Odd Promises

"Huh, Yamanaka?"

Undoubtedly there she was again, looking a little worse for the wear but overall doing alright. Yamanaka's books were sitting on the ground in a pile. Oddly enough, she didn't look like she was vomiting happiness and potential mischief for once. And that impish smile she always had wasn't anywhere to be seen. Instead she was breathing heavily and looked a little nervous.

"Nojiri?! Is that you? What the hell are you trying to do?"

She was still sitting on the ground, looking at the trajectory that she had just launched him. Benjiro stood up and just straightened up like how an old man stretches when he gets out of a recliner.

'Holy s**t, that girl is strong.'

"W-would you b-believe m-me if I t-told you I've been-n chasing a p-piece of m-mail that w-was bl-blowing aw-way?"

"And where is this hypothetical piece of mail?"

"It's uh--"

Benjiro scanned the ground and couldn't spot it at first.

'Oh no, did the wind blow it away again? And after all that time I spent chasing the damn thing.'

Then he looked down and unfortunately found it.

'Why did it have to land there? Yellow, nonono, bad Benjiro. Bad, bad. Cleanse yourself of evil thoughts,' he inwardly berated, 'Seriously though, why the hell do these girls wear skirts in autumn. It may not be snowing but it's still cold and windy enough that you'd think they'd wear something more suited for a chilly day. '

Remembering what happened the last time, he turned his head, bit his lip and prayed feverishly that he wouldn't be on the receiving end of another assault. He raised a finger and pointed in the direction where it landed.

'Please don't ask me where I'm pointing', he inwardly pleaded, 'Please for the life of me, don't ask me where I'm pointing.'

"Where are you pointing?"

'Well that just happened.'

He groaned a little and started to try and emphasize the direction he was pointing while only making a few quick glances towards her. Benjiro just shook his head and made an 'mm mm' sound. She was puzzled with how cryptic and fidgety he was being until she looked down. The girl felt her face light up a little when she realized why he was turning his head, but when she began to stand up, she saw the crumpled envelope underneath her. When she picked it up, she walked forward to him and tried dusting it off.

"Is this what you were looking for?" she asked, holding it up

Benjiro just nodded and still wouldn't look in her direction.

"It's ok, I'm not mad. You just really scared me there for a second."

As she got closer, he just shifted a little and dug his nails into his arms. He didn't open his mouth, but his lips were twitching as if he was straining to say something.

"N-Nojiri, are you alright?"

His lips twitched a little more, but still, no sound came out. She approached and held out the envelope.

"Here's your letter. This is what you were trying to get, wasn't it?"

Benjiro extended his hand to take the letter, but then he hesitated, made a fist and just put it back at his side. He started walking forward but instead of approaching Saori, he walked right past her.

"Nojiri, where are you going?"

He lurched his way over to the pile of books, knelt down and started to pick them up, inspecting them to make sure there wasn't any dirt or that the spines were fully intact. They had a few scratches and smudges on them, but otherwise they didn't look to have taken any significant damage.

'Hm, what would she need with these?, 'he wondered, 'This is an incredibly advanced subject, and this is a college level reference book. Newest edition too. I've never even seen them offer this class at school.'

Yamanaka had to suppress a gasp as he went to pick them up. She hurried over to try and stop him before he got too good of a look at the titles.

"No! You don't have to pick those up, I'll get those. You just take your letter."

But he just dusted them off, and slipped them inside the bag. Yamanaka reached down and haphazardly tried to put them in the bag before she snatched it out of Benjiro's grasp. She held the bag close to her chest and looked worried.

"Did you see the covers?"

Benjiro raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Wh-what's so b-bad about these books? Are you st-studying to bec-come a d-doctor or someth-thing?"

She just held her hand up as if to reoffer the letter.

"I'll give this to back to you if you promise not to tell anyone about these books."

Now Benjiro was even more lost than before.

"I d-don't underst-stand the iss-sue. Those aren't d-dirty books or anyth-thing."

She took a step forward with a serious look in her eyes. The contrast between her normally overly cheery attitude was making the hairs on the back of Benjiro's neck stand on end.

"Look me in the eyes and swear you won't tell anyone."

