Cherry Blossom Palette: Summer by the Sea
Chapter 52: Something Old and Something New
Sunshine Arc
Written by EmtenDew
Edited by P. serrulata
Author's note :
ED: This chapter will probably be rough for a lot of you, but it's part of the story. A lot more is coming, some good, some bad, but mostly good. It's a journey, and something good lies at the end.
…
It looks like we'll be waiting until April 2025 for more One Piece anime. It was announced the day after Episode 1122 aired that we have a BIG hiatus ahead of us.
…
The new season of Pokémon Horizons has been good so far! We're finally seeing some Scarlet/Violet DLC stuff from the video games.
For the new ending theme, I wish we could've seen Hattrem dance too. Unlike Crocalor, she can touch her own head.
Sadly, Game Freak had that tremendous leak, and a terabyte of material made it out into the wild. It's a mess out there right now.
I looked a LITTLE BIT, and some of it was pretty crazy. Some very bad stuff about Typhlosion and Slaking.
…
I thought the feeder fetish elf anime was done with, but another episode came out. Yuck.
…
Ask us anything, and we'll add a 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
Earlier, while the juice run was happening…
Gamo-chan was in a far better mood than she'd been in a little while. "…~"
She was presently trolling a good gal-pal—and finding great success in it, it must be included.
"Gamo-chan… c'mon…" whined the trollee, following her like a beaten dog, one that simply didn't know where else to go.
The Maki only sputtered laughter, "Snrt~!"
She was enjoying herself immensely, leading her quarry on a brief chase around the beachy real-estate her Paisen had secured for them all.
Getting to Sakura was oftentimes a challenge…
The gal was so slippery most of the time, able to wheedle and worm her way out of even the most adverse situations, she was practically a pro at it.
But when you found the exact right buttons to push~… and sometimes you NEEDED to search for them—
Sakura came unglued in ways that would give any tormenter wet dreams, her defenses almost completely failing her.
It was STRANGE, seeing someone become so frantic, in so short a time, but…
"…~" Gamo-chan had found an unexpected knob—totally by accident, and she found all it took was a few deft cranks on it before Sakura fucking fragmented.
And Sakura whined some more, "Please, will you just turn around and talk to me…?"
It had sort of built up, as more and more of their party stepped away for one reason or another…
"…~" It was far from her proudest moment, but Gamo-chan had been angry, and she wanted to watch somebody squirm.
Though—
Truly… she was still angry.
…
It had started when Sakura had pulled Naoto away from them.
…
Well, before that, Gamo-chan had gotten into an argument with Rabi-chan, over something as stupid as partnering up to apply each other's sunscreen, or sitting in a row, front-to-back, doing up the back in front of oneself.
That was a bit shameful…
Then, after revealing to the assemblage that she, Yoshi, and Nagatoro had used their footsies to apply Naoto's sunblock, the year prior, Gamo-chan had suffered mild ostracization from Hana, Nekoba, Rabi-chan, Shuu, and Tohru.
That was even more embarrassing…
Yoshi had also endured "discrimination", but not enough to be abandoned by her sunscreen buddy, Hana, who'd quite willingly partnered up.
And Nekoba and Rabi-chan had quickly unified, leaving Shuu and Tohru to rub up on another boy.
It sucked to be left out, seven still an odd-number—nine minus two… even if a wetsuit killed the necessity of needing a buddy…
Even so, all object disparity was short-lived, but Gamo-chan's humiliation remained, and that wasn't the only problem she had on her plate.
While the rest had been content to swim after sunblocking each other's' backs, the disappearance of Asshole-kun and Blondie—titles yet alien to her—had left Gamo-chan miffed.
No one seemed to care that Sakura had pulled Naoto away from them…
…
"…~" Gamo-chan knew Sakura was a weird girl, but she was acting even weirder than normal… cagey too.
That wasn't surprising though…
While Sakura had pledged to relax and not worry about whatever punishment lay waiting, for the crime of calling Gamo-chan "frotch", she was floundering spectacularly in her oath.
Once Naoto, Hana, and Nekoba had gone off for the sodas and juices, Shuu and Tohru had also taken a brief leave-of-absence, and even Rabi-chan had gone off to swim some more.
This left Sakura, Gamo-chan, and Yoshi.
