Chapter Text
Tighnari had once again invited Kaveh over for dinner with him, Cyno, and Collei. The forest ranger had cooked their meal and set the table to eat rather quickly, but Kaveh knew that the meal would taste amazing as always.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a dinner with the four of them without Cyno’s jokes or Kaveh’s rants about Alhaitham.
“I’ve only ever gotten sick on weekdays. I must have a weekend immune system.”
Kaveh rolled his eyes at Cyno’s joke. Tighnari gave the Mahamatra an exasperated look. “Eat,” he instructed, passing Cyno a fork. The corners of Cyno’s mouth lifted and he obliged, digging into his food happily.
“So, you’ll never guess what Alhaitham—“
“You too,” Tighnari said firmly, that exhausted look still present on his face.
Kaveh obliged. Silence then ensued, which lasted until everyone was done with their food.
“So, Alhaitham.” Kaveh started again. Tighnari sighed and mumbled something under his breath. Even Cyno turned away.
“Hey!” Kaveh exclaimed, feigning offence. Despite his friends’ actions, he continued. “Alhaitham never shows emotions. Ever! I swear he wasn’t like this back when we were at the Akademiya! He’s insufferable now!”
Tighnari exchanged a discreet glance with Cyno. “Kaveh, you can’t possibly hate him for that. It’s not his fault.”
“‘Not his fault’ my ass! What, you mean to tell me that he couldn’t have prevented his emotionless state?” Kaveh asked, clearly annoyed.
“Yes,” Tighnari said. “It was either that or his death.”
Kaveh frowned. “What? How is that even possible?”
Tighnari grimaced. “It’s not my place to say,” he said gently.
Kaveh, however, would not be dissuaded so easily. “C’mon. It’s not like he’d ever tell me himself. He wouldn’t understand why I want to know. Besides, it’s in the past, right? And I already live with him!”
Tighnari bit his bottom lip, glancing around nervously. “Fine,” he replied eventually. Cyno gave him a disapproving look. “But don’t tell him I said anything, alright?”
Eager to discover the reason behind his roommate’s coldness, Kaveh quickly agreed.
Tighnari, with another heavy sigh, began to speak. “So, when he was in the Akademiya…”
Tighnari looked up as he heard heavy footsteps approaching him rather quickly. Within a minute, Alhaitham appeared before him. The grey-haired man paused to catch his breath before asking Tighnari a rather awkward question.
“Can flowers grow inside of people?”
Immediately, Tighnari became uncomfortable. He had encountered a few scholars that had asked him this very question, then went on to request human experimentation. He had to be careful here.
“Why?” Tighnari asked, meeting Alhaitham’s eyes with as threatening a gaze as he could muster.
Alhaitham twirled his thumbs around each other, glancing away nervously. “I. Uh. I’ve begun to cough up petals,” he said.
Tighnari wanted to laugh. It was the lamest excuse he’d ever heard of. “Yeah, right,” he said, grinning a little. “I’m sure. Listen, don’t waste my time. I thought you of all people would value it.”
Alhaitham swallowed nervously, rooted in spot. “I’m not lying,” he tried, this time meeting Tighnari’s eyes. “Please, tell me what’s wrong with me.” His voice faded to a whisper as he neared the end of his speech.
Tighnari raised an eyebrow, intrigued. Alhaitham wasn’t one to plead.
“Fine then,” he said unceremoniously. “Prove it.”
Alhaitham blinked at him once, then twice. Finally, he sighed. “Okay. I coughed up a few just before I came here, so it should take a minute,” the grey-haired man said. He sat down on the floor next to Tighnari, seemingly making himself comfortable.
Inside, Tighnari scoffed. Alhaitham should have been able to find a better excuse. Externally, he kept an eye on the man. He couldn’t have Alhaitham pulling petals off his precious plants to ‘prove’ himself.
Yet, much to Tighnari’s surprise, a few motionless moments later, Alhaitham started coughing up a storm. Tighnari watched him carefully. After a few moments, he sighed. “Listen, Alhaitham—“
And then a petal flew from the grey-haired man’s mouth. It was a gentle purple, yet the blood staining it made it look somewhat ominous. Tighnari’s eyes widened as two more followed the first.
