Chapter Text
P.E. was over for the day. The girls filed into the changing room, chatting and recovering from the various activities their teacher had assigned. Ruri entered while half-listening to Airi chattering with Asuka and Kana about some new drama she hadn't bothered to check out yet. As the girls began to pull off their gym clothes, Ruri's nose twitched.
A cacophony of scents flooded her nose, too overwhelming and loud to distinguish the individual smells. Ruri grabbed her locker for support as her head grew foggy and her legs felt hollow. Her eyes struggled to stay open as she involuntarily breathed in again, flooding her brain with a cacophony of signals.
"You ok?" Akari's voice helped ground Ruri slightly as she looked at her friend.
"I- do you not smell that? It's overwhelming." Ruri said as her friends took note of her situation.
"What smell?" Airi asked as she walked over. "I don't smell anything."
"Maybe it's Kana," Asuka said, earning an indignant noise from Kana, who blushed.
"I do not smell!"
Asuka chuckled, but stopped as Kana's foot nearly came down on hers. As the two had their back and forth, Yuka slipped past them and put her hand on Ruri's shoulder. One of the overwhelming scents seemed to surge forward into Ruri's nose as her friend asked. "Do you wanna go to the nurse's office? Or maybe we can go find Mr.Takemoto."
"Yeah... sounds good," Ruri mumbled as her body started to feel hot.
Yuka guided Ruri out of the changing room, and as they moved, the scents plaguing her nose seemed to diminish, but one of them remained at full force, causing her head to continue to spin.
It didn't take long for them to find Mr.Takemoto, who thanked Yuka and sent her on her way. As the door closed, Ruri rubbed her eyes and felt the last scent leaving her nose. "Ugh, what was that?"
"What exactly happened?" Mr.Takemoto asked as he sat across from his student.
"I don't know. I was in the changing room after P.E. with all the others, but then all these smells suddenly hit me, and I couldn't make anything out. My body felt hot, and like all my muscles were tense, and my head was spinning like crazy."
Mr.Takemoto opened his mouth to speak, but something seemed to click in his head, and he quickly cleared his throat before saying. "...You should ask your mother about this. I think she'll be able to explain it better than I can. Have you called her? It may be best if you head home."
"No," Ruri said as she hesitantly sniffed. "The smells are gone now, though, so maybe I can just go to class."
Mr.Takemoto rubbed his chin for a moment before asking. "Did Hagiwara enter the changing room before or after you?"
"Huh? Um, before I guess. Why? What's Yuka got to do with this?"
Ruri raised an eyebrow as her homeroom teacher seemed to almost squirm in his seat, as if he really didn't want to say something specific. "Just... head home for today and ask your mom about this, ok? She'll be able to explain it better than me."
Ruri huffed at her teacher's unwillingness to budge and simply decided to do as he said. He insisted on gathering her things for her, and she didn't resist. After getting her bag delivered to her, she headed home to wait for her mother to explain whatever was happening to her.
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Her mother was laughing at her. Ruri wasn't sure why or how offended she should be, but after explaining the events of the changing room, her mother had tried not to laugh, which was nice, but it fell flat when the woman couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Seriously, what is so funny about this? First, Mr.Takemoto won't explain anything, and now you laugh when I ask. This is ridiculous." Ruri grumbled as her mother calmed down.
"I'm sorry, sweetie." Her mother said as she wiped her eyes. "It's just with all that's been going on with you, I really should have seen this coming. Especially with you being at that age."
"Huh? What does that mean?" Ruri asked as she started to feel a bit frustrated.
"Well... you are going through puberty." Ruri immediately tensed at the word while her mother continued to speak. "And well, along with all the normal changes a human girl would go through, you're also getting dragon abilities... like the one they use for finding a mate, or well, partner would be a better way of putting it."
Ruri's cheeks burned as she bristled. "What? W-what do smells have to do with finding a ma-p-partner!"
"Well, as your father explained it to me, dragons use scents to express an interest and willingness to be partners. Essentially, if a dragon is interested, they'll smell, and if the other dragon is interested too, they'll release their own smell." Her mother tapped her cheek as she said. "I've heard people say it's the same with humans, but I have no idea. Though maybe we do because your dad said I stank once when we were first getting to know each other, and I nearly knocked his head off before he explained he meant it in a good way."
Ruri felt like she wanted to implode and disappear from the world. None of her other powers had made her feel this way. How could she even think about something like this? She'd never considered dating before her horns came in. The option had gone out the window entirely after they appeared along with her cocktail of powers.
"I but- I don't get it!" Ruri said, staring at her mother in disbelief. "I don't even think about that stuff. Who would it have been? And why was it so freaking intense?!"
"Take a breath, sweetie." Her mother said, holding her hands up. "It's gonna be ok. Just because you smell it doesn't mean you have to act on it. I'm sure it's just so intense right now because you've never experienced it before. As time goes on, it should be more bearable."
Ruri slumped in her seat and then sank further as her mother said. "Now, finding the person who smells and telling them you aren't interested in romance may help even more. If they know you're not interested, they may move on."
"That sounds horrifying," Ruri whispered as she rubbed her eyes.
"There's not really anything else you can do besides suck it up until you grow numb to the smell."
Ruri lay on the couch as she let out a groan. Her mother smiled at her, and she sat up, grumbling. "I'll just grow numb to it."
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Ruri sat in her seat the next day and tried to ignore the scents invading her nose. Her head throbbed, and her body felt like it was resting on hot pins. She hadn't said it to her mom yesterday, but there was definitely more than one scent. Did that mean there was more than one person? How many people were apparently interested in her?
Her neck felt hot with embarrassment as a bit of pride welled up in her chest. She hadn't given romance much thought, but the idea that multiple people were interested in her like that felt kinda nice.
"Ruri! Are you ok? What was wrong yesterday?" Yuka asked as she approached.
Ruri's nose twitched as one of the scents grew more intense. Her eyes widened as Kana approached, asking the same question. As each of her friends approached, a new smell hit her like a truck, and Ruri slowly came to a realization. Whether she was horrified by it or not was unclear.
Airi was the last to get to her, and as she joined the semicircle around Ruri, the dragon couldn't deny it. All of her friends were giving off a unique smell. They were all romantically interested in her.
What the hell was she supposed to do now?