Chapter 5
Izakaya
The izakaya was warm and busy, golden lantern light reflecting off polished wood. Cigarette smoke lingered like a cloud, acrid enough to invade the senses. Everywhere, salarymen slumped in their chairs as alcohol flowed, unwinding from a difficult week.
Around Elyna, conversations fired in that peculiar Japanese way where nobody seemed to raise their voice but everyone was heard.
Why she sat there, picking up chicken skewers in a shared plate, was the result of both curiosity and gratitude. Fujimoto had caught her at the door, claiming bonding time with her new colleagues was a must—aside from owing her a drink after the whole changing fiasco.
Elyna had not had the heart to refuse him, especially since Sano was joining in. Yet, she had not expected to find the Vice Principal already waiting at a table, tie askew, in the company of the school nurse.
An hour later, she cradled her beer and tried not to stare. Except in the dōjō, Katayū always looked immaculate. But an evening out drinking, and the rules changed drastically.
Speaking of revelations, she’d just learnt Fujimoto and Sano were flatmates, which explained their easy familiarity with each other.
“So let me get this straight,” she concluded, tracing the condensation on her glass. The alcohol was softening her caution just enough to ask questions. “Dr Sōhma, Katayū and Fujimoto… you all studied here? At Sakura Seishin?”
“Hai.” Their three voices rang in unison, military style. Elyna’s gaze drifted to Sano, who sat across from her with his shirtsleeves rolled to his elbows. Elyna gestured towards her supervisor, mindful not to point. “But you didn’t.”
Sano’s features were relaxed, making the corners of his eyes crinkle into soft lines. “I met Shin in university, actually.”
“Oh?” She nodded, filing away the nickname. “And you’ve been flatmates ever since?”
An extended silence descended, heavy enough to press on her shoulders. Fujimoto’s fingers wrapped around his beer, and Dr Sōhma tilted her head in that way Elyna was learning meant I’m not going to answer that. Sano’s smile shifted into a carefully neutral expression.
But Katayū met her eyes directly, his gaze sharp. “No.”
Just blunt honesty. Like a door slamming in her face, making the others tense. The Vice Principal didn’t practise tatemae; he would not lie to preserve harmony, and even dared using the most dreadful word. ‘No.’ An inconceivable rudeness here, in Japan.
That he would feel compelled to respond to her inquiries made Elyna’s stomach drop. Too personal. Scrambling for safer ground, she drew patterns on her glass. “Erm. How come the other teachers don’t join these nights out?”
Dr Sōhma pressed her hand to her mouth, hiding her amusement behind her sleeve like an Edo lady. “Katayū-kun may have a temper.” Her voice was bright with mischief.
The Vice Principal’s beer slammed on the table, rattling their glasses. “You! You’re the one always…”
He suddenly stopped mid-sentence, realising he’d been played.
Hook, line, and sinker.
The table erupted in laughter, sweeping Elyna’s indiscretion under the rug. Even Fujimoto, who’d been quietly working through his third beer with dedication, threw his head back and howled. The deep, rolling sound rumbled up from his barrel chest.
Elyna bit her lip, trying desperately not to grin. But there was no resisting Katayū’s affronted look. The glare he sent Dr Sōhma betrayed decades of friendship, eyebrows drawn together in a scowl that would have terrified students but only made his colleagues laugh harder.
He conceded defeat by reaching for his sake, and the whole table raised their glasses in sync. Elyna lifted her beer anew; this time, she couldn’t contain the grimace at the sharp bitterness that assaulted her tongue.
Dr Sōhma caught her eye and released a girlish giggle. “The female palate is more sensitive to bitterness,” she explained. “It’s biological. We have more taste receptors.”
Elyna blinked, genuinely fascinated. “Really?”
“Mm.” The school nurse nodded, her expression betraying the excitement of discussing academic matters. “Evolution, most likely. Women needed to detect toxins in food to protect children. Since men were hunters, they could afford to be less discriminating.”
“Mm, interesting,” Elyna mused, looking at her beer bottle.
Somehow, she often felt naked underneath Dr Sōhma’s gaze.
It was different from Katayū’s ability to walk in one’s mind like a hurricane.
In comparison, the school nurse seemed to slither in silently, carefully, so smoothly you didn’t know she’d been there until you realised she’d unearthed all your secrets.
“Occlumency shields,” Elyna muttered.
“Pardon?” Dr Sōhma asked, looking genuinely curious.
Elyna reddened. “Just a Harry Potter reference. Never mind.”
Her eyes found Sano’s across the table; his lips quirked in amusement. But something in his expression seemed to say you don’t have to suffer through the bitterness. Or perhaps she was projecting. Either way, beer didn’t cut it, even though it had been generously offered as an apology.