Benjiro just raised both hands in the air and tried his best to look her straight in the eyes.

"OK, OK, I w-won't tell anyone."

"Do you swear?"

"Yamanak-ka, I can k-keep secrets b-better than anyone in y-your life."

Peering at the face, that he rarely donned with more than a few expressions, she was unsure but simultaneously she felt he was telling the truth. Saori closed the distance between them and handed Benjiro his letter. He breathed a sigh of what sounded like a combination of relief and frustration.

He started to walk away but found that Yamanaka was actually going in the same direction. Benjiro wanted to ask her why she was going the same direction, but between knocking a second girl down and the weird promise she made him swear, he decided against it. Within a few moments, his original destination of the post office came into view.

Benjiro approached the mailbox held the envelope in both hands, deposited it and quietly muttered:

"You've caused me a lot of trouble, you. Now, you're going into the mailbox and from here you are only going to the address I wrote."

Saori screwed up her face and tried taking a small jab like she normally would.

"Are you talking to the letter? Is that thing your friend?"

'Aaand she's back'

Benjiro just shook his head at her questions.

'Should I make her back off with mentioning the books? Nah, that's a real d**k move. Besides I already promised, for whatever reason.'

"W-well, it's going t-to a friend."

Yamanaka's eyes widened and her mouth made an 'O' shape.

"You actually have a friend? Like a friend-friend? Not an imaginary friend?"

'Woman', he seethed, 'I am *this* close to slapping you. Although considering how far I just got thrown, that would most likely not end well for me.'

"I guess you could say it's like a friend", he answered

Saori tried to get her usual impish grin back on her face

"A letter is your friend?", she pried

"That's n-not what I m-mean and you kn-now it."

"Well, you're making it sound like that letter is your friend."

"Th-this lett-ter is going to m-my one friend b-back in Osaka."

"Huh, I never knew you were from there."

"Haven-n't been th-there in years. And I h-have no int-tention of r-returning on purpos-se."

"Is there a reason you're trying to act so mysterious Mr. Edgelord?"

'I'm probably going to regret this.'

"Is there a reason you're studying the anatomy of the brain?"

Yamanaka's teeth made an audible clack as she shut her mouth.

"I w-won't ask y-you w-why if you w-won't ask m-me why."

Yamanaka shrugged and tried to shift gears.

"But you still didn't tell me about your friend. What are they like?", Yamanaka asked

Benjiro stayed quiet for a moment and despite some mild prodding from Yamanaka he didn't say anything for an entire block.

"I really don't know."

"You don't know what your own friend is like? That doesn't sound like a friend if ya ask me."

"I haven't seen them in about two or three years now. People change in that amount of time."

'Although, every time I've seen it,' he recalled, 'change has rarely ever been for the positive.'

"But I d-do know that sh-she's one of the n-nicest, most h-hard-working, l-loyal, stick to you f-friends that anyone could ever w-want."

Yamanaka was a little impressed with that description.

"I never knew you had someone like that it your life."

"Th-There's quite a b-bit you don't and sh-shouldn't know."

She started to take little pokes at him again

"Ooh, is that you trying to sound all tough."

Benjiro saw his corner approaching and felt like he had never been more thankful for a last minute coincidence.

"N-no, this is m-my house w-which I'm going ins-side of now."

"Wait."

She grabbed his sleeve and he jerked his arm away.

"Sorry forgot about the touching thing, heh heh"

She rubbed the side of her head and her smile turned slightly more strained.

"Will you really not tell anyone about this?"

Benjiro was beginning to feel a little annoyed by the constant tonal shifts. He just looked at his house, away from the girl.

"I s-still don't und-derstand why it's s-so bad that nob-body can know you're st-studying. B-But if it's th-that import-tant to you, my l-lips will remain s-sealed until you say otherw-wise."

Yamanaka closed her eyes for a moment and breathed out some of the tension in her chest.

"Thank you."

Benjiro just grunted and went back inside his house and Saori walked into the night feeling a little less stressed than before. Later when he laid down to sleep Benjiro stared at the ceiling for a little while and couldn't help but wonder at the conversation that took place.

'OK, that was probably one of the oddest encounters I've ever had. What does that girl even need with books about the anatomy and diseases of the brain?"