And in the brief moments since most of the group had gone off to where-have-you, Gamo-chan had bedeviled Sakura to the degree that the gal was begging for the taller girl to quickly dispense whatever sentence she was planning on meting out.
Anything was better than the constant badgering…
A few come-from-behind grabs at the more ticklish parts of the body, plus a few attacks to the underarms, and even a light stroke on one of the soles of the feet, catching her in seiza, had been enough to put Sakura on the brink.
It was upsetting the blonde more than she might've liked… and far more than she could've expected.
She hadn't even had a chance to go swimming yet, but going in the water, Gamo-chan being far superior aquatically, seemed perilous.
With Gamo-chan having already convincingly penalized Hana for her small part in referring to her as "frotch" in front of their friends, Sakura could only imagine what was in store for her.
The gal had even assured her nothing out-of-class had happened, when she'd spirited away Naoto.
Hana's and Nekoba's conduct, upon returning from their search for the two, had told everyone something different…
But the Amazon was far more interested in seeing Sakura writhe than learning about whatever relative harmlessness she and their senpai had been up to, not that the gal was in the least forthcoming over it.
The truth though?
…
However things actually, factually were, Sakura continued her bellyaching.
"Please, Gamo-chan!" she pleaded, tailing the burly girly. "Just get it over with!"
The Maki shut her down, practically power-walking but never leaving sight of their stake, "Oh-ho, no~! This is too much fun~."
"Whatever you wanna do, do it to your heart's content!" Sakura pledged. "Just do it! I want it done with!"
It wasn't said for dramatic effect—this WAS true…
"Nuh-uh~." Gamo-chan was bubbling over with mirth, the gal dancing like a puppet on her strings.
Sakura couldn't take much more of this. "…!"
Instead of this crap, she could've been on the soft-drink acquisition assignment with Naoto.
Why, oh, why did she have to be better than Nekoba at rock-paper-scissors?!
In the face of this, Yoshi (yes, she was still there too) held up the rear, fretting, "Gamo-chan… I think that's enough…"
"Aww, it's not that bad~…" Gamo-chan simpered, yet on the move.
"…!" Sakura had different thoughts on this, becoming more and more anxious.
Yoshi gulped, feeling increasingly hopeless. "…!"
She wanted to leave badly, distancing herself from this vindictiveness, but she was conflicted and unable to walk away.
To leave Sakura with Gamo-chan at a time like this?!
"…!" Yoshi always knew anguish, the times she found herself trying to hold her oldest friend's leash.
But how could she just LEAVE?!
…
While Sakura went on caterwauling, the sound becoming more of a hum than anything concrete, Gamo-chan soon found this premise running thin.
"…" Looking back, she'd been even less pleased, finding Naoto's phone in his backpack, having heard it ring when she tried calling him, during his absence with Sakura.
But the BITCH had probably had her phone…
Even so, no one else had been interested in pestering Sakura until she brought Naoto back to them… unless one counted the Yosh, halfheartedly sending the other blonde a "hounding" message and attempting to call once, only after being bulldozed into doing so.
No one seemed to care…
Alas, some of the group went swimming, Gamo-chan included, the others watching over basecamp.
Then, Gamo-chan returned to find that Hana and Nekoba had faded into the human-masses around them!
Rabi-chan had then told her in high-amusement the girls had been tickled at the prospect of catching unawares the away-team.
Why was this all happening?!
Thus, it had been even more frustrating for Gamo-chan when Hana and Nekoba returned, inferring they'd found the erstwhile local pair in a "state of dubiousness", that they'd scared the "Willie B. Jeebers" out of them, and they'd left them to their own devices.
Was the world against her?!
Nekoba had been so giggly with laughter, her eyes were misted with it, and Hana's mouth had basically been twitching at the corners(?!), the younger girl needing to put forth an actual effort to keep herself under control.
What was going on?!
And not long after, Naoto and Sakura were back among them, the both of them looking less than blameless of some wrongdoing.
What the fuck was going on?!
But before anything else could happen, it was decided the group needed a "juice run".
A game of rock-paper-scissors had decided the lucky ducks responsible for this errand, and requests had been made.
With that—
Finally, the group scattered to all corners of Hayama Beach.
