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Fukami knew nothing of emotion. He could care less whether he was placed in the Blue Sea or the Sea of Death, it wouldn't change a thing. His life consisted of simply surviving. A predator like him didn't really need to emote, only to survive.
Although...as time went on, he had really grown to consider himself lucky for being put in the Blue Sea. It all started when he was chosen by a certain Sea Witch to become her familiar...
---
Cough, cough. The petals were plentiful. It was...really difficult to dispose of them discreetly now, not to mention the immense pain that he felt in his chest...
Damn it all. Why did petals have to be so buoyant? He can't just throw them into the sea, and he was quickly running out of areas to throw up in. Nobody else could know.
That would complicate all things. Wadanohara was still dealing with Samekichi's decision to leave in pursuit of his brother. She didn't need another burden being placed on her shoulders.
He'd gladly suffer through all of this, if only she'd be happy.
But...
It all would have been better if he never fell for the Witch in the first place. Wadanohara loved Samekichi, and Fukami forced himself to be happy for the two of them- after all, if Wadanohara was happy, he was too.
For a while, that wasn't true. For a while, Fukami truly hated Samekichi.
---
Fukami didn't know that he was capable of so many emotions. Happiness, joy, anger...love...
Jealousy.
Why did Wadanohara have to be so close to Samekichi? He wasn't nice. Fukami wished he would just die. He didn't deserve Wadanohara's affection. Why him?
---
"F...Fukami?"
Why was she here? If Fukami remembered correctly, Wadanohara was supposed to be doing something in the Sea Kingdom- her familiars were waiting for her on this boat, and he was expecting to have his privacy, damn it.
How long was he in this room? Did the other familiars hear him? Is that why Wadanohara was here?
Ugh, he was so weak. He can't even silence himself when throwing up
.
"Wadanohara, don't you have something important to tend to?" Fukami replies, fatigue evident in his voice, which was usually monotonous. Now they were more...tired. Dead. Pained.
"Well...you're more important, Fukami. You're my familiar. They'll understand."
---
Why did Fukami absolutely adore Wadanohara?
It was her precious innocence. Her love for everything in the Blue Sea, even the good and the bad. An innocence that he wanted to protect, to cherish...
To keep for himself.
---
"I'm alright." Good thing Fukami wasn't usually talkative. Just speaking already made him want to throw up so badly...but it was either this pain, or placing the Witch that he held so dear in a troublesome situation.
Even if Fukami loved her so, he didn't want her to love him back. Not after he's seen how much Samekichi mattered to her.
Fukami was so stupid back then.
---
They were perfect for each other, proven time and time again. Fukami simply...wasn't the right one for Wadanohara. He had accepted that.
Fukami finally understood.
As Wadanohara was wrapped in his arms, he finally understood what he wanted.
He didn't want Wadanohara, no. Not something as shallow as that.
He wanted her to be happy. It was the least he could do, after she introduced him to such a wonderful world. To his emotions, to his fellow familiars...
No matter the cost. She deserved complete happiness.
...but because of fate's cruelty, it wouldn't be that simple.
He had contracted a disease. At the time, he wasn't sure what it was. He kept it hidden, so that Wadanohara wouldn't worry.
It wasn't that bad. It was just...strange, seeing how he coughed up a flower petal. It kinda hurt, too. He decided that he'd check out the extensive library, next time they visited the Sea Kingdom. Maybe that place had some information.
---
"Please don't lie to me, Fukami. You're in pain. Let me in."
Why now? Explaining everything to her would make things worse. Wadanohara's the type of person that would truly love Fukami if she knew of his disease and its only cure. But that didn't sound nice- he didn't want to force her.
He wanted her to love him naturally. Not bring up some repressed feelings because of his disease. If she didn't love him that way before he contracted this affliction, then she shouldn't now.
"I'll be right out. Just..."
He couldn't do anything to stop it. Everything hurt, and his sentence was interrupted by a violent fit of coughing. Crap, even more petals to clean up. Damn it all...
---
The Hanahaki disease. Incurable. Brought about by one-sided attraction. Curable only if the beloved has romantic feelings for the lover.
Surprisingly enough, he didn't learn that from the library. He learned that from Tatsumiya, when Fukami asked her about flower-related diseases.
He didn't know if it caused death, but...it was safe to assume so. Nonetheless, Fukami was certain that he can survive. Octopi were resilient, after all, and his respiratory system wasn't that of a humans'.
That was simply a hypothesis, though. Hopefully he's right.
---
He was feeling...lightheaded.
He couldn't say any more, as he began to vomit- daffodils, accompanied by plenty of their petals. It hurt so, so much...
Before he knew it, he laid unconscious in a bed of flowers.
---
"Fukami? Is...is everything alright?"
The lock was soon broken open.
And cries filled the air, through cloud and through sky.