Work Text:
“I’ll love you forever, Shumai.”
“You will?”
“Yes. That’s the problem.”
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He missed it.
The lively boy who would follow him around like a puppy.
The bouncy boy who almost always was bruised.
His best friend.
The only one who cared about him.
All gone because of him. It was so stupid.
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Kokichi knew it would happen soon. But he didn’t think it would happen so soon. Sure, he had been slowly killing himself his whole life, but that doesn’t mean he was prepared for death. He became paler each day, passing out from the lack of nutrients, or being found on the floor of the school bathroom with his wrists slit open. He was so tired.
The first time it happened was when he thought he had a cold. Shuichi came to scold him about getting sick, and he felt the copper build up in his mouth as he coughed into his hand. The blood spilled out. Daisy petals scattered in the bile. He just brushed it off.
At first.
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It was getting worse. The daisies grew bigger. As he coughed more and more petals would fall from his chapped lips. The stems scratching at his raw esophagus, wreaking out sobs.
It was when the red carnations started to grow, Oma knew his time was too close for comfort.
The flowers had started to grow around his face. He pulled them off each time, watching the sickly pigment ooze out of the scabs forming under the petals.
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He tried confessing. Telling Shuichi his true feelings; resulting in a black eye and a bloody nose. Walking to school was getting more difficult than normal, the world spinning as he tried to walk through the gates. He passed out.
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They couldn’t revive him. The paramedics didn’t get there in time, and no one around seemed to care.
Shuichi didn’t dare show for his funeral. He knew that Rantaro would kill him if he did. It was his fault after all, that his dear sweet Oma was gone.
He couldn’t sleep well anymore. Any time his eyes would close, the visions of Kokihi would come back. He watched over him from above, making sure that he stayed safe.
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Shuichi woke up one night with an itch in the back of his throat.
He coughed into his elbow, immediately going to lay back down until he saw something laying on his pillow.
A chrysanthemum petal.
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Flower Meanings:
-Daisies; my love for you is true
-Red Carnations; my heart aches for you
-Chrysanthemums; Commonly used at funerals, representing the death of a loved one.