Fly on the wall

At about 8 AM, it was announced that recital was over for the morning. Benjiro hadn't thought he would be so happy to hear that announcement, but he was wrong. Then there was the realization that he still had the school day to get through which ruined the former relief. He was about to leave but he noticed the girl that thought he couldn't understand that she was making fun of him.

He hung back to wait and make sure that the mean girl exited before him. Luckily she was one of the first ones to leave, and from the obnoxious high-pitched giggling and chatter he could hear even from all the way in the back, she traveled in a pack. Why anyone would be that happy at 8 in the morning was a riddle he had no intention of ever solving. Whenever he began to feel lonely, he would picture the sounds of a giggle girl group and that would make him feel a little better.

Peeking out, the coast looked clear, so he tried slinking out of the auditorium. He hadn't made it off the stage staircase before he heard the president calling out to him. Not even waiting for Benjiro to turn around the president began asking about what he thought of the club and if he would consider becoming an official member. Between the haphazard, early start, the mild hunger headache and the president's energetic voice, he was feeling a little cornered. Then an unlikely assist in the form of Akiko appeared

"Hey, Prez", she called out, "classes are starting soon. You'll both be late if you just stand there all morning barking questions."

The president drew back a step or two and looked mildly sheepish. After exiting the auditorium, Benjiro tried to find an opportunity to thank Akiko for rescuing him from the president's minor interrogation but then she beat him to it.

"You can't pull any punches with the president. Once he gets excited about something, there's very little that can make him stop talking."

Benjiro tried to thank her for the advice as well. He reached forward , but after seeing him out of the corner of her eye, she told him

"Don't get too close to me", she barked, "You'd better not try anything."

He wasn't going to try and touch her beyond a tap on her shoulder anyway, but it still irked him to no end. So, simply swallowing his own annoyance, Benjiro tightened his grip on his kit and made a small 'tsk' before walking off. But not before Akiko's trio could spy the two of them before parting ways.

"First, she invites him over to her house, then they're walking around the school together before classes even start." one observed.

"I think we all know what this calls for?"

Benjiro continued walking down the halls, just completely annoyed at the whole ordeal. In a club he didn't have any interest in, working with people he didn't like and just an all around rough morning was making him seethe.

'What did I even do? I was just trying to say "Thank you." I know we might not exactly be on the friendliest of terms, but jeez.'

While he just walked to homeroom and stashed away his kit inside his sack, Akiko was busy fending off her friends.

"Now you're walking together in the morning? You must have it worse than we thought."

The trio squealed with excitement at the classic romantic scenario folding out right in front of them. Nobody would've guessed that they would be able to see one in real life.

"No, we're not seeing each other." she denied, "We just happened to be walking the same direction at the same time, that's all."

The trio just slowly turned to each other to exchange looks of "She's lying isn't she."

"Akiko, we know when you're lying to us. Just confess and there will be no issues."

The embarrassed girl, quietly cursed for being so easy to read. She could tell that it would be pointless to hide the facts from her friends. Besides, even if she denied it, they wouldn't stop grilling her for details until she cracked. Akiko couldn't help but wonder if they knew but were just messing with her.

School was already a pretty draining way to spend your day, but two fewer hours of sleeping, a bunch of drama geeks and a lack of breakfast left Benjiro feeling completely worn out. In the privacy of the music room, he tore into his sandwich, which helped to calm the aching in his head a few degrees.

Throughout the day, members of the Domon Battalion would try to glare and say some disparaging remarks to try and interrupt his thoughts, but he was too tired and irritable to be bothered with paying attention to them, which only seemed to aggravate them further.

After class Mr. Watanaba pulled Benjiro and Hiromi aside to tell them that while they would be proceeding elimination style, that didn't necessarily mean that one of them would get eliminated the first time around. And that for the first round of the competition, to make things a little easier, they would have each contestant write about a certain theme. This particular time around it would be about family.

Why that hadn't been brought up before was beyond him. Hiromi was still maintaining her cool, collected and ladylike demeanor but unlike before, Benjiro had his illusions of attraction seriously diminished. Her spot as one of the prettiest girls he'd ever known was still there, but with their first and only meeting had shattered the image of her. Conflicted feelings of attraction and intimidation were warring in his mind, and he honestly wasn't sure which one he should be listening to.

