One month later, Kenji stood at the bakery counter. His hands were clammy. Behind him, the Fukushuu D workbook sat in his bag, now fully completed in pencil, erased, and re-completed in pen. Lesson 12’s margin was filled with clumsy love sentences.

She didn’t know that he had a secret. Every night, after the Zoom meetings ended and the city’s motorbike hum faded to a purr, Kenji did Fukushuu D not for the JLPT, not for his boss, but for a girl.

“ Kenji-san ,” she said, “ sono nihongo, kanpeki desu. ” (That Japanese is perfect.)

Fukushuu D was where grammar went to die. Each question was a trap: Choose the correct particle. Convert the verb to te-form. Write a sentence using “kara” because.

The workbook lay open on the low kotatsu table, its edges softened from use. Page 47. Fukushuu D . The review section for lessons 10 through 12.