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Chapter Text

Five Years Ago 

Taiga peered through the window of the upstairs CR, clutching his waist and drenched in blood and rainwater and gasping for what little air he can grasp. He looked down at the dreadful sight of Hiiro, his father, and Asuna panicking about Saki's fading form. He felt so much dread. His first failed mission of saving the patient, engraved into his brain forever. He can see Saki turn her head away from the three people and look up at the window that Taiga was staring down from. He starts to recall the memory of him and Saki talking together before her condition worsened. 

"Hanaya-sensei?", she coughed. 

"Yes, Saki?" , he asked, holding her hand that she stretched out. 

"Can you promise me something?" , she clutched the doctor's hand harder, emphasizing 'promise'. "Sure.", he says with curiosity. 

"If something happens to me, please take care of Hiiro. I love him and I know he loves me as well, despite his cold demeanor towards me, but if this worsens, I want to at least know he'll be in safe and loving hands that can help him continue his studies and be the best doctor he can be." 

Taiga's face softened and he strengthened his grip slightly. "I promise Saki, but I'm going to save you so you and Kagami can be together again. All smiles. Okay?" 

"Mhm." Saki smiled the best she could and fell back asleep.

Taiga snaps out of his memory and watches Saki fade from the CR bed. She sees her nod at Taiga and smiles before she completely evaporated from sight. Taiga runs out of CR, limping at the same time. He didn't want to be at the place where he saw his first patient die. 

Taiga limps out of the hospital, rain lightly falling. He leans against a tree to get his balance and he starts to cough. He felt something soft come in contact with his hand and lips. He withdrew his hand and saw a bright-colored light blue petal in his palm. Where did this petal come from? Did it come from my mouth?  Taiga questioned in his head as he let go of the petal, the water carrying it away from him. It's probably nothing. He had more important things on his mind. 

Five Years Later 

Taiga managed to defeat the Bugsters before Brave and Ex-Aid were damaged any further. Emu had found Taiga at his abandoned hospital and confronted him about the deal with Yuki's case, referring to when he had approached Emu earlier after Emu warded off the Bugsters from Yuki. The dispute was cut short because Revol had arrived to cause more chaos. After both transformed to Ex-Aid and Snipe, Taiga challenged Ex-Aid, the winner gets the Gashat of the loser. The battle against Revol began, Gashacon Magnum shooting and Gashacon Breaker swinging, but not before Brave intervened with the battle and started attacking Snipe. All of a sudden, Snipe's chest started to ache as he deflected the swings of Hiiro's Gashacon Sword with his gun. 

What's going on with this pain in my chest?  Taiga thought with his heart pounding, his chest aching more with every beat. 

Ex-Aid intervened with the sudden attack and reminded the two of Revol. Brave looked at Snipe, the gun master feeling daggers piercing through both masks. He feels a sense of disgust from Hiiro. He turned away from the doctor prince and faced his attention to Revol. 

Snipe got away unscathed from Revol's attacks and range, but Ex-Aid and Brave were in extreme danger, close to getting a Game Over. Both Emu and Hiiro reversed their transformation, heavily panting and scratched. Snipe saw Revol aim towards Hiiro and charge his attack. On instinct, Snipe jumped in front of Hiiro and shoots Revol with reckless abandon, canceling Revol's charge and finishing the mission. He picks up Mighty Action X and closes his driver. 

"If you want to get your Gashat back, I'm always down for a re-match," he smirks and starts walking away, "that is if you can transform of course." He headed towards CR, but not before he stopped at the same place he was at 5 years ago when he stopped due to the petal. He leaned against the tree and clutched his chest. He felt like something was trapped. He coughed up three bright blue petals, the petals glowing brightly as the one from years ago. 

"What the fuck is going on? Why am I coughing up petals all of a sudden...?", he thought as he let go of the petals, brushing against his boots before flying away in the wind. He disregards the petals and head to CR to see Kuroto. 

"YOU!", Taiga exclaimed seeing who the hooded figure was. 

After mocking Kuroto to up the security, Kuroto had ordered CR to retrieve a box of stolen Gashats that were taken from the Genm Corp. He decided to request for Ex-Aid's, Brave's, and Lazer's help in fighting the Collabos Bugster at the university he found the bugster at. Lazer had went after the Black Ex-Aid that intruded the battle while the others pursued the Bugster at bay. Unfortunately, they were overwhelmed, forcing Brave and Lazer to reverse their transformation to preserve their energy. 

