Cherry Blossom Palette: Summer by the Sea
Chapter 48: Mandatory Nobu-kun
Sunshine Arc
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note:
ED: Hey, everyone! I assure you that I'm still alive.
I met my good buddy/friend/pal/editor P. serrulata back in July! It was so awesome to see him again! He gave me the sweetest gift for my birthday! My favorite Pokémon evolutionary set! Charms of Hatenna, Hattrem, and Hatterene.
My birthday was July 26. 28 years old.
We did end up getting lunch at this really awesome barbecue place near where I live (world class BBQ!) on his way out, but it was on his way back home that we made a day of it. We went frolfing, which I haven't done since college, and we hit a flea market and ate too many fried foods. We also went and saw the movie Thelma, where a little old lady seeks revenge over being scammed, which was really funny.
It only took PS a couple hours to get from his conference to where I am, but he ended up staying overnight, because the drive home for him is an all-day trip.
And NO, he didn't stay at my place. I don't think that my single female Mormon roommate that I met at church would've been pleased. She never leaves our condo. She just works from home doing IT stuff and is mind bogglingly excited that Harry Potter is getting a TV series.
…
I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to get out. I had trouble finding dialogue that I liked to use. Also, I took a good six week break from the story.
It wasn't anything bad either why I took a break. I went home to Utah for two weeks of annual vacation, and I'm getting ready for a new semester at school. I'm hoping that this time next summer, I can call myself "EmtenDew, MEng".
I also replayed Pokémon: Arceus, which I liked. They definitely worked out a few of the bugs I remember from first playing it. But I didn't "complete" the game this time either. Catching every species and filling out all their info just doesn't seem worth it, though I've seen the final boss and stuff.
…
The BBC somehow has the English dub of Pokémon Horizons up to Episode 40! Yay! Just five more, and they'll have the first Horizons series completed! We still get an episode where a certain character's mom shows up to try to take her home, a silly beach episode, a hunt for a limited time only sweet treat (with an enemy seeking the same treasure), and the first season's big conclusion! I wonder how long it will be until we get to see the second season dubbed? Or what they'll call it.
I had a nice day binging the eight episodes newly available. While episodes 1 to 25 are almost all plot-driven, some of the episodes from 26 to 45 are "throwaway" episodes but only a few of them. Some of the episodes are even good character development episodes.
It will never not gross me out that people drink the juice that Shuckle ferments in its shell. I think that goes all the way back to Gen Two. One of the human characters was even willing to drink from the source, shoving a straw into one of Shuckle's holes when no one else was around. Only her Pokémon carrying on and yelling at her stopped her from doing this very disgusting thing.
Liko trying to bathe Hatenna and Terapagos (both of whom aren't cooperating) is one of the cutest things in the series so far.
And then, almost immediately after, Liko gets the bright idea of having Hatenna watch over Terapagos while she's away, something all the humans and Pokémon on the ship combined together have never successfully managed. Shenanigans ensue.
Little Sprigatito has a surprising amount of baggage for such a little grass cat.
Further in the series, I just hope Liko's "smol hat" Pokémon doesn't become a running gag, beating up other Pokémon that annoy her and then hitting them with a dose of Heal Pulse. But we finally get to see her battle properly, so I hope she can eventually kick some butt.
Episode 64 was pretty great. The kids attempt to reach the highest point in Paldea, but trouble is waiting for them. A certain evil organization has a serious fracture in it, and the long brewing factions have chosen sides (one half unknowingly), and the "rebels" have gained some very interesting knowledge. Also, Terapagos hates Amethio more than someone with peanut allergies hates Texas Roadhouse. That's not a spoiler by any means, but it REALLY hates Amethio or something about him.
Side note, don't look up Liko or anything else you treasure on Danbooru.
…
It's odd that Pokémon is the best series at the moment, not that One Piece isn't finally picking up again.
I truly don't see the appeal of an anime about a bunch of obese lady elves being annoying and self-destructive pigs with eating disorders all the time. It's revolting. The series is REPELLANT.
NEVER fall for any nonsense glorifying poor health and/or life choices. I say that as a female athlete who has struggled with weight most of my lifetime. You're healthy at a healthy weight, not any weight.
Deer are dumb. According to my editor, about all they're good for is venison, which they don't even have to be alive for. I should've asked him to bring me some deer jerky for my birthday.
If a man wants to make love to a machine, he should just use a running lawn mower, not a boring robot. That way, at least, he'll be out of the gene pool, where he belongs.
I'm only further convinced that the summer anime season really IS trying to be bad. It's intentional.
…
Last canon Nagatoro chapter SUCKED. So did 154.5. A bunch of drivel with a lot of clichés where nothing sincere really happened or was said by anyone. No proper time skip or epilogue, just a lot of wasted space and splash panels. Naoto never laid down the law, that most things that he was blamed for weren't his fault.
There were no proper, heartfelt goodbyes or apologies from the girls either, which should've happened, despite all shortcomings. The "do anything I want" ticket wasn't even used. In all, Naoto NEVER did anything to give Nagatoro any legit right to be upset with him.
