Dōjō by Night #2
Elyna shuddered at the memory of those fermented soya beans, sticking together like fish’s a slimy skin. “Oh,” Katayū smirked, all the while giving the woman by his side a mocking yet tender look that only he could pull off. “Sarah went green the first time she tasted natto.”
“Natto is excellent for the cardiovascular system,” Sano interjected, ever the health teacher.
“Not if you die choking on it,” Sarah retorted, her face twisting in an expression that mimicked that of Shūji just a moment earlier.
“It’s an acquired taste,” Katayū shrugged.
Look at that, samurai-man can actually shrug!
Fujimoto watched the couple, slightly disgruntled by the unashamed display of affection. “I bet you Brits probably have something similar.”
Elyna and Sarah exchanged a meaningful look. In her mind, an image popped—the greatest divider of opinions the UK ever had. “Marmite!” she exclaimed in unison with her counterpart.
“I love it,” Sarah declared proudly.
“Yuck, it’s horrible,” Elyna gagged, shaking her hands to fend off the very idea.
“What is Marmite?” Satsuki asked.
As Sarah dragged Satsuki aside to explain about the yeast spread, Shūji’s lips curved into that particular smile Elyna was very wary of. “Well, well,” he drawled. “It seems Elyna-chan has no interest in anything hard and salty that requires serious jaw work…”
The double entendre hit her like a punch to the stomach. “Shūji!” Sano and Katayū snapped simultaneously, drowning her whimper of embarrassment.
Delirious with the notion of… that, Elyna watched chaos unfold. Cheeks burning, she caught sight of Katayū’s hand delivering another smack, Haruki’s scolding, and Fujimoto’s muscles wrestling Shūji onto the mats for what would probably be a gruelling training session.
Sarah and Satsuki only lifted their head to ensure no one had died before returning to their conversation.
Sano appeared in front of her in the next heartbeat, his usual composure slightly off. The way he looked at her reminded her of a tamer about to face a wounded animal. “Are you alright?” he asked softly, his voice laced with underlying anger.
Elyna blinked; what had just happened? When had typical banter become so intense?
“Uh, yeah,” she smiled. “It was just a joke, right?”
His shoulders relaxed, and a small smile curved his lips.
“Happy birthday, Elyna-san,” he stated. His golden-brown eyes trapped hers; he extended his hand then, as if offering a handshake, just before his palm tilted up. Elyna’s pulse quickened.
“Happy birthday, Sano-sensei,” she murmured, placing her hand in his. His skin was warm, slightly calloussed; when his fingers closed around hers for the briefest moment, she forgot how to breathe.
The world reduced to that single point of contact, a connection that caused her whole body to hum happily. A shy glance up revealed that Sano, too, seemed mesmerised. His thumb brushed once across her knuckles before he released her, a slight flush covering his cheekbones.
“I hope this year brings you all you wish for.”
The statement was multi-layered, laden with possibilities that couldn’t be spoken, especially in a culture where such things lived in the spaces between words rather than in them.
Everything I wish for, uh? Unlikely, but thanks for the effort.
For one perfect moment, the world consisted of amber eyes and the lingering warmth of gentle fingers. Elyna found her lips curving into a genuine, happy smile.
“Arigatō gozaimashita, Sano-sensei.” Her voice was barely steady. The warmth of his touch still ghosted across her knuckles, making her hyperaware of the space between them. An impulsive thought surfaced before she could stop it. “You’re a Libra, then?”
His eyebrows rose slightly, and she caught the faint surprise that flickered across his features. “Yes.” A pause, weighted with something she couldn’t name. “And you a Miss Scorpio?”
Heat bloomed in her cheeks. “That’s—” Elyna blinked, surprised he’d even thought about it. “Yes, actually. That’s interesting.”
“It is.” A small smile played at the corners of his mouth, as if he was enjoying a private joke at her expense. “In the Chinese zodiac, I was born the year of the Dragon.”
“Dragon?” She tilted her head, genuinely curious now. “I’m afraid I don’t know much about Chinese zodiac. What does that make me? I’m from 1996.”
“A Rat,” he said simply, and something in his expression shifted. The look he gave her felt almost indulgent.
Does he know them all by heart?
There was a subtext here, something hovering just beneath the surface that she couldn’t quite grasp. Her chest tightened with the effort of trying to read him. “Does that… I mean, is that a good team? Dragon and Rat?”
For a moment, his eyes held hers with an intensity that stole the air from her lungs. The agitation behind them disappeared—Shūji’s protests, Fujimoto’s instructions, Katayū’s snaps. There was only them, and the space humming between them.
Then his smile widened, enough to crinkle the corners of his eyes. “The very best,” he said quietly, his voice dropping to something that felt almost intimate. Then, he bowed, and excused himself, leaving Elyna utterly wrecked.
The young woman watched him pack his things; this brilliant, magnetic man owned her heart completely. As surely as the sun rose in the east, Sano Kazuki had burrowed so deeply into her soul that removing him would require tearing herself apart entirely.
Elyna: Someone has been eating his birthday gift
Aksel: How?
Elyna: In a can of iced green tea
Aksel: Gross ??