The hooded figure revealed to be Graphite, the Bugster he failed to defeat 5 years ago and let Saki die due to his negligence of strength, Graphite overpowering him. Graphite smirks and transforms into his Bugster form, wielding his weapon and pointing it at the fallen Kamen Riders. 

"Long time no see, Snipe." Graphite's voice was filled with poison and his smirk, toxic as ever. "Huh? Taiga-san? You know him?", Emu said looking at Snipe and back at Graphite. 

Taiga's blood was boiling, the soreness in his chest dissipating as his rage grew, glaring at the undefeated Bugster. Something within Taiga snapped and he charges at Graphite to no end, shooting and deflecting the blade's blows. Graphite swings hard and deflects Snipe's gun from hitting him, dodging and charging towards Hiiro and Kiriya. 

Taiga quickly glances at Emu, who was distracted with another Bugster that had appeared at the scene. "I won't let you!", Taiga exclaimed when he saw Graphite raise his blade. He de-transforms to Level 1 Snipe to use his energy bullet, aims for Graphite's hand and successfully shoots the weapon from his hand, charging towards where Hiiro and Kiriya lay, standing in front of them, defending them. 

"Graphite." Taiga transformed back into Level 2, pointing his gun at his rival. "I'm here to finish what we started all those years ago. And I don't plan on backing down."

Genm had already ordered Graphite to retreat and Taiga was about to leave when he was stopped by Hiiro. "That Bugster... Was Graphite the Bugster that you failed to defeat all those years ago?" Hiiro's voice was firm but Taiga could hear the hint of shakiness and anger dripping from his words. "None of your business.", Taiga mocks Hiiro in the same vein, his back still facing Hiiro and keeps walking. Hiiro runs up to him and forces Taiga to face him. "Answer me!" Taiga's composure was calm, his hands still his coat pockets when he was turned around, his face tired. 

"You still owe me an answer!" Hiiro demanded. Without missing a beat, Taiga responds,"Sorry, but I keep forgetting things lately," his face getting closer to Hiiro. Hiiro's eyes widen with anger, his fist clenched, white-knuckled. He threw a punch at Taiga, but was stopped by Taiga's own hand, gripping his fist and glaring back at Hiiro. 

"I could have saved Saki!" Hiiro exclaims, pushing his entire body weight hoping to make some kind of contact with Taiga's face but with no avail, Taiga's posture still unfazed, calm and still, gripping Hiiro's fist tighter than ever. 

Emu had ran over to attempt to break the two from escalating the fight when Taiga releases Hiiro, pushing him back slightly. 

"If you say so go ahead and try!" Taiga's voice was filled with poison, leaking from his throat. "That's right... Graphite's the one who killed your girlfriend."

The words pierced Hiiro's mind, shocked that Taiga confirmed what he asked. Hiiro flashes back to that horrid day five years ago. Saki's weakening body, trying to reach out to him, telling him to become the best doctor he can be. 

Satisfied with Hiiro's reaction and seeing Hiiro wasn't going to stop him from evading, he walks away from Hiiro and Emu. 

When Taiga arrived to his office, he collapses to the ground. He coughs hard and a few blood splatters stains his hand, the familiar blue glow of the flower petals falling onto his lap. 

"What the fuck...is happening?", his sight blurred. He blinks a couple times to re-focus his vision and goes straight to his computer. He tries to look up the cause of the symptoms of his body producing the flower petals and the unusual appearance of the blood. 

Surely this isn't the cause of the Gamer Driver or the use of the Gashats... Taiga wonders to himself out loud. The use of the Driver and Gashats, as far as he knows, has only affected his hair. There's some pain that comes to using the Gashat but that's growing his immunity and producing the perfect antibody for anything. Several results had popped up, all were not from any medical records or entries, but from blog sites. 

"What on earth? "Hanahaki disease? What kind of foolish ideals...", Taiga's voice trails off and continues to read, having a gut feeling that this is important. Nothing was really normal about his life, especially the concept of the Driver and Gashats, so he can only press forward. 

"The Hanahaki Disease is an illness born from unrequited love, where the patient’s throat will fill up with a flower, they will then proceed to throw, and cough up the petals, (sometimes even the flowers). One of the only ways for the disease to ‘disappear’ is if, the said person returns the feeling (it can’t be resolved with friendship, it has to be genuine feelings of love). The infection can also be removed through surgery, though the feelings disappear along with the petals. If they choose nether options, or the feeling is not returned in time, then the patient’s lungs will fill up with flowers, and will eventually suffocate. This disease is usually fictional, but there have been some quiet cases of people dying from suffocation despite being healthy, garnering a possibility that the disease is possibly real. 

