.
Uh-oh!
But she'd apparently understood her place in his comment. "Thanks, Hachioji-kun. If I'd known the others were going all-out, I would've found something more interesting."
"All-out for what?" He cocked his head, alleviated things kept moving.
She came back with, "Gamo-chan wanted us to dress up like the 1980's."
That explained the power suits!
"Ack!" Gamo-chan griped, leaving off the antics. "That was supposed to be a surprise!"
"S'prise!" Yoshi tacked on.
Nekoba shrugged. "You didn't say anything. And what's the dilemma? We're already right in front of him."
"Well, whatever…" Gamo-chan gave in. "But Paisen'll supposedly be 'shittin' bricks' once Sakura shows up!"
"She really went all-out!" Yoshi informed. "That's what she told us!"
Oh, sweet gee-whiz!
Naoto could only imagine. "…!"
The three girls then began nattering amongst themselves, leaving him alone with his thoughts for a moment.
"…!" He was aware having this extra time was either really good or really bad..
And it leaned toward the latter…
This "bad" thing had been just about the first thing Naoto had noticed, but distraction had halted its processing, and it became closer to an "afterthought".
…
Bare legs…!
Yoshi was wearing black hose to go with her black heels, but Gamo-chan wore no such obstructing stretchy fabric.
Nearly matching her jacket and skirt, Gamo-chan was wearing suede pumps—with bare legs…!
… … …
… …
…
Naoto, he'd…
He'd never seen Gamo-chan in heels…
And Sakura was as correct as "1+1=2":
The tall girl's legs looked ASTRONOMICAL…!
He was hard pressed to straightaway conjure up a better-looking pair in his head.
What he wouldn't give for a chance to SKETCH those lower limbs!
Concerning the other thing Sakura had said, Naoto wasn't so sure:
Instead of not being able to "walk for shit" in heels, Gamo-chan seemed reasonably at home in them! Those heels had to be 8 cm high!
He didn't have to wait for Sakura to show up:
He was already shitting bricks!
Every time Gamo-chan shifted her weight or altered her stance, her calf muscles would—
Sproing!
…
Lamely, Naoto pulled his head out of his own ass just in time to notice the girls turning their devotion back to him.
Gamo-chan eyeballed him. "What is it?"
Her rotating a few degrees was all it took, and her calves—
Shwing~!
Naoto's mind skyrocketed out from the gutter, purely out of necessity.
There had to be something to say!
He asked the two old friends, "Aren't you two hot dressed like that?"
"Hot?" Gamo-chan repeated.
"It is July." His question wasn't completely idiotic.
Gamo-chan shook her head. "I'm good. I took the bus."
"Nice and cool under the A.C.!" Yoshi contributed. "I was on the next bus."
Naoto wished HE'D taken the bus…
"It was pretty hot walking over here…" he shared.
Nekoba had experienced a cool ride herself. "I took a cab here. It was nice."
Since Heaven had opened up and shined a ray of light upon him, Naoto hadn't been caught staring, and he was able to get them going on a new topic.
He referred to the two more "dressed-up", "So, why the power suits and pencil skirts?"
Yoshi vindicated, "We're a couple of 1980's lady executives! It's a new day for women~!"
That "new day" had already come… before the United States launched Voyager I and Voyager II…!
"Look out, world! We mean business~!" Gamo-chan announced, hands on her hips.
"We're in business for ourselves~!" Yoshi intensified, raising a fist.
HERE had been the Yoshi Naoto was more familiar with!
But he enjoyed Yoshi-duality, her rowdy side and her "proper" side.
"You look like a couple of old-time gangsters…" Nekoba opined of the other girls. "Is that your business~?"
"…"
"…"
"We… haven't decided yet~!" Gamo-chan tried rolling with the bit she and Yoshi had just created. "Still working on that!"
Yoshi was hot on her tail. "Yeah, and if you don't like it, you can swim with the fishes~!"
All three girls went on with their gaiety, soon becoming giggly messes.
And Naoto loved seeing it!
He loved seeing it in Gamo-chan, absolutely.
She seemed like a new person, even compared to what he'd seen in the morning…
Before talking to her, he'd been worried she might not even want to get out of bed that day.
The "businesswoman" lark didn't have time to peter out, because Gamo-chan's phone went off.
