Chapter 28
Millionaire shortbread
Kazuki leant against his desk as the last students filtered out, fighting to keep his composure. He’d taught the ‘blood sugar’ class a dozen times already; it should have been uneventful.
But one could never take the fun away from Shūji, especially since he’d found a perfect teasing target. That Elyna stood up to him didn’t deter the boy; on the contrary. Today, he’d sought to annoy his teaching assistant with the mind-numbing Nyan Cat melody.
But Elyna had only dissolved into giggles, dragging the whole class in her mirth. And Kazuki, fool that he was, had remained rooted to the spot at the sound of her unrestrained laugher. Worse, her look, sheepish yet utterly unrepentant, sent all rational thoughts scattering to the high winds.
Pathetic.
Now his teaching assistant lingered, awaiting the students to file out, because he’d been tasked to convey a message. The request sat heavily in his chest; the thought of dimming that radiant smile made his stomach twist. Yet, the matter needed to be addressed.
Better me than Keiko-san.
Elyna finally looked up, catching his eye; his resolve wavered. Her eyebrows crunched in concern, notebook clutched to her chest like a shield.
Man up, this is just a mild scolding. Kazuki settled his pulse. “Hum. The school nurse asked me to drop a word about… well, about the snacks you’ve been sharing.”
Elyna’s blond brows shot up in confusion. “Uh?”
Her lack of eloquence threw him off; their polyglot extraordinaire wasn’t often at a loss of words.
“The millionaire shortbread, specifically.” He paused, searching for the right way to phrase this. “To put this in a nutshell, most of the Asian population is lactose intolerant.”
He watched, expectant, as a flush covered her cheeks. “But… I don’t understand, you guys eat stuff with cream and butter all the time.”
“There is very little lactose content in butter and cream. It’s mostly fat.”
A fact she wasn’t privy to, apparently. Kazuki picked up a chalk to keep his hands busy, waiting for Elyna to process the information. And process she did; he spotted the exact moment she connected dots she’d rather have left separate.
“Oh… OH!” She framed her face with both hands, trying to hide her flaming cheeks. “I didn’t know. It’s true that millionaire shortbread is… very very dense.”
He nodded as she unravelled the recipe in her mind. “Kinda condensed milk densified.”
He set the chalk down and dusted his palms. “Dr Sōhma’s point exactly.”
Elyna’s eyes had gone so wide he feared to drown in them. “Ah, merda[8],” she swore, too stunned to filter her language.
“You don’t say,” Kazuki deadpanned.
For a moment, she just stared. Then, when the unfortunate choice of words hit her, she dissolved into uncontrolled laughter. Her ponytail, the one Shūji had been batting away in boredom an hour earlier, shuddered alongside her shoulders.
The sound almost wrecked him; so carefree, so self-derisive, like bells chiming in a distant countryside. And the more she laughed, the warmer his chest felt. When Elyna finally straightened, she bowed.
“Gomen nasai, I can’t believe I’ve been poisoning half the class,” she stuttered between residual giggles.
“Not poisoning.” He was fighting his own smile for the third time that day. “Just… causing some digestive distress.”
The casual banter held none of the professional distance he intended. They were on the same wavelength; two minds aligned in ridiculousness.
Standing there at arm’s reach as she laughed at her own silliness, she was so endearing he couldn’t fathom why alarm bells blared in his head. Eventually, Elyna caught her breath, though her eyes shone like gems from her earlier bout of laughter. Yet, something changed in her posture.
“Sano-sensei, I wanted to ask…” she bit her lip absently. A distracting habit he forced himself not to acknowledge. Where did that nervousness stem from? After their shared moment of levity, her serious demeanour caused him to stiffen.
Let’s scramble for safer ground and forget how lovely she is when she laughs.
“Hai?”
“I wanted to ask about Haruki-kun. He is extremely formal with me. If I’ve done something to offend him, I’d like to correct it, but I just cannot fathom…”
Kazuki’s eyebrows climbed on his forehead.
Haruki probably offends 90% of the female population, including his own mother.
“You’re female, Elyna-san.” Her perplexed expression was so cute that he had to brace his weight over the desk to hide his reaction. “He’s always been very shy around women.”
“Oh.” Relief flooded her features. “I thought maybe I’d done something wrong. He is very serious about rules and traditions and I’m… well, me.”
Yes, you. Beautiful chaos.
