Chapter 46
Pressure cooker
Five days later, Katrine Eriksen dropped her daughter at the kōkō herself, a testament to her worry.
A tired smile pulled at Elyna’s lips as she passed the gates; there would be no hiding her fatigue.
But she was there, standing on her own two feet and coughing into a mask.
Early enough to organise the workload that awaited her.
Five days. Five days of fever dreams and coughing fits that left her doubled over, gasping. Five days of Shūji whining outside her door whilst her mother hissed at him to leave. Five days of lying in bed, tears sliding into her pillow because her throat hurt too much to sob properly.
Lung diseases mean sadness in Chinese medicine, Satsuki had said when she’d brought shiitake mushrooms, her eyes too knowing for a girl her age.
Extraordinarily spot on.
Elyna had spent those fevered nights thinking of him—because exhaustion stripped away her defences, because her body craved the reassurance of his arms, his fragrance, the firm grip of his hands on her shoulders.
She’d devoured a romance novel, desperate for proof that shame could transform into strength, that darkness always preceded dawn.
Does a broken heart heal more easily by the ocean?
The question had circled endlessly through her delirium. Cornwall felt impossibly far—the cottage, her father’s steady voice, Grandma’s cast-iron stove where Aksel grilled his Marmite toast until the forgotten kettle shrieked in protest. A real, solid home.
Not this grey existence where colours had bled out like winter refusing to release the sun.
But Aksel’s message had pierced through the fog last night. You swore you’d love forever. That doesn’t mean giving up when it hurts. It means fighting for what you want.
Her little brother, holding her to that childhood oath taken after their parent’s divorce.
What now? Elyna wondered, palm flat against the door. What if he’s already inside?
Her hand trembled. She drew a shaky breath, lungs protesting with a sharp cough she barely suppressed behind her mask.
Let’s work on getting happier again. Happy. The word felt… wrong. OK, maybe not happier. Functional is good. She could manage functional. No more teenage drama. I’m an adult. Did adults feel like their chest had been carved out with a spoon? It’s just my first real love and it God fucking hurts.
A cough rattled through her chest, sharp enough to double her over.
“Elyna-sensei!”
Satsuki’s voice echoed in the corridor. What was she doing up there at this hour? Her classroom was on the first floor. “Katayū-sensei sent me. He said Sōhma-sensei wants to see you before you resume classes.”
Elyna’s stomach plummeted. Shit. Dr Sōhma was shrewd; if anyone could pierce her secret, it was the head nurse. Mind descending in full blown panic, she allowed Satsuki to grab her hand, and pull her along to the infirmary. Shit, merda, Kuso.
If the nurse caught up the barest hint of what ailed her, Sano could lose his job. Or worse. Panicking, Elyna’s throat closed up, causing a coughing fit. “Sorry,” she rasped. “I can’t keep up. Go ahead before you’re late for class.”
Satsuki gave her a sympathetic look. “Are you sure?”
Elyna could only nod, coughing her irritated lungs into her elbow. Satsuki seemed to hesitate, but panic won over sympathy; nothing frightened her more than being scolded by a teacher. And Katayū. She disappeared in a flash, giving Elyna plenty of time to drag her feet to the infirmary.
Katayū Makoto’s frown had become a permanent fixture.
Something had happened in Hokkaidō; Kazuki wasn’t talking, and Shintarō hinted at a lover’s spat. Between an assistant and a student! The very idea was jarring.
If the board got wind of the rumour… The school nurse wanted to assess Trewith’s health in detail; to say he was antsy was the understatement of the year.
But Sano’s teaching assistant would be too wary to talk in front of the Vice Principal, a man at that. Even though he was dying to know what had occurred that left his class 3-C in a sorry state. A supposedly self-contained mess… that shouldn’t have had the effect of a nuclear bomb.
He stood reluctantly to file out of the room, but a hand shot out to grab his sleeve.
“That’s her footsteps,” Keiko murmured, steering him backwards into the supply cupboard.
“What…?”