*Brrrring… Brrrring…*
"Awright~!" she expressed, smiling at what greeted her. "It's Hanacchi~! It's a video call!"
Hana was calling them?!
Yoshi and Nekoba saddled up to Gamo-chan's sides.
Naoto heard Hana's voice.
"Hello, Gamo-neechan, Nekoba-senpai, Yoshi-senpai," it came evenly.
He could visualize their lovely kohai bowing on-screen!
The three responded in turn, "Yo, Hanacchi~!" "Hi, Hanacchi!" "'Sup, Hanacchi~?!"
"I'm with Sana-neechan at an art gallery," Hana said. "We're on a tour, but we're taking a break for a couple minutes."
Sana's voice joined, "Hello, girls. I was happy to hear Hana pass along your 'hellos'."
The power suited pair lit up, Naoto reasoning his old senpai had stepped into frame.
"Hey, Prez!"
"Prez~!"
"Oh, my…" the Prez said. "There's a face I haven't seen before. Hello."
"Oh, hello, Sunomiya-senpai, I definitely recognize you. I'm Nekoba."
"'Nekoba'?" she returned with a gentle chortle.
The other didn't mind. "Yup, just 'Nekoba'."
"It suits you."
"Yeah, I get that~… How are you?"
The Prez replied, "I'm well, thank you. As Hana said, we're on a tour. The curator… is lacking, but one almost needs to follow a schedule and a guide to navigate this place."
"We wanted to call before 1:00," Hana jumped in. "Is it just you three?"
"Nope," Gamo-chan denied. "We're still waiting on Sakura and Paisen's two friends."
"Hachioji-senpai is there?" Hana almost sounded excited.
"Sure enough." Gamo-chan looked up from the phone. "Come join the party, Paisen~!"
He obeyed…
And Gamo-chan pulled him into a headlock!
But he could see the Sunomiya cousins on the screen, Hana holding her phone in selfie position.
Somehow, Gamo-chan even managed to keep the screen steady!
"Hey…" he stifled his words, just accepting his lot. "President… Sunomiya…"
He probably should've been freaked out a little more, Gamo-chan's left boob pressing into the back of his head.
"Hachioji…" The Prez smirked, seeing his condition. "Thank you for your kind words. Hana told me."
Even in this absurd situation, Hana did bow. "Hello, Hachioji-senpai, how are you?"
All things considered, he wasn't too badly off~!
"I'm okay," he strained. "You still having a nice trip?"
"Oh, it's been so much fun!" Hana enthused. "Check out my Line; I've been uploading our time at the gallery."
"I will," Naoto promised. "Looking forward to it."
Hana said to Gamo-chan, "We're having fun, but it is regrettable to be missing your get-together. Sorry, Gamo-neechan."
"It's fine, Hanacchi." She adjusted her grip on Naoto. "I promise to sing a song or two for you!"
The Prez touched Hana's shoulder. "It looks like we're about to start again."
"Oh, I guess we have to go," Hana repented.
The three girls on the other side of the horn sent off, "Enjoy the rest of the day." "Stay safe." "Missing you, Hanacchi~!"
Hana bowed again. "It was good to talk to you for a little while."
"Anything you wanna say to our senpai~?" Gamo-chan hefted Naoto.
He gurgled, looking helplessly to the Sunomiya cousins, as if begging for aid, "…!"
Hana said something of him.
"Don't kill him." Her delivery was perfect. "He has the key to the Art Club."
Gamo-chan, Nekoba, and Yoshi all howled with laughter, and Naoto was released.
He had a laugh of his own too…
Even the Prez was laughing, though it never got beyond a chuckle, "Girls, Hachioji, have a good day."
"You too!" the girls said in unison.
Naoto rubbed his neck. "Bye, President."
The Prez smiled. "…~"
Naoto couldn't exactly direct his gaze to Hana, but, "Later, Sunomiya. I'll make sure to check out your Line in a while."
Hana beamed without even having to smile. "Please tell Sakura-senpai I said 'hello'."
"Of course!" He'd never do otherwise. "Well… goodbye."
This time, Hana did smile, ephemeral as it was. "See you soon, Hachioji-senpai~."
The video call terminated on the other side, and Gamo-chan's phone went to main menu.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Gamo-'neechan'?" Nekoba goggled, eyeing said neechan.
