The enemy of my enemy

Benjiro scooted out of the house with the envelope safely tucked into one of his pockets this time. When he rounded the corner and saw that there were no pedestrians, he started to shuffle and kick his feet a little, doing something similar to a dance as he made his way down the street. Luckily there was no wind this time, so he wasn't holding onto the envelope for dear life. After depositing it, on the way home, he recalled the meeting he had last time. He still didn't know why Yamanaka was acting so secretive and why she was so adamant that he didn't tell anyone about her studies.

'What's the big deal if people know she's studying anatomy?' he wondered, 'Big deal, she wants to learn something. If you do well enough in certain subjects, the school you're aiming for may take a closer look at you.'

'Maybe, she doesn't want people to know that she actually takes something seriously besides cracking jokes and acting like she's a jester.'

'Maybe so, and for gosh sakes, Inei, how many times do I have to tell you to stop popping in like that." Benjiro reprimanded

'Sorry, but to be fair, your thoughts are my thoughts, so it's not exactly interrupting', Inei pointed out.

'Do you find it mildly sad that I'm this close to adulthood and I still have an imaginary friend?" Benjiro asked him

Inei turned to his originator with a mildly offended look, 'We both know I'm a lot more than just a simple friend. I'm the reason you haven't cracked yet.'

Turning the corner they came to his street.

Benjiro kept walking, seemingly ignoring his alter ego's protest, 'Yeah, and for that reason I think you, and by proxy me, would both prefer for a set of circumstances where you didn't need to come into existence.'

They were approaching the house, 'You know, just because something is true doesn't mean you need to point it out when it pops into-"

The lanky boy stopped when he heard something. Looking up from the sidewalk, in the Higaki house, from an open, second story window, he could see Akiko. She looked like she was in the middle of an argument. It sounded intense, and part of Benjiro felt a little worried until he saw her turn towards the window. In her hand was a packet of bright yellow paper which he recognized as the script for the play.

He had spent a majority of his time backstage, writing down notes for the cast members, so he didn't pay much attention to how far the play was coming along. From what little he did recall, the cast was doing a decent job of memorizing their lines, and while the quality of their ability to emote wasn't fantastic, they still weren't far into production. They'd have time to really perfect their craft, but what he was seeing before him was beyond that.

The way she moved, her facial expressions, the way her face changed colors and although he couldn't make out what she was saying, he could tell that she spoke with passion. Straining his eyes to look at her face, 'Are those real tears coming from her eyes?!' he thought, bewildered. The rest of the actors had shown nowhere near that level of dedication or skill, especially that wench, Fujibayashi. Heck, even as he was watching from the sidewalk below, he almost believed he was watching an honest to God actress.

When Akiko had finished rehearsing the scene, she paused to catch her breath. After seeing something so well done, Benjiro feeling it deserved some praise, applauded her. The clapping must have been a little louder than he had intended, because Akiko snapped out of her role and looked down at the street below. Seeing who was applauding, her eyes widened and she disappeared from the window.

Benjiro just lightly shrugged, 'Hm, she must've gotten embarrassed. Eh, I get it. If I knew someone was watching me look like a demented, heavy metal clown I'd probably run off to-' "UGGH!"

He felt something slam into his back, making him trip. Rolling over, he saw Akiko, 'Holy crap! How did she get down here so fast?!'

"What the hell, woman", he groaned.

Her face was redder than a cherry, "You saw me", she said in an abashed voice.

"Um..." he attempted.

The short girl stamped her foot, "I know you saw me, so don't try to deny it!"

Standing back up, he raised his hands, "Alr-right, I s-saw y-you. N-No big d-deal."

Akiko's face began pouting, "How much of that did you see?"

Benjiro sighed frustrated, "I j-just saw a m-minute or s-so of it?"

The short girl covered her face and groaned. Benjiro screwed up his face in confusion, "What's th-the pr-problem? Y-You were r-really good."

Akiko slowly raised her head but kept her face covered, "R-Really?"

He just shook his head. Akiko stepped forward, embarrassment vanished, "What about it was good?"

Stepping backwards, the spindly boy fumbled for an answer. Biting his knuckle, "W-Well, you... you put a l-lot of p-passion into y-your lines."

"Yeah", she took another step forward.

"And, y-you l-looked r-really into it."

Another step forward with her face looking hungry, "And?"

She was getting close enough that Benjiro needed to bend backwards, "And I-I've n-never s-seen s-someone actual-ly cry on command b-before."

Akiko waited for him to give another example until she realized she was close enough to see the border between the iris and white of his eyes. Jumping backwards, she returned to being loud.

She raised a pointed finger, "Why were you so close to my face, your pervert!"

Benjiro's mouth slumped in shock, "Me!? You're the one getting into m-my face."

"Whatever", she she scoffed, "Just stay at arms length."

Benjiro turned his eyes heavenwards, 'God, why are women always so damned set on delivering mixed messages? Just answer me that one question.'

A sudden thought occurred to him, "W-Wait, I know wh-why I'm home, b-but why are y-you here?"

Akiko's surprise was replaced by a look of pure malice, "I would be at the auditorium, but Fujibayashi told me that things were going just fine. So there was no need for an understudy that wasn't even going to make it to the stage to even show my face."

If the disdain in her voice was venom, it could've killed a horse in ten seconds. Benjiro curled back his lips in disgust, "Ugh, I hate th-that girl. She acts l-like a d-damn princess. And if she w-were, m-most people would b-become anarchists."

Akiko crossed her arms and nodded vigorously, "I know, right? She walks around with that bored expression on her face, like everything we do is so plain, compared to her."

Inside Benjiro's house, Fumihiro was trying to get through one of the books on his son's shelf. Sitting down with the dictionary app on his phone, he could make about one page per five minutes.

"Jeez, kiddo. If you weren't so scared of human interaction you'd probably be an evil genius or something", he thought aloud.

Looking at the time, he began to wonder where his son was. He remembered, Benjiro told him that since he didn't need to be at the drama club, he'd most likely be home at a normal time. Wondering if something had happened, he got up and was about to head out the door when he saw something he hadn't expected. There was Benjiro, talking. Actually talking to another person. Having a real back and forth conversation. And he looked like he was having fun. The big man continued to watch, before collapsing back onto the couch in shock. He rubbed his eyes, held his breath and checked his pulse, and confirmed he was awake, and alert. A genuine smile formed on the normally grumpy looking face, "Good job, kiddo. You're starting to move in the right direction again."

They continued verbally tearing their common enemy apart that they didn't realize how late it had become until the sun began to sink behind the horizon.