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Warnings: angst, blood —
You'd heard of Hanahaki disease shortly after you came to NRC. Cater had mentioned his sister's operation to have the plant removed was successful; he'd seen your alarmed confusion and explained it to you with a sad laugh.
It was a weird disease, you'd told yourself, that was for sure. Unrequited love causing plants to grow in a person's lungs, slowly suffocating them? Flowers based off their denied lover? Dangerous operations to remove the flowers, removing the love? You were glad nothing like this existed in your world, that was for sure - but still, even after hearing Cater's story, you couldn't quite imagining it being that real.
That was why you could laugh when Ace made a joke about how dangerous having a girl in an all-boys school was, how you could reassure Deuce when he told Ace off for saying something like that and half-heartedly promise your blue-haired friend that you wouldn't fall victim to the disease yourself. You were from another world, after all - there was no way a disease so ingrained in Twisted Wonderland instead could harm you.
So why were there bloodied thorns now in your hand?
Panic filled you as you remembered the disease. This couldn't be it... could it? No, it just had to be coincidence; you must've accidentally swallowed them, there weren't many of them after all, only enough to cover half your palm. Your coughing this morning was just down to a cold, that was it! So why was it when you looked at the thorn, all you could feel was dread?
*~*~*~*~*
All day, all you could think about was the bloodied thorn. You'd been too scared to throw it out. You'd hid it from Grim, shoved it in your skirt pocket when he started banging on the bathroom door. It was still there now - you could feel it burning against your thigh as you tried to distract yourself in whatever Ace and Grim were arguing about.
How? How could you have Hanahaki? You'd been so careful, trying to avoid feelings towards anyone for when the time came that you had to return to your world!
Another part of you knew how though. It told you who you'd now literally put your life on the line for. You just couldn't accept it. Accept that he didn't like you back. You were sure he'd...
Ace and Deuce couldn't find out. There was a chance you were wrong - the coughing had slowed down. Sure, there was an itch in your throat... and sometimes when you looked at your reflection, there seemed to be something spiky trying to break out from the inside of your throat... but there was a chance. There had to be a chance.
*~*~*~*~*
As soon as you were sure Grim was asleep, you crept out of the dorm and to the gates. The cool breeze felt nice against your skin. Unfortunately, it didn't stop the feeling of dread. Stupid, you called yourself; you were overreacting. You'd come to the wrong conclusion. You had to be.
Soon enough, the dim firefly-like lights you'd grown to associate with your friend - crush? - appeared. Ignoring the pain in your throat, you turned and smiled at Malleus.
"Good evening, Tsunotaro."
"Good evening, (y/n)." the dark fae replied, smiling back.
The conversation went on like usual - you two just talked about whatever came to mind, laughing and teasing each other about anything and everything. As the conversation continued, you felt the pain in your chest subside. The longer you talked, the most reassured you felt - it was just a coincidence. There really was nothing wrong with you. It was all in your head.
Then the conversation turned to Malleus' recent visit back home.
"Have I mentioned Lord Ratte before?" Malleus asked.
"Hmm... I think so. He's the one who sent you the chalice after the invite to his party got lost, wasn't he?"
"Ah, yes." Malleus confirmed, his fond smile making your chest squeeze (in a good way), "he introduced me to one of his daughters."
Forget the good way.
"O-Oh?" You stammered, trying to sound casual. "What was she like?"
"She was nice," Malleus said, "if a bit bold. She was quite skilled at magic and was interested in gargoyles as well. I was a bit sad when we had to cut our conversation short."
All you could do was nod mutely. Malleus continued to describe her, how he was surprised to find someone his age with such similar interests, as the smile on his lips grew ever fonder. The smile on your face, however, was becoming harder and harder to maintain - the pain in your chest was growing, nauseatingly tight. Something was scratching the inside of your throat.
"Her father did speak of visiting again, however, so I do hope we can finish where we left off. She was telling me about ones newly constructed, around- (y/n)? Are you alright?"
You'd clasped your hand around your mouth, body shaking as you tried to fight the wave of coughs forcing their way up your throat, just barely succeeding. The second Malleus took a step forward, however, all your efforts ended up being in vain - the momentary joy you experienced at his concern quickly turned to regret as you bent over in a cough fit, one that brought tears to your eyes. Desperately, you covered your mouth with your hands to catch the bloodied thorns that were slicing up your throat and inside of your mouth.
Malleus saw a drop of blood escape through the gaps of your fingers and his eyes widened in concern. He moved quickly to your side, mind thinking of what he should do. Remembering some of Lilia's advice, he began patting you gently on the back. "Does this help, (y/n)?"
It didn't. The feeling of his hand against your back made your jump and the coughing fit harder. Shaking your head, Malleus stopped, wondering if he should cast a spell to help you.
Luckily, the coughing stopped not soon after. Your body continued to shake, though your thoughts were too preoccupied with relief that the pain was over. Malleus, on the other hand, was still concerned over the blood he presumed to be on your palm.
"(y/n)? Are you ill?" Malleus started approaching you again, eyebrows furrowed in concern. "The infirmary is open at night, if you-"
"I'm fine!" You say, voice muffled by your hand, "I-I need to go! Sorry!"
"(y/n)? (y/n)!" Ignoring the pain from Malleus calling your name, you race up the pathway to Ramshackle.
Slamming the door behind you, you sink to the floor. Tears escape your eyes as the pain in your chest and throat tightens, calling yourself a fool. All you could do was stare at the cluster of thorns in your hand as tears slid down your cheeks.
