🌸Cherry Blossom Palette: Summer by the Sea🎨
🌸Chapter 6: Let's Sing~!" [Part Two] ️🎨
Doorway into Summer Arc ️
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
ED: Naoto and his friends have fun together. That's what this whole chapter is about.
I probably should've come up with something other than that "paint thinner" line last chapter, but I told PS to come up with something bad, and I won't ask him to apologize for exceeding my expectations.
I do like his idea of "Gamo-and-Maki terms" using alliteration. They've been fun.
Gamo-grin, Gamo-grant, Gamo-gripe, Gamo-grump, Gamo-groan, Gamo-grind, Gamo-grip, Gamo-games, Gamo-gains, Gamo-gimme, Gamo-gamble, Gamo-gasser, Gamo-glimmer, Gamo-glint, etc.
Maki-murder, Maki-memory, Maki-maim, Maki-mortification, Maki-mood, Maki-mission, Maki-madness, Maki-made, Maki-MAID, Maki-mumbles, etc.
I think it could go on and on.
It's easy to overuse, but I think it's cute sometimes.
I'm not sure how I feel about the new South Park season. I'll give it a few more episodes before calling it into question.
Please look at the Q&A section I set up at the end of the chapter. Ask us anything, and we'll add another section in the next chapter. I would be happy if you ask questions.
Please enjoy what I wrote.
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Tohru Hijikata had said he and Shuu Aisho would only be 20 minutes late to the karaoke party, but by this point, it was closer to 30.
Strewn about in their large room's furniture, the four girls waited for their senpai to relay the message he'd just received.
Naoto Hachioji set down his phone. "Finally, they're down the block. Once they arrive, the staff will make sure they get here."
Maki Gamo, to his right, glanced up, her fedora perched low on her forehead, obstructing one eye.
Nekoba had been right! She DID look like some old-time gangster!
"It's about friggin' time…" she resounded, slurping noisily on a frozen strawberry lemonade, garnished with sliced fresh strawberries.
How she wasn't getting a brain-freeze was a mystery…
Naoto slowly but steadily downed his own drink, opting for the same thing she'd selected, almost giving up on his straw, which kept clogging up with strawberry puree.
It was pretty tasty!
He didn't blame Gamo-chan for being a little annoyed. She'd rented out the room they were in until 6:00 p.m., and they'd already lost a half-hour of "sing-time" waiting.
But they'd been chatting, they were ready, having ordered and received their drinks, and they'd already lined up some songs from the catalogue to kick things off.
And they had a NICE room!
It had lots of space, fun lighting (including a disco ball~), colorful art on the walls, two screens to display lyrics or other media, a sizeable stage, and two sofas with a few chairs and coffee tables.
Hanging on a rack were a few tambourines, maracas, and several other percussion instruments.
Wired for six mics, the room could handle a sextet, all at once.
And—awesomely—they were afforded premium beverages.
Gamo-chan had come through nicely for them!
With some awful generic pop song dripping from the sound system, Nekoba happily continued taking in their surroundings.
Stirring her Shirley Temple and checking out the ceiling, decked out with glow-in-the-dark stars, she raved, "This place is awesome!"
"It's my first time being in a karaoke suite this fancy~!" Sakura Inori had her phone out, recording the goings-on. "Hey, Yoshi! What are you looking at over there?"
Intuitive obviosity told one that Yoshi Yamazaki was cycling through the song-catalogue, but specifically, "They have a whole section in here devoted to the British Invasion!"
"Any Beatles?" Nekoba cozied up.
"Of course, there are Beatles' tunes—lots of 'em~!" Yoshi exploded. "I'm picking 'Twist and Shout' as my first solo~!"
"Ooh, that's a fun one~!" Sakura chimed. "Wanna make it a duet instead~?"
"Defs, Sakura!" Twin-tails ("Pigtails" that day) welcomed.
…
Naoto leaned back, forming his body into the sofa opposite Yoshi and Nekoba.
Sakura was curled up in the chair to his left, now blissfully taking video of the neon light show they'd programmed.
Sweet! These girls were already having fun!
And Gamo-chan would soon be of that number, once they got things rolling.
At present, she was still pouting mildly over their time lost, her arms crossed.
She had her SJP Fawns up on the room's lone ottoman, ankles crossed too, slouched in the chair opposite Sakura.
Jiggling a foot, her pricy pump waggled swiftly back-and-forth, nearly off and dangling from her toes.
Her impatience could be FELT, not that the other three girls were bothered by this…
Naoto wasn't overly concerned either.
His boys would show up in moments…
Plus, he was sure Gamo-chan would get a kick out of Shuu… once Shuu warmed up to the situation.
He'd seemed nervous, being asked to a party where the guys were outnumbered six-to-three, and even with four-to-three, as things had turned out, he'd still been wary…
Though it has been stated already, the reason Naoto was confident Shuu would interest Gamo-chan was that as she loved karaoke more than any girl he'd ever met, Shuu liked it more than any guy he'd ever met.
Once Shuu got up-and-running, he may very well be the life of the party!
That said, he was already missing the two members of their group that would've rounded them out to nine.
Hana Sunomiya, as everyone knew, was visiting her cousin, Sana, his old club president, with her family in Tokyo…
Naoto knew Hana was having fun, but he'd wanted to see her in action, knowing how much the girls had enjoyed having her along for the last big karaoke party, almost five weeks earlier.
As for their other absentee—adding to a perhaps needless recap—
Hayase Nagatoro had performed unusually poorly in school that semester and was suffering the consequences…
It had really knocked Gamo-chan for a loop, and Naoto's subpar shoulder wound up being her place upon which to lean and cry.
It knocked HIM for a loop, both Nagatoro's failure and Gamo-chan's anguish…
He was pained to see any of the girls so upset, but Gamo-chan…
It was like he could relate more strongly to her… in some ways…
…
*Chirp~!*
Naoto checked his phone.
He let the girls know, "They're checking in at the front."
