Cherry Blossom Palette: Summer by the Sea
Chapter 39: Diana Prince and Tweety Bird
Sunshine Arc
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
ED: A catfight is on the verge!
A little trip down (bad) Memory Lane for Naoto!
I got tired of calling the chapters "Beach Episode!", so I'm now giving them their own names.
Like I said, combining two different days' worth of beach story into one day caused the size of this part of the story to explode. It's about three times as much stuff as I originally planned to have before the summer festival arc.
…
Apologies for how long the new chapter took to come out. It took a while to decide how to write this chapter and edit it.
I also apologize for the briefness of this chapter. Just another editing choice. If I'd made it earlier, this chapter would've been out two weeks ago.
PS and I have been busier than expected. My spring break from school didn't mean much when I'm working fulltime and had a few big projects to work on. And PS can't do much if I'm not giving him anything to work on.
…
For those wondering about why I decided to make Nekoba a Christian in my story, it was mostly to give her a little more depth and background. It was something to make her stand out from the other character in an unobtrusive way.
I thought about making Nekoba LDS, a Mormon, but it would've restricted what I want to do with her character later in the story.
I decided to go with her being a Lutheran because PS knows about it more than anything else, even though Lutheranism is a very small minority of the Christian population of Japan.
We actually had a really interesting time looking through the history of Christianity in Japan.
It surprised me that Lutheranism in Japan has only been well established since WW2, but I'd never thought about it either. Most other denominations and stuff had been there A LOT longer, especially since the 1850's when Japan opened its borders to a larger extent and partially decriminalized practicing the religion.
The Meiji Era brought about freedom of religion in 1868 but not really, and things got worse as Imperial Japan rose in power in the early twentieth century. Actual religious freedom didn't come until after the war was over. And it still isn't the best, apparently, but it's better than most places (like Hollywood or North Korea).
I don't think that PS was surprised by anything that we found, because he seems to know something about EVERYTHING, LOL.
I can tell you that I didn't know that LDS (though I probably should've and wasn't paying attention when told) has only been in Japan since about 1900, but that was really interesting too, that history.
As a side note, I have an older cousin who went on her mission to Japan, and she got to visit the Tokyo Japan Temple several times.
…
I think that they're trying on purpose to make newer manga and anime series as bad as possible.
And if I was to limit my scope to Reddit and 4chan, A LOT of people don't know what wholesome actually means… or what's actually funny…
My editor is funny. He's the funniest person I've ever known IRL, no doubt. I'm really happy to have met him and not just because he's hilarious.
That said, he made me laugh pretty hard the last time we spoke. His great grandparents were all Scandinavians, so his grandparents' generation were first generation USA citizens and didn't even learn English until they started going to school in 100 years ago Minnesota.
Getting onto the funny part, PS grew up listening to a bunch of elderly Swedes and Norwegians, and he sometimes uses their mannerisms. He's so Midwestern that he said "UFF-DA!" when I showed him my concept of a future "Naoto dream" that he'll probably have to write for me and a few other questionable ideas.
I actually shocked him! Even just a little!
Funny!
If faith didn't separate us, I'd show up at his farm and camp in the backyard until he made me his woman~! I'm sure the county he lives in or somewhere nearby could use a structural engineer!
But that's not going to happen anyway, and I need to finish my . before I do anything else.
Maybe I'll listen to my family and try looking into the arranged marriage thing. I think I can finish my . before I'm 30, so it's not like I'm damaged goods yet.
Sorrow…
…
I know I complain a lot about the canon story, and there's a reason for it. The canon story is BAD. B-A-D.
Naoto and Nagatoro love each other. They do.
However—
Naoto honors and cherishes Nagatoro, but he doesn't love or respect himself.
Nagatoro doesn't honor OR cherish Naoto. She has no respect for him as a person. She doesn't. He's an object to her—a thing; that's all he's ever been and ever will be to her. Being generous, we can call him a pet. I don't think she truly loves herself either, but I don't care if she doesn't, not when she so happily and readily hurts Naoto, thinking nothing of it. And as of 146, she hasn't even given his confession a proper and open answer.
Nagatoro's friends don't even behave like friends anymore. Naoto and Nagatoro's relationship has become a sideshow and a joke to them, but it didn't used to be either of these.
And Hana should know better. She's smarter than that and has been around long enough.
The story will continue to suck until Nanashi does right by Naoto.
