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“If I may, Tohru-kun, you smell amazing today!” Shigure, who has no problem acting like a damn pervert, greets her like this instead of a “Good morning!” like a normal person would during breakfast.
“Stop saying weird things to her.” stupid Yuki scolds him, making Kyou hate Shigure even more for having him agreeing with the rat kid.
“Oh, come on, it’s just a compliment! I’m glad you accepted and actually used my present for you, Tohru-kun!”
“Of course, Shigure-san! I don’t even know how to thank you, I’ve never used bath oils before!” she brings her wrist up to her nose and smiles “It smells so nice!”
“Why did you give her something so weird?” Kyou turns to Shigure, he can’t just stay quiet and pretend he doesn’t think this is really creepy.
“Must there be a reason for me to offer something for the one who keeps this house shining like a pearl? Oh come on, it’s not like a fellow writer of mine gave me them and I got rashes when I tried them, of course not!”
“I knew it…” both him and the rat sigh at the same time, which makes him even more annoyed.
“I don’t get why you’re so angry, Kyou-kun, I thought you would be the one to enjoy the smell the most…”
“A-and… why… why would I like the smell?” he turns his face so neither of them will catch him blushing. Damn Shigure, this prick!
“Because it’s a nice smell, isn’t it? Yes, really nice...” he tilts his head and snaps his fan open “I can only imagine how pleasant the smell of catnip must be…”
“What?”
“Catnip. You don’t know what catnip is?” Shigure feigns astonishment “I can’t believe it!”
“Tch, who cares what you believe? Ever since when do I have to know the smell of flowers and-”
“Herb.”
“WHAT?”
“Catnip is a herb.” the stupid dog corrects him.
“Wha-Whatever! Why would I have to know about some damn herb?” he gets up “Tch, I’m going to school.”
“H-hey, Kyou-kun, please wait for me!” she asks, getting up as soon as she finishes eating “Let’s go to school together!” and smiles, making him turn his back on her as he grabs his schoolbag, worried that she might hear his heartbeat racing. She’s a fool, would probably never register her own smile as the cause of his heart beating fast, but better safe than sorry.
“No need to hurry, I wasn’t gonna leave without you.” he mutters, adjusting his bag’s strap over his shoulder,
“O-oh, okay! Let’s just wait for Yuki-kun to finish his meal too, then we can go!”
Tch, he knew it, it was too good to be true.
***
Once he’s sure no one’s watching, Kyou takes a minute of his break from classes to go to the school library. He searches for books about plants and goes straight to the pages about herbs, surprising himself by not taking that long to find this catnip thing.
He scams the lines about catnip “Originary from Europe…” blah blah blah “... can also be found in North America and Japan…” blah blah blah “...mint family…”, and then: “known for causing a broadening of senses in felines, both wild and domestic, causing a state of euphoria and excitement, and stimulating their predatory instincts. The herb is not harmful to felines, quite the contrary, its use is even recommended to treat apathy and stress in cats.”
SHIGURE THAT JERK!
***
They leave school together, walking until they have to part ways so she can go to her part-time job. He usually doesn’t like this moment very much, but today, he couldn’t feel more relieved. Kyou chose to walk a few steps behind her and the damn rat, then he had to pick up his pace and leave them a few steps behind, the friggin wind blowing the scent coming from her skin all over his face.
It smelled… amazing! Kinda sweet, but not overwhelming, with a touch of wood and some other plant he doesn’t know the name of, only thing he knows is that it’s making his nostrils flare up and his veins pulse… he has to stay away, feeling weird and very… happy?
“Why are you in such a hurry? It’s not like you actually do something after school.” Yuki asks him in his usual annoying tone.
“SHUT UP!” he retorts, barely glancing at him “And you!” and points at her.
“M-me?”
“Don’t even think about going home on your own, did you hear me? It’ll be dark and you’re such an airhead, it can be dangerous!”
“Oh, sure! Yuki-kun will pick me up! Right, Yuki-kun?”
“Of course. I have some issues from the student council to take care of, but I’ll be waiting for you after your shift is over, Honda-san. Although this idiot cat could be useful for once and pick you up.” his tone changes from sickeningly sweet to harsh in a second.
“Don’t tell me what to do!” he turns to face him, pissed, and finds a pair of rich brown eyes staring up at him, and this insufferably great smell. The effect is immediate: his hearing seems more sensitive and his pupils get dilated.
“Kyou-kun?” she comes closer “Are you okay? It looks like you’re sweating a lot… maybe you have a fever…” and brings her hand to palm his forehead.
“Stay away from me!” he yells and pulls away, almost slapping her hand away and feeling like utter garbage by scaring her like that “I’m… I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
“Really, what the hell is your problem?” Yuki glares at him.
“YOU’RE MY GODDAMN PROBLEM!” he snaps and walks away as fast as he can.
Kyou lied. For once, Yuki isn’t really the problem.
***
He must be going crazy! That’s his conclusion as he buries his face on his pillow, not even this can keep him from still feeling the smell on his nostrils, doesn’t matter how much he tosses and turns.
How is that even possible? The book said that this catnip herb wasn’t addictive, in fact, the tendency is to have its effects decreased the more the cat is exposed to it, and yet, here he is, thinking non-stop of how good it smelled and how much he wants to sniff it again.
