Chapter Text
“Annnnn, where are you going?” Mizuki pouted, stepping away from An and sticking out their lower lip as far as they could manage. An smiled, hoping the low light would hide the nervous flush spreading across her cheeks. “Why’d you stop?”
“I just gotta go to the bathroom, baby,” An replied, leaning forward and pecking Mizuki’s lips. “I’ll be right back.” There were flakes of mascara mixing with glitter under Mizuki’s eyes, their lip stain feathering slightly away from their lips. God, they were gorgeous. “Get me another drink while I’m out. I’ll be back.”
Mizuki grinned, kissing her again. “Alright. Coming right up.” An lingered for a moment, watching them flounce away towards the bar. They’d worn a skirt she’d never seen before. She bit her tongue, trying to stop herself from smiling. She was so ready to take it off.
First, though… As quickly as she could manage, she weaved through the crowd towards the bathroom in the back, ducking inside and leaning against the wall. Her phone had been going off all night, and at first she’d just ignored it— anybody texting her at 1AM could wait, for fuck’s sake— but the buzzing hadn’t stopped, and it had reached a point where An had stopped being annoyed and started being a little bit concerned.
“Stupid goddamn— come on,” she muttered, tapping incessantly at her lockscreen. Her phone always seemed to decide not to cooperate at the worst possible moments. It could be her dad. It could be Akito. Maybe something was wrong with Touya. Maybe someone she knew was at the bar and caught her making out with Mizuki and now she was fucked. Maybe it was Kohane.
Shit, maybe it was Kohane. “Come on,” she hissed, shaking her phone as if that would make Face ID work faster. “Oh my God.”
Her breathing, her heartbeat— everything seemed to slow as she processed the messages. Two missed calls. A voicemail. Nine text messages from Kohane.
11:31 PM: When you come home can you bring me some tea? I don’t feel good :(
11:46 PM: Nvm found some. Hope you’re having a good night!
12:19 AM: I feel really really bad. Can we cancel rehearsal tomorrow?
12:24 AM: I didn’t mean to call you I’m sorry
12:52 AM: I just threw up and I think there was blood. I’m really scared can you please call me
12:53 AM: Can you please come home
12:54 AM: Please
12:55 AM: I’m really really scared
12:57 AM: There’s definitely blood
“What the fuck,” An whispered, fumbling for the phone app. The tiles on the bathroom floor twisted a little bit, the music from outside drowned out by the pounding of her heart. “Shit. Shit shit shit.” She jammed her phone between her chin and her shoulder, not even bothering to zip up her purse before leaving, practically shoving people out of her way to get to the door. She’d text Mizuki later and say sorry. Fuck.
“Kohane, baby,” she murmured while the phone rang, drilling into her skull. “Come on, baby.”
She growled under her breath, staring at the little black car across the street. Right. Mizuki had driven her.
It was fine. She’d figure it out. They hadn’t gone that far from home. “Kohane?”
“Your call has been forwarded to—”
“Yeah yeah, fuck that shit,” An muttered, shoving her phone into her purse. The last message had been almost twenty minutes ago. Her girlfriend could be dying. Either that or so sick she couldn’t pick up the goddamn phone, and either way…
An had been so stupid . She’d wanted to check her phone at the very first notification, but Mizuki had said noooo, it’s okay, just ignore itttt, we’re having a nice night! And their eyes were so big, and they’d looked so pretty in the orange light, and An was already a little drunk on the thrill of getting in on Mizuki’s fake ID, so she’d allowed them to convince her it was nothing. Hadn’t even put up a fight. And now… what? Now what?
Her girlfriend could be dying and she hadn’t even noticed because she was so busy with Mizuki . If only she’d come sooner. If only she’d never left in the first place. Maybe everything would be okay.
Stopping at a street corner, An pulled her phone out and rushed through a text to Kohane with shaking fingers, not bothering to check her spelling. coming right now. i’m so fucking sorry. are you okay?
She slumped against the side of a building, letting herself catch her breath just for a moment. Despite the poor service, her message went through pretty quickly, but Kohane hadn’t read it. She wasn’t even showing up as active.
It was fine. It would have to be fine. An closed her eyes, bracing herself with her hands on her knees, her chest burning with every breath she took. She had to keep going. She had to get to Kohane. God, what the fuck is wrong with me?
She jumped when her phone buzzed in her hand, turning the brightness all the way up and staring the front camera dead in its eyes until it let her in. Kohane Kohane oh my God Kohane—
zu 💞💖
bro where did you go wtf is wrong with you i paid for your drink
bitch get back here we were on a DATE
the least you could do is tell me you weren’t having a good time?!
i knew you didn’t rlly like busy bars i’m sorry i was trying something new
we could’ve gone back to my place
parents haven’t been home in ages so like
i didn’t even get to see you naked : (
you better have such a good reason for leaving me rn i’m so fr whats your problem????
“I’m going to kill you,” An mumbled, trying to figure out a decent response. Mizuki was always nice to Kohane’s face, but they’d never kept their disdain for her a secret. Sure, they admitted that she was sweet, and they did genuinely seem to like her, sometimes, but they also seemed to have very little problems telling anyone who brought her up exactly what they thought of her: that she was annoying, a pushover, spineless, not independent enough, “too nice.” Then again, Mizuki was just sort of like that. Friendly, sure, but judgmental. They loved their friends, that much was clear, but they also loved to point out their friends’ flaws.