That's just how it is. But it's not like it's irredeemable.
…
Two readers asked a question this time.
So 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.
It's good to know that you keep reading, so I would be happy if you drop comments and ask questions.
Please enjoy what I wrote.
Saturday, July 28, 2018
While the girls had wanted to get a little sun on their shoulders and backs, it was time to apply sunscreen, and unfortunately—by some deviltry, an argument had broken out.
"Aw, c'mon, Gamo-chan…" Rabi-chan implored, wanting her to warm up to the idea. "Sunscreen-train!"
"Old surfing movie!" Yoshi revived. "It happens (with backrubs too)! Shake that pelvis, Elvis!"
Gamo-chan seemed annoyed that Yoshi would "side" with Rabi-chan, but the Yosh was her own person.
"It's dumb," she said. "Let's just pair off and do each other's' backs."
"I think it sounds fun…" Nekoba volunteered her opinion.
Hana agreed, "I'll be the caboose… if the engine is willing to lotion me up afterwards."
Gamo-chan, standing opposite Rabi-chan, gestured to their surroundings. "Look at all these people. I don't think we need to draw any more stupid attention than we already have."
Naoto, staying well and away, looked around. "…!"
There were an assload of beachgoers now! Had it been this crowded 10 minutes ago?!
"…" He supposed it was a good thing that Gamo-chan hadn't bothered dragging along her volleyball net.
There wouldn't be room to kick around a hacky sack soon…
But more importantly, this same girl—their hostess—had directed her backhanded comment at Rabi-chan.
And Rabi-chan didn't like it.
She purred with false sweetness, her voice instead dripping something awful, "I don't think I know what you mean by that, Gamo-chan~."
"Uh…" Yoshi's alarmed eyes darted back and forth, the girl determined to interject. "Hey, uh…"
It was sometimes how she kept the peace amongst the girls…
Nekoba tried harder (or was at least more able), "C'mon, girls, lighten up, would you?"
This had been going on for a bit, their current spat…
"Yes, this is becoming ridiculous," Hana scrutinized, more willing to critique.
Moving things in a better direction didn't seem to be working…
Whichever way, neither gave greater effort than that, and the backbiting girls weren't listening so well to begin with.
"I think you know exactly what I mean, Rabi-chan~," Gamo-chan retorted with a smaller amount of fabricated saccharine.
The other bared her teeth, a nasty smile spreading. "Oh~?"
"Yeah~." Gamo-chan's smile was even less reassuring, a taught leer broadening.
Nekoba's scalp prickled. "…!"
"…" The hair on the back of Hana's neck stood on-end.
And no one else was any better off.
Rabi-chan retaliated, "And what about what you did to Hanacchi earlier? That sounded pretty bad. Tickling her until she cried? That didn't bring 'stupid attention'?"
It really hadn't… merely looking like two girls just goofing around… which happened… and there weren't that many people around then…
"W-we were just having fun," Gamo-chan supported this principle, however unwittingly. "Y'know, friends do that sorta thing sometimes?"
Rabi-chan irked, "Fun for who though?!"
Such sharp repartee continued, the air getting more and more uneasy…
'Fuck!' Naoto didn't expect the day to go effortlessly, not after Rabi-chan had put on the show she had, wiggling her butt at the boys, crawling around on all-fours… not to mention their many neighbors, many a rubbernecking boyfriend getting many an evil eye from many a girlfriend.
But did they have to be at each other's throats over something so stupid?!
Glancing around some more, Naoto also found that Shuu and Tohru were happy enough to stay back, the same applying to the rest, having bowed out of intervening.
"…" He wouldn't mind going back to his ponderings on religion, those involving Nekoba, naturally.
It had been surprising to hear that she'd possibly wind up in an arranged marriage… or that it was at least being considered, once she finished college or whatever education she achieved after high school…
Nekoba had spoken of the situation with a good deal of distaste, when she'd told him, back in May.
And Naoto would've given a lot to see Gamo-chan smile, the way she regularly did for him. "…"
Even if it was a fearsome Gamo-grin, you knew she was on the ball…
"…" To be honest, he thought the idea of a sunscreen-train would be fun… unless he was adjacent to another man.
