As Botan slowly moved her phone away from her ear, she couldn’t help but feel as though something was off.
Koyori was quite a... Spontaneous character. But this? Calling her about Anon? Why didn’t she call him directly? She did earlier this week when asking about the new lab member...
Guess Anon isn’t checking his phone, again...
As Botan recalls the last time Anon didn’t check his phone, she feels worry creep into her heart. Last time this happened, Anon was working overtime at the lab, but why isn’t he noticing his phone this time? What could he possibly be caught up on?
Something’s going on.
Botan wastes no time heading to Polka’s house, having finished informing Polka’s audience of the canceled stream. She steps outside and locks the front door before getting into her own car, her destination only a few minutes away.
_____________________________________________________
You freeze at the realization that this was it. The room you stood in now was the catalyst of your life falling apart. This room was now a crime scene.
Your crime scene.
Polka lies motionless on the floor, completely unconscious. Her arms now strewn across the carpeted floor, which itself is soaked in the contents of the vial. Her knife still resided in the light-pink wall behind her.
The doorbell rings again, this time repeatedly. It almost sounds louder.
Your vision starts to blur and, in a futile effort, you try to save yourself. You wipe off the chemical from Polka’s face using your shirt and move her onto her bed, placing the covers over her completely.
Ring.
You move her plushies from the bed to cover the wet spot on the carpet, hoping to hide the stain the chemical left on it.
Ring. Ring.
Lastly, you take out the knife from the wall, placing it into your pocket along with the vial. You quickly glance over the room one more time, seeing if anything incriminating was leftover.
The whole room is a mess.
There is no way you could explain this away. This is it.
The door rings incessantly.
Botan would see Polka’s room, she would see her unconscious. Then, that would be it.
No matter how close you and Botan are, you hurt her close friend deeply. You violated her mind to save yourself. She would turn you in, by force if needed.
You accept your fate, knowing that karma was bound to catch up with you eventually. You aren’t even mad at anyone but yourself, this was all your doing. You deserve to be punished.
…
You head towards the front door without hesitation, having accepted your future. You open the door, at the very least feeling happy you got to spend time with everyone.
...
As soon as you do, a blur of pink rushes past you, bumping into your shoulder as it scans around the room.
“PLEASE TELL ME I’M NOT TOO LATE!”
Never before have you been happy to see Koyori. At least she would turn you in without mauling you first. A far-away expression crosses your face as you reminisce about all the times she had been the embodiment of your annoyance. The idea of this being the last time you see her brings a sad smile to your face. Maybe, you could at least forgive her for seeing you off.
The happiness is short-lived as Koyori snaps you, or rather slaps you, back to reality. “DID YOU USE IT?!?!?”
“... Yeah... But...” The pain of having to admit how terribly you fucked up makes your words catch in your throat.
Koyori’s eyes shake as she grabs onto your wrists. “WHERE??!!!”
You snap out of your stupor, remembering what’s really important right now. You used way too much of that chemical on Polka. Your life may be forfeit, but Polka’s is worth saving, and right now...
Her life is in danger.
You quickly grab Koyori by the hand and lead her to Polka’s room, where you begin to remove the cover over her.
“WHA– YOU HIT— YOU KNOCKED HER OUT?!??!” The implications Koyori makes of you being a violent person ticks you off. You were certainly a lying, manipulative, unfaithful piece of shit, but you wouldn’t ever hit any of your friends, much less Polka.
Koyori however...
“N-No”—you attempt to withhold any anger from your voice—”I used too much.” You feel worse with each word you speak.
“WH- NOOOO!!! LISTEN,”—Koyori shakes you—”we NEED to get her to the lab.”
Koyori’s words fill you with a bit of faith. “You can fix this?”
“That wasn’t the right bottle, Anon! That was the stock solution...”
...
“YOU DIDN’T LABEL THE FUCKING STOCK SOLUTION????”
“WHAT??? I DIDN’T?!?!”
Not only had you used too much without thinking, but Koyori hadn’t even diluted the contents of the vial. A vein begins throbbing on your forehead. You were losing your patience very quickly, and with it, your hope.
No, don’t get mad, that isn’t important right now.
You shake your head. “Forget it. You can fix this right? You brought your car?”
“Yeah, help me carry her there, quickly! I’ll grab the legs.” As Koyori wraps her hands around the back of Polka’s knees, you grab underneath Polka’s arms. You both start awkwardly shifting to the exit, as Koyori continues talking.
“Listen Anon, that solution was REALLY concentrated...”
“...”
“And you used enough to make her unconscious...”
She’s preparing you for the worst. You already know the situation is dire, but your hope is once again shrinking.
Your breath starts to get shaky as you and Koyori round a corner and reach the front door. Both of you place Polka onto the floor and prop her up against a wall, allowing a break from the physical exertion.
