Give and Take

The next morning when the two neighbors left their houses, they didn't avoid each other. Benjiro tried to do the usual head nod, but for once, Akiko didn't seem in the mood. Pausing, she pursed her lips, sighed and marched to the other side of the road. Benjiro's eyes widened a little seeing her approach, but instead of being greeted by a punch, a kick, he was simply greeted.

"Morning, Nojiri", she greeted as she kept walking.

The dark haired boy almost tripped from hearing that.

'She actually said "Good morning" and isn't acting crazy for once', he analyzed, 'Oh, I have to be dreaming right now. That's the only explanation. Why would Higaki show me common human decency if this wasn't some elaborate fantasy. Or, better question, why is this something I'm even dreaming about-'

"Hey!"

He lightly shook his head from his thoughts and turned towards Akiko.

"When someone says "Good morning" to you", she lectured, "You're supposed to return it with the same phrase."

"R-Right. Um... G-Good morning."

"Hmph", she snorted, "You get a 2 out of 5 for that. Work on your etiquette."

Benjiro slowly raised one eyebrow, "M-Me, work on m-my etiquette?"

"Yes", she quickly responded, "If you can't say a simple morning greeting, then how are you going to handle talking with people you aren't familiar? You can't just turtle up like you usually do."

He was about to respond but shut his mouth. Part of him knew she wasn't wrong, but he was still annoyed at the abruptness.

"Exc-cuse me f-for n-not knowing how t-to respond wh-when you've n-never done it b-before, yours-self", he fired back.

Akiko looked at him out of the corner of her eye, "I'm not interested in backtalk", she pointed a finger at him, "I'm going on ahead. I need to discuss something with you. I'll meet you in your little hermit hole when lunchtime comes. Don't skip out."

After saying what she intended, she practically skipped off, 'Is she humming to herself?' Benjiro pondered.

As he continued his daily walk to school, alone, he noticed people were staring at him again. Ordinarily, he would've brushed it off, but this time the stares felt different. Keeping his head facing forward, Benjiro swept his eyes around until he saw the rubberneckers. There was a small group of roughly ten or fifteen of them across the street. There were more guys than girls and they all looked a couple years older than him. The way they were staring wasn't like the rest of the school. It wasn't wide-eyed wonder, or jealousy like from the Domon Battalion. Instead, it felt like a gang of cats, looking at bird with a broken wing.

Snapping his eyes forward, the hairs on Benjiro's arm stood at attention. He quickened his pace and didn't slow down until he crossed the schoolground's threshold. Stopping at his locker, he felt his heart jackhammering inside his ribcage. He didn't understand why he felt so afraid, but he knew that sometimes, instinct did work.

Lunchtime came and Benjiro saw Akiko get up from her usual table to follow him out of the room. Noticing that she was glaring at something, he followed her gaze and saw her friends, all of them wearing smiles that would give a serial killer, the creeps. When the pair came to the empty music room, Benjiro slid down the wall and stretched his spiderlike legs onto the floor. Akiko knew that he was tall, but seeing him laid out seemed almost insulting to a short person like her, "Why did you never join something like basketball or volleyball? They probably would've loved to have a giant like you on the team."

Benjiro untied the string on his lunch box, "I n-never thought I c-could c-compete with guys l-like them", he said dismissively, "Anyw-way, what d-did you want?"

Sitting down on the bench, she struck a scholarly pose, "OK, I'm proposing a deal for the both of us", she declared, "I want you to be my acting partner. You'll help me run through certain scenes, you'll give your opinion on what could be improved, so on and so forth."

Benjiro knit his eyebrows together in skepticism, "And wh-what d-do I g-get out of th-this?"

"The satisfaction of knowing that you've helped a bright, young talent to truly hone her true passion in life", she immediately answered.

The sitting boy donned an unimpressed frown.

"What? Don't you have a sense of altruism?" she asked, "You know, helping people without asking for anything in return, just because it's the right thing to do?"

"I kn-know what the w-word means", he responded, keeping his face stony, "And y-you know w-we don't have th-that kind of relationship."

"Oh, come on", Akiko protested, "I thought we started hitting it off yesterday, didn't we? Not that that meant anything deeper."

Benjiro crossed his arms, "J-Just because w-we don't l-like the same p-person, d-doesn't m-make us friends."