It would be better to have a pretty girl behind… and in front…
He'd even be okay to continue reminiscing over Nagatoro slopping sunscreen on his back and slorching it around with her weird, little feet. "…"
And one couldn't forget that the Maki and the Yosh had only made that humiliation worse, following suit… with their far more elysian feet…
"…" Truly, he'd more willingly go through all that again, rather than see Gamo-chan and Rabi-chan squabble.
…
Naoto, out of body and out of mind, hadn't heard the back-and-forth between the two girls for a moment, but what he came back to was a lot less space between them and—
"We don't need to sit in a row and act like we're a buncha monkeys grooming each other." Gamo-chan, built like Wonder Woman (if shorter in stature), took a half-step nearer, squaring her shoulders, at full height, glaring at Rabi-chan.
Harsh!
Rabi-chan, built more like a canary, scoffed, crossing her arms and taking a full-step nearer, "What do you care? No one needs to do your back anyway, since you're all covered up today~."
Ouch!
The girl in the unparalleled one-piece had put a toe across the line.
A higher temper might've assessed it as more of a FLYING LEAP, breaching this barrier…
And a higher temper did!
"…!" Gamo-chan bristled, her nostrils flaring. "Fu—"
"Hey, hey, stop fighting, damn it!" Sakura stepped in, physically forcing them apart. "This is nothing to get so worked up about."
'Oh, thank Gawd!' Six individuals had the same thought.
Why Sakura hadn't said something a few exchanges prior, only the spirits knew…
Gamo-chan stared down Rabi-chan. "…"
"…" Rabi-chan stared down Gamo-chan.
The rest looked on.
"…"
"…"
And whether it was surrender, being the bigger person, or that she just didn't care, Rabi-chan sighed, "Yeah, fine… Let's all just pair off."
"Yeah, no screwing around!" Yoshi spoke, jumping ship, recognizing a way out for them all. "Blocking harmful UV rays is serious business!"
That had deescalated quickly! Or had it?
"…Yeah… okay…" Gamo-chan didn't seem to take any particular pleasure over this, scratching her ear and avoiding eyes. "…Sorry, Rabi-chan."
"I-it's alright," Rabi-chan answered, fumbling with her hands. "That was…"
"Kinda dumb of us?" Gamo-chan finished, almost cracking a real smile.
Rabi-chan didn't disagree, close to the same fissuring. "Yeah."
It was plainly visible that both of them were feeling pretty foolish, getting caught up like that.
"Good, so let's stop this," Sakura advised.
'Phew…' the rest of the group breathed a collective sigh of relief.
It was like a ball of tension deflated, leaving things a bit flatter…
Naoto preferred that over a cat-fight. "…"
But was this sort of crap going to continue?
He felt it might… and was now wishing that Gamo-chan hadn't been struck with the idea to invite Rabi-chan that day, hoping to bury the hatchet.
No matter how sorry Rabi-chan was for all she'd done, or how sorry Gamo-chan was for her OWN part in their grudge, something ugly lingered between them, raw and unhealed…
…
Naoto exhaled roughly, "Pwah…"
With all that malarkey possibly at bay for a while, he figured it was time to get on with it.
It was the beach, and one couldn't very well enjoy swimming or be comfortable in the sticky heat whilst wearing a goofy Hawaiian shirt…
Ergo, he again sauntered over to the group's pile of stuff, unbuttoned his shirt, removed it, and stowed it in his bag.
And to no astonishment of his—
Catcalls erupted from the female collective.
Naoto gave into the experience, not even bothering to conceal himself. 'Here it comes…'
"Beansprout alert~!" Sakura squealed, highlighting just how thin and white his torso was. "It blinds us~!"
She even shielded her eyes for good measure.
"Tofu!" Hana advertised, as if barking on a crowded street corner. "Get your tofu here! Supple and fresh!"
'What?!' That they made fun as they had on Thursday wasn't flabbergasting to the young artist.
Though, Hana shilling for bean-curd was unexpected…
"Hana-chan, you're such a nut-ball~!" Sakura giggled.
Hana deadpanned, "You're like fried tofu, Sakura-senpai."
"Oh, now that was just uncalled for~," the gal "pouted".
Naoto rolled his eyes, more embarrassed than upset. "…"
Rabi-chan simpered behind her hands, "I didn't know a beansprout could grow that big with no sunlight~."
Clever… and pretty funny…
"Biggest beansprout ever!" Yoshi cawed, pointing at him. "I'm getting hungry for some pho!"