Dread looms over you. You don’t feel ready for what Koyori’s about to say.
Just then, she calls your attention back by placing a hand lightly against your chest. You find your breathing steadying itself.
This time, when she speaks, her voice holds an uncharacteristic soft and soothing tone. “It’s okay. How long ago did you use it?” You blink at Koyori as your mind begins to process the question.
“... About three minutes now,” you weakly say. You weren’t sure if this was a lot of time, or too little for the chemical to begin working.
“Three minutes?” Koyori exhales deeply and lightly smiles at you. She moves the hand resting on your chest to the handle of the front door, before opening it. “Don’t worry, we can still make it. She’ll be fine.”
...
She’ll be fine?
Just then, the doorbell rings again.
Both you and Koyori snap your heads towards the front door Koyori had just opened.
It’s the lioness, partly surprised neither of you noticed her, and partly surprised by Koyori’s presence, judging by how she’s eying her.
Almost instinctively, you sneak a glance at where Polka is.
Koyori, having opened the front door, had hidden Polka behind it such that she was completely out of Botan’s view. The fact that your future just now hinged on where you two had placed Polka makes you feel immense stress and discomfort.
“I was.. Wondering who’s car that was...” Botan’s voice paralyzes you. She blinks twice before continuing. “Make it? She’ll be fine?”
“O-Oh, Botan. W-we were just-”
“T-TALKING ABOUT OUR NEW LAB MEMBER OF COURSE!!!!” Koyori blurts out in an attempt to save this. “Y-YEAH!! Had to leave the rookie all by themselves today, I should probably get back to them! Maybe bring Anon with me so they can meet, you know!”
You glance at Koyori, for the first time thankful she was talking.
“Oh? Is that why you called me about Anon?”—Botan gestures with her eyes at you—”Worried the newbie might mess up?”
“YEP!! Apparently they already did! Made a biiiig mess in the storage room, or so I heard!! Maybe Anon could teach em a thing or two,” Koyori says as she playfully punches your shoulder.
You got the message.
Botan looks at you again, as if asking for confirmation of the story. “Yeah, I offered to at least mentor the new member. Don’t want them breaking anything important. I’d be just as responsible if they did, after all.”
“Ehhh, I see. You had me worried for a second. Koyori practically said she couldn’t reach you.”
Koyori interjects. “Which is why I showed up here!! You know Anon, always ignoring his phone and whatnot!!”
Botan chuckles slightly, the sound of which makes you ease up a touch. “Yeah? Thought we talked about this Anon?” She playfully jabs at your chest with her finger.
“Ah. Whoops,” you say as you scratch your head, attempting to act as though the past few minutes hadn’t happened.
“So, where’s Polka?” Botan asks as she moves past you and Koyori and into Polka’s house. You and Koyori both stare at each other in shock behind Botan’s back, realizing she could turn around and see Polka at any second.
To save yourself, you do what you do best. You lie.
You move up to Botan’s side and place a hand on her shoulder, as Koyori begins to quietly drag the fennec out of sight. “Oh, she had already left before we arrived. Probably at some store to buy herself some medicine.”
“Oh, have you tried calling her?” Botan inquires as she walks further into the house, while you trail slightly behind her, hoping to block her vision in the event she turns around.
“Well, I figured there was no need. She’ll probably be back soon”—you look back at the front door for confirmation, just as Koyori pokes her head out from outside the house and nods vigorously—“maybe you should wait for her here. Me and Koyori should see what the rookie’s up to in the meantime.”
Botan rounds a corner as you stop following her, now out of sight without ever having looked back at Polka. “Alright, don’t take too long.” Her voice trails off as she makes her way to Polka’s room.
“Alright!!! Be right Baaack~,” Koyori states as she leans against the front door, repeatedly gesturing for you to follow her. You quickly move out of the house and close the door behind you as Koyori runs towards her car, you trailing right behind her. Polka was now leaning against the side of Koyori’s van.
The two of you waste no time in moving Polka into Koyori’s car. Koyori reaches into her pocket and fumbles with the ‘unlock’ button of her car keys as you open the rear-passenger door. You once again grab Polka underneath her arms as Koyori grabs her legs. The two of you place her into a rear-passenger seat as Koyori puts the seat belt on her.
Still not out of the woods, Koyori rushes to the driver’s seat as you call shotgun. After Koyori places the seat belt onto herself, she instantly floors out of the driveway, not waiting for you to do the same.
_____________________________________________________
As Koyori drives to the lab, you feel an overwhelming urge to know what Koyori plans on doing. I mean, how does she plan on fixing the mess you made? Overdose doesn’t begin to describe how much of the chemical you used on Polka...
