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"Can't block. Can't forget. Can't have. Can't lose.
The story of one-sided love."
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"Karma, you have the Hanahaki Disease," said Gakushu. "I know you do."
Karma's eyed widened slightly, almost unnoticeably, in surprise. But Gakushu saw. "I don't, why do you accuse me of such a thing!?"
"Cause it's true. Admit it," he demanded.
"And what? You'll spare me?" joked the redhead mockingly.
"Maybe."
Then Karma's expression turned into serious one. "Look, if you think this will work, it won't."
"It will. I will make things work."
"You can't and you won't. It's impossible ok? You're an idiot if you think you can do anything. Ok? And it's fine. Really. I couldn't care less."
"Don't say that! You don't know how much people love you!"
"Like who?"
"...Me."
Gakushu woke up covered in sweat. The dream had felt so real. So unbelievably real.
He was afraid of Karma finding out that he loved him. It was one of his worst fears because if Karma mocked him for it then he didn't think he'd be able to handle it. He didn't think he'd be strong enough to face the one person in the entire world that he loved making fun of him, mocking him. But worst of all, he feared that Karma would hate him. He couldn't stand to think that the redhead would. And he most definitely was not strong enough to survive that.
[•-•]
"Akabane!" It was Gakushu. Gakushu who Karma had been trying to avoid in fear of being confronted. "Akabane!" he called again, but with more force.
"What! Leave me alone, I'm trying to go back to my classroom."
"Why? So you won't be late?" said the strawberry blonde in an obviously sarcastic voice.
"No, I just want to have some peace like people like you won't understand," said Karma, walking faster.
Gakushu put a hand on the redhead's shoulder to stop him. And surprisingly he actually did. "I know you have the Hanahaki Disease," he started.
"I don't." Gakushu couldn't see Karma's face when he said that, as his back was turned to him, but he was sure something in his experience would betray his answer.
"Yes, you do. Just admit it already, will you? I know now so there's no point."
"I. Don't. Have. It," he hissed.
"I said stop it! Stop lying to me!" He turned Karma to look at him. "I know you're lying! I'm a hundred percent sure you are. So drop the act."
The redhead scowled and pushed Gakushu away. "Can you mind your own business for once? Or are you just desperate for something to use against me?"
The last part struck Gakushu like an insult. He thought he was going to make fun of him for it? He thought he was going to tell the whole school? Spread rumors? Of course he would. They were supposed to be rivals after all. "I'm not going to use something like that! Do you take me for some sick idiot? That wouldn't be right. I would never. You believe me, right?"
"Do I have a reason to believe you?"
"I suppose not... But I want to help," he said. Gakushu looked incredibly similar to a misunderstood child. Wide eyes, innocent look. He even seemed to be looking up at him.
"Like I already asked, how are you going to help at all? You can't do shit."
"Akabane—"
"No, you can't possibly help, so, just. Give. Up."
"I will never give up on you."
[•-•]
Karma tried to sleep, but he kept thinking about what Gakushu had said. "I will never give up on you." It made him want to let the boy in, to let him help. But he couldn't afford to do that. Not for someone who could easily turn on him.
And because he kept thinking of this scene, he kept throwing up. It started with just two times. Then throughout the night five in total.
Karma had fallen asleep finally only for his "alarm clock" to go off at least an hour later. He groaned, rolling onto his side and covering his ears with his hands. It felt like he had only slept for mere seconds. Maybe he could skip school for just one day... He didn't think he'd be able to drag himself out of bed like last time.
Finally, after a few minutes, the redhead grabbed his phone and picked up Nagisa's call. "I'm actually sick this time, I'm not lying..."
There was hesitation on the other side of the phone before the bluenette spoke. "You do sound sort of sick..." He sighed and said, "Get better soon," and hung up.
Karma was happy that someone actually believed him when he said he wasn't well. It was nice. Nice to know that not everyone just thought of him as a lying piece of shit.
The redhead's eyelids because droopy and before he knew it he was asleep.
