A/N: Randomly had this idea and thought I might try writing a fic based on the Hanahaki trope for once. Posted this on anon at AO3 just because.
"Aren't you being a bit too cruel to me there... Ace? All I've ever asked was for you guys to give me a bit of help. Was that too much to ask for?"
"Actually... for quite a while now... I've grown to like you a lot. I thought that you were really a good guy. I guess it's my bad now, for even liking you in the first place."
"I guess in a way... everything was my fault. I had allowed myself to fall in love on my own... and I ended up getting hurt all on my own..."
He couldn't stop thinking about it, the look on Keiwa's face when the man had confessed their feelings for him. And it was right after he said quite a lot of hurtful things towards the man, even though it was never his intention to hurt that person's feelings.
"I'm not even asking for any of you to help me win the game, I just wanted help to save my sister... to free her and those other people from that giant Jyamato."
"Just because there's no real danger to the civilians in the game compared to the players, that doesn't mean they would never be harmed at all."
Perhaps he could have tried to listen to what Keiwa had tried to do if they had been able to convince the other two to help them save the hostages. Perhaps if he had known what Keiwa had originally planned to do to get their win against that Saboten Knight Jyamato, he could've prevented that person from acting so recklessly to make sure that they were able to save their sister.
"—I got so worn out... just to save my sister. World peace... trying to protect the world... turned out to not be an easy thing to do..."
Ace let out a long sigh.
Well, the current round of the DesiGra was already over now. And like the other players, all of the memories Sakurai Keiwa had about the DesiGra would've been erased from their minds once they were removed from the game. Which includes memories of meeting him.
So hopefully, that person would have a better life after this.
xxx
"Hey, look over there!"
He never thought he would end up meeting Sakurai Keiwa again so soon. And in such a situation as well! But now... instead of being part of the competitor, the man was in the game as part of the civilians to be protected.
.
"Now I really can't understand anything! What the heck with all these monsters?" cried Keiwa in frustration. "I don't think I can run from them any more! Is my life going to end just like this?"
Old man Tanba placed an arm over Keiwa's shoulder. "Get a hold of yourself, young man! If these kids could bear with this just fine, you also shouldn't be losing hope too soon!"
Keiwa looked up towards the old man, before turning his glance towards the pair of siblings standing next to them. But before he could say anything he was suddenly hit with an urge to cough badly...
.
This was not the Keiwa she used to know. The Keiwa she remembered was never this pessimistic. She immediately turned around towards Ace to ask if he knew the reason why Keiwa was behaving so strangely.
But before Neon could open her mouth, Keiwa suddenly started coughing very badly... as if there was something stuck inside his chest that he needed to get out.
"Ah! What is that?" Yoshiki exclaimed loudly as various pieces of flower petals continued to come out of Keiwa's mouth.
"Is it because of the vines on his neck?" cried Neon in alarm as Ace shook his head.
"No, it can't be. Kozue and Yoshiki still seemed fine without any side effects. But Tycoon had been coughing and having trouble breathing since the start of this round—"
.
Keiwa looked up towards Ace as he barely could keep himself awake. What was the guy trying to say now? And why did the man keep referring to him as 'Tycoon'? Was the man trying to say that this vine around his neck had nothing to do with him coughing out flower petals for no reason?
"Then what the hell's happening to me—!"
Before he could say anything more, the vines around his neck started to tighten—indicating the approach of the Jyamato Riders...
xxx
"What are we going to do now?" Neon lamented as Ace glanced worriedly towards Keiwa, whose face had turned even paler than how he'd looked prior. How on earth was he supposed to save the guy? Was there any guarantee that the man's condition would be restored once this round was cleared entirely? But they're not even sure if the disease was caused by Keiwa coming into this round as part of the game.
"Could that urban legend be true?" Kozue suddenly spoke out as Neon turned her attention towards the girl.
"You're talking about that Hanahaki myth, is it?" she asked before hastily shaking her head. "But that doesn't make sense, you know? Because that implied that Keiwa somehow had an unrequited one-sided love and that caused him to grow flowers inside his lungs—"
Keiwa rolled his eyes at the girls before coughing up another barrage of pink flower petals.
"You two... did you guys forget that I'm still here? And stop speculating on the kind of love life that I don't actually have!"
.
Ace bit his lips as he watched Keiwa and Neon continue to bicker with each other about the former's odd illness. Immediately he remembered the 'confession' he once had received from Keiwa during the last game. He never ended up giving Keiwa an answer for that confession and afterwards, the man had been removed from the game. He never thought that their remaining unresolved issues would come back and bite him back this way!
"So theoretically—" Ace suddenly spoke out to Kozue as the girl glanced up towards him. "Assuming that Tycoon really got this Hanahaki thing... what was it we supposed to do to save him?"
Kozue just shrugged. "Well, the person that Big Bro had a one-sided crush would've needed to return their feelings to undo that curse... or you can try to remove the flower petals surgically. But then that would make Big Bro lose whatever feelings of love that he used to have."
Keiwa turned his head sharply towards the direction of both Kozue and Ace.
"You guys! Didn't you hear what I said earlier? There's no such thing as me having an unrequited crush on anyone! There's no way that it's true—" Without warning, Keiwa started to cough rapidly. And to everyone's alarm, Keiwa started to cough blood as well as petals.
"Oh!" Keiwa gasped as Neon started noticing something off about the way Keiwa had been coughing.
"Oh no..." gasped Neon after asking to take a look at the kerchief that Keiwa had been using.
"There's a thorn!" cried Yoshiki as he glanced towards Keiwa in alarm. "Is Big Bro in pain?
Keiwa tried to smile at the boy to show the kid that he was still fine at the moment. But the next second, the vines on their necks started to tighten up.
.
"Get them to safety!" barked Ace towards the old man as he told Keilow to take Keiwa and the kids to run as he and Na-Go tried to fend the Jyamato away from the others. But before the others could run too far, Keiwa fell onto the floor, unconscious.