“Are you sure you can fix this?” Your voice trembles with uncertainty.
“Don’t worry, I’m not stupid!” Koyori gives you a thumbs-up, looking away from the road as she travels at highway speeds. This doesn’t make you feel better. “I have the antagonist chemical in my lab, we just need to hurry before it starts working!”
“O-Okay. So all her memories will be intact?”
“Well, as much as you want!”
Her words make you feel dirty. You didn’t want to do any of this, but you had no choice at this point. Still, having your thoughts vocalized like that reminds you of how terrible you are.
She notices you slump in your seat, and decides to reword her statement. “U-Uh I MEANT IN A GOOD WAY!! Wouldn’t want her to remember whatever you said this morning... And whatever you did to her in her bedroom just now...?” Koyori’s voice decreases in volume at her last statement.
The implications of Koyori’s words tick you off once again, but you realize what actually happened in both scenarios isn’t much better. Hell, to someone like Polka, being cheated on might be worse than being assaulted.
You relent. ‘Yeah... Good idea.”
“Okay. Just gotta use enough antagonist to nullify the amnesia, then use the amnesia potion to erase the past... Hour and a half?”
You nod in response, to which Koyori makes eye contact with you and smiles.
“So, how much is leftover in the vial anyways?” You take the vial out of your pocket and show it to her. It’s empty.
“Oh, uh… I-It's okay! I do have another vial of the amnesia potion to spare, and I only need about...”
Koyori pauses for a brief moment to perform the stoichiometry in her head.
She talks, partly to herself as she works through the procedure. “Looks like you used the whole vial, so I’ll need just as much antagonist... Then after that, it should only be about a few thousandths of a mole to erase the past little while...”
Koyori’s pondering comes to a halt as you start talking. “Where do we take her to, the storage room?”
“Yep! Only place unoccupied as of now”—she looks away in embarrassment—“because there’s a mess there, hehe.”
As the plan falls more and more into place, you feel as though things might not be so bleak after all. Koyori, for all the pain she is, really came through here. More than just giving you the potion so you could save your relationship with Polka, she’s saving you.
A silence ensues for a few seconds. You look back at Polka through the rear-view mirror, seeing her head resting against the back of the seat, her face showing pure serenity. A light smile forms on your face at the sight, and you relax your shoulders.
“Koyori?”
“What’s... Up?” Koyori’s voice mellows out as you catch her eye.
You turn towards her and gently rest your hand on her forearm as you begin to express your gratitude. “Thank you.”
“A-Ah, n-no problem.” Koyori stutters for a brief moment, which confuses you slightly. As her face reddens, you tilt your head in a quizzical manner, before realizing how handsy you were being.
You quickly retract your hand and turn your face away from her, instead looking out the window to hide the blush creeping onto your face.
Koyori quickly breaks the tension between you two. “S-Sorry! I just wasn’t expecting you to...”
“...”
“Be nice...?”
The next few minutes are spent in silence, until you two finally reach the destination.
You and Koyori wordlessly carry Polka out the car the same way as before, ignoring the weird looks you garner from on-goers as you enter the lab.
It certainly wasn’t the first time today.
The time you spend in the elevator is also filled with silence. Every time you sneak a glance at Koyori, it seems as though she is looking at anything but you. Both of you hold onto Polka throughout the awkward silence, which luckily isn’t as long this time around.
Once you make it to the storage room, which was surprisingly still unlocked, you and Koyori navigate around the mess still present on the floor. After avoiding tripping on anything, you two move Polka onto one of the stools and have her lean against the lab bench directly behind it. Polka, of course, looked comfortable the whole way through.
As you stare at Polka, Koyori begins rummaging through the mess on the floor, looking for the two chemicals in question.
“Aha!” Koyori’s sound of triumph makes your worries die down once again. You turn around to see her holding two vials, both of which are ALSO unlabeled. At this point, maybe Koyori can just tell what the chemical is by smelling it?
Pretty stupid thing to do...
You watch as Koyori tilts the fennec’s head backwards and begins to pour the entire contents of one vial into Polka’s mouth.
“S-Shouldn’t you have measured?”
“No need! The antagonist only interacts with the amnesia potion once inside the body.”
“...” You watch as Polka reflexively swallows.
“Okay, that should do it! Now, to erase her memories...” You’re filled with uncertainty, but say nothing and continue watching.
Koyori now opens a drawer and takes out a graduated cylinder and a micropipette, the former she hands to you.
“Fill this up with the distilled water! Up to 100mL.” She gestures with her head to one of the shelves behind you, where the distilled water resided. The words ‘distilled’ are scrawled in black marker over some tape on the side of the squeeze bottle.
At least something seems to be labeled.
You do as you’re told, making your way back to her once the task is done and placing it in front of her. Over her shoulder, you see her begin to place a tip onto the micropipette, a P10.
