bakerstreet | Unrequited

Unrequited

The Hanahaki Disease Meme

The Hanahaki Disease is an illness born from one-sided love, where the patient throws up and coughs up flower petals when they suffer from one-sided love. The infection can be removed through surgery, but the feelings disappear along with the petals...

1- Discovery:
There's the one person who makes your heart leap into your throat- but wait, that's not your heart. Where are all these flowers coming from? And why do they remind you of your beloved?

2- Concern:
Someone you know has been acting strange lately... Coughing a lot, hiding their hands all the time... It's enough to make anybody worry.

3- Sicker and Sicker:
Coughing up flower petals all the time isn't easy to hide. But it's getting harder to even breathe, now. You're going to have to make a decision, and soon...

4- Confession:
Everyone knows that there's two ways to get rid of Hanahaki: Surgery (the risk dependent on the time period), or confessing your feelings. Time to toe up and face your beloved and just tell them that you love them so much you're dying from it.

5- Post-Op:
The other option... You just couldn't tell them, but you weren't ready to die. Still, without those feelings the world seems a little less colorful. Can you still be friends with them now that you have to start all over? Do you want to?

6- Make your own!
There's flower petals coming out of somebody's mouth in some way for some reason- make this prompt your own.

Just as a note, due to the nature of the meme vivid descriptions of coughing/choking/gagging are probably going to happen. If you want it toned down, make sure to put that in your top-level.

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[When Mitsuru and Akihiko continued on with SEES after Shinjirou's Persona went out of control and killed Ken's mother, the last thing Akihiko thought they'd do is recruit more people. First it was Takeba. Then Shiomi. Then Iori. And then all the others.

It felt good to have so many friends, people he cared about that weren't tied to his tragic past, that he could see keeping in the future as they understood what his secret was, since they also shared it.

What he truly never expected was to spend a great deal of time with Shiomi, getting to know her and be charmed by her. The longer he spoke with her, the more confused he felt. He didn't have anyone to really talk to about what was going on, not with everything else going on. But when he started coughing up flowers, literal flowers, he knew there was trouble.

The first thing he did was consult as many books as he could in the school library, even going so far as to check the internet. But, he found out the condition he was suffering from was really popular and romanticized by the girls at school. Since he was always surrounded by a particular group of girls, he sometimes caught snatches of their conversations. When he learned what was going on, he pushed his way through the gaggle of gossipping girls and started running towards the train station.]

How in the world is this romantic?

[His words are punctuated by full-body coughs that leave him shaky and the ground littered with flower petals.

His trip back to the dorm is painful and takes longer than it should. As soon as he walks through the door, he's struck by another fit of coughing as he spots her at the table in the dining area.]

[It's one of the rare evenings that she's actually in the dorms instead of bustling around the city, checking in on either Mutatsu or President Tanaka, maybe taking Koro-chan for a walk, making sure Ken is eating veggies, maybe playing Quiz Show at the arcade or even napping in preparation for a Tartarus run. Suffice to say -- it's hard to catch her in the evening.

Not tonight, though. No one had been available to hang out, there weren't any games she wanted to play at the arcade, and they'd just gone to Tartarus recently enough that there wasn't any real need to press further up. So, studying it is, her chin propped in one hand as she taps a pencil lightly against her book with the other, trying to focus. Literature.... boring.

She glances up when she hears the door open, a smile rising to her lips as she lifts a hand to wave -- then he starts coughing, and it doesn't sound like a light, seasonal allergy cough. It sounds bad, and before she can think better of it, she propels herself out of her seat to cross the lounge, hand outstretched in case he needs support.]

Sanada-senpai? Are you okay?

[He's not sure if it's fate or if there's some sort of god out there that has it out for him when she runs over and touches him and the coughing gets worse, leading to daisy and violet petals to pour out of his mouth. The fact that they're a little covered in blood is really worrying.

He's an athlete. He's always in perfect health, making sure that he's taking in enough protein to build up the muscles he needs to fight in the ring. Even though it pisses Shinji off when he "messes up" the food he makes, Akihiko still puts some more powered protein onto every meal. But this? This could ruin his life.

If it doesn't kill him.]

Sh-Shiomi-san. Sorry for interrupting.