Maybe there’s something to do with his true form. He’s not a normal human, it only makes sense he wouldn’t be a normal cat either, everything feels worse because of the curse that haunts and dooms him, always making him do things that are the opposite of his true intentions, the smell of catnip shouldn’t be addictive, yet he wants to seek out for more, Kyou wants to walk away and pretend he doesn't care, but he’s always thinking about her, if she’s safe, if she’s feeling well, if there’s something upsetting her… he’s an idiot who doesn’t deserve to think about her like this, and still…
Realizing he won’t be able to sleep any longer, he gets up… only to find her hanging clothes outside, her brown hair swaying gracefully with the breeze, along with the clothes she hangs as she hums some sweet melody. Then she turns to face him.
“Good morning, Kyou-kun!” some people look cranky and act moody in the morning, not her, she just smiles and greets him “You woke a little early, right? I haven’t started breakfast yet, if you don’t mind waiting a little, I’ll b-”
“Don’t worry about it” he dismisses, walking up to her and to the basket full of clothes. Kyou grabs some clothes pins to help her, and if she thinks it’s weird, doesn’t say anything, just goes back to work, not humming this time. Pity.
The wind whooshes around him, and suddenly it’s here again: this smell. He brings his hand up to his nose, but it’s useless. Shit! Why does it have to be so good? Why is she like this? So pure, sweet and caring? If he told her about how insane the smell of these bath oil is driving him, she’d say how sorry she is and never use them again! Kyou might be a jerk to her, but not to this point, she should be free to wash herself with whatever she wants, especially if she liked so much! And it’s not like he doesn’t like it either, quite the contrary, he also likes it, a lot, actually, and that’s the problem.
So much that he instinctively leans a little bit closer, but still keeping enough distance so he won’t look like a damn pervert, just… enough to appreciate her scent and lose himself on it for a little while.
But them maybe it is too close, and he realizes that when she turns to grab a clothes peg and gets a little startled by having practically in her face, she steps back and trips, and he holds her to stop her from falling, and that’s exactly what happens, because it’s impossible to hold her as a cat. Shit!
In his cat form, everything just seems even worse, his feline instincts seem to get sharper and, unable to control himself, he just rubs himself against her leg.
“K-Kyou-kun?” she sounds extremely flustered, of course. He’ll regret this the moment he goes back to his human form, but for now, just throws himself on the floor, rubbing his back against it and exposing his belly to her, like a true cat would do.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Shigure suddenly shows up at the door, it sound like he’s about to scold them, but as Kyou looks at him, only finds the bastard grinning.
“I… I don’t know! There must be something wrong with Kyou-kun, Shigure-san, maybe we should take him to the doctor.”
“Oh no! What seems to be the problem?”
“I don’t know, he’s acting strange! H-he was… he was leaning on me and…” her blush deepens as she loses her words to explain this.
“Really? Well, he looks perfectly fine to me! Never looked better, actually.”
“SHUT UP, SHIGURE!” he hisses “This is all your fault!”
“My fault??? What did I do?” he widens his eyes and brings a hand to his chest.
“You know very damn well, you jerk! Why did you give her bath oils with catnip?”
“Kyou-kun, I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
“Liar! You gave her bath oils with catnip in the formula, this shit messes with cats’ heads, it got me acting all weird and… and… IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!”
“But… there isn’t catnip in the oils Shigure-san gave me.” he turns to her, and he must be doing some really scary face, because she recoils a little “I-I mean… there wasn’t anything about catnip written on the bottle, only eucalyptus and…”
“And sage.” Shigure adds “Yes, it’s made of eucalyptus and sage, there is no catnip in it.”
“Then why the hell did you say there was?”
“What? When did I say that?” he seems surprised, then smiles “Ahhh, no no no, I just said I could only imagine how nice the smell of catnip could be, I have no idea what it smells like, I was just wondering how it was, I think you misunderstood me a little.”
“Then… what is this scent I keep smelling?”
“Eucalyptus and sage, of course! It’s nice, isn’t it?” he shrugs “Or maybe… it smells like… THE POWER OF SUGGESTION!”
“What is… the power of suggestion?” she asks in confusion.
“It’s bullcrap, that’s what it is!” he hisses again and, one second later, turns back to his human form. Kyou grabs his clothes and his bracelet quickly, ignoring her embarrassed squeals “You’ll pay me for that, you bastard!”
“Calm down, Kyou-kun! Why are you so angry? Are you feeling stressed out? Maybe I should really buy some catnip for you and…” he stops talking as soon as Kyou is done putting his clothes back on, and just walks back inside the house. They both pass by Yuki, who just woke up.
“What’s all this fuss so early?”
“Good morning, Yuki-kun! I’m not really sure, Kyou-kun got angry at Shigure-san because of a plant, that’s all I managed to understand.”
“I see… better not know what those two idiots are up to. Do you want some help with the clothes, Honda-san?”
She thanks him and accepts his help. As she hangs the clothes, Tohru can’t stop thinking of what just happened. Not the part when Kyou turned into a cat and rubbed her leg, the part before… he was so close!
She blushes.
He smells so nice!