Please, not crowds

The arrival of the Chihaya family was one filled with more than a few tears, shouts and a year's worth of hugging, all crammed into the space of a few minutes. Benjiro and Mine both gave each other a bone crushing hug. The two little ones that came along both almost tackled the lanky boy when they saw him.

"Big bro Benji", they both exclaimed, "We missed you so much."

Benjiro just patted their heads and tried to return the sentiment as he weakly tried to regain his breath. Mine's parents Eizan and Akane also gave their warm welcomes.

Eizan nodded in approval when he shook Benjiro's hand, "That's a good grip you've got there. I was worried that you might've softened up."

Akane gave him one of those hugs that only an experienced mother could give, "It's good to see you again, dear. I'm glad that you seem to be doing better."

Ordinarily, Benjiro would shrink from such contact, but Mine's mom had been someone he considered more of a mother figure than his own mom.

Fumihiro was every bit as surprised as his son when he saw all the kids, "Geez, you've all grown way too much. Stop it, stop it now", and he was especially surprised when he got a look at Mine, "And what in the world happened to you. You used to be a regular chubster. Now, you look like you could snap a grown man in half."

Mine laughed at that. Flexing her arm she said, "Look like? Try 'actually could snap someone in half if I tried hard enough.'

Winter break was finally happening and Benjiro couldn't have been more relieved. A few days away from it all. Away from school, his tutoring job, the makeup, Hiromi randomly showing up during lunch to make him listen to her play, or her fan club giving him grief. And best of all, he was out doing some shopping with Mine. Ordinarily, even the thought of shopping just exhausted Benjiro, but like anything else, the right company helped to alleviate that. Plus, this situation did require a female perspective.

"So, you're thinking of getting something for each of these girls", Mine clarified.

"Yeah, along the way they've both done something for me and I figure it's only right to... you know, just get them something in return."

While he was telling the truth, he felt bad casually lying about his second reason for buying gifts. Whatever had made both girls so mad at him still eluded him, but it didn't matter. He still needed Akiko's help with trying his makeup styles out and he was stuck teaching Daitan for however long. And since Saori just seemed like she could use a pick-me-up, a gesture of appreciation felt like a good thing. All he could do was swallow his pride and find something that could help smooth things over.

As the pair stood in the middle of the busy shopping mall, there looked to be too many options. Putting a hand over her mouth in thought, "Well, no matter the occasion, you should always consider what it is they like and what's something each of them need but probably haven't been thinking of."

'Hmm, what is it that those girls even like', he pondered, 'Akiko is an actress, but aside from that, what else about her could I use to buy a gift? Daitan likes sports and fighting, both things I know very little about. Maybe some boxing gloves? No, that sounds like it'd be inviting conflict.'

"You've got no idea what either of those girls like, do you", Mine asked with a knowing smile.

Benjiro looked at her with a sarcastically cocked eyebrow, "What do you expect from me. Apart from when we were kids, I've never gotten a gift for a girl before. Let alone a teenage girl and more than one. I'm floating in uncharted waters here."

Shaking her head, Mine grabbed Benjiro's hand and marched off, "Alright Benji, we're going to go shop by shop and we're not stopping until we find something that you're certain will make these girls happy."

The two kids made their way through the shifting mass of Christmas shoppers, all desperately vying for the different toys and items that were on sale. In the back of his head, Benjiro was just hoping that he didn't accidently run inoto any of the girls while he was shopping. He knew that if that happened, what would follow was a very long and awkward explanation that would ruin the surprise since he was terrible at coming up with excuses on the fly.

They passed a pet shop, but neither of them had the money for anything aside from some fish. There were any number of clothing shops, which might've worked except for the fact that Benjiro had no idea what any of the girl's sizes were. And for as tone deaf as his tact was, he knew asking a woman about their clothing size was a one way ticket to getting your face and balls smashed. There was no shortage of candy and snacks being sold, and Benjiro mentally filed away some of them for later. There was a shop for hygiene products, videogames, sporting goods, tobacco products, and just about anything else they could or couldn't think of.

Feeling as lost as ever, Benjiro's eye was caught by a stand in the middle of the corridor. It was nothing special, just one of those kiosks that sold t-shirts and other little odds and ends. However, there was one thing that stood out more than the rest.

"I think Yamanaka would like this", he said picking the item up.

"I don't think I've met her before, is this something she likes", Mine asked

In his hands was one of those calendars that has a tear-away page for every day of the year. But what sold him on the idea was that each page had a different joke on it. Part of him knew that he was probably adding fuel to the fire that was Yamanaka's jokes.

"Well, she's always trying to be the comedian in the room. I figure that this could probably add to her repertoire."