Taiga's mind was filled with confusion and fear. Unrequited love? It had been years since Taiga had last felt love. But to have some kind of fictional disease become a weird reality? He wanted to consider it a side effect to the use of the Gashats, but he tries to think back on Hiiro and Emu using the Gashats. Both of them didn't show any emotion to love someone or any sort of pain like he did. Especially not Hiiro, since he had already settled his heart for Saki. He'd be dead on the ground if this were the case since he lost his true love. And over the five years of collecting Gashats and using them to train his body, he didn't feel worse when using them. 

"Is it really unrequited love...? It can't be...", Taiga says as he goes to lock up the hospital before going to bed. 

Hiiro had woken up in an unfamiliar hospital bed. 

"Where... Am I?", Hiiro struggles to sit up, wincing in pain. 

He recalls trying to excise the Bugster out of this student by going to Level 50: Taddle Fantasy. Emu was too scared to use any of his Gashats because of fear that he would lose control of the Bugster that manifested within him. Taiga had warned him that continuing the use of the Gashat will deteriorate his body more without taking proper care and not going reckless as Hiiro usually told Emu. 
Parado had overpowered him with his Perfect Puzzle and Knock Out Fighter Dual Gear Gashat, taking in the surroundings and strategies to his advantage. He had weakened Brave down to where he was on his knees and was going to deliver a final blow when he stopped his fist from connecting with Hiiro's face. 

I see you still can't handle Level 50 powers. Let's play again later. Parado's words burned into his mind, remembering that Taiga had warned him before. Parado had vanished away and Hiiro collapsed to the ground, struggling to keep his consciousness. He remembers seeing Taiga walk up to him and pick up the Gear Dual Gashat. 

See, I told you. It's too much for you. Taiga sneered, trying to hide his genuine concern for the other doctor. Hiiro gave a look of irritated humiliation before blacking out. 

Hiiro looks up from his daydream to see Nico at the doorway. "Ah. You're awake." As if on cue, Taiga appears from behind Nico, stepping into the patient room. Hiiro blinked and hoarsely spoke up. 

"Did... Did you do this?" Taiga scoffed at Hiiro's words, leaning against the doorway. "You're not being yourself." Taiga makes an air quotes motion with his hands. "I thought you were more for avoiding unnecessary risks, young doctor," he says with a smirk, crossing his arms. "Shut up," Hiiro snaps back as he averts his stare away from Taiga, "where am I, anyways?"

Hiiro quickly leans over to grab the Game Scope, hearing the flustered sounds of Poppy and Emu panting. "The Bugster broke out?" Poppy's voice, panicked, "Hiiro, please come help us!!" Hiiro scrambles out of his bed, ripping the IV drip from his arm. He's about to start running when his strength falters on him and his legs give in, Hiiro gripping the end of the bed to keep his balance steady and groaning in pain. 

"A patient should just lie down and shut up." Taiga walked back into the room as Hiiro looked up at the sound of his voice, panting. Taiga reveals the Dual Gashat in his hand to Hiiro. "I'll be using this." A shocked look on Hiiro is plastered on his face. "What?" "This Gashat is two games in one. One is Taddle Fantasy, the one you used against Parado. The other one is," Taiga flips the Gashat over, revealing a different label,"Bang Bang Simulations."

"I'm guessing it's a simulation game where you control a battleship to destroy the enemy fleet?" Nico waltzed into the room, sitting on Hiiro's bed. "Genm improved upon our Gashats to make this." Taiga gives a mischievous smirk to the other doctor. "In other words, I hold half the ownership of this." 

Hiiro averts his gaze again, thinking about Saki and how presumably, Taiga had lost all morals of being a doctor. "Do you think all is forgiven now?" Hiiro struggles to stand up, but manages. "Do you think just because you treated my wounds, I would accept you now?" The words pierced through Taiga's heart, knowing that no one would forgive him for what he did, that his status of having no credibility as a doctor was defiled, tainted by his irresponsibility. All of a sudden, the aching pain in his chest threatens him to cough, Taiga gripping the Dual Gashat in his hand for some stability. Luckily, he was distracted by Hiiro abruptly grabbing him by his coat and shaking him. Taiga felt numb, his body was limp as he let Hiiro shake him vigorously. "You let my Saki die!" Hiiro was glaring angrily at the radiologist, whose face was unphased, but glaring back at him.

"Why did you let him go?" 

Nico was sitting in Hiiro's room, speaking up to ask the doctor about what happened earlier. Hiiro, sitting on his bed, looks in the direction to where Nico was. Hiiro flashes back to his "argument" with Taiga. 

