~❀ Hanahaki disease ❀~

{ part 12 }

Kaito was smiling. And not just some smirk like he'd normally do, he was smiling softly at me, like he cared, like he was saying 'it'll be okay'

...he was smiling at me like a close friend would.

".... don't know what...?" throat still hurting, I just managed to ask him that, but his only response was; "you'll know soon enough..."

He sighed again, stroking the flowers on my face "...for now, we have to figure out how to hide these before class..." I felt a slight blush creeping up my face, I willed it to stop but my face ended up flushing red. He noticed it immediately and he moved his hand back, laughing sheepishly "blushing? Really...? ...that's cute..." he smiled a bit and then started messing with my hair, trying to hide the flowers. I just stood there feeling useless, letting him move my messy hair around, trying to cover the flowers, and feeling my blush grow as he did it. "your hair is really freaking annoying.... Do you even brush it...??" I stiffened slightly but then looked up at him to see he was still smiling, for one, he didn't mean it. "o-of course I brush it...! ...I just... haven't had the chance to in a while... with all of this chaos..." "yeah, sure... I bet you were just too lazy..." his smile was spreading more and more as he eventually stepped back again, looking at what he'd done "...it's not perfect, but it'll do...... just try not to move it too much, kay?"

I turned to look at the mirror again, slightly shocked, because he'd managed to cover every last flower. "h-how'd you do that...??" he smiled and shook his head "that's my secret... now, let's get back to class, 'kay?" I nodded and followed him as he led me out of the bathrooms again, my mind a complete mess, a massive amount of questions running through my mind, but one in particular that had me the most confused;

Why's Kaito being so nice to me!?!

The day went by quickly after that, and thanks to Kaito, no-one noticed the flowers. I failed the one test we had that day, because my mind was still trying to comprehend how Kaito's attitude to me had changed so suddenly. it was like back when we were kids... he was treating me like a friend again... according to Fumika, I zoned out a lot, and she kept on saying 'you're lovestruck'. Lovestruck... that's what she called it... ... ... ...

maybe I was lovestruck...

I headed home after school, dropping my bag, slipping off my blazer and collapsing on the couch as soon as I got in, not knowing what else to do. But my relaxing was cut short as I heard my phone ring from my bag. I reluctantly went to go get it, and a smile tugged at my face; it was Kaito. I pressed the 'answer call' button and held it to my ear: "...Kaito?" "mhm" "...what's up? ...why're you calling me?" "...are you at home?" "um, yeah... wh- ""meet me outside in a few minutes, 'kay? ...I need you to do something for me..." do something for him?? "alright...?" "good, I'll see you in a bit" he hung up on me, leaving me confused and trying to figure out what we'd be doing.

after a few minutes of absolutely nothing, I heard a knock on the front door. I got up and went to answer it. "yo, c'mon, we're leaving now" he grabbed my arm, pulled me toward him and closed the door behind me "what? What're we doing??" he smiled a bit "figuring out how to fix you, how to make these stupid flowers go away..." I felt him stroking one of the flowers that was now sitting freely on my face, my hair probably freed it when I crashed on the couch earlier. Apart from the blush spreading across my face again, I noticed something, he looked uncertain. "w-what do you mean...? W-where are we going...??" he sighed and brought his hand away from my face again, still looking at the flower there, "I'm not telling you; you probably wouldn't come if you knew....... But you'll find out eventually... it's not that far from here..." he smiled a bit again, but then realized something "actually, before we go... do you have any hoodies? ...it might help covering up the flowers for now..." he reached out and tapped one, still smiling. "ah, r-right... gimme a sec, I'll b-be right back..." I turned and ran back inside, trying to hide the blush and keep the flowers from filling my throat again.

I came back with a black hoodie on, covering the left side of my face where most of the flowers were growing. Kaito smiled and laughed a bit "black? ...i always thought you were more of a colorful guy..." I don't know why, but I blushed at that "i-i...um... w-well..." he laughed again, ruffling my hair and then beginning to walk down the street "never mind, let's just go, 'kay?" I flusterdly followed him, willing with all my might that the flowers wouldn't come now, and luckily, they didn't. just a massive amount of blush.

We walked together silently, not an awkward silence, but a comfortable one, and it felt nice, I liked it; I liked having the old Kaito back, he was nice, and I loved it.

"so... are you okay now?" what?? I stared at him, a little confused "w-what do you mean...?" "um... I mean, like... are you better than before?" I looked down a bit, smiling slightly "uh, y-yeah... the flowers haven't acted up since that time before... i-I've been fine since then..." "...that's good..." he smiled again and then looked away. 

We continued to walk until we arrived on the main street, standing in front of the medical centre. "'kay, here we are.." the medic. of course... "....so this is what you meant..." he nodded, seeming almost kind of worried, and grabbed my hand, causing blush to spread across my face again. "...we're gonna figure this out.....now, come with me, we're going in..." he didn't even wait for a response, he just began to walk up to the entrance, keeping a tight hold on my hand so i couldn't back out.