…Naoto and Nekoba to retrieve 15 tasty beverages, with Hana surprising everyone by volunteering to go along…
…Shuu and Tohru the "Short-pai" going off somewhere…
…Rabi-chan heading back to the water for another swim…
…
Yes, they'd emptied out their claim… besides the three girls taking part in the current farce, happening at present.
…
"Nothing happened!" Sakura said with some accuracy. "Senpai-kun and I were just having a laugh!"
THAT had already been said… and it wasn't believed anymore than the last time…
But even after all that had happened, Gamo-chan really didn't care that much… at least when it came to specificity.
Instead, she stuck to her guns, "Yikes! I wonder what Hayacchi would do if she knew you took her man somewhere to do who-knows-what~?"
It was getting more difficult, what was being felt…
"How 'bout you don't do that…?" Sakura, firming up, doubted like Hell that Gamo-chan would tell the tiny, bitter ball of possessiveness anything, but she wasn't up for finding out. "Leave her out of this."
It actually behooved her that Gamo-chan would bring up her best friend, things being what they were, but she didn't stay on it.
Yoshi worried for it, "Bad juju, that would be…"
"Naw, you know I wouldn't do that~." Gamo-chan, finally coming to a stop, winked at both girls. "I'm just screwin' with ya~…"
"Well, it's not funny," Sakura expressed.
Gamo-chan, thinking twice, winced at the idea of it. "Yeah~, it very quickly would cease to be funny…"
And she began to move again.
Sakura didn't give a whole, entire, intact damn about how Nagatoro felt; she just didn't want to deal with it.
She cared a lot more about Gamo-chan's retribution, and she was starting to feel somewhat ill over it.
It was an awful sensation…
"Just get it over with!" she nearly wailed, going after, barely realizing her legs were even moving.
Gamo-grin* "Nopers~."
"I'm really, really ticklish!" Sakura blurted. "It's even worse, having to wait for it!"
"Is that what you should be telling me~? I didn't know that. That makes it all the better~!"
"Please!"
"No way~!"
"Gamo-chan…!" Sakura's voice wavered, reaching out for her fast-moving friend.
Gamo-chan wasn't having it, outpacing her. "…~"
"Please…!"
…
Yoshi had already picked up on it—something, the moment Gamo-chan began dogging Sakura.
This "something" was… not right…
She could sense it, like a ripe fart, suffusing an elevator. "…!"
It was more than the body-language… the tone of the voice… the look in the eyes…
Yoshi was sure of it. "…!"
Sakura was…
"Uh… Gamo-chan…?" Yoshi attempted. "St-stop…"
It wasn't AT ALL right…
The girl dubbed "Xena" paid no heed, barely even aware her oldest friend had spoken.
But she heard Sakura's incessant puling. "…!"
…
And it was starting to seriously rub Gamo-chan the wrong way.
The state of "…~" vanished in a hurry.
…
"Gamo-chan, please…" Sakura showed no sign of discontinuing this "puling" of hers.
The big girl leading this pathetic parade stewed. "…!"
…
Sakura, she—
Each pinch, grope, and apprehension…
Every mocking word…
One denial after another, despite all beseeching…
It brought on a time and place, disconnected by a few years and quite a few kilometers.
It had been hard, moving back to the big city…
'Don't!'
It was only the recession that had driven them away from the Yokohama area in the first place, out to the back-of-beyond…
'Leave me alone!'
But it had been home for a long time…
'Hear me!'
And leaving it behind had been heartbreaking…
'Listen!'
Even so, things should've been fine…
'HELP ME!'
But making friends was so hard…
'Someone!'
Never good at it to begin with…
'Anyone!'
And who wanted a little hick from the sticks?
'Quit it!'
And it was more than time and space separating the past and present:
It was the gal.
The gal that didn't really exist…
…
And Gamo-chan—
All this fenagling and bleating, going on behind her…
Every hiccup that day…
Every snub…
It stirred something in her.
So many things had been going wrong lately…
'If it wasn't for Yoshi… I think I would've REALLY blown my stack.'
She'd had such fun the last week, certainly this morning…
'I'm sorry, Paisen… I know I'm just dragging you down again here…'
But just like all the good things in her life…
'I won't bother you or make any noise… I just wanna stay here a while… Please?'
There was always this resentment to go with it…
'I just HAD to lose my temper.'
