A very matchablossom book

*cough* Hanahaki

tw: blood, vomiting, and implied death

They're cherry blossoms. Of course.

Kojiro thought he was sick. Well, normal sick. This was a completely different kind of sick. He was coughing up pink flower petals. It was Hanahaki, he knew. He'd read about it, there had been an alarming rise in cases over the past few years, to the point where it was problematic.

Was it just a matter of time?

Is it my fault?

Why is this happening to me?

He stumbled into the bathroom, leaned over the toilet seat, and coughed out a bunch of petals. A full flower plopped into the water, making his stomach drop. After countless hours of research while being confined to his house, he'd figured out a rough timeline of the disease's effects.

The beginning: coughing and sore throat.

The middle, about a week since first symptoms: coughing or vomiting flower petals, blood, and a sore throat.

The end: blood, whole flowers, fatigue.

The moment he saw the flower, as beautiful as it was blood-stained, he realized that he had nothing left to lose.

.--. .-.. . .- ... . / -.. --- -. .----. - / -.. .. ./.--. .-.. . .- ... . / -.. --- -. .----. - / -.. .. .

Kaoru was waiting at the park, just as he'd been asked. Joe had texted him about an hour ago. It worried him. He should have been here twenty minutes ago, and he was never late. After another ten minutes had passed by, he finally decided to go to his house. And he wasn't gonna lie, he ran as fast as he could. The weird looks he got in the street no longer mattered to him.

I have to knock down the door.

Kaoru kicked as hard as he could as much as he could. Finally, by some miracle, it worked. He ran inside.

"Joe?! JOE?! KOJIRO!!"

He flung open doors and raced through until he finally found him in the bathroom, laying on the floor, surrounded by petals.

Kojiro opened his eyes and weakly smiled at the man above him.

"Sorry...I couldn't...make it."

"No, no, Kojiro, save your strength, I need an ambulance, where's my phone?!"

"Stop..."

"No, no, I can't! You're about to die! This is Hanahaki, Kojiro!"

"I know."

"What do you mean, you know?"

"Kaoru..."

"What...what is it?"

"It's you."

"It's...it's me."

"Yeah. I love you, Kaoru, always have..."

He went limp. If a spectator looked in, they would see a pink-haired man holding a green-haired one in his arms, sobbing into his chest.

.--. .-.. . .- ... . / -.. --- -. - / --. ---/.--. .-.. . .- ... . / -.. --- -. - / --. ---/.--. .-.. . .- ... . / -.. --- -. - / --. ---/.. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..-/.. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..-/.. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..-

"No, no, no, this can't be the end, I love you too..."

I'm sorry I like angst okay