by Kayla Morgan
It was common practice to be semi-formal when visiting a shrine on New Year’s Eve, so she pulled on a loose dusty-rose dress and threw a brown belt around the middle. But it was also below freezing outside, so she added black leggings and boots with a rustic brown scarf, as well. She was just pulling on a long red peacoat when Akio knocked on the door at 10:30 pm.
He looked as handsome as ever, bundled up in his gray coat. He even had snowflakes melting in his hair still, which somehow made him look even more magical.
“Chotto matte!” Emily exclaimed while trying to open the door with her foot. She was still trying to pin back her hair with the new pearl hairpin that Michi got her for Christmas. “Gomen, I’m running a little behind.”
Akio chuckled. “It’s okay. You need some help with that?”
“I got it,” she insisted, but the pin wouldn’t stay pinned. Instead, it hung lifelessly in her hair over and over again.
Akio shook his head. “Okay. I just can’t keep watching this losing battle,” he said, and he took the pin from her hands. He leaned down towards her; his face was inches from her own. He carefully twisted her hair and slipped the pin through with ease. And even though it wasn’t really her hair, but the wig, Emily still felt a thousand volts of electricity surge through her body. He leaned back slightly, so that his face was level with hers. Her heart was racing a mile a minute and her lips parted with breathy anticipation. But Akio just smiled and asked, “All done. Ready to go now?”
Emily clamped her lips back together, pissed at herself for getting so worked up. She gave him a shaky smile. “Yup! All ready! Let’s go!” she replied, hoping like it didn’t sound like she had just fantasized about what those lips of his would feel like all over hers. He must have bought it because he proceeded down the hallways as if nothing had happened. Emily rushed to catch up with him.
“The Joya no Kane is rung 107 times leading up to the New Year,” Akio explained as they made their way through the snowy streets of Shinjuku towards the shrine, “and then the 108th time is rung right as the New Year starts. The rings are supposed to symbolize the 108 worldly desires of humans.”
“And ringing the bell is supposed to drive them all out of you, so you can have a prosperous new year, right?” Emily replied.
“Yeah, something like that.”
Emily smiled. “I think there was an episode like that in one of my shows. Although it was all kind of the side story to the main characters falling in love.”
“What’s Nakamura-sensei’s brother going to think,” Akio teased, “about having a shoujo fanatic working on his team?”
“I told you!” Emily fought back. “I like a healthy balance of both shoujo and shounen! I guess I do tend to prefer shoujo though.”
“How come?”
“I don’t know.” Emily thought carefully through her words. They came out slowly and carefully, just like her feet as she plodded through the large amount of snow from last night. “I guess, I like the way that shoujo paints the world, with its cherry blossom petals and swelling piano music. It makes me hopeful. That maybe the world won’t always be the terrible nightmare that it tends to be.”
“Mmm,” Akio considered, “well, I think you’re actually just a hopeless romantic, Johnson-san. And you just won’t admit it.”
Emily did her best to shove him, but it was hard with all the ice and snow. “As if, baka. I think that’s just your fantasies talking there.”
He shrugged with that sly grin. “Yeah, maybe.”
Emily’s heart did a flip. Shit. She was teetering way too close to that area of their relationship that they couldn’t reach yet. “So,” she continued, changing the subject, “exactly how much more of this treacherous icy tundra do I have to forge through before we reach the shrine?”
He pointed ahead at a tree-lined path that had a red torii, the shrine’s gateway. “Right past those trees.”
Swarms of people were entering the path alongside them. Emily did her best to try and pay attention to where she was going, but she also couldn’t help but marvel at the previously barren tree branches. They were bending under the weight of the freshly fallen snow. Icicles sparkled, glowing in the soft lights leading up the path.
“I bet it’s beautiful here in the summer as well,” Emily breathed.
Akio grabbed her arm as she almost walked into the person in front of her. “Mhmm, it is, but you won’t live long enough to see it if you don’t start watching where you’re going.”
