Peace
“Elyna, one of your students is here!”
Her mother’s voice was laced with concern; Katrine was still reeling from the abrupt phone call she’d received three days ago, asking to retrieve her daughter from the local hospital.
The state of her that day, skin torn and joints bruised, would remain with her for years to come.
Like a mother bear on a rampage, Katrine had picked up her phone, and insulted half of the school staff in both English and Norwegian before retrieving her offspring.
Sick of hearing reproaches, Elyna had retreated to her room. Three days hopping around the house with a splint, bandages and painkillers left her in a sour mood. Sleep was difficult, but the pain and chafing of healing skin wasn’t entirely responsible for her insomnia.
Memories of HIS smell, HIS embrace, HIS voice intruded in her dreams.
How will I ever face him again?
She expected Haruki, or Satsuki to pop up like the first day. But instead, it was a sheepish Shūji who appeared at her door. Elyna stared, incredulous.
“What do you want?” she snapped, irked by his gall. Shūji took a few steps in her room, and silently closed the door. Elyna didn’t even twitch at the bold move.
“Ne… Given your mother didn’t bite my head off, I bet you didn’t tell her who was responsible for…”
His features contorted in a grimace as he pointed to the splint. Elyna blinked; it almost felt like he regretted it. Then the usual mask returned, causing her anger to flare.
“You’d be in a world of trouble with my mother if I had. Probably at the police station, if not worse.”
Shūji paled a notch, then fished papers in his bag to lay them carefully on her desk. Elyna’s gaze flitted to the pile of documents, most of them in Haruki’s neat handwriting bar a few students’ random questions. Discipline-man to the rescue.
A large folded card landed on her desk, picturing a kitten reclining in a hospital bed, bandages littering its frame. Elyna bit back a smile. So kawaii! Shūji cleared his throat, looking awkward. “Ah, this is a little get-well card.”
Chest warm, Elyna reached for it with her good hand. By reflex, she tried to unfold it with the index finger that peeked from her splint. Pain immediately flared up her wrist, sharp enough to make her hiss.
“Here.” Shūji leant forward, holding the card steady.
Elyna shot him a puzzled look, unused to that softer side. He shrugged her surprise off. Signatures crowded every available space of the card in a chaotic mix of kanji and English.
Get well soon, Elyna-sensei! —We miss you in class! —Come back quick! (The ‘ly’ had been crossed out and rewritten twice.)
Some of them had given up on English, but the message was still sweet. Elyna’s throat tightened as she traced them all. Yamamoto Kenta’s bold strokes. Tanaka Ren’s tiny, computer-perfect characters. Satsuki’s neat Kanji were here, too.
“The other classes wanted in,” Shūji added as she pointed to the little lady’s message.
Elyna’s lips curved, overwhelmed by the sheer number of signatures. Then her eyes caught on a cluster near the bottom corner, a place apparently reserved for teachers. Organised to the end.
Katayū’s atrocious chicken scratch. Fujimoto’s blocky kanji. Kimura-sensei, the cooking teacher, had drawn a steaming teacup beside her name. Even Shimizu-sensei, the other English teacher, had written Get well soon in careful script.
And there, amongst them: Sano-sensei had left his name, with a warm ‘Wishing you a good recovery.’
It would take hours to analyse every single message, and Elyna closed the card, mindful of her tender wrist. Painkillers did wonders for the insistent ache, unless she moved a muscle—which happened every time she forgot she was a cripple.
Shūji pulled out a second, smaller envelope from his worn-out bag. “Those are Sano-sensei’s instructions.”
Her pulse kicked up as she took it, hyper-aware of the boy’s scrutiny.
It’s only work.
She awkwardly fished out an elegant sheet of paper, folded once. The handwriting was unmistakably his—clear, almost calligraphic strokes.
“Elyna-san,
I hope your wrist heals quickly and that you are not in too much pain. Please do not push yourself to come back before you are ready. Your health takes priority. Even though your presence makes classes more vivid, your students are doing fine.”
Her heart skipped a beat when her eyes caught his signature. Or rather, the beautifully sketched melon beside it. “Remember: fresh fruit, no processed sugar. Healing goes better with proper nutrition.”
—Sano Kazuki
Elyna’s thumb brushed over the little drawing with tenderness. Her lips wanted to quirk, but Shūji was watching her. She would bask in this little treasure later. Folding the note awkwardly, her gaze returned to the boy who’d inadvertently sent her to the emergency room.
He was fidgeting with the air of someone expecting the tongue-lashing of his life.
A beat of silence, heavy, passed between them. A flock of crows flew by her window in a cacophony of cries, prompting Shūji to clear his throat. “I… uh. I came with money to pay for the splint.”
Elyna’s eyebrows shot up. Money? Was that the reason for his visit? 28 000 yen to buy her silence? “Keep your money, I don’t need it. Now get the hell out of dodge.”
Shūji’s chest heaved with a great, tired sigh. “Elyna-chan…”
“Don’t you DARE call me that, sushi,” she hissed, resting the splint over her desk to keep it stable. “You have no right to call me that. Pranks were alright, but this is a whole other level of nastiness.”
