Unbury the Secrets

When Benjiro appeared in the drama club later that week with his new makeup kit, President Saito could've kissed him on the mouth. After he heard what happened to his pseudo member's equipment, he was worried about the person, but the despair at hearing about his monsters was another matter. His pet project of having realistic looking monsters for the play had all but essentially been crushed. They were already working on a shoestring budget and could hardly afford anything more. When the lanky young man showed him his gift and said that only a few minor orders were needed, Saito's manic, Einstein like appearance came back in a flash.

"Thank you so much Nojiri", Saito exclaimed as he grabbed the boy's hands, "You have no idea how much I needed some good news right about now."

Benjiro was a little put off by the president's happiness, but was glad to see him in better spirits than before.

"Y-You're welcome S-Saito", he said before becoming concerned, "I haven't b-been by in a c-couple weeks. D-Did something go w-wrong besides with m-me?"

Saito had a contemplative look cross his face, like a soldier reliving a horrific battle. In response, all he said was a single word, "Fujibayashi."

In that single utterance, Benjiro instinctively sucked air through his teeth and grimaced. Giving an apologetic look at the president, Benjiro extended an upturned hand to indicate that he was willing to listen. Saito grabbed the invisible steering wheel to steady himself to tell his tale.

"OK, I know that you're friends with Higaki, right?"

Benjiro hesitated before shaking his hand in the 'sort of' gesture. Waving a dismissive hand, Saito continued, "Well, I've noticed that she hadn't been regularly attending for a little while, but she never stuck around long enough for me to talk to her. But after seeing Fuibayashi acting kind of weird, I had suspicions of my own."

Saito had to sit down in a chair and rubbed his forehead, "When I finally cornered Higaki and I asked her if anything was wrong, she dodged the questions. But when I asked about Mio, she looked downright afraid. Thing is, she isn't the only one."

'The other members have been on the receiving end of Fujibayashi's drama', Benjiro wondered.

Benjiro raised a confused eyebrow, "If sh-she's causing s-so many problems, why n-not just k-kick her off the project?"

Saito snorted, "You'd think it'd be that simple, but no. Everyone, for fear of retaliation or just looking like a snitch won't say anything. So, I'd look like I'm just trying to bully a particular member for petty reasons."

Benjiro rolled his eyes, "If that isn't irony..."

"Tell me about it, "Saito confirmed before hoisting himself up, "Anyway, I have to get back to work. Thanks again for giving me a miracle in the nick of time."

...

Flash forward a couple weeks and it was finally time. After months of waiting as well as several weeks of preparation from each of the classes, the moment of truth, the Spring Festival had arrived. The school was abuzz as the events had kicked off. There was a healthy sized crowd perusing the school, perusing the various food stalls and other attractions. Every class and club had come up with some sort of attraction. There were the standard attractions like goldfish scooping, dart or pop gun games, ring tosses, a fortune telling stand and even a low budget haunted maze. Of course, the numbers fluctuated from year to year as the novelty of these little festivals wore off for certain people. But, all in all, it was shaping up to be another decent year.

Within the auditorium, the mood was no less energized. It was only about two hours away from showtime and the whole club was running around like a flock of headless chickens. There were floors to be cleared, props and settings to be set up, outfits to be adjusted, last minute lines to rehearse, lights and sound systems to test. So much to do and so little time. Benjiro was of course lightly jogging to make it to his post in time. Along the way, he caught sight of a few members of the Domon Battalion looking at him with pure malice, but for once no action. Their so called 'goddess' had made herself very clear about her gift. While they'd love nothing more than to smash the kit, their fear of angering Hiromi ran deeper.

While Benjiro walked in to get himself set up, he caught sight of Akiko which involuntarily made him tense up. Seeing Fujibayashi did nothing to improve his mood as she looked at him with that predatory gaze. While the mop headed young man hadn't been present for a majority of the production, when he stopped in, oh the amount of horror stories he heard about that girl was nearly insurmountable.

In the boy's locker room, the other male cast members were getting their costumes in order. The other makeup artists were getting the rest of the actosr ready so there wouldn't be so much glare from the footlights. Weaving his way through the crowd, Benjiro found his way to his mark. Sitting down with his sort of friend Kyoshiro, his natural enthusiasm which Benjiro had come to almost expect, had seriously nosedived. The exuberant eyes, infectious grin and almost cheerleader like energy in the guy was just gone.

"What in hell's nam-me happened K-Kyo?"

Kyo just lolled his eyes to his makeup artist, as if turning them was too much effort.

"I'm just ready to be done already."

