Chapter Text
As far as Yuri knew, he had no issue when it came to his feelings. If he liked someone - that someone obviously being a pretty lady - he’d just come right up to her and tell her how he felt. True, he hasn’t had any success yet, but would holding back and doubting himself really be any more helpful?
Which is why he was rather surprised when he coughed out a flower petal at a morning meeting one day, right in the midst of the crazy killing game he found himself wrapped up in.
Yuri had heard of the Hanahaki Disease before. It supposedly comes from an unrequited love, filling your lungs with flowers until either your feelings get accepted, or your lungs cease to function. He doubted that it was real, but hey, when you’ve got wizards flying around and throwing fireballs everywhere, he guessed it was just one of the many things he simply had to accept without question.
That being said, who was it that planted those flowers in him? Yuri quickly hid the petal in his fist, looking around the table. The obvious candidates were the girls, naturally. He took a close look at each one of the lovely ladies sitting beside him, pondering if they could’ve been the culprit behind his condition.
“Rii-chan..?” A sweet voice reached his ears, and he turned to face the source of it, Hibiki’s eyes filled with concern. “Are you okay...?” Although she had always pushed him away, Yuri could not help but find the brief moments like these adorable.
“No need to worry, darling. I’ve just choked on a bit of water is all.” There was really no need to worry her over this, he figured. If he could just figure out who was the one to steal his heart, he’ll be able to deal with this disease without ever needing to cause trouble for any of the ladies.
“Gross, don’t call me that.” Hibiki instantly turned away and went back to eating. Yuri just kept on looking.
Was it the energetic, confident Hibiki, or the meek, rational Kanade? The mysterious, cool-headed Sora, or the beautiful, determined Yoruko? The witty, easygoing Emma, or the stoic, reserved Kokoro? The motherly and charming Setsuka, or perhaps was it the adorable, optimistic Iroha? No matter how he looked at it, he could not figure out which one was the cause of his symptoms. He loved them all, wholly and equally; they all had equal places in his heart, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not see which one got a bigger share.
He kept his gaze floating around from girl to girl, pondering over his predicament. It was at some point, that he found himself taking a brief look at the males sitting in between the girls, too. He was just doing it as a joke, he told himself. Obviously, none of them could be the answer to the questions he was asking - he was just making sure of that fact.
His eyes practically glazed over the journalist and the firefighter, finding nothing interesting about them. He looked over to where Setsuka, Yoruko and Emma were, the former two having a small chat between each other, and the actress telling a joke to… Yuri allowed his gaze to move over to the two potential people she could’ve been talking to, the good-luck nobody and---
Oh god- No. He refused to believe it. That could not be it. The mere thought of being in love with the goddamn boxer - what even was his name, Hajime? - who can’t even grasp the concept of a shirt, or any male, for that matter, felt repulsive to him. He felt his whole being rejecting it, and yet… His throat was on fire, and the petals he kept balled up in his fist were golden in colour, the same shade as the hair of that health-obsessed lunatic. As Yuri looked at the two golden petals in his hand, his mild curiosity had now turned to intense fear, the likes of which he hadn’t felt in a long, long time - he could even compare it to the fear he felt the very first time some degenerate kidnapped him for his family’s money. He was used to his life being put in danger, but to feel himself crumbling away from the inside again soaked his whole being in terror.
Yuri looked up at Hajime again, desperate for proof that this wasn’t happening, but as soon as his eyes registered the sight of the male again, his throat felt irritated once more. Yuri forced himself not to cough, shutting his eyes tightly and bringing his hand to his mouth, breathing deeply through his nose until the urge to cough had passed.
When Yuri opened his eyes again, everyone was looking at him in a mixture of surprise and concern. He felt too overwhelmed to even try to respond to it all - it took all of his willpower just to avoid looking in that direction.
“Yuri? You’re coughing a lot this morning, you sure you’re okay?” He registered Setsuka’s voice, but could not bring himself to face her out of fear of causing another burst of coughing. He kept his gaze down at his plate, though he no longer felt hungry.
“I… I just need some rest. No need… to worry...” His own voice felt scratchy, and he was so out of breath he couldn’t even finish his sentence without having to take a breath. Before anybody could object, he forced himself to stand up, grabbing his backpack off of his chair by the straps - not bothering to put it back on - and walked out of the diner, as fast as his legs would allow him.