"A single mistake can be fatal for our patients. That's just how a doctor works!"  Hiiro's voice was shaky, swallowing in a breath after each sentence. There was a pause until Taiga spoke up, looking at Hiiro with tired eyes. 

"You have yet to fail, young doctor. But look at you. Tell me, can you really perform an operation in that state?" As Taiga said those words, he looks down at his bandaged body. He opens his mouth to speak, but Taiga was still going. "Do you want to end up like me?" Those words shocked Hiiro into realization, his eyes widening. "I have nothing to lose at all. That's why I can say this. The world only needs one Kamen Rider, and that's me."  Hiiro, exhausted from his injuries, but understanding, releases his grip on Taiga, watching Taiga hurry out of the room. 

He could hear a pained cough echo through the hospital. 

"Just to be clear, I haven't forgiven him, nor accepted him in any way. I merely chose the most efficient measure to eliminate the Bugster." Nico smiles from the doorway and gets closer. "Yeah, that might be one of the best ways to solve a puzzle. You're unexpectedly getting pretty good at games!" Hiiro rolls his eyes at the last statement Nico had uttered. "Shut up. This is just a doctor's diagnosis." 

Nico crosses her arms, her smile slightly faltering. "Then diagnose this for me. When someone has painful sounding coughs and leaves a trail of a few flower petals behind, what does that signal?" Hiiro looks at Nico in genuine confusion. "Huh?" "Taiga's been having these coughing fits lately. One time I heard him cough and leave the hospital and I saw flower petals on his desk. I thought someone gave him flowers and they fell, but there were no flowers, not even in a nearby garbage can. The weird part is, the petals are blue, but some of them have red spots, almost like blood splatters." Hiiro's eyebrows furrowed, extremely confused at what Nico was telling him. Her face didn't appear to be joking either. 

"I... I don't know. This sounds made up but you don't seem to be lying to me since it's obvious you care about him. Otherwise, you wouldn't be trusting me with this information." "Bingo." 

They sat in silence, Hiiro confused to what Taiga's condition might be. 

"Have you heard of the 'Hanahaki' disease?" Nico asks after a short while. Hiiro looks up at Nico. "Isn't that a fictional trait? An urban legend?" 

"This is just a hunch, but Taiga might have it. But I'm not sure who the petals are for." 

Poppy had been hypnotized by Genm Corp's new arrogant and extremely perverse, seductive asshole of a president. Somehow, Kuroto seemed more tolerable with his irritating cackle. On the rise of Kamen Rider Chronicle, they faced Ren or Lovelica who had lured Nico and the CR men to where he was, explaining he was a Bugster from Toki Meki Crisis, a game where you use charm and attraction to win the heart of the opposite gender, hence the CR trio's attacks missing. They were forbidden from using any violence. Lovelica's irritating charm had made a critical hit to the CR men and forced them to de-transform, splashing them into the water. 

"Taiga! What the hell are you doing?!", Nico exclaimed before she was attacked by Vernier, flinging her into water. Luckily, Taiga was able to catch Nico before she had any serious damage on her. Taiga frantically looked for any other damage from the blow that Nico had to endure, but Nico flings off Taiga, shoving him away and making him stumble back into the water. He didn't even bother trying to get back up. He accepted that he had shoved everyone from helping him, it was only fair that he'd be shoved away in return. 

"Look at him! Pathetic." Lovelica directed Poppy and the maids to look and laugh at Taiga, emotionless and looking away from everyone, sitting in water. "If you're that frustrated, why don't you try making yourself likable?" Lovelica lets out a disgusting chuckle, continuing to mock Taiga. "Well, for a reckless, self-centered man, you couldn't even do it in a million years-" 

"It's not like I'm fighting to be LIKED." Taiga interrupted Lovelica, his voice emotionless, catching his enemy off guard. "People have their own futures," he turns in the water, sitting up to face Nico. "That's why...", he looks up at Nico, but then his stare wanders to Hiiro, "someone like me, who has nothing to lose, should be the one to fight." He can see through his soaked strands of hair and drops of water that Hiiro's face shifted into confusion, looking down to process the words Taiga just said. Taiga looks away again, continuing to speak. 

"No matter how painful it is." Taiga's chest tightens at his own words, but still continues. "Even if I'm resented... Well, it'd be easy for me." He holds his composure, keeping down the cough that threatens to explode into more blue petals and blood. 

