‘Hanahaki disease,’ the doctor says. It isn’t a surprise, but the confirmation lands like a stone. ‘Very rare in someone your age. Do you know what that means, for you?
‘I don’t know,’ Kenma says.
‘Well,’ the doctor begins, with a deep breath, as though she doesn’t want to be having the conversation either, ‘it’s a psychosomatic illness. It’s associated with unrequited love, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s more accurate to associate the illness with a love that's unfulfilled; the belief that it’s unrequited. The pining; the pain. It can spontaneously go into remission, but it can - fester. It can be fatal, if left untreated.’
‘Treatment?' Kenma echoes, numb.
‘You can wait and see if it clears up,’ the doctor says, although she sounds doubtful. ‘But at your age...' She cuts herself off. 'You can get the flowers pruned, if you don’t want a full flosectomy. But if they don’t clear up - that’s the only option.’
‘Why can’t I just get them out now?’
She smiles again, shadowy. ‘The removal of the flowers also removes any emotion you feel towards the person.’
Kenma stays, quiet and sure, ‘I can’t do that.’ He takes a deep breath. He feels the petals shiver inside him. ‘How long, before I have to…’
‘Before you have to decide?’ the doctor asks, small, grim smile still on her mouth. It’s not really a question. ‘Not long. Weeks.’
‘What can I do,’ Kenma mumbles, and he’s not sure who he’s talking to, or what he’s talking about. ‘What can I do - what can I -’
The doctor watches him. She has a distant, maternal expression. ‘It’s unusual for your age,' she repeats. ‘How long - the person?’
‘All my life,’ Kenma replies - graceful in the face of the truth. Her face closes like curtains.
‘Consider the removal, in that case,’ is all she says before bidding him goodbye, and sending him home, a prescription for floral growth suppressant in the same hand that had held the petal.
YOU ARE READING
Kuroken Angst ~ Hanahaki
FanfictionKenma is afflictecd with hanahaki disease- an illness borne of love believed to be unrequited- that causes him to cough up bright blue flowers. 'Whats in your hand?' Kuroos voice trembles like a violin string. he already knows.
