(a/n: sorry it took so long!)
We walked in to the waiting room and Kaito sat me down in one of the chairs and then went over to the front desk and started to talk with the lady at the front desk.
He came back about a minute later and sat down next to me. "we're in room 3... we're just a bit early, so we'll have to wait a bit." "w-wait, you've already got an appointment??" he smiled a bit and leaned back in his chair "yeah, I called them yesterday, so everything's all ready" I stared at him, shocked "but that costs money! I-I can't just let you pay for me...!" he looked over at me "it's seriously no problem, just don't worry about i—" "Aiko Fukui?" I flinched a bit. Kaito was cut off by the doctor calling from the entrance to room 3 "ah, that was quicker than I thought..." Kaito smiled a bit and got up. Gesturing for me to too. I stood up next to him and we walked in.
We both sat in the two seats that were there for patients and then the doctor started talking. "so... which of you is Fukui" "ah, t-that's me..." I looked up a bit and the doctor looked at me seriously. "it says that you're here for supposed hanahaki disease...?" he was staring right at me and i kind of froze up. Luckily though, Kaito spoke up for me, pulling my hood back to reveal the flowers dotted down the side of my face. "yeah, my friend here has been coughing up blood and flowers for the last couple of days and it's getting a lot worse" the doctor's face went grim and he just stared at the flowers for a bit "...you should've come sooner..." I looked down, wondering what to do "y-yeah... I'm sorry about that...." The doctor sighed and looked away at his computer, typing something up "sorry, but with how much it's developed... all I can do is write you a prescription for the pill and recommend you a surgeon..." "...don't bother with the surgeon...i-I won't be having surgery to remove it...." He turned to look at me again questioningly "...you do know that if the other cure doesn't work, that you will end up dying, right?" I nodded and Kaito turned to stare at me, wide-eyed. "what!?" I didn't react and he turned to look at the doctor "sir, sorry, but what's the other cure??" he looked at Kaito, with the same straight face he'd been using the whole time "do you not know..?" stupid question "y-yeah..." "well, this disease is caused by unrequited love. The way to cure it that doesn't include surgery is for the one that the patient loves to feel the same way..." Kaito paled and stared blankly at the doctor "....the one he loves...?" he turned and looked at me, seeming confused "yes." The doctor printed out a piece of paper and then handed it to Kaito, who took it and started to read it over "this printout contains the specifications of how to cure the disease, it should be helpful to you both..." he then printed out another piece of paper, signed it, then handed that to me "this's the prescription for the pill. Take it to the front desk and the staff should have some..." I took it and he sat back down "that's all I can help you with for now, please take care" Kaito bowed solemnly and then grabbed hold of my hand "thank you for your time sir, you've been a great help..." Kaito was talking formally... he hasn't ever spoken like that before... my thoughts were suddenly cut off by Kaito pulling me through the exit. I quickly bowed to the doctor and then we headed to the front desk. Kaito was quiet the whole time. I got the pills and he just waited, reading the sheet the doctor gave him until I was done.
We walked back to my house in complete silence.
Kaito's face was blank. I couldn't tell what was going on in his head. He didn't speak to me, but walked with me all the way back to my house. It seemed like he was in some sort of trance.
He stayed like that until we arrived at my place, when I turned to face him before walking in "....Kaito?" he seemed to immediately snap out of that 'blank' state he was in, and looked down at me "y...yeah?" "...I'll, uh, meet you at school tomorrow..." "right." His answer was kind of blunt, and he still seemed a bit dazed. I smiled a bit to him, confused, but trying to reassure him. I'm sure that he's like this because of me, it's probably my fault. i turned and then walked inside, closing the door behind me and, as soon as it was closed, leant against it and fell limply to the floor, sighing. Kaito didn't leave right away, I heard his footsteps leave about 30 seconds after I went inside. I simply sat on the floor, leaning against the door with my knees tucked up against my chest, my head resting on them.
I felt disconnected somehow.
Disconnected from everything and nothing in particular.
I sat there against the door for who knows how long, my head tilted a bit so that I could look at my medication that had fell out of my pocket when I'd sat down. It was a small box with a branding label on the front, the sides had the ingredients and some phone numbers, and the bottom had directions for how to take them. i couldn't be bothered to pick them up and so I just looked at them. on the way out of the chemist, where Kaito and I had bought the meds, on our way home, I read the back of the packet for info on when to take them. I'm meant to have four a day, two in the morning, two at night. I sighed and reached out for it, grabbing the aluminium sheet of tablets. I dropped the box to the floor and looked at the sheet, flipping it over to see the tablets inside.
I sat there for a little while longer, trying to process the information the doctor gave me.
