Author's Notes: Hanahaki Disease is a fictional disease when someone coughs up flowers because of unrequited love. The flowers I used in this are the red rose, which means desire or lust. The white lily, which means purity and innocence. And the pink Camilia, which means admiration.

For the very first time, Izuku coughed up a white lily. The flower's stem seemed to scrape against his throat as it came up and once the center of it landed on his hand, he knew he was in trouble.

Hanahaki disease isn't a rare thing by any means. Izuku would often see people coughing flowers during middle school and especially on Valentines day. In such an early part of a person's life, it felt too easy to fall in love with the first attractive person you saw and then spend another week or so coughing different colored flowers. For Izuku, he always preferred to keep to himself and avoid everyone else as much as possible, which made getting crushes very difficult -the fact that literally no one liked him didn't help much either.

But now...now he's coughing up flowers in the middle of his dorm room as he recalls the events of today's class. It had been the first time he came back from his short house arrest at the UA dorms and much to his surprise, Aizawa-sensei invited The Big Three to talk to them about the work studies. Or, at least that's what he thought they were there for. They really spent the entire class getting punched in the gut by a naked third year.

But the part of that class Izuku couldn't seem to get out of his mind is when Nejire Hado walked in. She is probably the most beautiful girl he's ever seen! The way her long, blue hair frames her face just perfectly and the way she seemed to dance into the room, freely asking them questions at rapid fire. She has a curiousness Izuku can understand and, well, that's when his throat started to itch painfully.

It wasn't until he got back into his room that he began to understand what it was. And that's where he is now, trying to figure out how exactly he plans to hide this stream of pedals that are scattered across the floor. Honestly, he could tell people about it, but he's never had Hanahaki disease before, let alone someone to tell about it if he ever had. Is it bad to talk about it to his friends? Would they judge him for liking a third year? She was still seventeen and it was better than Ashido's crush on Vlad King, the 1-B teacher.

Siting back in his bed, Izuku sets the white lily down and tries to think through what exactly he can do about this. He couldn't just sit in class and continue to cough all the time. Or could he? Nejire isn't a student in his homeroom and only really came over today because she was invited specially. Maybe he could live with this for a little while longer.

...

The coughing gets worse as Izuku got more involved with the Shie Hissaikai raid. He wants to focus and listen to everything Sir Nighteye was saying at the head of the long table, but he just keeps coughing. Nejire is sitting exactly three seats away from him but just being this close sends pedals into his throat, making him hack and cough over and over again.

"Midoriya, please excuse yourself." Sir Nighteye glares from under his glasses.

"Wait! I'm sorry! I promise I won't cough!" He needs to know this information. It's necessary to find and rescue Eri from whatever abuse her father was putting her through. He can't leave now.

"You said that last time and I don't like to repeat myself, you please, leave. I will hand you a file with all of this information after the meeting, alright?" With that, Sir Nighteye looked away, continuing without him.

Slowly, Izuku stood up from his seat and made his way toward the closest door. He didn't want to see the worried looks Uraraka, Asui and Kirishima were most likely sending his way. He didn't want to catch Mirio's slight disappointment or Aizawa-sensei's hard glare. He didn't want to look at anyone, but he did manage to catch a glimpse of Nejire's expression and much to his surprise, it wasn't a glare or even pity. She was smiling at him and mouthing something he couldn't quite catch.

Taking a step closer -he ignored the tickle in the back of his throat from it- he whispered to her, "What?"

"Meet me once this is over. I got something for you." She said it with a slight wink and Izuku knew, he just knew, that he was blushing furiously.

"Midoriya. Leave."

Izuku hurried out of the room before he could get another lecture from Sir Nighteye and closed the door behind him. Letting out a sigh, he made his way to a bench along the hall and rubbed at his soar throat. Getting a drink of water wouldn't help the pedals, but it might releive some of the irritation. Standing up again, he made his way down the hall until he found a drinking fountain along the side.

As he took a few careful sips, he thought through what he knew about the raid. Eri was being held prisoner in her own father's organization. She was getting cut open to make bullets and after that...well, he started coughing. He had no idea how Sir Nighteye planned to go about this. He always talked about how staying back and waiting was the best plan, but something about that felt...wrong. This girl needed their help and soon. If they waited, who knew what would happen.

Izuku spewed water out at the wall as another round of coughs stopped him from drinking. His nose burned from the water that shot out of it and he braced himself against the side of the drinking fountain as he battled coughing up the pedals and water from his lungs. If his throat hurt before, then it was seeping with pain now.

Even after the pedals stopped coming, Izuku continued to cough, his nose stinging painfully and his eyes watering. He could barely see a large pile of pedals just in front of his feet, the white standing out strongly against the dark colored carpets. So much for trying to hide it. That entire conference room probably already knew he was pinning after someone in that room and with only a few students around his age...well, it wouldn't be difficult to narrow it down.