He never wanted to hurt ANYONE, and Nagatoro regularly flicked her bean over hurting HIM, enjoying causing him pain. I'm not convinced that she was truly sorry for anything bad she did to him. Any tears that she cried were for only herself and not for the boy she hurt so many times.
But Naoto allowed himself to be guilted time and again by people he was better than, that he should've told to stay out of his way or drop dead in front of him.
I still can't believe he was dumb enough to give Nagatoro's siblings a chance to lay hands on him. They will never truly respect him, much less like him. Refer to the previous paragraph as to what Naoto should've done with them.
Relatedly, I didn't see Nagatoro's name on the 2021 or 2024 Olympic roster when I looked, same with Orihara. I did some digging, and it turns out that COVID awayed them both in the second month of it.
Naoto is now with Yoshi, which actually happened before she and the girls graduated, about the time Yoshi got accepted into her college of choice. Nagatoro sort of lost the will to live, which didn't help once COVID struck a year later. Maybe it got her whole family.
Despite the difficulties with the pandemic, Naoto currently works in art therapy, having helped pioneer a commuter program at the Tokyo University of Art, in conjunction with Tokyo U's psychology program, and some tiny college with a counseling/social work curriculum. Yoshi is an audiologist, specializing in hearing loss in children. They weren't planning on it, but they're already expecting their first child in March. If it's a boy, Haruki, and if it's a girl, Haruka.
There! I improved Nanashi's story in a few paragraphs.
Nanashi started the series with a lot of potential, but he blew it about halfway through and never tried once to get it back. If he thought this was a good way to end the story, he really is a fool.
Maybe some sort of epilogue will happen, but I doubt it will be any good. I'm thinking that readers will have to wait until the twentieth manga collection of chapters is published to see it.
Oh, well. I can just concentrate on my own story and not worry so much about Nanashi failing at manga and life.
…
I actually had a question this time! From a "guest". Meaning I don't know who it actually is.
Ask us anything, and we'll add another Q 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
"…?!" Naoto, leading Hana and Nekoba on a drink-run for their group at the beach, had never anticipated running into Nobuo Takata—or his ilk.
And he was okay with not running into him, so he'd pretend he didn't see—
"Hey, Hachioji~!" Takata boomed. "'Sup?"
Naoto physically jumped, fully facing the direction of the noise, not just his eyes.
Takata, having spotted him, had left his group behind and was trotting up to the trio, a big grin pasted on his face, a hand raised in greeting.
'Oh, shit-balls…' Naoto's stomach floated up to his tonsils, as if he was dropping through The Tower of Terror at Disneyland.
But the main character of this story could shift the gears pretty quickly when he had to, and he raised his own hand.
The other young man approaching was as disarming as anything he'd seen of late, but it didn't kill all the jitters.
"H-hey!" Naoto managed. "Takata. How are you?"
Thin and pale met muscular and tanned…
"I'm good~." Takata stopped just short. "You?"
Naoto found himself saying, "It's… been a pretty good day."
"Nice!"
Naoto hadn't been expecting a handshake or anything, and none was given, though he enjoyed the warm salutation.
Even so, what was going on?!
He wanted to relax, and he felt like he could, but he was fast realizing his worries were far more pronounced in the case of Takata's friends.
They were outnumbered seven-to-three, for one thing, he and his swell lady-kohai, at his flanks.
More than that, it ran through Naoto that he rode not only in a different demographic than each of these seven students, he was on a whole other sociocultural level.
And it wasn't a higher level…
Among those present—not that he hadn't seen them before:
The captain of the boys' Basketball Club…
The vice-captain of the boys' BASEBALL Club…
The ace of the boys' Judo Club…
(And that was just the boys!)
The girls?
None of them were the heads of anything, unless one counted being pretty, popular, and rich.
They were decked out in the very latest, cutting-edge beachy fashions, head-to-toe.
They weren't as pretty as Sakura or Gamo-chan—not to Naoto, maybe sitting on the same tier as Nekoba and Rabi-chan, and he was trying not to factor in Hana, but…
They were something to look at~… at least Misses "Pretty" and "Popular"…
…
The couple of instances, later on in the recent semester, Naoto had felt compelled to greet Takata, plus-or-minus some of his hangers-on, the little voice telling him of all the inherent, echelonical differences screamed louder than the other voices, and it was a reason he'd melted back into the walls.
Now, the six of them, for this occasion, were taking up Takata's rear, steadily moving to join him.
All of this had taken seconds, but a lot was happening.
And in those seconds, Naoto had all but forgotten his kohai, save he knew they were outnumbered.
But he was quickly reminded, a warm body moving nearer to his left side, not to mention the tug on his sleeve. "…?!"
It was Hana, wishing to stick close to him.
Not cowering, but wishing to keep in contact…
Naoto was then compelled to glance to his right, and he was dismayed to see Nekoba shrinking into herself. "…!"
She didn't gather to him, but she didn't seem the slightest interested in making eye contact with those approaching either, instead contemplating her unadorned toes and boring flip-flops.