"I'm actually going to die...."
That didn't hit me as hard as I thought it would, I actually laughed at the thought of it. This medicine, all it's gonna do is give me a little while longer to live... all it'll do is calm the flowers down a bit.......
Nothing can save me but Kaito.
I found myself laughing softly, still holding the medicine but not looking at it anymore. This's pathetic... I'm gonna die, and it's all because I fell in love with a guy who'd never like me back... honestly, this is all my fault. I'm the one who's responsible for this.
I eventually got up and walked over to the kitchen, leaving the packet with the rest of the medication and whatever else I dropped, I wasn't really paying attention. I was just tired and sick of feeling pathetic like this. The only problem was that I didn't know how to lift myself up.
I poured myself a glass of water and took two tablets, swallowing them and then walking up to my bedroom, where I practically collapsed on my bed. I lay looking at the pin I'd stuck in the wall and at my left arm that was lying in front of me, scars still visible and not fully healed. I spent a few minutes just lying there and eventually fell asleep, my mind a mess of thought about the medication, the hanahaki, Kaito etc.
I woke u—actually, no, I regained consciousness at around 3:00am, I didn't actually 'wake up' or put any effort into doing anything until around 4:00. It was still dark outside, and yet I couldn't get back to sleep.
I walked into the living room, still in my pyjamas since I couldn't be bothered to get changed, and opened the main window, looking out into the quiet streets. Everything was dark and I waited a while for my eyes to adjust. I sighed and slumped over the window-sill, resting my head on my arms and feeling the cool breeze from outside flowing in.
At that moment, in that second, I didn't want anything to change. Everything was perfect, and if I was going to die, I wanted to spend my time like this. I know it's stupid and pathetic to think like that, and that I should be more positive, but that's just how it felt.
Until I heard my phone buzz from where I'd dropped it earlier. Apparently, it fell out of my pocket with the medication and my house keys when I got home. I sluggishly walked over to the doorway and picked my phone up, turning it on, only to be blinded by the light of my lock screen. There was one message from 'Kaito'. Somehow, it took me a few seconds to process who 'Kaito' was.
I eventually opened the message and read it over a few times. It wasn't much really, just a text, but the time that he sent it.
He's awake...
Kaito: hey, are you up?
Me: Yeah, why?
Kaito is typing...
I watched my phone intently, despite still being kind of tired, I wanted to know why he, of all people, was awake at 4:13am. There was a ping from my phone as the next message appeared.
Kaito: I can't sleep + wanted to ask you something.
Me: ...
Me: ask me something?
Kaito: Yeah
Me: what is it?
I sat back down at the window sill and propped my phone up in front of me, fiddling with the flower growing from my temple as I waited for his response. There was nothing for a little while until my phone buzzed and a call notification came up from Kaito. "....." I looked at the screen for a bit, confused, and then hesitantly pressed 'answer'.
"why call...?" I didn't know what else to say. I heard a sigh before he said anything and his voice sounded tired "I didn't really want to just do it through text" "..." I hesitated and looked suspiciously at my phone, which was lying on the windowsill, the volume turned all the way up so that I could hear Kaito without having to hold it. "...well what is it? What'd you want to talk about?" I heard movement and then then a fwump sort of noise. "...the hanahaki thing, and how to cure it" "...what do you mean, how to cure it?" there was the rustling of paper and then some sort of thunk "I'm putting you on speaker, just wait a sec-" there was a short pause and then Kaito started talking again "here, on the paper that the doctor gave me, it says there's two cures..." "mhm, surgery and if the love is returned, right?" "right, and I've been reading this crap over and over, and I've figured something out" ....!?!? I stayed silent, not knowing what to say, and after a few seconds Kaito kept talking "there's a bit of a loophole, and I think I've figured out how to cure you..." "wait- what the heck!?" I stood up and held my phone to my ear, determined "you figured out how to get rid of i—" I was cut off by my throat feeling full again and the soft sensation of the flower petals that I'd all but gotten used to. I didn't let it stop me though, I kept on talking while trying to hold them in. "you figured out how to—koff- f-fix it??" there was a pause from Kaito and then his tone turned concerned "yeah, and from the sounds of it, you need it now..." he sighed and then continued "I know this probably sounds weird, but come over to my place, everyone's asleep except me, so don't worry 'bout trying to hide the flowers" at this, I grabbed a hoodie and went to slip my shoes on, keeping my phone to my ear with my shoulder "kay, I'm coming, I'll be there in a bit" "yeah, just don't push yourself alright?" I finished tying my shoes and walked to the door, pulling my hoodie over my head. "right" there was a short pause and then a beep from my phone as Kaito hung up.