...

Izuku sat at the bench when everyone finally started leaving the meeting room. No one was wearing a smile, not even Mirio. The air suddenly turned tense and Izuku stood up sharply. A few white pedals fell from his pockets, but that didn't matter now. He was focused on the Shie Hissaikai and getting the information he had missed because of this stupid crush.

Sir Nighteye came out last, a file in his hand but his gaze seemed to repel anyone from coming close. The foresight hero walked up to him and slowly lowered the file down. Izuku went to grab it, but before he could get a good grip, Sir Nighteye pulled it back again.

"Midoriya, I expect that you will recover from this before the raid. I can't have you coughing your lungs out on the battle field."

Izuku nodded confidently. "Yes, sir! I promise I won't let you or Eri down." He couldn't afford to ruin this for everyone else. He could look up Hanahaki remedies once he got back to the UA dorms.

Sir Nighteye looked at him for a long moment before finally letting the file lower again. Izuku took it with a firmer grip and watched as his mentor left the room, following most of the other heroes. Looking back down at the file, he decided now wasn't the time to look into it and tucked it under his arm for safe keeping. He would have to study it thoroughly once he had the chance. With that, Izuku made his way to another table where the other UA students were sitting, their heads lowered in defeat. What happened while he was gone?

"Oh! Hey, Midoriya!" Nejire waved from where she stood, a smile on her face despite the tense mood. Mirio and the others looked his way as well, the former being the only one to smile as well.

"Hey, Man." Kirishima said once Izuku finally made it over. "I was getting kinda worried. You were coughing a lot."

"I have some cough drops, kero." Asui pulled one out of her pocket to show him.

Izuku looked at it with a mixture of confusion and interest. These didn't look like the kind Mom got him when he was sick. "What kind are they?" Grabbing it, he unwrapped the drop -it was a dark green color- and popped it into his mouth.

"It's Wasabi."

Izuku immediately spit it out. His tongue burned like he had just licked acid. "Why do they make those?!" And why did Asui have them?!

"They're not so bad once you get used to them." She smiled.

"Anyway...ah, did you have something to talk to me about, Hado-Senpai?"

Nejire stood up and handed him what looked like another cough drop. That acidic taste came back from the mere memory of the last one, but the way her figners touched his sent a spike through his entire arm. They were warm and soft. "Here!"

He tried to cover his disappointment when she drew her hand away but instead focused on the object in his hand. It didn't have the same wrapper at Asui's -thank goodness- but he couldn't quite tell how another cough drop would help with Hanahaki. Then again, she might not have seen the white pedals. "Is this a cough drop?" He asked lamely.

"It's a special kind of cough drop. It can help with usual colds and stuff like that, but it also help with Hanahaki disease as well." She took a short break before diving into her usual questions. "Sorry to pry, but do you have a crush on someone? I thought I saw white lily flowers in your hand earlier."

Izuku flushed brightly and tried to avoid looking at her directly. How did she know what kind of flowers pedals they were?! "Ah, nope! It's just a coincidence!" He lied.

"That's strange. I've never seen someone cough up flowers without having Hanahaki." She tilted her head to the side, but her smile was knowing.

"I, ah...yes. I have a crush, but it's not, like, super important or anything! I'll probably have to talk to Recovery Girl about removing the flowers anyway." It was typically viewed as a surgery, but maybe Recovery Girl could just...heal his throat and the flowers would go away.

"Perfect! Then the cough drop will work super well!" She bounced on her toes as Izuku unwrapped it wearily. He couldn't tell which flavor it was by the look alone but at least it wasn't green.

He popped it into his mouth and the taste of honey overwhelmed his senses. It was good, a bit strong for his own liking, but good. "Thanks." He smiled at her as he sucked on the cough drop. He might have to ask for more before the raid -if he didn't manage to get rid of it before then.

"No problem, Izuku." She turned away from him, heading back to her seat. His brain stopped functioning all together when he heard his given name. She...she called him Izuku. She used his first name.

The rest of the day was a blur of sucking on cough drops and thinking of the way she said his name, like it was the sweetest thing in the world.

...

The hanahaki didn't go away, but Izuku managed to get through the raid without keeling over in coughing fits. It also helped that Nejire was working on the surface while he and the rest of the heroes went under. They were in charge of keeping the villains busy up there and preparing to bring all of the Shie Hissaikai members into custody.

The walls began to move and they lost Mirio quickly, but he was going after Eri. Izuku trusted that he knew what he was doing and could handle Overhaul at least until they arrived to support him. After that, the heroes started splitting up and more people fell away. The entire police force were gated off from the pro heroes, and the situation easily went out of control as more villains showed up, including that Himiko Toga girl, who seemed to have a hanahaki problem of her own, telling by the way she had pulled a blood-red rose from her throat, the thorns sharp and threatening.