That was another thing about the three girls' arrival, their made-up appearances overshadowing Sakura's "gaudiness".
The nails of those 60 digits they shared had seen some PROFESSIONAL treatment…
'Shit!' Naoto made of point of not "lookin'".
But not gawking at what Misses "Pretty", "Popular", and "Rich" had going on below the knees was the least of his worries:
His kohai were uneasy.
'Oh, fuck…' Visions of cruelty flashed before his mind's eye, well aware that there were plenty of assholes that didn't like either of his companions, and it was only a matter of time before…
…
What if ANY of these students did something mean to Hana or Nekoba?!
Sappy notions of "I'll protect you!" nonsense made themselves known to Naoto, but…
How COULD he protect the girls against such odds? Could he do ANYTHING? WAS there anything to do?
There was, however, one thing he wasn't counting on:
The decency of the young man he'd just reencountered…
…
To a portion of Naoto's perception, Takata had been as forgettable as Hana and Nekoba, in the brief yet exhaustive past few seconds, his existence outdone by the other six visitors.
Nevertheless, Takata still faced him, the smile never leaving his sun-kissed face.
And immediately before the rest of his friends backed him, he nodded to Naoto's right.
"Hey, Nene~," he said, never losing the smile. "How you been?"
'Nene…?' Naoto perplexed, stumbling in his own upstairs.
Nekoba bucked up, as if she'd been thrown a lifeline.
"Hi, Nobuo~," she greeted affably, a sort of relief flooding. "I'm alright."
Naoto jarred. 'Nobuo?!'
"Great~," Takata responded.
…
'Phew…' Naoto had his own relief inundate.
It had never occurred to him that Nekoba and Takata might be on a first-name basis… if "Nene" was Nekoba's name.
Not even on the radar…
No matter, he was uplifted to see Nekoba at greater ease.
But before he could ponder this any further, Takata's entourage came into play.
Rather than accost Nekoba, whose interaction with Takata had seen some contempt among three or four of them, the nearest "XYY" of the new influx pointed tentatively at Naoto.
He asked with healthy skepticism, "You know this guy, Nobu-kun~?"
Naoto, rather than being baffled at hearing "Nobu-kun" from anyone besides Sakura, caught believing it was her nickname for him, was rather struck by the disbelief in the judo ace's tone.
This smug-looking young chap was goggling at HIM like that?! Wheedling and sneering?!
'Well, fuck you and your mama too, fella!' he unquestionably didn't say aloud (and maybe wasn't thinking at all~), his scalp instantly prickling.
It also wasn't missed that the rest of them were staring, if with less obvious misgivings…
While Naoto festered, Takata countered the conceited twat.
"Oh, yeah, a little…" he spoke evenly. "Hachioji's the president of the Art Club at school. His kohai, there in the bucket hat, is a member too."
Mr. "Ace" faltered. "…?"
Naoto blinked. "…?"
Was Takata NOT understanding the expressions his friends were raining down from his borders? And he'd brought attention to HANA?!
Be that as it may, Naoto had dealt with far more intimidating people than these "elites", however different.
He felt bolstered.
"H-hi, I'm Naoto Hachioji," he fairly clearly stated, scanning over the six, redirecting their "courtesy" his way.
At least, they were paying attention to HIM and not eyeballing Hana or Nekoba…
The meaty fake-blonde girl nearest Takata (Miss "Rich") clamped onto his arm, gesturing to Naoto.
Visually, the best thing about her was she had nice legs and an okay face… but as for what was on the inside… it would be illustrated…
She simpered, "Hey, isn't he the guy you dominated in the spring judo tourney, Nobu-kun~?"
That he was~… and did this she-wildebeest REALLY have to be wearing a bikini THAT scanty?! She looked like about 70kg of chewed bubblegum…
"Hey, yeah, it is!" the judo ace jeered in reference to Naoto, again making himself heard. "Now, I remember~!"
"…" Naoto wanted so badly to roll his eyes, but he didn't, just like he hadn't told the judo ace to offer his judo mother a steak dinner to sit on his face and go potty.
"…~" Miss "Rich" was loving this; she draped about her surfboard-Hercules, clinging like a monkey to a tree. "Yup, you sure got him, Nobu-kun~."
Takata told them, "Only because the time ran out. He had me pinned. I couldn't move."
He'd said it calmly and without pretense, and Naoto believed he meant it.
Miss "Rich" and Mr. "Ace" went limp. "…?"
Miss "Rich" even let go of her self-assumed man-candy.
"…!" Naoto… was wowed.
Was Takata shooting down his lackeys?!
Whether or not he meant to emulate artillery, he turned to the other girl by Naoto's side.
"Hey, Sunomiya." Takata bobbed his head to her.
He'd greeted HANA?!
The petite—but shapely—cutie rapidly found that Hana-brand of strength she sometimes showed.
She'd already left off of Naoto, as if she'd been waiting to be addressed, removing her shades, tucking them into her bikini-strings.
