Humble Pie

"Just where do you think you're going", an irate Hiromi asked the retreating form of Benjiro.

He didn't answer, knowing that whatever response he gave would just be met with even more aggression and questions that were just an excuse for Hiromi to vent the frustration she was feeling. The announcement that Benjiro had won the poetry contest was a surprise to everyone, the winner included. After the words had left Mr. Watanaba's mouth, the young man was the first one out the classroom for once. Whatever happened next, he didn't want to be on the receiving end of whatever the Domon Battalion had in mind. He had done everything he could think of to deliver an antithesis of what was assigned, tried to lose on purpose. While it was an odd thing to not really try to win and still do it like the first time, to try to throw the competition and still come out on top... it was uncanny. But to be pursued by the girl herself, that made it even more so.

"I will not accept defeat without a proper explanation of how this occurred", Hiromi declared, "I saw you before class started. You weren't even finished writing before it was time to present. So then, how in hell's name did you manage to pull it off."

Benjiro tried to take advantage of his spindly legs and increased his stride.

"I w-wasn't trying t-to pull anyth-thing off", he stammered, "I g-g-got an idea and r-ran with it. I d-didn't even t-try to win."

The mixture of shock and indignation was so strong that Benjiro didn't even need to turn around to see the look of outrage he knew was crossing Hiromi's face.

"As if I'd believe such a ridiculous statement", she spat, "What sort of person, aside from a complete coward or ignoramus, doesn't even try to win a contest they're so firmly entrenched in?"

'And how do they win such a thing', she contemplated, 'other than by anything other than pure dumb luck or maybe...'

"Did you bribe the teacher?"

Benjiro quickly hit the brakes in the middle of the hallway causing Hiromi to bump into him a little bit. Ordinarily, such an action would elate him, but as he turned around, the only emotions showing on his face were that of disgusted disbelief.

"Are y-you really th-that stupid", he asked, "Or a-are you just in d-denial. I b-barely have en-nough m-money to buy mys-self lunch somet-times. And l-like you just s-said, y-you saw me writing as I w-was sitting down."

Hiromi quickly shot up her index finger, "Did you just call me stupid?"

Benjiro stopped mid-tirade as he gritted his teeth and silently groaned.

'Oh ho, you are in for a serious ride now, boy.'

'Inei, now is seriously not the time for any of your snark', Benjiro replied to the invisible interloper.

'Heh, heh, sorry', Inei mock apologized, 'It's just that you not so much dug your own grave as you excavated it with a bulldozer and a few sticks of dynamite.'

"-and frankly between everything I've accomplished and the concurrent lack thereof of everything you've accomplished, I think it's fair to say that that short of divine intervention, you actually being a secret genius and bribery, there's simply no way that you could measure up to my intellect."

Blinking rapidly and slightly shaking his head, "S-Sorry, I spaced out f-for a moment. What w-were you s-saying?"

The look on Hiromi's face went from mild exasperation to full on red-faced fury.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about", she spat, "You are so blissfully ignorant of even your own surroundings that I honestly wonder how someone like you can even be a functioning member of society."

Though slightly more flowery, these were the kinds of adjectives and descriptions Benjiro was used to hearing certain people throw his way when he tried opening up. He heard people say that over time, you become more resistant to people's insensitivity the less you cared. That may have very well been a true statement, but for someone who more preferred just sticking to the outskirts, that didn't always improve his defenses. Needless to say, the elegant girl who he had been quite smitten with for a few months, was beginning to grate on his nerves. Despite being severely out of his league as well as warm and caring as a corpse found in the Arctic.

"And d-despite seemingly kn-knowing more than th-the rest of us combined", Benjiro struggled to keep his voice neutral and even, "You d-don't seem to unders-stand that some p-people have th-things that they're better at th-than others."

Hiromi slightly cocked her head to the side, "Oh and now you decide to brag about how you think you have an innate superiority to me? Where do you get off on that?"

Slowly but surely, Benjiro was starting to realize just why people had such fierce dichotomic views about the girl talking to him.

He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath to compose himself, "Th-that's not what I-I'm trying to say and y-you know it."

