When Opportunity Knocks

Akiko woke up the next morning before her alarm even sounded. Heading out into the dark morning, there was still frost on the ground and on people's windows. Akiko loved this time of year, when nature pulled out all the stops to look its best before winter arrived. While she didn't particularly like waking up before there was any light in the sky, seeing the dawn arrive was something she always looked forward to. When she arrived at school, there was hardly a soul to be seen, except for maybe a janitor. She walked through the halls until she stopped at the auditorium doors.

The room was gigantic, with a vaulted ceiling, designed for optimal acoustics. There were dozens of rows of dark green theater seats that gradually slope downwards until they came to the stage. She walked down to the stage and hoisted herself onto it.

Akiko turned around and looked at the rows and rows of seats. Though they were empty, she could just picture the auditorium being packed to the brim with eager theatergoers. She turned and faced an invisible dance partner. She grabbed his hands, twirled, swayed and sashayed. The auditorium disappeared and was replaced by a small eastern European village with a dark forest not far away. There was an angry mob of people carrying anything that could remotely resemble a weapon, quickly approaching the bloodied and cowering figure of a giant , grey skinned man holding up a hand to beg for mercy. Turning towards the seats she quoted:

"Is there nobody who would defend this innocent life? Nobody to take his hand and tell them that he is no more a monster than you are fearful of him being one?"

Akiko was about to continue before the sound of a single person applauding made her freeze in place.

"Well, that is quite the performance you can put on Higaki. Were you only just coming off of the Benadryl and can I have some as well?"

Akiko turned and there stood the one person that she especially didn't want to see first thing in the morning.

"What do you want Fujibayashi? Did you come here just so you could practice your 'thank you' speech to hide your own vanity?"

"Always so quick with the snark. Don't you ever get tired never having anything nice to say to people."

"I have plenty of nice things to say, but aside from myself I don't see any people present."

Fujibayashi's sickening smile grew a little more and Akiko didn't know if her shudder was from hatred or just ill at ease.

"I'm just wondering why you're practicing your lines when you're only an understudy and not a real actress."

The doors opened again and in came some more of the club members, including their president.

"Ah, I see that we have some early arrivals. That's excellent to see."

"Good morning, Prez", they both responded.

The president looked around and saw that the rest of the club was still not completely gathered.

"Alright everyone", Prez projected, "We'll wait another ten minutes for everyone to arrive, and then I have an important announcement."

Once everyone had arrived, the president clapped his hands together to gain everyone's attention.

"I see that we're all pretty much here now, so now is as good a time as any to tell you."

The entire drama club didn't like how that sounded, and they began to wonder if something bad had happened.

"Due to the fact that we no longer have anyone who can do monster or horror type makeup, we may have to change our play."

There came various sounds of protest, lament and general dissent from the people in the small crowd. After the initial shock, questions came in like a barrage, one after the other.

"What do you mean we don't have someone to do the makeup anymore?"

"I mean we don't have anyone who can handle this type of job."

"Why can't the people we already have do it?"

"Because anyone that may have had an idea of what to do have already graduated and everyone else who is left only knows how to apply regular stage makeup and the kind of stuff you'd see at a salon. Even among the seniors, very few of them knew how to do something like this."

"So the entire operation will have to be canceled then?"

"Don't be ridiculous", the prez admonished, "we're not far enough into the production that we have to cancel anything. Besides, to cancel over such a minor setback would be an insult to the work we've been putting in."

"Maybe we should've just tried to perform a fairy tale like Snow White like I recommended before," Fujibayashi suggested, "Things like that are usually a safe bet."

The president folded his arms and gave a slight nod

"Yes, they are a safe bet. Which is exactly why I chose this particular project. I've been coming to see this school's stage plays ever since I was in elementary school and not once have they done something quite like this."

"Couldn't we just use something like a mask or just slather on some paint?"

"If this were anything else, I would say so, but no. This will be one of the last times I will be able to put a stage play on with you guys. We have always strived to provide top-notch performances and we've managed to have a blast along the way. So, while we could do something like what you proposed, I don't want to sacrifice quality unless absolutely necessary. This is every bit as much for our audience as it is for ourselves."

The prez's short speeches always had a way of making the club stop and deeply consider what potentially lay ahead of them. A few other members chimed in.

"I still think doing Frankenstein was an odd choice."

"OK, so we just need to find someone who can come in and make our two leads look like real monsters. How hard can that be."

A sudden burst of inspiration popped into Akiko's head and she wasn't sure if she completely approved. She hesitantly raised her hand and silently hoped that she would be ignored.