She gave him a sheepish grin. “Gomen.”
They shuffled forward with the crowd. The green roof of the shrine rose into Emily’s view right as the first bell began to resonate above the noise of the crowd. Her heart raced, but not in a bad way. Normally, this many people all shoved together would have made her nervous. But there was something magical about all these people wishing for good fortune altogether in such a picturesque place. All of that hope and anticipation rubbed off on her too. The bells were loud but not in an unpleasant way, and her heart soared higher with each gong of the bell.
The excitement was too much, and Emily couldn’t help but race a couple paces forward, trying to get as close to the shrine as she could. She hadn’t taken more than a couple steps before the world slipped out from underneath her. Emily heard Akio yell her name as she crashed to the ground.
“Ow!” she yelled in English, along with a couple other choice American words. Her ankle seared with pain as the people around her stopped and asked if she was alright. Akio pushed his way through and stooped down in front of her.
“I told you to be careful!” he reprimanded her. “Are you okay?”
Emily shook her head vigorously. “No,” she breathed through the pain, “my ankle.”
“I thought so,” Akio replied. Another bell tone reverberated through the air, as he bent down and scooped her up off the ground like a bride.
Emily gasped in embarrassment. “Akio? What are you doing?”
He side-swept the crowds and started tromping the opposite way through the snow. Emily wished he would just drop her through some hidden portal so that she could die of embarrassment alone instead of being stared at by all these people. Her body burned so hot with humiliation that she couldn’t even feel the bitter cold from her soaked-through clothes.
“Akio,” she begged, “please put me down.”
Akio glared down at her. “Can you walk on that ankle?”
She glanced down at her throbbing ankle and knew the answer was no. Akio didn’t even wait for her reply. “I didn’t think so,” he argued. “Then I’m carrying you.”
“Please,” she begged again, “not like this. This is so humiliating. Isn’t there another way?”
He stopped and considered. “Yes, I suppose so.” Akio placed her gingerly down on the ground, and Emily was careful to stay balanced on her good ankle. He bent down and pointed at his back. “Hop on.”
Emily groaned. “You have got to be kidding me.”
He glared over his shoulder at her. “It’s either this or we go back to the bridal carry.” Emily flushed even harder at the word ‘bridal’. “At least this way you can hide your face in my shoulder to avoid the people staring.”
“Fine,” she mumbled, and she carefully crawled onto his back.
He lifted her up and started walking along. She hated to admit he was right; this was slightly less embarrassing. Emily shoved her face into the hood on his coat to avoid the strangers passing by. His body heat was a welcome now that she was calming down. Her wet clothes were making her shiver.
Emily took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves. Somehow through the thick coat, Emily could still smell the light scent of jasmine tea lingering on him. She allowed herself a small sigh and wrapped herself a little closer around him, enjoying her favorite scent. She felt Akio tense underneath her touch.
Her heart dropped, and her body crawled with fizzling anxiety.
“You’re mad at me, aren’t you,” she stated more than asked.
> “I’m not mad.” Akio’s answer was hard, and it made her even more certain that she was right. But his voice softened as he continued, “I’m just worried.”
Kami-sama above, that was so cute. He was worried about her.
Too embarrassed to say anything more, Emily settled herself back down against his warm body. She could still hear the bell tones singing from far away, as small snowflakes danced through the air in the soft lights of the city.
Just like in a shoujo manga.
The thought made her smile, so she decided to let herself have this moment. She wouldn’t dwell on the fact that she shouldn’t be this close to him. No, this time she would shut off her annoyingly moral brain and let herself have this one moment. One beautifully warm moment that she could treasure with Akio for days to come. Without thoughts of the consequences.
Emily took in as much as she could, trying to completely savor this soon-to-be-memory, until her increasingly heavy eyelids got the better of her, and she fell asleep.
Emily was jarred awake by a horrible banging sound. Akio was using his foot to knock on what looked like the door of a small inn.
