We headed inside U.A. and into the teachers lounge, I was hoping no one else would be there, but there sat All Might at a desk doing something on the computer.
"Don't mind us, All Might." Mr. Aizawa said casually as he offered me a chair.
"Hello, Aizawa and young Kaminari. Have you been up to no good?" He asked me.
"Um, no sir." I tried to stop, but I began to cough again.
All Might looked concerned, but Mr. Aizawa waved him off and sat in front of me.
"You can start by showing me what's in your pocket."
I shakily moved my hand to grab the petal I had hidden from him, but at the last second I reached for something else that was in my pocket.
The only other thing I had in there was my student ID, so I pulled that out and showed it to him.
"Kaminari..." He murmured as he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance, "There is no way that fit in your mouth, and plus, the thing I saw was red."
I noticed All Might peeking his head over the monitor curiously.
I frowned at the floor, put my hand back in my pocket and took out the petal.
I didn't look at him as I spread my hand out, with it resting on my palm.
"I-It was a dare. Someone dared me to eat it."
If it was possible, Mr. Aizawa seemed to get even more annoyed.
"You are the worst liar in the world." He seemed like he was about to start pulling his hair out.
"Not to intrude..." we both looked up to see All Might walking over to us, "But, are you saying that young Kaminari here spit that up?"
Mr. Aizawa nodded at him, "He won't stop lying to me about it though."
"I-I'm not lying!!" I made a terrible effort to defend myself.
"See? There he goes again." My teacher stood up and swiped the flower petal out of my hand to look at it closer.
Then he showed it to All Might, "What do you think?"
He thought for a second then replied, "It's definitely a flower."
As Mr. Aizawa sighed, All Might quickly waved his hands around and said, "Wait! Uh... I heard that flowers are supposed to represent something, let's go on my computer!!"
He ran over to it and we both followed him considerably less enthusiastically.
He started typing onto his keyboard, then read aloud, "Their deep red hues evoke feelings of passion, love, and lust - Nah, too young for that - making them an especially popular choice for new, younger couples."
Mr. Aizawa crossed his arms, but continued to listen.
"They can also mean "believe me" or "my feelings are true." So, the next time you're trying to woo the person you admire, send them an alluring bouquet of red tulips."
"You didn't have to add the last part, All Might."
"Hey! I was just reading, I wasn't coming up with that stuff myself!" He defended himself.
"Yeah, yeah." Mr. Aizawa turned to me, "So, who are you in love with?"
"W-WHAT?!" I spluttered, "WHAT EVEN MAKES YOU THINK THAT!?"
"For starters, your reaction. And also the fact you regurgitated a tulip."
I mean- he's right! But, what am I supposed to say to that?!
All Might tapped his forehead, "Could it be young Midoriya? Or young Todoroki?"
"You spend a lot of time around Bakugo, is it him?" Mr. Aizawa contributed.
Why are they both only saying the boys names?! How do they know???
"Young Iida?"
"Sero?"
"What about young Kirishima?"
"Oh yeah, you guys are close-"
Just him mentioning his name made me lose balance as I started throwing a coughing fit till I fell to the ground, vomiting up flowers.
They both dropped to their knees next to me it looked like they were trying to say something, but I couldn't hear a word coming out of their mouths.
The pain was by far the worst I've experienced, my throat seemed to be getting torn up from the inside, my lungs felt like they were on fire.
And then, with one final hack, something big became unlodged from my throat.
I sat up slowly and looked at it, my eyes widened when I saw an entire tulip sitting in a bed of red petals.
And I noticed that the red wasn't only because of the flowers, they were coated in a thin layer of red liquid.
My blood.
Then the sight was yanked away from me in a flash, everything seemed to sway as I was carried through U.A. halls.
"Even in your weakened form you're fast-" I heard Mr. Aizawa say.
All Might didn't respond, he just made a dizzying turn and it caused me to wiggle around in his arms.
"Recovery Girl!" All Might shouted as he flung the door to the nurse's office open.
"All Might? Did another student get injured on your watch?" She sighed exasperatedly, but her mood changed when she saw me, "Oh my."
"I-I'm fine-!" I croaked out, but no one seemed very convinced.
"Lay him there." She pointed to the bed that Midoriya had been laying on eariler, All Might sat me down on there, "Tell me what happened."
All Might looked at Mr. Aizawa expectantly, "Aizawa will tell you, I only know some of it."
Mr. Aizawa sighed, "Well, Kaminari was falling behind in practice, when I told him to get going he fell flat on his face."
"What was he doing?" Recovery Girl asked.
"Laps, I assume now that he couldn't run because his lungs are, well-"
"Lungs?" She demanded.
Mr. Aizawa explained what happened in the teachers lounge as I coughed up a flower petal.
She looked at me with pity and picked up the flower to inspect it. "Aizawa, you better go back to your class, you can tell them that Kaminari here has a small health concern if need be. But don't tell them what it actually is."
He nodded, "Take care of him."
"What do you think I'm doing?" She retorted as he left the room.
Then she turned to me the second he was gone and asked, "Would you mind telling me who you have it for?"
I stifled a small cough and looked away, "I guess I have to, right..?"
"No. But it would make everything easier if you did."
"Okay... uh. Kirishima." A petal flew from my mouth and landed infront of me.
She nodded thoughtfully. "Hmm. So, we better get the worst over with. You have three options."
I jumped, "W-what?"
"First, the one I would suggest, get surgery to remove the flowers."
"I-"
"Two, tell him and the flowers might leave on their own."
Her face turned dark and All Might put his hand on my shoulder.
"Or three, choose neither and die."
"Those are it-?" I tried to say.
"They all have cons and pros. Like the first one, surgery means that you will likely survive, though there is some risk, but it also means that you will completely forget about Kirishima."
"I can't just forget about him-!"
"Let me finish. For the second one you have no way of knowing if Kirishima truly likes you until you tell him, if he does then great. But if otherwise the rate the flowers grow will quadruple and kill you near instantly."
"Then the last one I don't think anyone wants." Recovery Girl sighed and looked down at her chart. "This is a terrible disease and the chances of you dying are great. But I think that if you choose right then you will live."
"You don't have to make any decisions right now!" All Might quickly added in, "We can call your parents over and you can discuss it with them-"
"No!" I shouted before dropping my gaze down to my hands. "I don't want to make them worry."
"This is a life-threatening condition, you have to tell them something." Recovery Girl inisited, "With everyday that passes the flowers get even more rooted in your lungs and the more your chances of surviving diminishes."
All Might jumped, "What?! So what are the chances right now?"
"Depends on how long Kaminari has had it." They both turned to me.
"I-well... don't tell Mr. Aizawa..."
"I think that's out of the question." Recovery Girl said.
"Fine... f-four."
"Four what?"
"Weeks..."
All Might looked franticly at Recovery Girl, "Is that bad?"
"Yes... I'd advise you make a choice within the next week, the sooner the better."
Then All Might gave me a smile and patted my head, "Don't worry, young Kaminari, I'm sure it will all turn out fine."
I nodded. "I should... uh, probably get back to the dorms now."
"Would you like me to walk you there?"
"Nah, I think I'll be fine." I waved bye as I left the room and then made my way through the halls.
The weight of the decision I have to come to is crushing down on me, what if I don't make the right choice?