Fuck...
In hindsight, you realize now that you certainly used far more than you would ever need, even to erase all of Polka’s memories.
You watch Koyori calibrate the micropipette to 1 uL, before pressing down to the first stop of the plunger, and placing it into the second vial. She then releases the plunger to draw up the liquid, moves it over to the graduated cylinder you had just filled, and presses down on the plunger to the second stop. She swirls the beaker for a few moments before disposing of the P10 and exhaling.
You watch as she places a new P10 onto the micropipette and draws up the same amount from the newly prepared aliquot. She administers it to Polka orally once again.
The fennec reflexively swallows for the second time. You feel as though you have taken advantage of her, but try to push the feeling away.
This is what’s best...
Distracting yourself, you decide to take note of Koyori’s lab skills. In a surprising show of competence, Koyori had managed to complete everything smoothly.
“So, is that...?”
“Yep!! Should take some time for her to wake up, though!”
Both you and Koyori stare at each other in silence. No matter how much you tell yourself, you weren’t sure this was the right thing to do.
You look away from Koyori. “I’m sorry.” — You move closer to Polka, brushing her hair away from her face — “I shouldn’t have dragged you into this... I shouldn’t have done any of this...”
“M-Maybe it wasn’t the most rational thing to do” — you glare at her, knowing full well that was true — “B-BUUUT, you just didn’t want her to feel hurt, right?”
“...”
“Come on, you’re not all that bad!”
“... Do you wanna know why I did this?” Your voice quivers.
“... Anon?”
_____________________________________________________
Botan stood silent at the threshold, taking in the sight of Polka’s room. She knew of the girl’s explosive nature, but the mess before her was... Odd. It looked as though the place had been ransacked. Botan of course knew this was certainly Polka’s doing, judging by the fact her streaming equipment is completely untouched, but she had never seen Polka rage to such an extent.
As she looks around the place further, she notices a mark in the wall. It seems as though Polka had stabbed into it with a knife, maybe about four inches deep. The sight doesn’t reassure her in the slightest. Never before had Polka done this.
What’s more, she even got rid of her plushies, which had overtaken her bed last she saw.
Wait...
As Botan moves further into the room, she looks behind the bed and notices them just off to its side. They seem to have been clumped together on the floor rather conspicuously. As she moves them to the side, she sees a stain that’s permeated into the carpeting.
“... Omarun?” Botan whispers to herself, wondering why Polka would cover up the stain. Was it to make the room look cleaner? Certainly not, everything about this room was a mess to begin with. Covering up this stain would be completely pointless.
So, why...? And that scent...
_____________________________________________________
“...”
“...”
“Say something...”
Koyori doesn’t acknowledge your question. She begins to put everything away and hum to herself as if nothing is wrong, all the while avoiding eye contact with you.
You reach out to her shoulder as she walks away from you. “Koyo-”
“Anon, it’s okay. You don’t have to tell me." She turns around to face you, her bubbly tone picking up once again. “I’m sure whatever you said was something you didn’t mean!”
“It wasn’t something I said.” Koyori resumes putting everything in its place.
“It doesn’t matter! It’s all in the past now, right?” She turns on the faucet to rinse out the glassware.
“I... yeah.” As she looks over the counter to make sure nothing is left out, she grabs a paper towel to dry her hands off.
“Theeeen...” — Koyori slaps her now dried-off hands onto your shoulders, as if to invigorate you — “Forget about it!!”
“...”
“Ah. Poor choice of words, huh?”
“Yeah.” She shuts the drawer, having put the equipment back where it belongs.
“Hehe, I am curious about it, but I don’t think you should force yourself!”
“Yeah, but... You helped me out... You deserve to know what for...”
“Ooohhh~?"–Koyori turns around to face you once more–“Looking to make it up to me, huh?” Koyori strides towards you with confidence. You feel your heartbeat spike as she leans into your face. “Buy me a meal sometime, okay?” She finishes by smiling at you briefly, before going in for a hug.
The gesture catches you off guard, but you readily return it. You can’t prevent a smile from forming on your face.
The two of you stay like this for a little longer, as you take note of the sensations reaching you. You feel Koyori’s long, pink hair tickling your cheek, just as her fingers brush against your nape ever-so gently, sending a tingle throughout your system. For the first time since you’ve known her, you even take note of her scent.
Lavender? A hint of... Peppermint?
A bit of a weird combo, but you like it.
As you two part slightly, Koyori exhales onto you softly, her hands still resting around your neck. She looks right into your eyes, as you feel yourself growing nervous.
She leans in once again, closing her eyes. Her lips look...Soft. Inviting.
You follow her lead and close your eyes, finding yourself melting into her embrace.
.
.
.