Yuki and the smell of home
[3rd POV : Yuki]
The world had ended.
.
.
.
At least for her. It had ended two days ago when her mother took her last breath.
There was nothing anymore.
Nothing worth breathing.
Nothing worth working.
Nothing worth living.
Alone.
Alone.
Alone.
Alone.
Alone.
She was all alone.
Her mother was the only thing she had left.
Her father had died when she was but a child. Her brother had abandoned her by choosing to live his life as a wolf.
Her mother truly was the only thing she had left.
.
.
.
But she didn't even have that anymore.
No more.
Gone.
Yuki had no idea how everything could be gone in a single moment. She didn't know how a person could feel so lonely.
She didn't knew a person could shoulder the weight of the world.
That's what it felt like. The whole world, crashing on her.
Everything was like a dream yet at the same time it was so vivid. It was so vivid, in fact it felt surreal.
Her mother's death. Her mother's funeral. And the final goodbyes.
And now she was in her giant house alone. She hated that the house was so large because it made it that much more lonely.
She looked around the house and she began recalling all the lovely memories that she had of the place.
No.
Not lovely memories.
Bad memories.
All those moments of happiness and joy flipped inside Yuki's mind like a flipbook. And with every page they would turn cold and gray.
Yes.
They were no longer moments of happiness and joy anymore. They were moments which brought her sadness and pain.
She was somewhat amazed at how good can turn bad and how love can turn into unbearable pain.
"....."
She was sitting lifelessly on one corner of the living room where she could clearly see everything in the house.
She was crying, yet tears did not fall from her eyes. They had dried up from crying too much.
She was sobbing, yet she was not making a sound. Her throat was sore due to sobbing too much.
She was grieving, yet her face did not change. Her face had grown numb from frowning too much.
She was in pain, yet she did not move. She was too weak to do so.
Everything was dead about her except for her heart which persists on beating on.
'Why are you still beating?' Yuki would question her heart.
'It would be better to just let go.' Yuki advised but her heart continued beating.
To what purpose?
She did not know.
"...."
She was tired and weak. She had not eaten nor drank anything for two days now. Her thirst and hunger was overshadowed by the pain in her chest so she didn't even realise it.
But she did not get up to eat.
Why would she?
So she stayed there like a corpse in one corner of the room. Dead.
She wondered if others felt the same way when they lose their loved ones.
Or was she a special case because her mother was the only one who would ever understand her true self. Accept her inhumane self.
Maybe it has something to do with her wolf nature. Losing her pack or something... something...
She did not know.
All she knew was being alone was unbearable.
Alone.
Can people even live like that?
No relative.
No previous relationships.
No other kin.
Not even other people of her own race.
Or species.
Truly alone.
.
.
.
Time passed and the sky outside began rumbling and dark clouds rolled up in the sky to announce the coming of a storm.
Maybe as if to reflect Yuki's sadness or maybe to compensate for her inability to cry. The sky wept.
Huge droplets of water began falling from the dark clouds like giant tears and soon the pitter patter sound of the rain enveloped the world.
The wind began howling and blowing in response to the storm. The things in the house began flying here and there due to the strong winds.
Yuki should really close the doors and windows, but she didn't.
She couldn't care less right now.
But as the winds began blowing - carrying the lighter materials of the house to it's whims - it also began carrying a certain scent.
A scent that immediately caught Yuki's nose.
It was a remarkable scent.
So remarkable in fact, that it made Yuki get up from her seat and move towards it.
The wind blew into the house, messing everything up and Yuki walked through that. Her mind was filled with nothing but the scent right now.
A very attractive scent.
But not in a sexual or edible smell. It didn't smell good nor tasty.
The smell was attractive in an abstract sense.
Something much deeper.
.
.
It smelled like home.
She followed the scent to her room and soon came upon the old bandage which she had put in under her pillow.
Ah!, she remembered now. The scent was so remarkable that it made Yuki sleep well at night so she had put it there. Under her pillow.
Yuki went there and took the bandage. She put it on her nose and gave strong sniff and inhale the lingering scent on the bandage.
An image appeared in her mind.
Purple eyes that did not judge her.
A kind smile ready to help anyone.
'That boy...' Yuki thought about the boy who had saved her.
The boy who was kind enough to risk his life for a wolf like her. She remembered the short time she spent with him.
That short time felt like a lifetime to her. Because it was so precious to her. Especially right now.
She continued taking in the scent but she felt something wrong. Something was wrong with her.
As if struck by lightning. Yuki realised that she was smiling.
She touched her curved lips in disbelief and wonder.
Yes.
Now that all her memories with her previous family had turned painful, the moments with him were the only good and happy memories she had now.
She curled up on the floor and smelled the badage harder, Focusing only on that scent.
On him.
She felt a tiny ease in her aching heart and she wanted more of that.
She felt her heartbeat and remembered her previous questions,
"Why are you still beating?"
Maybe..
Maybe she was not alone.
Maybe she had not lost everything.
Maybe the world did not end with her mother's life.
She still needed to find out.
Maybe that was the purpose to why her heart was still beating.
This smell. That boy.
She needed more of him.
He was probably the only thing she had left.
The only hope.
And the good memories of spending time with him....
Yuki wanted more of that.
.
.
.
.
So Yuki ran.
She was running, running, running.
She left everything behind.
Her house. Her old memories. Her past. Her pain.
She was running towards that one hope.
That remarkable scent.
That kind boy.
She was running towards that one place which she hoped will be the cure to her loneliness.
Running towards that certain someone who she hoped would become the only thing she had left.
She was running towards that place she hoped would be..
...home.
Because that was what it smelled like.
.
.
Because he smelled like home.
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Author : Try reading this on webnovel. There are imges there. I don't know how to post imges here. It says it needs url and stuff, it's complicated.