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As the alarm goes off to signify the start of the Phight, Rocket and Sword give each other a supporting smile, knowing that they’ll work together really hard if it means to win. Sword dashes ahead, confident in his abilities while Rocket finds higher ground to cover him. It’s the start of the match and Sword already feels so exhilarated, the excitement and confidence has him almost too ready to fight whoever appears in his way. And when he sees the opponent, he can’t help but rush them, dodging and weaving attacks as he strikes back with quick blows. As well as the swinging of his sword, he can just barely hear Rocket preparing for a shot, before a rocket flies by him, striking his target as he grumbles a little, knowing that now the knocked out enemy was now accredited to Rocket instead of him, who did most of the damage. He steps back as Rocket lands beside him, smiling.
“Hey that was mine! You didn’t have to shoot that just to steal it!”
“Whatever, at least I protected you.”
Rocket gives Sword a small bump on the shoulder as Sword sighs, knowing that it wasn’t his intention to protect him, yet it feels like that way, especially with how often he does get himself in sticky situations between opponents. He thinks about it for a moment before Rocket bumps him on the shoulder again, with the timer alarming that about two minutes are left in the match. It gets him into the mindset, and he gives Rocket a smile before running back into the main parts of the fight, a bit distracted by Rocket’s words, but steering clear of those thoughts and getting back into the flow in his mind, making sure he fights well with Rocket still covering him, making sure they’re able to tag team on the opponents and strike them down together. Once they get most of the opponents down and they capture the objective, Rocket comes over to him, having only a small moment before the enemies respawn.
“Great work Sword! You really are training well.”
“Really? If that’s good then I should train even harder!”
Rocket chuckles, giving Sword a small hug before the two see the opponents come once again, with the two fist bumping each other before Sword prepares to be in the frontline, and Rocket stays in the backline to support him. Sword does the same movements as before, yet as he keeps swinging, he can feel a small cough coming, but he decides to hold it, thinking that fighting would take less time and that it's more important than this small cough in him. Unfortunately for Sword, it does take longer than he expected, even with Rocket helping him. And as he finishes off the final opponent as they hold up the objective, he can feel his throat close up on something, struggling to get air through it as Sword collapses on the ground, crawling away from the center of the stage and near a corner, coughing and hacking with pain. Everything now in his body hurts, and he can't understand why.
As he coughs more, he holds onto the wall to stabilize himself, before he coughs roughly once more, a petal falling out of his mouth. He's confused by what just happened, picking up the petal and not realizing it just came out of his mouth. He thinks it's just a small random gift that he just had accidentally lying down in his pocket, yet he can't explain why he was coughing so much. He hears footsteps coming, and he puts the petal in his pocket, with Rocket coming around the concern and grabbing his shoulders, a bit distressed by his sudden disappearance from the battle, and a bit surprised on why he's hiding.
"Sword! What happened? You suddenly ran away!"
"Just a little bit of a cough, nothing much to worry about Rocket."
Rocket sighs, smiling as he grabs Sword's hand, the alarm ringing out that there's one minute left in the Phight. He looks at him with confidence, with Sword returning the same look, smiling before the two run off, Sword to the middle and Rocket in the back.
However, as Sword gets to the middle, he's distracted by his thoughts, still wondering about the whole coughing thing. It felt so weird, like something was growing inside of him. Yet, as he sees the alarm blare out thirty seconds left, his thoughts are left in the dust as he prepares to fight, seeing the enemies appear and striking with renewed thought of fighting. He smiles, though he still feels the weird feeling in his throat. He keeps fighting, though every few moments he has to cough and hack, drawing concerned looks from his teammates and Rocket. The alarm blares out at the end of the match, and Sword looks in awe as it's announced that they won, with Rocket appearing next to him.
"Are you really okay, Sword? You were really coughing.."
"Yeah, yeah! I told you, nothing to worry about..."
Rocket looks at him worryingly, but Sword shoos him away a little, smiling about how they won as they get back to the crossroads. As the two walk, Rocket still gives a concerned look, but Sword starts to talk about how good of a team they were. It's a weird sight for sure, but Rocket slightly shrugs it enough, especially with how good Sword seems to be feeling now. They keep walking, with Sword trying to ignore the never light tightening on their throat, before their throat closes up once more, leading them to hack and cough with Rocket beside them, having to hold himself as Rocket grabs onto him, trying to support his body. Another petal falls out of Sword's mouth, and Rocket looks in confusion. He wonders if the petal really came out of Sword's mouth, yet Sword looks on tiredly as he gets up, smiling.
