Strongest Noble's Daughter Uses Water Magic

The Stinky Crossbreed

I eventually made it to the back of the academy, where I saw no sign of a flower field, or even a garden. There were some flowers planted around, but not really enough to call it a field. There was not even a single soul around here.

"Dora did say the flower field is at the back of the academy, right?" I wondered out loud, roaming around the area. "Did I somehow get lost? This should be the back of the academy."

As I continued to walk around, I smelled something in the air. Something quite pleasant, coming from the woods. I recalled Dora stating that this last classmate loves to be somewhere with a pleasant scent and not many people, and since the woods is still at the back of the academy, the last classmate must be somewhere in there. With that thought in mind, I made my way in.

Some time of walking later, I was out of the woods, and found myself staring at a rather large flower field, with various of flowers planted around. My eyes widened at the scenery before me, amazed that there was such a place hidden here. Looking at this also made me think it would be a good place to come and unwind every once in a while.

I took in a breath, taking in the nice smell the flowers were giving off. One smell, and I was reminded of why I was here in the first place.

"Now... Where is Flora...?" I wondered, looking around the area for a crossbreed in a student uniform.

It did not take me long to find something out of ordinary amongst the flowers, for I saw a white and black fluffy tail raised amongst the flowers. I carefully approached the tail and saw it belonging to a girl with black and white hair, and quite the pretty face, tending to the flowers. For some reason, I felt something quite off at her appearance, but decided to not question it and continued making my way over to her. 

"You're all looking really good today, too. Here's some more water," I heard her say so softly, as she watered the plants.

Once I was close enough, I tapped on her shoulder. "Excuse me."

******

Oh... My head... What the heck happened...? I remember calling out to Flora... And then I saw a flash of white... What happened after that?

I slowly opened my eyes, getting them adjusted to the brightness of the sun shining down, much to my surprise. How long was I out?

"U-Um... A-Are you okay...?" came a trembling voice.

I turned my head to the side, and saw Flora hiding amongst some of the taller flowers as best as she could, tail tucked between her legs.

"Y-... Yeah..." I weakly answered, slowly rising back up from the flowers I was resting on. As I did so, my nose started wincing somewhat in agony. Why that was, I did not know, but I pinched my nose as best as I could to help relieve it of whatever pain it was in.

"S-Sorry..." Flora spoke once more. "I-I didn't mean to... to stink you up like that... You just surprised me, and I... I'm really, really sorry..."

When she said that, and upon getting a better look at her tail, I finally realized exactly what crossbreed she was, as well as what happened that caused me to black out like I did.

"Um... By any chance at all... Are you a...?" I tried to speak as carefully as I could. I did not want to risk hurting her feelings in any way, if I could. Then again, since she is what I think she is, maybe she was used to being told that. Though, if she was, she would not look so hurt.

I did not need to finish that question, as Flora poked her head out and said, "Y-Yes... It's... as you think. I'm a skunk crossbreed."

My nose instinctively twitched in agony at the confirmation, in which I had then tried to ease up. Unfortunately, the pain also had me remember... the disgusting odor that I took the full force of. It stank so bad, I saw life flash before my eyes and fainted.

A pleasant smell then reached my nose, causing the pain to ease up somewhat. I looked and saw some flower petals being steeped in a bowl of hot water, their nice fragrant reaching my nose.

"Did you leave this here?" I asked.

"Y-Yes... After what happened earlier, I figured you'd need it..." she answered.

My nose tensed up in response, though not as bad as before. "Yeah... Um... Can we not mention that for the next hour or so?"

Flora looked down with a blush upon my request and nodded. "U-Um... Why is the Fifth Ranked Commoner here to see me...?" she stuttered out then.

"I'm here to ask you to join the rest of the class with our training for our upcoming exam," I replied. "Out of everyone there, you're the only one I have yet to ask. Mainly because I did not know you were a classmate... But that's still no excuse for excluding you. We have a few days to train, and we really need everyone's cooperation. Won't you join us?"

Flora looked down with a saddened expression, most likely not wanting to be the subject of whatever horrible things will come to her during training, especially considering her quirks as a skunk crossbreed.

"Can I... really join?" she asked.

"Of course. I can't guarantee that no one will be bothered by your... unique scent,  but you're still more than welcome. Our class is filled with some unique people, after all. I'm sure you fit in just fine," I assured.

It took Flora a few seconds, but she finally picked up her head and gave me her answer. "I'm sorry. I don't think I can. Please don't get me wrong, though, it's not you, or any of our classmates. It's just... It's... embarrassing..."

I raised a brow at the reason. "Embarrassing?"

"You said it yourself. The others may be bothered by the smell I may give off, something that is normal for my kind. Just even imagining the things they'll say... It's so embarrassing."

I was taken aback when I saw the expression on her face turn to that of blushing joy, in which the girl attempted to cover with her hands.

"Um... Wait just a second there... Are you telling me you like to be called stinky?" I questioned.

The girl flinched at my question, her tail raised quite shakily. "D-D-Don't be so blunt about it, please... Just imagining it makes me feel funny, but hearing someone else say it... I don't think I can handle the embarrassment!"

The way she was shaking, especially with her tail raised had me on guard, as I hastily thought of something to say that could have her hold back her skunky release. "Relax, relax! Just relax! Do not even think about releasing that stench!"

Unfortunately, I had said the wrong thing, as Flora made a smelly release. Thankfully, as there was some distance between us, I managed to cover my nose and mouth, but I still sadly breathed in a bit of that odor, though not enough to faint from the foul scent.

"Heheh. Sorry," Flora apologized with a grin.

"Oh, it's fine. Nothing to worry about," I spoke in a hyponasal voice, trying hard not to breathe in any bad air. "So... About you joining the training...? Is there really no way for you to join? If that is the only issue you have, I don't think you'll have much of a problem with us."

Flora glanced up at me with a blushing expression. "... Are you sure?"

"Of course. It'll be fine."

After a bit of more time considering, the skunk crossbreed came out of her hiding place and approached me. "Then, if it's really okay for me to join. It will be a pleasure meeting everyone!" 

Flora gleefully grabbed my hands in a handshake, causing me to grimace horribly as I held my breath from the lingering odor and lightly nodded my head in agreement. All while thinking to myself... how I should tell everyone about this final classmate of ours, as well as how I can convince Dora into joining me for Lilith's upcoming antidote tests. For after all... it would've been really nice to know beforehand that the last classmate was part skunk.