Instead of waiting until the boys entered the room, the girls stood up to prepare to greet their guests, Gamo-chan hurriedly tugging her shoe back on and joining the rest of them in hastily straightening up their outfits.
Why not? Even if it was just Naoto's pals, they'd gussied up for the occasion, and they'd stand to say "hello" anyway…
Not one minute later, Shuu and Tohru walked through the door into the neon-lit room, in shorts and t-shirts.
Shuu appeared lost, but Tohru seemed fine…
Tohru explained, "Sorry, Nao-kun, we missed the first bus over here by about 30 seconds… had to take the next one.
"It's alright," he bid. "Just glad you're here.
Looking around, the girls seemed ready… and the boys were as ready as they'd ever be…
Naoto knew it was up to him to begin introductions. He cleared his throat.
"Uh, girls, th-these two are my friends: Shuu Aisho and Tohru Hijikata." Turning to each girl for a second or so, he gestured to the boys.
"Hey," Gamo-chan hailed the newcomers. "I'm Maki Gamo. Call me 'Gamo-chan'."
There probably wasn't ANYONE at school who didn't know who Gamo-chan was, but she and the two boys had never been formally introduced…
Just in case the girls had missed who was who, "I'm Tohru. Hi, there."
"Is 'Tohru-kun' fine?" Sakura questioned.
"Yeah, that's cool."
"I-I'm Shuu…"
Shuu was DEFINITELY nervous!
"Hey, Shuu-kun~! I guess we've spoken once or twice, but I'm Sakura Inori… Oh, sorry… would 'Shuu-kun' be okay?"
"Oh, 'Shuu-kun' would be f-fine… Can I call you…?"
The excitable fellow wasn't sure where to direct his eyes…
"Just plain 'Sakura' is fine~."
But Naoto couldn't blame Shuu's wandering gaze, even without her insane getup…
"W-wow… Okay, nice to meet you 'officially', Sakura."
For he still had a major crush on the gal…
"Likewise, Shuu-kun~."
This wasn't going too badly…
"Just call me 'Nekoba'. It's good to meet you, Tohru-kun, Shuu-kun."
"Hi, Nekoba."
"H-hey…"
"Yoshi Yamazaki, here~!"
"Cool, Yoshi-san."
"Uh, hello."
Naoto knew Yoshi and Nekoba might've been far less comfortable without wingwomen, but Gamo-chan and Sakura were there, and they were among the best wingwomen a girl could ask for.
He knew just as well that Shuu having a couple wingmen at his side was probably saving him.
This REALLY wasn't going too badly…
His pals were already on more familiar terms with Sakura than HIM!
He wasn't sure about his feelings towards that, but…
To him, at least introductions had gone smoothly.
Sakura jumped right in, seeming totally at peace with the world.
"It's cool you guys could make it~!" She wafted by the drink tray and picked up the glass of Coca-Cola with grenadine. "Tohru-kun, I believe this is yours."
Tohru gratefully accepted, "Thanks, Sakura."
To Naoto's surprise, it was Gamo-chan who retrieved Shuu's Fanta Orange.
It would've been better if the girls had switched roles… and NOT because Shuu had a thing for Sakura!
"Here you go, Shuu-kun," she said genially, handing him the drink. "Got the Fanta you wanted. Sorry if the ice is a little melted."
It was that Gamo-chan might terrify him!
Shuu was shaking, his eyes darting around. "I-it's alright… I know we got here late."
"Don't sweat it." She didn't seem to care as much as her displeasure —moments before—had illustrated. "We got the place until 6:00. Make sure to check out the drink menu. We can order anything off the list, and they'll even do a few special things if you ask."
Huh?
"Really?" Shuu's shaking had stopped.
Gamo-chan hiked a thumb to Naoto. "Yeah, me and Paisen there each got a frozen strawberry lemonade, garnished and everything."
His presence acknowledged, Naoto reinforced, "Y-yeah. It's pretty good."
She was being rather cordial with Shuu…
And Shuu appreciated it, a shy smile showing through. "Thanks, Gamo-chan. And thanks for having us. I like karaoke. This should be fun."
"Make yourself at home, Shuu-kun. We've got some songs lined up already, but look at the catalogue, and add what you like."
"Thanks," he sounded stunned.
He'd had a "brush with death" and walked away… so he might've thought before it happened…
"…!" Naoto wasn't sure where this girl had come from.
She'd been very friendly so far…
He knew she'd really wanted some boys there, so he maybe thought she was putting on airs, but…
She really WAS happy to have Shuu there… clearly so…
And he knew she'd be tickled pink once Shuu's singing voice got off the ground.
Happy day!
Over on the couch Naoto had previously occupied, Sakura was chatting up Shuu, poring over the song catalogue.
Cripes, did Shuu ever look happy!
Yoshi and Nekoba, across the way, seemed to be looking for an opening to join in, but they were keeping their distance.
Sakura DID know how to handle boys, whatever her intentions…
Naoto still didn't think that Nekoba was much better off with boys than Yoshi, and the two did seem a little apprehensive, but he was sure they'd thaw out.
This was going GREAT!
Be that as it may, something else cropped up.
…
Now… Naoto hadn't been worried about Tohru. He'd been concerned for Shuu.
Tohru could handle just about anything, but…
"Hey, look at this senpai!" Gamo-chan brayed, hiking a thumb—this time—to Tohru, commanding the room's attention.
Uh-oh…
Naoto's blood ran cold.
WTF was Gamo-chan up to all of a sudden?!
The room's other occupants didn't take this development all that well.
Yoshi and Nekoba shrank into their sofa, fearfully looking for some path of escape.
Shuu melted into his own seat, blanching. "…?!"
Sakura… she was just watching…
Oh, man! Naoto's mind raced, a shiver running up his spine.
Was there any way to curb this?!
He wasn't sure.
Why was Gamo-chan doing this?!
He really didn't know.
But SHE seemed to know!
Looming over Tohru, she addressed the bantam boy, eyes cast down to him. "How tall are you, 'Short-pai'~?"
Holy shit! That was the fiercest Gamo-grin ever! And she'd ACTUALLY called him "Short-pai"!
