Groundwork

Examining his letter, he continued to plead with nothing that Mine wouldn't freak out when she read his letter. Benjiro was fairly certain he had told her everything of note. What little it was, when he considered just how much there was going on. But there was one part he wasn't sure how to feel about.

"She's seen a bunch of kids break into my old house to tag it, like some sort of test of courage", he summarized, looking at his friend's letter.

Shutting his eyes, he could still picture it. The kitchen where food seemed to never cook, a dining room where togetherness would seem foreign and the bedrooms at the top of the stairs where sleep, as rare as it was, seemed a mercy.

Bedroom. Stairs.

Benjiro dug his nails into his hand so hard, the top layer of skin came off. But, remembering his old house, reminded him of the shoebox sitting underneath his mattress. Falling onto his hands and knees he saw the brown box, sitting, gathering dust underneath his bed. Pulling it out, he brushed it off and proceeded to spend two minutes sneezing his head off from the dust.

Opening the lid, there were a few small mementos of his past life. A few old poems and crayon drawings from the mind of a dumb kid. Most importantly, right at the top, was a photo. It was one of the few things from his past life that he didn't mind. Things were hell then, but he had people he could rely on. On the right was Benjiro as a six year old , hair shorter and a few shades lighter and one of the biggest, dopiest smiles he could muster.

On the left was his older brother Kenshiro. This was before he started majorly acting out, so his face didn't have any bruises or stitches. The sixteen year old looked quite similar to his younger brother. Except his face looked more rugged and his body was quite toned for someone of his age. But around the other two, despite his mischievous nature, he looked like any other big brother. Cool yet caring.

And right in the middle between them, with Benjiro's arm around her shoulder, was his best friend, Mine. She was a few centimeters shorter than Benjiro, with long hair that always hung in front of one eye, and a considerable amount chubbier. Other kids made fun of her for it, which made her angry and cry. But her best friend never gave her any grief about it.

Thinking back on it, their first meeting was an odd one. Benjiro looked up at his blank ceiling and found himself back in elementary school. Mine had been called names by some of the other girls, mainly Ashitomi. They'd say things like "What's underneath your dress, a tub of jello?" or "I think a slaughterhouse is short one of their hogs." Or they'd steal things from her lunch and make the excuse that they were helping her out with slimming down. After one of these such events, she was hiding in a corner of the playground, underneath a tree where she could cry in peace.

Hugging her knees and having her vision clouded by tears, she was feeling miserable. In the midst of her crying, she heard someone quietly singing.

"Take the broken wings and learn to fly" the voice sang

Peeking her head around the tree, was a younger Benjiro. Just sitting still, looking at the clouds and singing a peculiar song. Hearing the rustling, the young boy turned around and raised his eyebrows on an otherwise impassive face.

"Wh- (ahem)", the girl cleared her throat, "What are you singing?"

He just stared at her for so long that Mine thought he must've fallen asleep with his eyes open. She started to crawl back to her side of the tree when a small voice quietly mumbled. The rotund girl turned around and said, "I didn't catch that."

The boy pursed his lips and hesitantly spoke in a louder tone, "It's s-something th-that I s-sing wh-when I w-want to feel b-better."

Slowly sitting down next to him, "Do you feel sad?"

He just stared at the ground, "I d-don't know. Th-things happen and it m-makes my chest f-feel heavy and I w-want to d-dissapear."

Staring at the ground herself, "You too, huh?"

Turning his head, Benjiro gave the girl a quizzical look, "Wh-Why would y-you w-want to g-go away? Y-you seem p-pretty n-nice. People p-probably l-like you."

The girl snorted, "Do you live under a rock?" she asked, "Nobody likes me. They all think I'm just the dumb, fat girl. They can't go ten seconds without making a joke about me. What about you? Do people mock you over every little thing you do?"

Going back to staring at nothing in particular, "Hmm, n-no not r-really. P-people d-don't talk t-to m-me. M-most of th-them d-don't know who I-I am. But b-being inv-visible isn't s-so b-bad."

Present day Benjiro smirked to himself, 'Real smooth, me.

The girl lightly scoffed, "Then what do you have to feel sad about?"

Lightly gripping the collar of his shirt, "Do you ever wonder if your parents hate you?"

The girl's eyes became concerned, "No."

The both went back to sitting silently, each wondering what the other's life would be like.

Turning towards the boy, "I'm Mine, by the way. Mine Chihaya. What's your name?"

The boy looked slightly taken aback, "B-Benjiro Nojiri."

Cracking a grin, "Geez, how long has it been since someone asked you what your name is?" she lightly needled, "Would you mind if I hang around here every now and then?"

Benjiro's eyes widened, but then he smiled and nodded his head.

Replying with a smile of her own, "Great, maybe now you won't have to sing to yourself if you feel sad, next time."

Back in his room, the teenage Benjiro just smiled sadly, looking at the ceiling. She had been the first real friend he had in his childhood, and even after he had moved away, she told him that he had better keep in contact. Kicking his feet in the air, so he could roll himself out of bed he thought, 'On that note, I should probably see if there's something I can do to get things set up on my end.'

"Hey Dad, do you think we-", Reentering the kitchen, the smell of fish and spices were strong in the air, "Phew, you c-can't just cook things n-normally can y-you?"

Fumihiro, with his back turned, wagged a finger in the air, "Variety is the spice of life, and since I'm using a variety of spices, it's like spice squared."

"Y-you c-come up with the weirdest m-metaphors", Benjiro pointed out, "Anyway, th-that's not what I w-wanted to s-say. Could we m-maybe have Mine's f-family over for Christmas?"

Fumihiro turned around. It was rare for his son to request something like this, "What brought this about?"

Rubbing the back of his head, "W-well in h-her letter, M-Mine said that s-since we're b-back on the m-mainland and only a f-few hours away, m-maybe we could s-see each other. D-Do you think w-we could?"

Fumihiro shut off the burners and laid the fish out on a platter. Leaning against the counter, "I don't know, kiddo. This house isn't all that big, I don't know if we'd have the means to keep everyone here", he started ticking off his fingers, "Yeah, including her parents, that's five people."

Benjiro's head hung low. He knew getting her whole family here probably wouldn't be easy, but to have the entire idea shot down completely.

"However", Fumihiro continued, "That's not to say they couldn't still find a hotel or something nearby to stay in. There's at least one or two bed and breakfast's in this town."

Benjiro's head craned upward and a huge smile slowly broke out on his face. A low cackle started building in his throat before turning into an almost villainous laugh. Running up, Benjiro grabbed his father and wrapped his long arms around him. The ecstatic boy was so busy celebrating that he lifted up his burly father onto his tip toes.

"Woah, there!" Fumihiro exclaimed, trying to balance himself, "I get that you're excited but don't knock me over."

Benjiro unwrapped his arms, quickly apologized and ran back upstairs to his letter. After drawing an arrow on the front, he flipped the page to the back. He jotted down something as legibly as his quick hands allowed:

P.S.

I just talked to Dad, and while our house may be small, there are more than one places that could put you up for more than enough time. You had better start booking now. You here me? Get to it!