Of Yokai and Hopeless Romantics

Chapter 5

When Benihime woke up that Tuesday, the first thought that came to her mind was of the meeting with the mystery boy Mari had found her. Benihime knew that putting so much faith in a trickster like Mari might just be setting herself up for disappointment, but she couldn't help but get her hopes up. Benihime made her way to the school building, with Iko. When she got to her shoe locker, Benihime sighed, she didn't have to open it to know there were love letters inside from boys confessing their love to her. Benihime had grown to hate the love letters, not because she was against boys confessing their love to her, but because the letters were always anonymous. Ever since middle school she had received letters and only one had ever had a name on it, that had been Keiji's. Benihime put the love letters in her bag, she might get annoyed by them, but she always read them. If someone went to the trouble of expressing their feelings for her, Benihime felt the least she could do was read their letters. The sad truth was that Benihime also found some of the letters to be quite beautiful, if the some of the boys only wrote their names, she would gladly consider being their girlfriend. Yayaka often told her that it was her overly formal presence that led to boys viewing her from a distance, that she needed to loosen up. It wasn't that Benihime hadn't tried, but she just didn't feel comfortable, it always felt like she was putting on an act.

Benihime made her way to the classroom and then set about another day of classes. Soon enough it was lunch time and as had become her routine, Benihime made her way to Shoji's desk with her bento. She was met there by Yayaka, Mari, and Noriko. The group started eating and talking about their day, Benihime was silently enjoying the conversation, when Shoji mentioned the play he had started writing.

" I finally decided to get back to writing, I only have a rough outline so far though," Shoji said.

" He's been working really hard on the play," Noriko said, proud of her boyfriend.

" I am glad to hear that you have taken your interest in writing beyond just the articles for the school paper," Benihime said, feeling that writing a play was a good use of Shoji's talents.

" You're partially to thank for that Benihime-chan," Shoji said. Benihime looked a bit perplexed and Shoji explained, " when you told me about the great expectations for a descendant of Monk Boitan, I started to feel I was wasting my potential."

" I am glad my words helped you Shoji-san," Benihime said, truly happy that have made an impact on Shoji like he had made on her.

" I think I still have a long way to go before I start living up to my full potential like all of you," Shoji said.

" I think we should wait until we actually see this play before we go talking about how great you're becoming," Mari said and that earned her an elbow to the side from Noriko.

" What is the play about, I would love to have the Performing Arts Club put it on when you finish it, maybe I could even play the lead," Yayaka said.

" There you go using your influence again," Mari said.

" Quiet, let Shoji-kun answer," Yayaka responded.

" It's called The Monk and the Oni Princess. The title kind of explains the story, it's about a monk who tames the heart of a misunderstood oni princess," Shoji said. The girls all looked at Shoji and Noriko, " I guess it's a bit on the nose."

Shoji probably did not understand how close to the truth he was. While he knew all the girls were yokai, Noriko had yet to tell her boyfriend that she was an actual oni princess. Were his powers of perception that strong, because he was a descendant of Monk Boitan? Whatever the reason, Benihime thought it was sweet that Shoji was obviously creating a play that was inspired by his girlfriend. Noriko really had gotten herself a great boyfriend, not only kind and talented but working hard to improve himself. Benihime couldn't deny that she still felt a bit of heartache over having been turned down by Shoji. Mari looked at Benihime with a knowing smile. Shoji was the past, she had to leave him behind, look forward to the future that Mari had promised.