This first chapter is in third person point of view because I didn't know how to set up the scene otherwise. The rest following will be in first person point of view.

In Kanazawa, Japan, a teenage girl was tending to her garden outside. Technically, it was her mother's garden, but she loved it as much as her. There were a variety of flowers: roses, lilies, tulips, sunflowers, and baby's breath. But her favorite were the carnations. She couldn't explain it, but she just loved the smell of them. They had always appealed to her, even when she was little. Her big brother used to tell her that it was because she must've loved carnations in a past life. Of course, she believed him until she was about ten. Now she just rolled her eyes anytime he mentioned it.

While she was watering the white carnations, she heard the backdoor slide open and glanced over her shoulder to see her brother. "What do you want, Kazuo?" she asked, already annoyed.

"Mom said to go to the market and buy some vegetables for dinner," he told.

"Fine, I'll do it when I'm done watering the flowers," she replied turning back to her carnations.

"Now," he ordered. "Before it gets dark. The money's on the table."

The girl looked back at her brother, incredibly irritated, and set down her watering can. "Fine." She walked away from her garden and past her brother, bumping shoulders with him on the way in. She grabbed the money her brother set on the table and headed for the front door, slipping on her shoes and a jacket before leaving.

"Don't be gone for more than half an hour, squirt. Mom wants to get started on dinner and I want to eat soon," Kazuo informed.

"Yeah, yeah," the girl said absentmindly, not really caring what her brother wanted. She shut the door and started toward downtown where the market was.

On the other side of town, a teenage boy and his father were just getting back from fishing. It had been a good day and they were pulling into the docks with a nice, big stack of fish in a net hanging on the side of their boat. As the boy's father cut the boat's engine, he turned to his son and said, "All right, son, let's get these fish to the market so we can make profit on them."

"Okay, dad," the son replied happily.

They went to the net of fish, pulling it over the edge and onto the deck. As they let the fish out, plopping and flopping, they proceeded to pick the best ones to take to the market. The others would be taken home so the boy's mom could cook and clean them. They left the rest of the fish on deck, planning to recollect them when they returned, and headed downtown to the market.

The sky was a dark orange and the sun was halfway set already. The air was cool, but not too chilly. The girl reached back and pulled her long, black hair out of her jacket before returning her hands to her pockets.

When she reached the market, it was more crowded than she thought it'd be. There were different kinds of vendors: fish, fruit, vegetable, and meat. The vegetable vendor just happened to be the last one, meaning it was at the farthest end of the street.

The boy and his dad, who was carrying their catches in a bag, got to the market in no time since it was close to the docks. They made their way to the farthest end of the street, where the fish vendor was. As they all weaved through the medium-sized crowd, the girl, going to one end, and the boy, going to the other, bumped shoulders. "Oh, sorry," apologized the girl.

"It's fine," the boy said, not even glancing at the girl.

The girl stood frozen as she watched the boy and man get farther and farther away, oblivious to her gaze. The salty smell of the sea that came from the boy had caused her to lose all sense of thought or action for some unbeknownst reason. She quickly regained her composure after a moment and spun around to continue to her destination.

Just when she began walking away, the boy slowed his pace and glanced back. The smell of carnations that emanated off the girl caused him to stop and stare. He didn't know why, but the scent reminded him of something. Shaking the thought from his mind, he recollected himself and caught up with his dad.

The girl handed her list of vegetables to the vendor and waited patiently, her mind wondering back to the boy who smelled of the sea. She questioned why she kept thinking of him. She was certain she had never met that boy before and it wasn't like she was unfamiliar with the oceanic scent.

The vendor handed her two bags of vegetables and she paid for them, thanking the man before leaving. She gazed up at the darkening sky and knew she had to get home soon or face the wrath that was her brother's hunger. She remembered a shortcut down an alleyway that would isolate her from the crowd and allow her to hurry home.

"How much do you think we could get for this?"

The boy stood silently by his dad as he bargained on the price for their fish. For some reason, the boy constantly glanced over to where he had last seen the girl that smelled like carnations. He suddenly regretted not looking at her when she apologized, wishing he'd seen her face. He wanted to know who she was now.

"Hey, dad, could I meet you at home?" the boy asked. "I kind of want to check some things out."

"Sure," his dad said, "just don't be out too late."

The boy agreed and his dad went back to the docks to load up the rest of their catch. The boy whirled around and proceeded in the direction the mystery girl had been going earlier. Just as he reached the end of the vendors, he saw her turn into an alley. At first, he wanted to follow too, but then thought better of it. He didn't want to come off as a stalker or something and scare her off. But after a few moments, he decided to follow her despite his better judgment.

As the girl entered the alleyway, she could hear echoing footsteps behind her. She wasn't sure if they were threatening or not, but decided to confront whomever it was. She turned around just as someone grabbed her arm, causing her to drop her bags, and threw her against one of the brick walls. Their strong arm pinned her to the wall so she couldn't escape and a sharp object was pressed against her neck.

"Stay quiet and give me your money," instructed the strange man, whose breath reeked of alcohol.

"B-but I d-don't have any money," stuttered the girl. She felt a stinging pain on her throat followed by the warm feeling of blood running down her neck.

"I said give me your money," the stranger demanded again.

"Hey!"

The girl and stranger both shifted their attention to the entrance of the passageway to see another figure standing there. "Don't come any closer! I'll kill her!" threatened the man.

"I'll give you my money if you let her go," said the second figure, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his wallet. He slowly advanced toward the drunken man and scared girl, holding his wallet out to them.

The drunkard snatched the wallet and ran as fast as he could, stumbling over cardboard boxes and his own two feet before disappearing. The girl watched the man leave before turning to her savior.