The moment he coughed up his first petal, he knew something was wrong.
Shouta Aizawa didn't usually jump to conclusions like that. He was logical, rational, and thought hard about every possibility before making an educated guess.
But this was an exception.
As the tiny, pale yellow petal drifted down onto his expectant palm, he knew that something was wrong.
Holding the petal reminded him of sunshine, bright smiles, and-!
The tickle in his throat grew again until he couldn't hold it in any longer. Now knowing what to expect, Shouta held his hand over his mouth as he coughed into it.
He stared at the new petal, identical in every way to the first.
This was wrong.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
How many times had he visited the campus library recently? Not nearly enough.
As Shouta entered the library, he instinctively closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. The scent of paper and ink had always comforted him before. Although, it wasn't as comforting as-!
Without warning, his breath caught in his throat, a petal pushing its way out. Hand clamped over his mouth, Shouta retreated into the hallway and coughed hard, trying to expel the petal before anyone saw him.
This was becoming annoying.
Once his coughing fit was over, he reentered the library, casting a glance over his surroundings.
As usual, there were students milling around, but none of them had noticed him.
Which meant that none of them had noticed his coughing and hacking just outside the door. Good. The last thing he wanted was to have to deal with rumors that he was sick and should go home to recover.
He'd never explored the botany section of the library before, unfortunately, so he'd have to start from scratch. Pulling a few books off the shelves, Shouta headed for the individual study rooms. It was less likely someone would hear his hacking if he was secluded in a small room.
On the way, though, he passed through the Quirk analysis section. He paused, before selecting a few books and returning to his brisk pace towards the study room.
He needed to find out what was wrong.
Hours later, he was no closer to understanding what petals were even doing inside of his airway, let alone how to remove them.
Shouta rubbed his tired eyes, giving himself a break from the pages upon pages he'd been poring through.
Not one of them even mentioned petals originating from inside one's body.
It was a ludicrous thought, and Shouta would not have even considered it as a fact if anyone had asked him.
Until he had started coughing earlier.
Okay, new plan, he told himself. Pulling out a piece of scrap paper and a pen, Shouta set to work analyzing what he could of the situation.
Three petals have been 'discovered' so far.Petals are about four centimeters in diameter and pale yellow in color.Petals have a slightly sweet smell.Coughing expels the petals from the airway.
He paused, thinking. But how did they end up in my airway to begin with?
He thought back to the last couple of nights. Had he done anything, anything with flowers?
No, he was confident that nothing like that had happened.
His routine had been perfected throughout the years. Over the past few days, he knew that he had taught in the mornings, napped in the teacher's lounge, then gone straight on patrol before going home.