He stands up to tell Nico that despite being a licenseless doctor, he was extremely happy that she still called him her own doctor. He promised that he'll let her continue to play her games on one condition, that she never leave his side. No matter what, he'd be the one to cure her sickness. This declaration makes the Bugster maids fall in love with the attitude he put forth, giving him his ability to leave a mark on the Bugster boss. He goes into Level 50 and shoots Vernier with reckless abandon, the bullets from the Bugster doing no damage, and successfully defeating him in the process. The Bugster maids squeal at the performance and suave execution that Snipe had done, irritating Lovelica in the process. 

"Ladies, ladies, why look at a slum like that when you have me?", Lovelica tries to deter the attention on Taiga away from the maids. Frustrated that the maids have no intention or attention to Lovelica, he steps forward in irritation. 
"Enough! Stop it!" Lovelica points directly at Taiga, words directed at both him and Nico. "You're both to blame! You have no eye for men!" Nico gives an annoyed look. "Huh? You're seriously lame though," Nico retorts, showing her disgust. Her cold words had pierced Lovelica, causing him to be launched into the air and de-transform, splashing back down into the water. 

"Your game sucks ass. Doesn't have that variety and diversity. It's 2016, romance games aren't just your guy wins the heart of girls trope. Get with the times, people like the same gender too , y'know. Trash game, my dude", Nico retorts kicking Ren in the back. Lovelica enraged at the outcome decides to retreat back to Parado for now. Everyone satisfied with the outcome of the battle despite Nico retorting to Emu that she refuses to work together with Emu, she pulls Taiga to follow her. "C'mon Taiga, let's get something warm to eat!" 

Taiga had stopped in his tracks from following Nico and coughed violently, choking up blood and petals falling into the water. His face was plastered in fear when Nico violently tugged on Taiga. "Taiga?! You're-" Taiga quickly wipes the blood trickling from his mouth and whips around, facing Nico. "S-shut up, will you? I'm fine." He raises his gaze towards Emu and Hiiro who were looking where Nico and Taiga were, a look of extreme concern crossing their face. "Licenseless doctor, what's going on?", Hiiro's voice stern. Emu looked at a petal that had floated slowly towards him, picking it up and examining it. He looks at Taiga who noticed that Emu had picked up the petal and glared in his direction, hoping he'd get the message and avoid speaking up. Emu picks up the message and puts the petal in his pocket. "Nothing's wrong. Now leave me alone. Let's go, Nico." Taiga splashes out of the fountain area, not looking back to see if Nico was following. Nico looks at the other doctors with reluctance before swimming out of the fountain and following Taiga. "What's up with him? We just defeated Lovelica and yet he's still being a bitter and inconsiderate individual." Hiiro says out loud before walking out of the fountain, Emu following. Emu's mind doesn't pay attention to what Hiiro says. Instead, his mind is focused on Poppy being relieved about Taiga and Nico, Nico's sudden panic about Taiga, and the blue petal in the water. "It can't be... can it?", Emu wonders to himself. 

It was a trap. 

Brave had been sent by Masamune to go kill Para-DX so that Emu couldn't use his powers to his highest potential and that Masamune could be the most powerful Kamen Rider in Kamen Rider Chronicle, using everyone as his way to a cash grab. The will to do this, just to see Saki again. 

Taiga and Nico had chased after Hiiro, knowing he'd be fighting Para-DX and Graphite. "Leave them to me, licenseless doctor. Stand back!" Hiiro's voice was deadpan but loud, set on completing his mission so that Masamune could release Saki's data. 

"Shut up! Just go and beat Para-DX!" Taiga was grateful that no one could see his face behind his mask, his emotion in pain. The words fell from his mouth, realizing his emotions, and he couldn't stop himself. "You can go meet your girlfriend that way, right?!" He audibly chokes after he says the sentence, the petals brushing his mouth and falling in his mask. But he can't give up. He wanted to help everyone be free of this curse, even if it meant dying. 

Taiga's Rider form was reversed after Graphite had landed a critical blow, making Taiga fall to the ground. "Taiga!" Nico runs to aid Taiga, but she's stopped by Graphite's blade. "The fight is over," Graphite boldly claims. 

Meanwhile, Brave was clashing blades with Para-DX, managing a fatal blow that sent Parado flying. "Parado!" Graphite turned his attention to the chaos. "What's the matter? Let me help you." 

"This fight's not over...!" Taiga's screaming in pain as he attempts to tackle down Graphite, trying to stop him in his tracks. Graphite grabs Taiga by the throat, as Taiga tries to breathe with the aching pain in his chest. "What a stubborn guy." He drops Taiga and kicks him in his guts, sending Taiga rolling off to the side. The impact of Graphite's kick mixed with the chest pain and the impact with ground forces Taiga to cough up blood, much to his luck, no petals yet. 

