*Anytime after Chapter 20*

Pickles

Sniff…sniff

"What in God's name…" Ryo whispered under her breath bewildered and turned to face her door.

Did Zack leave something out to rot? The entire dorm reeked of something…unidentifiable. The pungent aroma had seeped in under her bedroom door and she was hesitant to step out and get the full brunt of whatever it was. There wasn't going to be any other way for her to escape it though. Hells this stinks as bad as that rotten Malboro tentacle.

Ryo eased open her door and tried her best not to breathe through her nose. She retched anyway. Despite the horrid smell she could hear Zack humming cheerfully in the kitchen. Is he cooking something? Ryo peaked out into the hall. Zack sat at the table by the kitchen eating a sandwich and munching on something from a jar. When he noticed her he waved.

"Morning Ryo!"

Does he not smell this? She took a few steps forward down the hallway. It only seemed to get stronger. Ryo grimaced and tried not to puke.

"Good God Zack what is that smell?!" She already looked rather green.

Zack cocked his head to the side puzzled, "Pickles."

Ryo stared blankly at the man that stared back equally as blank. Pickles from hell…

"No seriously, what the hell is that?"

Zack picked up the jar that sat at his side. There were spears of something pale yellow that did rather look like pickles packed tight within it. He pulled one out and offered it.

"My mom sent them in her care package…they're homemade gysahl pickles. Want one?"

"I think your mom wants you dead Zack," She said dryly, "Nothing that smells that bad can be considered food."

Zack wore a somewhat sheepish grin, "Ya the smell does scare a lot of people away…but seriously though, you've never heard of gysahl pickles?"

Ryo paused in thought. Well gysahl greens sure…wait a minute I guess I do remember something about those from nine. Ryo crossed her arms and glared.

"Of course I have! I've just never had the honor of smelling them first hand…and in an enclosed space," Ryo's brows furled in annoyance as she looked around the windowless dorm, "Couldn't you have at least done this outside? It's going to take forever to get the stank out of here."

Zack snickered and bit down on the yellowish green spear, "The worse they smell, the better they taste. You sure you don't wanna try one."

"I don't know if I can get close enough to put it in my mouth," Ryo said dryly.

"Aww come on!" Zack wore a mischievous grin as he goad her, "Don't be such a chickaboo."

She shot him a glare. Hesitantly Ryo started towards where he sat while pinching her nose. The spiky haired First looked up at her innocently and offered her the pickle. Ryo snatched it from his hand and eyed it critically. It didn't look rotten, but it sure smelled it.

Zack watched her impatiently, "Come ooon."

She took a tiny nibble and stopped to stare down at the little vegetable, "That's…actually pretty good."

"Seee?!" Zack gave an exasperated huff, "No one believes me when I tell them these things are great!"

There was a knock on the door and Ryo raised a brow at it. When she opened it Angeal stood pinching his nose and wearing a grimace that matched her own. The First spared her a nod in greeting before turning his disapproving gaze to his student.

"The rule goes for all floors here Zack, not just the barracks."

Zack wore a pout, "There not that bad."

"I can smell them from my apartment. It's saturated the entire floor. They are that bad," Angeal looked torn between crossing his arms like a scolding parent or keeping his nose pinched closed. The smell won out.

Zack's pout deepened and he looked defeated, "Fine…"

Ryo turned away from him to face Angeal and mouthed a silent thank you to the man. He spared her a small grin before bringing his focus back to Zack.

"Be glad I'm not having them confiscated," Angeal gave him one last stern glare before heading off back down the hall.

The offending pickles were packed back up (tightly) and stored away in the cupboard. According to Zack don't go bad. Gee I wonder why… It took several hours to clear out the lingering smell and not more than an hour after that a system wide email was sent out reinforcing the buildings policies. Someone went as far as putting the segment regarding gysahl pickles in bold.