With the first matter of business concluded, Benjiro made a quick purchase and the two went off to find something for the remaining two girls. Deciding to backtrack a ways, Benjiro stopped at the sporting goods store he saw a ways back. There were all sorts of clothing that was supposedly designed to make whatever sport you played better somehow. They both figured it was just a way to stretch believability to make people buy individual pieces of clothing.

"In martial arts, depending on which discipline you belong to, the color and fabric of your gi can really make a difference", Mine informed with a scholarly raised index finger.

"Well, considering much everyone gets manhandled, you'd probably either need to buy shirts wholesale or just fight n-naked."

Mine gave her friend a playful smack on the shoulder, "Don't even go there. At matches, there's always at least one or two guys that aren't sure about fighting a girl. If we were down to our underwear, I'm pretty sure their brains would short circuit."

Benjiro laughed along with her while digging his fingernails into his leg as he tried to banish the image of Mine grappling in... 'No, no. Bad Benji. Stop! Don't you dare finish that mental image.'

Forcing his attention on a rack of jerseys that were on sale, he perused the various names of national and college teams. It took a few minutes, but one of them caught his attention. He recognized one of the symbols. A blue sweatshirt with what looked like a tournament bracket sitting between two upward turned laurels.

'Tokai Gakuen', he mentally recited.

Drawing the sweatshirt from the rack, he was feeling confident about this one.

"Who are you getting this one for?"

"I think this one is for Haruoka. I recognize this logo from her phone case. Either she wants to go here for college or she just likes the team. Either way..."

The final gift was stumping both of them. Akiko was certainly a hard worker, even in the face of impossible odds, but to that end, she seemed to have sacrificed personal interest. Benjiro didn't know if she was into board games, videogames, books, dolls, cooking, weapons, animals, sports or even Pokemon cards. He was at a total loss. While he was sifting through ideas as quickly as he was tossing them out, he could feel his arm being tugged.

Rolling her eyes, "Finally, I've been trying to get your attention for like three minutes."

Shaking his head, "Sorry, just getting lost in thought."

"The day you don't spend getting lost in your head is the day either the world ends or I take you to a doctor", Mine shook her head and waved her hands, "Anyway, there's a raffle stand over here. If you can't decide on what to get this girl, maybe you should just leave it up to chance."

He didn't have any better ideas, so he bought a ticket and spun the wheel. Maybe he'd just get her a gift card or something.

"Congratulations", the attendant announced, "You have won the third place prize of two tickets to see Amamiya University's New Year special stageplay production."

Bewildered, Benjiro took the tickets from the attendant while saying his thanks and trying to back away without attracting any attention.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting that", Mine exclaimed, "That couldn't have been a more perfect draw."

"Yeah", Benjiro said feeling creeped out while sweeping his eyes around, "I feel like I'm being watched. Or like someone is just setting things up for me."

Mine just laughed, "Alright Matrix Man. Do you have everything you think you need."

Glancing at the bags in his hands, "Yeah, I'd say so."

Crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow, "What about your Dad?"

Benjiro's own eyebrows shot up in realization, "Oh s**t, I almost forgot about him."

The pair turned away from the exit and went back to looking. About thirty seconds later, a smirk appeared on the mop haired boy's face, "I know just what to get him."

After a few minutes of trying to find the kitchen supplies aisle, Benjiro was sorting through the selection of men's aprons. It took a moment, but he finally found one that just screamed 'Dad' to him. The apron said, 'You will finish your food or else.'

"Does this look like something my Dad would wear or what?"

"I'd say it fits a little too well."

"And with that, we are done", he said walking towards the exit once again. Until he felt a hand on his collar stopping him.

"Hold up there, Benji. Aren't you forgetting, we still have to shop for a few of my people."

It was all the poor boy could do to keep himself from crying at his denied freedom.

On the bus ride back home, laden with all their stuff bought for their respective loved ones, both kids were feeling wiped out. They spent roughly three hours looking, and the towel was finally being thrown.

"You did good today, Benji", Mine said with pride.

"What makes you say that?"

"You may not think you're doing much, but you're not only doing something nice for your friends, but you're also trying your best to personalize their gifts. You wouldn't go that far or someone unless you really cared."

Benjiro's face began to turn pink, "Well, I-I um... uh-"

Holding up a hand to cease his sputtering, "And you also put yourself through personal hell to get things for them", she poked a finger at his chest, "To me, that shows that you're turning into a good man."

His face went from pink to red and his ability to speak was completely shot.

"I can tell, when you meet the right girl, you're going to make her very happy."

Benjiro didn't remember the rest of the bus ride or walk home.

Across the street from her window, all a certain twin tailed girl could see was the girl that she considered a threat walking into her neighbor's house with said neighbor. Their happy expressions and the bags in their hands weren't doing any favors for her mood.