Chapter Text
Hanahaki Disease (n.)
An illness contracted through one-sided love, in which flowers of varying species will grow in the patient's lungs, and can only be removed through surgery, or the return of feelings.
Surgery will always end in loss of emotion, leaving the patient an empty husk of what they once were, or could’ve been.
Failure to treat will end in suffocation, either by leaving the disease to grow for too long, or by choking on an exiting flower.
…
“Hey! Wait up!”
It was late April, early on a Thursday morning. He’d slept in again, and Rikko had grown tired of waiting for him.
Rikko turned, and Mono heard the familiar squeal of wet boots against smooth concrete. “Hey!” He slowed, glad that he’d managed to get up before the bus came.
The Pale City had recently issued an order, forcing everyone to use public transportation with the hopes of improving air quality. Mono was all for it, but it was annoying as hell to constantly be missing the bus, and having to wait for the next one to come. Though, it was probably better than living by the train station, since the busses rotated every 10 minutes,and the trains took 20, considering they had to stop every few minutes to let people off.
“You’re late.”
“I know, I know,” Mono paused, trying to catch his breath, “but not as late as I was last time!”
Rikko rolled his eyes, though Mono could see that he was trying not to laugh.
The bus pulled up to the stop, marked only by the slick metal sign marked ‘transport’. Rikko entered through the worn sliding doors, and Mono followed, glancing back at the now empty sidewalk. Something about the bus driver bothered him, though he wasn’t sure what.
Taking a seat next to Rikko, he heard the driver shift around before asking, “That all?”
Rikko nodded, then, as Mono tried not to laugh, realized the driver couldn’t see the nod and said, “Yes!”
“Eyes, Rikko, I can’t believe how stupid you can be sometimes.”
“Says the guy who literally wears a-”
“Paper bag everywhere? Come up with something I haven’t heard a thousand times, please.”
Rikko glared at Mono, which only caused him to laugh harder.
“Well, it’s true! You wear that supid bag everywhere! I don’t think I’ve ever even seen your face, and I’ve known you since 9th grade! Besides, why are you so self conscious anyways, none of us care if you’re ugly. Well Six might, but she’s an asshole, so really, who cares? Me and Reigan do-”
“How is Reigan?”
Reigan, Rikko’s best friend, had been home sick for the past few days. Mono figured he hadn’t seen her for almost a week at this point.
Rikko’s expression brightened at the question. “She should be back today, Mrs. P said she was feeling fine last night, and-”
“You talked to her mom? Jeez, overprotective mu-”
Mono coughed as he was elbowed in the stomach.
“Yes I talked to her mom, it’s not like she was in any condition to speak for herself!”
“It was just a cold!”
Rikko paused, then sighed. “Anyways, she should be at school today.”
Mono was going to tease Rikko about the slight blush that covered his face, but decided against it, since he already seemed agitated enough.
“How does that thing even stay dry?”
“Huh?”
Rikko pointed to Mono’s face, or the paper bag with two holes in it, specifically. How it stayed dry?
“Simple! It’s waterproof!”
“It’s paper .”
Mono winked, making sure his eye was visible through one of the holes. “ Waterproof paper.”
“Paper isn’t waterproof, Mono.”
“This paper is!”
“But how ?”
Mono shrugged, leaning back against the worn leather of the chair. “Just is.”
Rikko gave him a disappointed look, before doing the same thing.
“We graduate this year.”
“Yeah.”
“We have to do things next year.”
“Yeah.”
“Like, work.”
“Mono, you sound like you’re only just realizing this.”
He sat back up in the chair, and stared quizzically at Rikko.
“What are you gonna do?”
Rikko shrugged. “I could take your dad up on his offer.”
Mono’s gaze shifted towards the window. Stupid Father, giving out job offers as if they were nothing, and refusing to help him with...well...anything. Rikko began to look uncomfortable, and followed Mono’s gaze.
“We’re almost there.”
“Yeah, I can see that, dumbass.”
Rikko stood as the bus came to a stop, playfully shoving Mono into the aisle and running past him. He followed, nearly falling as he slipped on the curb.
“Rikko! I’m back!”
Reigan was standing near the entrance to the building, wearing her usual neon yellow raincoat and standing next to Six, who was wearing the same blue sweater as she always did, along with a scowl that sent chills down his spine. He followed Rikko as he ran towards them, trying to ignore the faint sound of water hitting his bag.
It wasn’t really waterproof, it just wasn’t an issue as long as he did not spend too much time in the rain.
He walked up behind Rikko, who was already talking excitedly. Mono was both impressed and horrified to see him pull a whole 3 hamsters out from inside his jacket. Rikko had a habit of bringing animals into places that they really weren’t supposed to be in. Maybe it was more of a hobby...though that didn’t make much sense.
“Mono!”
Mono blinked, realizing he’d zoned out. Reigan was waving her hand in front of his face, looking very annoyed that she couldn’t reach it. That was another funny thing.
Mono was tall. Like, really tall. Like, 6’7” tall. Besides him, Rikko was 5’7”, Reigan was 5’4” and Six was 4’9”.
How could someone so small be so intimidating?
“Mono!”
Oops.
“Class is starting, come on.” Reigan seemed to be her usual amount of annoyed, and Rikko was laughing at her, and he could feel Six’s cold glare from behind him.
Everything was good.
Everyone was happy.
So how did things manage to go so very wrong?
Knock, knock.
“Mono? Are you okay?”
What does he know?
Knock, knock.
“Mono! What’s going on in there?!”
Why pretend he cares?
