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Basil had always loved Sunny for as long as he could remember.
Whether it had formed the day he first met Sunny or after, he didn't know.
All he knew was how much he loved Sunny.
The flowers also served as a reminder of that. The number of times Basil had awoken to a bloody pile of flowers on his pillow was countless.
Basil sighed as he looked out the window from his hospital bed.
It was a sunny day today. Fitting.
Later today, Basil was planning on telling Sunny his feelings.
The disease was worsening, and Basil didn't know how much time he had left.
The first time he had coughed up bloody flower petals, he was horrified. The flower petals that first appeared were cherry blossoms. They were beautiful, minus the fact that they were covered in blood. He immediately went to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with "Hanahaki Disease." It was still in its early stage, so they couldn't surgically remove the flowers yet.
At first, Basil was confused.
Who did he love?
Did he love anyone at all?
And then, weeks after being diagnosed, he realized who he was in love with.
Sunny.
This was before the incident, so Basil saw Sunny very often.
Without their friends noticing, Basil would sit closer to Sunny and talk to him more than usual. Mari noticed, and when she shared a look with Basil, he simply smiled.
His plan of getting closer to Sunny had been working.
Until Mari had died.
And in Sunny's eyes, Basil had committed treason. And he no longer considered Basil a friend.
Basil regretted that day so much. Why did he do that? Why did he make Sunny hate him? If he hadn't done that, perhaps Mari could've lived, and Sunny could've learned to love him.
After Mari's death, Sunny shut himself in his house. Everyone changed. And Basil was left all alone, slowly succumbing to his disease.
When Basil had found out Sunny had come out of his house, he'd been ecstatic. Perhaps they could leave their past behind them and start over.
But that didn't happen.
Basil had gotten angry.
And he stabbed Sunny in the eye.
He regretted that deeply. How could he hurt the person he loved the most like that? He shouldn't have done that.
Basil coughed, and he quickly covered his mouth. When he removed his hands from his mouth, he sighed. A single, fully blossomed daffodil lay in his hands. He was a bit unnerved by it.
Daffodils symbolized misfortune. Could that mean Basil's time is running out?
He reached to the table beside his bed and grabbed a few tissues. He covered the daffodil in the tissue and cleaned his hands before throwing the tissue out.
No one had visited him so far. Maybe they were visiting Sunny? Or they might be thinking of all the events that unfolded.
Basil huffed. He wondered if Sunny would ever forgive him. He hoped Sunny would, but after Basil attacked him, he might not.
"I really do love you, Sunny," Basil whispered. "And the pain of loving you is starting to get unbearable."
He was now on the last stage. He could either surgically remove the flowers, or let them slowly but painfully kill him.
In rare cases, the person the victim loves ends up loving them as well. Or they both have hanahaki and die together. Unfortunately for Basil, both of these are not an option.
From what he knew, Sunny didn't have hanahaki. Sunny had never loved someone in the romantic sense or even more than a friend.
He had loved his older sister as a sister. That sibling love was broken now. Basil was a witness to that.
Perhaps all that was Basil's fault?
Basil shook his head, looking out the window to clear his head. Nonsense. Thinking of this would get him even more agitated.
When he felt a cough coming, he quickly grabbed a few tissues to cover his mouth. But when he turned to face the window again, he froze.
Sunny.
But he was falling.
Had he jumped from the roof?
Basil quickly stood up from the bed and ran to the window. Sunny continued falling, his face blank. He didn't seem to have noticed Basil or anything.
A sob ripped from Basil's throat, his eyes widening and staring at Sunny.
"No!" Basil yelled. "No, no, no, no. This is not how it was supposed to go."
Sunny is falling.
To his death.
"Sunny!" Basil banged on the window but it was no use. Sunny was falling faster and faster, rapidly approaching the ground.
Basil screamed but no one seemed to hear him.
Coughs erupted his from throat, fully grown daffodils, cherry blossoms, yellow tulips, and finally, white tulips fell from his lips. They all ended up on the floor, covered with blood.
"Why?" Basil whispered. His heart ached and he could feel coughs build up in his throat.
Basil started coughing more and more as his vision got blurry with tears. He was coughing up blood as well.
No.
Please.
Basil coughed up more flowers, and he felt the flowers expand into his body. Oh, Basil thought. This is what dying feels like.
Memories of Sunny and their friends flashed in his eyes. Mari's warm smile and words, Hero's kind personality, Kel's silliness, and Aubrey.
Sunny.
The boy he loved.
The boy that he loved so much, to the point he developed this incurable and cursed disease.
Love.
If he ever fell in love again, Basil would rather it wouldn't be painful.
He thought that might be a better love.
It would've been nice to love Sunny without this cursed disease.
The pain spreaded through his entire body, the coughs worsening and worsening.
The floor was covered with the cursed flowers and blood. Basil laid on the floor, blood falling from his lips.
With great difficulty, Basil coughed out, "Sunny . . . I love you." And he closed his eyes, a single white tulip in his bloody hands.
Deep down Basil knew, that Sunny had never loved him.
That he was fated to die like this.
And that no matter what happened, Sunny wouldn't love him.