"Yeah~…" she reveled. "Since I'm her senpai, she didn't want to just use '-chan'."
"I'm still 'Yoshi-senpai'!" Yoshi included, rather gratuitously.
Naoto, for his part, hadn't even become aware of the stupid grin spreading across his face. "…~"
Hana was…
He delighted in the remembered warmth on his cheek, his dear kohai kissing him farewell last Friday.
Hana was just great~…!
…
Fortunately, his mind snapped back.
He'd realized for the first time that each of the girls had a bag:
Gamo-chan had a little backpack, Nekoba had a purse that would go with anything, and Yoshi had her schoolbag.
Yes, she had her schoolbag, having visited her "tutor"!
"Oh, Yoshi-san, before I forget…" He opened his own schoolbag. "Here are those four guidebooks."
Yoshi blinked. "Oh… yeah."
Naoto immediately wished he'd been quieter about it.
Maybe Yoshi DIDN'T want to have this exchange in front of Gamo-chan…
But he was found wanting, though he didn't really want it.
"Extra guides?" Gamo-chan watched Naoto pull out the documents.
Yoshi, turns out, was unbothered. "I asked Sensei for the math and science stuff that he gave you and Sakura. He also said he'd give me what he gave Hanacchi."
"Oh… nice." Gamo-chan nodded. "The stuff was helpful."
…
Oh, was Naoto thankful that had turned out!
This time, however, the subject was sort of changed on its own, even if it didn't need to be.
His phone went off.
He pulled it out, and the girls had heard it too.
"What's up?" Gamo-chan asked.
Checking, he was content to say, "Ah, it's from Sakura-san."
"Hopefully, she's close," Gamo-chan wished. "What's it say?"
Naoto enthusiastically opened the message:
…
Don't show this to anyone else.
…
Huh?! What was this?!
Going with the flow he figured was more than was strictly healthy, his brain must've not been working at full-capacity.
Oooookay… he WOULDN'T show anyone else…
He sent back:
…
Okay.
…
Within seconds, another text from Sakura showed up:
…
I told you Gamo-chan's legs looked great in heels~.
…
Holy fuckin' dogshit! Naoto nearly jumped out of his skin. "Bwaaaaaah!"
He should've known!
"…!" "…!" "…!" The three female companions were baffled.
Not for long though…
Nekoba had no idea what was going on, but she was the only one.
Possibly remembering a recent pajama-ish happening between Naoto and Sakura over the phone, Gamo-chan and Yoshi sprang into action.
Gamo-chan leered. "Ooh~… What'd she send ya, Paisen~?"
"You're gonna show us this time~!" Yoshi bellowed.
Yoshi remembered, at least!
Naoto's fight-or-flight kicked in, his phone locked and already pocketed. "No way!"
And the same as last time, Yoshi clamped his arms to his side and put her weight on him, rendering him unable to move far. "Ha!"
"…~" Gamo-chan cracked her knuckles. "No mercy, not this time… Paisen~…"
Oh, hamburgers!
Whether or not she'd have made good on such a declaration, no one would ever know.
An immoderate giggle, stirring the air like a sudden storm, seemed to surround the party of four.
"~~Eh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh~~!" It caused the girls to huddle up, back-to-back, coming from all directions.
Unsettled, their eyes darted about, and—
Sakura emerged from behind an adjacent traffic barrier.
"Hey-ho, everyone~!" she chirruped. "How goes it~?"
"Sakura?!"
"Sakura?"
"Yipe! Sakura!"
"Sakura-san?!"
The gal breezed into their midst. "That's my name! Don't wear it out~!"
Gamo-chan didn't like this sort of surprise.
"Where'd you come from?!" she shouted.
Sakura smartly lectured, full of glee, "You see, the X and Y-chromosomes—"
"You know what I mean!" Gamo-chan cut her off.
The gal didn't miss a beat, saying, "From down the street~. I saw some frolics I was missing out on, so I thought I'd sneak up on you~."
Naoto surely felt "snuck up on"!
"Hey, Senpai-kun~." She gave Naoto a playful smirk.
This sort of thing didn't faze him as much, even in front of others.
But Yoshi pinning his arms to his side did!
"Could you get her to let go…?" he whined at the blonde, still held fast.
