Chapter Text
Flowers are supposed to be beautiful so why do these seem so ugly?
Flowers are supposed to be delicate, natural splendors; like the ones Izuku's mother used to grow when his father was still around and she had the time to garden.
They sprung up every spring, coming in a medley of greens, reds, and just about every other color a 5-year-old Izuku could think of.
They would bring sweet smells and bees that would sting him but he could stay mad at them. He'd often pick the prettiest ones and Inko would help him weave them into crowns for the two of them to wear. Said crown would sit there in his fluffy, vibrant green hair until it was time for bed.
Kacchan would join him too ( although begrudgingly ), before the mess that was quirks and his lack thereof. Back when Kacchan didn't want Izuku to fear him.
These flowers, however, were... disgusting. Unquestionably so.
They weren't full flowers, not yet at least. Their yellow faces smattered with his spit and countless red flecks. He honestly didn't want to know what those flecks were but from the dripping feeling down his throat, he could tell all too well what they were.
He was hunched over the toilet in the boy's dorm washroom, at 'god knows when o'clock'; with three yellow petals and a leaf or two that he just hacked up from his throat; leaving his mouth tasting like dirt and copper. While he was scrambling to catch his breath he tried to recall how this all started, why this all started.
It was a few days after he helped rescue Kacchan from the Villain Alliance. To say it was a long day was an understatement. UA was running him ragged and moving into the dorms was a whole other affair. To add to his incredibly hectic day, his throat started to scratch and itch making him sound like he ate gravel for fun.
'Great! To top off my injuries from our fight, homework out the wazoo, and hero training, I'm also catching a cold, peachy!' He would grumble under his breath whenever he was caught in a coughing fit.
But he'd have to suck it up, we wouldn't falter on his dreams just because he'd caught a particularly nasty cold.
God, he couldn't tell you how much he wished it was just a cold.
The beginning symptoms of Hanahaki disease were usually confused for colds or as it progressed, strep throat. A false sense of familiarity would lull the victim into believing that it would stop in less than a week or so.
It was when he lost his appetite and running around was now met with All-Might brand smile-grimaces and heavy panting, was when he began to worry. And worry was what Izuku did best, so later that night whilst he was still settling into his new dorm room he had several tabs open on his computer.
'2 week long sore throat'
'No appetite and sore throat'
'Mouth tastes like dirt'
'Trouble breathing, sore throat and loss of appetite'
Each result brought back varying levels of success. Some said it was an extra viscous cough or strep, some even suggested something about his chakras or aura were off and he needed some healing crystals or something but the last result peaked Izuku's worry-ridden curiosity.
The Hanahaki disease and you
Of course, he had heard of Hanahaki. TV producers loved making sappy stories about teenage protagonists falling in love and nearly dying for it. Groups of suffers would crop up every so often and protest the movies due to the romanticization of the illness.
They would tell their own real stories and remind the public just how horrifying the flower disease really was. How the producers failed to mention the absolute pain and embarrassment the disease brought.
Even without the media controversy, Hanahaki would have no problem being the public's eye for its mysterious origins and its ever climbing body count.
It popped up around the same time the glowing child in China was born according to most sources. It quickly swept through the world like the reaper's blade leaving mass death in its wake and due to quirks occurring at the same time the world fell into mass hysteria.
Eventually, as quirks and the new mysterious illness got researched they came to understand the two and what exactly was going on with and caused the latter.
Unrequited love, in the end, was shown to be the cause of people growing flowers and have them slowing kill them, poetically almost. After that mass research was put into it to find some cure whilst the public began to turn to just about anything to explain the whole situation of people with superpowers and people dying left and right.
All of it was chaos until it was discovered that you could remove the flowers. Surgery lists were miles long and people were showing signs of recovering.
That was until the unforeseen side effects relived themselves.
Would Izuku be willing to forget forever? He couldn't imagine life with him, it just wasn't a possibility in his mind. Removing the mini flower garden would also remove everything he felt for Kacchan, all the fear, the admiration, the, um,other things.
He continued down the article, picking up little tips on concealing and postponing the progression of the disease. He also quickly learned that suppressants and painkillers were sold online for a decent price and 100% less embarrassment than getting than from a pharmacy. It took only a few minutes before Izuku ordered two packets of each. It said it would take only a few days ( he blessed his lucky stars ) as the manufacturer was located on the other side of Japan.
While he was online he couldn't help but search one last thing.
" Yellow flower petals list ". He whispered aloud to himself as he pressed enter.
An odd feeling coiled in his gut as he scrolled through countless flowers, each one felt like he was digging himself a grave. He thought that feeling was fear but when his eyes landed on a picture of a flower with sharp looking yet bright yellow petals surrounding a large center of red and orange. He realized it was anticipation.
' The strawflower or as others called it, the Everlasting Daisy, is a plant native to Australia, produces showy flowers connected to big dark green leaves.
In Greek, the strawflower means dry and golden'
That... description was oddly fitting. Almost eerily so.
" Showy without a doubt " He grumbled lowly.
Although he hated what was happening to him, he still thought the flower was, well, beautiful. A shaky smile slip to his face, however, it didn't last long until he was thrown into his third coughing fit that night; leaving him sucking in short, fast breaths, his lungs desperate for air.
After catching his breath, his grimace sunk even lower when he noticed is mouth tasted earthy and felt gritty. Trying to stop the tears cascading down his checks was futile at that point. His quiet, choked sobs echoed throughout the small room.
But that was a few weeks ago. He should probably get off the bathroom floor now and take one of those painkillers he ordered. Sitting here was going to get him nowhere and the fact anyone could walk in any minute fueled him to make his way to his room.
As he swallowed the pill with a contorted grimace, his eyes fell to the class photo taken not too long ago. He put it in a soft green frame the day he got it. But that wasn't what he was focused on.
The photo had been taken in the dorm lobby, he could remember posing for it. He didn't remember, however, was how close Bakugou and Kirishima were. Kirishima's brilliant smile contrasted the blonds scowl. The redhead's arm as laying across his broad shoulders.
He really was a crybaby, huh?These tears made no sense. Bakugou was happier than had been in years. They fit each other beautifully. He could never interrupt that.
The coughing fit that followed left him sobbing and hacking into his waste bin.
Four petals and two leaves this time.
So many things changed so quickly. Too many lines have been crossed and there was certainly no going back. The worst part was he couldn't tell why he almost wanted those flowers.