"WHAT THE HELL?" that was izaya's first thought. a normal day had turned into an abnormal night. on the way up in the elevator, he had coughed once or twice but brushed it off as nothing but exactly that. just a few coughs. then, as he was typing away at his keyboard, dark eyes and smirked lips turned towards the bright monitor, he coughed some more. these hurt a little, unlike the ones from the elevator had. still, he didn't pay them any mind. coughing isn't an uncommon thing, after all. but now he was in his bathroom, staring in shock at the bloody, pink flower petals in his palm.
he just went in there to brush his teeth. the coughing started up when he passed the doorway. this coughing hurt a lot though. more than it had earlier on that evening. there was a bad tickle at the back of his throat. it was like he had to cough something up. like something was stuck and his body was trying to dislodge it from his esophagus or he'd choke. and izaya did cough something up. yet, this wasn't what he'd been expecting to come out of his mouth. his expression became disgusted and he looked up into the mirror, blood and saliva running down his chin. he used to sleeve to wipe that away. then his reddish hues were focused on those petals again. they were all wet and stained scarlet.
he didn't remember swallowing any flowers so why on earth was he coughing these up? shaking his head, he tossed them into the waste basket while swallowing. after washing his hands and face, he brushed his teeth. then, before leaving the room, he sent a glance towards the trashcan for only a moment. flower petals? in his throat? that wasn't possible. his head shook and he flipped the light switch off. maybe he was just... seeing things. it was almost two a.m., after all. his eyes were tired. yeah. that was a reasonable explanation. coughing up petals? there was no way.
izaya went to bed. for about an hour, he slept perfectly fine. then, he started coughing. they were hard, loud coughs that echoed off his bedroom walls. it hurt his chest and his throat and it was like they were never going to stop. he curled up slightly on the mattress, his knees to his chest and a hand over his mouth. the whole time, he had his eyes shut. eventually, he did calm down and, despite the feeling of dampness on his chin and in his hand, he just drifted off to sleep. he was tired and out of it and he didn't notice the mess he made until the next morning.
"what the...?" that was what he said when he opened his eyes the next morning and saw red. the broker sat up quickly, looking down at his hand which was covered in dried blood. he saw those petals, again, too. pink and shriveled up and once more covered in the same substance his fingers were. there was no way in hell this was possible. he got to his feet and went to the bathroom, looking into the trashcan. there were flower petals there, too! so he hadn't been seeing things or dreaming. he quickly washed his face and hands. then, he started searching through the medicine cabinet. he was rarely one to get sick yet he had medicine just in case.
izaya swallowed down more cough syrup than the recommended amount, taking a deep breath afterwards. hopefully that would do something. it had to, right? he went back to his room and stared at the bits of flower in his bedsheets. he shook his head as he picked them up, adding them to the waste bin. he had no idea what was happening to him but he didn't like it. was this some kind of new disease that was brought to ikebukuro? he placed a hand to his sternum and his eyes fluttered shut. there was a heaviness in his chest now. it was harder for him to breathe. he ignored that, though, and got ready. he couldn't just sit around all day, dealing with whatever this was.
before long, he was walking through the streets of the city with his hands in the pockets of his cheap looking coat. it was a nice day. the sunshine was warming his face and the breeze was blowing through his hair. that seemed to cheer the man up. he smiled a bit, continuing to move forwards with a skip in his step. by now, he was feeling better. the coughing seemed to have stopped and the only problem he was having, was that it was harder to breathe than normal. as long as he didn't run, though, he figured he'd be fine. izaya put the thought of the bloody flowers at the back of his mind, simply opting to enjoy the day and see what fun he could have. the informant didn't have any clients at the moment so he had time to do what he wanted to.