"Higaki, do you have a question?"

"I think I may have a solution to this, Prez."

Benjiro who was in the middle of his daily commute across town, suddenly felt a small shiver go through his body but since it was another chilly morning, he didn't give much credence to it.

"W-Why are you asking m-me? I th-thought n-neither of us w-were activ-vely looking f-for an exc-cuse to b-be ar-round each oth-ther."

"Believe me, I'd rather not be having this talk right now, but this is an emergency."

"M-Maybe I'm j-just not c-cut out for doing th-that kind of w-work."

"Hey, I saw what you can do when you're just fooling around with nothing better to do. Something like this should be a cinch for you", Akiko countered

"Isn't th-there anyone e-else who c-can do it?", Benjiro groaned

"You're the only person I know that can do makeup that makes people look like monsters, so at present, no."

Both of them stepped back just to catch their breath.

"Why are you so against this? Like I said, I know you have the ability, so why not? It's not like you've got anything better to do," Akiko asked

'Why is it that this girl who I've barely spoken with can read me so easily?', he wondered

Benjiro sighed, made a little tent with his hands and covered his face to think of an answer that would dissuade her.

"L-Look, Hig-gaki, th-this just isn't m-my th-thing. I m-mostly do what I d-do as an outl-let for when I'm angry."

"Huh?", she interjected, "When do you ever get angry? You're one of the most passive boys I've ever met."

He paused to bite back the insult that popped into his mind.

'I can't let him know about Fujibayashi just yet', she thought, 'Someone like her might scare him off.'

"And d-do you kn-know how m-much my makeup c-costs?", he continued, "It's ev-ven more th-than your st-standard k-kits. I only g-got the m-money for m-my stuff by s-saving up after doing odd j-jobs for n-neighbors over the y-years. I c-can't just st-start g-getting people all d-done up, w-willy nilly. I'd r-run out a l-lot faster and I'd b-be in the hole, c-cash-wise"

"I figured you'd say that, and I can tell you that if you keep your receipts and present them to our club treasurer, she can reimburse you later on, down the road."

Benjiro opened his mouth to say something more but his mind went blank and was all out of arguments.

"So, all out of reasons to say, no? Good", she said without pausing while turning to walk back out the door, "Now let's get you into the club room with with your kit in tow already."

"W-Wait!"

Akiko turned back around and saw that he was still stubbornly remaining in the same spot.

"I d-didn't say I w-would ac-ccept."

Akiko gave an exasperated sigh that slightly annoyed Benjiro.

"Come on", she began ranting, "I run all the way down here, I tell you that my club is in dire need of what happens to be something you're good at, you have nothing else that needs your attention and you don't even need to worry about the cost. So what are you so scared about?"

"Wh-why are you g-going so f-far to c-convince me? Ar-re you aft-ter s-someth-thing?"

Akiko froze and her face turned a bright shade of red

"What!" she squeaked, "No, don't be stupid. You just happen to conveniently have the skills needed to help our production."

Benjiro looked at the floor and started rubbing his one arm.

"I-I just d-don't really do w-well in gr-groups. When-never I t-try to do someth-thing people eith-ther th-think it's s-stupid or just l-laugh at my ideas unt-til I f-finally sh-shut my m-mouth."

'Yikes, this guy really is a wallflower.'

"So, I'd r-rather n-not go out of m-my way to b-be ridic-culed for no g-good reason."

Akiko crossed her arms, breathed through her nose and took a step forward. She had an idea that she wasn't a big fan of, but was willing to do anyway.

"Look, think of it this way. Right now, my club is potentially in trouble. Our president wants to put on one last good play before he graduates, but he can't do it because he needs someone to make people look like monsters. Now, would you rather just sit back and let someone's dream die, or are you going to step up and save the day?"

When she finished speaking Benjiro's expression had softened a little. He looked up at the ceiling, pinched his nose and sighed.

'Dammit, why am I such a pushover?'

He brought his gaze to Akiko and raised one finger

"Th-this had b-better not b-be someth-thing I'll r-regret."

Akiko smiled victoriously and put her hands on her hips and gave Benjiro a thumbs up.

"I'll make sure of it."

"With-th you th-there to k-keep me c-company, maybe it w-won't feel so alien-nating", he said jokingly

No sooner had the words left his mouth before he got another slap across the face from Akiko.

"Don't you dare get any weird ideas. Now, with that settled, I'll see you in the clubroom tomorrow morning before school."

After Akiko turned around and left the room she did a little fist pump.

'Yes! I knew I could do it. Mission Complete.'