Tohru met her gaze. "160 cm."
"Yeah~?" She bared her teeth.
He was unfazed. "Yeah."
Where was UN Peacekeeping when you needed it?!
Gamo-chan stepped out of her heels, kicking them into the corner with their bags, hoping to better gauge Tohru's height.
("Don't kick them!" Sakura whinged in the background, even in this ludicrous time.)
More importantly, the exchange was far from over.
Urgh… That thing where Naoto's scalp prickled was happening again…!
"So, you're 160 cm? Yeah, you look it…" Gamo-chan scanned Tohru up and down. "You're the same height as Yoshi. But you got those big feet. Those sneakers, they'd be clown shoes on me~."
"And you're so dainty, are you?" Tohru barbed, scanning her up and down.
He countered?!
"Oh-ho!" Gamo-chan was delighted. "You're not like ol' Paisen at all~…!"
"…" Tohru calmly stood, pretty much rock-solid.
The Amazon leered at him, shaking with what was hopefully not murderous intent. "Your hands… I think you could almost palm a basketball~…"
"No good at ball though," he shot back. "After all, I'm so short~."
Was that a smirk he'd just let slip?!
Even as she moved in closer, greatly overshadowing him, despite her sudden loss of 10 cm in height, he didn't flinch, coolly chewing a wad of gum to cover up the stink of his lunch.
"You know what they say about little men with big hands and feet, right~?" Gamo-chan menaced.
Oh, WHATEVER could it be~…?
"That we're really handy to have around when you need to post monstrous genitals on the internet?" Tohru, still not hesitating to lock eyes, wasn't daunted by the girl, and his deadpan delivery could sell out a comedy club.
It didn't seem to be what she'd expected to hear, if anything, and no one ELSE had anything, but…
"Pfft!" It took all Gamo-chan had to not crack up, but she managed to recover.
It seemed she didn't know how to proceed, so…
"Nah, it just means you might still get a little taller," she swerved away from the near-crash, a genuine but controlled laugh issued. "Maybe you'll grow into them."
He shrugged, impervious. "Maybe."
Was that really what she'd been getting at…?
Naoto doubted it about as much as he doubted the existence of Santa Claus's super-secret sex-dungeon; he was certain she'd just pulled that out of her ass!
He knew there was a better chance she'd been getting at some sort of dick joke of her own, but he'd stolen her thunder and far surpassed whatever she'd been preparing.
The others were just as astounded.
Tohru had gotten the Maki to back down! She'd had nothing with which to counterattack!
The idea of Gamo-chan at a loss was scary to most who knew her.
Though, she didn't exactly back down…!
She scrutinized Tohru, a Hellscape rising up behind her. "~…~"
"…" Hell didn't seem to bother him very much.
The others' views on the "hot place" were varied.
"…!"
"…?!"
"…!"
"…?"
"…?!"
Whatever their view, the Hellscape vanished, and Gamo-chan wasn't able to contain herself this time.
She laughed in a way Naoto had only seen once before.
"Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh~!" she burst out, clutching one hand to her mouth and the other to her bosom, her eyes lighting up, her entire body quaking with it. "That's awful~… 'Post monstrous genitals on the internet'~…"
It fell somewhere between an un-Maki-ish giggle and a wheeze…!
"?!…?!" the others, minus Tohru, let out a collective gasp.
It wasn't often one got to see a person so genuinely enchanted, making "seagull noises".
And seeing it in Gamo-chan?!
Not even Yoshi had seen her oldest friend quite like this. "…?!"
"…!" "…!" Neither had Sakura and Nekoba.
Shuu had never seen a girl laugh like that. "…!"
It was a true "wowee-zowee" moment!
"…!" Naoto wasn't sure he was even awake.
Her laugh… it was what he'd heard out of Sakura, the night they gained a combined 5 kg at the yakiniku restaurant!
In the middle of all this, the pretty Amazon finally regained some composure.
"Hey, you're alright, Tohru-kun~." She wiped at her eyes, jittering with jollity.
He casually shot back, "I live to please."
Naoto wasn't sure, but he suspected the two had just shown them all some… mutual thing…
Had she been "feeling him out"? Had they been feeling EACH OTHER out? Why?!
But whatever they'd all just experienced, mayhap it augured well.
Maybe she detected the kind of guy Tohru was and thought a little back-and-forth would be interesting…
Whatever way, Naoto could tell Tohru was having fun with her.
And the fun didn't stop!
"Nao-kun," Tohru glanced his way, gesturing to the tall girl. "Is 'Xena' always like this?"
Xena…? Naoto was sure he'd heard that somewhere before.
Wherever he'd heard it, he didn't have the chance to tell his pal that he'd "get used to it", "Xena's" behavior.
Renewing her Gamo-grin, Gamo-chan was ready for round two.
She didn't know who or what "Xena" was, but she could tell it was a potentially unkind reference made at her expense!
She called upon her lieutenant, "Hey, Yosh, how can a guy talk like that to a lady~?!"
Yoshi, emboldened in a way only Gamo-chan could provoke, sprang to her feet, eliciting a squeal from the startled Nekoba.
"Yeah, how can he talk like that to a lady~?!" She stood alongside Gamo-chan, superficially at the same height with her own heels still on.
Gamo-chan purred, motioning to the diminutive dude, "He called me 'Xena', whatever that is. What should we call him, Yosh~?"
She'd already called him "Short-pai", hadn't she…?
"Little jerk~!" Yoshi injected, pointing at Tohru with both hands. "He's 'Yaro-bozu'!"
"Good one~!" Gamo-chan stated, joining in the signal.
Whoa! Was that ever impolite! The pointing too!
Naoto was flabbergasted.
Calling him a "little jerk"…?
He thought that would be bad enough.
Yoshi had called him a "little BASTARD", essentially…
Naoto expected retaliation from Tohru, and it seemed they'd be getting it, the way he began to eyeball Yoshi, and he wasn't the only one to catch it, the seated girls and Shuu noticing.
