Kessoku Kokoro | A Bocchi the Rock Fanfic

Chapter 40: Hanahaki

Author: I know some of you guys are having PTSD from the title or something

Author: This is a much more shorter chapter today to relax our writing muscles

Author: Because the other ones will be a lot more heavy hitting 

Author: But we wanted to dedicate one chapter to our filthy grass eating gremlin

Author: And we wanted to experiment a bit

Author: So... enjoy

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Ryo walked across the vast hallways of the mall. She was slow. Dull. Clearly in a lot of pain. She was noticeably shaking too. She's used to this. It's happened once... twice... thrice before. She puffed her cheeks and gripped Tokumei's arm tighter. 

"...You okay?" Tokumei asked. 

"I... ate a bad weed today," Ryo mentioned. She represses the pain she's feeling in her abdomen and leans on him for support. 

"You need to go to the bathroom or something?" He asked. 

"Maybe...," She said before coughing. She struggled to breathe after that. She thought that it was ridiculous. She's athletic. She's got abs damn it all. She knows better than anyone the benefits of exercise. She's raised by two people who own a hospital.

It could be an undiagnosed disease. A bacteria. A pathogen. Anything. 

Or she just needs to use the bathroom.

"We're getting you there," He carried her in a piggyback ride and ran to the mall's bathroom.

-

'A... flower?' Ryo asked in her mind.

That's what just came out of her mouth and into the sink. A bloody flower. 

Could what parents say to misbehaving kids be true? 

That when they eat a seed, they end up germinating in their stomachs? 

No. Must've been something she ate while she was mowing the lawn with her own teeth. It's noting much. It's just a flower. She did look at it more. Temporarily forgetting about her stomachache and asking a ton of questions in her head.

Why was it intact? When did she eat up a flower? Why was it mixed with her blood instead of her digestive fluids? Why did she feel a lot better now that she's barfed it up? Was it not a case of needing to use the toilet? 

Perhaps it wasn't.

Her stomach felt clear and her breathing felt a lot easier. 

She tossed the bloody flower in the trash can. She walked out of the restroom to see Tokumei waiting for her in the hallway. He looked away from the women's restroom, just looking at his phone. She peered over his shoulder, standing on her toes in order to see what he was looking at.

It was her.

A photo of her. 

And a glimpse of his reflection showed on the screen as he was smiling. 

Her stomach felt awful again and she rushed to the bathroom. She coughed out more. She struggled to breathe again. She was choking on something. Something that felt familiar. It was bark. Bark and the soft sensation of a flower's petals. She stuck her hand in her mouth.

She tugged.

She felt a snap. 

It hurt. 

Slowly, she pulled out the branch. Snapped off from her stomach. She stared at it. It was bleeding. The flowers attached to it were also leaking off the smell of blood. She tossed it to the trash can. This was bad. That was no ordinary weed.