She kept… LOSING to other girls…
'I just HAD to scream and throw stuff and chase Hayacchi across the room…'
This was supposed to be HER day…
'Don't be so nice to me…'
SHE'D been the one to initiate the beach day…
'Why are you so NICE to me all the time…?'
But nothing had been going her way…
'STOP BEING SO NICE TO ME ALL THE TIME…!'
Not since the other girls had shown up…
'I guess… that I'm sorta HURT that Hayacchi didn't say anything to me about it…'
It hurt…
'… I mean, she's my FRIEND… and she didn't even talk to me about it.'
It hurt a lot…
'…Would you please walk me home… even if it's only halfway there?'
She was upset…
And all that was keeping it at bay was her desire to be tough and in control of her faculties.
But she was no different from anyone else, everyone having their own consternations.
Though it was all the rawer…
…
It was difficult, the friendless Sakura, finding herself a stranger, not more than a stone's throw from where she'd been born.
New school…
'Don't! Not again!'
But an interest in astronomy helped…
'I'm sorry!'
And so did a love of manga and anime…
'No!'
Misfits could always stick together…
'It HURTS!'
It was like having friends…
'Please!'
Things might've even been tolerable…
'Stop it!'
Until that day…
'No more!'
Until there was no hiding it…
'Save me!'
A dirty secret uncovered…
'Please!'
It might've been unavoidable, being found out…
'PLEASE!'
And they would've done it to anyone, even each other, wouldn't they?
'Daddy!'
And they did it in spades…
'MOM!'
…
"Gamo-chan…" Yoshi had never stopped hovering, remaining near her two friends. "Why don't you…?"
Sadly, she may as well have not existed.
No one was listening to her, their eyes and mind's eyes firmly stuck in "tunnel vision mode"…
…
"…!" Gamo-chan had problems, and a big part of the whole mess was mewling at her.
The mewler was lucky…
'Why does it have to be this way?'
Boys bent over backwards for her…
'Why?'
People weren't scared of her…
'I hate it.'
They might've been CAUTIOUS, but they weren't scared…
'I hate it.'
People didn't treat her like some sort of curiosity… like some monster…
'I HATE it!'
She'd kissed more boys than most girls had ever held hands with…
'Why?'
She'd held hands with more boys than most girls had ever talked to…
'Why not me?'
Sakura had chatted and laughed and hung out with more boys than Gamo-chan had ever properly MET…
'Why can't a boy look at me… the way they look at you…?'
Maybe that wasn't what she REALLY wanted…
'Why?'
But it still hurt…
…
…
…
'Aiko, can't we do this when it ISN'T lunchtime…?'
'Stop whining, you hippo. No, we CAN'T do this when it isn't lunchtime.'
'No one's gonna come here though…'
'But guard the door anyway. I'm not taking chances.'
'Gotcha.'
'Aiko…'
'What is it now?'
'Does it gotta be ME to hold onto her?'
'Uh, YEAH. That's what you're here for.'
'Rejoice~! No one's stronger than you. It's GOTTA be you.'
'But I…'
'What now?'
'I don't wanna get infected, Aiko…'
'You WON'T get infected, you idiot!'
'Yeah, it doesn't work that way, Tsuboka. But you can use these gloves anyway, if it'll get you to stop complaining. I got 'em from that Sawa girl in the nurse's office.'
'That tight-ass?!'
'Hey, she knows better than to ask ME questions~. And she'll keep quiet about it too, for the same reasons~.'
'Yeah, I'll bet~.'
'Aiko…'
'What is it?'
'Are you…?'
'Am I WHAT?'
'Are you SURE you wanna do this?'
'You're not?!'
'I…'
'It's too late to back out now—you're IN on this.'
'It's just I—'
'You'll do it, or else.'
'Yeah, don't chicken out now!'
'But—'
'She won't be able to do anything about it. And it's not like anyone will believe her anyway.'
'…!'
'Knowing her, she prolly did it to herself, huh~?'
'Very possible~. Seems like something she'd do.'
'I don't see a problem with it, do you?'
'Fuck, no!'
'Hey, it's what the little bitch gets for bringing that to school with her.'
'Yeah.'
'It's bad enough we have to shower at school and have to swim in that nasty swimming pool, without someone making it even grosser!"
