Pushover

The next day, Benjiro had to spend all day trying to dodge the Domon Battalion. Even if they weren't too keen on hurting the younger brother of an urban legend, they wouldn't stand idly by while someone disrespected their goddess. Luckily for him, Benjiro had a good memory and had charted out a course through the maze of hallways that cut through a few classrooms that were changing students. And with him packing a few things from his home, scant as they may be, he could avoid a trip to the school cafeteria.

In his language class, Hiromi shot him a glare that Benjiro couldn't tell if it was angry or just confused. After classes wrapped up and he wandered over to the auditorium, the intercom sounded off and told him that the principal wanted to see him after class. This attracted a few raised eyebrows from the rest of the club. As he moped his way to the office, he tried to think of a reason why he could be called in. On one hand, meeting the principal usually means you're in trouble, and he didn't think he had done anything that warranted the woman on top's attention. On the other hand, maybe he just forgot something in the class, since the staff room is where they had the lost and found.

Standing in front of the principals' door, Benjiro was so jittery, he could barely form a fist to knock on the door.

"You may enter." An authoritative voice called out.

Stepping inside the office, it wasn't too fancy but not bad looking. There were a couple completely filled floor-to-ceiling bookshelves against the walls. Sitting behind a red oak desk sat the principal: A woman that looked roughly in her 40's or 50's. She sat straight in her chair, presenting an air of authority that was equal parts friendly yet intimidating. Benjiro supposed that dealing with a bunch of hormonal teenagers, that was a good balance to strike.

Standing stock still, "H-hello th-there Pr-principal H-Handa. Um, d-did I d-do s-something b-b-bad?"

Principal Handa lightly smiled and pointed an open hand at one of the chairs in front of her desk. Benjiro walked like a robot and slowly sat down, picturing that the chair might suddenly shoot out handcuffs. The principal continued smiling like she was amused, "You can relax Mr. Nojiri, you aren't in trouble."

Benjiro let his head hang back and sighed loudly.

"However", Principal Handa continued, "I did call you here for an important reason."

Benjiro straightened up, "(Ahem) Wh-what d-do you n-need?"

"I was looking over your transcript and I see that you attended an international school while your father was still in the military."

Benjiro nodded

"Did you make a lot of friends that spoke other languages there?"

He nodded once more

"Going by your grades, I see that your skills in the English language are among the best in the school."

He couldn't help but let a smile creep onto his face.

"I'd like to think that this school's curriculum challenges our students but you seem to excel at this particular subject."

Rubbing the back of his head, "W-well, I g-got a l-lot of pr-practice w-with the other k-kids. And th-they g-got me into W-Western m-music, s-so I l-learned a l-lot that w-way."

The principal's eyes crinkled a little from smiling, "That's very interesting. But, I didn't call you here to simply talk about your past schooling."

Benjiro straightened up, "Wh-What is it?"

"There's someone I want you to tutor."

Benjiro's eyebrows shot up as his heart twisted.

"M-me? T-teach?"

Principal Handa simply nodded in response.

"B-but I-I've n-never t-taught anyone b-before."

"You wouldn't be teaching them from scratch. You would simply be there to reiterate the parts they don't understand."

Benjiro grumbled and gripped his pant legs.

'What do I do now? I can't divide myself too far. I need to focus on getting the makeup ideas for the drama club, and I haven't been able to write more than a few stanzas for the poetry contest.'

"Well you wouldn't be doing this for nothing. This would be a good way to earn extra credit. In addition, colleges take great interest in students that take time to help those who are struggling."

'That doesn't sound half bad, but there's still a lot to consider.'

Looking up but not straight at the principal, "C-could I h-have s-some time t-to th-think about it?"

Principal Handa laced her fingers together and nodded, "Certainly. Do you think you'll be able to make a decision soon?"

"I'll h-have one b-by tomorrow or the n-next d-day."

Exiting the principals' office he didn't realize just how much of a knot had formed in his stomach until he exhaled. The principals office was on the third floor and Benjiro paused at the staircase. With a white knuckle grip on the railing, he made sure to put both feet on one step before descending to another. A few other students passed him, wondering why he was walking at a snail's pace. After slowly making his way down the flights, he paused for a moment to breath and slap himself in the face.

