Minor comfort

Hearing the door open and close, Fumihiro poked his head in from the kitchen.

"Hey, kiddo", the burly man greeted, "How was the day?"

Benjiro bent down to untie his shoes. He didn't realize just how tightly he had tied his laces until he felt the circulation return to his feet.

"It w-was an interesting d-day- ooh-" A tingling feeling spread out through the soles of his feet and his toes.

"You doing alright there?"

"Y-Yeah, m-my f-foot fell asleep."

Fumihiro amusedly shook his head, "Son, I swear, you have some of the worst circulation I've ever seen."

"I c-can't help it. My b-body just doesn't h-have any f-fat."

Turning back into the kitchen, "Yeah, and that makes you the envy of just about any woman. Although that really does come back to bite you in the butt this time of year, doesn't it?"

Benjiro just shuddered a little, "Hey, I've seen th-those photos of when y-you were my age, y-you were pretty sk-skinny yourself."

Fumihiro just grinned smugly and flexed his bicep, "Yes, but unlike some people, I found a reason to get stronger while I was in the force."

Benjiro crossed his arms and puffed his lips, "I s-seem to remember you w-worked out because you w-were bored."

Fumihiro pointed a whisk at his son, "Keep sassing me and you'll be eating your fish cold."

"Brr.", He took a whiff of what was coming from the kitchen, "Wh-What are you making?"

"I'm trying my hand at making salmon fillet. You want one or two?"

The lanky boy's interest was piqued, "Haven't had one of those since Grayson's father grilled them up for us."

Fumihiro looked down at his handiwork in a bowl, "Well I'm mostly improvising here. But to be fair they said if you just use soy sauce, ginger and a few other odds and ends.. you can add anything depending on what kind of flavor you're aiming for."

Looking up, Fumihiro noticed that his son's face looked a little red, "Son, are you feeling alright? You don't look so good."

Benjiro's hands fidgeted a little, "Ah, it's n-nothing. B-but somewhat g-good news."

Fumihiro raised his eyebrows.

"I b-became a tutor."

The burly man knit his eyebrows together, "I thought you were working together with that club?"

Benjiro clapped his hands together, "I am, b-but the princip-pal asked me to t-teach someone.", He pointed his hands to the side, "I g-get a little extra credit and I t-talked with the c-club and they said that they wouldn't need to show up every d-day."

Fumihiro made a popping sound with his lips, "You just can't say no when people need a hand, can you?", He lightly sighed, "Long as you're not stretching yourself thin."

Benjiro waved a dismissive hand, "Ah, don't w-worry. It's only for a month. Sh-she doesn't want me teaching, s-so I do this sh-short term and reap the benef-fits."

"If she doesn't want to work with you, then why are you doing this in the first place?"

Benjiro raised his arms in the air, "I d-don't know. Maybe it's because n-nobody else can d-do it and P-Principal Handa just told us to g-give it a trial period."

Fumihiro looked down at the marinating fish meat, "Son, you seem to have the absolute worst luck with the opposite sex."

"You don't have to r-remind me."

Fumihiro pointed to the living room, "Speaking of the opposite sex, there's a new letter from Mine sitting on the-"

He didn't even finish the sentence before Benjiro darted out of the room to see the envelope.

Fumihiro just shook his head, "What else was I expecting?" he quietly chided

The eager boy hadn't been expecting a response so soon, but after the crappy day he had just escaped from, seeing that small paper rectangle made his day seem all that much brighter. Tearing open the folds, he looked down at the neat handwriting:

Dear Benji,

I'm glad to hear that things are going well on your end. Apology for being a distant friend accepted. But since there was no way I could've known that you moved somewhere new, I'm holding you responsible for the fact that I've been sending my letters to the wrong place. Mom takes my stamp expenses out of my allowance you know.

I hope you can find something to be a part of. Are things going alright with that poetry contest or is it over yet? You probably won it, didn't you? Didn't you? And I don't care that you're up against one of the smartest girls in your grade. I know you've got plenty of ideas in that head of yours. How many of them are good, I can't say, but there has to be at least one.