Yoshi yelped like a pup, getting a glare from the boy she'd just insulted, "Eep?!"
"…~?" Gamo-chan waited for the fireworks, hoping for round three to start.
Would Tohru call Yoshi "Inu-baka" or something…? "Baka-inu"…?
He did nothing of the sort.
He just chuckled, "That's kinda funny…"
The logic could be understood…
He was the same height as Yoshi but taller than Sakura, though he was shorter than Nekoba. And he could be rather abrasive, in jest though it was.
Maybe it fit…
As much as everyone was "loving" the show, it was time to move on.
Sakura might've been the only third-party willing to break up such goofballery.
"Hey, that's enough of that," she panned. "Let's get this party started."
No one argued.
Several were even relieved!
Gamo-chan allowed, "Yeah, you're right…"
Shooting Tohru a devious smile, he shot back a nearly imperceptible one, and they each backed off.
With that over, Gamo-chan dramatically swooped into the equipment, grabbing the microphone assigned to channel-one.
They'd already turned everything on, so all Gamo-chan had to do was flick the switch on the mic itself.
Hiking up a leg, she planted one foot on the center table, lowering her fedora.
With her free arm, she leaned on her raised knee, bringing her miced hand to her chin.
Lowering her voice, she tipped her hat back and serenaded into the mic, "Awright, kids… Let us commence the first—and definitely not last—karaoke party of the 2018 summer season~…"
"Woot~!" Yoshi roared. "Woot-woot~!"
Beaming at the endorsement, Gamo-chan braved, facing the rest, "If anyone has any reason this party should not commence, speak now, or… we can talk about it later, I guess."
"Heck, yeah, let's go!" Yoshi didn't "hold her peace", but it didn't apply the brakes to much of anything.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
Gamo-chan stood up straight, both feet now planted on the floor. "Since nobody's got anything, let's—"
"Uh, actually…" Nekoba raised a hand. "There is something…"
Gamo-chan nearly stumbled, her big act falling apart. "Huh…?"
The rest of them were thrown too…
Nekoba fathomed soon enough she'd chucked a wrench into the works, and she reddened a bit. "Sorry… It's just that there is something…"
Sakura's eyes widened. "Oh, you mean…?"
"The money," Nekoba finished for her. "Yeah."
"The money?" Gamo-chan repeated.
The gal was the one that had it, and she stood up. "We prolly could've found a better time for this…"
Nekoba cringed. "I know…"
"But I guess it's now…" Sakura finished.
They'd gotten everything together beforehand, and she'd been the one entrusted with the funds…
"Gamo-chan." She dug in her little hot-pink vinyl purse, matching her hot-pink vinyl boots. "Thank you so much for bringing us all together~. I guess we should've talked about it beforehand, but I know how these places usually work, so…"
Gamo-chan watched as Sakura pulled a small envelope from her little bag. "…?"
"We didn't want you to get stuck paying for the two unused time-slots today, so we want you to have this." Sakura handed over the parcel.
Opening it, Gamo-chan found ¥5,000 in crisp bills. "…?!"
"Thanks, Gamo-chan, for setting all this up~." Though with some sadness, Sakura smiled deeply, rosy in the cheeks. "We're sorry that not everyone could be here with us today, and we weren't about to leave you picking up the slack."
Oh, boy…
Naoto had seen enough of Gamo-chan to know when waterworks might be on the way, and it seemed like a close call.
And he wasn't the only one to see it!
However, while Gamo-chan was deeply and visibly touched, she held herself together fine. "Thanks, guys~…"
Maybe Naoto was just gun-shy from the last two days… and maybe she WAS finally all cried-out…
Gamo-chan chuckled, "I guess we didn't talk about it. The room and premium drinks actually came at a flat rate of ¥20,000, but a ninth person bumped it to ¥22,500. I could've saved some money, but… premium drinks~!
"It's ¥2,000 per additional person over eight people, and it was ¥500 for a ninth person's premium drink ticket over the one you'd get just paying normally. I was actually able to cancel the ninth spot, so…"
"You only had to cover the flat-rate," Sakura realized.
"Yup~…" Gamo-chan scratched her ear, still not "untouched" by the small kindness. "Only one spot 'went to waste', so I'll take half, but I can't accept the other half."
The others had been ready to part ways with the paltry sum, and after talking for a minute, an idea was batted around.
Shuu, of all people, suggested, "I figured we'd order some appetizers while we're here, so we could just throw the ¥2,500 at something for the room… unless anyone thinks differently…"
No one did!
"I like that idea, Shuu-kun~," Gamo-chan reinforced. "In fact, I'll throw my ¥2,500 into the pot too."
No one argued about this either!
"¥5,000 would be a good start," Tohru figured.
Really, ¥5,000 wouldn't go that far in feeding seven teenagers for the next four hours, but it WOULD get them going…
In addition to poring over the song catalogue, they began to take in the menu.
Ordering appetizers could wait, however, and elevated, Gamo-chan again took up the mic, though she didn't use it.
She cleared her throat and said with a hint of somberness, clearly to herself more than anyone else, "We need to have as much fun today as possible."
"…?" More than one set of ears perked up at this.
Picking up her lemonade, Gamo-chan climbed onto the little stage at the front of the room.
This time, speaking into the mic, she raised her drink. "Let's have so much fun today, we couldn't possibly have any more, even if we tried~."
It was a heartfelt declaration.
She didn't need to say anything further about their "bereaved"…
Naoto knew for a fact that Gamo-chan had told the girls—and he'd told his buddies—that Nagatoro wouldn't be with them today, and they all knew she'd underperformed in her exams, at least badly enough to merit a grounding.
That was ALL they knew though, and he was good with leaving it at that…
As far as he knew, only he and Gamo-chan had the details.
…
Regarding Hana, they just wished everyone's schedules would've lined up a little better.
..
In response to Gamo-chan's toast, the others, drinks in hand, resounded together, "Kampai!"
…
…
…
After a good two hours, the group was enjoying a fresh round of apps and drinks.