Three more petals left Alhaitham’s body before his coughing subsided. Tighnari reached forwards to touch the petals. They were real, and so was the blood.
Tighnari’s face paled when he thought more about Alhaitham’s situation. Coughing up flower petals with blood could mean—
But it was fictional! His teacher had told him that it only appeared in books and theatrical productions! It couldn’t possibly be that.
Much to his dismay, however, his teacher had taught him to never dissuade an idea without evidence, especially if it was his only option.
“Come back if it gets worse,” Tighnari said. “Oh! And one more question. I need you to answer me honestly, no matter how embarrassing that may be,” he said firmly, leaving no room for Alhaitham to argue. Instead, the grey-haired man nodded.
“Do you have romantic feelings for anyone?”
Tighnari could clearly see that Alhaitham was surprised by the question. Yet Alhaitham quickly composed himself. “Yes,” he answered honestly.
“Would you go as far as to say that you love them?” Tighnari prompted.
Alhaitham paused for a moment, considering it. That was good. Tighnari needed a true answer to this. If he answered without thinking about it, he could say something that he doesn’t truly feel.
“Yes,” Alhaitham decided finally, his cheeks heating up. “I do.”
Tighnari’s face must have noticeably paled at this because suddenly Alhaitham looked even more worried.
“What? What is it?” He asked impatiently, bottom lip catching between his teeth.
Tighnari sighed and turned away. “I’m not sure yet. Certainly nothing good. Just come back if it gets worse, like I said, alright?”
Alhaitham swallowed heavily, but he nodded nonetheless and left.
Immediately, Tighnari packed up his tools and ran to the library as quickly as possible. He received odd looks from passing scholars as he scanned the rows of books quickly, jogging through the library. Finally, he located the section covering illnesses.
He pulled a book from the shelf and read through the table of contents before placing it back. Tighnari scanned copious amounts of books before finally coming across one that looked promising.
Plant-Related Illnesses, the title read. Tighnari flipped open the cover, biting his cheek in anticipation. The first part of the table of contents was relatively useless. It was sorted alphabetically, so at least it was easier for Tighnari to locate what he was looking for.
“H… H… H…” he mumbled to himself, running a finger over the words on the page. He tapped his finger against the book twice when he reached the H section. There, as the first illness on the list, was Tighnari’s running theory.
“214,” he whispered to himself, flipping through the pages. He reaches it soon enough and begins reading.
Hanahaki Disease
Causes and Symptoms
Stems from unrequited feelings of love from the victim. The victim begins to cough up flowers, most commonly starting as only petals and eventually growing to the full Corolla.
Credibility
Hanahaki disease is largely believed to be fictional, although it has not been proven impossible.
Treatments
There are only three known treatments for Hanahaki disease. The victim can:
(a) Leave the plant alone until it eventually kills the victim.
(b) Pursue the unrequited love and persuade the person in question to share the victim’s feelings. This method is often difficult, as human emotions are complex and cannot be controlled. However, it is the most commonly pursued method, as it yields the best results. If successful, the plant withers away and leaves the body through the digestive system alongside the victim’s faeces.
(c) Surgically remove the plant. For most victims, this method is a last resort. The surgery will remove the plant, but one’s ability to feel emotions is eliminated alongside it. The victim’s feelings for a person will disappear, but other emotions such as happiness often disappear as well.
As stated before, this disease is believed to be fictional. Please take this selection lightly.
Tighnari stared at the page, eyes wide. His professor had told him it was fictional. The book said it was fictional. Yet Alhaitham almost certainly had it.
Feelings of love for someone. Coughing up flower petals. His symptoms matched. If he began to hack up corollas, they would be in trouble.
After all, a disease believed to be fictional had surely never been treated before. What kind of doctor would agree to do a surgery that had never before been done, let alone studied?
Tighnari swallowed thickly and tucked the book under his arm. He checked it out for two weeks, then made his way to the Akademiya Directory.
The Akademiya Directory was a thick book that contained a list of graduated scholars and their darshans. A sixth of the book was dedicated to each, yet most of each section remained blank, ready for more graduating scholars to write their names there.
Tighnari opened the book to the Amurta section and copied the list of scholars. He would have to research each person individually, but there weren’t that many on the list.
He left the library soon after and returned home for the night. It had been a long day. He was looking forward to finally getting some sleep.