Details

The two made their way and sat down on the cold, metal bleachers that you could never quite get comfortable on.

The captain looked at Benjiro a little suspiciously, "Before I tell you anything, why do you even need to know anything about her? You don't by any chance have a crush on Haruoka, do you?"

Benjiro was temporarily stunned by the question until he began breaking out in fits of near hysterical laughing. He laughed so hard that tears came formed in the corners of his eyes and his stomach ached. In between gasping breaths he choked out, "Oh G-God forbid. I'm j-just her English tutor. After he took a few moments to catch his breath, Furuka broke from her surprise at his reaction to the question.

She raised her eyebrows, "That's you?" she asked while giving him a once over, "Although, now that you mention it, you do fit the description."

Part of Benjiro didn't want to know whatever, most likely soul-crushing things Haruoka said about him, but he also had a sense of morbid curiosity. He didn't want to interrupt the captain, but evidently, he didn't have to, "Yeah, without going too in depth with how she described you: she said that a skinny, nervous guy was going to be teaching her."

Benjiro made a popping sound with his lips since he couldn't think of a counter to that description. He shook his head, trying to get down to business, "S-So, anyway about Haruok-ka-"

The captain had a pained expression on her face, "Did she do something really bad to you?"

He paused midsentence and nodded, "Sh-She did, b-but that n-not what I c-came here to ask ab-bout."

Furuka's raised her eyebrows in surprise, "It's not? Huh, usually when people come to me to say something about that girl, it's to tell me she did something that usually couldn't be repeated."

That temporary relief that the laughing brought him was beginning to dissipate. The more the soccer captain talked, the more Benjiro felt like he was wading into shark infested waters. He drummed his fingers together, compiling his thoughts, "It's just th-that, the w-way she acts. H-How do I p-put this? Whenev-ver we're supp-posed to be having st-study sessions, she d-does her own th-thing."

He continued explaining Haruoka's standoffish attitude towards his help. When he got done explaining, Furuka just laid back against the hard metal and sighed, "That does sound like her. Honestly that doesn't surprise me, considering how she used to act. But, why would you even care, I thought the arrangement was that you teach her for a month, then she gets a real teacher."

'Boy, Haruoka sure does keep her captain informed'

"Well, it's just that...", he stumbled, trying to think of what he wanted to say, "The t-teachers teach one way, and th-that's the way sh-she's already st-studying."

Benjiro continued explaining his "pupil's" odd and seemingly ineffective study habits, and that she seemed to be making little progress.

"I'm j-just w-worried that if she continues on th-that she'll continue t-to fail."

"That seems oddly caring for someone who I'd guess is probably afraid of her", Furuka guessed.

Benjiro just shrugged, "No, sh-she doesn't sc-scare me, m-more like she m-makes me mad. B-But I s-see that she's trying r-really h-hard and yet it's n-not working."

Furuka looked at the odd young man sitting next to her with even more confusion. The more he talked, the less she understood about him, "You still haven't told me what it is you want to know about Haruoka."

"Well, I actual-ly just want to ask ab-bout how she u-used to act."

When Benjiro asked her about that, the captain explained that she herself couldn't tell him about the stuff that went on in Haruoka's middle school years. However, she could explain how her junior used to be a delinquent with a mile long mean streak. Evidently, she didn't really give a damn about most things. And anyone that managed to become something she did give one about usually wasn't anymore, fifteen minutes and at least a couple broken bones later.

The shark infested waters were beginning to stir, "I d-didn't kn-know that, but it's a s-start."

'Yeah, she just went about things in her own unmotivated way, like a dead leaf just being carried wherever by the wind until it rots", Furuka compared.

"D-Did she ever p-pay attention to anyth-thing at all in classes?"

The soccer captain just scoffed, "You're kidding, right? What about anything I just told you would suggest that Haruoka would try to be a good student?"

Benjiro knit his eyebrows together in confusion, "B-But when the Princip-pal pulled up her gr-grades, they w-weren't fantastic, b-but they were p-passing."

A tiny smile made its way onto the girl's serious face, "Yeah, after she decided she wanted to be on the soccer team, she pulled her grades together just enough that she could do extracurriculars and nothing more."

Benjiro gave a smile of admiration upon hearing that, 'She probably wanted something real to be a part of. Not just drifting along.'

"H-How does sh-she do with playing s-soccer? Did sh-she have trouble l-learning?"

Furuka confusion only grew more, "Um, no more than anyone else I suppose. She'd remark how running around was a lot more fun than just sitting down for hours, being bored out of your skull, learning, what she considered, useless information."

Benjiro raised one hand upward, "B-But she w-was willing to learn?"

"Sure, she had some difficulty, but she learned things more quickly than almost anyone I've worked with over the years. Haruoka put a lot of effort into learning how to be a good soccer player. She'd spend every spare minute she could, dribbling the ball and hitting the weight room to make her leg muscles more powerful."

A slightly devious grin was forming on Benjiro's face, "S-So, she l-learned how to play s-soccer f-faster than academ-mics?"

"It's not all that unusual, is it", Furuka asked, "Some people just aren't all that book-smart."

He thought back to Haruoka fumbling her way through trying to memorize her vocab list, "You h-have no idea h-how right you are."

Inspiration was beginning to strike inside Benjiro's mind, and there was no time to waste sitting around. He stood up, quickly thanked the captain for sitting down with him and started to walk off.

"Wait", Furuka called, "Is that really all you wanted to ask about?"

"Yeah, that's all", he called back, "Thanks. You've helped a lot."

The captain just stood in the bleachers for a moment, wondering what in hell's name had just transpired. "He may not be much of a creep, but that guy is definitely a weirdo, I will give Daitan that point."

Benjiro trotted off as a crazy idea, that was probably just crazy enough to work was becoming more concretely formed. He had finally figured out what bothered him so much about seeing Haruoka not only butcher English, but also have such a hard time studying. A few memories of mentally painful days in elementary and junior high school were coming back to him in droves. Tomorrow, he figured that a trip to the town library was in order, 'Hopefully they've got at least a few "For Dummies" books in their collection.'

Unbeknownst to Benjiro or to the captain, there were two sets of hidden onlookers, who were very interested in the conversation they were watching. One group of girls was watching from inside the sports equipment room and weren't liking what they saw, "That bastard", one of them seethed, "He must be trying to screw over Haruoka."

"Of course he would", another concurred, "He's just a pathetic little boy that would rather go behind Sis' back than grow a pair and get his hands dirty. Not that he'd have a chance either way."

"So what do we do?"

The one girl turned towards the rest, "We'll do what we have to. To make sure that nobody screws Sis over. And we do whatever it takes.

The other was watching from across the street and smirked to themselves, "Hey, boss, you think we finally got our break?"

The biggest guy that was clearly the leader, "I think we just did."

Another guy chimed in, "I heard that Crazy B*tch had dropped out of the life, but I never would've guessed that she'd start dating guys. Especially such a weak looking fool."

"Hush, you dumbass", the leader chided, "But the right time may be sooner than we though. That girl's going to get everything that's coming to her."

Light, evil guffawing spread among the group as they disappeared from the public eye.