When we arrive back at our classroom, our physics class is already wrapping up.

“So good of you two to join us again,” the teacher snarks at us, glaring.

“Sorry, Seiko had a... medical emergency,” Leona explains, with just a hint of hesitation.

“Oh really?” he plants his hands on his hips. Shit, I should have gotten a note or something, I wasn't thinking... “What sort of 'medical emergency?'” His eyes slide from me as I'm grimacing, to Leona, and I can practically hear his thoughts through his expression. Does he think we were doing something sexual?

“U-umm, that is...” But there's literally nothing I can say here.

“That is confidential, for now,” Leona comes to the rescue. “The school administration should inform you over the weekend.” That gets a raised brow from the teacher, not to mention a number of murmurs from the students. “Should. If Janice Monasta-san decides to do her job properly this time.”

That seems to satisfy the teacher, knowing that there's definitely something and he's going to find out soon. Not to mention her ire at the school administrator drawing into question what in the world it could be. He lets us return to our seats without further questions, and is just beginning to open his mouth, either to say something, or continue the lecture maybe, when the bell rings to end class.

He gives a vaguely annoyed gesture before leaving. Everyone relaxes with the start of our break. Gon passes by on his way out of the room – I still haven't gotten to asking if he wants to sit with us. His eyes turn to me as he passes though, narrowing just a bit, but he goes without comment. What was that? When I move back one desk into his empty seat, I find out.

“Uhh, Sei?” Ken calls uncertainly.

“Yeah?”

“You, uhh...” he leans forward, sniffing slightly. Then his voice lowers, so only I can hear. “You kind of smell.” My cringe is instantaneous. They can't smell the blood on me, can they? The doctor didn't mention anything like that. Besides, I washed myself well, and I'm in a fresh set of clothes...

“W-what do I smell like...?”

“Well, kind of just like sweaty? It's not that strong or anything, but it's not the best smell, I guess.” So I don't smell like blood? But why would he smell my sweat now? It's usually odorless, does it smell different on my period?

I turn a look to everyone else, and with an embarrassed whisper, they lean in too. They try not to be too obvious, sniffing around me briefly. Leona and Amari just shrug, but Lucy makes a kind of 'so-so' hand gesture. It's around then that Jen, Runa, and Finn arrive from across the hall.

“What's going on?” Runa speaks up first, since it's clear that something's up with everyone leaned into a close huddle.

“Well...” Ken gestures to me, which has Runa move a little closer, like she's looking me over to see what he's referring to.

Then she cringes, her hand covering to her wrinkled nose. “Seiko-san, you, umm...” she doesn't need to say the rest. Jen and Finn follow of course, with no response from Jen, and a vaguely unpleasant look from Finn.

I don't get it, only some people think I smell? Is this anything like how guys react to my smell when I'm aroused? Because my sweat's weird now? But in this case, it isn't just guys, it seems to affect people at random. Some chemical only certain people can detect maybe?

Whatever the case, the only thing that correlates to this change in smell is my period, so of course I'm going to assume that's the cause, but who knows...

When they all come close, expressions like they think I'm about to explain, I flush a little more. “Well, umm... It has to do with leaving earlier.” I only make eye contact with the other girls, then press a hand to my stomach and say, “If you think about it, you can probably guess.” I don't know if that's enough of a hint, but after some thought, I see the light bulbs all lighting up.

“Oh. That's... different. No one's ever told me I...” Lucy scratches her cheek, “...smell different...”

“I'm pretty sure it has to do with my skin condition, I've noticed one other thing related to my smell that I think ties back to it.”

“What's that?” she asks curiously, but I just shake my head since I clearly can't discuss it here.

“What are you guys talking about, I'm kind of lost...” Finn speaks up, head tilted in confusion.

“Don't worry about it, you wouldn't get it,” Lucy easily waves him off.

“I don't either...?” Ken comments, before shrugging. He must be assuming it's a girl thing, so he's letting it go.

Moving past that, we settle into our usual routine. I'm actually kind of thankful that my period dragged me out of my stress spiral. Even with the cramps and the dull throb of the headache behind my eyes, it got my mind off of everything for a little bit.

Despite my new pains, there's no time to rest. I keep working out, lifting Leona on my back while I do squats and push ups until our next teacher arrives. I can't tell if all the hard exercise is making my cramps better or worse...

What it does do is make me sweat all over, spreading my vaguely unpleasant scent across a good deal of our classroom. Thankfully, besides wrinkling their noses for a few moments, the guys ignore it. The girls have similar responses, but even more subdued. Maybe just a snuffle and a shake of their head before they ignore it.

Why are only some girls more perceptive? Do they have stronger noses? But then why do basically all the guys pick up on it? Do men have a better sense of smell than women? Is that a thing?

I'm glad that I have this new thing to wonder about. It's infinitely better than questioning my entire future at this school. Classes and breaks pass just like usual after that, even though my mood fluctuates weirdly.

Sometimes I feel like normal, but other times, I just feel like absolute shit in the middle of the lessons, for no reason at all. Are these the mood swings the doctor mentioned? I mostly try to push through them and focus on class rather than myself to keep my mind off how I feel.

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I return to the infirmary during lunch to change my tampon, as instructed. I sit in the infirmary wash room, trying to relax like she told me, gently tugging on the string attached to the thing to get it out. It's still really unpleasant and makes me cringe as it comes out.

Then, I'm immediately creeped out when I see at the swollen, blood red thing in my hands. Trying not to look at it too much, I wrap it in toilet paper like she told me to, and drop it into the garbage can. I'm not that squeamish, but still, blood...

