Crimson Petals - [Bakugou x Reader]

Chapter 1

You were laying on your bed, staring at the ceiling, hot tears streaming down the sides of your cheeks. Your cries were silent, all energy to produce noises in your throat had left your body. You were ill, very ill. You had the Hanahaki disease. A condition that left their sufferers in excruciating pain, leading to eventual death.

Hanahaki was a mysterious disease, born from one-sided love. The symptoms got worse over time, starting with the occasional coughing up of flower petals, developing into violent coughing fits resulting in an abundance of petals surrounding the bearer. Branches began to grow in the patient's lungs, crawling their way to the person's heart, until the plants finally squeezed the life out of the vital organ.

There were three possible outcomes for anyone who had this illness, and only one of them was good. If the person of desire were to reciprocate the feelings, the disease would stop. Plants in the bearer's body would wither away, and a happy ending was the outcome. The second possibility was surgical removal. This treatment was one hundred percent successful, however, along with the disease, it also removed all feelings the patient ever felt for their beloved. There was no chance of ever having these feelings for the same person return. Some people reported that the surgery left them unable to feel love ever again. So, that was where the third possibility came into place: Death. If left untreated, the bearer would make the ultimate sacrifice. Sadly, this was what most sufferers chose. They'd rather die than forget the feelings they harboured for the one person they swore to love forever.

An illness so tragic and full of despair, it was the subject of countless fictional stories. However, it was very much real, and you were experiencing this first hand.

You had always thought that this disease was somewhat romantic. Growing petals inside of one's body, petals that resembled the person one loved. But as you were looking at the crimson red petal that had just escaped your throat, you realised once more how much this sucked.

You had no idea what to do. You hadn't told anyone about this yet, you knew that your friends and family would urge you to take the surgery and be done with it. You knew that this was the only way for you to survive this. Because if there was one thing that was for sure, it was that the one you loved, would never love you back. You weren't even sure if he was capable of loving anyone. You were convinced, however, that he hated you. He showed it pretty much every time you would see him.

Another reason you didn't tell anyone about your condition was that you didn't want to admit who you were in love with. Nobody would understand it anyway. Hell, you didn't even understand it yourself. Why were you head over heels for one of the most arrogant, cocky, smug and rude people you had ever met? You forcefully squeezed your eyes shut and let out a faint sigh. Yes, you were in love with Bakugou Katsuki, and you hated it. You couldn't help yourself, though. There was something about him that drove you crazy, from the very first moment you laid eyes on him.

You met him on your first day at UA, you were already sitting in your new classroom, everyone was excited as it was the start of a new chapter for all future heroes. Attending UA was an honour, and you were thrilled when you were accepted. You remembered how you were talking to some of your new classmates, how everyone was introducing themselves, and you remember clearly when Bakugou stormed in and yelled at everyone who was in his way.

Your first thought was how obnoxious he was, but then you saw his face, and it felt like you had never seen anyone as handsome as him. He quite literally took your breath away, so much so that you started choking on saliva that had gathered in your mouth because you had forgotten to swallow when you looked at him. Super sexy. No wonder he hated you. You were staring at him from day one, like an absolute creep.

After that, it took a while for your feelings to grow. Katsuki was so incredibly rude towards everyone, and he made your blood boil. But at the same time, you felt like he was a pretty decent guy and that his rough nature was just a way to cover up his insecurities. You had no proof that this was the case as he had never opened up to anyone as far as you were aware, especially not to you.

Since you started attending UA, a lot had happened. Your class had been subject to several villain attacks, one so bad that it almost ended with fatalities. During that specific attack, Bakugou had been kidnapped. You had been there, watching him get absorbed in the black void that was one of the villain's quirks, your whole body shaking uncontrollably. Seeing him being taken away by these villains had made your heart shatter into a million pieces. That was the moment you realised that you loved him. The thought of never seeing him again was the worst feeling you had ever felt.

When he safely returned, and all students moved into the newly built dorms, you thought that the suffering would be over. You thought everything would be okay. But with time, your heartache grew. It grew so big that it manifested itself in roots and branches, planted right into the core of your very being. You quickly realised that your love would never be returned, quite frankly living together made his attitude towards you even worse.

Another sigh escaped your lips, this time it was louder and more desperate, you soon came to realise that it was a bad idea to let it out, as the sigh was followed by a violent coughing fit and dozens of red petals. You sat up on your bed and closed your eyes. "I'm doomed," you whispered to yourself.

Just when you were falling back onto your bed, a knock on your door snapped you out of your pity party.