Elyna pushed her chair back and stood. “I think I’ll get something else.”
She approached the bar, finding the barman deep in conversation with a group of salarymen. Elyna tried to wave to get his attention. Someone grabbed her sleeve. She whirled around at the unwelcome touch.
By her side, a young man with bleached hair gave her a grin. The boy was probably just of drinking age, with that carefully cultivated rock star look that screamed university.
“What?”
“I can help, if you need,” the boy claimed. “I’m Takeshi by the way, Hajimemashite.”
A little stunned, Elyna pulled her sleeve back and nodded. Takeshi, it seemed, was a talkative boy. He started firing questions about her ‘first time in Japan’ and a whole lot of nonsense. In the meantime, the barman slid a glance her way, but ignored her entirely.
Elyna huffed, trapped between an overeager student and a man who probably enjoyed making gaijin squirm.
“Look, thank you, but I don’t need…”
The boy refused to take the hint, a smirk creeping up his smooth features. “Oh you obviously do.” He exchanged a loaded look with the barman, and gestured some kind of code.
Holding onto politeness, Elyna couldn’t find a way out; then two glasses of umeshu slid towards them. Now, how to get rid of that pushy kid who was adamant to ignore any polite rejection.
He leant closer, cologne too strong, asking about teaching English. Does this boy know about personal space? She wasn’t stupid enough to ignore what his offer to show her the “real Tōkyō” meant.
Elyna glanced desperately towards their table; Fujimoto had his back to her, gesturing with his beer. Katayū seemed deep in a heated debate with Dr Sōhma, his profile outlined in warm light.
But Sano… he caught her gaze, eyes narrowing slightly. His eyebrows lifted inquisitively.
"Hey, beauty, what do you say to—"
Wrenched away from the safety of her colleagues, Elyna’s irritation flared. She wrestled with her politeness, teeth gritted. “Listen, Takeshi-san…”, she started, staring straight into the boy’s eyes… until a solid bulk blocked her view.
Her eyes climbed up the open collar of a soft-looking shirt, only to find Sano smiling at her.
“Elyna-san, did you get your order?" he asked smoothly. Then he lifted his arm and caught the barman’s gaze: “Put it on our tab,
please.”
His tone was calm, but his voice carried firmly; he didn't shift until the barman had nodded back.
“Hey!” came Takeshi’s muffled voice in his back.“We were talking.”
Sano angled his body just enough to give the insistent student the kind of look that made his student straighten. Takeshi’s practised smile froze. “No harm in that, right, oji-san?”
Uncle. The insult was casual—you're too old to interrupt the game. She was surprised when Sano's jaw tightened.
“She’s not interested.” His voice was flat, cold. So different from the usual welcoming tone. None of Sano's composure cracked, though, as he reached past Takeshi to collect her glass of umeshu.
The gesture brought him close; Elyna froze, forgetting Takeshi and the strange tension as his presence invaded her senses. A clean, masculine scent wafted to her nose; his bare skin was an inch away. It would take the barest shift to—
“What, you her keeper?” Takeshi’s tone was gaining a distasteful edge.
That entitled little…
“Maybe let the lady speak for herself. You’re a bit old to be cock-blocking, don’t you think?”
Elyna gaped, stunned. She caught a gleam of steel in Sano's eyes before he turned. Slowly. His solid frame radiated the kind of quiet menace that came from years of dealing with rowdy students. Elyna pushed away from the bar, eyeing the two men warily.
This is new. And uncomfortable. Is it too late to intervene?
Sano wasn't the type of man to get into a brawl, right? She wouldn't put it past Katayū, but not her supervisor. Yet, the air had shifted between the man and the boy. A slow smile crept across his lips, a dangerous one that made Elyna shiver.
“Does your mother know you’re out?”, Sano asked mildly, as if genuinely curious.
Elyna burst into laughter as Takeshi’s face flushed dark red. A hand at her back guided her away from the bar, gentle but not hesitant, while she tried to rein in her amusement.
“ABBA? Really?” she chortled.
Sano gave her an amused smile. “Didn't you tell Fuji-san you liked ABBA?"
Eyes wide, Elyna reddened. "I… uh. You mean…"
So he was listening? To her ramblings about old groups and hard rock? Fujimoto was an unending wealth of recommendations for good music, but she would have sworn Sano had been working at the time. Or rolling his eyes at them.
Sano gave her a serene smile; he handed her the wine before reclaiming his seat, fingers brushing hers. The contact was flimsy, but it jolted out of her musings. She sat down, a little dazed.
"Did you ask the barman to card him?”, Fujimoto asked his flatmate. Sano shook his head, amused.