Heart Strings

Chapter 7: Drop Top

Needless to say the entire school had to be evacuated as the horrible smell began to permeate every floor- it even made it's way to the roof and made the dumpster and incinerator smell all the worse. The delinquents were the last group to rush out as the smell hadn't reached their usual hangout spot until much later, and the entire school took joy in laughing as they ran out like deer. Jaku, Uekiya and the student council were more than surprised at how far the smell got, and with that everyone was given an early dismissal due to this.

"I hope that smell is gone by tomorrow. I swear it is going to kill all of my flowers!" Uekiya says worriedly.

"I'm more worried about how much they'll have to replace because of this." Jaku replies. "For all I know we could be seeing an entirely new layout."

"Well that would be up to the headmaster." Kuroko says. "Well, since all six of us have gotten to know each other fairly well..."

"Wanna have a group hangout?" Akane asks.

"I'm down." Shiromi replies.

"Alright, we can do that. Where at?" Jaku asks.

"There's a cafe I sometimes stop by downtown. We could head there." Uekiya replies, and with that the group of six head for said cafe. It's a fairly small one, but there's a table that's reserved for when that big group of people stops by, so the girls and Jaku take that table and simply chat about everyday life. It proves a little rough for the overly formal Kuroko, but Jaku finds it even harder to keep with conversation as his eyes keep drifting off into Uekiya's, and he has to constantly snap himself out of it before she notices. A waitress stops by and she takes their orders, receiving the exact amount of yen thanks to Kuroko. The waitress then walks off and returns a few minutes later with their drinks: a simple cup of black coffee for Koruko, a mocha latte for Aoi, a gunfire cocktail that suits Shiromi's uniqueness, cafe miel for Akane, a latte with a flower pattern for Uekiya and a simple frappe for Jaku.

"Man they really do serve just about everything." Jaku chuckles to himself as he looks at Shiromi's cocktail.

"Well, looks like they really do." Shiromi chuckles. "I thought you were gonna order black like Kuroko over here."

"Shut up." Aoi says jokingly. "Oh, there's a bakery just down the corner as well, anyone up for that?"

"But after that I think we should all head home." Kuroko replies.

"Party pooper." Shiromi chuckles as she downs her whole cocktail in one go.

"Don't get drunk now." Jaku says.

"Oh come on, don't be such a Koruko." Shiromi chuckles and Koruko bristles at the thought of her name being used that way.

"Try not to let it get to you." Akane and Uekiya say simultaneously. Once everyone else finishes their drinks they head to the bakery down the corner with Aoi leading the pack.

"Say, what happened to your eye? I'm just curious." Jaku says to Aoi.

"It happened when I was real young." Aoi replies. "I don't remember too much but all I remember was that it was due to Megami and me messing around and something going wrong- I couldn't possibly recall everything, you'd have to ask Megami."

"Fair enough." Jaku says as the group reaches the bakery, Odayaka Goods. Upon entering they are greeted by what appear to be a couple running the whole place.

"Hello! Welcome to Odayaka Goods!" The woman says. "Aren't you fellow students from Akademia?"

"We are." Jaku replies.

"I was just going to ask where our daughter Amai was, it's a surprise to see you out this early!" The woman replies. "What happened?"

"Someone set off a malodorant of some sort and it permeated the entire school premises, so we were dismissed early to allow workers to clean it all out." Kuroko explains.

"A mal-what?" The man asks.

"Imagine a stink bomb, but the stink doesn't go away. Instead it gets stronger and spreads further and further." Jaku replies. "That's essentially what happened."

"Who could have done something so gross?" The woman asks.

"Beats me." Aoi says. "Anyways got any special deals?"

"Nope, not as of now." The man replies. "Are you just looking for a quick bite?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Jaku says. "Got anything quick?"

"We do have scones if you want them." The woman says. "We had made excess and we couldn't really sell them as nobody wanted them."

"Well, we'll take them. Just name a price." Aoi says.

"Oh no, you can go ahead and have them for free." The man replies and Aoi's eye lights up. With that the group finds themselves happily munching away at a surprisingly big box of scones- Kuroko estimated around twenty of them to be in the box.

"You really know where the sweet stuff is, don't you Aoi?" Jaku chuckles.

"Believe me I try to get out of the house often." Aoi chuckles back when suddenly Kuroko's phone starts ringing.

"Hmm... I must take this call, excuse me." Kuroko says as she gets up and takes the call. Just in Jaku's peripheral vision, he sees Kuroko's eyes widen before she hangs up, and then she looks at the owners of the bakery with worry.

"What's the matter dearie?" The woman asks.

"The school... They found a dead body..." Kuroko says. "And the victim..."

"The victim... Who's body was found?" The man asks. Kuroko practically stammers out the name and it brings the entire bakery to a halt.

"...Amai... Odayaka..." Kuroko stammers. "I'm... I'm so sorry..."