Songbird

'They tricked me', Akiko inwardly cursed.

She grabbed Maria and pulled her aside where the rest of the group couldn't see them. Akiko put both hands on Maria's shoulders, narrowed her gaze and donned a wolfish smile.

"I knew you were up to something, but this is one thing I honestly wasn't expecting." she said through her teeth.

"Oh come on, Akiko", she complained, "Did you honestly think we were going to pass up an opportunity to see the kind of relationship you have with him?"

Akiko could feel her face heating up again.

"Like I've told you before, I don't have a relationship with him. It's all in your head."

Maria just continued to grin and wag her finger at her friend.

"Not with that attitude, you won't", she claimed, "Now let's get back, we can't just keep them all waiting and waste the day away."

Maria ran off to rejoin the group, while Akiko had to take a few more seconds to calm down. Before returning herself, she tried to think of a way to defuse the situation. The group began walking to their destination, with Akiko trying to explain in no certain terms that she and Nojiri weren't going out, but they were too busy making sure their operation was going well to listen to her. She shuffled over to Benjiro, with a few more suspicions coming along.

"Were you the one that thought this up", she whispered.

"Hmm?" he responded with a look of disbelief

"Did you ask one of my friends if they could set this situation up, because if you did, this isn't funny."

He took an instinctive step away from her and held up a hand.

"O-of c-course I d-didn't ask.", he denied, "I d-don't even kn-know any of y-your f-friends-s n-names. One of th-them j-just waltzed r-right up t-to me and asked if I-I w-watn, want-ted to come to s-sing with ev-veryon-ne else."

"You don't seem like the type to go out and do this kind of stuff. Can you even sing?"

She recalled her little brother's rather insensitive but correct line of questioning.

'How can you sing when you talk so funny?' Haruo had asked

While she rejoined the small orb of friends, that same question continued to bounce around in her mind. Not that she was afraid that he would embarrass himself in front of both her friends and a group of total strangers, most definitely not.

Looking over, she could see that everyone was talking together, all except the boy they were trying to set her up with. He was just standing, slightly outside the group, looking as though he wanted to join in, but unable to find a point of conversation to join in. It seemed a cruel thing to have someone who so obviously didn't fit in try to do something they would most likely flop with.

Coming up to the building, Benjiro was glad that he wasn't the one asking an obviously burned out and grumpy employee for a room. The narrow hallways as well as the room the posse was led to, had a particular odor of carpet cleaner, junk food and soda. Akiko's friends made sure to have each person sit with their respective dates, which meant Benjiro and Akiko were practically obligated to sit next to each other, much to both of their chagrin. After they ordered and everyone's drinks arrived, Maria stood up to make a small toast.

She raised her glass: "It's a pleasure to have everyone in one place. Here's to youth, music, carbonated drinks and to love. Cheers, mates."

Everyone echoed her call, save for a pair who were considerably more subdued than everyone else. Akiko took a small sip from her soda while Benjiro simply sat his down. It wasn't the first time that he felt out of place, but this one was probably even more so than being in the drama club. There he served a function, something that contributed. But this, this was something that he honestly had no idea why his presence was required. He had agreed to the request because he knew he didn't have anything else to do, but now that he was here, he wasn't sure if he should've accepted.

This kind of thing happened every time the rare occasion that he was at some sort of social event was happening. It would sound fun, he'd accept, picturing it to be some kind of wild living, but then his inability to attract anyone's attention or talk about things they found remotely interesting came back to bite him.

In the meantime he just sat back and tried to enjoy the performances of Akiko's friends and their respective dates. For some of them, they weren't perfect but overall it was something he could bob his head to. For others, performance was a word he would use loosely, since caterwauling seemed a more appropriate description. With the flashing lights and the sounds of everyone's singing, it was beginning to be more than his mind could handle at the moment.

He wandered to the bathroom, not just because he had to pee for the last half hour but also because compared to that room, the silence and the stillness were a welcome change. The acoustics in there weren't half bad. He could lightly hum and they reverberated throughout the whole place. Good for if you wanted to sing, but upon further thought, awkward as all get out if you simply wanted to just take a dump.

His departure didn't go unnoticed by the group as much as he had hoped.

"Hey, where'd that guy run off to?" one of the guys asked

"You mean the twig?" another answered, "Think he either went to take a piss or just find a way to escape."

"Escape?" It was Akiko's voice this time.

"Yeah, haven't you noticed?" the same guy continued, "He's been fidgeting like a hyperactive weasel this whole time. He looks like he doesn't have any friends to speak of, so he probably feels, rightly, out of his depth. I mean, if I spent all my time being alone, jacking it and probably binging anime with gratuitous fanservice then, suddenly I got invited by a bunch of lovely ladies, I'd probably feel a little unsure of what to do with myself too."

Laughter from the guys, and even some mild chuckling from a couple of the female voices could be heard behind the door. Benjiro could feel a knife of shame run through his heart, his stomach make a rotation and his eyes threatening to water. He wasn't sure if he wanted or even should open the door after hearing something like that.