You can't know what club I'm in just yet because I want it to be a surprise. Why it's a surprise will be a surprise on top of that. And as for when and how you'll find out what it is, that'll just have to be one more surprise for you to figure out in due time. Ha ha. And with Ashitomi backing off like the coward she is. Oh yeah, it was the second most satisfying thing in the world to happen to me so far.

The other day Kazusa had a boy try to give her a picture he drew in art class. Hard to believe she's turning 9 soon. And it's even harder to believe just how far we've come since then. Although except for meeting each other, did anything worth remembering come from being in elementary school?

Your old house hasn't had anyone living in it ever since you left. Since Halloween is getting closer I've seen a bunch of dumb kids try and break into it and leave a mark that they've been there. Like some test of courage. I don't know if I should be chasing people away, but part of me feels strangely satisfied seeing it happen.

As for your little idea, I like it. When I showed your last letter to my family, the small ones got really excited about it. They kept on saying how they wanted to hop on a train or a plane and go see Big Bro Benji right now. Maybe if you talk things over with your Dad, things can get started. Maybe we can make arrangements for something to do over Christmas vacation. That way neither of us would have to worry about school or stupid stuff like that. Long as neither of us do something like get a job that makes us work over holidays, because that would be the suckiest thing in the world.

But don't think that you're off the hook just yet. It wasn't lost on me that you didn't mention how your nightmares are doing. Are they getting better, worse? You know you can tell me anything, right? I need to know how my best friend is doing. And don't think I wasn't kidding about how I'd make you go to therapy. I'd drape you over my shoulder and drag you kicking and screaming if I had to make you go.

Anyways, talk to your Dad and maybe we'll be able to see each other in a few months. We haven't spent a Christmas together in so long that I honestly don't know what I could get for you. Give me some vague ideas so that way, you can actually be surprised by what I'll give you. Anyways, I think I'm all done right now. Write back soon. I finally have the right address, so no excuses this time.

As Always,

Mine :)

Finishing the letter left his mood a little better than what it had been. Those dark clouds he'd been carrying around were cleared away. Turning to his desk, he took out a sheet of paper to write his response.

Dear Mine

Benjiro began to write, but something stopped him. Looking back at her letter, he felt a small pain in his chest. He hadn't meant to omit it, but he did feel guilty about not telling her about his night terrors. Sitting with the pencil hovering over the paper, he just didn't know what to say. Either give his friend a baseless reason to relax by lying or give her an excellent reason to be afraid by telling the truth.

It wasn't exactly a middle ground, but he wrote on:

Sorry for the issue with the addresses, but stamps can't cost all that much, can they? The contest isn't over yet. I've still got a few steps left on that end. Since you sent me the last letter, I've gotten involved in some other stuff.

Coincidences just kept happening one after the other and I've found myself a job with the drama club. They want me to use my makeup skills to give them monsters. It won't be easy, but I'll find a way. And I'll be a tutor for a struggling student. She's abrasive as all hell, but it's only short term, so I don't think it'll be as much of a headache as it could be.

And, why can't you tell me what club your involved with just yet. I can keep secrets just as well as anyone. Why is getting our old bully to back of the second most satisfying thing that happened. What's the first, or is that just another secret you're going to hold over my head?

How is Kazusa so old? Last time I saw her, she was just learning how to talk in complete sentences. Tell her she's too young to be having a boyfriend. You talk about dragging me places. If she gets a boyfriend before she even gets into middle school, I'll run to where you are just so I can sit down with your Dad and intimidate the little bastard.

I'll talk things over with my Dad. Our house now isn't all that big, so I don't know if we'd have the means to accommodate everyone. But, if it means we can see each other after so long, I'll do what I can. I'm not an official member of anything right now, so I shouldn't have anything to drag me off.

I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my nightmares. They seemed to be getting better for a little while, but they're starting to make a rebound. Dad's not a fantastic cook, but he makes sure I eat healthy enough. Plus he keeps a schedule of waking me up around the times when they seem to happen most often. So, try not to worry too much. Things aren't great now, but they usually have a way of balancing themselves out.

To end things on a happy note, maybe this Christmas will be merrier than we bargained.

Yours truly

Benji

Looking down, he breathed a worried sigh, "Please don't let her freak out when she reads this", he pleaded to nobody in particular.