“I am trying to spare you a heart attack,” she added. His eyebrows knitted; before his mind could catch up, the nurse pushed the door until only a sliver of light remained.
Makoto huffed. Ridiculous! He was the Vice Principal and had a perfectly good office down the hall where he could wait for the report with warm coffee.
To stay there… was immoral, borderline illegal even. But the school nurse had a point. The need to know was visceral; had something happened beyond the scope of a student’s spat? He couldn’t protect his people without all the data.
Once he knew, exactly, what he had to deal with, a plan of action could be discussed. But until then… Hence, despite the guilt descending down his spine, his feet declined to move.
When the outer door opened, he took a peek through the gap.
The sight of Elyna hit him harder than he’d expected.
Makoto shivered; she looked haggard. Pale skin, gaunt features and dull eyes.
He didn’t wish on anyone to face Keiko in such a sorry state.
The school nurse deployed all her charm, welcoming Sano’s teaching assistant into her den to set her at ease.
Makoto felt horrible for putting the kid through the wringer. The news about her health weren’t as alarming as Haruki had reported after his first visit: no antibiotic treatment, rumours of pneumonia apparently unfounded.
He breathed a silent sigh of relief, watching Elyna shift in her chair through the gap. “Ah, yes,” she smiled ruefully. “I burn easily. But the doctor said my lungs are clean, it’s just my, erm.”
“Bronchitis?” Keiko supplied.
“Yeah.” A weak laugh rattled her frame, followed by a series of wet coughs. The school nurse stood to fill a glass of water from the fountain, sparing him a glance as she passed in front of the supply closet. “Your standard virus,” Elyna rasped.
Keiko made a few notations, her luscious hair following her nods. “Does the cough keep you awake?”
Given the dark circles under her eyes…
“Hai. It’s annoying as hell.”
Keiko set the pen down with a slap, startling Elyna. “Try releasing a pressure cooker in your room before sleep. The humidity should help with the irritation.”
Her pale eyebrows rose. “Oh? I’ve never heard of that before.”
“An old trick to preserve people’s liver from an overdose of medicine,” Keiko said, her tone matter-of-fact.
Makoto noted for further use. Just in case he got sick, or Sarah… or future children? An unexpected wave of longing bloomed in his chest; what had always felt implausible was becoming a very lively possibility.
Distracted, the Vice Principal missed the small talk that followed, until Elyna bobbed her head and seemed to take a long, difficult breath. “Arigatō gozaimasu, Sōhma-san. Is that all?”
The nurse set the file aside with deliberate care. The click against the clipboard echoed like a signal; Keiko was now shifting from health counsellor to interrogator. “No, Elyna-san. That is not all.”
The girl tensed, unaware that he was observing her every feature.
“Something happened during the orientation race. And now, we would all feel better to know, exactly, what it was that put you in such a state.”
Through the door crack, he watched Elyna straighten in her chair; the defeated girl turned into a fierce guardian, her jaw set. And despite the darkness circling her eyes, there was no mistaking the defiant look.
“I got stupidly lost, Sōhma-san,” she said, tone clipped. “My hand caught in a web, and I just fled like a headless chicken. Now, I am ashamed enough as it is, there is no need to rub salt in the wound.”
Keiko nodded sympathetically; her body angled carefully away from the door to hide his presence.
“That is not my intention, of course. But you really look worse for wear.”
When Elyna’s eyes turned misty, Makoto’s stomach plummeted. She wiped the moisture angrily, refusing the tissue the nurse was handing over to fish one out of her sleeve, Japanese style.
“I’m not sleeping!” she hissed. “And you know more than anyone how spiders frighten me.”
“Ah, yes, that unfortunate fall. And was Shūji-kun also responsible for this second… misadventure?”
Shūji? What has he done again? Swimming in confusion, Makoto swore to get to the bottom of whatever nonsense had escaped his notice. But all thoughts of revenge screeched to a halt when Elyna sighed, looking defeated. And so, so dead tired that he wanted to tuck her into bed.
“Well, in a way. Haruki and him were fighting over something, and I told them to set things straight because I was so fed up! I just took off ahead, only to run into this humongous web.”
