I soak my frying pan in some soapy water in the sink and pace around, eventually deciding against Instagramming my dessert and opting to chug the last half of my peach tea straight from the carton. Pacing gets tiring real fast in such a small space. Eating a bowl of melty ice-creamy soupiness in bed sounds like a bad idea, so I hoover it down in the kitchen, leaning against the wall and licking my bowl as another episode of Tosochu — Run for Money begins. An actress I don’t recognize gets tagged by a hunter five minutes into the game. She collapses on the ground, half-crying: “Maji? Eh, maji?!” She reminds me of my senior high students when they lose at a game of Jenga. I’ll miss that when I go back home. No more Sachina and Meruna to entertain me on Friday nights. Leaving my bowl in the sink, I crawl back into bed and pretend to concentrate on the screen this time. That girl outside Bar Iznt. I knew I’d seen her somewhere before, too. But where? She sure as hell isn’t a former student. Her English was perfect, despite her unplaceable accent. Where do I know her from? And if this guy is so important to find, why didn’t she give me a name? Who are these people?!

“Ugh. No more thinking!” I pull my blanket over my head. I need to get off this thought train. Maybe I’ll do a little light cleaning in the kitchen.

A third episode of celebrities running for their lives accompanies my rummaging through the cupboards to separate the cans and bottles of food I can finish by March. I collect a few in a bag so that I might be able to donate them somewhere, but also wonder if my successor will want some of them. It would save him or her the arduous task of shopping that first week. I let out a sarcastic laugh. I can imagine the look on Lieko’s face when she learns she’ll have to take the new NET grocery shopping. It would be the same one if she found out I didn’t clean everything out of my kitchen.

I head back into the living room with an opened can of peaches, power down my computer, and turn on the TV again, hoping for something interesting. I’ve just finished off a meal and a half, but my dessert stomach can squeeze in a little more. The channel I’ve landed on is airing something called Yokai Daisenso. Looks interesting enough. I’m also going to clean out my purse. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done that. Among the ruin of construction paper cut-outs I want to leave for my successor, I find Miyoko’s book. How did I forget about this? I curl back up in my futon to go through it.