Kazuki paused to rein in his thoughts. “If anything, the fact that he speaks to you is remarkable. You should take it as a compliment. He clearly respects you enough to overcome his discomfort.”
Elyna’s expression softened, turning almost fond for the student who aced all his tests, but couldn’t handle speaking to the female population. Haruki could master kendo and logic; girls were not in the realm of his abilities. “That’s… actually kind of sweet.”
“Don’t tell him I said that. He’d probably combust from embarrassment.”
She laughed again, lighter this time, and Kazuki felt that warmth in his chest spread dangerously. “Speaking of shyness, what’s your assessment on immersion sessions?”
Shifting her weight backwards, Elyna took a moment to gather her thoughts. “Honestly? I’m impressed by their reading and writing skills.” Her voice turned analytical. “The grammar foundation is really solid, much better than I expected for third-year students. But…”
She twisted her fingers, a nervous habit he’d noticed when she mulled on her words. “The oral comprehension and speaking are comparatively quite weak. They freeze when I ask them direct questions, and pronunciation is a real struggle.”
Kazuki nodded. “Those impossible sounds you make,” he said, allowing a hint of teasing into his voice, “are outside the scope of Japanese phonetics.”
She raised a challenging eyebrow, a smile tugging at her lips. “Impossible?”
He couldn’t quite suppress his amusement. “Perhaps it’s your very British accent. ‘Proper’ might sound more like ‘propa'h’ when you say it.”
Her mouth dropped open. “I do not…!” She laughed, then, covering her face with one hand. “Oh God, I do, don’t I? To think I don’t even have the Cornish accent. It’s not very propa’h.”
The words came out before his brain could catch up with his mouth. “It’s charming.” Heat crept up his neck at the slip. “I mean… authentic. Better they learn real English, you never know when you’ll have to deal with a British business partner.”
Elyna’s cheeks flushed a deeper pink. Some terrible part of him was pleased by her reaction, even if his rational self was livid. Don’t cross that line, buddy.
“Right. Yes. Well…” She cleared her throat, fingers tightening on her notebook.
“They try so hard that I feel bad. Yamamoto-kun spent five minutes yesterday trying to say ‘thoroughly’, but he wouldn’t give up.
It’s frustrating sometimes,” she admitted quietly.
“I can see them forming sentences in their heads, see them wanting to speak, and then they just… freeze.”
“The fear of making mistakes is strong,” Kazuki explained gently. An intimate fear they all shared. “It’s deeply ingrained in the educational system. Better to stay silent than to speak incorrectly and bring shame to yourself.”
Her eyebrows dipped low. “That’s such a waste!” Her voice carried genuine distress, both fierce and fragile. “Making mistakes is learning! That’s how we grow!”
I wish I’d understood that earlier in my life. Kazuki found himself nodding; this was why she was here. To bring a little bit of freshness into his student’s world. That indulgence mingled with self-derision and fun that relieved the pressure.
She learnt Japanese with the same diligence, aided by the linguistic gift that kept her switching between English, Italian, and Norwegian without hesitation; she understood how languages worked, grasped new concepts with startling speed. A polyglot’s gift, or so Keiko said.
“I can only agree. But changing that mindset takes time. Generations, maybe.”
Elyna’s lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something. But whatever churned in her mind didn’t reach the surface. She bowed. “Thank you, Sano-sensei.”
Intrigued, Kazuki wanted to push further. But the line between mentor and assistant had been smudged enough for one day. “Of course,” he nodded.
“Perhaps… I should probably apologise to everyone I’ve been inadvertently poisoning…”
“It might be wise,” he responded gently, rounding his desk to ground himself in the solid wood.
Elyna eventually left the room to chase down her unintentional victims. Kazuki, for his part, just stood there, staring at the empty doorway. His heart wouldn’t stop hammering in his chest.
Elyna: I’ve been told off for causing diarrhoea
Aksel: Verbal?
Elyna: No, literal ??
Aksel: Eeew ??
Elyna: Turns out they don’t handle milk so well
Aksel: Told ya to stop sniffing Cadbury
Elyna: Sano said the same. Recommended English breakfast
Aksel: Eat sausages, not chocolate!
Aksel: No wait, I didn’t mean that! ??
Elyna: Considering that too…
Aksel: OH MY GOWD, don’t wanna hear it. ?? Night night, don’t ever talk to me again.