"Certainly!" Sakura chirped. "Yoshi, heel!
Like the good puppy she was, holding to a gag from some time ago, Yoshi relinquished Naoto and stood up. "Woof-woof~!"
"Good girl~!" Sakura cackled.
Gamo-chan was still sore about being spooked, and she went for the jugular.
"So, what did you just send to Paisen~?!" She perhaps jumped the gun, a lead-in likely more effective.
Naoto thought she might get Sakura off-guard, but she didn't.
"Nothing to do with this." She waved it off. "I just sent him a pic of the bikini I was thinking about wearing for Saturday~."
It beat the truth for Naoto!
"Yeah, you would…" Gamo-chan was disappointed in her own failure.
"Sticks and stones, Gamo-chan~!"
Gamo-chan pointed accusingly. "What the Hell do you think you're wearing?!"
All that went with her entrance had softened the blow of what they were seeing, but it still hit like a cartoon mallet.
Gaaaaaaawddamn!
Naoto's jaw might've dropped for this one!
Sakura's hair was crimped, adding quite a bit to its already wavy volume. She wore a neon green tube top—showing plenty of belly, back, and shoulder—that nearly matched the acid-green nail polish she'd been wearing since the week before. Beneath her black leather miniskirt, her tan legs were toned, riding on the high heels of her lowcut, neon pink boots.
Gamo-chan was aghast. "You came all the way here dressed like that?!"
She might've been overreacting a little, but Sakura WAS showing almost as much skin as an "average" bikini would…
"My mom had to get some work done at the boutique, so she dropped me off in her car~."
Gamo-chan yelped, "Your mom let you walk out of the house like that?!"
Sakura simpered, "Let me? She helped me put all this together~!"
Nekoba's eyes were like saucers, but Yoshi was far less awed by what they were seeing.
"That's definitely very '80's…" She was nonetheless impressed. "But… what are you supposed to be?"
She and Gamo-chan were up-and-coming businesswomen, and Nekoba was just some perfectly normal teenage cutie-pie (not that there was anything wrong with that), but—
"I guess I'm a coke-fiend~!" Sakura giggled.
Nekoba thought differently, "You look like a ¥2,000 street-walker…"
Whatever she was, lacing her fingers behind her head, Sakura twirled her shapely hips at the girls.
Yes… they were impressed…
Naoto's brain had only started to turn its gears again, and—
"~~Get a load of this, Senpai-kun~~!" Sakura warbled. "What do you think~?"
She gave a twist-and-turn that blew all other twists-and-turns high and dry out of the water, stranding them in the pine trees.
Boi-yoi-yoing~!
To his own astonishment, he was able to keep his head. "You look nice."
"And~…?" She exemplified her bodacious boobage.
"And you all look nice," he saved his own bacon, allowing himself a little smile.
Sakura yowled, devastated at his "disinterest", "Auuu!"
"Aw, he got ya!" Gamo-chan cheered. "Good job, Paisen~!"
"Utter defeat!" Yoshi broadcasted.
Among the other styles, Nekoba glowered, obviously feeling out of place. "…"
Free from ridicule for a (very likely) fleeting moment, Naoto noticed.
Again, he thought she looked JUST fine! It was a timeless outfit, at home just about ANYTIME in the last 50 years…
Sadly, he wasn't sure how to say it directly.
Still, he said, "I like all your outfits. You put some thought into this."
Somehow, they let him have that, not picking him apart over it.
"I hoped you'd like the 'surprise'~." Gamo-chan's ego inflated. "I just thought it'd be fun to do something like this."
He surely agreed!
Sakura cast her eyes here-and-there. "So, I miss anything?"
"Hanacchi and the Prez just called us~!" Yoshi dropped.
Sakura squealed, "And I missed it?!"
"Sunomiya says 'hello'…" Naoto foolishly put in, far too keen.
"…?!" Sakura rounded on him.
Whoops!
The blonde didn't like that. "Senpai-kun, you ass!"
At least she didn't call him "Asshole-kun" in front of the others… and he HAD done for Hana what he'd said he'd do, so…
Gamo-chan cracked up, "Aw, leave him alone… She won't answer her phone—she's busy—but I bet Hanacchi would love to see a text from you."
"How about a selfie?!" Sakura came back like Lazarus, the incident forgotten. "Everyone huddle up~!"