Hana mused, "There is that noodles shop in the little storefront up on the boardwalk; their pho is excellent."
"Yummy!" Sakura rejoiced. "If we run outta food, we should go later~!"
Hana mused further, "I don't think we're going to run out of food, Sakura-senpai."
"Hells, yeah!" Yoshi relished. "We still have Tohru-kun's kabobs (once all the sammiches and stuff are gone)! Late lunch/early dinner!"
There were a lot of picnic fixings and snacks to make disappear, but it wasn't such a lofty goal…
Sakura pondered, "Since breakfast and lunch is 'brunch', what would you call lunch and dinner?"
"I think 'lunner' or 'dinch'," Hana figured. "But I don't like the way either of them sound."
"'Lunner' is the better of the two!" Yoshi opined. "So sayeth the Yosh~!"
"Ya-hee~!" Sakura approved. "Steak-kabobs for lunner~!"
Naoto just stood there, crimsoned face upon pale body, reminiscent of a used tampon with the business end pointing up.
'Yup…' He'd take it.
It would've been nice if GAMO-CHAN chimed in, but she was still pissed off at him…
"…" Nekoba wasn't about to take part, mocking others not her wont (though she had given a healthy "whyoo!", along with the other catcalls, when Naoto had proffered his pallid flesh).
Though she HAD half-seriously told Sakura that her karaoke outfit made her look like a cheap lot-lizard~…
The same couldn't be said for the other men at hand.
"Hey, you're lookin' pretty pasty there, Nao-kun~," Shuu chuckled.
Tohru snorked, "A 'beansprout' and 'tofu'? You gonna let them talk to you that way~?"
"Sh-shut up!" Naoto retaliated, more-or-less okay with his study buddies (and the other girls) poking a little fun. "What about you two?! You take off your shirts, you're gonna blind the girls too! How 'bout that?!"
"Maybe so…" Tohru pulled off his own shirt, defeat in his voice.
Also pasty!
Shuu grumbled, doing the same, "Yeah, yeah…"
Also, also pasty!
"Whoo, boy!" Rabi-chan tittered. "Looks like all three of you could stand to get a little sun!"
A little muscle wouldn't hurt either~…
"Well, there's plenty of that here…" Tohru attempted a humorous stoicism, his cheeks betraying him.
He'd already blushed once that day…
"…" Shuu knew enough to keep his trap shut.
Sakura snickered, decanting a mild malevolence, "I can almost see through your guys' skin! Like those weird fish and frogs, where you can see their heartbeat? What do you call that? Not 'transparent', but…"
"Translucent!" Yoshi educated. "The state between opaque and transparent!"
Hana addressed Shuu and Tohru, "My senpai, the two of you mocking Hachioji-senpai for his lack of melanin is the pot calling the kettle black… though your midsections are ghostish, rather than coal-dusted."
"Snrk!" Even Nekoba had to stifle a laugh at Hana's declaration, though she tried hard to hold it in.
Sakura wooted, "Yeah, you tell 'em, Hana-chan!"
And the young women bum-rushed their newer male acquaintances.
"Ghosts!" Yoshi yapped. "The beach is 'hainted'!"
Sakura qualified, "But look! Ghosts aren't supposed to have feet! This is Japan~!"
"Perhaps it's an illusion, and they're in fact American apparitions," Hana considered. "They mean to lure us into a false sense of security and raise our cholesterol and triglyceride levels by the hundreds when we least suspect it."
…What…?!
It set Sakura to guffawing, "BWAH! …Hah-hah-hah-hah~!"
"Spooky~!" Rabi-chan pretend-shuddered. "I can feel my veins clogging!"
Yoshi emitted, "Everyone, safeguard your arteries! Let not greasy goodness congest them!"
The girls continued in this manner, hucking harmlessness at Shuu and Tohru.
"…" "…" Both boys imitated Naoto the prevailed-upon 'pon, the two of them presenting a veritable "double-ragger".
…
Meanwhile, Naoto was thankful that the attention was off of him for the moment, and he stepped aside.
But he found himself staring at the bottle of sunblock in his hand, the hot sun beating down on his shoulders.
"…" He couldn't very well get his own shoulders or back.
He'd have to pair off with someone.
What was he going to do?
This small thing caused him more apprehension than anyone should've ever known.
Gamo-chan, sitting out of the girlish gaiety, noted his difficulty. "…?"