And though she'd only met him once—
"Hello, Takata-senpai, it's nice to see you." She bowed to him; she bowed to the others, afterwards surveying them. "Hello, my senpai. I'm Hana Sunomiya, a first-year at Kazehaya High School."
They all WERE her senpai…
"Wait-wait-wait, Nobu-kun~…" Miss "Pretty", her designation fitting her like a high-end prophylactic, weaved in, leering. "She's the girl that Sakura became friends with~? The Art Club girl?!"
Not QUITE as pretty as she could be, with that ugly smirk she was wearing…
"…" If Hana wanted to tell Miss "Pretty" to go shove a pinecone up her wazoo, she didn't.
Naoto thought it was rude as Hell. "…!"
Miss "Popular" prodded Miss "Pretty". "Hey… don't talk about 'you-know-who'…"
The rest appeared to echo this stance.
Yes, Takata might've not appreciated word of Sakura…
But whether he cared or not, he brushed it off, "Don't worry about it…"
And the rest collectively calmed. "…" "…" "…" "…" "…" "…"
"…!" Naoto was further wowed at the command Takata had over this bunch.
He also was proud of Hana's staunchness.
He'd let her handle things, if she wanted. "…"
Hana seemed capable.
"Yes," she articulated to the "bunch". "Sakura-senpai and I have become friends."
Another of the boys, the Baseball Club's second-in-command, a fellow not at all well-known for his assholery, came forward, and he wasn't about to ask something awful.
It wasn't in him to do so…
He asked, "Sunomiya-san, you're related to Sana Sunomiya, right? The one who did those wild self-portraits the last couple of years for the culture fest?"
"I am," Hana accredited, not wholly at odds with the assessment of "wild". "Sana-neechan is my older cousin. She was a year above Hachioji-senpai. Our fathers are brothers."
The team-lieutenant's face fell to confusion. "…! So, you're first-cousins?"
"Yes." Hana cocked her head. "Why do you ask?"
"Baseball"-kun scratched his chin uncertainly. "Sorry… I'm just a little surprised."
"Why?"
He wasn't eager, but, "Don't take this the wrong way, but… it's just you're a lot shorter than her, but I guess you do look almost exactly like her otherwise."
It might've been slightly unbecoming, but Hana didn't object. "I understand. While our fathers could pass as identical twins—though they're two years apart, our mothers are very different. Hers is quite tall, and mine is my height. But Sana-neechan and I, we closely resemble our paternal grandmother more than anyone else."
"Huh…" he supposed. "Okay. I getcha."
But that still didn't explain where the two Sunomiya girls got their manga-sized boobs from, NONE of the family Naoto knew sporting those…
The last of the boys, "Basketball"-kun, recalled of Takata, "I guess I remember you mentioning meeting a girl named Sunomiya, Nobu-kun…"
'Okay, it's official…' Naoto concluded.
The nickname of "Nobu-kun" was more universal than previously thought…
While Hana was handling things well, unfortunately, the whole situation took a turn, the air changing.
Miss "Rich" in particular, the false-flaxen female of considerable weight, gave a thoroughly dirty look, her eyes zipping between her own extensive meat and meager curves and Hana's lean meat and amazing curves.
'What a BITCH…!' Naoto judged in wonderment.
While the second of the Baseball Club didn't join in, the other two boys aside Takata began ogling Hana.
"…!" Naoto could see what they were up to as plainly as he felt the wad of coin and paper-money he carried weighing down his breast-pocket.
Their eyes inspected every frontal centimeter of her, clearly imagining what wasn't as visible.
On top of that, the other two girls began examining Hana, not so tastefully either.
And Hana couldn't handle this.
"…!" She tried to remain tough in the face of it all, but she couldn't fake it.
Her demeanor transformed instantly, and she latched onto Naoto afresh, huddling up to him.
She was trembling, and the gazes continued.
"…!" Naoto fumed, aghast at this conduct. 'You mother—'
These cock-knockers were upsetting his good friend?! What a buncha assholes!
That "Devil-may-not-give-a-blue-flying-fuck-at-a-rolling-doughnut" thrill he infrequently experienced came roaring up, reminiscent of the mortar-like cum-blast he'd launched that morning, following his Sakura dream.
"Would you stop it?!" he blurted at the five assholes.
They collectively startled at his eruption. "…?!"
Providentially, Naoto didn't even have the time to think about how badly he might get his ass kicked, because at the exact same moment—
"Guys, be cool, alright…?!" Takata drawled, scowling at the lot of them, not missing the atmosphere either.
That got them to back off.
'Phew…' Now, Naoto could be thankful he wouldn't get his ass kicked… and that Hana was loosening.
Nekoba, out of mind for the last page or so, saddled up to Hana, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Hanacchi?"
"Nekoba-senpai?" She was soothed for it.
Turning away from his clique, Takata asked, "You okay, Sunomiya?"
"…" She paused… then nodded but said nothing.
"Sorry about that…" He was.
"…" Hana monitored the pattern on Naoto's shirt.
