The flowers came without warning.

Sure, Takehisa Hinawa was absolutely, positively sure that he was lovesick over his comrade. He was sure of that the minute he awoke to the first petals scratching at the back of his throat. But was he convinced that she returned his feelings?

Negative.

"Lieutenant, we have a stack of reports that need to be filed away," Maki Oze said, waving them around. She was standing by his desk with her hand on her hip. "We can't keep ignoring them forever!"

"I know, Maki," he replied, standing up. He took the reports from her and thumbed through them. "Thanks for going through these, by the way."

"No problem, sir."

Hinawa turned his head away as he coughed into his elbow. Each breath felt like sharp daggers were being stabbed into his lungs; he grimaced slightly and rubbed his chest.

"Are you getting sick, Lieutenant?" Maki asked. "I can always go and get a mask for you."

"No, I'm fine," he replied quickly. "I'm going to put these up on the shelf. There are some more that remain to be input into the computer, can you do that?"

"Of course."

Hinawa turned away and put the files into a large cabinet. He waited until he heard Maki typing in the information on the reports before he quietly snuck out of the room.

I have to get to the bathroom, he thought. He fought back the urge to cough; he knew he would cough up more than blood this time. I can't let anyone see, or they'll worry.

He barely had time to grab the sink for support before he began to cough violently. He tried to cover his mouth but found that it was impossible; blood seeped through his fingers into the basin, staining the cracked porcelain. He watched as it dripped into the sink from his fingers. The shock of it all had yet to hit him. He went to wash his blood-covered hands and saw what he had been dreading: camellia petals that were once white as snow, now stained with his blood.

He had ignored the symptoms of his condition. He thought the itching in the back of his throat was just allergies from the turn of the season. And the tight clenching in his chest when he saw Maki? He thought it was just a normal reaction for him, as he had had feelings for her for a long time.

So when he woke up coughing this morning and hacked up a few petals into his garbage can, it shocked him. Maki was the least likely person to love someone like him.

Hinawa rubbed his aching chest; his lungs hurt from being wracked with coughs. But the more painful thing to him was his heart aching from the pain of knowing that Maki would never love him back. As he tried to catch his breath, he felt more camellia petals blossom from his mouth, rendering him unable to breathe at all. Tears streamed down his face as he struggled against the flowers and blood.

Breathe, dammit! Breathe! he thought desperately. He sat hunched over on his knees, his chest in pain. The floor in front of him was covered in blood and petals.

Someone knocked on the bathroom door just then; Hinawa stared at the floor around him as the voice on the other side called out to him.

"Lieutenant? It's Maki. I was just wondering if you're okay. You haven't come out of the bathroom yet, so I wanted to check on you," she said quietly.

"I-I'm okay," Hinawa answered hoarsely. He grabbed his throat, surprised that he could speak at all.

Hinawa heard Maki's hand jiggle the doorknob. "Can you come and let me know for real when you come out of the bathroom? It'd make me feel a lot better."

"Yeah, I'll let you know, Maki," he said quietly.

He waited a few minutes for Maki to leave before standing and facing himself in the mirror. His reflection was terrible; he was bloodsoaked from his mouth to his stomach, and the blood went up inside his sleeves to his elbows. He shrugged out of his orange jumpsuit and washed his face and arms. It was a significant improvement in his appearance, but he felt weak from the blood loss.

I know there's a bucket around here somewhere, Hinawa thought. He searched through a closet inside the bathroom and pulled out a mop bucket of cleaning supplies and set to work mopping the bloody mess. I'll make this floor so clean no one will know what happened.

Thirty minutes later, Hinawa set the bucket to the side. His head was dizzy from the fumes of the cleaning products; he quietly left the bathroom and headed back to his room. He opened his door to find Maki sitting on his bed.

"Lieutenant, you never came, so I thought I'd wait for you," she said, jumping up.

"I'm fine," he told her, taking her vacant spot on his bed. "I just need to rest."

"Is there anything I can get you? Like maybe a glass of water?" Maki asked.

"Yeah, that'd be fine."

Maki turned and left his room. Hinawa waited until she was gone before grabbing his chest again.

What is that? he wondered. It's something that only seems to flare up when I'm around Maki. But I can't do anything to stop it, no matter how hard I try.

"Lieutenant? I brought your water," Maki said, setting it on his bedside table.

"Thanks, Maki," he told her, reaching to get a drink. As he stared into the bottom of the glass, he saw Maki still standing in his room.

"You're a terrible liar," she said, her eyes welling up with tears. "Please, tell me what's wrong with you."

"I don't know, Maki," Hinawa said truthfully.

"How can I help you get better when you don't let me?" Maki yelled, punching at him. Hinawa stopped it barehanded.

"I'm going to a doctor tomorrow," Hinawa said. "Does that make you feel better?"

"No," she said. Tears streamed down her face.

"Make it make you feel better. Because I don't know what's wrong, and I'm not optimistic about what they are going to tell me."

Maki sniffled. She had to be strong for him; her heart ached at not knowing. Hinawa patted her on the head before guiding her to the door.

"I'm exhausted. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" he said.

"Okay. Goodnight," she said, waving.

Hinawa shut his bedroom door behind her and lay back on his bed. He placed his hand on his chest, worried a sudden coughing spasm would start up again now that Maki was gone. He knew she had to be the trigger of it.

Stop thinking that! None of this has to do with her, Hinawa thought. I just chose the wrong person to fall in love with.

He rolled over and faced the wall. Maki is just the wrong person for me. She's way too good for me, and she can get better guys than me. He rubbed his face and fell asleep, trying to convince himself he was no good for her.