"L-Like.. I said! I'm fine! Just a small cough."
"That wasn't a small cough, you were basically dying! I think you need to rest now."
"Wait! Can't we at least grab something to eat first!?"
Rocket grabs his wrist, leading him away as Sword struggles, not wanting to rest now as he thinks he's still fine. It's a small bit of resistance, leading to Rocket overpowering Sword, dragging him along as he whines about not wanting to rest and how he's perfectly and totally fine. Though, he can still feel his throat slightly struggle once more, like this feeling of pure pain in his body is never ending and growing inside of him. Rocket continues to lead him on by holding his wrist, with Sword sighing in defeat as the other is still super concerned for him.
As they get to Sword's home, Rocket gives Sword a concerned smile, unsure if he's gonna be truly okay if he's having this bad of a cough without any other symptoms. Sword unlocks the door, walking in as Rocket switches from holding his wrist to now holding his hand, feeling protective about the probably very sick Sword. Sword tries to talk about doing something else, but Rocket tightens his grip on him, drawing another sigh from Sword as he sadly walks to his bedroom, laying down and covering himself in the blanket. Rocket follows him in, trying to comfort him as the best as he can.
"You've been coughing a lot.. And that petal.. I should see Medkit about that."
"..I'm fine, Rocket.. I swear..."
"You're not fine. You've been coughing a whole lot, and that petal literally fell out of your mouth! I'm not letting you suffer like that! Especially like with a best friend like you..."
Sword smiles a little at Rocket's perseverance towards him. It makes feel a bit of warmth inside of his feelings, and it feels really nice minus his throat tightening again. He coughs again, spitting out the petal in a way to make it stop quickly. Rocket's eyes widen in a bit of surprise and fear, grabbing a paper towel to the clean the leaf of Sword's saliva before putting it in his pocket, comforting him before he states his intention to see Medkit again, a concerned look on his face still as he walks out of the room and house.
As Rocket gets outside, he can't help but somehow think of Sword, and how worried he is for him. It feels like his sickness is tugging at his heartstrings, his now protective feelings towards Sword now feeling some type of bond than being just friends. He remembers their close friendship, how much they've been close to each other. It slightly feels like something else in growing in his feelings, dwelling on memories like this, but Sword is in danger, right? He can't be focusing on this stuff now, especially with how concerned he is about Sword's health! He starts to walk again, at a faster pace than trying to drag Sword, wanting to find Medkit so Sword can somehow get better.
Reaching the crossroads, he keeps looking around, running around in panic as he doesn't hope Sword doesn't get worse while he's gone. He trembles a little, his body showing more than his mind on how worried he is. He realizes that he hasn't felt this scared, ever. He's so worried about Sword, it's like he's watching something that'll cause something horrible. Between the two of them, between Rocket's mind and his thoughts of Sword. Though he can't exactly pinpoint it, he starts to run faster, wanting to not think about it. He eventually sees Medkit, with him writing something down diligently in a notebook, hurrying over in a panic. It feels a bit rude to interrupt something he's doing, but Sword has to be saved in his mind.
"Medkit! I've been looking all over for you! It's urgent! It's about Sword! He's been coughing, and I feel reallyworriedforhimandhe'sevenbeencoughingoutpetals-"
"...Rocket, talk slowly. I need you to be calm for me to do anything."
"...W-Well... Sword has been coughing.. flowers. I'm not sure what is causing it, but every other second it looks like he's getting worse..."
As Rocket explains Sword's condition, Medkit eyes widen in fear. It can't be... right? He looks down at the notebook, noting the writings he made about a certain condition that has the same symptoms.
Hanahaki...
Rocket looks up at Medkit's now face with eyes filled with fear, knowing that if he's acting this way, something must be horribly wrong with Sword. Medkit hands them the book, with Rocket taking it in hesitation. Whatever this may be, it's something serious, too serious that even Medkit fears it a little. Rocket still continues to hesitate as Medkit's hands go to his side, the expression on him now solemn. Rocket stares at the notebook, scared of now opening it. It feels so scary, especially with Medkit scared about what it is, and for a usual healer like him, this isn't something normal, not at all.
"...Read it all, please. I do think what you're describing is the disease that I've taken notes for."
“...Thanks, Medkit."
