Hanahaki Disease [花吐き病]

花を食べる人

Flower Eater [花を食べる人]

Sasaki Runa [佐々木 るな]

Flower Eaters are humanoid creatures that can only eat the emotions of other human beings. No other food. No sandwiches, burgers, ice cream. Only emotions. To do so they need the other person's consent to their feelings. The only catch is that the Flower Eater's memories of the person's emotions deteriorates after time, leaving hazy and glitchy recollections behind.

April 7th, 2XXX

"Welcome to Himitsu, how can I -"

"Is Sasaki Runa in today?"

"Ah, tesoro! You have a customer!"

"Oh? Invite them to the teahouse while I get ready please! Give them a menu as well and I'll be down real quick, thanks Emi!"

Noemi leads the young woman into a tea room made of glass, and in the middle of a room sits a tea table with a white tea cloth, two wooden chairs and a flower set in the middle of the table.

"Alright and here's the menu, pick what you like, it's on the house."

"O-on the...? Okay then, thank you."

She pauses as her eyes scan over the menu and she settles with an iced matcha coffee

"Anything else I can help you with?"

"No its fine, thank you"

"The pleasure is mine."

Noemi leaves, her short blue hair bouncing on her shoulders and the door closes, leaving the woman to her thoughts once more.

"Ack! Sorry I'm late, I tried to squeeze a coffee in my tight schedule!"

"Oh its okay, I wasn't here for long so don't worry too much about it. You're Sasaki Runa right?"

"Yep! Also, feel free to call me Runa."

"Aah, I think I'll stick to Sasaki"

"Alrighty! So lets wait for your drink before we get started."

The woman surveys Runa. Messy lilac hair, hazel eyes and a light smattering of freckles here and there. She freezes when she realizes when parts of her companion have flowers on them and that her companion had two small horns protruding from her temple.

"Don't worry about them, they're after effects from dealing with something and they should wither in a week or two. I'm fine and I can still help you, their just annoying sometimes"

"You mean the um, flowers or the..."

"the flowers, just think of the horns as part of my head"

Runa sends a wink her way and pats the flowers, smoothing out their petals and removing a spray bottle from her overalls and spraying some liquid on them before setting the bottle aside.

"There we go! Ooh and there's your drink, looking good! Thank you Emi"

"No problem Runa! Enjoy your drink Miss!"

Noemi closes the door and left the two in a somewhat comfortable silence.

"Okay! Would you like to drink first or-"

"Can we just get started? Unless you, um.."

"No, no it's fine! Lets get started shall we?"

"O-okay. But can I ask a question?"

"Sure"

"Do you just eat one emotion? Or do I turn into like a vegetable afterwards...?"

"I only eat one emotion, the rest stays the same, it's as if that one emotion never existed."