Kirishima and Fatgum disappeared somewhere along the way and all Izuku could do was focus, focus, focus! The pressure built until it felt suffocating. He fought once they found Overhaul, trying everything they could to keep Eri out of his reach. Overhaul was a monster, destroying the earth under them and creating spikes that stabbed into Izuku's legs and arms. He pressed forward until all that was keeping him up was the insane power of Eri's quirk. He fought until he won the fight, defeating Overhaul and finally bringing Eri to safety. They won.

...

"Are you sure there's nothing you can do about them?" Izuku asked, more white pedals sitting in his hands. He was supposed to be helping the rest of 1-A with setting up the stage for the Cultural Festival, but they told him to go to Recovery Girl because of the coughing. It had gotten worse after his tour around UA with Mirio and Eri. He knew he should've left the room once he found out Nejire was wearing a beautiful blue dress. It matched her hair so wonderfully and it framed her just right. In fact, he could say that everything about her was perf-

Another round of coughing stopped his mental monologue. He couldn't stop thinking about it, which only made this worse.

Recovery Girl sighed as she sat back in her chair, her wrinkles seeming more defined with every visit the boy took to her office. "Young Man, you know I can't just take them out, especially right now. It's a long process and I'd need to get your mother's permission. For now, use the cough drops."

He had been, but with ever cough drop he took, the more he seemed to fall into endless thinking about one person. He couldn't afford to be losing focus in a time like this. He had to make Eri proud. He had to make her smile today.

"If there were more I could do, I promise, I would offer it. Now, please, go back to your class before you miss your own concert." With that Recovery Girl turned around in her chair and went back to typing.

Getting up slowly, Izuku bowed to her with a quick "Thank you" before heading toward the door. Before he left, Izuku let the pedals fall into the trashcan. He had delt with enough of them to no longer care if they got hurt or not. They were just flower pedals, after all.

...

The concert was a masterpiece. All of the working parts functioned perfectly and in the end, Eri came out smiling. Not just that, but she came up to him after and told him all about her favorite parts with a bright look on her face. She loved it, fully and completely. It brought a few tears to Izuku's eyes, seeing her so happy after everything she had gone through. He helped that to happen.

Izuku spent the rest of his time exploring the rest of the cultural festival with his class. There were so many things to see that he worried he wouldn't get to them all. There was a haunted house, plenty of food stations, obstacle courses, food eating contests and so much more. At the end of it all, almost everyone went to see the beauty pageant, a rollercoaster of an event.

This time, as Nejire came onto the stage to preform her act, Izuku didn't feel the urge to cough -likely due to the cough drops. Instead, he watched her twist and twirl through the air as she made shapes with her quirk. The end result was a bright rose, a sight so beautify that it completely captured everyone's attention. Izuku kept the image of Nejire floating just above her work of art in his mind. She looked amazing up there, a bright smile on her face. He couldn't quite see how anyone could vote against her. She was the embodiment of perfect.

For the very last event, the final results, everyone crowded close to the stage. Mirio and Eri stood next to him, both of their expression worried as they watched. Amajiki-senpai stood to the other side, shivering in his place as he whimpered about how terrifying it would be to stand up there. And Izuku...Izuku was completely captured with Nejire's nervous smile, chanting in his heart to please let her win. It was her last year, the last chance she had to make it.

"The winner is..." The host drew it out, making Izuku's heart squeeze tightly. Kendo had already won third place so it was up to Kenranzaki and Nejire. Izuku was gritting his teeth together, not daring to breathe until the results came out. Please be Nejire. Please be Nejire.

"Nejire Hado!"

The crowd erupted into a wave of shouts and cheers. Izuku felt One For All flair up as he cheered louder than he ever had before. His heart sang loud with relief and excitement. Mirio pulled him into a tight hug that was probably meant for Amajiki, but neither of them seemed to care. All that mattered was the Nejire won her last beauty pageant. She was holding a bundle of flowers on the stage, her smile big and wide as she waved elegantly. Her eyes had a few tears in them and Izuku wondered how she could ever look more beautiful.

...

After the crowd started to disperse; Izuku, Mirio -with Eri close by- and Amajiki all rushed to where the pageant participants would gather after they finished dressing out. Kendo came out first, a smile on her face despite her loss.

"Hey, guys. Hado's still getting dressed." Kendo gestured vaguely toward the backstage. "That was some pageant, am I right?! Hado really had her A-game on!"

"You did pretty well too." Mirio smiled. "Your name's Kendo, right?" The girl nodded and shook the upper classman's free hand.

"I'm sorry you didn't win." Izuku spoke with a bit of a squeak in his voice. He couldn't tell if it was from all the shouting or because of the cough tickling his throat.

