Chapter Text
Hiori stared at the blue petal in his palm.
What the fuck?
"What the-" Hiori broke into another fit of coughing, and more petals flew into his hand. He sat up and studied the petals. There were no flowers in blue lock, so that meant...flowers were growing inside Hiori's lungs? What?
Hiori had no idea what the time was, but he didn't think he would get back to sleep. And considering he wasn't going to be training for a while, he might as well go into the monitor room to see other people's plays.
Hiori stood up (which involved a lot of coughing and more petals scattering onto the floor) and went over to the monitor room. As the bright blue light from the screens lit up Hiori's eyes, he saw another person sitting cross-legged on the ground, watching plays. The figure turned around, teal eyes met cyan eyes, and then said,
"hello."
It was Rin.
"Ah, hi," Hiori awkwardly sat down next to Rin, watching as the monitor room showed everyone, Bachira's dribbling, Chigiri's speed, Gagamaru's saves and Rin's goals.
"Ya know, I never properly thanked ya for helping me back to my room. Ya kinda just left."
Rin didn't reply, eyes focused on the screens.
"I didn't feel as though I needed to stay too long. I had to train."
"Ah, right."
A silence took over the room, the quiet hum of the facility air in the background. The silence wasn't awkward, just...calm. Quiet. Away from the busy bustling roar of soccer. Hiori watched as his own face came onto one of the screens, showing him doing passing drills with Kurona. Hiori turned to look at Rin. He was fixated on no particular screen, in fact he just looked like he was zoning out.
Suddenly, Rin stood up.
"Goodnight. I hope your lungs get better."
He quietly left, Hiori hearing the quiet click of his bedroom door closing from down the hall, confused. Rin Itoshi hoped he got better? The Rin Itoshi who mostly ignored everyone during training and sat alone in a corner in the dining room? Hiori shook his head lightly, which caused him to cough more petals. Hiori decided to leave the monitor room and go back and play a few shooter games on his phone.
He stashed all the petals in his blue lock jacket pockets, and grabbed his phone from under his pillow. Instead of opening his games, he went to google.
What to do if you are coughing up petals for some reason?
If you are experiencing coughing up petals, you might have Hanahaki disease, an illness that is caused by flowers growing in the lungs, heart or throat. The cause is because of unrequited love, and if left alone the consequences are fatal.
Hiori stared at his phone screen, shocked.
Hanahaki disease? Unrequited love? Wha...how is this possible?
Hiori doesn't think he's ever met someone who truly loves him.
But then his mind flashes to Rin. The Rin who found him unconscious and brought him to Ego's room. Who helped him back. Who said he hoped Hiori got better.
That can't be possible. Rin's just being nice.
But when did Rin Itoshi start being nice?
Hiori's brain is tired and short-circuiting and confused. He places his phone back under his pillow and tries to go back to sleep (more petals were coughed out as a result of all his tossing and turning).
In his own room, Rin Itoshi is wide awake, staring at the ceiling. The walls of the blue lock facility feel suffocating, but if it's going to make him the world's best, he will put up with it. He closes his eyes, trying to get some rest before crushing Isagi at training tomorrow. But a flash of cyan keeps him awake. Hiori. Rin doesn't know why. You need to get sleep so you're not lukewarm tomorrow.
In his office-room thingy, Jinpachi Ego sat in his chair, watching how everyone's training and stats are going. Then Hiori comes up on the screen, and Ego watches with a wide smile.
"Hanahaki disease...very interesting indeed."