Besides the swell drink bar, the place had pretty good onion rings… and chicken wings… and potstickers… and mozzarella sticks… and French fries… and fried pickles… to name several of the club's offerings…
The seven students from Kazehaya High were having a pretty swell time together.
They intermittently sang songs, but they were doing just as much talking.
The conversation seemed multidimensional, almost becoming overwhelming…!
Naoto almost dreaded running to the can, not wanting to miss a minute of this wonderful stuff.
It was a yearning he'd never before known…
And he heard plenty, but he couldn't catch everything.
The average person could only be in one place at any given time, after all…
…
Gamo-chan complained to Yoshi, "We're singing way too many songs in English. I don't know half of them…"
"You promised~." Yoshi wasn't letting Gamo-chan back out of the "reward" she was due.
"Yeah, I know, but…" the other girl returned, unable to protest too much.
Yoshi assured, "There are only a few more I want us to sing, and you know the rest of them."
Gamo-chan accepted, but she did so grudgingly.
They'd sung in their native tongue plenty of pop songs and even a rock tune or two, but the English offerings had been the most "interesting" material so far.
The MOST most interesting performance had been Yoshi and Sakura, tag-teaming "Twist and Shout"…
They hadn't quite butchered the song, their mostly on-key jibbering and screaming earning them a rating of 65, but The Ed Sullivan Show it most definitely was not.
They'd had it in SPIRIT though~!
Naoto had been listening in on the girls, going back and forth in regards to Yoshi's apparent command:
Apparently, in the mythic past (junior high, second-year), Gamo-chan—domineering over their time spent together on the mic—had promised Yoshi that if she—Yoshi—could beat her in final exams, they'd do what she—Yoshi—wanted to do the next time they did karaoke.
Gamo-chan was the only one set up to "lose", Yoshi having no penalty stuck to her, and instead of letting it die when they were both 14, it had long since been a running joke of sorts.
But it had never been called to a stop, and Yoshi…
Shoot, EVERYONE knew she'd done fairly well for herself on final exams!
Naoto had been told by Gamo-chan—and he'd never doubted it all that much in the first place—that Yoshi had a certain intelligence to her, and when she had a compass to "lead her home", she could get there pretty easily.
Learning about this old promise, the rest of the room had supported Yoshi, so it was six-to-one, not that Gamo-chan put up much of a fight about it…
Gamo-chan appeared stunned that the bet between the childhood friends had finally come back to bite her in her very attractive ass, but she seemed to be less upset than what she was putting on.
The burly girly had been having a lot of fun with it, Yoshi enforcing a certain quota of songs in English…
Gamo-chan wasn't complaining when Shuu finally stepped up to the microphone.
She'd been thrilled to learn that Shuu liked karaoke as much as she did, but she'd been staggered to learn that he could sightread lyrics in English!
What most didn't know was that Shuu regularly got among the highest scores in English in school.
He'd scored a 99, the second highest of any student that semester, not just among the third-years!
Gamo-chan and Yoshi had nearly creamed (because of how unexpected it was, more than Shuu sweeping them off their feet) when he sang, in English, "It's a Beautiful Day" by Michael Bublé, scoring an 88.
No, Gamo-chan hadn't complained A BIT about that (and neither had the other ladies)!
She also didn't complain, seeing Shuu coach Naoto and Tohru through Manfred Mann's "Doo Wah Diddy Diddy", successfully forming a trio.
They'd eventually done a fair showing of the classic tune, even though they had to pause a few times and restart once…
Not a one of the girls hadn't gotten a good laugh out of that.
And Gamo-chan had come alive when she and Yoshi sang "Kiss the Girl" from Disney's The Little Mermaid, Gamo-chan on main lyrics and Yoshi singing backup, doing sound-effects too.
Yoshi was even obnoxious about it at the times she was supposed to be!
Naoto, recalling that Gamo-chan and Yoshi had watched that movie on Friday night, could almost visualize the two of them, much younger, doing the exact same thing he was seeing in one of their living rooms.
To have a friend like that…
It brought him a warm feeling.
…
Elsewhere in the room, Shuu wasn't doing too badly for himself, finding a little success in something else.
The confidence he'd built, doing a thing he was decent at, didn't bring out some internal, arrogant hot-shit of a young man, but he was definitely breaking a little ground with the girls.
It didn't seem real to him…
Sitting beside one of the aforementioned cutie-pies, he blinked hard a few times, clearing his senses. "…"
"What's wrong, Shuu-kun?" Nekoba cocked her head.
How would he tell her…?!
"Sorry." His eye twitched uncomfortably. "Just got dizzy for a second…"
There was NO WAY he could tell her!
All they'd been doing was talking about a funny music video they remembered seeing on TV as little kids.
He'd been able to maintain eye contact with a girl, something he didn't get to do often/wasn't very good at.
But he struggled with it…
"Is it my eyes, Shuu-kun?"
Oh, crap!
All Shuu could do was stammer, "It's…"
"I know they're a little weird. Sometimes, people need to get used to it."
She seemed okay, but she WAS a little sad about it…
"Uh, no! It's not that they're weird or anything, it's…"
Brightening up, gladdened, she understood, "Oh, I know! Your eyes went sorta out of focus on you, didn't they?"
She didn't mean to sound so happy, in regards to the twinge he had going…
"How did you know?" Shuu's very eye-socket ached.
"Your eyes tried meeting my eyes, and your eyes didn't 'like it'. They're not used to holding that direction, so that can happen."
"Sorry…" He didn't like it, even if he couldn't help it.
She laughed, "Don't be… It happens."
"How…?" he began.
She perked. "Hmm…?"
"Why…?"
It came clear to her. "Oh, you wanna know why my eyes are like this, right?"
He'd been trying to not think about it!
"I didn't mean…" he trailed off.
"It's okay; I don't mind."
"You don't?"
"Not at all. Y'know how you have several muscles attached to each eye?"
"Yeah?"
"They're called the extraocular muscles. You have seven of them on each eye, and their movement determines the direction of the eye."
"Oh."