The door swung open. “Akio-kun? What’s going on?” an old woman’s voice asked.
Emily’s brain still felt half-asleep, but she knew that voice. And it was not a good thing.
Peering back at her over Akio’s shoulder was Mrs. Kenzou’s short frame.
“My friend Emily-chan twisted her ankle,” Akio explained. “The school is still another 30 minutes away, and she’s already been out in the cold too long.”
“You poor things! Come on in! Come on in!” Mrs. Kenzou ushered them inside. “Akio, take Emily-chan upstairs. With the holidays, your bedroom and mine are the only ones not filled to the brim. I even had to put some of your cousins in Hanami’s room while she’s out of town visiting her friends. All of the other rooms are filled with guests.”
Akio nodded and started up the stairs. “Watch your head, Emily,” he instructed. “The ceiling slopes.”
“Okay,” she whispered and settled back down against him.
They crossed into Akio’s room, and he gently lowered her onto his bed. He bent down to examine her ankle. “How’s it feeling?”
“I think I should go run a marathon on it!”
His brown eyes pierced hers.
Emily giggled and hugged herself to try and stay warm again now that her heat source was gone. “You’re so serious.”
Akio gave her a strange look. But she really couldn’t understand why. She giggled some more. It was actually kind of funny. Akio didn’t seem to share her sense of humor about the situation. “Can you move it?” he asked with concern.
She gingerly stretched it up and down. She winced a little through the pain, but the pain also felt really far away. Like everything was a dream. But at least her foot moved.
Akio let out a loud sigh. “Thank goodness, it’s not broken.”
“Only feels like a million tiny bees stabbing it instead.” She laughed again and hugged herself tighter to try and stop shivering. “Hey...is the heat on in this place?”
“Shit. I forgot.” Akio jumped up and ran over to his dresser. “We need to get you out of those clothes.”
Emily let out an even louder giggle. Akio glared back at her, but the blush started creeping up his face. “You know what I mean! You’re going to get even worse if you don’t get into some dry clothes.” He threw a hoodie and sweatpants from his drawers at her. Akio’s face was beet-red now as he beelined straight for the door. “Now change into that. I’ll be waiting out here.” The door slammed shut behind him.
Emily giggled again. She should probably feel embarrassed. She was in Akio’s room changing into Akio’s clothes, but her brain just felt swimmy instead. Even more than that time she drank the peach drink when they were all doing karaoke. Emily shivered her way out of her clothes and managed to clumsily pull on her new, oversized clothes without completely murdering her injured ankle. Then she collapsed from exhaustion back onto the bed.
“Akio!” she sang out. “I’m dressed now!”
He came in, took one look at her bundled up in his clothes and instantly looked away. Emily couldn’t help but giggle again. “Aw! I look goooood in your clothes, don’t I, Akio-kuuun?” This time she laughed even louder. “You’re so embarrassed! It’s adorable! You’re so cute.”
She watched his face burn up even more, which made her laugh even harder. He tried to lecture her again, but he was so embarrassed that he didn’t come off as very scary. “You need to get under the covers. You were out in the cold for a long time, Emily-chan.”
“Mmmkay,” she complied and shuffled herself underneath the covers.
Mrs. Kenzou showed up at the door with a hot cup of jasmine tea. “You poor thing,” she cooed again. “I made you a cup of tea. It’ll help reduce the inflammation. I also added some of my grandmother’s old herbal remedies to help speed up the healing process.”
“Aw! That’s soooo nice of you! You are soooo nice!” Emily slurred with a sleepy yawn. She tried to drink the tea, but it was a tad difficult with all the shivers she had going on. Why was this cup so heavy? She just wanted to go back to sleep.
Akio dragged his grandmother out into the hallway away from Emily, but she could still hear them.
“I think there’s something wrong with her, Obaa-chan.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s more than just the twisted ankle. She keeps shivering and slurring her speech. It’s like she’s not thinking right. She,” Akio coughed and couldn’t even look at his grandmother as he whispered, “she was basically just hitting on me.”