[•-•]
Gakushu anxiously waited for Karma to make his daily visit to the main campus. But he never came, and he was starting to get worried. What if he had it for so long he was already dead? What if something bad happened?
He pushed those thoughts out of his head with a sigh. Why was he so scared that this might happen? It obviously will not. He'll save Karma before then.
He had an idea. It might not work, but it was worth a shot. Now he was on his way to his father's office.
[•-•]
Karma woke up at ten in the morning. He didn't feel much better, but he didn't feel as tired as before. He still felt sick to his stomach. He still didn't want to get out of bed, or perhaps he physically couldn't. He still was hiding under the covers like they were going to protect him from anyone who decided to bother him.
He doubted his parents knew he was still home because they probably would have forced him to go to school by now.
Maybe I'll just sleep some more...
[•-•]
"Enter," came Gakuho's voice as Gakushu knocked on the door to his office.
"Hello—"
"What do you need?"
"Do you have Akabane's phone number? I don't see why you would but—" started Gakushu, but was cut off.
"Yes I do, but why do you need it?" asked the chairman, raising an eyebrow.
"He didn't come to school today so I wanted to see why."
Gakuho muttered something about children and dumb excuses that the strawberry blonde couldn't quite hear but had a fairly good idea of what was said.
"Here." Gakuho handed him a piece of paper with numbers scrawled on it in ink.
"Thank you sir," he said and left.
Now he just needed to wait for school to end and he could call or text Karma.
"Hey, Asano-Kun!" It was his friend, Ren.
"Did you need something?" Gakushu questioned.
"Just seeing your status with you know who," he smirked.
He blushed. "When did this become your business?"
"Ooh, did something happen?"
"No!"
"Something definitely happened."
"Shut up, I'll tell you later."
Ren seemed satisfied and stopped pestering him.
"So, what's up? Why are you suddenly so obsessed with Akabane-Kun?"
"Just...something."
"Very descriptive."
"I can't really tell you."
"Come onnn," whined Ren. "I won't tell anyone."
"Yeah, sure," Gakushu rolled his eyes.
"But I really won't."
"I can't trust you with someone else's secret, that would be worse than telling you one of my secrets."
[•-•]
Karma woke up to his phone ringing. After it stopped, it rang again after a few minutes. He grabbed it and accepted the call.
"Who is this?"
"Gakushu."
"How the fuck did you get my number?" He was almost certain that the strawberry blonde was a stalker.
"I have my ways." Karma could almost hear him shrug.
He frowned. "What do you want?"
"To help you."
"No."
"Yes."
Karma rolled his eyes. "Hey you're going to give up sooner or later anyway so why try?"
"Why are you stopping me from trying if I'll give up? Won't it just be better for you when I give up? Or do you know that I really won't?" Karma swore he almost saw the smug look on the strawberry blonde's face.
"But I don't want you to try. You're going to waste your time."
"So what, you're just going to die? That's it? You're not going to put up a fight?"
"Don't you think I'm putting up a fight right now? To keep myself alive? Don't you think I want to try? That I want to have hope? The thing is, hope can either brutally get your hopes up or give you the strength to make it through," said Karma. "I don't want to believe something that won't happen."
"But you can still live—"
"No, I can't. That's the story of one sided love," Karma shrugged. "You get the Hanahaki Disease and you die. You die from a fucking flower."
"Not everyone dies," said Gakushu.
"Most of them do."
"Please, let me help, I know I can do it! I know thinks will work out!"
"Stop. Just stop. I-I don't want to think things can turn out for the better only to find out it won't," said Karma.
"Akabane—" The redhead never found out what he was going to say because he hung up. He decided that he would block Gakushu's number if he called again. But he didn't. Karma didn't know if he was disappointed or relieved.
He sighed. He felt the flowers coming up and it hurt like fire. But it was going to end some time soon so it didn't really matter.
Word count 1607
Hi, I planned to have this chapter out sooner but I got kind of side tracked 😅
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Have a good day or night and make sure to take care of yourself ❤️❤️