As usual the day ended, but for the first time, Benjiro didn't immediately start walking home. Not that anyone would really care, but he found it odd. Walking through the halls, he thought the theme was vague at best and the way the day had gone, ideas weren't coming as easily as they normally would.

"Hey, Long-haired and Lanky!"

He stopped what he was doing and turned around with a confused look on his face. To his surprise, he recognized that it was one of Akiko's friends. He didn't say anything but he turned towards her and showed he was giving his full attention. She proceeded to ask him something he never would've expected in a thousand years.

Walking back into the auditorium, he found the same spot as before. It took a moment with sorting through the unfamiliar faces, but Benjiro eventually found the boy who would be playing the primary Frankenstein monster. He approached and motioned for the guy to follow him. Primary looked a little uncertain as he followed and first sat down with Benjiro. After seeing how his co-star had run out of the room, he had at least a few misgivings. In his eyes, the newcomer was definitely weird. After all, how could someone just stare at another person for so long without blinking?

"So, do I need to do anything?"

"Mm mm", Benjiro mumbled as he shook his head

"Um, are things going alright so far?"

Benjiro just shrugged and turned his head back and forth from ear to ear.

'Is that his way of saying "kind of?"', he wondered.

"Can you tell me what you're trying to do?"

Benjiro tried to find the words while using some rudimentary sign language.

"I'm-m tr-trying to g-get an idea of h-how to m-make your sk-skin look l-like it's r-really c-coming fr-from a d-dead body. S-so, I'm just g-get-ting a good l-look to t-try and c-comp-pare it t-to m-my c-colors."

Benjiro's expression didn't change much, but Primary noticed his face colored slightly and he drew up his knees. Primary couldn't help but cringe a little hearing Benjiro stumble through two simple sentences and seeing him try to hide.

'Ooh, yikes. Somebody help this poor bastard.'

He came to the conclusion that the makeup guy was definitely an oddball, however he didn't appear threatening, just hesitant around other people. Primary tried asking a few other simple questions but the most he got in response were a few single word sentences and some more body or sign language. Primary suddenly had a thought occur, which he hoped wasn't true.

"Was Mio being mean to you?"

Benjiro didn't say a word but that question made his lips purse and his eyes look downward. Primary Frankenstein covered his eyes with one hand and breathed heavily through his nose.

"Look man, I'm-"

When it looked like he was about to utter an apology, Benjiro held up a hand to stop him. He wasn't interested in hearing an apology from someone who had done nothing wrong, although he appreciated a show of faith. After he had finished staring, he motioned that the guy could leave.

Benjiro bent over to write in his notebook, but when he looked up, Primary was still sitting down. He knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. Primary stood up and walked towards him which made him feel on edge. But then oddly enough, the other guy stuck a hand out. Benjiro just sat shifting his gaze at the hand, then at Primary, then back to the hand again.

"My name is Kyoshiro. Most people just call me Kyo."

He extended his hand forward a little more. Hesitantly Benjiro reached forward and grasped it.

"B-Benjiro."

Kyoshiro gave an encouraging one sided grin.

"Pleasure to work with you."

Benjiro's eyes slightly widened in mild surprise.

"Y-you as w-well."

Two and a half hours later, the day's work was finished and everybody went home. Benjiro walked together with Akiko, while maintaining a distance that wouldn't earn a snapping. They hardly spoke the entire walk home, which was fine with Benjiro who was busy processing how surreal the day had been. Between the harpy trying to get under his skin and Prim-, no his name was Kyoshiro. It had been one of the most unusual days he'd had in a while. When the pair arrived at their homes, they didn't say a word before they parted ways. But instead of walking towards the door, Akiko turned around.

"Hey!", she called out

Benjiro turned around wondering what she wanted now.

"If you're going to work with the club, you're going to need to get along with the other members."

He just nodded in acknowledgement.

"That being said, watch out for Fujibayashi. She can and will find any reason to make you feel lower than dirt."

'Thanks for the warning ahead of time.' he sarcastically thought

"But overall, you didn't do half bad for your first day.", she surmised, "You get a C- so far."

With her evaluation over, they both went back inside their respective houses. with Benjiro turning what she said over in his head. He was also mildly surprised when he saw that his Dad was already home when he arrived, sitting in a recliner, reading the news.

"So," he said as he folded the paper back, "Would you care to explain why a girl came knocking on our door before six in the morning, demanded to see you and claimed you were part of a club that I had no knowledge of you being in?