He could feel the flowers growing within him. As he spoke, he could feel the aching pain that had plagued him for months, the taste of iron that he could no longer get rid of. At first, the pain had been unbearable, choking on the growing seeds of unrequited love and unsure as to where it came from. It was easy to go without notice, at least for the first few weeks. Eventually, the chest aching grew until anyone could figure out that they had caught the disease, the problem was figuring out why.
For Shouta Aizawa, it was Yagi Toshinori. So long of being alone, so long he had built that wall around him only for All Might himself to come crashing through. Or not. He wasn't really in love with All Might. He was in love with Toshinori. The man that unknowingly opened a door within his wall and simply let himself in. Not even Hizashi, a long time friend, had been able to so easily pass through, low and behold, this skeleton man did so without any trouble.
Feelings truly were awful.
"Class dismissed," Aizawa spoke in a flatter tone than usual, lifeless really. As students got up, some rushed out the door while others took more of their time. The only reason Aizawa wasn't moving was that he was struggling, he could feel the stinging tickle in his throat from the petals. He was amazing at hiding it, though he couldn't talk while struggling to breathe and refrain his coughing. Lucky for him, the only thing that was said to him where the students bidding him a good rest of his day as they left.
As the door closed behind the last student, he closed his eyes with a grimace as coughs began to wreak havoc on his body, to the point he hung his head, gasping for breath. He hadn't even had enough time to get his scarf out of the way, some of the blood dripping from his lips onto the fabric and even catching a few deep violets and blue petals that he had identified as Hydrangea petals.
Lately, the coughing had gotten more frequent, it was hard to get through a class without coughing a few times. It was raising questions with the students and the last thing he wanted was to have them figure out that he had caught the Hanahaki disease. Knowing them, they would go around trying to figure out who it was. He didn't need that kind of attention, he didn't want it.
He wiped away the blood from his lips and hand, gathered the petals and stuffed them away in his pockets. He collected his things before leaving the room, heading down the hall. His mind wandered as he thought back to how it all started. The day that All Might left and there was only Toshinori Yagi. He was making his way back to the scene of the crime step by step.
Their conversation in the teacher's lounge had been short, but Aizawa learned exactly who Toshinori was. He no longer saw All Might when he spotted the giant blond. All Might had been a man that annoyed him to no end, Toshinori did not bother him one bit. Where they really the same person?
That day, no doubt was what started it all. All it took was one moment with Toshinori that that had stirred up powerful emotions, one moment where he felt he would never be able to say anything about those feelings… and the seeds were planted in his heart. Those seeds, fed by his emotions, grew into branches around his heart and into his lungs. What would be beautiful flowers, were driving him to his deathbed.
He knew his choices, Recovery girl had told him straight forward. Get rid of the disease via surgery or cough up a confession. When he had chosen to get rid of it, she wasn't very happy and went on for hours about what it would do to him. Cutting out any feelings of love, possibly never to love again. He was still in the process of convincing himself that he really didn't care, it would be better if he didn't.
Aizawa entered the teacher's lounge, going to his usual sitting place and setting down his stuff so he could continue grading papers. If he could knock out the rest of them by tonight, he would be able to have a true day off tomorrow, maybe even get a decent night of rest...nah, that's not possible.
Not long after he got settled, teachers came and went from the lounge, some going off to another class shortly after arriving, others sitting for a few minutes before taking their leave. Of course, just as his luck would have it, two blonds walked in having a conversation, one that didn't sound like it was ending soon. It was hard enough to focus when he could hear Hizashi being...Hizashi, but he could also hear Toshinori and just hearing him was raising Aizawa's blood pressure.
He tried his best to just ignore them, but it got harder when their conversation started turning toward him. Maybe if he just ignored them they will go away. It was a pathetic hope that was dashed within a few moments when Hizashi came at him full force, sadly while he was in the middle of marking a student's homework with a red pen. Now he was just annoyed. That left a really big red mark on Tokoyami's paper, an unnecessary red mark.
"How's grading going?" Hizashi asked but didn't wait for an answer "Me and Yagi planned a night hanging out, you should come!" he spoke with way too much excitement in his voice.
"No thanks." Aizawa retorted without skipping a beat, he was used to saying no to Hizashi, but when Toshinori intervened the raven-haired man found himself feeling anger.
"I still owe you a drink-" The man didn't get far in what he wanted to say before Aizawa turned his head, activating his quirk.
"I said no." The darker tone Aizawa used had thrown both blonds off as he packed up and left the room quickly. Why was he so angry just because Toshinori wanted to socialize? No, because Toshinori was talking. He couldn't hold back a few coughs as he relocated himself, trying to analyze why he reacted that way. He was being childish.
Toshinori felt a chill run down his spine, it wasn't so much as him using his quirk, but his voice held anger, more than the man had ever directed toward him. "Maybe...a different night," Toshinori spoke in a softer tone as Aizawa got up and left. Toshinori only caught a glimpse, but something else was off, there were blotches of something on his capture weapon, though he wasn't sure what it was.