'We were using the same showers for days—the same floormats!'
'Fuckin' otaku, with her shitty hygiene…'
'Hey, she's cleaner than YOU~.'
'Forget you! At least I wasn't the one bringing that shit in here!'
'It's a wonder nobody else caught it…'
'Oh, I bet someone did~…'
'Eww! You really think so?!'
'No way…'
'Yeah, I'm doubting it too.'
'Hey, it's like when LICE get into a classroom. SOMEONE else got it, I'm sure, and maybe a few did. It's pretty much unavoidable.'
'Fuck…'
'I think we'd've HEARD about it.'
'Heh~… Would YOU admit to it, if you did~?'
'N-no. No way.'
'You're acting kinda suspicious~…'
'No, I'm NOT!'
'Are you sure~?'
'Yes, I'm sure!'
'Hey, shut up. Leave her alone. If anyone else got it, it's not THEIR fault. There's only ONE person to blame for this.'
'Yeah, cut it out.'
'Feh… Whatever…'
'Hey, are we gonna do this or not?'
'Oh, NOW you wanna do it~?'
'No… I just don't wanna hold her anymore…'
'You don't HAVE TO hold her—not yet.'
'Yup. She's going nowhere. We didn't tie her up for nothing.'
'Wouldn't surprise me if she liked it a little~. You ever page through those fucked up manga books she and those other geeks read?'
'No, but I threw one in the TOILET last week~.'
'Hey, the locker-room's not gonna be empty FOREVER. Let's just do it already!'
'Yeah, I s'pose~…'
'Someone watching the door?'
'They got it.'
'Okay.'
'We ready?'
'Just about.'
'I got the fan.'
'Make sure the fan is ALL THE WAY ON! We can't let the smell leave this room!'
'Okay, gimme a cigarette.'
'You're REALLY gonna do it?!'
'You now too…? YEAH, I'm gonna do it.'
'But we've never done this before.'
'Neither have I~. It's not like it's complicated.'
'I guess not…'
'Where's that cig?'
'Yeah, here's the first, Aiko.'
'Thank~. You~.'
'Here, lemme get that for you.'
fwik*
'Make sure that other fan is pointing at the vent! It goes right out to the roof. This is gonna stink.'
fwik-fwik*
'It ain't…'
'This is why you buy DISPOSABLE lighters…'
fwik-fwik*
'It's my lucky Zippo… I just forgot to fill it last night, but it should—'
fwik*
'There it is!'
'Got it… Stupid lighter…'
'Hopefully, those wannabees didn't sneak up there with their lunch again. There's no way they wouldn't smell it.'
puff-puff* 'Mmm~…'
'It'll be okay. Don't worry about that. You don't think THEY'RE not lighting up?'
'What I wanna know is how they got ahold of a key for that lock up there.'
puff* 'Oh, FINALLY! I've been needing one of those all day~…'
'Maybe you need to cut back.'
'Or maybe you need to stop messing with that sensei~. She doesn't exactly like you.'
'Oh, you think~?'
'Well, she sent you to the office every day this week.'
'Yeah~… It's hard to catch a smoke when you're stuck in the principal's office…'
'You ready, Aiko?'
'Just about. Let me get this thing down about halfway.'
"…"
"…"
'It's weird…'
puff* 'What is?'
'She hasn't made a sound this entire time.'
'Don't worry. She's acting tough again, but she's GOOD and scared.'
'How can you tell?'
'You CAN'T? Look at her eyes.'
'Think she'll scream for us this time~?'
'Oh, she will. She knows what's coming.'
'She can scream her head off. No one besides us will hear it.'
'Hey, it's hard to be bound-and-gagged without the 'gagged' part~.'
'C'mon, Aiko! You can smoke faster than that. We gotta get this done.'
'Shut up. Relax.'
'Hey, who wants the SECOND cigarette~? The first one's only gonna be good for a few seconds.'
'I'm on it~.'
'Me too.'
'Me three!'
'Aren't we gonna need eight~?'
'To do what we're planning, yes.'
'Hey, make sure you stagger it some! If they're all ready to go at the same time, it's not much good~.'
'Whaddaya say, 30 seconds apart?'
'I was thinking 15~.'
puff*
'Somebody get a lighter that actually works~!'
'Yeah, yeah… Bitch…'
'Maybe I am~.'
