"I'll call you if I need your help, okay?"

And then she was off. Legoshi watched Haru disappear into the garden. For something so tiny, she was fast. With a hop and a skip, she was gone.

His first instinct was to follow her. But then he froze mid-step. That would be too… much. Right? Or should he check with her a second time, just in case? Maybe he'd see something that he could help her with, that she hadn't thought about.

Or… he could just forget about it, and leave her be.

Finally, he decided he'd take a stroll through the garden. Just in case he'd bump into her. Then, he could offer his help to her a second time.

The garden was expansive, even in grey wolf proportions. And to think, Haru tended to it all by herself. To be honest, Legoshi never cared for flowers. Each type had a distinct smell, not altogether pleasant by carnivore standards. Herbivores were drawn to these vegetal scents, which either excited or soothed them. That much he knew. But such effects were entirely lost on him. The few times he did enter the garden, he was hit by a wave of concentrated, clashing smells. Even now, as he walked, he held his breath, afraid to breathe in the toxic scent.

Still, he admired the neat, thoughtful arrangement of the garden. Each row contained flowers of the same color, with each section regrouping plants of a similar height. He found a cluster of rose bushes, displaying the most vivid of reds, pinks and yellows. They were the exact same type so exceedingly popular with the female students, carnivores and herbivores alike. He passed by pots of short, prickly cacti arranged on racks, and buckets of lavender which smelled far nicer than the soaps and essences sold in boutiques. He admired a section of sunflowers, which really did have their heads turned to the sunlight. And to think, he'd always dismissed the phenomenon as a figure of speech only used in books.

Finally, his attention was caught by a set of tall nets, with this leafy vine climbing up along the metal scaffolding of the wire. Little yellow flowers blossomed joyfully. Dangling from the vine were these perfect little cucumbers, with dark green skin so smooth that they glowed.

Next to the cucumbers stood a row of tall, lush trees. There even appeared to be multiple types of trees, each with a distinct color and texture to the bark and the leaves. However, Legoshi was unable to identify them, given his admittedly shallow repertoire of plant knowledge. For some reason, this embarrassed him. His ears drooped, tail curling closer in defeat. But then again, he was only a carnivore. Herbivores unlike himself were born with an innate affinity for the plant world. This difference probably explained why Haru seemed so at… peace while tending to her flowers.

Then again, maybe it was just an attribute particular to Haru.

Legoshi's head hurt. He was thinking too much. The overwhelming smell of flowers made it worse. The trees offered a wide patch of shade next to the cucumbers. Would it hurt if he lay down to rest his head, for just a bit? Would Haru mind?

Haru, whom he was not helping at all, Legoshi thought, his head now comfortable against the damp grass next to the trees and the cucumbers. Well, she was bound to pass by eventually. And as she said, if she needed him, she'd call.

He found that the smell of flowers wasn't so bad anymore. In fact, it had almost become pleasant. If he breathed in deeper, and focused, he could tease apart the torrent of olfactory information. There was the characteristic fragrance of the roses and lavender, drifting back to him. Meanwhile, the scent of sunflowers was mostly discreet, as was the case for the cacti. The coolness of cucumbers was quite nice, on the other hand.

But among all the scents in the air, there was one his carnivore's nose was built to track. In this landscape of odors, Haru's scent stood out clearly. More than the roses, more than the lavender. It was a beacon of warmth and sweetness calling out to him. On this windless spring day, it wafted gently towards him. It lingered, softly, in every corner of the garden. From this fact, Legoshi could tell that Haru had been working painstakingly the whole day. Her scent was relatively fresh here next to the cucumbers, and the soil nearby was imbibed by a smell of dampness. She must have watered them not long ago.

How pleasant, Legoshi thought. To just lie here, with her presence enveloping him, overflowing from every corner of the garden. To forget the million conflicting questions swirling in his head, that rose up each time he looked into those deep, dark eyes.

He continued to follow her methodical, unhurried movements across the garden, through the displacement of the most concentrated point of her scent. She was now making her way back from the well, he guessed. And now, she was headed for the lavender… or was it the sunflowers, not so far off from the roses? If he closed his eyes, and focused harder on her scent, he could almost tell…

"Legoshi!"

The grey wolf sprung half-up from the ground, soil and grass flying off his uniform as he did so. He blinked and saw Haru.

"I said I didn't need help," she grinned. "But I never told you to take a nap in my garden."

Legoshi began to stammer a half-formed apology.

"Haha, I'm fine with that. You can nap in my garden anytime. Now," she added, producing something in her tiny paws, "you did say you'd help me, right?"

Legoshi stared. In her paws, two perfectly round green apples.

"Last night, the wind knocked off some apples from the apple tree. They're not really ripe yet. Still, I thought it'd be sad to let them go to waste." She looked to the side for a moment, almost abashedly, before adding, "Want one?"

"Okay," Legoshi stammered.

What he really wanted to say was, I'd to anything you ask for, Haru, if that means you'll talk to me. But such a confession would just have to wait for another time. He tentatively plucked a small green apple from her proffered paws. It had gotten a little warm from having been held there for so long. It even smelled just like her.

He took a quick, deep bite, chunks of juice and apple flesh spraying from his fangs. From the corner of his eye, he saw Haru's eyes widen, paw raised to her mouth. Whether it was in shock or disgust, he could not tell. And then…

"Pwah!"

The flavor hit him like a punch to the maw. Impossibly sour, impossibly tart.

Despite himself, he spat everything out, spraying pieces of apple all over the grass. Now he was raising a sleeve to his watering eyes, another to his stinging snout.

"Aha… ha… ha!"

Haru's barely contained chuckle broke into rumbling laughter. Then, she raised the other apple to her mouth, and took a small, dainty bite.

"Awful," she only said.

She tossed her own, barely-touched apple into the grass. It landed next to Legoshi's, or at least the remaining pieces thereof. Legoshi watched her do all this and more. He could watch her forever, he thought, and his tail began to wag happily. The tartness still overwhelming his palate was, really, but a minor detail.

"Well, looks like you'll have to help me bring the rest to the compost."

He nodded.

"After that, why don't we go to the cafeteria, and get some real food instead?"

"That... sounds nice. Yes."

Legoshi watched her hop off, such a small and dainty animal, in the direction of the apple trees. For a moment, he could only stand, admiring the way she leapt and bounded. Slowly at first, then picking up speed, he followed.