Alter Ego

"Finally, I thought you were never going to- WAAH"

She jumped backwards in surprise after seeing his face.

"Oh, it's just you. Jeez, don't scare me like that. I thought you were a ghost or something."

She leaned against the wall and put a hand over her heart. It was all Benjiro could do to keep himself from laughing out loud. She needed a moment to learn how to breath again. She looked back at him and was beginning to have serious second thoughts about her invitation.

"Why on earth are you wearing that much makeup?"

"Curious about what I do in my free time, are you?"

"Do always spend your free time looking like an over the top haunted house employee?"

He paused for a moment to think.

"Hehehe. I would probably be more offended by that statement, if it weren't so true."

"That was a seriously creepy chuckle. Whatever, I didn't come here to criticize what you do behind closed doors. Are you ready?"

"Am I reaaaa-", he was stuck on that last syllable as he remembered what was supposed to happen that evening.

"Oh right. Wait," he turned around to look at a clock. "It's only 6:30. I thought you said it wasn't until 7?"

"It is, haven't you ever heard of arriving early to an engagement."

Benjiro just gave an uncomfortable grunt of assent.

"Besides, I figured you might flake, so I'm here make certain that you didn't forget."

She noticed that he was still wearing his uniform

"And it appears, that I was right to come here. You still haven't changed out of your uniform. "

'What happened to his voice? It definitely didn't sound so "rough" before. And where did that stutter go?'

He looked down embarrassed, and was unsure of what to do with his hands.

"Just give me a moment. I need to wash this off. You can sit down in the living room in the meantime."

Benjiro traveled back to the bathroom and took one last look in the mirror. It seemed like such a shame to wash away something that took over a half hour to complete. However, first impressions weren't easy to nail, so off with the persona, and on with reality. That girl wasn't wrong about the importance of arriving early to something like this. He wished the setup for this meeting had happened any other way, but that didn't change the facts.

"Should I use the wipes?", he wondered, "No, I've got quite a bit on, I'd probably go through half the bag if I did. Water it is."

While he was busy scrubbing his face with the most abrasive washcloth he could find, Akiko was downstairs. She had been told that you could often tell what kind of person you were dealing with by the state of their home. But if that was the case, she honestly had nothing to say. She knew that this guy's family had only been in the area for a few months but for some reason the house didn't seem... alive.

The furniture looked new, or at the very least, not worn down. There weren't any pictures and the walls looked like they hadn't been painted for a while. There were a few odds and ends laying around but not to the point where things could be considered messy. Those things all puzzled her but there was something else about the house that made her uncomfortable. Akiko was getting the feeling that she wanted to leave just as soon as Benjiro came down the stairs. Unfortunately, he was unconsciously walking silently, as he approached the girl from behind.

"Alright, I'm-"

"Waah!" She jumped again which made him jump a few feet in turn.

"W-what did I d-do this t-time?"

She needed another moment to breathe.

"Jeez, will you stop walking so quietly. I didn't hear you come up behind me. "

Benjiro grinned to himself

'Still haven't lost my touch", he thought.

He had changed into something more casual.

"I-I'm r-ready."

She stood up and speed walked out of the room with Benjiro following closely behind. He wondered why she was in such a rush.

'Why is she- oh right', he remembered, 'Why would you want to spend any time in the house of a guy who you think tried to knock you down on purpose.'

That thought clouded him as he walked across the street. Looking up, he noticed that her house was a little bigger than his. She opened up her front door.

" I'm back Mom, and I brought him." She called out, her voice echoing slightly

The woman who was clearly Akiko's mother stepped into the foyer. Her apron had a couple different things dusting the front of it.

"Ah, hello there young man. I'm Akiko's mother, Rin. It's a pleasure to meet you, although I do wish the circumstances for doing so were a little different."

She said the last sentence with a smile, but one quick glance at her daughter and Akiko could feel a little shiver travel down her spine.

"Um, n-nice to m-meet y-you as w-well, m-ma'am. My n-name is-s B-Benjiro N-Nojiri. Th-thanks for h-having me over."

"Not at all. I've been looking for a reason to say hello for a while now, but your family seems to be quite the elusive type."

"Oh, s-sorry ab-bout th-that."

"Where are my manners, come inside. You were invited for dinner, not to stand at our doorstep."