Not willing to take any chance to prove herself right for granted, "And just what exactly are you trying to sputter out?"

It was progressively taking more willpower not to reach out and slap Hiromi across that perfect face of hers.

"I'm t-trying to say th-that you c-can't be good at everyth-thing you do", the mop haired boy tried to explain, "And s-sometimes, there just c-comes a moment where you prep-pare as much as you c-can, but you still f-fall flat. It's c-called having flaws. Everyone h-has them... Even someone l-like you."

Hiromi raised one finger as if to retort, but paused. The urge to say something...anything was written all over her face, but something seemed to be holding her back. All sorts of conflicting emotions were displayed as she continued to stand and do nothing to her perceived enemy.

An opportunity presented itself and considering everything that was happening, Benjiro felt he'd be a fool to not capitalize on it, "I'm going to b-be late t-to my tutoring session soon, and I-I'd rather not k-keep my st-student waiting. I'll s-see you later."

Going down the stairs was still a longer ordeal than most people, but the lanky boy tried to get down them as quickly as he could. It was one of the oddest thoughts he'd had in a while, which was saying something for him, but at that moment, dealing with Haruoka and her potential hair trigger anger issues seemed a more attractive prospect than listening to the Domon girl try to chew him out. At the very least, Haruoka seemed more comfortable with both him and with herself than before.

Meanwhile, Hiromi just continued to stand in the hallway, staring at the spot where her former competitor had just lectured her. Once again, he had done it. He had said just a few harsh words to her, but for some reason she not only couldn't formulate a response, but something about them made her stop and wonder. Any other time, she wouldn't hesitate to verbally back her enemy into a corner until they eventually admitted defeat. They always admitted defeat. But no matter how she looked at it, she just couldn't find formulate a refutation.

While she refused to admit defeat, it was still an odd feeling: coming across someone that she couldn't seem to trap or cow into submission. She had encountered a few defeats along the way, which was rare but they did happen. But whenever those had happened, she could usually make her rival still feel as though they had lost. The entire drive home, she felt like she was in a daze. Hiromi's chauffer was a little worried since her silence seemed to be from a troubled mind rather than her usual poise.

After arriving at her room, Hiromi walked over to the writing escritoire that housed all of her past and present assignments. It was used for the purpose of serving as a reference point if she ever needed to review something from a long time ago. Also doubling as sort of a windowless trophy case for all of her perfectly scored exams and other achievements. Strewn all across the workspace was a dictionary and thesaurus opened to random pages and a small stack of messy papers. They were covered from header to footer in sloppily written characters, smudged graphite, eraser marks and more than a few X's. These were the various rough drafts of the poem she had just recited a few hours ago.

It all just sat in front of her like an engineer looking at the wreckage of a machine prototype that had malfunctioned and exploded during a quality test. Afternoons, long nights, weekends, nearly two or three weeks of work had gone down the drain. All that time spent staring at those almost mocking blank sheets of paper. Trying to find a way of properly expressing how she saw her family and it had all been for nothing. And it had all been undone by a scruffy, bony boy that looked like he was still trying to figure out how to make eye contact.

'It's called having flaws. Everyone has them...Even someone like you.'

Those damned words refused to stop echoing in her head. Then she tried to recall what her maid, Kanna, had said to her before.

'Do I just not have the passion or talent for this', Hiromi wondered, 'But that's pre-posterous. I always strive to do my very best in everything I do, no matter how minor or inconsequential it may seem.'

And yet, the results were still the same. For the first time in a long time, she had tasted defeat, in its most simple yet undeniable form. As that single thought sank in, Hiromi's vision began to become blurry. Her papers became wet as hot tears began to drip from her eyes and her nose.

'This is so frustrating', she cursed, 'How? How could I be defeated by such an unrefined plebian. He's never showed any sign of excellence before but I still lost.'

She buried her face in her hands as she continued to sob her tensions away.

'What is it that I lack? Does he possess some great innate talent that he just hasn't shown before? Why do these kinds of things come so naturally to him?'

Questions just kept continuing to fly in her mind like debris in a tornado.

'And why is it that every time he speaks to me, it makes me feel... so different?'