Nervous Wreck

Sunday drug by painfully slow for the two neighbors. It was only after Akiko had left the night before that Benjiro realized exactly what the next day could imply. He was sitting downstairs writing notes from his library books, but everything from the night before just kept coming to interrupt his train of thought. Listening to a little Nico Hits the Wall helped, but everything just kept weighing him down. He felt like a dog that tried wandering but kept forgetting that it was chained to a stake. The thing that kept crashing his concentration was the meeting with Akiko.

"An important principle to remember is the different types of reinforcement and punishment. There are two types of each, positive and negative. She just so happened to have an extra movie ticket... GAAAAHHHH!"

Benjiro stood up to scream for a moment just because he didn't know what else to do. For what seemed like the hundredth time, he ran over Akiko's invitation that supposedly wasn't an invitation for whatever reason. The way she supposedly got the tickets just sounded weird. "Her friend asks her to buy them but then something randomly comes up? And all her other friends are busy at the same time? I know we're getting older and some of us have jobs and stuff, but all of them are busy?"

The more Benjiro tried to make heads or tails of the situation, the more confused he became. But then, a small thought occurred, "Her face was pretty flushed when she asked me."

Then he began looking at the small hints the same way Sherlock Holmes would look at clues of a murder or robbery. And just like Mr. Holmes, when all the details were laid out, they started to tell a coherent story. "Ah", he said casually, 'She probably just wanted someone to go with her and was too embarrassed to say so, duh.' A feeling of dawning slowly came over him, 'Wait, acting nervous, asking if I'm free, extra movie ticket, she'll come get me?' he mentally recited.

"OH!" he half shouted, "D-Did she-"

Covering his gaping mouth, 'Did a girl just ask me out? What... how...wh- What!?'

While Benjiro was trying his best to logically analyze the situation, another part of him was busy running through a series of unrealistic situations, quite similar to the ones he would have about Hiromi. Visions of romantic dates in impossibly beatiful locations with conveniently good weather, the right clothes, the right lines of speech. He had to yank hard on the emergency brake before his train of thought went any more off the rails than it already was. Benjiro held his hands out in front of him and took a few deep breaths, 'Calm down, me. Think this through, don't get ahead of yourself. Remember, you had all those plans for Christmas that are now out the window.'

Unintentionally reminding himself of his ruined plans with Mine did bring his fantasies to a stop, but they also threw him back into the bad mood that almost made Akiko retract her offer. Those dark clouds and the cortisol induced headache started to ache underneath his skull. Benjiro shook his head like a dog and slapped himself in the face a few times, trying to not get too hung up.

But when he returned to thoughts of what may happen that afternoon, a throb shot through his chest as he imagined the possibilities, no matter how unrealistic they may seem. Glancing over at a clock, he noticed it was about four in the afternoon, he had two hours to kill before it was time to go to his movie with Akiko. Just the thought of going somewhere with a girl, even if it was the short, with an equally short fuse, drama queen, made Benjiro's hands feel sweaty and his breaths a little shallow.

Not wanting to be consumed by fantasy, no matter how nice they may be, he traveled upstairs, sat down at his desk and tried to work on the poem that was due at the end of that week for the competition. 'The competition, geez. How long has it been since I gave that dumb thing a single shred of thought. It seems like a hundred years ago since I got into that thing. I suppose the one nice thing that I got out of teaching Haruoka was not having to deal with those crazy, Hiromi obsessed bastards. Speaking of which, I haven't really thought about her in a while. I wonder what she's been up to. Ah, doesn't matter. Someone as smart as her, I'm sure she's handling this competition just fine.'

Writing things about family was a little difficult for Benjiro, so writing an actual poem took up more time than he was expecting. Not that he was entirely unappreciative, either of the challenge or that he was no longer thinking of going to the movies. However, at the same time, as he sat with his pencil hovering over the paper, he couldn't come up with any good lines. It had been a little while since he had given any thought as to what even qualified as his family, because not even he had any idea. 'Mr. Yamanaka only said this was about family, he didn't say what quality of family. In which case, that's probably good because, if it was about happy families, I probably should just announce that I'm dropping out immediately. '

Across the street, there was a similar feeling of foreboding, but a different method was being enacted. For the past two and a half hours, Akiko had been trying on every pair of shoes, shirts, skirts, blouses, and bows but, no matter what she tried on, nothing seemed to be the right thing to wear. She was holding up a pink outfit in front of her mirror when she tossed it to the side, "Wait! What am I even doing? Why am I trying to dress my best when I'm not even really going out?"

When she paused to think of why, a few unrealistic scenes, not unlike what her neighbor was picturing ran through her head.

In her mind, in front of her, there stood an idealized version of Benjiro, with his hair combed back and a sultry smiled on his face. He approached her at full height, chest out, instead of slouching like he always did, staring her straight in the eye. Extending a hand forward he tilted her chin upward and said in a smoky voice, "You know, you're cute even when you're trying to hide how you really feel." As the scene continued to play out, Akiko's face felt hot enough to make a tea kettle whistle. Right at the moment of truth, when his face got steadily closer, she yelled and waved her arms trying to make the proverbial thought bubble dissipate. "AAH! What am I even picturing?! Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

Flopping down on her mattress, she figured she could probably start small and decide what nails she wanted. When she thought back on it, she never saw her makeup artist neighbor paint nails before. She was cutting it close to the meeting time, so she just found some false ones with a red glittery look to them. They looked good without seeming like she was going to great lengths. Red was a color that always had a way of making Akiko feel a little bolder. Considering how nervous she was feeling, going with a red outfit seemed the appropriate choice.

A red skirt that was short without being too revealing, with a black, short-sleeved shirt and black shoes. Taking a look at herself in the mirror, Akiko was feeling good about herself. She took a quick breath, "Remember, this is just because your friends bailed on your plans at the last minute. This was just the most convenient solution to having an extra ticket", Akiko's voice raised an octave, "Right, that's all it is."

Nodding at herself for assurance, Akiko tried to glide rather than walk down the staircase before realizing that she was showboating for nobody except quite possibly her family. Mortified at that thought, she tried to get out of the house as quick as she could.

"Hey sis, where are you going?"

'Sh*t', Akiko cursed as her younger brother approached.

"I'm going out with a friend to a movie", she squeaked.

An evil grin spread across Daisuke's face, "You're lying. Your voice always gets higher and louder whenever you lie. What are you really doing?"

"I told you, I'm just going to the movies."

"And you decided to get dressed and paint your nails for that", Daisuke pointed out, "Yeah, not buying it. (Gasp) Did a guy finally ask you out? Come on you can tell me. Who's the poor sap that lost a bet?"

Akiko brought her face close to her brother's, "If you say another word, Mom and Dad will never find your body, am I clear?"

Daisuke barely restrained his grin but nodded.

"Good, I'm glad you understand", Akiko said without inflection, "I'll be back later."

Before the door was completely shut, she heard her brother call out, "Just be sure not to go any further than second base."

Akiko reopened the door, and quickly flipped her brother off before slamming the front door shut. She scurried across the street, praying that Daisuke wouldn't open the door and see where she was heading. The thought of him poking his head out and shouting advice to their neighbor made her want to die of shame. Before such a thing could happen, she rapped on the door and impatiently waited for Benjiro come to the door.

"I just had an extra ticket, that's all", she repeated like a mantra.

At least, that's what she thought.