“Really?” Mrs. Kenzou’s eyes sparked, and she took another peek at Emily. “This is the one you talk about all the time from school? The one from the sunset picture?”
Akio shushed her. “Obaa-chan! Please! Now is not the time for your matchmaking games. I’m really worried about her.”
Mrs. Kenzou stopped her teasing. “Alright, alright. She probably just has a touch of hypothermia. But she’s getting better already, see?” She pointed at Emily, whose shivering had lessened considerably since she had started drinking the tea. “She’ll be okay in no time, Akio-kun. Just relax.”
He nodded and glanced again at Emily. Emily smiled a sleepy smile at him. He was worried about her. The thought warmed her up inside again. She liked that he was taking care of her. She should have played the damsel in distress card a long time ago.
You can’t be together yet, that small voice reminded her. But it was so much smaller than normal.
Why couldn’t she be with him? She searched and searched her fuzzy brain and eventually remembered the wig on her head and the secrets she was withholding from him.
You’d better be careful, the teeny-little voice warned her again.
“My lips are sealed,” she whispered to the voice.
Akio stepped back into the room. “Did you say something, Emily-chan?”
She slowly shook her head.
“She’s going to need someone to watch her tonight. To make sure things don’t get worse,” Mrs. Kenzou told Akio. “I would watch her, but I’ve got the rest of the inn to take care of. Do you think you can keep an eye on her?”
“Of course,” Akio said with a nod.
Her eyes glittered again, “But no funny business, Akio-kun.”
“Obaa-chan!” Akio protested.
Mrs. Kenzou cackled. She sounded just like a cute, maniacal witch. “I’m just teasing, Akio-kun. I know you’ll be good. I raised you better than that. I’ll be back with the futon so you can sleep on the floor. Come and get me if she gets worse.”
Akio nodded seriously. “Of course.”
Emily snuggled back into the pillows. The empty cup still warm in her hands. Her throbbing ankle much less painful than before. She would just close her eyes for a moment.
Emily woke up in a bed she didn’t recognize. Wearing clothes she didn’t own. Surrounded in complete darkn
ess.
She bolted out of bed, took one step on her twisted ankle, and collapsed onto the hard floor.
Someone stirred from the other side of the room. “Emily? Emily-chan, what’s wrong?”
Akio.
Her entire body breathed a sigh of relief. He was here with her. But where were they?
He turned on the desk lamp and ran to find her lying on the floor. “What on earth are you doing?” he demanded.
“Akio. Where are we?” she asked in a panic.
He bent down to pick her off the floor and put her back into bed. “We’re at my grandmother’s inn. You twisted your ankle when we went to visit the shrine, and I had to carry you here. Obaa-chan said she thought you might have had a touch of hypothermia when you first got here, since you were in the cold with those wet clothes for so long. Do you remember any of that?”
Emily scanned the room and fuzzy images swirled in her head, but she couldn’t grasp any of them. “Not really.”
“Well, you’re safe now. How are you feeling?”
“Cold,” she whispered.
Akio jumped up. “Still? That’s probably not good.” He grabbed the blanket off his futon and threw it on top of her other blankets. “Is that any better?”
Emily nodded. “But...what will you sleep with?”
“I’ll be fine.” Akio assured her. “But you need more rest. Go back to sleep.”
He crossed the room again to turn off the light beside her bed. Her heart jumped in her throat. She didn’t want to be all alone in this dark, unknown room again. Her hand shot out and grabbed his hand.
Akio stopped. “What’s wrong?”
Her head still felt so swimmy. “I’m scared,” Emily whispered. “I don’t want to be alone.”
“You’re not alone, Emily-chan. I’ll be right here on the floor beside you.”
Emily shook her head frantically and started shaking from fear. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a little voice was warning her that this was a bad idea. But she couldn’t remember why. All her jumbled brain knew was that it didn’t want to be alone. That she needed him beside her.