Nekoba kindly patted her back. "She's okay, Nobuo… She's just not used to this sort of thing."
It seemed a little messed up, that she'd treat such behavior casually, but…
It wasn't abnormal. People stared, and Nekoba knew it better than most.
"…? …?" Naoto floundered over what to do, but things were in pretty good hands.
Takata mustered, "Sunomiya?"
She flinched but came straight. "Y-yes?"
"I saw you got fourth in your year on your exams. Congrats~."
Whether he meant to do it or not (probably not), he happened to catch her in a pliant mood.
"Well… thank you…" She was flattered.
If nothing else, she let go of Naoto for a second time, persevering on her own.
"Yeah, you did pretty good~," Takata conversed with her. "Those tests this year sucked…"
Hana fell into it, as naturally as she might with anyone, "They weren't easy, Takata-senpai. Even the staff acknowledged the difficulty."
Out of anyone else, hearing the exams "weren't easy"—when she'd aced them, more-or-less, it might've sounded arrogant, but it was just Hana being Hana.
Way to stay flexible~…
Takata apprised, "I'm actually really happy with how I did. I beat the average in all the subjects at least. Always a good thing."
"Most definitely." Hana had no qualms. "I'm happy you did as well as you wanted."
"Oh, yeah~."
…
Things were sitting even LESS right for a number of warm bodies, many glances exchanged…
And someone sought to try and figure things out.
Miss "Rich" intruded, right back to clutching Takata's beefy arm, "Nobu-kun~, why would you care about the scores the freshmen got?"
Asshole… was she serious?!
"I have a younger neighbor that thought he scored pretty solid, so I thought I'd look at the first-year scores that morning," Takata answered her patiently. "He didn't quite make the top-20, but he got, like, 24th, he told me. Definitely not bad…"
"…?!" Naoto was tempted to pinch himself, a thought that was canard, knowing full-well he was awake.
If Takata WAS still a virgin, as he'd claimed that afternoon in the art room…
Naoto testified in private, 'He won't be getting any from any of THESE girls… not today!'
Not that Miss "Rich" had rescinded from Takata's arm…
…
Takata, taking it upon himself and shrugging off his lumpy arm-barnacle, went on as if he'd been interrupted, not that he or Hana had been interrupted, "You were saying, Sunomiya?"
Miss "Rich" was thunderstruck~…
"Oh…" Hana thought she'd said enough, but she wasn't against Takata wanting to jaw. "I was very happy with my grades this semester. Hachioji-senpai helped me study… and so did Sakura-senpai."
Takata head-bobs* "Mm… You working on anything interesting right now, y'know, for art?"
"I've mostly been sketching, but only a little, and only on the go," Hana gave riposte. "Immediately after school ended last week, my family and I went to Tokyo to visit my cousin. I haven't been back to the art room in a week. But Hachioji-senpai and I both brought some supplies with us today, and we may spend some time on sketching later. We brought sketchpads, pencils, and even some charcoal."
"I remember using charcoal for art class, way back in elementary school," Takata said. "I was never good at it; it smeared so easily."
"It took me a long time to become proficient in charcoal, but it's become my favorite medium to work with. Hachioji-senpai taught me."
"Do you do much with oil-paints?"
"I have a certain project I wish to start soon. But I don't like working with oils very much, only doing it on occasion. It's too involved, intensive, and messy. Hachioji-senpai is far better at it than I am. I prefer the simplicity of black-and-white… not that he isn't better at that too."
"Well… I don't know enough to be the judge of that… But will you do any oil pieces for the culture fest this fall?"
"Absolutely. We plan to do a few different mediums, each of us. We're taking stock of our supplies in the coming weeks, so we'll be ready."
…
Naoto's eyes wandered around the meeting of 10. "…?"
What was…?
"…" Nekoba wasn't betraying much, but she didn't seem in dispute with anything in particular.
And Takata's small army appeared jointly lost. "…?!"
…
Takata wasn't lost.
"I wasn't gonna say, but what'd you do with your nails?" he asked Hana.
Hana held her hands out, palms down, fingers spread. "Dice."
The ivory manicure glowed dimly in the sun, each nail dotted to form one side of a six-sided die.
"That's cute~," he offered.
"Thank you."
"You'd better not flip-off anyone though~, especially not with both hands. Unlucky, on top of rude."
"I wouldn't dream of such a thing." Hana waggled only the tips of her middle-fingers, casting "snake-eyes". "You certainly aren't the first to have that idea. I realized it right away though. The numbers were assigned randomly, other than…"
She gestured down.
"Ha!" Takata gave a bark of amused laughter, following along. "Your toes too!"
"Lucky seven." Flexing each of her big ones, Hana was almost near to smiling. "I saw it online, and I thought it was a neat idea. Sakura-senpai and I exchanged jobs yesterday. She did mine, and I did hers in 'ROYGBIV', a rainbow."
"Sounds like something she might go for…" Takata noncommitted. "Seems you had fun."
"It was fun. We did my grandmother's too, both of us."
"Your… grandma?"
