Chapter 27
Autumn leaves
The young woman glowed, all golden skin and salt-bleached hair, looking more radiant than ever. In a country where girls avoided the sun to keep their porcelain complexion, she would probably face criticism. But Kami-sama, he understood the appeal now!
Elyna had gone into the waves and emerged a sea fairy. Is it bad that I want to visit Cornwall now?
“Elyna-sensei! Did you bring something back?” Daichi called from the back of the room in lieu of a greeting.
“Daichi-kun,” he warned. “Manners!”
Even though the omiyage tradition held fast in Japan, Kazuki wouldn’t accept anyone begging for it. Daichi coloured slightly. “Ah, sorry sensei.”
Elyna didn’t seem offended and gave him a sunny smile. “Of course, I haven’t forgotten! I got you all millionaire shortbread!”
Kazuki had to bite back a groan; the appeal of sugar was always stronger than discipline. But he allowed the little commotion, if only to set the mood. Elyna was soon surrounded by well-wishers and opportunists, offering both joy and treats.
Her magnetism had grown tenfold after the summer break, and he filed away the observation: Elyna needed regular dips in the ocean to thrive.
What am I even thinking?
There was a session to organise; the first class of the semester was always heavy with paperwork, announcements and various communications.
The morning was punctuated with returned homework, essays and a new schedule until the bell rang for recess. Work, it seemed, was an ideal distraction for wayward thoughts. But the water fairy had other ideas.
She walked up to his desk once the last student had filed out of the room; he couldn’t help but check on her wrist. No splint, even though the grip on the messenger bag still looked awkward.
“I… found this for you,” Elyna’s tone was tentative, her body language hesitant.
When she offered a small wrapped package with both hands and a respectful bow, he just stared at the sun-bleached waves brushing her collarbone. “I felt you would appreciate it better than five pounds of milk chocolate,” she added, smile playful.
His lips twitched; despite the teasing, he was grateful for her attempt at finding an alternative to her usual sugar bombs.
He extended both hands, receiving the package with ceremony; it weighed little.
The tradition dictated that he shouldn’t open it in front of her, but it wouldn’t do to offend her.
He carefully unwrapped it, revealing a metal bookmark decorated with intricate Celtic knots. His fingers traced the delicate patterns.
“Cornwall used to have tin mines that closed in the late nineties,” Elyna explained, watching his reaction.
Running his thumb along the polished pattern, he wondered if the Vice Principal would receive one too. “Arigatō gozaimashita,” he thanked her with a smile. “It’s very thoughtful.”
An awkward silence stretched between them. Kazuki scrambled for safer ground. “Has your wrist healed?”
“Oh yeah, mostly. I couldn’t get hold of a physiotherapist for such a short time, but I exercised it a lot.”
Suspicious, Kazuki folded his arms to give her a pointed stare. “Mild exercise, I surmise?”
Elyna’s face lit up as she recounted how she’d body boarded in enormous swells of the Atlantic, and biked through every narrow road of coast. He almost choked, appalled.
The gall of that woman! She doesn’t even look sheepish. The urge to lecture her warred with the inexplicable need to hear every reckless detail. She’d probably dive into a typhoon if someone told her the waves were good.
“Is that the British definition of mild exercise?”
Elyna paused, her tongue darting out to wet her lips as she fought a smile. “Ah, no, that’s Aksel’s.”
She looks positively radiant. Oblivious to his turmoil, Elyna drifted into stories of Cornwall itself—her father teaching her to read the humongous tides, her brother's fearlessness in the swells even though he often got dragged under.
At some point, Kazuki found himself leaning against his desk, drinking in her tales.
He could not remember when he’d left the safety of his seat to dive into her storytelling, but there was something enthralling about the landscapes she painted; he could almost see the waves crashing against the rocks.
Before he’d noticed, the boundaries he’d coached himself to maintain had dissolved like sea spray.
It was Katayū Makoto’s exasperated shout that interrupted them, followed by Shūji’s laughter. Elyna tried, and failed, to hide a smile behind her hand.
“Shūji-kun seems to be in trouble already,” she observed.
“Always,” Kazuki replied fondly.
The young woman tilted her head, pensive. “I don’t want this to sound like an accusation but… why does Shūji-kun get such a different treatment?”
The question caught him off-guard; for a country that prided itself on its strict discipline, their leniency with Shūji was a strange paradox. “He’s our tensai kenshi[7],” he admitted. “The whole school is very supportive of him so he gets a little more leeway.”
“A kendō hero, ne?” She snickered; the sound was as mesmerising as her sparkling blue eyes. The yells dissolved as Makoto rounded the next corner, and Elyna couldn’t help but smile fondly at the strange dynamic.
“A genius, actually,” he gently corrected.
Elyna filed the information away with her usual efficiency. “What kind of genius gets his Vice Principal bonkers?”
It was his turn to chuckle. Very true. Shūji could make Makoto’s blood pressure rocket with barely a look. As for his own heart, it was taking hit after hit when facing those curious blue eyes. The need to see them brighten was almost overwhelming.
“To be completely honest, Shūji-kun was brought over at the dōjō by Sōhma-san when… well. He was seven when she discovered him, and he was already incredible.” Kazuki ran a hand through his recently shortened hair. “He’s been with us for a long time, so he kind of became… ours. I think his mother…”
His thoughts screeched to a halt. “Hey,” he glared, albeit there was no heat behind it. “Why am I telling you this? Did you dose me with Veritaserum?”
For a moment, Elyna just watched him, jaw agape. Then she threw her head back in delighted laugher. “Harry Potter, really? A good British reference, sensei, but I didn’t take the 9 ? platform on the way back. Either way, I promise I won’t babble. Cross my heart with needles and all.”
Amusement quelled his mortification at the intentional linguistic mismatch. “No, I know you’re not the kind to gossip,” he said. “I trust you, ne?”
She nodded, taking the weight he’d just put on her shoulders with grace. Very unprofessional of me. How natural it was to lower his guard around her.
“Now off you go.” He shooed her towards the door, “before I sell any more secrets. It’s not nice to put spells on your supervisor.”
Elyna gathered her heavy bag, probably loaded with more treats destined to feed hungry bellies in the staff room. Then she paused at the doorway to give him one thoughtful look; Kazuki suddenly felt very naked under that scrutiny.
What is going on in that lovely head of hers?
“Thank you for the stories,” she said quietly. “I enjoyed them.”
And then she was gone, leaving him alone with phantom traces of salty air and western winds, and the uncomfortable realisation that he was in far deeper trouble than he’d ever imagined.