Knock, knock.
“Mono!”
Mono stared in horror at the floor. Blood flowed from his lips and fell from his chin, making a soft dripping sound as more and more drops hit the floor.
There it was.
A white rose.
It’s petals were stained with his blood, and tiny pieces of stolen flesh clung to it’s thorns. Mono dropped to his knees, the choking feeling returning.
Who…?
He didn’t even know what love was, so how did he…?
“Mono! Goddamnit! Open this door!”
He stood, slowly approaching the locked door. He didn’t want to open it.
He didn’t have to open it.
He unlocked the door, and it immediately swung open, hitting him in the face and knocking him back. Before he had time to steady himself, his feet were seemingly pulled from under him, and he landed with a loud thump on the wooden floor.
The leather sole of Father’s shoe was pressed up against his chin, and when he opened his eyes, Mono could see the short, overweight drunk staring at him.
“So ya’ve found one, eh?”
The pressure on his chin increases, forcing his head back.
“Don’chya know no one's gonna love ya sorry ass?” The pressure lifted, and Mono barely had time to dodge the incoming kick. He could see the disapproving glare on Father’s face. “Gettn’ smart now, ‘re ya’?”
Father turned and walked out of the room without saying another word. He slammed the door behind him, and Mono rolled onto his stomach, spitting out a few loose petals.
…
It was late April, early on a Monday morning. It was raining. It always rained.
“Hey, Six! You’re early!”
She turned, just as Reigan caught up to her.
“Boy, you sure do walk fast…” She huffed.
Six began to walk again.
“So how was your weekend?”
Six nodded.
“Great! So was mine!”
Six looked up at Reigan, and made a fist with one hand.
“Ooh, who was it this time?”
She turned the fist towards herself, then opened her hand, showing her palm. A little note fell out.
Reigan didn’t hesitate to take it, and read it quickly. She was good at multitasking. Six liked to think that she helped with that, though she knew her silence was often more of a burden than it was a help.
“Name?”
“Lucky.”
Reigan nodded. “Hey Six?”
Six glanced up, eyes questioning.
“I can’t remember if you’ve told me before, but why do you hate speaking?”
Six shook her head, as they had not yet had this conversation. She didn’t have a pre-written note for this one, though, and it was too many words for her to be comfortable speaking.
So, she pulled a notepad from her back pocket, and began writing.
“I don’t like the sound of my voice.”
“But you have a great voice!”
“I was bullied in middle school for it, so I’d really rather not talk.”
Reigan seemed thoughtful.
“Do you talk at home?”
Six nodded.
“You don’t live by yourself, though...right?”
Six nodded.
“So you don’t mind them hearing you?”
“They’re the ones who got the bullies in trouble.”
“Ah.” She nodded. “I guess...that makes sense.”
Reigan sighed, lifting her arms to stretch. Six watched the sky. The clouds were getting darker, meaning that a storm was coming. Well, a big storm, heavier than the consistent drizzle that was the normal for the Pale City.
“Do you think you’ll ever talk again?”
Six shrugged.
“Do you want to talk again?”
Six nodded.
“It’s more convenient.”
Reigan shifted her gaze down towards Six.
“Do you think practicing would help?”
Six looked confused.
“Like, you could practice talking in front of me, and once you were comfortable with that, we could get Rikko and then Mono and maybe some others?”
She glanced at the notepad.
“Let me think about it.”
Reigan grinned. “That’s a better response than I thought I’d get! Just let me know if you want to.”
Six nodded, bearing a smile of her own. They reached the bus stop, and she waved to the driver as she made her way to the back. Reigan sat next to her, and showed her the book she was reading. Six responded by pulling out a larger book, and setting it down in her lap.
“Woah...you read that?”
Six nodded.
“Let me see…”
She took the book from Six’s lap and began flipping through it. “This text is tiny!”
Six grinned.
“769 pages?! How did you even-”
Six pointed to the summary on the back of the book.
“Well, yes, I see how that would be interesting but...you’ve had this for less than two days!”
Six nodded again, eyes full of pride. Reigan giggled, lifting a hand to ruffle her hair.
She pointed to the window. They were almost there! Six knew Reigan must be excited to see her boyfr- best friend after they’d been apart for the whole weekend.
The school was actually an old warehouse that had been renovated. It had clanky metal roofs, and old broken windows, and every once in a while they’d put out “WARNING” signs because something had broken, but all the students loved it there.
The teachers were kind, the principal was understanding, and the pupils were better than most.
The entrance to the school was made up of two sets of double doors, covered by a shallow awning, giving exiting students space to open an umbrella, or pause to lift a hood. The front yard was made entirely of broken cobblestone, with lone blades of grass and small mossy patches softening one’s step.
The scene from the bus window was gray, and one which most would consider depressing, but Six found it quite comforting. The overgrown trees, the walls that were littered with vines, the students hanging out in their little groups, smiling and chatting openly, and all of it glistening in the soft drizzle made for a beautiful awakening.
It was nice not having to dread school.
Reigan’s hand brushed hers as she moved to get up, and Six instinctively grabbed it, not wanting to get lost in the crowd. Reigan, taking advantage of her...height, navigated easily through the students who were still waiting for the school to officially open its doors.
“Rikko! Mono, hey!”
Six couldn’t see them yet, but she could hear Rikko talking.
“Man, I almost thought you were gonna be late!”
Rcg was giggling, “Me? Late? Since when?”
Rikko sighed, the same sigh that indicated he was currently in the middle of an eye roll.
“Mono? You good? You look a little...pale.”