her grandma took a dirt nap

Amelia Gaillard was born in a quaint southern town in France which is about to disappear. Most people, including her, have had to move. It’s not that the village might become a ghost town; it will, inevitably, along with thousands of others, never to be lived in again.

Part of this is why she volunteered to help with the crisis in Otohama. The other one is that she heard that Fujinomiya Koharu is there.

Koha-chin stars in a show called The Day The Last Blade Was Held which is based on the book series of the same name, a high-concept dark fantasy where Koha-chin’s character continues to use a sword in a world that’s slowly adopting gunpowder. Koha-chin does her own stunts. Not only that, but apparently she knit mittens for the backstage staff. All of them!

And what’s more–Koha-chin once liked Amelia’s picture. It was a photo of Amelia, her grandma, her cat, and a dying village as a backdrop. Because of this, she’s never really sure if she should be sad or happy about it, especially since her grandma took a dirt nap a few months later.

Regardless–she’s here to help… or so she would’ve thought, except her Japanese isn’t quite as good as she had expected. She passed her N2 with flying colors… and no one in Fukuoka seemed to have any issue understanding her… but such is life. Koha-chin’s assistant is from… Kyoto…? Which is Amelia’s weakness. She went to Kyoto once, and she asked the host family if they were from Osaka, and they did that thing where they tried to be polite, but she could tell that this angered them, so she went to cry in their yard and their dog bit her.

Fujinomiya Koharu is famously fluent in French, though! Or at least, that’s what Amelia told the authorities when she humbly asked (begged) to help the clinic. Koha-chin has worked in foreign productions before, and she has spoken about it on her socials, so why would she lie about it? Amelia, who moved to Japan with nursing as an excuse while she fulfills her dream of turning her webnovels into anime, should have no problem handling her.

In the end, the other nurse–Munetoshi Nagumo–convinces Dr. Shimazu to let him supervise her. It’s horrifying in a romantic sort of way. Since he used a fast solution, he takes out the IV by himself, slaps on medical tape, and is on his way, just like that. Of course, Amelia and Koha-chin’s assistant–Soujiro Hino–loom behind him in case he… falls. But he doesn’t.

Right before she exits the room, Amelia turns back, only to find Dr. Shimazu sitting on the bed, hunched, eyes closed.

From what Amelia knows, the neighboring town had a terrible accident last week. Nobody died, but four people were injured, so staff has been frantically moving back and forth between this and that location.

Someone else might have tried to comfort Dr. Shimazu, force Nagumo to sit down, maybe call the medical board, but that’s because they might live somewhere where this kind of situation isn’t ‘another day’. If so, lucky them.

Amelia knows, though.

Time doesn’t run the same way for everyone. For some places in la France profonde, it has long since abandoned them.

This village, too, might soon disappear.

***

Koharu has just finished her afternoon knitting sprint when Nagumo finally shows up for today’s session, but…

A foreigner is there.

Soujiro is there.

Nagumo is there, barely. Koharu straightens up immediately. “W-what happened?” She asks.

He waves a hand dismissively in response. “Ms. Fujinomiya, Ms. Gaillard will be… will be assisting you for the next few days. We can’t lose Dr. Shimazu, so she’s our last line of defense.”

“...eh?”

The foreigner girl timidly steps forward. As she does, she takes out a Sharky enamel pin from her breast pocket, then pins it to her uniform. It’s a rare piece of merch sold to commemorate Sharky’s 5th birthday, whose earnings went to Amazonian conservation groups. (For fish.)

Koharu refuses to betray Eguchi, her favorite nurse, but Gaillard immediately becomes her second favorite. She can’t help it. She brings her manicured hands to her mouth. “That’s…”

Gaillard covers her face. “Y-yes…”

Toshi ruins the moment by clearing his throat. “Ms. Gaillard, please begin. You have three other patients after this.”

“Sorry.”

Though initially hesitant, with Soujiro’s help, Nagumo sits on the wheelchair. It’s either that or the floor. To Gaillard, Koharu warns, “My leg looks ugly,” avoiding Nagumo’s piercing look. It’s not a glare, not quite, but it’s the clearest shut the fuck up she has heard in her life. “Ms. Gaillard, I’m most pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“S-same here. Um. I’m such a big fan…”

FINALLY someone with taste. “I’m honored.”

“No, no, the honor is all mine.” Gaillard sits on the stool. “I’ll start now, Koha-chi–ah! I’m so sorry!”

“Don’t be. All my fans call me Koha-chin.” Besides, anyone with the Sharky pin is immediately in Koharu’s circle. Gaillard’s touch is clumsy, but Koharu forgives her. Soujiro being there adds a layer of safety anyway, even if he’s playing gacha games again.

