Cherry Blossom Palette: Summer by the Sea
Sunshine Arc
Chapter 51: 2 Girls 1 Senpai
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note :
ED: Here, we have one more chapter of soft drink retrieval fun. Naoto and the girls finally reach their destination, obtain the sugar water, and return to camp.
What do you think of the chapter's title? Cute, huh? This is sometimes what happens when I can't think of one and let PS have the honor of naming it.
…
The new season of the Pocket Monsters anime finally started airing! Cute new opening and ending. The MCs reunited with their friends, their partner Pokémon got to flex their muscles, and a certain excommunicated adversary begins a new journey, with subordinates anyone would be lucky to have.
Next episode, we get to visit a new region! Lovers of the Pokémon games should enjoy!
…
On the other hand, the anime industry really needs to stop with these awful "dramatic/recreational" camping/handiwork/fishing/cooking/alcohol/sports series. I think they hate their audience, just like a certain American network referenced in The Boondocks cartoon.
To reuse something my editor said about contemporary comedy, these series almost universally lack "creativity, substance, and balls".
I think they're all just incredibly lazy premises to base a story around, and the story is RARELY anything special. A few good ones existed 10 years ago, but it's all been done by now.
I also don't know why they bothered remaking Ranma and Urusei Yatsura. They didn't get it right the first time, and they didn't get it right the second time. The main characters are all unlikable, and the anime never stacked up to the manga in the first place.
…
We have another question this time. I really wish readers would log into the sites that they follow the story on, so I can talk to them. At least, give me a name besides "guest", LOL.
I also miss chatting with many of you in the comments, which have been few and far in between lately.
It really does help with morale on this end.
Please enjoy what I wrote.
Saturday, July 28, 2018
Naoto, having been trudging the same path for what felt like weeks, yet found himself walking in between Hana and Nekoba, though no red-blooded male would say "no" to being there.
Were the Pepsis and Mtn Dews that Sakura, Hana, and Shuu wanted finally close at hand~?
Whether they were or not (they were close, no worries), the girls were talking to each other, and Naoto was proving himself to be something of a barrier.
Shouldn't the girls be side-by-side instead of flanking him, to best converse?
Naoto figured if they wanted to shuffle around, there was nothing stopping them.
Three-abreast with plenty of elbow-room…
But he wouldn't force it. "…"
They'd created the formation to begin with…
At present, the girls were chatting religion.
Naoto enjoyed their religious discussions, though he knew as much about the subject as he did with Sakura and Hana discussing makeup.
It was more how they all seemed to enjoy themselves, deliberating what-have-you, that brought about senpai-ish enjoyment…
He was actually trying to pay close and proper attention for once, and from what he could make out—
Something about Christianity's dogma on sin… …compared and contrasted with Shintoism's perspectives on impurity…
And something else approximating divine forgiveness of sin and penance (the latter more of a Catholic thing?)… …likened and distinguished from purification, polishing away the dulling overlay of the divine essence of a human being…
…
"…?" Okay, maybe he still wasn't getting it~.
So, he turned his thoughts more inward. 'Did Sakura-san tell Sunomiya that she and I had watched Takata from the shelter of shrubbery? Did she tell Takata?!'
Probably not… It was nothing for Hana to worry about… And Takata didn't need to know…
"…" That didn't mean anything, unfortunately, and Naoto knew it.
The gal might've told them everything… meaning a lot more than them playing spy from a hedge…
…
He was struck by another thing. "…!"
How could he forget Hana had been RIGHT THERE, seeing him beg Takata on Sakura's behalf, imploring he hear the gal out, the Monday after that fateful weekend…
Referencing his "not giving a fuck" and "putting himself in harm's way", did Hana weigh and factor that into her "calculations"?
Did NEKOBA know about him throwing himself at Takata's mercy?! Did anyone else?!
Nekoba definitely knew he and Hana "cleared out", allowing for Sakura and Takata to cordially burn their bridges.
He'd told her, after all!
"…!" He was certain Sakura had told Hana and Nekoba plenty, regardless.
…
Before his head-brain stumbled into anything else, Naoto realized something.
"…" It was quiet, at least in the immediate vicinity, he grasped.
They WERE walking through crowds of people at the beach, so the noise was ubiquitous…
He realized the girls had stopped talking. "…?"
Neither of them seemed out-of-sorts though, pleasantness/impartiality marking their features, the girls paddling along the shifty sand.
"…~" *happy Neko*
"…" *neutral Hana*
"…~" *happy Neko*
"…" *neutral Hana*
And the girls were definitely turning a few heads, whether either paid it much mind or not.