Much in the same fashion as the president, all Kyoshiro said was, "Fujibayashi."

Kyo looked like he was past the point of exhaustion to explain, but Benjiro simply assured him that he heard the whole story from the President. The wiry young man got his supplies out and began setting out the colors for the the patchwork pattern that Kyo seemed to like. Taking a look at his soon to be monster, 'With his face like that alone, those rags he's wearing already do most of the work of making him look like a depressed corpse monster. At this point, the makeup would be for vanity.'

"It's not just the understudies, it's everyone", Kyo complained, "She hardly has her own lines memorized but she's so quick to jump in on everyone else's mistakes", he began to wave his hands in mock fear. Benjiro put on the cap to pull Kyo's hair back and began applying the lighting bolt pattern across his face.

Multicolored rotting skin tones gradually took form. Now it was time to work on creating the hands and forearms, "Everything has to be perfect. The lighting, the music, the prop placement and above all, everything has to be about her."

The nails were given a sickening yellow color, the hands wrinkled and lacerated, "I'm just ready to be done with this whole matter and look forward to a weekend or afternoon where I don't have to hear her complaining."

Benjiro paused applying Kyo's makeup and quietly asked, "How h-has Higak-ki been doing?"

Kyo sadly grunted, "She shows up every now and then, but because of Fujibayashi's antics, she hardly comes around compared to before. That girl may be a serious hardhead, but she's so dedicated. I know for a fact that she probably has the lines down pat."

The monster boy stood up from his stool and donned his evil face and stuck his arms out in a stiff position and let his voice rumble. In his rough voice he asked, "How do I look, doctor."

Benjiro couldn't help but smile manically, clench his fists and bend backwards, "It's alive. It's alive. Bwahahahahaha."

After getting the giggles out of their system, Kyoshiro shook his head and got up to leave with the rest of the cast as they cleared out of the locker room. Before he reached the door, Benjiro called out "Hey, Kyo."

When his creation stopped, "Was Higaki your friend in m-middle school?"

"Uh, sort of. Nothing all that close, but I'd like to consider her one."

Taking a deep breath and a leap of faith, Benjiro asked, "What did H-Higaki used to b-be l-like back in m-middle school?"

Kyo sat back down for a moment, "She was a real little bundle of energy. She always put a ton of work into whatever she did, especially with drama club. To everyone else, it was a club, to her it was life. I sometimes think that if she didn't have to eat, she'd stay in auditoriums all day."

Benjiro smiled as he thought back to those hours long sessions that Akiko had him sit through in her room, "I c-can see that. What happened?"

Kyo opened his mouth but halted. He clenched and opened his hand as he thought. After a moment, "I don't know if I should be the one to tell you about that."

Benjiro's eyebrows knit together, "What's th-that supposed to mean?"

The Frankenstein monster boy shifted uncomfortably, "It's just something that's very personal for her that she's tried really hard to move on from."

It was Benjiro's turn to feel a little uncomfortable, "So bad th-that you c-cant tell m-me anything? Nothing at all?"

"Why do you even want to know so badly?"

Benjiro had a minor flashback to all the harsh things that Akiko had ever said to him. After his talk with his brother, he had began to look at each of those instances. While some of them still seemed rather random, he did notice a pattern in others. And he did notice that many of the incidents revolved around the presence of another girl. And those altercations partially unearthed memories of another woman's anger. The kind of woman he felt he owed an unpayable debt.

"W-We had a b-bit of a falling out and I j-just want to underst-stand."

Kyoshiro thought for a few minutes before resigning himself, "Alright, just don't blame me if you regret it at the end."

Benjiro simply sat back and listened to the tale.

"Back in middle school, Higaki wasn't the most popular girl in school, but she definitely was someone that everyone knew. She had guys asking her out every week, but by the time second year rolled around, she had to turn them away because she already accepted one guy's love confession. A guy named Joro Nakano."

"I'm guessing he was a piece of work", Benjiro inquired.

"Heh, more than you'd think. But you see, the thing is, Fujibayashi was actually in love with Nakano too."

Benjiro's mind suddenly went blank except for a small, "Uh oh."

"'Uh oh' is right. Fujibayashi tried to convince Nakano a bunch of times to dumb Higaki, but nothing came of it until-"

A knock at the locker room door interrupted their talk.

"Hey in there, if you're finished, we need Kyo on the stage soon."

Benjiro was annoyed but as his creation walked to the door, Kyo promised to finish the story later. As the door shut, Benjiro realized with a groan that he was finished with the boy's end of the work and all that was left was the girls. Which meant, it was finally time to get Mio Fujibayashi all dolled or monstered up.