Maybe I'll get used to it eventually, but it makes me shiver a little, seeing it like that for the first time. After struggling to put in another one, I wash my hands and sigh. I wonder if I'll ever get used to that part.

Being a girl can be hard...

As soon as I get back, I make myself eat a full lunch, even though my body is telling me it doesn't want anything. All I get for it at first is an upset stomach and more abdominal pain. That makes my mood plummet, but I keep telling myself it'll help later.

Later, later...

When we get to gym class, I sit out again. The class breaks up, boys playing basketball in one part of the gym, girls stretching and doing gymnastics in the other. I sit on the bench watching, trying to ignore the random stabbing pains that have come back since those pain meds wore off a little while ago. Looking up methods to relieve cramps has rapidly climbed to the very top of my list of things to do after school today.

I'm a little surprised when a girl joins me on the bench. But it only takes one look – that pained, unpleasant expression – she's on her period too, isn't she? The doctor said cycles average twenty eight days, with like five-ish of those being on your period, so that's what...? I pull out my mobile and tap out the math. Almost twenty percent, ugh... Compared to the thirty-ish girls between our two classes, that's about five girls, likely to be on their periods on any given day.

Realizing that, it's a big surprise. I hardly ever see more than a girl or two sitting gym out any given day. Does that mean they usually just ignore it? Maybe it's not so bad once they figure out how to manage their pain...

“Hey, I'm not letting you sit out so you can play on your mobile,” the gym teacher suddenly barks at me, stomping over angrily.

God, I'm so not in the mood for this... “I'm not playing,” I respond flatly.

“Then what are you doing?” he challenges.

“Math.” I turn to show him my calculator app. Then I sigh and pocket the thing. Between that and me actually looking like utter shit today, he thankfully backs off, and returns to yelling at the guys about whatever.

My eyes slowly drift back over to the girl's side of the gym. They never have guys do gymnastics because it's considered too girly. I wonder how I would do...? I'd probably suck... Suddenly, a girl's voice comes from my side, the other girl sitting out, on the bench a short distance away. I don't recognize her, I think she's from class D.

“So, math?”

“...Yeah?” I don't get it.

She frowns. “Wait, don't tell me you were actually doing math.”

“...Yeah?”

The girl practically snorts, her orange-red hair swishing around her shoulders as she shakes her head. “What were you doing math for?”

“Uhh...” It would definitely sound weird if I told her, wouldn't it?

Her eyes narrow. “Don't tell me, was it something pervy?”

Why would it be...? “Uhh, no.” I really don't feel like dealing with this conversation, but she seems a lot more energetic than earlier. Maybe she's doing this to keep her mind off her own problems.

“Then what is it?”

I frown at the floor. “It's not weird, but you would think it's weird.”

“That doesn't make any sense,” she points out the obvious.

I can only shrug. “It would make sense later.” Everything would make sense to them later if they thought about it, I realize, with a long, tired sigh.

“You know, you really look like shit,” the girl quips.

“So do you,” I snap back, really getting sick of this whole conversation. It's only a moment after that I realize my mood is getting to me.

She rolls her eyes. “Uncontrollable bleeding will do that,” she growls back.

“Nn,” I agree with a nod.

That gives her pause. Then she glares at me. “Ugh, guys. You're so dense, you know.”

“Huh?” What's she even talking about? I'm literally not even a guy, what she's saying doesn't make any sense.

“What do you think I mean when I say uncontrollable bleeding?” she snaps at me.

“Your period,” I deadpan back. What else could she possibly mean?

Her eyes go wide, mouth open. She chokes out a sound or two like that before recovering enough to flush bright red. “Asshole!” she's practically growling at me as she curses, keeping her voice low to avoid notice from the teachers.

“Ugh...” I groan. I know she's just being bitchy because she feels like shit, but come on... “What? I get it, you're on your period, you feel like shit. You don't have to take it out on me you know.”

God, I have no right to talk, we're literally in the same bloody fucking boat...

“Well what's your excuse?” she demands.

I can't help letting a laugh slip out. I cover my mouth, until the laughter just makes my stomach stab at me even worse than before. Bending over forward, I groan and hug my arms around my stomach.

Apparently, that finally gets through to her. “Hey, uhh, are you alright?” she asks uncertainly.

“I feel like shit.” I turn to look up at her. “Sorry for taking it out on you.” My response makes her face screw up. Like she subconsciously gets my meaning, but it just leads to utter confusion right now.

“A-anyway...” she trails off, wincing and rubbing her stomach, before going on, “most guys get all weird and uncomfortable about periods, don't even want to recognize they exist.”

“Really?” I'm surprised, no one ever mentioned that.

Oh, duh, of course they didn't, that's essentially what she just said.

“Well duh, what's up with you, weirdo?”

My eye twitches. “Seiko Maka.”

She rolls hers back, but she clearly gets my point. “Lola Freeman.”

Getting back to her question, I shrug. God, I'm so tired of hiding. Some part of me is screaming that Monday can't come soon enough. “Screw it,” I groan, totally not in the mood for this conversation anymore. “You want to know what I what I was doing earlier? Figuring out that on average, three other girls are on their periods right now.”

“The... the fuck? Are you some kind of pervert?” she slides a little further away.

“Yeah, sure, let's go with that,” I wave a hand dismissively. “If it means you'll leave me to my misery in peace.” I fold over forward, pressing my head to my knees. The position feels just a tiny bit better for my throbbing stomach. Why did I have to eat all that food earlier...?

Freeman makes a few questioning sounds after that, but seems to get the message and doesn't bother me again. When gym finally ends, we all slog through our last class. We've more or less made it through the bare basics of cooking, not that the guys bothered learning any of it.