"Brave!" Nico calls out to Hiiro, desperate to get his attention towards Taiga. Hiiro turns to see Taiga, laying on the ground, trying to catch his breath and fight against the pain. "What do you think you're doing?!" Brave yells at Taiga, panicking. He runs towards Taiga, but not when Para-DX shoots a slash at Brave, stopping him in his tracks. "Run away!" Brave yells at Taiga again over his shoulder. 

He sees Taiga slam his hands to the ground and steady himself to rise up. "Not until...ghh... I can move on from the past...", Taiga gasps out, standing up.  "Not until I can beat Graphite... I can't lose now!!" 

Graphite scoffs at Taiga's remark. "Go ahead and try." He swings his blade at Taiga, but luckily Taiga dodges it and grips the blade in his arm, aiming his Gashacon Magnum at Graphite. 

"Brave! You're not heading towards the past! It's the future!" Brave can see in the corner of his eye that Taiga was shaking, struggling to keep Graphite from attacking him and Brave. "You just need to move forward, and build your future with your girlfriend!"

Brave took in the words slowly, realizing that he wasn't just fighting for revenge five years ago, he was fighting for Hiiro's future. He snaps out of his thoughts when Para-DX jumps from behind, blocking his ax. Graphite crushes the Magnum in his hands, short-circuiting it from use. "This is for five years ago." He tosses back Taiga, Taiga in same rhythm backing away to shoot at Graphite, but with no effect on him, Graphite punching the gun out of Taiga's hands. 

"DIE!" 

It was like slow motion, the contact of Graphite's charged up fist colliding with Taiga's body. He was sent flying, his body on the ground, withering from pain as he coughed up blood. There was a ringing in his ears as he saw Nico run up to him, screaming his name. But Taiga couldn't respond, crying in agonizing pain, from both the flower petals threatening to spill out of his mouth, to the fatal damage brought upon him. He could barely make out Nico sitting beside Taiga, shaking in fear and Graphite standing a few feet away. 

Brave whips around to see Taiga's bloodied body and Nico's shaking body. "Licenseless doctor!" He slashes Para-DX out of his way and three more to Graphite. He charges up his Gashacon sword and delivers a critical finish to the two opponents, forcing them to reverse their transformations. He does the same and starts running over to where Taiga was, but not before seeing Emu, Kiriya, and Poppy arrive at the scene. They stood, staring at each other, but not before Poppy grabbed their attention to Taiga. 

"Brave, we'll fight again later." Parado says with a smirk before disappearing with Graphite. Brave whips around to stop them but they were already gone. He thinks about what he's going to report to Masamune for Saki, but he turns his attention back at the scene. He suddenly realizes he's been shaking, his lips were quivering with fear at the sight of Taiga's body in pain. He couldn't move his body to inspect Taiga, realizing he had chosen his fate that brought him to this point. His eyebrows were furrowing in distress when he hears Poppy call emergency and explain the situation. He can see Emu attempt to use the Game Scope, but Taiga pushes his arm away. 

"Cut that out... I used to be a doctor..." , he coughs out. "I can diagnose myself just fine." Nico's on the verge of tears, scared to death for her doctor. "What are you talking about? I don't get it..."

Taiga coughs, spitting out more blood. "I'm really pathetic... In the end, I couldn't defeat Graphite." As if on cue, Taiga hacks out a pain-staking cough and a flower petal releases from his mouth. Hiiro's eyes widen at the petal that Nico had mentioned weeks before. 

"Don't.. don't talk like it's the end...", Nico's voice shakes out. 

"Sorry... I can't take care of you anymore." Taiga manages to say before another cough comes out and he passes out. The wind picks up, and the soft blue flower petals stained with blood that escaped from his mouth spill out, some dancing in the wind in Hiiro's direction. It finally hit Hiiro in his senses as he runs away from the scene. The flower petals were for Hiiro. 

"Kiriya? What happened?" Poppy can see Kiriya furrowing his brows. He rushed as fast as he could to Seito University Hospital, hoping he could get there before the deepest of Taiga's surgery goes into play. He looks up as he bit his lip, looking over at Nico. "Masamune ordered Kagami to sabotage the surgery...If he can't kill off Taiga, he has to remove the branches that are growing in his body, making him forget that he had emotions for Hiiro, possibly forgetting who Hiiro was." 