With his elbow on the armrest, his head resting on his fingers, head turned slightly upward and that look on his face, Nagumo looks like either a villain or the love interest of the webnovel she filmed a drama for. It’s hard to differentiate them these days.

“B-by the way, Koha… um, sorry. I can’t. Ms. Fujinomiya… if my accent is too thick, we can speak in French. They told me we could do this, since you’re flu–”

“Yes!”

“Ah! Mrs. Fujinomiya, please don’t move so abruptly!”

Koharu squirms up. This is it. Even with Nagumo looking like a villain, Koharu can win this way. While she can’t bring herself to glance at him, she says, in French, “I’m very sorry, Gaillard. Of course we can speak like this.”

To say Gaillard’s eyes light up would be an understatement. She replies, en Français, “Absolutely, Fujinomiya! I’ve always…” then she says… something, but… “Thank you so much!”

Koharu forces a smile.

“Please let me…” gibberish. “...Sharky…”

“Ah, that’s… that’s nice. By the way, do you have a boyfriend?”

Gaillard looks up for a moment. “I’m sorry?”

“What are they saying?” Nagumo asks, to which Soujiro shrugs.

Koharu gives Soujiro a conspiratorial look, but he doesn’t seem to get it. “I have a friend who’s been wanting a girlfriend for some time now. I told him I’d help. He’s very close to me, so I could–ow!”

While Gaillard mumbles out an apology since she almost turned Koharu’s leg into a fan, Nagumo calls out, “Everything alright?”

“Yup,” Koharu squeaks. “All good. Please continue. All good. As I was saying, if you’re interested, I could set you up. He’s also close friends with my co-star, so aiiie I could give him a call.”

Gaillard stops, then swallows, wide-eyed. “With… Fumito?”

“Yeah, yeah.” She’s being facetious because Yukida Fumito is a demon. Koharu yearns for the day when she can find an excuse to expose him without getting into trouble. “He’s always… eager to meet fans, soOW!”

“Enough,” Toshi says. “Ms. Gaillard, move.”

She doesn’t; she’s frozen in place.

However, when he speaks again, Nagumo doesn’t sound mad. “How… how am I supposed to leave the clinic like this? Fujinomiya, what are you telling her to make her so nervous? Haven’t you had enough already?”

He doesn’t sound mad at all, and that’s why it stings.

“Ms. Gaillard. Please move.”

After swallowing, she does. She doesn’t protest when he crawls up the stool, nor does Koharu. Gaillard stands beside them, toying with the pin, biting her lip.

“I was just trying to…” Koharu trails off.

No point.

“Now,” Nagumo says. “Please pay attention to what I’m about to do. If Ms. Fujinomiya says something unrelated to her condition, ignore her.”

Logically, with his current state and under such a foul mood, Koharu would expect to feel like a bottle getting uncapped again. She braces for his touch, and… it is a bit clumsy. However, he stops the instant she recoils, adjusts the position of her leg, then starts again. Better.

“See, Ms. Gaillard? You bend the knee like this. Any pain, Ms. Fujinomiya?”

Koharu shakes her head.

“Ms. Fuji–”

“No.”

“...good.”

His voice is soft not because he’s exhausted, but because he’s used to talking like this to patients.

“Very good, Ms. Fujinomiya. Just like that. Please let me know if you feel any discomfort.”

Koharu has to look away. Her leg isn’t the ugliest thing in this room. Sometimes she knows, sometimes she doesn’t. She thought the gift baskets would help. They’re pretty expensive. Neither Nagumo nor Gaillard have made any comment about them, but surely, if they liked them, they would’ve thanked her, right?

Then why is he like this?

Why isn’t anyone happy?

Nagumo stops. He’s looking at her and she knows it, but Koharu doesn’t look back. “Ms. Fujinomiya.”

“Y-yes.”

“It’s fine.”

“What is?”

“Everything. It’s fine. It’ll be fine. You need to relax so you can recover.”

That’s when she realizes that her body’s tense, and he doesn’t continue until, in effect, she relaxes. “Nagumo, did you like the gift baskets?”

Ms. Gaillard blurts out, “Eh? So that’s what those–” Then shuts up the instant Nagumo glances at her.

“I haven’t had a chance to see them,” he replies. “That’s very thoughtful of you, Ms. Fujinomiya. Thank you.”

He sounds exactly like the nurses back in Tokyo. He might as well have pushed her wheelchair down the stairs.

“...you’re welcome.”