Unbeknownst to the trio that went inside, there was someone that was watching at a distance perfect for some mild spying. She snapped a few quick pictures of the journey between the two doorsteps and quietly chuckled to herself.

"Oh-ho-ho, the other two are totally not going to believe me when I tell them about this."

Benjiro followed the two inside and noticed just how spacious the downstairs was. The scent of some sort of curry was in the air. He wondered what they could use with all that room, when he heard the sound of bickering. As he walked into the living, he saw two boys playing a racing game. They looked somwhere between three and six years younger than Benjiro, respectively. They both looked like they were getting into it a little too much.

"No, that isn't where the shortcut is. It's on the left on that ramp facing the cliff."

"Heck no, I know that's just you trying to get me to crash into the wall."

"Fine, don't believe me. That's why you can't win a single round against me."

"That's just because you cheat. Laying all those bananas on the sharp corners."

"That's just what losers say when they can't stop losing. And it's not cheating, it's called strategy."

"I'm going to make you eat those words."

"No, you're going to eat my dust, because… I just won again!"

The sound of victory trumpets and a few whoops from the older boy signaled the end of the race.

"Darn it, one more round. This time around you won't win"

Akiko's mother walked over and gave both of them a light whack on the head with a wooden spoon.

"That's enough, you two. Stop arguing, stop playing that video game and head to the table, it's time to eat."

"Aw, cmon Mom." they both complained, "We just need one more game to break the tie and then we'll eat."

"You two have been at it practically since you got home. We're going to eat, later you'll do your homework, and then I may let you resume your game."

"But we still-"

Rin stepped forward, her face neutral but her eyes practically screaming "Excuse me?", thumping the spoon against her thigh.

"If you don't want to have a not-sitting down session with this spoon in my hand, you will get ready now."

The two boys didn't need any further instruction as they scurried to put the controllers away and get to the table. Benjiro's could feel his hand twitching. He made a fist and dug the nails into his palm. He just stood at the archway, unsure of what to do next . Rin turned around and motioned for him to come inside.

"Sorry about that. Those are my two sons, Daisuke and Haruo. They're both highly competitive with each other. They don't always like to listen so, sometimes a little persuasion is needed to get the point across."

Akiko gave one of those combination sigh and headshakes that seemed to be typical of older siblings.

"They're both a couple of little punks, and they can't seem to sit still. But they don't mean anything by it, I'm sure."

She made her way to the table while Benjiro stayed where he was, unsure of what he should do next.

It's okay to relax a little. Have a seat and we'll get things started in a moment."

Benjiro sat down and stayed still as a rock. He tried sweeping his eyes around to help the unease he felt. Not only was the room spacious, it was also quite colorful. The living room was a light shade of green and the kitchen countertops made of a deep blue marble, the cabinets and cupboards stained a very nice shade of oak. Akiko was making short trips back and forth from the kitchen, carrying the dishes with her. They seemed to have no particular order regarding their color or pattern. Rin went and poked her head inside the stairwell.

"Dear, come downstairs, dinner is just about ready."

A man's voice called down, "I'll be down in just a moment. Just got a few more things to scribble down."

'Her father is here too?! Well, I guess that's to be expected. There are some people who don't work on the weekends.'

"Alright, that should just about do it."

The sound of footsteps clunking down the stairs reminded Benjiro of stories where travelers in the woods could hear animals approaching. But instead of a werewolf instead there was a man who appeared at least a few years older than Rin. He looked to be losing some of his hair color around the temples and sideburns. He had a pair of glasses on top of his head and looked both tired and annoyed.

"I swear, those tax documents are going to be the death of me."

He stopped as he noticed a boy that he had never seen before sitting with his family.

"Dear, who is this boy?"

"Oh, this is Benjiro Mabuki, the son of our neighbor that moved in a few months ago. I mentioned that he was coming over a few hours ago."

"I see, I must've been too absorbed in the paperwork.", he turned and offered a bow, "Pardon me, young man. My name is Shoma Higaki. Pleasure to meet you."

Benjiro got out of his seat and offered a bow in return. He tried to reply to the greeting, he could feel his mouth moving, but no sound was coming out. He pinched his leg.

"Th-thank y-you. A-and n-n-nice meet-ting you as w-well."

Shoma got into his seat, at the head of the table of course. Benjiro didn't dare sit down until her father did first.