There's Trouble Brewing

Since that initial, tenuous session, three days had passed, each with varying days of success. Depending on the vocab, Haruoka either eased into it slowly or got her feet wet. It was rare to see her get excited for a lesson, but since when has education been an exciting venture when learning a subject you hate or have little aptitude. But with the combination of songs that were catchier than they had any right to be, After a long, tiring session of actual teaching for once, Benjiro had enough for one day. Luckily, with it being a Wednesday, the time until the weekend was winding down. Daitan left without much ceremony, but Yamanaka, who had become Benjiro's impromptu teacher's aide, stayed behind for a few minutes to chat.

"I have to say, despite that gloomy exterior, you have quite the active imagination. It's a shame you don't let other people see what's inside there", Saori suggested while lightly rapping her knuckles on his head.

Benjiro made a dismissive snort while shooing her away, "N-Nobody wants to listen t-to the Invisib-ble Man. As-side from you, I can count th-the number of people that want t-to be around me and that I c-can stand on one hand."

One of the energetic girl's signature smiles broke out on her face. She usually never went anywhere without it, but even so, seeing it was just one of those things that made your day a little better, "I'm glad that I'm on such an important list."

While Benjiro wasn't typically one for humor besides some sarcastic remarks when he was feeling bold, he wasn't about to let Yamanaka have all the fun at his expense, "I s-said I could count on o-one hand, but I also s-said there's two criteria", he held up a curled pinky finger, "S-So, you only get h-half a finger."

Saori tried to look offended but her smile still refused to go away, so she settled for chasing Benjiro around the room. He shrieked with laughter as he bobbed and weaved trying to evade the energetic girl. Benjiro hopped backwards, grabbed his satchel, and darted out of the room and into the hallway. A futile attempt at running around was made but the lanky boy tried to put his long legs to work before a throbbing stitch began stabbing at his lower abdomen. Saori was running significantly slower than she normally would but was still only a few steps behind Benjiro as she grabbed and forced him away from the school's front door.

When he slowed down to take a ragged breath, she ran up and gave him a hearty smack on the back, knocking what little wind he possessed out of him and possibly cracking his spine. Laying on the floor, it took a moment of heavy coughing before his aching lungs were back in their normal rhythm. Saori was still laughing, "Haha! Okay, I think I got all that I needed to out of my system."

Dramatically raising a shaking finger, "I'll g-get back to you on if m-my system feels like working again."

"Oh, stop being such a drama queen", Saori lightly chided, "That wouldn't be enough to kill you. If people just died every time they got a love tap or shove I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have lived to see your seventeenth birthday."

There wasn't a response for a moment and Saori glanced and saw that the mop-headed boy's eyes didn't look right. His gaze was distant and empty as if staring at the little marks on the floor tiles held some sort of deep meaning. While his mind looked like it was somewhere remote and serene, his body looked the opposite. His trembling hands were gripping onto his uniform jacket for dear life as his chest rose and fell at an alarming rate.

"Hey, earth to Nojiri, are you feeling alright?"

He quickly shook his head and returned to reality, "Yeah, I'm fine", he breathlessly deflected. Before Saori could ask any more questions, he hurried out the front door.

Meanwhile on another side of the school heading the opposite direction, Daitan found herself humming the song a certain mop-headed scarecrow sang to her. As much as she hated to admit it, he wasn't wrong about not being able to get the songs out of her head, no matter how much she tried. What perplexed her the most was how he responded to her degrading comments. Unlike most people he didn't get angry at her and try to find an equally scathing insult or try to assault her. That kind of thing was something she had become accustomed to and almost enjoyed.

Deep in her heart there was a part of her that enjoyed that sick feeling that getting angry or hating something gave her. But this boy wasn't responding with his usual cowering or trying to respond in some show of false courage. Instead he looked at her with sincere and truthful eyes and instead of trying to retaliate, he told her that he understood her. It was a line she had heard a thousand times from a bunch of bleeding hearts that thought she was some lost lamb that needed saving. Those people made her angrier than people that had actually tried to murder her, even if the feeling of making both of those two groups whine in pain made her smile.

The way he spoke of being talked down to and wanting to become better, if it was only to silently flip those people off, it was something she could relate to.