"Normally, they all work together, but a couple of the muscles in my eye are weaker than the other five, so the eye's a little off-kilter."
"Does it… bother you…?"
"Not really. It's not pronounced enough to cause any trouble, and I don't have the eyestrain some wind up having. My vision's otherwise perfect, so there's no real reason to fix it."
"How do you fix something like that?"
"Glasses can train the eye to move a certain way, strengthening the muscles, but usually, you need surgery."
"Eye surgery?!" Shuu's stomach turned, and he shuddered; he'd made the mistake of watching a video or two. "Oof…"
"Yeah~!" Nekoba tittered. "That's what I think too~!"
…
A certain young man, not as adept when it came to the fine art of karaoke, was being pressed into smalltime servitude.
"Hey, Bozu~!" Gamo-chan called to Tohru. "Bring 'Xena' some of those fried dumplings, would you?"
Clear on the other side of the room, he wasn't about to even stand up, being called "Bozu". "Do you even know who 'Xena' is?"
"Naw, but I like the way it sounds~," Gamo-chan said. "Xena, Xena, Xena."
"Xena~!" Yoshi trebled.
Gamo-chan chortled, "It's such a funny word!"
"Xena!" Yoshi repeated.
Gamo-chan had yet to see Tohru show the smallest inkling of any desire to bring her the requested appetizer.
"Hey, Short-pai, move it~!" she demanded. "Dumplings!"
"Zee-naw!" Yoshi imitated the sounds and motions of a trombone. "Zeeeeee-naaaaaaaaw, zeeeeeeeeee-naaaaaaaaw! I want dumplings too! Zee-naw~!"
Gamo-chan, not often following her example, joined, "Dumplings~! Zeeeeeee-naaaaaaw~!"
"Zeeeeeeeeeeee-naaaaaaaw! Dumplings, Bozu~! Bring 'em over~!"
"C'mon, Short-pai~! Zeee-naw-zeeeee-naaaaaw… Zeeeeeeeeeeeee-naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw~!"
After listening to six or seven further slides on the trombone, Tohru had taken all he could.
Rolling his eyes, he gave in, "If I bring you the platter, will you cut it out…?"
It was their first productive attempt at getting Tohru to show any real emotion!
"Bring the sauce too!" Gamo-chan settled.
"Yeah!" Yoshi tacked on. "Only then will the blasting of the 'Horns of Xena' cease~!"
"The horns~!" Gamo-chan trumpeted. "The horns~! Zee-naaaaaaaaw~!"
…
Sakura giggled to Naoto, "What a couple of assholes they can be~…"
She and her Senpai-kun had just had front row seats to Tohru finally snapping at Gamo-chan's and Yoshi's mischief, "Short-pai" sitting with Naoto on the sofa and the gal in the adjacent chair.
Naoto was far more accustomed to such mild silliness, so what bothered him was the removal of the big plate of dumplings.
"I wish I'd grabbed another," he groused. "I guess we could always order more."
He and Sakura STILL had the fried calamari, so…
"Senpai-kun~…" Sakura's wheedle came into attendance.
He looked over to her, and she had a dumpling in each hand!
Not about to beg one off her, he complemented, "Nice."
"I hooked 'em off the platter, just as Tohru-kun was standing up~," she revealed.
"Clever," he matched.
While disappointed the dumplings were gone, it wasn't that big of a deal…
"Want one~?" Sakura offered.
He DID, but…
"Sounds like there's a catch…" He had a feeling there was.
She held the meaty treat between her thumb and index finger. "Open wide~!"
He'd seen a movie where the characters played beer-pong; that's how she was holding it…
He realized she wanted to launch it into his mouth.
"Aw, don't waste it." Naoto didn't want that. "You just enjoy them."
"C'mon, Senpai-kun~!"
"You're two meters away," he refuted. "It'll wind up on the floor."
"Hey, don't worry!" she persisted. "I'm really good at this."
"How 'bout not…?"
"Tell you what, if I miss, I'll give you the other one."
Oh, what was the harm…?
He succumbed, "Go ahead."
"Squee~!" she squeed. "Get ready."
He opened his mouth as wide as he could. "Ahh…"
"Now, hold still…" She took aim.
He was holding…
She tossed it in a fine arc, and it landed squarely on target, hitting the soft of his palate.
"Swish~!" the gal cheered.
Naoto coughed violently, the invading pastry nearly triggering a gag. "Hack!"
At least he brought up his hands and kept it from falling out…
"Oh!" Sakura fussed. "Are you okay?"
He didn't want her to worry…
"Good shot." He began to chew.
"Almost too good~!" As he was okay, she came back at full-tilt. "It almost went down your throat-hole…"
"Ugh…" He hadn't enjoyed that very much.
She popped her own dumpling in, smirking at him. "…~"
"…?"
"…~"
Maybe he had enjoyed it… a little. "…~"
This was alright~…
"Hey, could I try your root beer float?" Sakura, her dumpling already on its way in the long and disgusting journey it would endure, eyed his half-empty ice cream soda.
"Huh?"
"I wanna try one before I order it," she said. "You can try my lemonade~."
"I've already had two frozen lemonades…" he protested. "Strawberry and cherry…"
"But this one's triple berry~!"
"You can just try the float." He had no issue with it, so long as it wasn't seen. "Go ahead."
He HOPED no one would see…
"I thought that 'indirect kiss' BS didn't bother you~…" Sakura ribbed.
Wouldn't he be getting one anyway, with HER sucking on his root beer float…?
"That's not what bothers me…" He was wary of the other girls… and the boys.
Sakura cajoled, "Hey, c'mon, before Tohru-kun gets back~…"
"…?!" Naoto saw that Tohru wasn't around.
He'd been complaining that his drink order hadn't shown up…
Once he'd delivered the tray to the "band-section", he'd evidently left the room, probably to check on his blue raspberry freeze.
Since Naoto hadn't decided in the five seconds purportedly granted, Sakura moved on her own.
Reaching around her own frozen treat, she snaked his from the table they shared. "Tee-hee…~!"
"Hey!" Naoto protested.