Nico was shaking, not believing what Kiriya had revealed to the group in the waiting room. She rushes out of the room, stumbling to the ground and Asuna right behind her. One of the doctors in the operation room hears the commotion outside and Emu goes to see what's going on.

"STOP HIM! STOP THE OPERATION! HE'S GOING TO KILL TAIGA! MASAMUNE TOLD HIM TO SABOTAGE THE SURGERY!" 

Emu turns to look at Hiiro, concentration not breaking his face. "Hiiro-san...?" Hiiro's brow furrows in irritation. "She's disrupting the operation, get her away from here!" Emu nods and rushes out the room, helping Asuna take Nico farther way, back near the quiet room.

"Let go of me!" Nico shoves Emu away from her. "Didn't you hear that he's going to fail the operation on purpose? He won't be the same person or he'll have to die!" 

Asuna holds Nico's hand in hers and firmly holds it. "There's no way Hiiro would do that." "That's right!", Hiiro's father steps out of the quiet room. "The only one who can save Hanaya is Hiiro." 

Emu places a gentle hand on Nico's shoulder. "Everything's going to be okay, Nico.Let's just believe in him." He gives his usual warm smile. "He'll definitely save Taiga." 

Back in the operation room, Hiiro diligently continues without Emu. But he can't help but think on the words that impacted him when he was with Taiga in some moments. 

You've never tasted failure, little prince. If you operate in this state, you might end up like me. Are you fine with that? 

This time, I will end Graphite with my own hands. See with your own eyes what awaits after the game is cleared. 

Move forward, into the future you'll make with your girlfriend!

The last statement put him in a trance, making him drop his tool. "Are you alright, Hiiro-sensei?" He snaps out of his thoughts and looks at the other doctors who were all concerned. He looks at Taiga's sleeping face. " Yes. I am." 

A few hours had passed since the operation. Hiiro had successfully completed his mission, knowing the casualties after. After his fight alongside Emu against Cronus, he stayed, telling Emu to head back while he let the rain drench him. He cried, knowing Saki was gone forever, but he can at least move on. 

Taiga's eyes slowly opened, seeing the white tile ceiling and a slight blur of colors from his guests. His eyes focus, finally making out Nico and her relieved face. "Taiga!" He's still disoriented, but he makes out a small smile to Nico. 

Emu smiles with everyone else. "You seem to be doing well after the operation. You don't have to worry anymore." Taiga blinks slowly at the pediatrician and says,"What... happened to me?"

Everyone turns and looks at Hiiro as Asuna stated, "Hiiro's the one who operated on you." Hiiro was fiddling with his hands, shyly not wanting to make eye contact with Taiga. Kiriya, irritated that the surgeon didn't speak up, shoves him closer to the bed. "Go on!" 

"You did...?", Taiga musters out, a slight hint of happiness in his question. "Are you back with CR?" Taiga says the question with full eagerness. "Yeah.... My wish has been granted.", Hiiro replies. Taiga's eyebrows furrow in concern and slight confusion, but he doesn't question it. "Is that so...." "Hanaya-sensei. I apologize from the bottom of my heart for my inexcusable conduct towards you," Hiiro says, bowing. 

"Quit it. I should be the one apologizing," Taiga musters out, removing his oxygen mask from his face. Hiiro looks up and his heart was beating when the two made eye contact. "You saved my life. I owe my entire life to you now." Hiiro takes in the words in shock but then smiles with relief. The tension in the room disappears and Hiiro looks away, blushing at the moment he was just in. Emu and Nico fight over helping Taiga put back on his mask as Kiriya and Asuna pokes fun at Hiiro for being shy and turning as Hiiro denies that he was fine. 

To be continued... Part Two - My Heart Blossoms for You!

Chapter Text

After the surgery, things were starting to settle back to normal. If you can call the current situation normal with Kamen Rider Chronicle still at hand. Fortunately, and realistically speaking, everyone needed to regenerate themselves of their strength, even Cronus. Must me some kind of cool down with his time powers. 

Hiiro was still diligently working at Seito University Hospital with his other tasks, but when he takes small breaks or is on his way to another patient, he can't help but think about Taiga and the blue petals. Sure he's doing alright with the surgery, but the branches still haven't been removed. He's done everything he could to see how he could logically and physically remove them without the repercussions after, but to his demise, no such luck. 

With something as bizarre as this Hanahaki disease, Hiiro didn't expect much in terms of factually based results, but it didn't hurt to still help the radiologist, especially for all the burden and pain he put him through. 

Little prince...

Hiiro snapped out of his thoughts, almost bumping into a nurse who was nervous to see. 