Kendo waved it off, looking far more relaxed than Izuku felt, and he wasn't even in the competition. "Nah, it's fine. I was mostly there for the experience. I've never tried to win a beauty contest before. Besides, my loss could always help to keep Monoma from bragging so much." She gave an exasperated sigh, as if the thought of him was exhausting. Izuku could understand that. Monoma was very...competitive.

"Hey, Guys!" Nejire burst through the door, a wide smile on her face. She was wearing her usual school uniform again, but somehow, it looked amazing all the same. Izuku was starting to think it was just how she always looked -he had suspected it for a while before today.

"You did great, Nejire!" Mirio beamed, wrapping his arms around her.

"Y-you were so brave. Standing up there and sh-showing off. It made me feel sick." Amakiji added, getting close to her but not daring to join their hug. That was, until Mirio pulled him in as well.

Nejire wiggled out of the embrace once she locked eyes with Izuku, her more curious smile coming back. "Hey, Hey! I saw you in that concert you did! Way to bust out some cool moves!" She did a little dance and Izuku went bright red, his face heating up uncomfortably. She saw it?!

"Ah, thanks!" He tried to keep his hands from shaking. She saw him dance! "I really liked your flower! The one you drew in the air!"

Nejire seemed to switch topics easily. "Oh, yeah! I was thinking of doing a camilia but those are too complicated, you know? They've got all of those pedals and layers, so I stuck with a rose. Did you like it?!" She leaned closer into his face and his face grew brighter, if it were possible.

Then, he paused. "Wait. Why a camilia?" She had every right to like whatever flowers she wanted, but why that one specifically? Was it the color, or-

"Because I keep coughing them up! I thought that I might as well make one if I see them so often. Besides, they're kinda pretty" She smiled despite the confession.

Wait...she had hanahaki as well?! "Who are you coughing for?" Izuku blurted before he could stop himself. His eyes went comically wide and he slapped both hand over his mouth. Why did he say that?! Now she was going to think he was some kind of creep or-

"It's you, silly!" She giggled, keeping both hands behind her back politely, but she looked like she wanted to reach out and touch him. "You're always so passionate about everything you do. It's hard not to get amazed, really. Every since the sports festival, I've been coughing up flowers like crazy! Good thing I found out about those cough drops when I did, or I would've been hacking flowers all through my fight!"

Right, she got to the finals this year. He couldn't remember the specifics since he had been in with Recovery Girl, but he still managed to see the end of the third year's finals. It was honestly amazing...wait! She had a crush on him?! Izuku nearly fell to his kneels, but Nejire reached out and held him up in time.

"Oh, sorry if that was a bit sudden! I just thought it would be the right time." She smiled apologetically at him. "You don't have to say you like me back or anything. I know you have a crush on someone else anyway, so I wasn't really expecting anything in return."

"I like you!" He shouted it so suddenly that all three students jumped a bit, as well as Eri. "I mean, well...I started coughing white lilies ever since I saw you during that special class and, well, you're just super nice and-"

"Aw! Realy?!" Nejire pulled him into a tight hug and Izuku froze. He could feel her pressing against him and his mind fried completely. This was the closest he had ever been to a girl! And especially one he liked!

The Mirio and Nejire laughed at his response once she let him go. Eventually, they had to part ways, despite how badly Izuku wanted to tell her everything, but he kept quiet. It was almost time for Eri to leave and he still had something to give her. As Izuku made his way toward the front entrance of the school, he stopped when he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

Turning back, he saw Nejire standing far too close to him. "Hey, I almost forgot! I wanna give you this!" She held a pink camilia in her hands, offering it.

This was a tradition with those who were lucky enough to find requited love from their Hanahaki. They would always give away one of the complete flowers they coughed up -He had thought it was a gross tradition until now. Slowly, he took the flower she offered and held it close to his chest. She...she gave him her flower. It was so beautiful...just like her.

"What about yours?" She asked curiously.

Izuku sprang into action and pulled his own white lily from his pocket. It was the one he coughed up this morning, before he took the cough drops. Slowly, he offered it to her, worried that she might suddenly change her mind. What if she only meant it as a friend or her crush would suddenly go away as soon as he offered it to her. Or, what if she-

"Wow! Isn't the white lily for purity and innocence? That's super cute!" She held it close, looking at each pedal as if it were precious and beautiful. Just like how he looked at her.

Whatever happened between them in the future...he knew it would be just as perfect as it started.

Author's Noted: I did not mean to make this half as long as it ended up, but I really wanted to explore this AU. I've never written about Hanahaki Dease before but I found that it was super cool. Thanks for the suggestion! By the way, this website has been having some troubles with showing new chapters and I said I wouldn't update but I really want to get the new chapters out. I'm really sorry if you aren't able to see these chapters! I'm being bad about that. But, if you can, then enjoy this!