'Ack!'
'Jeez, what is it NOW, Tsuboka?'
'Aiko! She just peed herself again…!'
'I TOLD you she was scared.'
'Wh-what do I do?!'
'Don't get wet.'
'Ha~!'
'Oh, that's FUNNY, Aiko~!'
'Hee-hee-hee-hee~!'
'It's gonna get on me…!'
'Then, don't kneel in it, dummy~.'
'Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha~!'
'Whoo-hoo!'
'Okay, I'm almost where I wanna be…'
'Got it good and hot?'
'Mm-hmm~. Just gotta keep it lit now. It'll be good for a bit.' *puff*
'Does this mean I should hold her now?'
'YES, you need to hold her now.'
'B-but the pee…'
'You got gloves on. Deal with it.'
'I—'
'Hey, if you do it, we'll buy you dinner at that buffet you like.'
'You mean YOU will!'
'Fine, fine… Whatever, Tsuboka, you'll get a buffet out of this.'
'…Okay…'
'Just grab on. You got gloves.'
'Grab her shoulder—the arm too. I got her other side.'
'I got her head.'
'Keep her legs still too.'
'Hey, don't close your eyes. You don't wanna miss this~.'
'Aiko, I—'
'You're good, Tsuboka, just grab her feet, and hold on tight. The others will keep the rest of her from moving.'
'R-right…'
'And MAKE SURE YOU HOLD HER FEET STILL. I don't wanna miss. Unlike you, I don't HAVE gloves.'
'Yeah… got it…'
'Everyone ready?'
'Yeah.'
'Good to go.'
'We're ready.'
'Good.'
'She's finally starting to fight it though~.'
puff* 'Okay. DON'T LET HER MOVE.'
'Aiko, should I…?'
'Yeah, spread her toes out, Tsuboka.'
'…'
'…'
'…!'
'…? C'mon, spread 'em!'
'She won't let me do it. She keeps curling them.'
'Oh, listen to that! NOW, she's making some noise~.'
'Yeah, she sure is…'
'And here come the tears~!'
'What's that? We can't understand you~. Try again.'
'Hey, HOLD HER STILL! And get those toes spread apart!'
'It's hard!'
'Just squeeze harder, Tsuboka!'
'…!'
'Whoa! That did it!'
'Like a vise!'
puff* 'Now, seriously, hold her still. I'm about to go in.'
'Right.'
'We got her.'
'She's not gonna move on you, Aiko.'
'That's what I wanna hear.'
…
…
…
4 years ago…
Aiko left her position, leaning against the shower's wall-tile, where she'd been directing things.
All was ready…
She knelt before the wretched girl, save the binds that tied her, only wearing the bra and panties she'd been captured in at the end of gym class.
Held by six and surrounded by more, one stood no chance.
There was no mercy to be had, the captors resigned to this…
puff* Aiko savored the drag, before exhaling the smoke into Sakura's face; it only added to the heavy stink, already filling the space. "Inori…"
Sakura cried out, her eyes streaming, "Muuurrrrrrr…! MUUUUURRRRRRRRRRR!"
"For the crime of bringing your filthy little problem to school, we're passing judgement." Aiko held the red-hot cigarette within a hair of Sakura's cheek.
"MMRRUURRURRRR! MMMURRRRRRRRRRR!"
"Why, Inori… You don't think I'd put this out in your eye or anything, do you~?"
"BUURR-HURR-HURR-HURR-HURR!"
"No, that'd be a little too visible~. I've got a better place for it anyway… somewhere more fitting."
"HEEEEEEEERR!"
Aiko regarded her followers.
"DON'T. LET. HER. MOVE." She didn't need to say it again; she knew the girls would do their job.
Nothing wrong with driving the point home though…
puff*
One last inhale, just to be sure a fresh blaze was had and all the enjoyment had been sucked out…
…
Aiko had never smelled burning flesh, and neither had any of her friends—nor were they expecting it, but they would've instinctively branded it, even if they didn't know where it had come from.
That a small cigarette could produce an even MORE powerful smell, one not from itself…
Whether they each took joy or not in this gruesome work—some did and some didn't, none of them felt very hungry afterwards.
Even if it WAS an awfully sweet smell…
Please look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading!
Questions and comments are welcome!