"Are you alright? I hope I didn't hurt you." Hiiro says to the nurse. The nurse shakes her head, confirming that Hiiro didn't cause any casualty as she sped off, leaving the doctor to his thoughts. 

I hope I didn't hurt you. Hiiro echoed his own words in his head. He wanted to say that to Taiga multiple times, despite Taiga telling him to cut it out. It feels like it wasn't enough. 

He decided to visit him later tonight.

Taiga was quietly sleeping when he jolted awake, hearing someone enter the room. He slightly opened his eyes, seeing Hiiro carefully and noiselessly closing the door and then the curtains of the room. 

"Brave...?" Taiga rubs his eyes, focusing on the doctor that just entered. Surely enough, he made out Hiiro in his sights, the man shifting where he was in front of the bed. "What are you doing here?.... What time is it?" 

"Apologies for waking you up. I just wanted to check on you.... see how you were doing." "I appreciate that you wanted to check on my status, but I'm doing quite fine... what was the reason for closing the curtains? Not that I mind that, since I don't want anyone seeing me sleep when they pass by."

"I...Well just for the reason you said." Hiiro got closer to Taiga on one side. "May I?" Hiiro held up his stethoscope, asking permission to check on Taiga's status. He's still worried about Taiga's blue petals. Taiga sat up and opened his shirt. All of a sudden, Hiiro felt really nervous checking Taiga's heartbeat upon seeing his bare chest. 

"Hiiro...?" Taiga spoke up saying Hiiro's name, pressing the back of his hand against Hiiro's forehead when he froze up. Hiiro snapped out of his gaze and continued to inspect Taiga. Hiiro could hear Taiga's heart, but his heartbeat was faster than usual. As if on cue, Taiga coughed, not bothering to stop the petals from spilling out due to the excessive amount. The petals were soft blue, a few stained blood red. 

"Taiga!" Hiiro panicked, holding onto the other man's arms. He was shaking, this situation all so new to him. It reminded him of his first time doing surgery, fear of failure hanging above his head. 

Taiga smiled softly at Hiiro, cupping his face with one hand. Hiiro swiftly, a bit too eagerly, held onto the hand in place. 

"You've never said my name like that," Taiga pointed out, making the other doctor turn red. "I wish I could hear you say my name again, without much fear in it." 

Hiiro's face turns red, his eyes tearing up. "Stupid... This is all so stupid... To think that I would fall in love with someone like you, my rival, despite what differences we went through..." 

Taiga feels shock course through him, the confession bluntly dropped out of nowhere. He moves his hand, running a thumb on Hiiro's lower lip. 

"You've never tasted failure like always, my little prince....You won't fail now, I'm sure," Taiga rasps out, coughing. He wipes away the tears from Hiiro's eyes, bringing the doctor closer to him. "Your... little prince?" Hiiro felt a warm sensation in his chest at the nickname. 

"Do you not like me calling you that? I can stop if you-" 

Taiga was cut off by Hiiro gently kissing Taiga, gripping the front of his shirt. Taiga relaxed, kissing back Hiiro. Suddenly, the aching in Taiga's chest dissolved, no longer feeling like he was suffocating, only lacking breath from the kiss. He makes a small whine in his throat, indicating he needed air. Hiiro's eyes were shining in the dim light of the nightstand lamp. They both looked down at Taiga's bed. The flower petals had disappeared. 

"The Hanahaki Disease is an illness born from unrequited love, where the patient’s throat will fill up with a flower, they will then proceed to throw, and cough up the petals, (sometimes even the flowers). One of the only ways for the disease to ‘disappear’ is if, the said person returns the feeling (it can’t be resolved with friendship, it has to be genuine feelings of love)."  Taiga recites the definition of his disease to Hiiro, linking his hand with Hiiro's. "So... do you really... love me, Kagami?" 

Hiiro could feel his heart beating fast, wanting to kiss Taiga more, but he was patient. 

"Y-yes. I do, Hanaya-sensei." "Quit the formalities. I want to hear you say my name," Taiga said, kissing Hiiro's cheek. "My little prince." 

Hiiro flushed red, smiling at the nickname. "I love you, Taiga. I really do." Taiga smiled at the honesty. "I love you too, Hiiro." 

Taiga gently pulled Hiiro closer for another kiss, pulling him into the bed he laid in. 

Emu and Poppy quietly woke up the pair early in the morning so that Hiiro could go home immediately, so as to avoid nurses asking questions about the marks on his neck. Hiiro flushed red at the mention as Taiga laughed, waving good-bye to the doctor. 

"I'll see you later, my little prince."