The shiver that ran up her spine wasn’t fake. “I don’t remember much of the rest, except that I’m running until I find the river, and that stupid phone has no service. And then night fell…”
Makoto watched colour returning to Elyna’s face. “When I realised I was lost, I just settled, hoping someone would find me because I really, really didn’t want to spend the night in the woods.”
“I doubt Sano-sensei would have left you.”
Tension bled into her posture, and Makoto squinted. The young woman had been lost long enough for her to consider being stranded all night. Time is relative in those moments.
“After a while I built a fire and prayed for help. I’m glad I did, because Sano… sensei said it was the smell of smoke that caught his attention.”
He frowned at her stuttering, but he knew Kazuki would never mistreat anyone; his friend was patient and measured. Which meant whatever plagued her had happened beforehand.
“Did something happen that warrants a call to the police, Elyna-san?” Keiko’s tone was soothing. “Did you meet anyone else in the woods?”
Great minds think alike. Kami-sama, I hope nothing happened more than spiders.
Heart pounding, Makoto watched any sign of distress. Elyna only shook her head. Keiko pursued her line of questioning. “Something to do with Shūji-kun, perhaps?”
The innuendo made Makoto’s stomach roll. Shūji was a troublemaker, but he refused to believe such a horrible notion. That Keiko was the one asking, her tone calm, as if it could…
Elyna flung her chair backwards. “No!” she yelled, looking one inch away from puking. “How can you say such a thing!” Another coughing fit interrupted her, and she bent over the plastic chair to glare at the nurse. “Shūji is a dickhead sometimes, but he would never…”
Makoto dissolved in relief; this wasn’t the reaction of someone molested.
“Haruki-kun, then?”
A snort escaped the teaching assistant. “I doubt he knows how to make that stuff work yet.”
The Vice Principal clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle a laugh. After the tension, and near-death experience of thinking of Shūji as a rapist, Elyna’s sass nearly undid him.
“Elyna-san.” Keiko’s voice was stern.
“No,” she cut in, cheeks flaring. “I resent you for saying such things. They’re a fine pair of baka, but they’re good people.
” Then, realising she was berating the scariest nurse she’d probably met, she bowed.
“I apologise for worrying anyone over my own stupidity. I swear I will do better, and catch up in class.”
A long, thoughtful silence greeted this statement before Keiko nodded. “Very well, you can join your class. Be sure to return if you need help. Any kind of help.”
“Right.” Elyna shot back with the tone of someone who would never, ever cross that threshold unless threatened. She left the room on unsteady legs, weakened by the nasty virus that caught her. Makoto waited for a full minute before emerging from his hiding spot. Keiko sent him a speculative look.
“Satisfied, Katayū-kun?”
“Not in the least,” he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “But at least we know Shūji is not responsible for this.”
Something flickered across Keiko’s face, too quick to read, before she turned back to her filing. “That would be a first,” she muttered.
“What was that about earlier, by the way?” He gestured vaguely towards the door. “A fall?”
“You don’t want to know.” Keiko’s expression remained carefully neutral. “And it has been handled.”
He studied her for a moment; extracting secrets out of his school nurse was a hopeless endeavour. And he trusted her enough; he wouldn’t pry any further. “All right. I appreciate it.”
“It’s my job, Katayū-kun.” She removed her stylish glasses to rub at her eyes, looking suddenly exhausted. He could understand why; doubts had probably plagued her the past days about Shūji’s involvement, especially since the boy was tense as hell.
Makoto smiled, seeking to alleviate the pressure. “Well, I see how Trewith can give Shūji a run for his money.”
Keiko’s lips quirked in a worrisome smile. “Indeed, that young woman is incredibly sturdy under pressure.”
And we still don’t know what really happened.
Elyna: Interrogation mode over. That nurse is scary.
Aksel: are you sure she doesn’t drink student’s blood?
Elyna: Yuck. Now I need to get in class. Not looking forward to that.
Aksel: may the force be with you. I can send my too, but it might get messy