The Hanahaki Disease// Voltron AU

3.1: not just a dream

Playlist: Somebody Else - The 1975

After

The first thing I did when I got to my dorm was hug Hunk. "Oph. Hey buddy." He said as I startled him with my presence, slamming into his chest. My parents laughed at me but I didn't care. I missed Hunk. I missed all of my friends. I couldn't wait to see them.

"I missed you my friend." I tell him as I finally let go. "I've been so bored all break."

"He was practically climbing the walls he had so much energy." My Mom said as she set my backpack down on my bed.

"Momma." I groaned as Hunk laughed. I tried to clear my throat as I felt that gnawing itch and my mom touched my shoulder lightly.

"I told you we should have gone to the doctors about that cough." My Mom scolds. I shrug sheepishly, trying to smile.

"It's just a cough. You gave me a bunch of medicine, I'll be fine."

"You better be." Hunk interjects. "I don't want to catch whatever you have." I laugh, as does my parents. The truth is, I don't think Hunk can catch this sickness, or this disease whatever. I finally worked the nerve up to check out my symptoms online (even though most of the time, WEB MD is bullshit but, then again, this whole coughing up flowers thing is bullshit). And the results I found were... Almost nonexistent. The only thing I was able to really find that sounded concrete was a stupid wiki page for something called the Hanahaki Disease. I read the beginning lines so many times, that they're basically seared into my brain.

The Hanahaki Disease is an illness born from a one-sided love, where the patient throws up and coughs up flower petals or flowers when they suffer from unrequited love. If the love is not returned, the flowers continue to grow inside the infected's lungs until the infected dies.

In Japanese, hana apparently means "flower", and hakimasu means "to throw up". I hadn't started throwing up flowers yet but I think that's beside the point. The real question is, who the hell did I fall in love with? The website said it had to be romantic love and for the life of me, I couldn't pinpoint anyone I had fallen in love with. (Does my crush on Keith count? I don't think it counts. But then again, I've never been in love before, I have a lot of love but I don't know what being in Love feels like.)

But you know the real kicker, The Hanahaki Disease, as far as I could tell, is fictional. It only exists in fanfiction and movies and other fictional places. Nobody should actually die from this stupid thing. I kind of thought I was crazy. Maybe I was loosing my mind. Maybe I wasn't actually coughing up flower petals. According to wiki, I was on the early stages of the disease. I hadn't even coughed up a full blown flower yet, but the number of purple petals kept increasing.

I hadn't told my family about the petals, obviously but I felt like I could tell Hunk maybe, if this kept getting worse. My parents were getting ready to leave and I was hugging them goodbye, coughing into my sleeve as I pulled out of my hug with my mom. She touched my face delicately. "Don't overwork yourself Lance." She murmured. I nodded, pulling her hand from my face and kissing her knuckles.

"I'm be fine mamma." Hunk and I walk my parents down to the parking lot where we wave goodbye to them as they get in their car. I end up coughing up another flower petal or two into my hand when I think Hunk isn't paying attention.

"That's one bad cough dude." He tells me as we walk back to our room. "I swear to god I'll hurt you if you get me sick." He was with a smile. I laugh, my throat becoming agitated by the action.

"Trust me my friend, you won't catch what I have."

----

"Guess who?" I said, putting my hands over Keith's eyes and trying to alter my voice so he wouldn't be able to tell it was me. I felt his back stiffen against me as the two of us paused in the hallway, other students streaming past us. His body relaxed a little and Keith grabbed my hands, pulling them down.