Whether she disliked the other girls' merriment without her, she was suddenly feeling better, or she just wanted to watch her Paisen squirm, she brought the attention right back to him.
The devotion towards Shuu and Tohru was dying off anyway…
Whatever drove her, it didn't help with his level of anxiety.
"Yo, Paisen~…" she heralded.
Naoto juked, her herald seemingly out of nowhere. "…?!"
Looking her way, she gifted him a foul smile.
This was NO friendly Gamo-grin…
He knew that she was displeased with him, and perhaps it had finally come around. "…!"
And not a member of their troupe didn't have a good seat for it.
Naoto, feeling all eyes directed at him—but mostly Gamo-chan's glower, eked, "Yeah…?"
"You remember your special sun protection treatment~?" Gamo-chan teased. "From last year~?"
'Fuck…' He surely did; he'd just been thinking about it.
Was this her revenge?
He supposed that it served the purpose. "…"
Was there any chance that Nagatoro, Gamo-chan, or Yoshi had mentioned to anyone else what they'd done to him?
He doubted it, but if it was an unknown, he'd have rather kept the memory in his head, rather than six uninitiates hearing about it, but the dice were cast. "…Yeah, I remember."
Though, if she was going to say it, then she might as well just say it…
The unfriendly Gamo-grin prolonged. "…~"
"…" It was almost… eerie, the level of yielding he knew… the rapid submission to it.
If it made her feel a little better, she could have this…
…
"…!" Yoshi, sweating even more than their senpai, was assessing this state of affairs.
Taking in her surroundings and crunching the metaphorical numbers, she had a choice to make:
Would she put a stop to this (or try to)… do nothing… or fan the flames?
It was of no help that Naoto had suddenly turned his gaze to her.
Yoshi shivered, averting her peepers. "…!"
"…" Naoto kept a lid on things.
But Yoshi was soon able to confront the muddle, and her peepers revisited the young artist.
Their eyes met, and they could see into the other.
And the choice was clear…
'Oh, Sensei…' Yoshi internally lamented.
He washed his hands of it. 'Do what you gotta do, Yoshi-san…'
She surely did.
Or maybe this was all just fantasy…
"The deed was a success, huh?!" Yoshi called out Gamo-chan, hopping alongside. "The sun did not claim the pastiness!"
Gamo-chan jumped into the fire with gusto, bringing her awareness to her old friend. "Hell, yeah~!"
"The whole bottle of 'screen!" Yoshi evoked.
Gamo-chan cawed, "Nothin' but air left in there~!"
Naoto was able to breathe a little easier, the "adoration" directed away from him. "Phew…"
A bad Gamo-grin was bad for respiration!
Though, the bad Gamo-grin fast went away, and the girl laughed with license, "Haw-haw-haw!"
"Haw-haw-haw!" echoed Yoshi with even more license.
Naoto groused to himself, "Mrmbl…"
Maybe he SHOULDN'T have emboldened this…
He eyed his other friends, largely overlooked at the moment.
They were looking kind of confused, but they did little else, seemingly curious to see what was going on.
All the same, was everyone just going to let all this happen?
Reliably, one of the group finally spoke up.
Hana, being who she was but not needing it for this, queried, "What did you do to him?"
She gave off a certain vibe, not unlike the one that she'd shown Rabi-chan upon greeting her.
'Don't ask; don't tell!' Naoto was having further second thoughts about this divulgence.
Gamo-chan might've supposed Hana's demeaner, though it didn't halt her advance.
"We applied Paisen's sunscreen~…" the Amazon said with deceiving syrupiness.
Hana blinked. "What am I missing? What's the issue?"
"I'll give you a couple hints," Gamo-chan endowed.
Hana nodded, the vibe holding. "Guessing games can be fun."
"Okay…" Gamo-chan sniggered. "He would've enjoyed it… if he hadn't enjoyed it, and if we knew then, what we know now… we wouldn't have done it~."
Hana barely had to ponder it. "You walked on his back, didn't you?"
"Ding-ding-ding-ding~!" Yoshi reverberated. "Hanacchi wins the prize!"
"…?!" Sakura, Nekoba, Rabi-chan, Shuu, and Tohru all gaped. "…?!"
The girls had really done that shit?!
And Sunomiya the younger had surmised it, just off of THAT?!
Naoto was reminded of the fact that even she knew of his penchant for the female hind-shank. 'Ack! Not again!'