And how did these observers view NAOTO, flanked by a pair of pretty girls?
"…?" Just as he was beginning to ever so slightly fret over the odd quiet and wandering gazes—
"Sorry for talking bad like we were, Nao-kun," Nekoba said from one side, scaling down the happy. "Back there…"
What was she…?
"Oh!" He'd nearly forgotten (not really~). "Don't worry about it."
Hana subsidized from his other border, "You could say we were 'blowing off steam'."
"That… kinda pissed us off…" Nekoba scowled. "Nobuo's parasites…"
"…" Naoto ruminated. 'Was this how these two girls were with each other, when no one else was around?'
Sakura HAD said the two had possibly gone to "blow off some steam", earlier, when she'd left them to their own devices, the phrase being common enough…
He again ruminated on just how much Sakura had possibly shared with the two girls, but…
It was Hana and Nekoba…
He was reasonably safe, he gauged. "…"
And his thoughts strayed elsewhere, to something more on the frivolous side.
"…!" He stewed.
But it wasn't SO frivolous to a young man…
It had him kicking himself.
…
"What's with that long face, Nao-kun~?" Nekoba didn't mean to delight in his unforeseen wretchedness, but his expression was too perfect.
He blinked. "H-huh?"
"Spacing out again, we see…" Hana recorded. "Your countenance has soured too."
"…" He blushed.
Nekoba ceased her merriment. "What is it, Nao-kun?"
Something had to be said of how low a young man's guard could fall, when he felt safe…
"It's stupid…" he assured her.
Hana looked on. "…?"
"Try me," Nekoba said.
It came out distractedly, but Naoto was also fully-aware of what he was saying, "I kinda wish I hadn't left my shirt open, before we met Takata and the others…"
Indeed, his Hawaiian shirt was still open, the skinny and pasty there for all the world to see.
Compared to what Takata and those three other boys had to offer…
"Oh, that?" Nekoba hadn't had any tangible idea of what to expect. "I don't think it's a big deal."
Hana yet maintained quiet. "…"
"Any reason you say that…?" Naoto kvetched, knowing fully and bloody-well-right he had nothing on those four, physically.
What load of shit was the fetching girl with strabismus pedaling to him?
Nekoba giggled quasi-malevolently.
He'd asked for it~…
"Because for whatever else you're worried about, you have them all beat in the 'chest-hair' department~," she dared.
Hana rejoined, "Yes, theirs was patchy and/or pathetic in comparison."
"…!" Naoto knew he was hairy, but he wasn't really hairy; if anything, he was average for an adult male. "Wh-what are you two saying?!"
Hana had more, "When I heard Shuu-senpai was bringing fruit, I was hoping he'd brought peaches, though I suppose we just got our fill of peach-fuzz."
"Ha-ha~!" Nekoba crowed. "Hanacchi, that's mean~!"
"…~" Hana was fairly proud of herself.
Wow, these girls could be wicked when they wanted to be…
But that was only the second-most notion in Naoto's mind.
"…!" He couldn't fathom that the girls were referring to his wooliness. "…!"
Nekoba consoled, "Really, Nao-kun, you look like you're supposed to look. You're a man. It's just those guys are serious athletes… or just buff, in Nobuo's case. Nobuo loves having a beach-body."
"Nekoba-senpai's right, Hachioji-senpai," Hana tacked on.
Naoto felt a little better, hearing the girls felt this way. "…"
"And another thing, Nao-kun~…" Nekoba burbled.
"…?" He was hesitant to nibble. "Wh-what?"
She grinned. "From what I've seen, you could probably grow a really impressive mustache and beard if you wanted~."
"…!" He instinctively felt his face.
A nice percentage of facial coverage, only getting better with the passing months…
He'd shaved the night before; by now, it was like sandpaper.
Sometimes, it was just a hassle to shave and he left it for a couple of days.
"…~" He beamed, mostly to himself.
He'd thought about letting it go and seeing what it could do.
Maybe he SHOULD—
"Aww, look at that, Hanacchi~," Nekoba tittered, catching it. "That got a smile out of him~."
"It surely did," Hana affirmed.
Naoto grumbled to himself, all the redder, "Mrmbl…"
Nekoba snickered, "I think that's enough of that~…"
"Yes, please…" Naoto beseeched.
Hana had gotten enough fun out of it. "…~"
"…"
"…"
"…"
…
It wasn't unheard of, but if was slightly unusual for Hana to break a hush.
"I've been thinking…" she tendered.
Naoto's attention was grabbed. "…?"
"What's up, Hanacchi?" Nekoba invited. "Thinking what?"
