Chapter Text
Lucy never thought she would live to turn twenty, but here she was. The winter air had just started to blow into Yokohama as the twentieth of November came. She hadn’t bothered telling anyone her birthday; there was no celebration for her in all her nineteen years, so she didn’t expect celebration for her twentieth. So, dressed in warm layers, Lucy headed to work breathing in the harsh cold air.
After being in Yokohama for a few months, Lucy thinks she’s finally gotten used to the culture of the city. Though it was tough getting used to loud noises at noice, distant gunshots from the Port Mafia’s dealings. She couldn’t help but jump and hide, still connecting loud noises to anger. She wonders if these scars from her childhood will ever disappear…
Lucy sighs, her birthday is making her think too much about things. She shook the thoughts out of her head as she walked into the cafe she worked at, preparing for another long day of work.
~~~
Lucy got out of work close to the time most people ate dinner, so she would usually get something to eat on the way back home if she had the money, otherwise she would just look around her apartment for any edible food. But tonight was different and she thinks she knows why.
As requested by Yosano, the Armed Detective Agency’s doctor, Lucy walks up the stairs to the agency office for a supposed checkup. Earlier today, the doctor had come down to get a coffee and while there told Lucy to go to the agency after work for a free checkup. Lucy wasn’t stupid, she knew somehow that stupid detective had figured out when her birthday was and that the tiger boy had probably insisted they have a party, but she couldn’t pass up the small chance of Yosano actually giving her a free checkup, so she went.
As the girl opens the door, she notices the fact that there’s no lights on inside. On any other day, Lucy would think that they had already gone home, but it wasn’t any other day.
“SURPRISE!” The group of detectives yelled, some more enthusiastic than others, as the lights of the office turned on to reveal party decorations. The whole group is wearing those stupid party cone hats and there’s streamers, food, presents, music, everything a classic party had.
Since Yosano had exited the cafe, Lucy had been planning what she would do if this exact thing would happen. She thought she would be annoyed, that she would just walk out of the party, maybe after taking some food though, and go home to be alone. She thought about many things, but one thing she didn’t expect was for warm tears to fall down her cheeks.
“Hah,” She laughs to herself as more tears fall. Behind the blurry tears, she can see a few of the agency members in panic, while the others have warm, knowing smiles.
“Lucy!?” The tiger boy panics, running to the girl’s side, “I’m sorry! I should’ve asked you, I should’ve known you wouldn’t like it. I’m really sor-”
“Thank you,” Lucy whispers to the boy, who pauses his panic in reaction. She smiles up at him, she ignores the way her heart flutters looking at his face and how warmth runs up to her cheeks, and instead says thank you louder, telling the whole group.
Atsushi backs away from the girl and starts to describe how he had planned the party (Lucy won’t admit it but she wishes he had stayed by her side, even if he would’ve heard her increased heartbeat). Once the tiger boy had finished his explanation that could best be summarized as: he asked Ranpo, he let the girl finally go get food.
The tears, finally dried, almost came again when she opened her presents. There wasn’t much, most of them were more practical, but she did get a stuffed tiger from Yosano and a stuffed doll, a doll that reminded her of the only good memories of her childhood, playing with a fading, broken stuffed doll. She held in tears as she thanked the group, still holding onto the two plushies.
She’ll never tell anyone, but as soon as she got back home, she hugged her two plushies and put them in her small bed to sleep beside her. It was the most restful night of sleep she’s ever gotten. Lucy thinks, maybe birthdays can have happy memories.
~~~
The next morning as she got up from her bed, walking over to the bathroom to get ready for the day, a coughing fit took over her. She ran to the sink, trying to cough out whatever was stuck in her throat, and after what felt like hours, blood and a single red colored petal fell out of her mouth.
What?
Lucy stared at the petal, trying to figure out if she was still dreaming or if she really did cough up a flower petal. Picking it up, she examined it, determining the petal to be from a Petunia, remembering Louisa’s garden that she had visited a few times back in America. But, it was almost winter, no flowers like this would be blooming anytime soon, so how did a flower get stuck in her throat?
Suddenly, her second alarm went off, so she quickly shoved the flower into her pocket to ponder later, she couldn’t miss work.
She ignored the hurting of her throat as she walked to the cafe.