"You used your feet to apply sunscreen to Hachioji-senpai…?" Hana, asking what all were thinking, was audibly mildly disgusted.
The wind beneath Gamo-chan's wings wavered slightly, but she held on. "When you put it like that~… it does sound pretty bad."
"But you did?" Hana defined.
"Sure enough~." The winds were steady enough to glide.
"We safeguarded his whole being~!" Yoshi afflicted. "Ears to toes!"
"To be fair, we wound up using our hands too~," Gamo-chan, bolstered by the gust, directed this towards Yoshi. "It got harder when we flipped him on his back. He was able to defend himself a little better~."
"Soft underbelly~!" Yoshi proclaimed.
Gamo-chan squalled, "He was like a softshell turtle~!"
"Turtle-sensei!" the Yosh fortified.
Naoto's face felt hot to him, a deep burgundy residing. "…"
"You liked that, didn't you, Paisen~?" Gamo-chan giggled, eyeballing him.
"…Nope," he monosyllablized, unwilling to look at her.
"…!" Somewhere inside, this rocked Gamo-chan; she turned away from him, getting back to Hana, a touch guilty-looking. "Yeah… That wasn't our proudest moment."
Hana maintained her hazardous poker-face. "Why would you do that…?"
This caught Gamo-chan all the more off-guard, and she seemed more than a touch remorseful.
"Well… Hayacchi started it." She scratched her chin. "Yoshi and I just played 'follow-the-leader', so…"
"It seemed like fun," Yoshi added, dramatically reducing her zeal. "But…"
Neither could justify it.
The wind abruptly died, and the Wright sisters fell to Earth.
Where would things go from here?
Well, for starters, the sunscreen-stomping duo absorbed the dirty looks from the others.
"Geez…" Sakura radiated appall. "That's revolting…"
Nekoba's skin crawled. "…!"
Rabi-chan was creeped out but laughed in a disturbed way, "Oh, that's vile…"
They hadn't heard about this!
"…!" "…" Neither had Shuu or Tohru, both a bit peaked.
In the face of this, Gamo-chan blushed.
"Yeah, that was… pretty bad," she finalized.
Yoshi hung her head. "Guilt…"
"…!" Naoto had reasoned that those outside of the experience wouldn't know, but he hadn't thought about how the six uninitiated would actually take the news.
"Slightly disgusted" probably fit the bill…
Part of him was glad that the others "sided" with him, but the rest of him felt sorry for the two girls.
That letting them tear in a little might BACKFIRE hadn't been part of the inkling…
Naoto wondered what possessed Gamo-chan to tackle the sordid subject to begin with.
Adding to that, it wasn't hard to get carried away with such hysterics… and it had happened badly…
Really, he wondered why Yoshi thought it was a good path to take.
What'd they think was going to happen?
'Oh, well…' He wondered how Nagatoro would've fared under such scrutiny, were she there to share the reaped condemnation with her partners-in-crime.
It probably would've been a mess… and the whole daytime juncture of which they were part would've been Hella different regardless…
Outside of Naoto's head, in the face of the universal disapproval, Gamo-chan's head now also hung.
She looked up slightly, casting eyes at Naoto. "S-sorry, Paisen…"
"Yeah… Sorry…" Yoshi adjoined.
"H-hey, don't worry about it," he tried to dismiss. "That was a long time ago."
Were they apologizing for LAST YEAR or NOW?
Naoto didn't know, but he wasn't about to forget that Gamo-chan had apologized to him after karaoke for many of the less-than kind things that she'd done to him prior to last fall.
And he believed her with all of his heart. "…"
The same could be said of Yoshi…
He'd settle on them being sorry and leave it at that. He wasn't even upset about the incident anymore… not with them, at least.
And he was expecting more fallout, but it was soon ended, much to everyone's relief.
It wasn't like that insalubrious treatment was the ONLY time they'd burned him, and everyone knew it…
Ergo, it didn't floor a one of them, and they could chalk it up to the occasional sort of assholery any one of them was occasionally guilty of.
Nekoba took it upon herself and said, "Okay, enough of that. Let's screen up and let it absorb a bit. Then let's get to swimming."
There was a murmur of approval, and they broke ranks.
Now, of all times, Naoto became nervous again.
He needed sunblock on his body badly.
But who would he pair up with?
WOULD anyone pair up with him?
