Chapter Text
~*{Flashback to being 15}*~
“Daisy Spanielle, what have I said about dozing off in my class?” The biology teacher, Mrs. Rackara barks loudly, slamming her ruler on Daisy’s desk, the noise combined with the force instantly waking Daisy from her brief nap, her head jolting up from her arms as she hears the mocking laughter of her classmates from the tables around her and her cheeks glow pink. Well she won’t be sleeping anymore because of how fast her heart is pacing from being loudly nap shamed in front of her entire biology class.
“Sorry Miss, I didn’t get much sleep last night, I won’t do it again.” Daisy rubs the back of her head sheepishly.
Mrs Rackara sighs, rubbing her temples as she continues to glare at Daisy, her gaze softening slightly as she notices the girl’s hands are shaking.
“You said that last time, detention during lunch for you.” The teacher replies sharply, she eyes her one last time before returning to the front of the classroom. Daisy bites her tongue to hold back her tears.
“As I was saying, plants have evolved throughout history to protect themselves from various means of harm such as climate and herbivores, the two most common defenses are physical features such as spikes on cacti or chemical defenses like poison in lilies.” The teacher pulls out the remote to control the classroom screen and turns it on.
“Examples of physical defenses are easily identified in plants such as cacti.” She presses the remote and a diagram of a cactus comes on.
“As you can know, the cactus is able to store water for over prolonged periods of time to sustain against harsh conditions, so why wouldn’t most desert animals simply eat it? Because cactuses have evolved to grow spikes so sharp it would pierce the mouths’ of those who tried.”
Daisy listened not so carefully, she was starting to regret picking biology for one of her semester courses, but chemistry and physics were her other two options and her parents had pressured her to pick at least one science subject, and she found picking those other two would be an execution for her soul.
The lesson went on, Mrs. Rackara explained how plants are able to grow spikes. She then moved onto chemical defences, Daisy was starting to get bored..
“Many flowers are poisonous, a mild yet strong example of a flower that uses chemical defenses is the iris.” Mrs Rackara puts a diagram of the Iris flower onto the screen.
“Irises are known for their beautiful appearance and their relation to the quality of intelligence and hope through Greek mythology, but they contain special chemicals such as Iridin which is a toxic isoflavone glycoside, pentacyclic terpenoids that contain chemical compounds like zeorin, missourin, and missouriensin that contribute to toxicity and various resinous purgatives that can cause gastrointestinal stress and burning sensation, in serious cases of overdose, it may potentially lead to death.”
Daisy was starting to become sleepy again, but the thought of being shouted at in front of the class and having her class laugh at her once made her feel like crying, she doesn’t want to cry for real.
She wanted to ask what the time was so she’d know how long before lunch break, but Daisy was afraid she’d get shouted at, a boy had once done that, though he’d been causing trouble all of class, sure he got shouted at and given detention later on for something worse, but at least he had friends to sneak him something back or joke with, she had no one.
No one, that was a frequent description to describe the friends Daisy had. Daisy acted like she was used to it, but never was. She would sit alone during breaks where everyone else would be chatting with their friends, whereas she felt she was drowning in shame as they’d glance at her, judging her.
She doesn’t remember why she had never made friends, or at least slightly. Before she had started primary school, she had been at home with her mother all day, she had never been taken out to playgrounds or parties. Her mother never quite liked her, nor had her father. Sure, they had given a place to stay and food to live off of, but most of the affection was shown to her older sister, Daphne. Daphne had been their ideal child, beautiful, lucky, bright, and confident, and compared to her, Daisy was shit.
Sometimes Daisy wondered if their parents only wanted Daphne as their child, and if she wasn’t meant to be born. Daisy looks back on herself and thinks she was an ugly child, baby fat stored in all the wrong places and curly and frizzy hair and fur that refused to be tamed, maybe she still is.
This pretty much would damage her social skills as she started school. She had joined late in the semester because of a family vacation (for Daphne’s graduation party) and by the time she joined, everyone had made social circles already and weren’t very empathetic to those who weren’t, especially someone as ugly as herself, and Daisy was too afraid to talk to them. Thus, Daisy became the only kid in her grade without friends of her own, and it only became worse in high school when everyone from her primary school transitioned there with her. Some kids now had enough confidence to start an ego, and high school being high school, was a breeding ground for egos.
Daisy had been the butt of jokes and disgusting rumours about her body, she’d hear girls whispering mean things about her as she passed by and boys saying it openly to her face. She’d get pushed aside by them while in their cruel antics, maybe they did it on purpose. She’d been the victim of pranks, like gum on her seat and ‘accidental’ water puddles in her path that made her trip and fall.
She had been humiliated and belittled and excluded and hurt, but no one, not even the teachers, who were seemingly looking in the other direction, ever stood up for her.
Finally, the bell rang like the final trumpets, signalling it was time for lunch. Daisy hurriedly packed up her things and was about to leave the classroom when she remembers she still has detention for her heinous sin of sleeping in class. The thought wanted to make her burst out into tears, but she didn’t, she never did. Instead, she turned around and walked back to her desk, earning laughter from a group of girls walking past her out the door that to Daisy, felt like the pearly gates, but alas, she was stuck in this classroom.
It wasn’t even her fault! The night before, try as she might, Daisy just couldn’t sleep, she spent the night staring out her window into the cloudy night. She speculates she might have insomnia but then again, it’s probably just her being an angsty dramatic teenager. She could go to a doctor or the school counsellor, but she’d need her parent’s consent to go to the doctors and they’d probably just yell at her for being overdramatic, and that school counsellor is notorious for calling students’ parents to discuss problems despite promising students not to.