She attended, "I know Takata-senpai didn't approach us to talk to me, so I was surprised he did as much as he did."
"…" Naoto wished he could've come up with something at once, but—
"Oh, I see…" Nekoba replied Hana. "Well, you certainly gave him suitable discourse~."
"I was interested to see where he was going with it all. Anyway, I like talking with other people, like we were."
"Oh, I think he liked it too, Hanacchi~."
Naoto was certain Takata had liked it. "…~"
Hana had some "deeper digging" to do.
"I am glad to see Takata-senpai in good spirits (even with his present company)," she brought forth. "I was also curious to see more for myself what Takata-senpai is like; that's one reason I was pleased to talk to him."
Nekoba called, "What do you think?"
"He strikes me as a decent person, not that we haven't talked about that," Hana said. "I… I think Sakura-senpai was most fortunate to have a boyfriend like him. I could really see that, once they parted ways."
"Oh…" Nekoba felt the heaviness. "Yeah…"
"Until I knew more, I gathered she thought of Takata-senpai as more of a toy, I admit."
"I think a lot of us were wrong about that, Hanacchi… I was upset, thinking she was just leading on my old friend, but… I know she wasn't."
"It's a shame things went as they did, Nekoba-senpai…"
"Hey, both are doing okay now. And where would any of us be, if things had gone differently?"
"…Things would be different," Hana stated the obvious.
Nekoba shared, "I try to look at it that way… but it's hard sometimes."
…
Naoto had been taking all this in, despite his lack of interaction; it was that he was absorbing it.
That explained his repose …
He knew things would be different.
Sakura wouldn't have spent the night at his house…
Sakura and Hana might've never become close friends…
HE and Sakura might've never become close friends…
It wasn't that he was happy things had gone the way they did, but…
It would've been different…
…
Nao-kun…
…
Hachioji-senpai?
…
"Wha…?" Naoto returned to Earth.
Nekoba had her face near to his. "Didn't you hear me?"
Of course, he hadn't~…
"He didn't," Hana contributed. "He had that look about him…"
"S-sorry…" Naoto apologized; he attempted giving Nekoba his full attention. "What is it, Nekoba?"
"I asked you if you knew why Hanacchi and I skipped out on you~. Y'know, so you could be alone with Nobuo? So you two could talk?"
"…No, I didn't hear." He hadn't the foggiest how the girls' back-and-forth about what a swell fellow Takata was had morphed into the question he hadn't comprehended.
Nor was an answer forthcoming…
He tried anyway, "I guess he started getting all twitchy, when that Sango girl got to be too much… Was that why?"
"His body-language told us well before that," Hana revealed.
Nekoba supported, "Sure did. He really wanted to talk to you, Nao-kun."
"Not to mention he specifically addressed you, Hachioji-senpai," Hana reminded.
"…?" Naoto turned this over. "Why bring it up…?"
Nekoba shrugged. "I guess it wasn't really going anywhere special… Hanacchi and I were just talking…"
"Hmph," Hana reinforced.
"…" Naoto could run himself in circles, trying to keep up with what mattered and what didn't. "I see…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
Naoto wasn't bonkers about breaking up the quietude himself, but he'd been deliberating something since the first minute of talking with Takata.
There'd been no good time to ask as of yet, but as we've seen, he often let things loose regardless…
"Nekoba…" he hailed.
She eyed him pleasantly. "Yes?"
"Sorry to ask, but… your… your name's 'Nene'?"
"Uh… yeah~. I'm 'Nene Kobayashi'."
Naoto was able to piece it together. "So, that's where 'Nekoba' comes from."
"Sure is." She cast her eyes to the front, as not to trip, or some foolishness. "Someone came up with it in sixth-grade. Kids had been calling me 'Neko' and 'Kitty' for years, and it finally occurred to some wit to combine my given and family name and the 'cat' thing."
"You didn't know that, Hachioji-senpai?" Hana weaved in.
Naoto denied, "Nope… I sure didn't."
"I never minded 'Neko' or 'Kitty'," Nekoba recalled, slowly falling into a slump. "But I hated being called 'Cat's-eyes'… not that 'Neko' and 'Kitty' weren't referring to my messed-up eyes anyway."
'Ack!' Naoto hadn't meant to give her reason to bring up the painful past.
She brought up more, more fully-slumped, "I once gave a boy a black-eye in my second-year of elementary school… for calling me 'Cat's-eyes', even when I begged him not to… and begged everyone else too…"
"Nekoba-senpai…" Hana yenned.