Reentering the auditorium, he attracted a few more quick glances wondering if he had gotten in trouble, but Benjiro's casual stroll spoke for itself. He walked up behind President Saito and waited for him to finish observing the act of Dr. Frankenstein speaking to his associate about the chances of success for his mad invention. Turning around, Saito started a little, "Oh, Nojiri, don't sneak up on me like that."

"S-sorry."

Saito waved a hand, "Ah, it's alright. Although I must say, you have very silent footsteps."

Benjiro snorted lightly, "Um, P-Prez, I have a q-question."

Saito held up a hand, "Don't worry about the cost of your makeup. Remember, just talk to our treasurer and we'll get the details hammered out."

Benjiro shook his head, "It's n-not about th-that. The pr-principal asked a f-favor of m-me."

"Oh, um", Saito put one hand on his head and the other his hip, "What does she want from you?"

"Sh-she wants m-me to t-tutor someone in E-English, b-but I w-wanted to t-talk to you f-first. I don't kn-know how d-doing both th-this and that."

Saito stroked his chin in thought for a moment, "Well, truth be told, your job isn't one that requires you to show up in club every day."

Benjiro paused mid sentence, "Hah?"

"Well, truth be told, we're only in the beginning of production so, the actual play won't be complete for months. And we won't need to actually have you make my monsters until we're ready to start advertising."

With his hands still poised to gesture, "So, I don't actually have to be here every day?"

"No, but I'd at least like you to check back in once a week to make sure the designs are coming along well."

Benjiro puckered his mouth in consideration, 'So I could've stopped waking up at five in the morning like a week ago and nobody said anything to me?', he mused

"S-so I g-guess it's a g-good thing I d-didn't b-become an official m-member.'

Saito smirked while crossing his arms, "Yeah, I'm a little disappointed you haven't signed up, but all things considered this worked out pretty well for you."

The remainder of that days practice, Benjiro spent sitting in one of the seats, scribbling ideas in his notebook and being amused by the blunders of early production. Igor couldn't stop giggling thinking about how odd he looked while mimicking digging which made Dr. Frankenstein crack up too. And with all the shenanigans Marie Shelley had trouble keeping a consistent soliloquy.

The next day, Benjiro almost didn't mind being woken up at 5:30 in the morning as this would hopefully be the last time he'd be required to do it daily.

"What are you so pleasant for this morning?" asked Akiko, "Normally when you drag yourself out of bed this early in the morning, you look more dead than alive."

Benjiro turned to her with a three quarters awake face, "W-Well, I g-got offered t-to tutor someone. And I t-talked it over with S-Saito and he s-said that r-right now, I d-don't h-have to show up every d-day."

"You're going to tutor someone?" Akiko said distrustfully, "An actual person. You're not just making something up to quit the club."

"N-nope, I t-talked with the princip-pal and I'll be t-teaching someone English."

Akiko screwed up her face, "Since when do you speak English."

Benjiro donned a smug grin, "Remember h-how I said m-my Dad w-worked as a r-rescuer? Well, l-living on b-base, I m-made a f-few friends from America and Austral-lia. S-so th-they helped me to l-learn, so w-we could talk to each other."

"That seems like an awfully convenient skill to have, don't you think?"

Benjiro raised his arms in the air, "Maybe, m-maybe not. B-But, a ch-chance to earn s-some extra c-credit and n-not wake up every d-day is a ch-change I welcome."

Akiko looked distracted for a second, "So, I guess that means we won't be walking to play practice together in the mornings."

Benjiro knit his eyebrows together, "Hm, I s-suppose that's r-right. I g-guess you'd prefer th-that. Not h-having to s-see my h-haggard face when y-you first w-wake up every day. Well, w-we both g-get something we w-want, then."

He wasn't sure why, but he was both surprised yet not when Akiko slugged him in the arm and speedwalked ahead of him. Massaging his partially numb arm, he wondered what he said before coming to the conclusion he probably said something he shouldn't have again and most likely deserved it.