{ON HOLD!}The Language of Flowers (ShuuNeki/TsukiKaneAU)

{5: Forget-Me-Not}

{5: Forget-Me-Not}

"Rize," Hinami hisses, upon reading the note. The note is written in the exact same style of the note she had received a few nights ago. She struggles for a few minutes to recall what the note she received said, "life is just a tragedy waiting to happen..." Hinami whispers. Wouldn't it be tragic for Shuu to lose Kaneki, AND the shop to Rize? That, and if she doesn't carry the bomb to a different location, she and anyone else near the shop will die...

"Killing just one person is never enough for you, is it?" She asks, even though Rize is not present to answer. "Killing my parents weren't enough... Now you're going to take Kaneki-san's life, and ruin Shuu's life... "You truly are a heartless person..." Clutching the vase with the bomb attached to bottom to her chest, Hinami scurries out of the shop, away from the sidewalks filled with innocent people, and away from the main roads. There is one place, one place void of life where the bomb could safely explode... That place is the cemetery. Hinami knows that calling the police is the best option. But would they believe her? Would they be able to get a bomb squad together in time to disarm it? Nervously, Hinami glances at the timer. Angry red letters send a jolt of fear through her.

She has two minutes to make a decision.

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"You have two minutes, Shuu," Rize sneers. Kaneki, who had desperately trying to stop the blood from spurting out of his shoulder, struggles to look at Shuu. He struggles to communicate, struggles to be able to tell Shuu what he NEEDS Shuu to know... "Who will you save, Flower Man?" Hearing Hinami's nickname for him being uttered from Rize's filthy mouth yet again is the last straw for Shuu.

"Both," Shuu hollers, before running towards Rize, armed with just his fists. "I WILL SAVE BOTH!" Rize's smirk stretches into a grin. Finding amusement in Shuu's determined expression, Rize dashes forward to meet Shuu halfway.

"Both? Don't make me laugh! At this rate, you'll all die!" Rize hollers, before attempting to slash Shuu with her bloodstained knife.

Bloodstained.

Kaneki's blood is on the knife.

Innocent and kind Kaneki's blood...

As the two struggle to defeat the other, it would appear that they are dancing. They both hastily step side to side, forward and back, as they try to dodge and land blows. It seems as though they dancing a deadly version of the tango.

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"I'm sorry, Flower Man," Hinami says, standing before her parent's graves. "I won't be able to help you with the shop anymore... I'm going to be joining my parents." Hinami, clutches the bomb to her chest, and tries her best to pretend that she is holding a bouquet of flowers instead. "I hope your life will be filled with happiness... I hope that you will be able to live and grow old with Kaneki-san..." Hinami, who had frequently been looking at the timer, doesn't even need to look to know that she only has two seconds left. "Goodbye Flower-".

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Rize's knife isn't the only thing stained with blood. Kaneki's shoulder and clothes are stained with blood. Shuu's hands are stained with blood. His hands are stained with RIZE'S blood. Somehow, he managed to pull her knife out of her hands. Somehow, he managed to kill a killer. Somehow, he has become one step closer to saving both Kaneki and Hinami.

"Shuu..." Kaneki wheezes, trying to gain the shocked man's attention. "You should have just saved Hinami... You barely even know me..."

"I know you well enough to know that," Shuu responds, crouching down in order to pick up the injured man, "to know that I would cry if you died. Hinami would cry as well." Clutching Kaneki to his chest, Shuu dashes to the nearest hospital. He must get Kaneki to the hospital, and then he must run back to the shop to save Hinami... He must... He has to run by his own shop to get to the hospital! He could save Hinami on the way to the hospital!

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Shuu struggles to open the door as he carries the injured Kaneki with him into his shop in the hopes of saving Hinami. To his horror, she is nowhere to be seen. The only sign that she was ever at the shop is the apron and flower lying on the counter. Shuu emits a loud gasp as he realizes the flower that Hinami left behind is a Forget-Me-Not.

"A Forget-Me-Not, Hinami wants me to remember her? That could only mean..." Shuu says, thinking out loud. As he exists his shop, and dashes towards the nearest hospital, Shuu can't stop the tears that begin to fall from his eyes. Hinami, a girl that reminded himself of his favorite flower sacrificed herself to save his shop...

"Silly Hinami," Shuu mutters, as he enters the hospital, "there is no way I could ever forget you."