Even the ass was pulled in, and Sakura snapped a pic of all five of them, sending it along with a note:
…
Hey, Hana-chan~! Sorry I missed you! Let's chat later~!
…
With that, the girls turned their piety to one another, taking in the others' clothing of choice.
This "breathing room" would've been a Godsend to Naoto, but this new scene quickly devolved into a situation in which he'd never again hoped to find himself.
The girls fell into a sort of girl-talk… and for him—in a way—it was even more daunting than anything he'd EVER heard from Sakura and Hana…!
…
Sakura was wowed by Gamo-chan's pumps. "Nice knockoffs, Gamo-chan! Like, seriously, those look really good!"
"Knockoffs?!" Gamo-chan exclaimed. "Not on your life!"
The gal didn't think it was possible. "You mean…"
"These are the real deal, bee-yotch~!" the Maki touted.
"What?!"
"These are real Sarah Jessica Parker Fawns… blue suede in European size 38~!" Gamo-chan said proudly. "Straight from Italy~!"
Sakura was floored. "You gotta be kidding me!"
"Where'd you find them?" Nekoba wondered, marveling at something she'd only ever seen online and in magazines.
Yoshi piped, "We were bargain-hunting!"
"Me and Yoshi went to this one outlet," Gamo-chan revealed. "I'm more into rock'n'roll, so I don't know crap about this sort of stuff. I didn't know a thing about these, so I looked them up. When I saw how expensive they usually were—and in my size—I knew I had to try them on~."
"We didn't even know who Sarah Jessica Parker is!" Yoshi discharged. "I don't think we were missing anything though…"
"Those retail for ¥40,000…" Sakura gaped, far more knowledgeable, even about the horse whose namesake graced the brand. "But depending on the style, they go for between ¥30,000 and ¥60,000 on the secondary market… That color and leather…? You'd be looking at the upper-range of that."
"That much?!" Gamo-chan was bowled over. "I just saw the retail price."
Retail price be damned, Sakura had to know, "How much did you spend on those…?"
"A very minor scuff and imperfection saw them sent off~," Gamo-chan brought to light. "And the issue is somewhere you can't even see! I got them for ¥8,200~!"
…
This was trouble!
But Naoto was letting his "morbid" curiosity get the better of him.
He KNEW he should be a good boy and space out, but…
Things got heated/interesting between Gamo-chan and Sakura, and the other girls got the Hell out of Dodge.
He just couldn't keep his nose out of it!
…
"You gotta be kidding…" Sakura scowled, eyes aimed downward.
Gamo-chan was annoyed. "What now?"
"Seriously?" Sakura was horrified. "Are you going bare in those?!"
"You know I hate pantyhose."
"I know you do; that's not what I'm talking about!" the gal sputtered. "You're not even wearing liners?"
"Hey, I tried to," Gamo-chan countered. "They didn't show, but they wouldn't stay on either. I kept slipping out of the shoe, but they fit perfectly like this."
"You gotta be kidding…"
Gamo-chan leaned on the storefront.
"I'm not." Hiking up an ankle to the opposite hip in one hand, she grabbed the stem of the Fawn with the other and popped the heel of the high-heel off her bodily heel, showing the gal she was indeed going au natural in the expensive shoe. "See~?"
…
Maybe Naoto should've just turned around for this whole thing…
…
"You find a bargain that good, and you can't even appreciate it?!" Sakura harangued. "That was so lucky!"
"I can't appreciate it?" Gamo-chan, wrestling the upper back over her heel, grumped right back. "Says who?"
"It's bad enough not wearing liners, but those are all-leather! It's skin-on-leather! There are ways to deal with that!"
"Why are you so upset about it?" Gamo-chan didn't get it.
"It ruins shoes!" Sakura tried to make her see reason. "There's nothing grosser than a sweat-ruined leather shoe!"
"What do you care?" the other dismissed. "It's not like you'd ever be able to wear 'em. European-wise, you're, what, a size 40, at least~?"
"Rrrrrr!" Sakura growled.
…
What was European size 40 in Japanese women's…?
…
"Do you have any idea how many women wear European 38?!" Sakura pressed.
"In Japan?" Gamo-chan jabbed. "Prolly about 10 million~. What's it matter?"
