Results are in

The next morning, for the first time in a week, Akiko wasn't getting up earlier than everyone else, and she didn't check her peephole. She just walked through her front door and didn't think too hard about what was happening across the street.

The walk to school in the morning and life in general felt like they had become less of an ordeal for both Benjiro and Akiko. Both of them felt that things had been sufficiently smoothed over between them. They still kept their distance and barely interacted beyond a nod of acknowledgement, but neither felt they had to both literally or figuratively go out of their way to avoid the other.

Akiko got to school before Benjiro did and saw her friends congregating by their lockers, doing a terrible job of acting discreetly. They were too busy obviously whispering and staring at the one friend's phone to see their final friend come up.

"You don't think she's been holding out on us, do you?"

"She must be. She was acting all weird and secretive about it. It's the only thing that makes sense."

Whatever it was, it involved some sort of photo.

"Standing huddled together beside my shoe locker and making loud whispering sounds. Oh dear, they must be up to something secretive."

Her friends turned around at first looking guilty but then they collectively looked as if they were about to burst in anticipation.

"Go on. Ask her"

"I'm not going to do it. You do it."

"Heck no."

Akiko stood by in complete confusion as her friends squabbled with each other.

"Is there something you want to ask me or did you all suddenly join an improv group and are trying to come up with some new material?"

Finally one gave in and decided to ask

"Akiko, do you have something you want to tell us?"

Her mind had a quick flashback to a few nights ago and the selections she made on a certain information sheet but she tried to feign ignorance.

"I thought I already told you three how my audition went?"

"No it's not that. We're interested in something else. Would you mind explai-"

All of a sudden the speaker turned around grabbed the other two friends and started shoving them away. They were a bit confused but when she whispered "He's right there. We'll ask later.", they glanced back for a brief second before also joining the sudden speed walk down the halls.

She turned back around and called to Akiko "We'll continue this when we lunchtime arrives."

Akiko stood by her shoe locker wondering, "What in hell's name just happened?"

She just gave a confused sigh, got her shoes and headed in.

Benjiro felt a little afraid when he saw Higaki, but then he remembered that amends had been made and cracked a small grin when he remembered didn't he have to hide.

'Hangman is coming down from the gallows and I don't have very long'

When he walked into the school building and unplugged his ears, out of the corner of his eye he saw Higaki approach her friends that were gathered in a small huddle. Maybe they were busy making googly eyes at the newest teen idol. As he put his shoes on and tried to make himself inconspicuous he heard a gasp and saw the trio looking right at him as they quickly walked away.

'A group of girls looking, exclaiming and quickly walking away when they see me. If experience serves any purpose, it's remembering that, that is not a good sign. But if experience serves more than one purpose, it's that further investigation only leads to a rabbit hole I don't want to explore.'

At first that sight bothered him a little, but Monday morning at school tended to have an effect on people that made them question why mornings existed, their poor sleep schedule decisions and their task management. As lunch rolled around and Benjiro's tolerance of the existence of the species known as overly talkative high school teenagers was reaching its daily low, the thought of the empty music room seemed better by the minute. As he made his way out of the cafeteria he once again saw Higaki and her friends who looked like they were having a minor debate amongst themselves.

'Why is it that girls who are friends are always arguing? Do they all hate each other? And if that's the case, why hang around each other?'

The impossible equation of the female mind only grew deeper in its mystery when Benjiro saw one of them make a gesture at him which made Higaki turn around. Her cheeks looked like they were a few shades redder than a normal face should be. He gave an eyebrow raise and continued on his way to the room.

He could hear his alter ego say to his normal self:

"I don't know why but something about what I just saw bothers me."

Back in the cafeteria Akiko was trying her best to deflect questions but the more her friends pressed her, the more she felt trapped.

"I'm telling you all the truth. Nothing happened."

"Don't be shy. I saw the two of you walking out of one house and going into yours."

"It's not what you're thinking."

"Then what were you doing inviting him into your home?"

"I was, um well"

The looks of excitement were only getting more intense.

"I- invited him over for dinner."

With curiosity only growing more, their eyes became greedier for more details. Akiko wasn't sure if she wanted to mention getting knocked down, and her immediate reaction to the boy's staring.

"My mother just wanted me to find a way to greet our new neighbors since we hadn't had a chance to sit down and talk with them yet."

The girls gave a dramatic gasp and gave each other excited looks

"Do you realize what this means?"

"Akiko has a potential boy-next-door romance happening in her life."

"Inviting him into her home and meeting her parents! It's all happening too fast!"

Every girl gave a little squeal at the sound of that. The girls started to discuss the possible ways that Akiko and the mystery boy could potentially be dating and keeping it a secret. Meanwhile Akiko just put her face into her hands and started groaning as her friends were letting their imaginations run wild.

'This was supposed to just be a settled matter between the two of us. Now it may never stay buried.'

Meanwhile, Benjiro just sat in blissful stillness and ignorance of what was happening in the outside world. As usual the bell rang and he just grumbled as he walked back to the grind of classes.

'Crap, and I almost had that epiphany of what would happen if Naruto just decided he wanted to leave the Hidden Leaf.'

When he slid into his seat by the door, he wondered why the excitement. He figured it was just about it being last period and just wanting the day to end already. With everything that had happened, the results of the poetry competition were all but forgotten on Benjiro's part. When Mr. Yamanaka walked in, everyone straightened up, eyes forward and attention for once completely focused.

The teacher scanned the eager faces, feigning indifference, but his smile just refused to stay down. Even though it was the same pace as always, he seemed to be calling attendance a lot slower that day. When he finished, he just looked at his students and observed those intense stares.

"Alright then..."

Everyone held their breath.

"Today's lesson will be on how history affects writing style and subject. We will first analyze the principle and then we will begin the reading of "The Tale of Heike."

At those words every student just groaned and the former composure was gone.

"Come on Mr. Watanaba, you know what we all want to hear."

"Yeah, who won the contest?"

"Don't keep us in limbo here!"

Similar statements came from the students until the teacher raised his hand to pause the onslaught. Hearing that made Benjiro join in on the excitement. He usually didn't talk in class, but he found himself adding his voice into the mix.

"I know you all want to know the results right here and now, but if I told you then the mood would be altered and nobody would feel like paying attention."

The students were not amused.

"So, you'll have to wait until class is almost finished to hear the results. Now, back to what I was saying before..."

As Mr. Watanaba launched into his lesson the whole class simultaneously started thinking:

'This man is pure evil.'

The period that already felt slow, being the last of the day, felt like it was dragging by slower than an arthritic tortoise. When the end of the lesson came to the end, everyone was back to looking like a bunch of predators.

"Alright, I suppose I've kept you in suspense for long enough."

'YOU SUPPOSE?!' everyone screamed in their minds

"The winner of the poetry contest and the recipient of the ten extra bonus points on your autumn semester midterms is..."

People were leaning forward in their chairs.

"Nobody just yet."

The excitement drained from everyone like a deflating balloon.

"You all seem to have forgotten that this contest isn't just within your class. It's between all of my Language Art classes. If I simply gave ten bonus points to the winner in every class, the principal would begin to question the legitimacy of my ability to teach and motivate you all to study."

That made sense to some but most of the students were a little pissed that they had been strung along.

"But for now, I will tell you that every class will have two entrants to represent them and we will proceed elimination style through a voting system."

The students were beginning to wonder if he was just making up the rules as he went along.

"So, the two people in this class will be Hiromi Domon..."

Her name came as no shock to a single person in the room.

"No surprise there."

"What else was supposed to happen?"

"And our second contestant will be Benjiro Nojiri."