As Rocket walks away in the notebook in his hand, Medkit looks up at the sky, only hoping that he isn't right. Sword having hanahaki could be the worst thing in the world right now, especially considering who could his crush be on. Medkit thinks through the people he knows, and realizes one. Rocket, no? He starts to rethink Sword's actions toward him, how most times Sword would be hanging out with Rocket, or otherwise talking about him if they weren't together. It's a sudden realization, but as he watches Rocket disappear among the crowd hurrying to Sword's house, he knows that it is Rocket himself that must realize the feelings, or otherwise Sword will die, with no one knowing of his feelings.
Meanwhile, as Sword tosses and turns in his bed, he feels a sharp pain in his stomach. He gets up, the urge and feeling of throwing up now permanently engraved in his mind. But every time he takes a step a sharper pain pulses through his body, struggling to walk normally with every single part of his body in pain. He stumbles and painfully gets to the bathroom, gripping the toilet tightly as he coughs and hacks, before vomiting. He closes his eyes, feeling liquid and solid pour out of his mouth into the water, opening his eyes just a little when he feels like everything is out of him.
He can see a few pieces of what he ate yesterday plus... a whole lot of petals. The majority of what he just threw up, it's just petals. All the coughing, hacking, all the pain. Is it of something growing in his body? He can't tell anymore, as the sharp pains in his body hurt more. He tries to get up, yet collapses the moment he gets his feet on the floor. It feels like there's petals in every part of his body, eating him up like soil. And all of this is happening, while Rocket keeps hurrying, trying to read and run at the same time.
"Hanahaki.. Is that what it is? Someone with unrequited love... flowers.. growing in them...? If that is happening to Sword.. Who does he have feelings for...? Whatever, I have to save him!"
Rocket keeps hurrying, closing the notebook as he's too panicked to think things through. He gets to Sword's house eventually, slamming the door open as he stops in fear, seeing a trail of petals go from the bedroom to the bathroom. Hewalks over, almost hesitating to see what has happened to Sword. He stops in fear, eyes widening at the scene in front of him. Sword is trying to hold himself on the wall, petals almost flowing out of his mouth and his clothes, like they're growing outwards from his chest. He gives a soft smile at seeing Rocket, like he's a savior that will fix everything right here and now. But Rocket feels too much at once, trembling toward him.
Rocket touches Sword's cheek, tears swelling up in his eyes. He's too late, right? Sword weakly raises his hand, grabbing barely on Rocket's wrist, the soft smile never going away despite the petals falling out of it. It feels hopeless, so hopeless to Rocket. Everything, all this time spent together, gone because of a stupid disease that's killing the one he cares about so much. All these memories, all these thoughts of having Sword beside him always, it feels now like sharp pains in his heart, the tears falling out of his eyes and staining his cheeks as he hugs Sword, sobbing now as it now feels like the last moments of the both of them. But then, Rocket realizes the implications of it all. The notes, every single detail that Medkit wrote down. He starts to rethink Sword's actions, everything that the two of them do. Every moment is spent together, with each other never letting the other leave their mind. It feels like a relief somehow, even if Sword is going to die in a couple of seconds, sobbing less and less as he feels the true feeling towards his friend. His best friend, the person he cares so much for. The person... he loves. He tightens his hug on Sword, smiling through the tears. "...I love you, Sword."
"...I... I... love... you... too..."
And as if a curse had been relieved, a blessing or a wish had been granted, the petals stop. Sword feels something receding in his chest, like something is now dematerializing in him. He feels his throat open up, the sharp pains stopping in him. He feels his strength regain, albeit really slowly. He slowly raises his arms up, hugging Rocket as he feels the warmth surrounding the two of them. It's a moment that now feels never ending, the true ending that only a few seconds ago looked unattainable. After the bliss subsides, Rocket steps back from Sword, smiling as he picks him up, carrying him over to his bed, setting him down as Sword smiles again, with Rocket smiling back and planting a small kiss on his forehead, with Sword blushing.
And just then, Medkit opens the door, pausing at the petals before Rocket stands up and walks to the living room, looking at Medkit with a satisfied smile as the other realizes that the disease has been cured. He walks over to Medkit, handing the notebook back as the other looks over Rocket's shoulder, seeing the smiling Sword looking straight at Rocket. Medkit smiles softly, knowing that Sword is truly okay now, giving a small wave as he walks out of the house, closing the door as Rocket walks back to Sword. He smiles, before patting Sword on the head.
"..So, where do you wanna eat later, Sword?"
"..You decide... my love."