The Hanahaki Disease// Voltron AU

bonus: the hanahaki disease

Playlist: Goodnight Moon - Go Radio

After

When we get to the hospital, Shiro asks for Lance's room but my head is still spinning from what Keith said just over ten minutes ago. I was killing him Shiro. I was killing him. What did that even mean? How was Keith killing Lance? Shiro hasn't said anything and that scares me. The muscles on his arms are taut, like he's straining against something. I know it's stress and probably fear but I don't know why he hasn't explained anything to me yet. Are we waiting for the others? Is this some big secret?

Shiro called Keith as soon as we park the car. Keith tells what level he's on and in what building and I immediately text all this information to Matt as Shiro repeats it out loud to me. I get an immediate response.

Roommate #2
Is Lance okay Allura?

Princess 👑
I'm not sure yet Pidge.

Roommate #2
We're nearly there

I close out the screen on my phone and quickly follow after Shiro who has barely noticed I paused down the hallway from him. He apologizes as soon as I catch up. "Sorry but when Keith falls apart like this... It's better for someone to be there with him." I nod my head wondering what he meant. Keith doesn't seem the type to loose control.

When we reach the designated floor, we spot Keith immediately. He's sitting with his elbows on his knees, head in his hands. His shoulders are shaking which makes me think he's crying. Shiro and I immediately close the distance between us and when Keith hears our heavy footfalls, he looks up. "Shiro!" Keith chokes out before standing and meeting his brother halfway. The two of them crash into one another and Shiro wraps him up tightly in a hug. "It's all my fault. It's all my fault."

"You couldn't have known Keith. Don't put this all on yourself." Shiro says lightly, rubbing his brothers back. I watch the two of them quietly, not wanting to interrupt. When Keith pulls back and sees me though, he unexpectedly hugs me. I've ruffled Keith's hair before, lightly punched his arm but I know he's not a hugger and so I've never tried to make that kind of physical contact with him. But when he hugs me now, I don't waste the opportunity.

"Everything's all right Keith." I tell him as I stroke his hair lightly. "Lance is going to be just fine."

"I told him I loved him." I heard Keith murmur against my chest. "I hope it was enough."

"Enough for what? What are you and your brother talking about?" I asked Keith, pulling back slightly so I could look at him. I spot the lion necklace immediately. Usually it's tucked under Keith's shirt. He's a bit embarrassed by the fact that he wears it so often but I think it's cute that he likes Lance so much, he decided to consistently wear the dumb necklace he bought him. Other than the necklace, I notice that Keith looks tired, physically drained and slowly Keith looks to Shiro so he can possibly explain what's going on to me. Shiro hesitates again.

"Let's wait until the others are here." It doesn't take them long to arrive.

Pidge is the first one to appear and immediately, she launches herself into Shiro's arms. "We tried to tell him!" Pidge cries out as Matt and Hunk run up as well. "We knew he was sick but he wouldn't listen to us."

"Pidge it's okay, calm down." Shiro said lightly, patting her head as he hugged her back.

"Can we see him?" Hunk asks worriedly.

"The doctors haven't let me in yet." Keith said, rubbing at his eyes. "And anyways, I need to tell you guys what happened. Lance isn't just sick. He has the Hanahaki Disease." The only one who seems surprised by this bit of information is me. I've never heard of the Hanahaki Disease before but it almost looks like... everyone else has.

"We... We kind of already knew that." Hunk says slowly.

"What?" Kieth asks, staring at Hunk in half confusion, half annoyance.

"He's been... Coughing up flowers for almost three... Four months now." Matt says with a sigh.

"Why... Why didn't he tell us then?" Keith demanded, gesturing between himself, Shiro, and I.

"He barely told me after a month Keith. He didn't want to get people involved. He thought we wouldn't believe him." Hunk explained. But I still wasn't following any of this.

"Hold on, hold on, it seems like everyone knows what the Hanahaki Disease is but me." Keith huffs and turns away from his friends, looking down right pissed off by what they had been saying. Shiro sighed so I looked over at him as Pidge moves to go hug Hunk, squeezing herself into his side.

"The Hanahaki Disease is an old Japanese myth." Shiro begins. "It revolves around a young women who loved a man so much that it made him sick. He began throwing up her favorite flowers until eventually he died choking on them. The story is supposed to warn men about leading on women."

"Wait!" Pidge interrupts her eyes wide in almost horror. "We thought... Doesn't the disease affect you if you love someone who doesn't love you back? Not the other way around?"

"It gets translated wrong." Shiro said simply. Pidge's bottom lip trembled.

"But then who... Who loves Lance? We've been trying for months now to figure out who he loves when we should've been doing it the other way around!"

"I love him." Keith says in a hard tone, turning around to glare at Pidge, Hunk and Matt. "I was killing him and you three didn't tell us a damn thing about any of this!"

"Keith." Shiro says sternly, reaching for his brother but he moves out of his grasp, storming towards Hunk and Pidge.

"Because of me he almost died! Do you get that? Why would you keep this from us!" Keith snaps at them, unable to help himself. Matt inserts himself between his sister and Keith and I immediately reach out and put a hand on Keith's shoulder.

"Back off okay? It's not their fault. It's not my fault and it's not your fault that this happened to Lance. He didn't want to tell anyone. He didn't want people to worry about him. That's just how he is. He wanted to pretend that everything was fine even if it wasn't." Pidge is crying so hard and Keith's angry expression falls as soon as he looks at her. He takes a step back, breaths in deeply and glances back at me as if he just noticed I was touching him.

"I know I'm just... I can't fucking believe this. I'm sorry for yelling Pidge." Keith says sincerely, looking around Matt over at Hunk and Pidge. Hunk is holding her tightly as she cries into his chest. It's a heartbreaking thing to see.

"I didn't even know you liked him." She says trying to wipe away her tears as she sniffles. "Hunk and I never even considered that the translation might be wrong!"

"It happens." Shiro says calmly. "And it's nobody's fault. We know now and Lance will be fine."

"But I still don't understand." Hunk said softly. "How did Keith confessing cure Lance? Everything we read said that if Lance didn't like him back then he would..." Hunk stops.

"Die." Keith finishes. "So I guess we'll have to wait and see." Keith looks so agitated, so anxious. He didn't want to tell the rest of his friends about his crush like this but that's just how it happened. He turns away, playing with the lion head pendant in his right hand as he burns holes into Lance's door. If Lance dies, not only will we all be loosing a best friend, but Keith will have to live with the knowledge that he was the one who killed him.

A/N:
Is he dead??? Is he alive??? Tune in next week to find out!!! Lol

Oh and if you're confused Roommate #2 is Matt but Allura is assuming Pidge is texting from her brothers phone and her assumption is correct.

And now for a little self promotion. A lot of y'all are always saying I'm such a good writer so prove it by going and reading my short story contest entry I just put up for To All The Boys I've Ever Loved. It's a short story contest sponsored by Teen Fiction here on Wattpad. Nothing really happens if you read/vote for my story haha I just want to see what y'all think since I wrote it in the perspective of Keith telling Lance he's in love with him 😊. My short story is called, If You're Reading This... and I hope y'all like it! It's only 450+ words so go check it out!