"Until you try my lemonade, this is mine~!" She began to siphon his drink.
"Hey, someone might see!"
Slowly but surely guzzling, she taunted, "I'm gonna get a brain-freeze, and it'll be your fault~!"
What is she doing?!
"Sakura-san, cut it out…!" Naoto hissed.
"Senpai-kun, chill…" she crooned. "I'm keeping an eye out. No one's watching…"
Taking in the room, he knew she was correct. "…!"
Everyone else was doing their own thing, paying no mind to them…
He tried her drink.
As expected, it was really good, but he'd had about enough lemonade for one day…
Still, turning to her, he praised, "This is pretty good, Sakura-san. Now how about—"
"EYEUEERWER~!" she skreiched, holding her head and writhing around. "Oh, my head~…!"
Oh, geez, she'd ACTUALLY given herself a brain-freeze…!
Naoto didn't laugh, not at this.
"Sakura-san, why?!" he frustrated. "That was pretty dumb…"
"Not helping, asshole!" she retorted, breathing fast and hard.
Not wanting her to spill all over herself—not that there was anything left of his root beer float—he took it from her twisting hands and set it on the table.
"Calm down, and press your tongue to the roof of your mouth," he soothed.
"I am!" she bawled. "It takes a minute to do anything…!"
What had she been thinking, screwing around like that?! She'd seen Hana get a colossal brain-freeze of her own not so very long ago…
Somehow, no one else seemed to notice her racket, not that Naoto minded that.
He even requisitioned her drink, seeing as he didn't have one anymore~…
Sakura saw this, and she grinned, one eye shut in a vain attempt to ease the misery she was experiencing.
"Wanna share it~?" she seethed (not out of anger). "Gimme that straw from your float, and we can suck in-tandem~."
Suck in-tandem?!
He elected to play along on his own terms. "I'm taking half as payment for the half of my float you swiped. I'll be done by the time you're back to normal."
"No fair, doing that when I'm down for the count~…" She was still rolling around in pain.
Slurp~! Naoto was pretty decent at not freezing his own brains, a whole centimeter wiped-out in one pull.
Sakura pissed and moaned, "Oh, fine! But the next time you wanna try something of mine, think again~!"
"I've never asked you to let me try one of your drinks," he dismissed.
If she had anything else, she instead grumbled and went on with her self-inflicted misfortune. "Rrrrrrr…!"
Naoto wasn't really going to consume half of her lemonade, and he set it back down.
Sakura glowered at him, inflating her cheeks. "Mrmbl…!"
Was she let down?!
"Stop giving me those chipmunk-cheeks," he chortled at the memory of the last time he saw her puff up like that. "I'm gonna order another root beer float."
And he did!
"Asshole-kun…" she muttered.
But this bit of nonsense wore off, the same as Sakura's brain-freeze, and life moved on.
"Senpai-kun, have you talked to Shuu-kun and Tohru-kun about the fourth pass?"
"Not yet…"
A couple of days prior, Naoto had offhandedly mentioned that he was looking forward to the small videogame convention he and his two pals were going to.
It was a chance at redemption!
A couple of weeks prior, he'd learned the school's Videogame Club—of which Sakura was a member—had been planning to go to the same con but had backed out as a group, opting to do something else.
Naoto had thought about asking her to go with THEM—him and the two boys—but he'd let the opportunity slide…
As it happened, they held four tickets, but Tohru's cousin couldn't go anymore, but Sakura, so it was, had wanted to go in the first place.
"It's not a big deal if Shuu-kun or Tohru-kun already found another buyer," she verbalized. "I could buy another ticket—it's not like the event's gonna sell out."
Bottom line, Naoto needed to know that his friends were okay with Sakura tagging along with them…
He couldn't fathom that they'd be against the idea, but…
Tohru suddenly returned, looking displeased.
He'd missed the show, thankfully!
"They didn't get the order for some reason," he bellyached. "I visited the restroom and got some fresh air, so I hoped it'd already be here—10 minutes after telling them again—but it should show up soon. It's not like it's that hard to pour some ready-made sugar-water slush into a glass…"
Naoto commented, "I just ordered another root beer float, like, a minute ago. Hopefully, it'll come soon enough."
And as if God herself wanted the four of them together, Shuu joined them.
He was certainly more educated on the subject of visual nonalignment than before…
Naoto didn't wait for any prompting.
He just came out with it, "Hey, Tohru, have you or Shuu found a replacement for Eikichi yet?"
Shuu and Tohru looked at one another. "…?" "…?"
Shuu shrugged, shaking his head. "…"
"Nope, I guess not," Tohru replied.
Yikes!
Naoto had been expecting that one of them would've found somebody.
They'd said they'd try…!
This skipped right over the first step he'd come up with, Sakura now in the position of "potential quartet member" as opposed to "fifth-wheel hanger-on".
Though, considering the strides he'd made with two of the most formidable girls he'd ever known, compelling his guy-friends didn't seem like such a hurdle.
Naoto hadn't had the courage to glance at Sakura, but he made the move to do so now.
She looked pleased with him!
He was pleased with himself!
He let his boys know, "Sakura-san was gonna go with the Videogame Club to the same con, but they decided to do something else."
"But I can't go to the new event," Sakura lamented, joining him. "I still wanna go to the con, so could I please come with you three~?"
Teamwork!
Neither Shuu nor Tohru was indifferent to the proposition.
Shuu almost dropped his orange creamsicle float in his crotch.
Tohru jarred. "…?!"
The gal wanted to go with them?!
Whatever way Tohru might've responded, Shuu beat him to it.
"That'd be awesome!" Shuu figuratively ejaculated.
"~~Eek~~!" Sakura shrieked. "Wouldn't it~?!"
Tohru stammered, "H-h-huh?!"
He almost looked ready to protest, but the trio's trespasser gave him the hopeful, puppy-dog eyes, and that sealed the deal.
"You're welcome to come with us…" he gave in. "I'll just need ¥3,000 sometime."
"Ooh, thank you, Tohru-kun~!"