'I knew it', he confirmed, 'I should've just stayed home. You can't have people make fun of you if they don't know you exist.'

Walking down the hallway, the front door was right there, leading back to the train station. He just stood there for a moment, weighing the options. Glancing at this watch, the next train would arrive in about ten or fifteen minutes. Just enough time that when it came his turn, he could already be long gone, and none would be the wiser.

Benjiro was walking out the door when someone grabbed his arm and stopped him where he stood, and to his surprise, it was Higaki.

"Where are you running off to?" she said with her arms crossed over her chest

"Home." he said, summoning whatever feeble willpower he had not to let his voice crack, tremble or choke.

"You're just going storm out and not say anything to let someone know you're even leaving?"

Benjiro turned around, for the first time looking her straight in the eyes.

"I h-heard y-you all l-laughing in-n th-there." he sputtered, "I-I h-heard the wh-whole th-thing."

Akiko quickly shut her eyes, bit her lip and silently cursed.

"H-how am I s-supp-pposed to w-walk in th-there aft-ter ev-everyth-thing th-that they s-s-said?"

Akiko stood stock still for a moment because she was honestly unsure of what to say. It had been almost two years now, but she knew exactly how he was feeling right now. Like his anxieties of people talking behind his back were being confirmed, and that people were out to get him.

"Listen, I know you probably don't want to hear this from me, but you can't listen to what those idiots are saying."

"Y-your fr-friends w-were j-joining in-n too."

She put a hand to her forehead: "Are you confident in how you can sing?"

Benjiro gave her a confused look.

"Wh-what d-does th-that have t-to do w-with anyth-thing?"

She marched forward and looked him dead in the pupils.

"Do you just want to run off or do you want to get in there and show them that you aren't afraid of what they have to say?"

The shame and the fear were still roiling in his gut, but another part of him started to poke its way to the surface.

"B-but, w-what if I-I comp-pletely f-flop in th-there and m-make a f-fool of m-mys-self?"

She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head to one side.

"And what of it? If you have the confidence to not care what other people think, then it doesn't matter if you get laughed at from start to finish because you know you've given things your best shot."

It was difficult to tell whether what he was feeling was anger or courage, but it made him not want to simply run from this. He stared into the clear blue sky and sighed.

"Alr-right, I'll d-do one s-song."

Akiko simply breathed out a smug "Hmph" in response.

'Why is this girl so good at talking me into doing things.' Benjiro wondered, 'I'm going along with it and it's still freaking me out.'

'Man, am I good at this or what?' Akiko congratulated to herself, 'Maybe I should consider going into business or law school if I'm this good at convincing people to do things they don't want to do.'

When they reentered the room, the girls asked where he went, while the guys just sat back, doing a bad job of acting like they were concerned. The tablet for song selection was being passed around and when it came to him, his mind went blank. Staring at the screen, there were more songs that he didn't recognize than ones he did. Compared to other things, going out to sing could be a little more in his wheelhouse. Although, he had never performed in front of anyone before. He usually just sang for empty furniture, or for the trees and rocks in the woods and this time, Inei wasn't here to draw out his more adventurous side.

'Nah, kiddo, don't worry about that", Inei chastised.

'What are you doing here?', Benjiro wondered

'We're a package deal most of the time, aren't we? And I figured you could use some help.'

'How? I don't have my face on and even if I did, the stuff I sing when I do is not stuff people like this would enjoy.'

'Hey don't worry so much. Search your own memory, you know a lot more than just heavy songs. Your repertoire is much more diverse than that. Just take that tablet in your hands and choose whatever feels right.'

Scrolling through the songs, he eventually found one that he figured could be enough of a crowd pleaser, while still being part of what he enjoyed. The microphone was passed to him and he stumbled a little when he made his way to the front. Snickering could be heard from the peanut gallery, but right now he wasn't in the mood to give them any ground.

The first few long, reverberating notes played through and he made a long "Hmm" into the mike. The first verse came:

"In with the early dawn, moving right along. Couldn't buy an eyeful of sleep."

He sang it in an almost sweet tenor, then the song took an explosive turn with chorus increasing in tempo and Benjiro's voice in volume

"NAIL IN MY HEAD, FROM MY CREATOR."

The group just sat star-struck at him scream singing into the microphone like it had slapped him in the face. They weren't sure if they were more surprised at the fact that the neurotic mouse was shredding the vocals on a song with such a gap in range. The song kept with it's pattern of low and sweet verses to explosive, screaming choruses.

"SHOW ME HOW TO LI---IIVE, aa-aa."

Finishing off the songs final notes on such a primal scream and tapping the side of his throat with his hands left the room in dead silence. As he made his way back to his seat, everyone wouldn't stop staring at Benjiro. Memories of when he had spoken in front of his Language class came back to him, but this felt a little different. After breaking out of their initial shock, the group resumed their singing rotation.