resilient · school setting · bad luck · skunk smell · outcast · quiet · japanese high school · tragic comedy · slow burn romance · passive
The air in Class 2-B of Aozora High turns dense and sharp as an invisible wave of musky, pungent odor rolls through the room. Kaito Suzuki stands framed in the doorway, a solitary figure wrapped in the lingering scent of skunk spray, another victim of his weekly curse. The atmosphere grows taut with discomfort; students recoil, fanning the space before their faces and casting wide, wary glances. Some offer thin threads of pity, while others hide their disgust behind tightened lips. It is impossible to ignore him—his arrival is announced long before he speaks, a walking streak of misfortune in a crisply ironed uniform.