His cheekbones indicated pinkness. "Sure…"
Naoto envied Shuu.
If he could feel as happy as Shuu LOOKED, he could die with no regrets, probably…
"It's on Saturday, August 11, right?" Sakura verified. "Lemme doublecheck my schedule, and I'll let you know for sure later~."
"That's when it is," Naoto confirmed.
"…"
"…"
"…"
Shuu's vacuous visage, looking right through Naoto, was best described as dreamy. "I had something I was gonna ask you, Nao-kun, but I can't remember what it was…"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, that's… uh, why I walked over in the first place…"
"…Okay."
Shuu stood, absently pointing to the door. "I'm, uh… I'll be right back…"
"Shuu?" Naoto watched him weave away, heading for the door.
Hopefully, he just had to take a leak or something…
Though, Naoto wouldn't put it past Shuu that he might wind up deploying 300 million little soldiers into a battlefield made of of toilet-paper.
And Naoto was sure that Shuu had played a tune on the Devil's clarinet before the party.
There's no way he'd be as calm as he was, if he hadn't alleviated himself…
"Oh, geez…" Naoto didn't want to think about it.
Sakura wondered, "Is Shuu-kun okay?"
He's probably BETTER than okay…!
"He's fine," Naoto said, having little doubt.
She HAD to see that Shuu was into her…
Just as Shuu was leaving the room, one of the club's staff walked in. "I've got a root beer float for a… Hachioji."
Naoto hadn't expected it that quickly. "Uh, over here…"
Receiving the float, he thanked the server.
Tohru was so taken aback, he couldn't even bring himself to speak.
The server was already shutting the door behind him.
"…!" Naoto could see it coming.
Tohru erupted, "Seriously?!"
"Hey, calm down," Naoto counseled. "Maybe they need to prepare more—"
"Not cool…" Tohru wasn't listening, and he got to his feet.
Watching his smallish friend stalk from the room, he turned to Sakura.
She seemed a little stunned!
"Yeah…" Naoto watched the door close. "He doesn't like to wait, Sakura-san…"
"It seems kinda strange," she reasoned. "Other than Gamo-chan and Yoshi annoying him a little, he seems cool as a cucumber."
"Aw, everyone has things that piss them off."
"I know that…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
Sakura pepped, "But, hey, it looks like I'm going to the con with you fellas~."
"Yup…" Naoto was far from displeased over it.
"And look at you, Senpai-kun~! You didn't even hesitate~."
"I wasn't thinking," he confessed.
"Sometimes it helps to not think~! Makes life a little easier."
"…I know…"
"…?"
"…"
"Hey, you okay?"
Naoto wasn't sure where that came from. "Uh, yeah… I just feel a little bad for Tohru."
"I hope he doesn't do anything dumb…" Sakura wished. "The staff have been so great to us."
"Don't worry… He'll cool down… but he might wait there until it's done and take it back himself."
"Yeah, let's just enjoy the day~."
"Have you looked at Sunomiya's Line yet?"
"Nope. It's kind of a hassle when you don't have a working account…"
"I took a quick look. Sunomiya and the Prez are at The National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo~."
"You sound excited~."
He WAS!
Naoto wasn't that into modern art. Impressionism, Dadaism, and Abstract Expressionism—to name a few styles/philosophies—weren't his bag, but it was still plenty of fun to talk about!
He was happy where he was, but being with the Sunomiya cousins wouldn't be bad either!
He opened his Line, Sakura raring to take in that which her dearest kohai had seen fit to upload.
However, the first exhibit of which Hana had taken a photo for posterity had her scoffing.
She wasn't sure what the Hell she was looking at. "It looks like someone puked up a rainbow on the canvas…"
"Ha!" Naoto laughed at his mental image of some drunken hack executing the "Technicolor® Yawn" on a sheet of paper and calling it "art", not that what they were looking at qualified as such drivel.
How DOES one explain the bastardy of modern art to a layperson…?
He'd try… and he'd try to have fun doing it~!
Q&A Section
Leaving out future content/things we're not supposed to know yet, of course, what are some of the biggest changes that have been made to an original plan for the story?
ED: I can think of a few:
One I've mentioned before is that Sakura and Hana weren't originally supposed to become best friends. Hana was supposed to be on good terms with the other female characters but more in a support capacity. She wasn't originally going to be so pivotal a character. I think this changed when Nanashi began treating Hana as a mentally ill joke of a character. I didn't like that, so I gave Hana the character she had the potential to be.
The story was going to be far less detailed than it is. I brought up in the Nagatoro panel a Redditor is organizing that I used to write detailed day in the life kinds of novellas. CBP is made up of such smaller stories in a series. I just couldn't see writing the series in a different way than what I'd done in the past.
I was going to focus less on Naoto's "propensity", as my editor likes to call it. It's canon that Naoto likes legs and stuff, and if the story is going to be detailed, it might as well be detailed. My editor told me to not shy away from it, because Naoto is a young man, and young men have their thoughts. It can be done without being overly profane or gratuitous, and it can even be devil-may-care.
Kind of like the above, I didn't plan to include so much "locker room language and humor". I never swear in real life and rarely do so outside of the actual story. But I was involved in locker room humor when I was younger, our girls' high school volleyball a den of grossness. But my editor reasoned that a story about the teenage mind that tries to be realistic isn't out of place using foul language and gross humor.
PS feels sexual and off-color humor and profanity can be used without "going out of the way" for it. It's a casual thing for many people, and it's even second nature for many, so why avoid it?
"If you must reach for racy humor or vulgarity, you don't need it."
"If it comes with the territory, use it."
I didn't used to be a very cynical person, but I think it's begun to rub off on me, and I think it shows.
Has there ever been other series or universes (anime/manga or not) that you've had a similar desire to "re-do?" Or perhaps one that you liked enough to write for?
ED: I really wanted Neville Longbottom to hook up with Luna Lovegood. They threw it into the last Harry Potter movie, but it certainly didn't happen in canon.
I know there are probably a few million people that would agree with me.
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading! Questions and comments are welcome!