"Oh alright then, I would like to get rid of my r̶͈̬̱͉̮̼̔̂f̵̡̛͚̣̖̥͎͚̤͕̎͐̉̃̽a̷͈̍̄͐͑e̷̞̯̺̹͝ͅͅ. It's kind of complicated, because I don't mean r̶͈̬̱͉̮̼̔̂f̵̡̛͚̣̖̥͎͚̤͕̎͐̉̃̽a̷͈̍̄͐͑e̷̞̯̺̹͝ͅͅ in general, I mean it like ₜₕₑ r̶͈̬̱͉̮̼̔̂f̵̡̛͚̣̖̥͎͚̤͕̎͐̉̃̽a̷͈̍̄͐͑e̷̞̯̺̹͝ͅͅ ₒf bₑᵢₙg ₛₑcₒₙd, ₒf bₑᵢₙg ᵣₑₚₗₐcₑd ₐₙd ᵤₙₐbₗₑ ₜₒ dₒ ₐₙyₜₕᵢₙg. ᵢ'ₘ ₛₑₑᵢₙg ₜₕi̸̢̱̳̺̖͎̞̖͗̽̏͑̈́̑̈̈́̌ₛ ₚₑᵣₛₒₙ, ₐₙd ᵢₜ'ₛ ₐₗₘₒₛₜ t̶̓̊͑̓͗o̵̧̰̊̽o̶̩̗̦͐͗̀̈́̊̃̿̀̌͗ gₒₒd ₜₒ bₑ ₜᵣᵤₑ. ₘy fᵣᵢₑₙdₛ ₐₗₗ ₗᵢₖₑ ₘₑ ₐₙd i̸̢̱̳̺̖͎̞̖͗̽̏͑̈́̑̈̈́̌'ᵥₑ ₙₑᵥₑᵣ bₑₑₙ ₛₒ ₕₐₚₚy. yₑₜ ₜₕₑᵣₑ ᵢₛ ₜₕᵢₛ ᵥₒᵢcₑ ᵢₙ ₜₕₑ bₐcₖ ₒf ₘy ₕₑₐd ₜₑₗₗᵢₙg ₘₑ ₜₕᵢₛ i̸̢̱̳̺̖͎̞̖͗̽̏͑̈́̑̈̈́̌ₛ ₐₗₗ gₒᵢₙg ₜₒ bₑ ₒᵥₑᵣ ₐₙd ₑᵥₑᵣyₜₕᵢₙg ᵢₛ gₒᵢₙg ₜₒ cₒₘₑ c̷̗̙̎̿͑͛̑́̉̃̚͜͝r̶̯̼̹̈́̒̈́́̉͝as̵̛̙̬̹̮̖̃͂͑̇ḣ̴̢̜̥͚̺̹͋̽͒̊̿̋ḯ̸̛̯̩̣̯̔̿̈́̇̒̈̕n̷͈̤̾͐̈́͐̀͋͘̚g̶͊͂͐̓͐̑̈́͝  dₒwₙ ₒₙ ₘₑ, ₐₙd ᵢ'ₗₗ ₕᵢₜ ᵣₒcₖ bₒₜₜₒₘ, n̷͔͙͎̼͒͐́͌́͜͝͠ó̷̧̢̠͔͍̯̜̱̈̅̓̾̽́͝ţ̷͙̳̒͗̽̋͋̕ ₒₙₗy ₛₑcₒₙd bᵤₜ ₗₐₛₜ, ₗₐₛₜ ₜₒ ₑᵥₑᵣybₒdy ₐₙd i̸̢̱̳̺̖͎̞̖͗̽̏͑̈́̑̈̈́̌ cₐₙ'ₜ dₒ ₐₙyₜₕᵢₙg. i̸̢̱̳̺̖͎̞̖͗̽̏͑̈́̑̈̈́̌ ₕₐₜₑ ᵢₜ. ᵢₜ dₒₑₛₙ'ₜ ₕₑₗₚ ₘₑ, ᵢₜ ₘₐₖₑₛ ₘₑ fₑₑₗ ₜₑᵣᵣi̸̢̱̳̺̖͎̞̖͗̽̏͑̈́̑̈̈́̌bₗₑ. ₐₙd ₜₕₑ wₒᵣₛₜ ₜₕᵢₙg ᵢₛ ₜₕₐₜ i̸̢̱̳̺̖͎̞̖͗̽̏͑̈́̑̈̈́̌ bₑₗᵢₑᵥₑ ᵢₜ. ᵢ dᵢdₙ'ₜ ₖₙₒw wₕₐₜ ₜₒ dₒ ₐₙd ₜₕₐₜₛ wₕy ᵢ cₐₘₑ ₕₑᵣₑ, ₜₒ ₛₑₑ ᵢf yₒᵤ cₐₙ ₕₑₗₚ ₘₑ

"Alright, open your hands and say: I consign you to my r̶͈̬̱͉̮̼̔̂f̵̡̛͚̣̖̥͎͚̤͕̎͐̉̃̽a̷͈̍̄͐͑e̷̞̯̺̹͝ͅͅ "

"I consign you to my r̶͈̬̱͉̮̼̔̂f̵̡̛͚̣̖̥͎͚̤͕̎͐̉̃̽a̷͈̍̄͐͑e̷̞̯̺̹͝ͅͅ"

The overpowering scent of flowers filled the air as foxgloves sprung up from behind the woman.

"Oh!"

"Don't worry, allow me to just-"

Runa pops a foxglove in her mouth and thoughtfully chews.

"O...kay! As I was saying, allow me to finish these while you drink your iced coffee!"

"Can I ask you questions? I know I might be disturbing you but I'm curious"

Runa covers her mouth and through a mouthful of petals she mumbles a yes, trying not to spit any petals out onto the table.

"What are these..uhh flowers?"

"Yeah they're flowers. They're are your emotions and clearly they have been troubling you a lot and for quite a long time. The quantity of the flowers grows as your emotions grow and time passes on."

"Are all the flowers the same?"

"Nope. They symbolize things and yours symbolizes a r̶͈̬̱͉̮̼̔̂f̵̡̛͚̣̖̥͎͚̤͕̎͐̉̃̽a̷͈̍̄͐͑e̷̞̯̺̹͝ͅͅ  of yours. Nothing to be ashamed of though, everyone has these feelings in them."

"Oh, got it."

"Also, Miss. ą̵̡̱̜̜̗͓͚̩͈̈́͊̄̉̂a̵̧̟̬̠͛̅͜͠o̸̰̪̿̏̃̑͂̀̇̈́͘ń̸̦̞̺̽̀̔͠͠͝ķ̵̡̻̯͍̞̲̯͊̔̎̋͒̾͜h̵̜̦͍͍̳͈͔͙̭̆͋̊͘...."

"Yes?"

"Would you like me to leave some behind? It's always good to have some gut feeling. You don't have to of course but"

"Please eat all of it."

"Of course."

The woman left in a rush, paying Runa before standing up and giving thanks to both the girls and leaving the cafe. The bell above the door furiously tinkled, swinging back and forth, filling the room with it's chimes.

"You sense something don't you tesoro"

"I do, and it's not making me feel too good. Something was off with those flowers, and her decision of me eating all of them isn't going to go well."