"Oh… I didn't say. Sakura-senpai and I went shopping yesterday, and she joined my family for a grill-out last night. Grandmother thought it looked fun, what we were up to, so we offered."
"I see."
"I have pictures on my phone, but I left it back with our group. Though, I don't suppose you would want to…"
"Yeah, I'm good… I'll take your word for it."
"Grandmother told us she hadn't had her nails done—not colorfully painted, at least—since the Tokyo Olympics. She and her friends wanted to try it that summer."
"That's a long time ago…"
"54 years. 1964."
"My parents weren't even alive yet…"
"Neither were mine. Most of our parents weren't born yet."
"I guess you're right."
…
"…!" Naoto might've been flabbergasted, but he knew his kohai.
Yup, Hana had this…
Nekoba was content to stay out of the way, merely listening, a pleasant, even expression extant. "…~"
The rest of them didn't know whether to spit, swallow, or gargle.
…
"Yeah, we came here with a lot of people," Takata said to Hana. "I think there's… 15 of us… or so?"
"We number nine." She couldn't one-up him. "The three of us are actually buying drinks for everyone else."
"I'm not keeping you, am I?"
"Not at all. They have water, Takata-senpai."
"Okay… Yeah, we're gonna go meet everyone else at the volleyball nets. A bunch of us are gonna play on a net we've been waiting on."
"We may try for a spot later. We thought to bring a net, but I can't imagine trying to set up in such a crowd."
"That's why the city put up a few nets."
"Cheaper than pouring the concrete for a few more tennis courts… which would be sectioned into pickleball courts, no doubt."
"Heh~… You got that."
"Not that I don't like pickleball. It's fun. Much less running around than tennis."
"Yeah, too bad we never have it for gym class."
"It might change."
"Not before I graduate… maybe for you."
"I'd enjoy that."
…
Not surprisingly, the vocal Miss "Rich" interjected, actually interrupting.
Things had gone on long enough…
Not only did she reattach herself to the Takata tree, she shook him like she wanted a few apples to come loose, piggy hoping for a fallen snack.
"Nobu-ku~u~u~un!" whined the bitch, whom Naoto had already begun to refer to as "Flat-so" in his heart. "C'mon, already! The others are waiting for us at the volleyball nets!"
She hadn't even politely suggested or hinted at their impending departure tactfully first…
"…!" Naoto was certain Takata would let her have it.
And he wasn't the only one, the other five across the way looking quite nervous.
Didn't bother to check out what Hana and Nekoba were up to…
But to the amazement of at least a number of them, Takata didn't react harshly.
He glanced to Miss "Rich". "Sango…"
"Nobu-kun~?!" She seemed oblivious to the potential "danger" she'd been in.
Takata said, "You and the others go on ahead."
"…" It didn't register with her immediately. "…Huh?"
"Go on ahead, and I'll catch up," he repeated.
"…!" Her countenance dropped further, ostensibly mystified.
'Ack!' Now, Naoto considered his two companions.
They didn't give him much…
Hana appeared as a buddha. "…"
"…" Nekoba appeared to have seen this sort of thing more than once(?).
No matter, it was suddenly—violently—awkward.
The rest of Takata's comrades were as mystified as Sango "Rich".
Not that they didn't take what he said at face-value, visibly ready to comply…
Naoto still hadn't made up his mind, unable to conclude if Sango was the de facto top-flunky among the disparate coalition or just the moron no one bothered correcting.
How often was it they were the same useful idiot~?
He noted another thing. "…!"
Takata was becoming… all fidgety.
Probably a combination of things…
"…" He'd been either genial or cool as the reverse side of the pillow, but it was fast-eroding.
Sango pressed, "C'mon, Nobu-kun~!"
"I said, I'll catch up." Though he was going for machinelike, his annoyance wasn't so masked, and most of them could read the room.
"…!" Sango still didn't get it. "Nobu-kun… what's with you…?"
She did finally let go of him.
His tone cut the thickening air, "What part of 'I'll catch up' don't you understand?"
"…" Her brow creased, focused on his face.
Takata returned the motion. "…"
"You're acting really weird…" she stated, her own face twisting.
Naoto gave another look around, and he could see it in all their aspects, even Hana and Nekoba, they were at least beginning to agree with Sango's belief.
But before anything else happened, the girthsome gyaru spun on her heel in the sand and made a point of walking directly through Naoto's party, moving in the direction Team Takata had originally been going. "…"
"…!" "Hey!" Naoto and Nekoba were roughly separated, the unapologetic cakebeast thundering between them.
The other five were troubled at the aggressive exit, but it didn't stay them for long.
Barely needing to exchange glances, they eagerly followed suit, instead politely going around Naoto's group, sending the occasional glimpse over the shoulder. "…?" "…" "…!" "…?" "…?"
Naoto's gaze trailed after them. "…?!"
Because of this, he missed the signal that Hana gave Nekoba, little more than a jerk of the head.
And the next thing Naoto knew—
"Nao-kun, Hanacchi and I are gonna go on ahead," Nekoba let him know. "See you in a few."