…
Naoto, you ass, stop thinking about it!
…
"It matters because you could sell them!" Sakura took the logical route. "You're no good with high-heels, so why not sell them? You'll bust your ankles in 100 mm heels."
…
100 mm?! Not 80?!
…
"Hey, I've gotten a lot better at it," Gamo-chan fortified.
"Even so, if you wind up not liking them, you could sell them." Sakura wouldn't say the same about her Prada purse (which she didn't have with her this day). "You shouldn't go barefoot in something like that; you should take care of them.
"Hell, I could fix the blemish. Depending on what it is, I could conceal the defect with ¥500 worth of materials, and no one but a pro would ever know. You could sell them online for literally ¥40,000, and you'd have a buyer before the end of the day."
Gamo-chan didn't seem to care. "Y'know, I could sell 'em for more~."
"I don't like that tone…" Sakura expected something bad.
Gamo-chan didn't disappoint. "I figure I could wear 'em and ride an exercise bike or sit in a sauna or something and totally ruin them. There's a market for that too, so I hear~!"
"Ugh!" Sakura shuddered. "Nasty!"
…
Naoto couldn't handle anymore; he made to check out mentally…
…
Nekoba reentered the hastily worsening dialog, "I think that would only work if you were internet famous or something… I've heard of net-idols selling their clothes and stuff to their followers. Panties, bras, socks, other stuff…"
…
Was she seriously talking about that crap?!
…
Yoshi couldn't resist, "The most slavish of slavish followers~!"
..
Gah! THIS TIME, he WOULD stop listening!
…
"Oh, this is fuggin' sickening…" Sakura groaned. "I dunno why I hang out with all of you…"
Naturally, she was kidding around…
"People really do in fact buy that stuff, Sakura…" Nekoba was serious. "Forget those horrible vending machines where men can buy used panties, 'cause I hear there are entire shops full of that kind of junk…"
Sakura lamented, "I know there are, and I wish I didn't…"
"You can't be serious…" Gamo-chan, her expression souring, had never heard of such a thing.
"I wish I wasn't…" The gal pulled a face.
"I bet those places smell like the dumpster behind the sushi restaurant," Yoshi guessed, wrinkling her nose.
…
Okay, no, Naoto heard that too… and he KNEW about such places, not that he'd be caught DEAD in one…!
…
After another few back-and-forth jibes, not excluding Sakura's praise for the "emergency tissue trick", stuffing the toe of a shoe with tissue paper for a better fit, something Gamo-chan hated doing, the girls providentially left the subject.
It ended with Gamo-chan electing to KEEP the pumps…
She'd come across a once-in-a-lifetime deal, and she'd enjoy owning and wearing something that special.
Also, with providence, Naoto's phone went off again.
Since Sakura was right there, it probably wasn't another prank!
He was contented to see, "Oh, it's Tohru."
"Oh, sweet~." Gamo-chan shouldered up to him. "What's it say, Paisen?"
He only THEN realized she was just as tall as him that day, sporting the Fawns!
Regardless, he kept his cool, even meeting her at eyelevel.
"Let's see." He woke up his phone.
Maybe he was overly trusting that Tohru wouldn't send him something obscene (which happened on occasion), but he let Gamo-chan read it alongside him:
…
Nao-kun, we're on our way, but we'll be about 20 minutes late. Order us a cola with grenadine and an orange soda. See you soon.
…
"Aw, looks like they're gonna be a bit…" Gamo-chan rued.
"Seems that way." Naoto had just seen the same thing she saw.
Sakura grumbled, "No reason to stand outside then…"
"It's 1:00 on the dot." Nekoba checked her wristwatch. "But it's not like we couldn't have already gone inside."
Yoshi looked to their "leader". "What say you, fellow woman of business?"
What else was there TO say, but…?
"Yahoo!" Gamo-chan whooped, waving her fedora like a cowboy hat. "Let's sing~!"
Replacing the hat squarely on her head, she headed the assemblage and made for the door.
She could deal with having only one guy around for the near-future…
…
Rather, "let's sing" was more along the lines of "let's get situated". They ordered their first round of drinks, and they waited for Shuu and Tohru.
They had the room until 6:00 p.m.
They could enjoy the afternoon in a quasi-leisurely manner…
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading! Questions and comments are welcome!