Naoto dearly desired to go back about one minute in time. "…"
Not that he had a time-machine in his pocket…
Nekoba evoked, "I still have the scars on my knuckles from where I split them open on his temple… It was in the wintertime… It was really dry that year…"
She went so far as to examine the back of her hand, gradually clenching it into a fist.
"…?" "…?" The Art Club vexed.
But Nekoba straightened up and flew right.
"Sorry…" she sighed. "Running into Nobuo… us talking… it got me stuck on a few things…"
Hana finally broke ranks and shifted to her female senpai.
"…" She put a reassuring hand on Nekoba's shoulder.
The tallish girl smiled. "Hey, it's all right, Hanacchi~. Don't sweat it."
Hana lowered her hand, but she didn't leave Nekoba's side. "…"
Naoto had his regrets.
"Sorry, for bringing it up…" he found himself saying.
"Hey, nothing to apologize for, Nao-kun… Don't you sweat it either."
He nodded. "Okay."
Nekoba thoughtfully crossed her arms, looking slightly to the sky.
"It's just… names…" she mused. "Yeppers…"
"…" Hana offered up a soundless but unequivocal "yep".
Instead of bringing them into a bastardized King of the Hill gag, a "yup" or "mm-hmm" able to push them over this line—though a fourth person would've helped with legitimacy, Naoto's brain-gears resumed turning, and he was again struck with a thought.
"I wonder what sort of name Rabi-chan really has…" he uttered with as much absence as he'd uttered his "open-shirt" concerns.
It was perhaps insensitive, given what had just transpired, though—
Hana said, "Her true name is 'Hanae Sakurabi'."
"'HANAE?!" Naoto exclaimed.
Lordy, was that ever awful!
Hana conceded, "Yes, that's her given name, Hachioji-senpai."
"How did you know that?"
"She told me. At karaoke."
"Huh…" Naoto 10-4'd.
Nekoba smirked, not in a coldhearted manner.
It was more of an "oh, boy, here we go" manner…
"Yup… 'Hanae'~… I don't get to hear that out loud too often…" she measured.
Hana supposed, "I assumed you would know her name too."
"Of course… but about the only time I ever heard her use it was when she introduced herself, last spring, when we became members of the same class."
"I don't suppose I need to ask why Rabi-senpai doesn't like her given name."
"I'm guessing not…" Nekoba considered. "She thinks it's a 'frumpy, old lady name'."
"…" Naoto didn't blame Rabi-chan for feeling that way.
Nekoba harkened back, "If I remember right, she once told me her parents named her after a favorite great-aunt… making her Rabi-chan's great-great-aunt."
"Hmm…" Hana acknowledged.
Nekoba furthered, "'Rabi-chan' was a nickname she picked up long before we met her, and she asked us to use that."
"She certainly didn't want me to call her 'Hanae-senpai', I can say." Hana remembered it well. "I don't really like calling people by nicknames, but Rabi-senpai wanted it. And using 'Sakurabi-senpai' and 'Sakura-senpai' might be confusing… for others."
"Why's 'Nekoba-senpai' okay?"
"…I think it fits, Nekoba-senpai, so I like it."
"What, because of the cat thing~? Poo…"
"No… you just look like a 'Nekoba-senpai'."
"Yeah~?"
"I can't really explain it…"
…
"…~" Naoto had the old "proud old man" sentiments going again, feeling blessed to see Hana meshing so well into their group of friends.
Still too young to be feeling that way~…
…
"Hmm…" Hana was weighing something.
Nekoba asked, "What's up, Hanacchi?"
"Oh… I tried making a joke to Sakura-senpai the other day. Talking about Rabi-senpai reminded me of it."
"A joke?"
"I didn't think it worked very well… I told Sakura-senpai my parents considered naming me 'Sakura' but didn't, because there were already too many girls named 'Sakura' in the world."
"Huh… I don't get it."
"We were talking about the fact we were both named for flowers, and I thought I could make a joke. I think it's one of those situations where you have to be there. Sakura-senpai thought it was funny… I hope she wasn't just being polite."
"Hey, if it seemed like she thought it was funny, I'm sure she liked it~."
Naoto, on the sidelines and attending, coincided, "She liked it."
'Don't ask how I know…' he added to himself.
It was bad enough Nekoba knew he'd been shopping with the girls, much less he'd cleaned the school's pool with them…
"…" Hana wasn't displeased. "Maybe~…"
Nekoba decided, "You're right though, Hanacchi, maybe. Maybe, I would've needed to be there…"
"Perhaps…" Hana acquiesced.