"Who-what?" His eyes quickly came to the slim girl of decent height, immediately setting off in the direction of the far-off Pepsi vending machine.
Hana was already moving too, but before she left, she faced Takata.
"It was good to see you, Takata-senpai." She bowed. "Thanks for the chat."
Takata said nothing. "…"
"Later, Nobuo," Nekoba offered, turning back only long enough to say goodbye.
Again, Takata said nothing. "…"
Though, it wasn't out of rudeness…
Naoto took a fresh look at Takata and found a thoroughly ruffled ex-Sakura-boyfriend, pink in the cheeks and partially-sunk.
"…!" It rattled him a bit.
This had become holy awkward—not "wholly"—and fastly so…
However, Takata wasn't busted.
"Sorry about my friends back there…" was heard by Naoto.
"Huh?"
"It's not like they're bad people, but…" Takata trailed off.
Naoto got a lot out of that one statement. "I understand."
He wasn't broken either.
And the long boy-talk session they'd shared in the art room hadn't been all that long ago…
A manly bond had been made.
…
"Well, there is…" Takata trailed yet more, regarding good and evil.
"Yeah?"
"That girl… the 'arm-candy'…"
'Miss "Rich"/Sango/"Flat-so"?' Naoto had three monikers, at least. "Oh."
"She did not like that one bit, back there…"
"I guess not, Takata."
"Got no idea what I'm gonna do about that…"
"…I wanna say to not worry, but…"
"Heh… that'd be a lie, I s'pose."
"It would be an untruth."
"She's been driving me up-the-wall the last couple of weeks…"
"I probably don't even have to ask why."
"Yeah… She's been trying to get with me since the breakup…"
'Lucky…(?)' Naoto wouldn't be sure, but at least there was someone interested in Takata. "Oh…"
"Sure enough, Hachioji."
'If it was someone ELSE, maybe…' Naoto wouldn't enjoy having her after him, and it wasn't because she wasn't as trim as his close female friends. "Hmm."
Miss "Rich" just seemed like a cunt… and a far cry from suitable candy…
But Naoto knew virtually nothing of her, so he tried to not feel that way.
Takata grumbled, no joy taken, "I think I might have to take to sewing my pants shut, the way things are going…"
"O-okay…"
"Yeah…"
Naoto was silent. "…"
"…" Takata had something.
"…?"
"Sakura never fit in all that well with the other girls I know, Hachioji."
"She didn't?"
"No… but… I think that was a reason I liked Sakura. She was different."
"Oh."
"I knew there was something we weren't seeing… I figured there was more to her… I was right."
"Yeah." Naoto happened to clutch the same dogma.
"…"
"…"
Takata struggled, blushing more deeply than earlier, "Hey, I'm sorry about the…"
"…About what?" Naoto repaid.
There was no blaming him for not picking up on it, not when it could've been a FEW things…
But of all those things—
"I mean that letter I left in your shoe-locker…" Takata mumbled.
Naoto's eyes widened. "Oh… that…"
"You read it, right?"
"Y-yes."
"Yeah… sorry."
"It… It's no problem. It's okay."
"Phew… I was just thinking what I'd've done if I found something like that. If another dude gave me a letter…"
"H-hey, it's okay, Takata, really."
"I know it's weird."
"I don't think so."
"…"
Naoto sought, "You're doing okay though?"
"Yeah… I am…" Takata blew out another sigh. "I feel a lot better than I did the weekend Sakura and I broke up. You… really helped… even Sunomiya helped…"
"I, uh…"
"Just accept it, Hachioji. Please…"
"S-sure…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…" Naoto vexed.
"…?" Takata realized. "What is it?"
"Just now, you called Sakura-san by her given name. You did earlier too."
"So?"
"It's just… you called her 'Inori', when we last talked… and in your letter."
"Oh… yeah. I guess… I just had some more time to calm down… think things over. I guess she's still 'Sakura' to me."
"Does that mean…?"
"Mean what?"
"Are you thinking about…?"
"Oh, no… Fuck, no… That ain't happening… I'm not interested in getting back with her."
"…Sorry. I didn't think so. It's just…"
"It's okay, Hachioji. I mean… I think I still care about her, but that's about it. Even if someone's not your friend anymore… or whatever they were, you just still do, I guess."
"I think I get it."
"Yeah…"
"…" Naoto contemplated.
"Hachioji…?"
"…Uh…"
"…What now?" Takata wasn't being combative, just seeking info.
"Oh, it's just… I was surprised to hear everyone call you 'Nobu-kun'. I thought that was just something Sakura-san did."
"Nope… People have been calling me that since elementary school. About the only one that calls me by my real name anymore is Nene."
"Nekoba?"
"Yeah, I guess I'm the only one that calls her by her real name too. It's kinda always been our thing."
"I didn't know you knew each other."
"Sure, we do… We've been neighbors since we were practically babies."
"Huh…"
"We used to be a lot friendlier, but… got older… just didn't play together anymore…"
"I suppose that happens…"
Takata sighed heavily, "I shouldn't've done that…"
"Done what?" Naoto hadn't the foggiest of the specifics.