"-hey, Sis!"

Daitan shot the blade of her foot backwards into the gut of one of her fellow delinquent turned soccer players who collapsed like a folding chair. "Oh, Shiro it's just you, sorry about that", she apologized, "Don't startle me like that." She offered a hand to the curled up girl, who gratefully accepted.

"Holy sh*t, Sis. I think your kicks got even stronger than before. Those suicide runs we do must be paying off", Shiro said offhandedly before becoming serious, "What am I saying? I came to warn you about something."

With a cautious curiosity, Daitan asked, "What's happening? Is someone targeting the group again?"

"No, but we think that tutor of yours is plotting something."

Daitan knit her eyebrows in confusion, "What are you talking about? The Scarecrow may not be as stupid as he looks, but he doesn't seem the scheming type."

"Nah, he isn't as harmless as he looks", Shiro said while waving a hand.

Daitan's stopped walking. Shiro wasn't the most well-rounded person, but she never told a lie to her leader. Feelings of annoyance and oddly enough betrayal bubbled in her chest. Giving a short sigh, "What have you heard?"

Shiro let out the breath she had been holding, "OK, it all started last Friday. Some of us saw him approaching Captain Furuka."

...

The carrot-top girl tried asking Benjiro about what just happened, but sensitivity wasn't one of her strong suits. Eventually, she gave up and decided to ask once more about him living under a rock, to which he responded, "But, I d-don't really w-want to be the center of attention. Every once in a wh-while might b-be nice, but being l-looked at by everyone s-sounds stressful."

"Hey, don't shoot down the idea just yet! C'mon, if you can get freaking Daitan Haruoka of all people to listen to what you're saying, then you should have no problem getting people to be friends with you."

"I've tr-tried before", he spat with disappointment painting his face.

To hear the lanky boy passionate or angry was rare enough, but seeing him looking upset about anything was something Saori hadn't seen quite yet. She decided that a three word explanation wasn't enough, "I've never seen you try to actually talk with anyone before."

"W-What do y-you know", Benjiro groaned, "Y-You attract people from all o-over. Y-you're funny, easy to be around and y-you just have this way of m-making everyone feel b-better."

The energetic girl was caught off guard from hearing such high praise from someone who seemed to not know or care anything about the people around him. A slight tinge of pink appeared in her cheeks, "Uh, thanks, but I think you may be exaggerating a little there."

A small grin broke through the stony frown as Benjiro shook his head, "Mm mm. When y-y-ou light up a r-room when... I mean y-you're a little ray of sunshine. You light up a r-room when you walk in and things seem to b-be a little less sucky when y-you're around."

The pink grew to a red but Saori tried punching him in the arm and countering, "Geez, you big stud, you've got a way with words. If you weren't as much of a nervous little puppy, you could make Hiromi swoon like no other."

This time it was Benjiro's turn to get a little color in his cheeks, "Wh-Wh-What do you m-mean?"

Considerable force was used to restrain the laugh rising up in Saori's throat upon seeing the flustered expression that Benjiro was trying to hide behind his overgrown bangs.

"Well, I didn't exactly know, but it's not that big of a surprise. She doesn't have a cult following for nothing, although those crazy bastards do serve as a good meat shield for anyone that wants to confess their love to her."

A look comparable to the lovechild of a one night stand between hatred and disgust formed on Benjiro's face.

"But, I also see you stealing glances at her every now and then", Saori informed, "And after you look away, you stare into space with this dreamy expression on your face."

Even with his hands completely covering his face, a touch of color could be seen in his ears.

"I th-thought I was doing a g-good job of hiding it", Benjiro groaned.

Saori casually shrugged, "Ah, it's no big deal. Boys go for the pretty, popular ones, it's no real shock. Honestly, I find it cute how you get flustered thinking about her."

Before Benjiro could respond a weaselly voice cut into their discussion, "Hey there, you two. The guy and the girl."

The two of them stopped to identify the voice and saw a small group of young adults behind them. Danger signals were going off in Benjiro's head when he recognized them as the group of people that he saw staring at him a week or so ago.

"Now now, no need to look so alarmed", the weasel boy failed to reassure, "Although if you like your limbs the way they are, you both should come along quietly with us."