Naoto would keep his own opinion to himself. "…~"
…
And at long, fucking last, the Pepsi machine could be seen, nestled in the shadow of a beachside café~.
…
…
…
By the time Naoto, Hana, and Nekoba had obtained the cold drinks requested of them, they'd visited four machines.
But they had two Mtn Dews, two Pepsi Colas, two Coca Colas, a Fanta Orange, a Sprite, two milk-teas, an oolong tea, an apple juice, an orange juice, a tomato juice, and one iced-coffee.
What a haul…
The three were finally making it back to the spot Naoto had picked out, but it wasn't like they'd been away for that long.
A lot had just happened…
And to Naoto's slight discomfort, Nekoba was pressing Hana, regarding the day's earlier events.
'Oh, fuck me…' Naoto just wanted to suck on his Fanta… and the Sprite Nekoba had bought for him, owing to his saving her the trouble of hauling out her family's beach umbrella.
For once, the OJ was for someone else…
Nekoba asked Hana, "When Gamo-chan was tickling you… seriously, what was going on with you…?"
"Huh?" Hana hadn't understood at once. "Why?"
Nekoba pushed, "You started… saying stuff…"
More like howling…
"Why?" Hana blinked. "What kind of 'stuff'? What did I say?"
"You don't remember?" Nekoba nonplussed.
Naoto remembered. "…"
And he wasn't sure what he'd seen and heard, when Gamo-chan had threatened to tickle Hana's feet.
Yoshi had said something about POSSESSION…
"…" Hana reflected a few seconds. "I remember being tickled and threatened with worse than I was already getting, if I didn't say Gamo-neechan was 'best senpai'. I really didn't want to say it, though she is a dear senpai, and everything went hazy. The next thing I remember is you arriving and me asking you for help."
Nekoba wizened, "…Maybe I'll just let this one go…"
'Smart move!' Naoto was all for it.
Hana was unbothered. "Very well."
A little chill for Gamo-chan's victim, considering the Forces of Darkness had apparently come upon her…
…
Sadly, things weren't exactly chill, back at HQ.
Nekoba looked around. "…?"
Naoto and Hana saw too. "…?" "…"
People were missing.
And judging by the manner of the remainder…
Things weren't chill indeed…
Only Yoshi, Rabi-chan, Shuu, and Tohru were there.
"Uh…" Nekoba tentatively initiated, relying on the one seeming most "open". "Rabi-chan? Where are Gamo-chan and Sakura…?"
Rabi-chan was somewhat pallid, appearing concerned and confused. "I… don't know… I got back here and only found Yoshi, and then, Tohru-kun and Shuu-kun showed up, and… uh…"
Naoto took in their surroundings. "…!"
If the boys were useless, just as lost as Rabi-chan and even less eager to be there, Yoshi was flat-out doneski.
"…" The Yosh seemed harassed and on the verge of tears. "…"
'Yikes!' Naoto sensed trouble.
Hana and Nekoba were in the same boat. "…?" "…?!"
Rabi-chan came right up to the three.
Rabi-chan little more than whispered to them, her voice wavering, her face anxious. "Something bad happened… and Yoshi won't tell me anything…"
A pall fell upon all of them.
"…" Nekoba took a moment, eyeing Yoshi. "…Okay… Lemme try…"
Naoto expected Hana to let out a "me too", but he was off-target. "…!"
"…" Hana had already grown as pale as Rabi-chan.
Also doneski…
The girls' senpai eyed Heaven. "Oh, boy…"
Seeing the shape Yoshi was in, he'd gladly let Nekoba try her luck.
Besides taking the two bags from his erstwhile companions and stowing the beverages in Rabi-chan's cooler, there wasn't a whole lot else he could do.
No reason to let all those soft-drinks turn warm…
Naoto's reliably powerful imagination ran wilder than it normally might.
Not a whole lot else to do other than to WORRY, for the little good it did…
And he did. Worry.
What in the Hell had happened with Sakura and Gamo-chan?!
Question and Answer Section
"Guest" asks: Naoto is the protagonist and Sakura is the deuteragonist. Who are the tritagonist and quadtagonist?
ED: PS told me "quadtagonist" is a made up word with little literary backing, but we know what you mean. It's the fourth most important character in a narrative.
It's hard for me to say whether Gamo-chan or Hana are solidly the tritagonist. I'd have to go with Gamo-chan for tritagonist and Hana for quadtagonist, but they will appear to switch roles here and there as the story goes on. If Hana is working 40 hours a week, Gamo-chan is working 50. And PS is probably working 100 right now.
Nagatoro is the "quintagonist" if there was such a thing.
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading!
Questions and comments are welcome!