"Just calling out and coming up to you three like that…"
"Oh… I think it's okay."
"It was Nene… She looked really uncomfortable, when I walked up. Y'know, people are mean to her sometimes… including…"
"I gotcha, Takata…" Naoto didn't want him to possibly have to say out loud that one or more of his friends who'd just left were among the guilty.
The big guy took no delight, "There've been a few times where I should've said something… but I didn't. I really let her down a few times."
"I see…"
"I didn't wanna make Sunomiya uncomfortable either, Hachioji. I just wasn't thinking about it."
"I wouldn't worry." Naoto felt he could speak with more confidence of Hana than Nekoba. "She enjoyed talking with you. She likes that sort of thing."
"I'm glad you can tell, 'cause I wasn't sure."
"Snrk! No, Sunomiya's just like that. Don't worry about her. She really did enjoy talking with you."
"Heh… Good. But what I was getting at was…"
"What?"
"The way they were staring at her…"
"Oh…"
"Yeah…"
Naoto was less positive of Hana's feelings on this. "Yeah, that was…"
"…"
"…"
"I just wanted to say 'hi', Hachioji… Wish I'd found a better time for it."
"Hey, forget it," Naoto wanted to keep it as light as possible. "I'm glad you did. I kinda wish I'd just…"
Takata couldn't finish the line any better, "Me too…"
"…" Naoto knew they had consensus. "Yeah."
"But I did wanna talk to Sunomiya too," Takata expressed.
"You did?"
"Sure, I mean… she seems kinda interesting and stuff…"
"…? Okay…?"
"I don't mean anything weird by that. I mean, she's suddenly Sakura's friend, so… I was just curious to talk to her."
"Oh." Naoto hadn't been bothered much by "kinda interesting", but clarity usually didn't hurt.
"…"
"…"
Takata took a second with it, "Uh, I got a favor I wanna ask."
"What?"
"If—only if—you can find a way to do it… please tell Sakura that I'm doing okay… and I'm glad she seems to be doing good too…"
"Oh! I…"
"Only if you can do it without being awkward…" Takata recapped.
This seemed beyond important…
Naoto would make an honest effort. "Sure… I'll try, Takata."
"…"
"…"
"I mean, I'm not dating anyone or anything," Takata revealed. "I'm still trying to figure it out, but I'm good…"
"I understand."
"…"
"…?" Naoto wished he could read minds (but only sometimes.) "What is it?"
Takata had to know, "You and Sakura… you're really not…?"
Mind-reading wasn't necessary to finish that thought…
"No!" Naoto responded quickly. "No, definitely not…"
"I just find it hard to believe, Hachioji… I mean, you got the green-light and all, so—"
"Nope," Naoto strengthened. "Sakura-san and I are just friends… maybe best friends… but not like 'besties', like she is with Sunomiya."
It had never been said aloud before…
"I still don't get it, Hachioji." Takata shook his head.
So, Naoto said another thing aloud, something he couldn't recall saying plainly, "No, I… I got someone else I love."
Takata perked, "You do?"
"Yeah…" Naoto said, almost dreamily. "I do…"
But as to how she felt about HIM…
"She's a lucky girl," Takata blessed. "Whoever it is."
Naoto cherished not having the specifics forced out of him.
"I dunno about that…" he nevertheless denied.
"…?" Takata held onto whatever misgivings he might've held. "…"
"…"
"…"
Maybe things had finally petered out…
Even if they hadn't—
Naoto came out with, "Well, uh, we—the girls and I—really are on a drink-run for our group, and I'm the one with the money, so…"
"Oh, right…" Takata had forgotten. "Guess I'll see you around then."
"…I'll talk to Sakura-san too… if I can find a way to do it."
"Thanks, man…"
"And… about Nekoba…"
"I'll call Nene later. I'm guessing she's not happy with me bringing all of them up to her like that."
"Would it be alright if I…?" Naoto tested.
Takata returned, "If you what?"
"Want me to mention anything to her?"
"…! Well… sure, if you see an opening."
"Only if she brings it up."
"Phew… That sounds alright then…"
"…"
"…"
"Well, then…" Naoto endeavored.
Takata salvaged, "I'll be seeing you."
"Sure."
"Yep."
And each of them continued on his previous path.
…
"…" Naoto wanted to look back, but…
Eyes forward…
Since his eyes were forward, he saw pretty quickly he wouldn't have to search very hard for the girls.
They hadn't gone far, the two of them talking in the shade of a shaved-ice stand.
Maybe they'd have some later…
Whether they did or didn't, at least he'd found the girls. "…~!"
He took to jogging to join them.
Question and Answer Section
"Guest" asks: "What are your real first names, you and your editor? I only know your names from reddit."
ED: I suppose I can share that much. "Em" and "Emma" are short for my real name. My unabbreviated name is "Emmanuelle". But I actually go by something else IRL.
PS: Many readers from reddit know me as "Wes". I'm Wes.
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading!
Questions and comments are welcome!