As Daisy readjusted to her seat Mrs Rackara, who had briefly left after the bell to grab her lunch before coming back in. Mrs Rackara looks at Daisy, Daisy looks back at her and can see the concern in the teacher’s face.
Suddenly, Daisy felt ashamed, like there was a black hole in her stomach, sucking all the comfort she was barely feeling, why should she have to be the reason someone is concerned? Like she is some abnormal person with psychological issues?
Mrs Rackara opens her mouth to say something, but doesn’t, like it’s a mouse hesitating to come out of its hole, like she’s scared if she says something, Daisy will come breaking down about problems that feel too sensitive to speak about.
Daisy could see it all, and only felt her heart become heavier. She won’t break! Or will she? She doesn’t know anymore, thinking about it is making her head spin and throat close and hands shake under the table and-
“Daisy Spanielle, care to explain what was so important last night that you slept through half of my lesson?” It seems Mrs. Rackara has finally found the courage to speak, but not words of kindness nor concern, and certainly not what she had opened her mouth to say earlier.
“I’m sorry miss, I couldn’t sleep last night, school and its assignments keep me awake thinking.” Daisy replies, avoiding eye contact, her hands fidgeting under the table. It’s not entirely the truth, but hey! It’s not a lie either, school assignments were one of the reasons she couldn’t seem to sleep at night, but not really the most prominent. Mrs. Rackara sighs a sigh that suggests she’s aged 50 years in a day.
“I understand that school might be keeping you stressed, but it’s all preparation for you to join the workforce, if you have issues that you can’t handle by yourself, consult the counsellor or see a therapist. Daisy, if you keep this up, I’ll have to contact your parents to let them know.” Mrs. Rackara says before saying something about writing something a few hundred times, but Daisy can’t hear her.
‘I’ll have to contact your parents to let them know.’ Daisy’s eyes widened by a mere fraction and her hands stopped fidgeting, suddenly her entire body felt cold. She can’t have her parents called! If she has her parents called, they’ll question her about her sleep issues and then she’ll be called dramatic and stupid and get scolded and she can’t bear the noise and they’ll be disappointed in her again and they’ll hate even her more and compare her to Daphne and-
“Daisy!”
Daisy is once again snapped out of her thoughts by Mrs. Rackara’s sharp voice.
“Are you zoning out while I was talking to you, do you want an afterschool detention as well?!” The teacher looks furious, standing right in front of her desk and casting a shadow over it, her horns loom threateningly over Daisy, feeling more like a demon rather than a goat’s.
Daisy opens her mouth to say something, but as if her body is betraying her, her throat closes up and she can’t speak. Mrs. Rackara either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care.
“Like I said, write ‘I will not sleep in class.’ 200 times, if you aren’t finished before lunch ends you will complete this after school.” Mrs. Rackara turns back and heads outside.
Daisy buries her head into her arms and groans before sighing and picking up her pen, she was about to spend her entire break in this hellhole.
~*{Current time}*~
Daisy cannot breathe, or at least her body doesn’t allow her to as she stands there, processing what is in her hand, her mind starts racing with the probability of what really caused this.
‘Why did I cough up a flower, this can’t be, can it? I thought it was only fictional, like in all the stories I used to read. What flower even is this, its colour is like his…’
Suddenly, she processes the flower in her hand, and memories of that biology lesson that was blurred for so many years return to her head, crystal clear.
‘Nonono, this can’t be happening, can it? Am I dreaming? I must be dreaming, right? How could I have Hanahaki? Isn’t it fictional? I’m going to die, aren’t I?’
Daisy suddenly feels the lack of oxygen taking its toll on her. Her heart hammers against her chest like a time-ticking bomb and the thoughts in her mind start to swirl together and she sees all sorts of shapes and colours in the corners of her vision and suddenly the sounds of footsteps and breathing and the machines in the distance are deafening and-
“Nurse Daisy, are you alright?”
Daisy snaps out of her paralysis and looks behind her, she puts the petal back in her pocket before they can see, shapes disintegrating from her vision and the screeching sounds fading back into background noise.
Behind her, she sees Secret Agent looking down at her, his tall figure makes a shadow over her body, the piercing, almost glowing yellow in his eyes narrow with concern and suspicion as Daisy thinks of an excuse.
“Sorry Agent! I was thinking about something earlier today on my way to the Head Nurse.” Daisy replies, grinning sheepishly and rubbing the back of her head, knowing that her excuse is definitely going to work. Secret Agent’s tail perks up and the mention of the Head Nurse.
“Going to Head Nurse Maeror, are we?”
His suspicion vanishes quicker than sound as his face become literally ‘^v^’ and he grins, he adds;
“Well since you’re going alone, let me accompany you to see her, think of it as protection if anything happens.”
Daisy giggles, her plan has worked perfectly.
“Sure why not? Lenore would be delighted to see you.” Daisy replies, sarcastically adding emphasis on delighted.
She, and in fact everyone and their mommas knew that the Agent was significantly and profoundly infatuated with the Head Nurse, or in simpler terms; he’s down bad as hell. The only thing that astounded her is that it seems Lenore herself is oblivious to his version of ‘hints’ (which aren’t quite subtle), or she couldn’t care less.
Head Nurse Lenore Maeror is an odd woman. She manages almost everything at the hospital with exceptional efficiency while doing half of it herself. But she is a cold person, she remains quiet for most of the time despite her reputation as the terrifying authority of the hospital, not many of the staff like her very much, and she doesn’t care either.
Either way, Daisy had a ward to get to and it was now, so she starts walking, her heels clicking against the hard ground quietly. She feels Secret Agent walking behind her as her ‘protection’.
After a minute, Daisy and the Secret Agent reach the medical wards where Head Nurse Lenore is grabbing a thermometer and IV fluids for the patient in room 4.