Shūji hung his head, truly chastised. “I know! I know… But before I leave you in peace, I wanted to offer my apologies. Gomen nasai. I really, really didn’t want you to get hurt.”
And you always get what you want?
She ignored what kind of neglect or failing authority had made him like this, oblivious to others’ feelings and diving head-on into confrontations, but she refused to be a victim of his failings.
“Do you ever think before you act, baka?” Elyna retaliated, pushing away the papers to face him, revealing the heavy bandages upon her cheek. The movement sent a sharp jolt of pain on the still healing skin.
Shūji grimaced. “Not always, unfortunately,” he admitted with such earnestness that she blinked. He seemed so despondent that it tugged at her heart. Elyna mercilessly crushed that compassion; it wouldn’t do to sympathise with her tormentor.
“Listen,” he started, voice subdued. “I like teasing people, and you’ve taken it so well you made it interesting. But I never meant to hurt you.”
Would good intentions erase the hours spent crying while gravel was pried out of her cheek? If Aksel ever got his hands on Shūji, he would probably break his jaw, gangly youth or not.
Shaking in anger, Elyna tried to breathe it out. “You’re seventeen, Shūji! Your pranks hurt people, and sometimes even your words are enough. Don’t you see how Satsuki-chan reacts to your teasing?”
The boy’s eyes darted to the side at the scolding.
“Sacchan… doesn’t know, but Haruki-kun is ice cold.”
Ah! A harsh blow to sociable Onishi Shūji. Three full days of silent treatment from his best friend. But Elyna refused to allow his sob story to mellow her mood, if only because he wasn’t the one who would have to swallow codeine to sleep tonight.
“And this concerns me because?” she deadpanned.
Taken aback by her coldness, Shūji lifted his hands. “Because you are a nice woman?”
“Good one,” Elyna smirked. “You may fool Katayū-sensei, but you don’t fool me.”
The boy shifted from one foot to the other, losing his feline grace as he sighed. “Anyway, I get it. You’re mad at me, and you have every right to be. I just wanted to thank you for not ratting me out, and to apologise.”
Elyna watched him with squinted eyes; was that true remorse in his voice? “Of your own volition?” she chanced.
Her pointed stare unravelled him. Shūji’s expression shifted, and he sat upon the ground, folding his legs in perfect seiza.
“Because Keik… Sōhma-san says she’d bust my ass if I don’t. She said I should get your bag every day until you can do it on your own.”
Elyna’s eyes widened at the confession, and a smirk lifted the corner of her lips. “How does she even know?”
Shūji shuddered. “She’s scary that way.”
Now, what to do with that impossible boy? She was pretty sure a heart lived in this chest, somewhere, but his way of dealing with emotions was just terrible. Perhaps bluntness would be more efficient. What if she offered a compromise?
“Listen,” she eventually said. “I’m not interested in your guilt. You deserve it. I’ll tell Sōhma-san you offered, and I turned you down.”
The very idea of confronting the head medic caused a shiver to run up her spine, but if it could prevent her from dealing with an overbearing Shūji, it was worth it. She was so done being a mouse in his cats’ games.
“Elyna…”
“Don’t Elyna me, sushi!” she snapped, wincing as her outburst pulled on her bandage. “You played on a phobia I have no control over! It was…” Her chest heaved, the swirling emotions difficult to rein in.
Shūji’s wide eyes dropped in shame as she struggled to compose herself. Then, he bowed. All the way into the ground, like a retainer facing his master before death. Elyna’s spiralling thoughts screeched to a halt.
“I’m sorry,” came Shūji’s muffled voice from the floor. “I really didn’t mean…”
Elyna took a deep, annoyed breath and stared. For the first time, Shūji had shed all the layers of deceptiveness, leaving behind a wounded boy.
“Well,” she sighed. “They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And yours definitely weren’t. Now if you feel like helping me, you are welcome. If you do it out of guilt or obligation, you can shove it.”
The moment her words sunk in, Shūji’s spine straightened. No longer contrite, but slightly awed. Then, his mask settled back into place, eyes sparkling with glee. Elyna almost groaned.
“I like you, Elyna-chan,” he drawled, tilting backwards to unfold his legs like a cat after a nap. “Not like, like. But I respect the way you stand your ground.”
Well, that’s a start.
“Yeah,” she admitted, her gaze shifting to the door. “I get enough pushing around from my mum as it is.”
Shūji nodded, head tilted aside as if he as if trying to pierce her secrets. “Still trying to marry you off?" he chanced, eyes sparkling with mischief.
How does he even know? Satsuki was the only one she’d told about the corporate event.
A Cheshire grin spread upon his face, foreshadowing that particular brand of idea Elyna was not fond of. When he wiggled his eyebrows, she feared the worst. “Cute engineers not your style?”
“It’s none of your business,” Elyna deadpanned, already regretting the olive branch she’d just extended.
“You’ve got someone else in your heart?”