There was a good silence before Hizashi took the chair that Aizawa had left behind. "Wonder what is up with him, he seems...worse than usual," Hizashi spoke before looking up at Toshinori who was still looking at the door. The moment he looked down at Hizashi, electric blue eyes spotted the contrast of purple against white floors.
"Yeah," Toshinori stooped low to grab the purple from the floor, recognizing it as a flower petal almost instantly. While he was down there he found two others directly beneath the chair, stuck together by something. He looked around the lounge, there were no purple flowers in here. "Does Aizawa have a plant?" he asked as Hizashi got a good look at what was in the retired hero's hand.
Hizashi grabbed the two stuck petals with a hum as he shifted the petals away from one another "I can't say I would peg him as someone with a green thumb," he paused. His mouth hung open as though he was about to continue talking, but his eyes were glued to the separated petals. He let them fall from between his forefinger and thumb as he spotted a blotch of red mixed with saliva on his fingers. Hizashi and Toshinori now realized that the reason the petals had not parted sooner. There was nearly fresh blood holding them together.
"Is that..." Toshinori started, his features hardening as he slowly identified what was happening. "You don't think…" He couldn't even finish the sentence as both felt concern settle upon them. It looked like...Hanahaki. Had Aizawa been in an increasingly bad mood because he was sick? If so, how was he hiding it so well? So that's what was on his capture weapon. That stain he spotted before Aizawa turned from him, it was blood. Was he hiding all of his pain behind that damn scarf? "Maybe one of us should have a talk with him."
That night, Aizawa barely caught any sleep. Whether because of insomnia or the constant coughing and shifting around, most of it was due to the fact he was up till 3 am just grading. By the time he was able to get a good hour of sleep, a knock at his door woke him up. Over the course of the night, petals sprinkled his bed like the morning after valentines.
Without much effort, he swiped the petals from his bed as another knock sounded from his door. He kept going until most of the petals were picked up and tossed into the trash. He walked toward the door and opened it. Low and behold, what was he met with? A fucking chest because he has to look up to see a face. With a groan, he tried to shut the door but Toshinori was prepared.
"I need to talk to you about something." better make it quick, Aizawa has five seconds of attention span left. "I'll get straight to the point, do you or do you not have Hanahaki?" The question itself threw Aizawa off and woke him up. How in the hell did Todhinori figure that out? He thought he had been doing great at hiding that.. as good as one can do when coughing constantly.
"What makes you think that I have hanahaki?" he asked flatly, feeling sparks of strong emotions at the very real possibility that Toshinori knew...and was about to give him a lecture. The skeleton of a man reached into his pocket silently and pulled a deep purple petal from it, he had seen enough of those to recognize that it was almost definitely his.
Aizawa stared at it for a moment before looking back up "And that means..." he left the statement open, wondering if he could play dumb.
"It was under your chair. I checked that there were no flowers in the lounge it would belong to. Unless you secretly have a green thumb or keep flowers in your pocket for some reason, I have reason to believe your foul mood is because of this." Toshinori explained. "I'm not here to lecture you, me and Hizashi are worried." There was a stab of pain.
He did his best to keep looking Toshinori in the eye, though it was getting harder, waves of anger and sorrow swept through him. These emotions only really showed through his hardening expression and silence. The silence gave the blond his answer, but before he could continue Aizawa got to it first. "I don't need your worry or your help." he simply stated, eyes breaking as he tried to close the door again.
"How long are you planning on suffering alone?" Aizawa paused, not because of what Toshinori was saying, no he stopped listening already. He stopped because there was intense pain in his chest, he knew he had felt it before when the flowers had started to bloom in his lungs, but why was it coming back now?
The next few minutes were a bit hazy between being unable to breathe because of the flower petals and feeling as though his heart was being crushed. The next clear thing he could remember was that he was on the ground and Toshinori was in front of him, holding onto his shoulders to keep him steady. "Let's get you to the infirmary!" Toshinori's voice rang clear in Aizawa's ears, like hearing an echo from a short distance away as he snapped from his daze.
The infirmary...wait. He couldn't do that, the woman was getting ready to murder him, plus it's not like he hasn't dealt or expected these things to happen. "No. I'm fi-" he paused as he looked at Toshinori's shirt. The large white shirt was splattered with his blood and a few petals sat in his lap and sprinkled around. How much did he cough up just now? He sat shocked for a moment before he managed to speak "Sorry about your shirt, I can replace it."
"You're worried about my shirt? You just collapsed in a fit of coughs and nearly passed out…" Aizawa glared up at Toshinori, anger rising in his chest despite the fact that Toshinori was only trying to help.
Quickly he looked away, he wasn't angry at Toshinori, at least he shouldn't be, but each time that man was around his anger grew and started targeting him. A single moment and it was obvious that those glares weren't scaring him off this time. "I'm not going to the infirmary." He stated as he stood up.