[When flowers pour out of his mouth, she flinches back from the shock of it, staring down at the bright colors littering the floor. It's not that she hasn't heard the other girls at school (and some of the boys) talking about it, it's just that -- well, it's Akihiko of all people. He'd seemed oblivious at best, annoyed at worst, by the attention of his fangirls, so the idea that he'd like someone this deeply is...

Honestly, it kind of makes her a little jealous, deep down, an emotion she tries to bury alongside a hint of anger as soon as it arises. She's the leader. It doesn't matter if he likes someone else. Right now, he has to be her first priority.]

It's okay. Sit down.

[More gingerly this time, she takes his elbow, trying to guide him over to the couch. What's she supposed to do?! This seems more like Yukari's or Junpei's area than hers!]

Are you... okay? [It seems like a stupid question as soon as she asks it. Clearly he's not.]

[If only she knew that lately he's been more annoyed by all the girls who hang around him, when he just wants to spend time with her. It doesn't even sound like him, if he's being serious. He'd expect that from someone like Iori or Mochizuki. Shinji would make fun of him.

He can't respond as she takes his elbow. Instead, it leads to another coughing fit, but he shakes his head as he practically falls to the couch.]

N-no. Need. Mitsuru.

[Please, dear god, let Mitsuru be at the dorms and not in the million other places she could be. She's the only person he can trust with this.]

...

[Oh. Mitsuru. Of course. Another flash of irritation spikes through her veins as she yanks her hand back from his arm and pulls out her cell phone instead. The ringing as she waits for Mitsuru to pick up is almost distant in her ears, her mind whirling with the realization.

Who wouldn't be into Mitsuru? Akihiko had been her friend for years, knew her better than arguably anybody else in the dorms did -- she's intelligent, gorgeous, rich, and sophisticated. Of course he would like her.

Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice messaging system-]

...She's not picking up. [Kotone snaps her phone closed and tries redialing.] She said she'd be back later tonight and probably wouldn't be able to go to Tartarus if we'd wanted to, but...

[Switching her phone to her other hand, she reaches out as if she might touch his shoulder again in reassurance, but hesitates halfway there and instead picks up one of the daisies, fingers gently caressing its petals. There's a part of her that wants to joke that if it's Mitsuru he likes, maybe he should be coughing up roses or orchids or a fancier flower than just the kind anyone can find in a country backyard, but she quashes it for now.]

[The horror if anyone were to actually try and tell Akihiko or Mitsuru that they make sense as a couple, despite the fact that they act as if they've been married for a million years at this point. Sure, he likes, respects, and trusts her, but right now it feels like they know too much about each other to really get beyond best friends.

He looks at Kotone as she pulls away suddenly, feeling the loss of her touch and frowning at his own melodramatic brain. When... when did he start to think of her as more than just a kouhai and the leader of their party through Tartarus? He's not sure, but he actually does miss her the second she's away from him, which makes this entire situation all the more irritating.]

Of course.

[He puts his head against the back of the couch, trying to take in deep breaths while his body will let him. It's difficult and he's glad they're alone. Maybe he'll only embarrass himself to her and then they can forget it. No one will know that Akihiko fell for his kouhai so much that he's drowning in flowers from the inside out.]

The others? Are they here?

Mm-mm. [She shakes her head, hearing Mitsuru's voicemail once again and flipping her phone closed. Maybe in a few minutes, she can try again, but if Mitsuru hasn't picked up yet, she must not have her phone with her.] I don't think so. Maybe they'll be back soon?

[Maybe Ken's studying in his room, but she's pretty sure the others have all gone out since she'd said they wouldn't be going to Tartarus tonight. It hurts, that it sounds like he'd rather talk to anyone other than her, but there's nothing she can do about it. She'd thought maybe they'd gotten closer after spending so much time together, but evidently not close enough, huh? She glances down at the blossom in her hand and realizes with another burst of dim shock that her fingertips are wet with blood.]

Senpai! How long has it been like this?

Good.

[Please, whomever is listening, don't let the others be here. Especially not Shinjirou or Iori. He'll never hear the end of it if either of them are around to see him or hear what's going on.

At her panicked alarm, he sits up, despite it hurting and looks around to what she's talking about. Even though he's sure that this stupid unrequited love is going to end terribly, he still can't let anything happen to her. His job is to protect her, both as a team mate and as her senpai.]

What? What are you talking about?

[And then he looks down at her hand and sees the blood all over the white petals of the daisy she's holding. He puts a hand to his chest and tries to think.]

