The air was harboring a terrific, yet, pleasant fragrance. Waking up in his bed to the ethereal smell, Kaoru felt a little refreshed.
'ah this is bliss. What smells so good?'
Curious as to what scent was entering through his nose, Kaoru moved downstairs and saw his parents at the table, eating lunch. This was sort of strange.
"Lunch, huh? So you didn't plan on waking me up did you?"
"Weren't you the one that was sick? Do you think I'd sent you school sick?" Said his father in an even, calm and composed voice."
"That's right Kaoru, you can stay home till you recover. Yoy always worry about grades but you don't care about your health?" Agreed his mother.
With an awkward laugh Kaoru said:
"Thanks, mom, dad. Well can I eat? The food smells great!"
"Of course, sit down." Said his mother.
Kaoru sat at the table and saw his food. It was sort of, describing it lightly, not so pleasant to his eye.
The table had some beef steak, that was cooked in the oven with a mouth watering scent and the texture as well as the flavor, made your taste buds have a party. There was also a herbal soup with some rice.
Albeit looking like a very tasty meal, Kaoru was not really in the mood for eating it. What was the strangely alluring scent that put an end to his comforting sleep?
'This is strange. What smells so good? Is it the food? No I can clearly pick up its scent right here, it's not this. It smells... Sweet. Did mom make dessert?'
Turning his gaze towards his mother with a look of confusion, he asked in a voice that sounded... Delighted? Was he perhaps looking forward to eating the dessert the divine fragrance belonged to?
"Mom, did you make any dessert? I can smell something very sweet. Let me guess, strawberry cake? No, perhaps chocolate cake?"
"What are you talking about Kaoru? I can't make any desserts since you are sick. Maybe your nose is sensitive because you are sick?"
Seeing that his mother has not made any cake, Kaoru replied with a disappointed tone and a hint of sadness in his voice.
"Oh, is that so..."
Turning toward his own plate, he didn't see something delicious, more like bland, ordinary, no taste. Just tasteless food.
Then he looked up and realized. A sudden look of confusion, shock and a little terror took hold of his face. No, no, no. The beautiful and wonderful scent that permeated in his nose was not coming from the food. No, it was coming from his parents. They smelled sweet.
Kaoru was full of confusion and shock.
'am I, am I finally going crazy?'
There was a question that was in the back of his mind since yesterday at the store. He suspected that he is...
'Am I... If I can smell things from a greater distance, my food looks bland and I want to sleep.'
'Perhaps I'm sick with a fever!?No I will have to skip school for two days or more. The material I will lose in those two days!'
Yes, Kaoru was thinking that he was sick with a fever. What a terrible event that had befallen upon this young man! He was going to have to skip so much classes.
'Well no matter, I'll just ask Katagiri to give me his notes.'
But Kaoru forgot one little detail. A fever cannot explain that he is smelling other people as "sweet".
'didn't know my parents wore the same cologne? Was it the clothes detergent?'
As he was pondering about the weird smell, his father looked up and asked.
"Are you not feeling well? You haven't touched your food one bit."
"No I'm alright I was just thinking about something. I'll eat it now." Answered back Kaoru.
Then, with half-assed determination, he started eating or rather chewing his food.
'so bitter.'
***
Having eaten his food in the most torturous five minutes of his life, he stood up and headed towards his room.
"Thanks for the food, that was so tasty, mother. I'm going to my room".
As soon as he set foot in his room he felt an immense feeling of drowsiness. He wanted to sleep.
'must have been all the hours of studying accumulating.'
How many days would he take to recover from his long hours of studying with minimal hours of sleep? Although he slept a little at the start of summer break, he was studying nonstop before. He got very little days of sleep. Only three or five.
Then, approaching his bed, he sat down and then got under the covers.
'come to think of it, I woke up in my bed while I slept on my desk. Must have been dad.'
With a content smile, he finally fell asleep.
***
In the process of waking up, he was faced with an acute pain that ran through his whole body and then situated in a single point. His ears.
His ears were about to burst from the agonizing pain, sending a wave of suffering to his whole being.
His thoughts a mess and his head ringing like a bell. His ears bleeding. Kaoru was sprawled on the floor and was trying to hold his screams in.
He has never felt this much pain since the nightmare he saw yesterday. Was this a nightmare too?
With those scattering thoughts in his mind , he woke up. Again.
He was drenched in sweat and his facial expression a mix of horror, pain and relief. He was glad to come back from his nightmare.
'again with this shit. Why did i see this weird nightmare twice? What is wrong with me!'
He was filled with a sense of anger towards himself and confusion on why this is happening. He felt ... Tired.
' I just wanna rest.'
He was indeed, always working hard his whole life, trying to repay his parents for taking him in. He studied every day at the top of his class, trained to get better at sports but he turned out to be average. Working hard most of his middle school and first year of high school had taken a toll on his health.
Looking at the time he saw that it was late.
'10:30?!'
It was ten thirty! Very late for a walk. He would have to convince his father to go.
Walking down the stairs and seeing his father, Kaoru asked.
"Dad, I need something from the convenience store can I go?"
"Make it quick." Snapped back his father in a calm tone.
And so, Kaoru was already dressed and was putting on shoes to go to the convenience store.
But little did he know...