"Okay," Toshinori stood up at well, holding his hands up to show mercy "At least take it easy for a bit." It took a bit of pride swallowing, but how could he blatantly say no to him when he used such a soft tone.
Aizawa slowly made his way to his bed and sat down as Toshinori headed to the door "I'll go get us something to drink." before leaving he turned to look back, "Are you going to lock me out?" the smile on his face made Aizawa want to lock him out, but instead he just shook his head and plopped over. With that, the blond left, closing the door after him.
He's not sure how much time passed, as he managed to catch a little more sleep, but by the time he woke up, he was in a fresh shirt and held two mugs. He felt a little groggy and his chest ached, but he still sat up and took the mug. "How long were you gone?" he asked as Toshinori sat on the bed next to him.
"Almost an hour" Aizawa grunted in acknowledgment as he took a sip of his drink, his face lifting a little as he realized it was his favourite tea. He debated on asking how the man knew his favourite tea but decided to just accept it without a fuss and drink it. In the end, he just shut his mouth and enjoyed the silent company and delicious drinks.
After a few minutes, that silence was broken by Toshinori "You kinda scared me for a second," he stated in a low tone, not turning to look at Aizawa as he spoke "You have people that care about you, Aizawa. Hanahaki is a serious illness, obviously, you've had it for a while with how much blood you were coughing up." Toshinori went on for a good minute, so much for not getting a lecture.
As the man went on talking, Aizawa thought to himself about what he was going through, all because of this thick-headed man in front of him. He could see Toshinori continue talking, his jaw moving but the words didn't quite reach the raven-haired teacher. As he stared at the man, someone expressing concern for his condition, he started to understand how much of an asshole he had been for absolutely no reason. He wasn't angry at him, he was just a target, Aizawa was pissed off at himself and was taking it out on the blond. Pissed at himself for catching Hanahaki, for falling in love with someone like that. Angry because he magically wanted Toshinori to know of his love without the struggle of saying it himself.
It made him feel stupid.
Before long, he was brought back to the land of the living by snapping fingers. "You weren't listening at all, were you?" Toshinori asked with a raised brow.
Aizawa looked him dead in the eyes as he took a drink of tea "Nope." he told him before a laugh erupted from Toshinori. It caught him by surprise, but it gave him a feeling. Hearing a real laugh out of him brought up that warm feeling in his chest, which is actually horrible because it caused him to cough up a petal or two, nothing too bad. Fucking feelings.
"I don't mean to pry, but who is it? I never saw you as someone who could catch Hanahaki." Toshinori asked to which he almost spat out his tea when he heard. That was one huge opening to tell him exactly who was responsible for this, though he couldn't blame it all on him, it was his choice to keep it from him. "I suppose everyone has insecurities. I bet if you told them you might be surprised by the answer-"
Before Toshinori could continue talking, Aizawa's first landed on top of his head to get him to stop talking. In a flurry of pride, embarrassment, and several other emotions, the words kinda just slipped out of his mouth. "You, moron!" he blurted out before physically freezing upon realizing that he just...said that...out loud…directly to his face...and smacked him on the head.
Silence fell between them as Aizawa envisioned himself digging his own grave 'hi ho hi ho, it's off the grave I go'. As the silence continued, Aizawa started to retreat within his walls, surrounding himself in the one place he knew he was safe. "I have to admit, I'm surprised." Toshinori piped up finally, his shocked expression lightened with a gentle smile on his face.
All those walls, and once again, he just waltzes in through the front door. The embarrassment Aizawa felt was horrible, it was unbearable, he just wanted Toshinori to leave… or worse, he wanted him to stay despite those feelings. "I'm glad you told me, even though it was a little painful-" he took a moment to rub his head where Aizawa smacked him. "I guess now it's my turn to confess." It was only fair since it was obvious Aizawa was out of his element "I didn't know how to go about it so I kept quiet, but lately… I've been attracted to you." Shit, well now he felt bad about hitting him and getting angry every time he saw that stupid face.
The raven-haired man reached a hand out toward Toshinori, placing it on top of his head "Sorry." he stated simply. It was obvious Toshinori didn't quite understand why he was apologizing from the look he gave him. "Sorry you have feelings for me," he told him in a flat but sarcastic tone as he stared him dead in the eyes. He enjoyed the startled look he got before being serious once again. "Joking, I'm sorry I smacked you." a small fleeting smile crossed his lips, the first in quite a while.
Just a few moments after that sweet sappy moment, pain seared in his chest and confusion filled his mind. He did what he was supposed to do to get rid of this, why was it hurting still? It all became clear after the pain subsided, sure he still coughed up petals, but he felt lighter. He felt better. "Okay, now we are going to go see Recovery girl," Toshinori told him, leaving no room for argument as he got up. It took Aizawa a little longer, but he followed, he could feel that the Hanahaki had left him. It was like he could finally breathe after months of suffocating.