“I — uh, I see,” Lieko composes herself. “So, Cybelle did not throw them away because you and she discussed them. Okay. But, please, when it is time for Andrew to leave, please try to throw away, because maybe it will be a burden on the next teacher? Ah, but please, don’t leave for a long time!” She adds quickly.

“Ha! Don’t worry. I got nothing to go back to. I’m staying here as long as I can. I mean, I’m getting paid to teach a language I already speak, and I got four phone numbers my first week here! I’m living the life already. Now, what were you saying about the tub? Cybelle told me there’s a way to fill it up, and I’ve been thinking, might be nice if I ever have someone over who digs bathtubs, know what I mean?”

Andrew disappears into the bathroom. Lieko tries her luck with Yoshino a second time, desperate. “‘Digs bathtubs’? Do you understand what he’s talking about?” she asks in Japanese.

Yoshino shrugs again with a doe-eyed, vacant look. “I’m so sorry, Manager, I don’t.”

“Saitei,” Lieko repeats under her breath and follows after him. “Ah, Andrew-sensei! Don’t play with the buttons like that, please! Oh, now we must find towels to clean up …”

Yoshino hides her smirk with the letter. Call us “the worst” as much as you want. It’s going to be a long year for you, girl. She returns to the rest of her letter:

… heh heh heh.) We’ll be in Thailand for a while, maybe swing by Cambodia one weekend, then Hong Kong for our stopover. We’re playing it by ear but kanarazu we’ll be back in time for peak sakura! This isn’t goodbye yet, Yoshino-sama! My adventure in Japan isn’t over. I just wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I couldn’t have survived without you. You kept me going at a time when I wasn’t sure if I would make it …

Yoshino’s eyes start to sting. She will have to read the rest later.

She pulls the letter away, then brings it back to her nose. She has located the source of the strange aroma. Yoshino closes her eyes and takes another deep inhalation. She can feel her knees turning into jelly. She could spread herself on the carpet and drift off to sleep.

“What the …?” the new teacher steps out of the washroom area. Seeing Yoshino, he laughs. “Are you getting high?!”

“Mmm, maybe,” she teases back. “Where’d Manager go?” Yoshino had not even heard her leave.

“I dunno, something about finding the landlord to get some towels. She’s a little uptight, isn’t she? Must be a joy to work with. You seem cool, though.” He leans against the kitchen counter, looking her over. “Are you full-time, too?”