And honestly in this case they had every right to be mad. An had left them stranded. And they were having a very good time.
A soft smile grew across An’s face as she typed out her reply. sorry, something major came up and i really had to go. sorry for running out without warning you. dw i’ll make it up to you later :)
The response from Mizuki was instant: k, see ya.
An sighed in relief, letting her shoulders relax. Things were fine, at least where Mizuki was concerned. They probably wouldn’t bother her for the rest of the night. So she could tend to Kohane.
Right. Fuck. Kohane.
Even though she knew what she’d see, An reopened her messages with her girlfriend, refreshing the page a few times. Still nothing.
She glanced back and forth across the street before taking off. Red lights didn’t matter. She had to get going. She imagined what she’d find when she got back to Kohane’s house, each scene more gruesome than the next. Maybe Kohane had passed out and smashed her head on something. Maybe she’d bled out somehow. Maybe she’d just dropped dead, or choked, or maybe she’d had some sort of heart attack. Was that even a thing that could happen? It didn’t matter. An pushed herself faster, glancing wildly at the street signs as she passed them, sort of guessing where to go and praying that she’d end up in the right place. She skidded around a corner, catching sight of the familiar trees in Kohane’s yard, the slope of her driveway, the small lamps lighting the path to her front door. “Kohane!” she shouted, even though there was no way anyone would be able to hear her, scanning for any lights turned on inside the house, any sort of proof that her girlfriend was moving— any sort of proof she was alive.
“Kohane,” she gasped, stumbling up the driveway and trying the doorknob. “Fuck.” Chest heaving, An dug in her purse for Kohane’s house key, holding herself up against the door for support with one hand. “Christ. Kohane.”
“Hang on.” Kohane’s voice from inside was muffled, weary, but it was there, and An grinned, dropping her bag and pressing both hands to her chest as her pulse went crazy beneath her ribs. She could breathe now. Kohane was safe.
Her face fell as soon as Kohane opened the door. “Oh my God,” An breathed, taking quick strides inside and gathering Kohane in her arms, holding her as closely as she could manage. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I’m here. Oh my God. Are you okay?”
Kohane wriggled out of An’s grip and tried to smile, but all An could pay attention to was the way her hands shook, the exhaustion in her eyes. “I’m okay,” she replied, but her voice snagged in her throat and she started to cough, doubling over and staggering back against a wall.
“No, you’re not,” An said, scrambling to help her and gently guiding her to the ground, putting an arm around her shoulders while she gasped for air. “Shhh.”
“I’m—” Kohane gulped, her voice thin and strangled, and An stared in horror as she leaned over and heaved up a stringy mouthful of blood, a thin trail of it dripping from her mouth and pooling on the floor.
“Kohane,” An whispered, tucking her knees to her chest, feeling almost frozen where she sat. “You need to go to the hospital.”
“It’s not—” Kohane braced herself with rigid elbows and clawed fingers as she struggled to breathe. “It’s not that big of a deal. I’ll… be fine.”
“Baby, that’s blood,” An murmured. Kohane shrugged, staring down at the floor. “Can you at least let me look at you?”
Kohane was silent as she crawled over and curled up with her head in An’s lap. “I’m here, baby,” An said, running her fingers through Kohane’s sticky hair. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Kohane rasped, smiling up at An. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” An sighed, wiping the corner of Kohane’s mouth with her thumb, smearing a thin layer of blood across her chin. “Can we stand up so you can lay down and I can clean up?”
“Okay,” Kohane said softly, leaning almost all her weight on An as they both slowly picked themselves off the floor. “I’m sorry about all this.”
“Honey,” An replied. “No. It’s not your fault.” She squeezed Kohane’s hand, gently encouraging her forward. “It’s okay.”
“Okay.” Kohane grabbed an edge of the kitchen table as they passed it, pulling herself away from An and into a chair. “I need to… sit… I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s okay,” An said, kissing the top of her head. “You do whatever you want.”
Kohane coughed as she nodded, something catching in the back of her throat. “O—okay.”
“I love you, baby. Hey, look at me.”
Kohane met An’s soft gaze with wide, terrified eyes, holding the back of her chair with white knuckles. “An…”
She gagged on the rest of her sentence, desperately fighting for air between long, wet coughs. An stood at the end of the table, barely breathing, helpless to do anything but watch as Kohane’s entire body trembled, mouthful after mouthful of bloody saliva splattering to the floor. She’d probably vomited everything else up already. “Shh, shshs,” An soothed, coming around the table to rub Kohane’s back. “You’re okay. I know it hurts.” She reached for one of Kohane’s hands. “It’s okay.”
Kohane slumped onto the table, burying her head in her arms, her high, ragged breathing cutting through the room. “I’m— you— ah…”
“I know, baby,” An said. “Hey, shhh. I’m gonna get you some water. Look at me. I love you.”
With what seemed like the final bits of her energy, Kohane sat up straight and stared at An, tears streaming down her face. “I love you too,” she mumbled, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. “I’m so tired.”
“I know, love,” An murmured. “Wait.”
“Huh?”
An crouched and pulled something out of the mess on the floor, pinching it between her finger and her thumb. “What is..?”
She fell silent as she and Kohane both realised what she was holding.
Just gotta go to the bathroom, baby.
I’ll make it up to you later.
“An?” Kohane met An’s eyes, dull in the artificial light of the kitchen, her face pale with sick remorse. “Is that… a petal?”