~~~
By the afternoon, Lucy figured that the petal was just her imagination, that she was just tired, but as she took her wallet out of her pocket to buy herself Lunch, she felt it, the petal. She politely payed for her food, panicking on the inside from the mystery of: how the fuck did she cough up a petal? She unsuccessfully tried to push the worries out of her brain as she walked back from her quick lunch, the thoughts making her accidentally run into Yosano.
“Oh! I’m sorry!” Lucy panics, “I was lost in thought.”
“It’s okay,” the doctor smiles, before looking a little closer at the younger girl, “You look a little pale, are you okay?”
Shit, “I’m fine! Just a bit tired,” Lucy smiles, hoping the lie was convincing enough.
“Hmm, If you say so,” Yosano says, continuing to walk towards the agency door, but before she opens it she says, “the free checkup is still an option if you need it!”
Hmmm, maybe that would be a good thing, she was feeling a bit sick.
“Thank you!”
~~~
The doctor’s office was more welcoming than what she thought it to be. Her desk was decorated with pictures and you could never tell that she cuts people up to put them back together.
Right after work, Lucy headed to Yosano’s office and let the doctor examine her to make sure she was in good health. All seemed good so far, the only thing being to eat more, for she was a bit underweight.
She almost made it out of the office with no worries until the need to cough appeared again. She couldn’t just run out of the office, Yosano would know somethings up and hunt her down, so she accepted her fate and coughed. Coughed and coughed and coughed and coughed until finally, blood and three red petals fell out of her mouth. Fuck that hurt, she thought.
The doctor in front of her picked up one of the red petals, replacing her shocked expression with a more serious one.
“How long has this been going on?” the doctor asked.
The girl coughed, “just started this morning,” tears blurred her vision.
The doctor’s eyes narrowed as she pondered for a few seconds longer, letting Lucy recover a bit from the coughing fit. Yosano pulls out her phone looking at it for a second before bringing it up to her ear.
“I know you’re on your date, but this is important,” Yosano says to whoever she called, “I’m with Lucy right now and she just coughed up blood and three red petals, I know no disease that could cause this, please help me.”
Yosano then goes silent, Lucy can hear someone speaking on the other side, but she can’t decipher the words.
“Shit,” Yosano says, “thank you, I’ll get someone to get them, I’ll try not to bother you. Goodbye.”
“Lucy,” Yosano looks over to the red haired girl after putting her phone down, “Don’t panic, everything will be fine.” That’s a great way to start a conversation, “Ranpo has figured everything out and hopefully by this time tomorrow, you’ll be all back to normal. But I’m going to need you to sleep at my place just in case.”
“..What?” Lucy says confused. What was happening to her?
“You’ve been hit with an ability that makes you cough up flowers. I need to ask you one thing, it’s going to sound random, but take me seriously okay?”
Yosano stares straight into Lucy’s eyes, the girl nods.
“Okay.. Lucy, have you fallen for anyone recently?”
“wHAT!?” Red almost as red as her hair runs up to Lucy’s cheeks.
“This is serious! Have you had any crush or have you felt any sort of romantic feelings towards anyone recently.”
Lucy stared at the doctor, thinking about the past few months. Has anyone ever made my heart race… Lucy looks down, deep in thought, trying to look into the deepest parts of her brain for any idea, but then she finds it. And she hates that she does.
“Nonononononononono-” Lucy refuses to accept it, how could she like him . He’s annoying, and stupid, and naive, and cute, and brave, and willing to do anything to save people.
No! Why was she even considering this! She couldn’t like him, she can’t, because…because…. there’s no way Atsushi would ever feel the same way towards her, her who’s been so mean to him for no reason.
“Lucy,” Yosano snaps the girl out of her thoughts, “Yes or no?”
“....yes,” Lucy feels tears threatening to fall.
“Ranpo really was right,” Yosano sighed, “the ability you got hit by causes people who feel their love is unrequited to cough up flower petals. Eventually, if the victim’s love is never reciprocated, they will start coughing up full flowers, before eventually choking on them and dying.”
“....,” Lucy is too stunned to speak, “...I’m-I’m going to die?”
“No, the agency won’t let that happen,” Yosano puts a hand on the other’s shoulder, “Tomorrow we will find the person who did this to you and cancel their ability. Everything will be fine, I just need to watch you over the night just in case your condition gets worse.”
Lucy sighs, Yosano’s voice comforting her, “thank you…”
Yosano smiles, “I won’t let anything happen to you, don’t worry.”
Lucy hopes she can believe that.