…
"…!" He was struck with a notion.
He supposed that it was safe to wait and see.
Gamo-chan didn't NEED help with her sunblock, so there WERE eight of them that DID need it…
"…~" Prouder of himself than he should've been for his "genius" idea, he decided that he would just wait and see.
There would be another odd man out, so to say, once six of them had paired off, so a partner was inevitable…
"…" Even if it was Rabi-chan, Naoto would be okay with it.
However, before a single twosome had been formed…
With a smirk, Sakura picked up her sunblock and a ratty piece of blanket.
"Hey, Senpai-ku~un~," she summoned.
"Y-yeah?" He straightened like a soldier.
"Come hither, buddy~," she enticed, shaking the blanket and turning away from camp.
Buddy?!
Naoto couldn't believe she'd call him that aloud among the others. "…!"
'Buddy?!' uttered six minds (Hana was already a veteran, so she was merely waiting for more).
Among the six was Gamo-chan, obviously.
"H-hey, where are you going?" she asked, fretfully stumbling over her words.
"We already agreed to do each other… each other's sunscreen, I mean~," Sakura cooly claimed, poking out her tongue at the taller girl; she hiked a thumb at Naoto. "Me and Senpai-kun."
His senses swimming, he recalled no such thing. 'Where was I when THIS happened?!'
The only agreed upon thing between them that day had involved grapes and modeling!
"Wh-what…?!" Gamo-chan emitted a strong mixture of emotions, none of them holding dominance. "When did you…?"
"Earlier~," Sakura breezed.
Gamo-chan lurched. "…!"
Sakura did something that Naoto found a mite cruel, considering that he knew that Gamo-chan regretted the referenced unpleasantness.
She qualified, "Hey, you and Yoshi got to screen up Senpai-kun, but I never had the pleasure~."
THAT was a boldfaced lie!
And one of the observers knew it!
Hana, firmest among the tremulous group, rolled her eyes. 'Really?!'
Only Naoto and Sakura saw this (they'd never before seen it), and it had the gal bursting at the seams.
"…~" She winked at their kohai, though it was seen by everyone.
Hana rolled her eyes again, leaving it and turning away. "…"
The rest saw no eye-rolling, focused only on the two "culprits".
"Don't be so disappointed~!" Sakura comforted her friends. "Maybe you all can reapply. He'll need several coats today~."
While most of them were still processing—
Tohru tried to stick a pin in the balloon, "Yeah, whatever. Go on, then."
"…!" Shuu was more visibly dismayed.
You could see it in his eyes~…
Sakura wasn't about to let Tohru pop her "goodtime inflatable".
"Better luck next time, boys~." She hooked Naoto's elbow, leading him away and onto the sand.
Naoto's heart soared, his sunblock in his pocket and ready to go. 'Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!'
That was internally though…
"H-hey, Sakura-san!" he protested, this whole situation moving too fast.
"Worry not!" Sakura pledged. "Last year will not be repeated~."
Some of them as confused as ever, the rest watched the departure of Blondie and Asshole-kun.
Q&A Section
A reader that I can only identify as "Guest User" asks "When did you start hating the Nagatoro manga? For me, the naked modeling arc was the last straw. The story had become pretty shitty but that did it. It was strictly fics for me after that."
ED: I knew for sure that the story had gone down the drain during the judo tournament arc. Before that, I thought that the Christmas arc and the New Year's arc are when the story started going down the drain.
PS: The ski-trip chapters are where the story fell off. I think I wrote a Reddit essay a couple years back describing my issues with the ski-trip material, but that was before I admitted to myself the story was pulling mud and pushing rope. I essentially lost interest in the story once the new in-universe school year started, and I stopped reading.
What sucks is it used to be my favorite manga, and now I see it's just garbage. It wasn't a fun realization, and it happened quickly.
But for some reason, here I am, editing what might be the largest Nagatoro fic in the world.
LisPisCringe asks "Will we see more romantic interactions between Naoto and Sakura? I love that characters like Nekoba and Rabi-chan are being fleshed out, but I do miss the flirtiness and back-and-forth banter of the titular duo."
ED: Some Naoto/Sakura goofballery is very close at hand. Hopefully, you'll find it fun.
A big goal of this arc is fleshing out Nekoba and introducing Rabi-chan, who will both see more development, this arc and later.
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading!
Questions and comments are welcome!