I've had trouble breathing for the last few days, but I thought it was just allergies. The flowers... started today.

["Good?" What, is he embarrassed? Okay, yeah, fair enough, Junpei would definitely tease him, Shinji would probably make some kind of disgruntled noise -- god, Akihiko really is stupid, huh? A few days?]

You should have just talked to her before this. The girl you like. [Mitsuru. She can't help but sound a little reproachful as she draws her hand back and grips her blouse, over her heart as if somehow one of her Personas might be able to help. Actually... could a Persona cure something like this? Is it like a status ailment? Would he even be better off if she tried? Her chest aches at the thought, but if he likes someone else that much, it would be worse than selfish not to encourage him to act on it.] I'm sure she'll be really happy that someone like you is interested in her.

[Of course he's embarrassed! He doesn't normally pay attention to things unless they're shoved in his face. And, uh, this is a bit too on the nose.

When she mentions talking to the girl he likes, he just looks at her. Does she know? Of course she would understand what all of this meant. She's extremely popular at school. All the guys in his and her years talk about how pretty and smart and fun and sexy... A spike of irritation runs through him and he starts coughing again, flower petals hitting the floor like he's gracing the aisle of some Western wedding.

How ironic that the girl he fell for would be one of the most popular girls in school, even though she's a transfer student.]

I doubt she even looks at me as more than a friend. [He manages that in between breaths when the coughing fit dies down a bit.] Why would she?

Hey-!

[Okay, time to shelve her own feelings. Don't worry about how she feels, just focus on him. Can someone choke on these kinds of flowers? She wishes she'd paid more attention when Rio and the other girls on the sports team had been gossiping about it, but the whole idea had seemed so stupid that she'd kind of just let it go in one ear and out the other. Still, just in case, she takes his shoulders and leans him a little further forward, just in case he gets seized by another bout of coughing.]

Fishing for compliments is beneath you, Senpai. [And yet-] Captain of the boxing team, one of the top students, a really strong fighter, kind of cute... I know she'd be really mad to see you suffering like this 'cause you're embarrassed.

[While Akihiko is pretty oblivious to everything around him, (he is suffering for his stupidness, after all) there's something off about the way she's talking about him. Every time she touches him, he coughs and more flowers come up, but this last time.... Nothing.

This is supposed to be a symptom of an unrequited love, isn't it? H-how... How does it get cured?]

I'm not fishing for compliments.

[Alright, Akihiko. Time to slam forward with that stupid bravado you have. What's the worst he can do at this point?]

Would you want to know?

[Would she? If it were someone she didn't have feelings for, it'd be kind of awkward, wouldn't it? Sure, people can go to the hospital to get cured of this, but the idea of it really being unreturned is so sad. It would be easier to go along with it and hope the feeling went away over time.

But if it were a friend... with one hand, she picks up another flower, a violet this time, and turns it over in her fingers. Even if she didn't return their feelings, she wouldn't want to see them suffer. It's better to just know than suffer alone, isn't it? That feels like something they've all been learning together. So even though it hurts a little, a pressure deep in the center of her chest, she takes a breath and nods.]

Yeah. Even if I didn't return their feelings, it's probably better that way. At least you'd know, right?

[If he tells Mitsuru, it'll hurt Kotone, but Akihiko probably won't be in pain anymore. Then Mitsuru gets to be the one to grapple with all these feelings, and with any luck, Kotone won't have to worry about it anymore.]

[What she's saying makes sense, but there's so much sadness and loneliness in the way she says it. He's not sure why she'd be so upset when he's the one who's sitting here with the choice of leaving himself to get his heart broken or drown in all these stupid flowers. neither choice is... great, as far as he can discern.

But, he does agree that she does deserve to know. And afterwards, he'll know for sure that she only sees him as a senpai, a teammate. He's not a coward, but this isn't exactly easy for him.

With a deep, shuddery breath, he puts a hand over hers that's on his arm.]

Kotone-san. You are like no one else I know. Since you came here, things have never been boring and I've looked forward to every day. I... [Can he do it? There's a voice that sounds suspiciously like Shinjirou yelling at him to get it over with and he gives her a small half-smile.] I love you.