"Considering how you spend your lunch period and weekends, wouldn't you want some actual friends?" she asked without thinking.

Realizing how bad that sounded, she shut her eyes and bit her tongue. To Akiko, it looked like the boy hadn't moved, but unknown to her, his jaw slightly clenched, "Case in point", he said slowly, "I h-have a l-lot of th-things going on. I d-don't have t-time to indulge you in a v-vanity project. And c-certainly n-not for f-free."

Akiko looked down at her lap, her mind searching for a quick solution.

"B-Besides", Benjiro continued, "Wh-what good w-would it do to h-help you p-practice? Y-you're an underst-study. F-Fujibay-yashi m-may be a b*tch, and n-not a great actress, b-but sh-she does have her v-vanity. S-So, wh-what makes y-you think she'd d-do anyth-thing to not g-get herself a l-lot of attention?"

Akiko made a disgusted face, but knew that the boy sitting in front of her had a point. She laced her fingers together and began pressing her thumbs together, "What if I told you that I didn't want to be an understudy?"

Benjiro shrugged in an exaggerated way, "B-Beats me. Does anyone w-want to g-get second p-place? It h-happens sometimes."

She shook her head vigorously, "No, that's not what I mean! I meant, what if I wanted to go for the lead girl's role, but couldn't because someone has something on me?"

He drew in one knee so he could lean his elbow on it, "Wh-why would s-someone g-go out of th-their way to sc-screw you over l-like that?"

Straightening her chin, "Like you said, 'She's a b*tch."

Realizing the situation, he slowly raised one eyebrow, "Wh-What d-does sh-she have on y-you?"

Akiko's face turned pale, "I can't tell you."

Benjiro just leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling.

"You just need to know that I want to show Saito what I can do, and that way, maybe I can get the part I worked so hard for."

The annoyed boy knew he was starting to cave, but he could still try to hold her off, "I-I'll be really b-busy."

She eagerly leaned forward, "That doesn't matter. When are you free?"

The sudden energy made him press his back against the wall in surprise, "Um, I-I h-have to tutor someone. Th-That'll t-take maybe an hour or s-so."

"That's fine", she quickly reassured with a grin, "I can do anytime as long as it's not too late at night."

He cleared his throat, trying to build up the nerve, "And, I'm st-still going t-to be w-wanting s-something from y-you."

Akiko's enthusiasm was quickly replaced by a look of apprehension, "What do you mean by that?"

Benjiro put his hand against his mouth to think. Sweeping his eyes up and down her, 'She has a similar skin tone as the wench. Although, if I'm using different colors for a patchwork look, I suppose, it only matters a little.'

The petite girl turned away, a few degrees and covered her chest, "Hey, just where do you think you're looking?"

Snapping his fingers and pointing, "OK, y-you'll w-work."

In his head, he was pleading, 'Please let this work!'

"I w-want you to b-be my model."

That sick sense of nostalgia returned when he received an uppercut to the thorax. Taking a moment to catch his breath and massage his stinging and aching chest, he realized how bad what he just said was.

Raising a finger while gasping for air, "OK, ,th-that sounded b-bad."

Keeping a hand over her own chest, "What makes you think I'd do something like that? I'm not trying on outfits for you, you pervert."

Confusion followed by annoyance at her stupidity traveled through Benjiro's head, "Th-that's not wh-what I meant. I w-want you to let m-me put makeup on y-you."

Akiko's hands relaxed and an embarrassed smile replaced it, "Oh, that, ha ha. Why didn't you say that in the first place."

Benjiro narrowed his eyes, 'Because I was too busy getting the wind knocked out of me, and most likely having a new bruise formed.'

"So, you help me run lines and I'll be your model so you can make President Saito's Frankenstein monsters", she reviewed, "Does that sound like a deal?"

Benjiro nodded in affirmation.

"Alright then", Akiko said while walking to the exit, "I suppose, that's that."

Turning around as she opened the door, "I want to start as soon as we can. When you're finished doing whatever, just come straight to my house. Given that we're neighbors, travel time should be no issue."

As the door shut, leaving a heavy silence in the room, Benjiro sighed a sigh of relief. Enjoying the silence for a moment, until he realized what had just happened, he slapped his forehead.

"Ugh, why am I so bad at telling people 'No?'"