Fragrance
Prologue
Crickets chirped in their casual manner. A desk lamp flickered, the only lumination in the clustered room that was consumed by darkness. The room stood empty, the only furniture consisting of a small, worn out bed and a crowded, disorganized desk with papers loosely scattered apon it. Sitting there at the desk, growling in agitation, was a figure ever so pale, staring intently at a small photograph within their hands. The picture perturbed the figure, every aspect about it. What angered him most of all were the two figures standing closely together, laughing as the photo had been captured. His eyes narrowed and he licked his lips, then he mercilessly tore the picture up until it was nothing but tiny shreds of paper, difficult to make out its original appearance.
Chapter one: Fragrance
"Niko! Hurry up, you slow poke!"
"Coming!"
It was Monday morning, and the two nekos, Natsuki and Niko, had been ignoring their alarm clocks to doze off once more. Moments after Natsuki had realized what day it was, just as another alarm went off, she jolted from her bed and poked Niko. "Wake up! We slept for too long!" Niko barely budged and let out a small groan, then leaned up, slowly kicking her covers off. After getting up, Niko brushed out her knotted, silky black hair and then clasped her locket around her neck before heading out of her bathroom.
"Are you wanting us to be late to class?"
Natsuki asked, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently.
"You know, you shouldn't have to wait on me if you're that worried."
"And risk being encountered by one of the upperclassmen for you to embarrass yourself, yet again? Yeah, I don't think so." Natsuki replied, tossing her hair back behind her shoulders.
"I suppose that's true, but I feel like that's more of your issue. I can look out for myself."
Niko argued. Natsuki then reluctantly nodded before she grabbed Niko's arm.
"Okay, if you say so. We have three minutes to make it to class."
"Three?" Niko asked sarcastically.
"Come on, already." Natsuki pulled Niko along, hurrying out of their dorm.
"You can't skip class today, we have exams."
As Natsuki rushed down the hallway with Niko staggering behind her, a blonde jock scoffed. "Natsuki, you sure are full of energy today!"
"Stop skipping class, Asahi!" Natsuki hollered back in response with a flustered face, just as a group of students began quickly dodging Natsuki and Niko.
"You know, he's not going to change, Natsuki."
Niko said between breaths, pulling her arm away from Natsuki after they halted. They heard the sound of someone clearing their throat and immediately turned their attention to a tall, elderly woman standing a foot in front of them, known as Mrs. Beech.
"Both of you are late." Their teacher announced as she stood at the door, crossing her arms.
"This is the third time this week-"
"Please excuse them, they were helping me out in the office." A tall, muscular senior interrupted from behind Niko. He carried a heavy load of boxes, all of which had been carefully balanced on top of each other.
"Speaking of help, Niko, you should help me finish delivering packages."
"Why me?" Niko murmured.
The teacher glanced at them each in turn, then pressed her glasses closer to her face.
"Don't let it happen again." She warned, then signaled for Natsuki to follow her into the boisterous classroom.
Natsuki gave a small grin and farewell wave to Niko before Mrs. Beech closed the door behind them, silencing the class and resuming her lesson.
Niko turned to look at the senior, who had already began walking off.
"You're welcome."
There was a momentarily pause as Niko heard his footsteps and turned to see him leaving her behind.
"Keito, just what do you think you are doing?" She queried, then hurried after him in annoyance until her steps matched his.
He is known for constantly teasing Niko and Natsuki for his own enjoyment. Unlike Asahi, Keito is aggressive and is known for his cleverness. Though more reserved, he is intimidating and known for provoking others when he does converse.
"What does it look like?" He prompted, indignant of her attitude.
"Well, you specifically asked me to help you deliver boxes, isn't that a job for office workers only?"
"Not necessarily. By the way, you still owe me a thank you for saving your tail from Mrs. Beech."
"Thank you." Niko said silently.
"And don't think this is another excuse to skip." Keito added, side-eyeing Niko.
"How would you know if I have been skipping?"
"Niko, I work in the office, I can check attendance and write-ups."
Niko fell silent, looking away from Keito. They had often quarreled as so, and she was known to fuel the fire.
"It's still none of your business..." Her voice trailed off.
Keito knocked on the door to a classroom and handed a fragile, heavyweight box to the student that had opened the door.
He glanced over at Niko and shook his head with a smile as they continued walking.
"You sure don't know when to stop arguing, do you?" Keito asked her, chuckling.
Niko found herself blushing and unable to form words.
"Here, let me actually help you." Niko grabbed a heavy box from Keito, shocked by how much it weighed.
"How are you able to carry like five of these?" She pondered as she walked along with it.
"You must be weak." He joked, then took it back from her. "Don't worry about it. I really just got you out of class so that we could talk like this."
"No, don't worry about it, I want to help you." Niko reached up and tried to take it once again, and he allowed her to.
"You're wishy-washy." He commented.
"Stop." She said, her face becoming a brighter red.
They delivered the rest of the boxes together, then he walked back towards Niko's class with her. "I'll let you go take your exam now. Do well on it, Niko."
"Thanks, Keito." She replied, standing in front of the door, turning to face him. He took a step forward and patted her head, and at this moment Niko had caught a whiff of his cologne. He tucked his hands into his pockets and began to walk down the hall until he turned the corner and could no longer be seen.
That fragrance... it smelt nice.