[She can't help it; she glances at the hand that's on her arm, then back up to meet his eyes, a smile raising reflexively to her lips. Ah, he's going to thank her, right? For giving him the strength to confess to the girl he likes? Hopefully he doesn't want to just practice what he wants to say to Mitsuru, because she isn't sure she can handle that. That ache building in the middle of her chest can't be nearly as bad as what Akihiko himself is feeling right now, so she can handle it.

...Wait. Her brow furrow in confusion as he begins to speak, addressing her. Huh? Her heart leaps into her throat as she stares at him, eyes wide and lips parting as her gaze darts across his face, searching for-- something, she doesn't know, but almost afraid to believe it. Akihiko couldn't lie if he tried, she believes that with all her heart, so-- huh?]

Me? [Eloquent.]

[The longer they sit staring at each other, the more heat creeps up into Akihiko's face. She's quiet and his brain starts to scream that he's made a terrible mistake, that she's about to reject him and he's about to be hurt and he'll deserve it because he's done this to himself. He can't take the words back. He couldn't even if he wanted to.

So, he has to push forward. And he can slink off and lick his wounds later.]

Y-yeah. If it's a problem, I'll leave you alone. You're probably with Mochizuki or one of the other guys in your year. I shouldn't have said anything.

[He pulls his hand back, feeling awful, but realizing that his confession has helped his breathing quite a bit. So, yeah, this is back to just being his own stupid feelings that he can bury with keeping busy. He just... needs to get to his room so he can get started like that.]

I'm sorry.

[If it were anyone but Akihiko, she'd think she's being pranked. Okay, well, no, that's unfair, it's just -- it feels so unbelievable that she can really only stare at him as he continues. And okay, well, fair enough, she and Ryoji do have some kind of special connection, she's certain of it, but...!

He starts to pull his hand away again, and before she can think better of it, she grabs it in both hands before he can retreat too far.]

I love you, too! [Quickly, before he can second-guess himself any further, she blurts it out, because if she doesn't answer, he'll change his mind now that he's not literally about to choke out -- wait, that means all these flowers were because of her?! She feels almost dizzy at the realization and grips his hand more tightly.] I-I mean... there's no one else.

[He'd used the L-word first, it seems only right to use it too. She'd meant all the things she'd said earlier when she was trying to hype him up, and then some. Her lip quirks up in an embarrassed, yet playful grin, and she draws his hand closer in both of hers as if he might be able to feel her heartbeat through her chest. It's the same gesture she uses when summoning a Persona, so maybe it'll help drive the point home.]

Just you.

[ more likely to be afflicted, but can also be the cause, a concerned confidant, or even a surgeon if we au hard enough ]

( afflicted and probably really stubborn about it. )

[ HEY YOU ♥ ]

[ it's another day, typical for them: long, endless desert stretching out before them as they travel from one town to the next in an effort to dodge the bounty hunters on their heels, and get closer to july. the heat presses down on them, the air conditioning in meryl's truck on its last legs, and vash watches the desert pass by in silence, keeping a little distance between him and wolfwood, trying not to overheat the other man. vash doesn't feel the heat the same as the humans do, he knows, perfectly fine in such weather, but he suspects wolfwood might not be so lucky.

the day takes an unusual turn when they get to town. nothing is going on in town: no celebration to disrupt, no terrible presence haunting the place, no bounty hunters, no fight to get in the middle of, and even though it's well into evening, the inn has rooms. just three, so he and wolfwood end up sharing, and there's a bar attached to the inn that serves food and drinks and has a dartboard and billiards table, and a jukebox, and vash immediately finds it charming, feeding spare change into the machine to play a stupid song.

he joins wolfwood at one of the tables, grinning at his friend as he settles down. ] You look grumpier than usual, Wolfwood. Hungry?

[ it's more than just grumpy. vash has kept his eye on wolfwood all day, or tried to, except for their few breaks; wolfwood looks worse than usual, although vash can't say why or what about wolfwood is different. it's just there, something beneath his skin, worrying vash endlessly. ] Dinner's on me tonight.

[ he has some cash leftover from their last job, he can afford it. ]

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Unrequited

kaveh | genshin impact

Malleus Draconia | Twisted Wonderland

kotone shiomi | persona 3 portable | ota!

4, haha

👀

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Magne Hikiishi | My Hero Academia

Caleb Widowgast | Critical Role | OTA

ignis scientia — final fantasy xv — ota

akira kurusu | p5

vash | trigun stampede

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Sephiroth | FFVII