Take My Breath Away | Peko Pekoyama

05 | Deadheading

It wasn't an uncommon sight to see Peko and Misa eating lunch together in the cafeteria. They didn't sit with their other friends as they liked to have a table to themselves. Misa knew that the lack of people made it easier for Peko to let her guard down. It was comfortable when it was just the two of them.

Normally, Peko would listen intently as Misa jabbered on about anything and everything - she found the girl's excitement over the most mundane things to be endearing - but today she just couldn't pay attention, no matter how hard she tried. Her mind kept wandering back to the late night chat she had had with Mikan the night before.

Hanahaki.

The mysterious illness that had been plaguing Peko for days now had a name. According to Mikan, the Hanahaki disease was an extremely rare illness that was caused by unrequited love. It caused flowers to bloom in the victim's chest, their roots wrapping tightly around the person's lungs until they die. Mikan said that there was five stages of Hanahaki. The first stage is coughing. She said that this stage could last the longest as victims usually assumed that they were only fighting the common cold. The second stage begins when the victim starts to cough out flower petals, often coated in blood. The third is when the vomiting begins. This is usually when victims begin to consider surgery. The fourth is the most painful stage as instead of flower petals, the victim begins to vomit fully grown flowers - stems and all. The fifth stage is overgrowth. The flowers in the victim's chest would wrap so tightly around their lungs that they would be unable to breath. And then they would die.

Mikan had told Peko that she was still in the second stage so she wasn't in any immediate danger, but that she should start to consider her options; confess her feelings to the one she loved, or get the surgery.

The surgery sounded easier. She would be sent to a specialized hospital, they would put her to sleep, and when she woke up, the flowers in her chest would have been surgically removed. It was simple. Easy. Quick. And yet she knew she could never bring herself to do it. The surgery was convenient but it came with a price; once the flowers were removed from a patient, they would lose the ability to feel forever. Peko wasn't very skilled or knowledgeable when it came to emotions, but she believed that it would be worse to never be able to feel again than to die.

Peko had lied to Mikan. Mikan knew that Peko had lied. Peko knew that Mikan knew that she lied. And yet she had lied anyways. She had told the nurse that she had no idea who had caused the disease to spring to life within her. The nurse hadn't pushed her, but how could anyone not realize who the swordswoman was in love with when they saw the bloody petals of a yellow begonia?

So, yes, Peko had been a tad bit distracted at lunch that day.

When she finally zoned back in on Misa's face, Peko let out a quiet snort. While the brunette had been eating yogurt out of a small plastic container, she had somehow managed to get some on the tip of her nose.

"I, uh, think you've got a little something on your face there." said Peko as she gently tapped her finger on her nose to show Misa where it was. Misa's face burned and she hurriedly picked up a napkin to wipe it off.

"Did I get it?"

Peko tilted her head to the side and gave a small smile.

"Not quite." Peko took the napkin from Misa's hand and wiped the yogurt off. The two girls stared at each other in silence for a few moments before Peko felt her throat tighten painfully.

"I just remembered that I have to go meet with Yukizome before lunch ends. She told me that she needed some assistance with... stuff." Peko internally cringed at her horrible excuse and sped out of the room leaving Misa staring after her with her mouth hanging open.

-

Misa had forgotten to bring Peko's rose that morning. Her illness had kept her awake all night and by the time she had finally gotten to sleep, she had slept through her alarm. Peko's strange disappearance at lunch provided Misa with the perfect opportunity to go to her dorm room, fetch a rose, and bring it to Peko before class started again.

Misa stood in the doorway of the classroom, not making any move to enter. She merely watched as Peko sat next to Fuyuhiko across the room, happily chatting and laughing together. Miss Yukizome wasn't there. Misa didn't know that Peko and Fuyuhiko were friends. She had never even seen them speak to each other. But they looked awfully happy. This was the brightest that Misa had seen Peko smile in days.

Is that my fault?

Misa felt her body slump, the rose in her hand suddenly feeling a thousand times heavier. She had been trying so hard to become friends with Peko, but was it possible that she had accidentally been forcing Peko to be friends with her? Sometime along the way, Misa had felt her feelings transform from those of friendship into something more and the thought of Peko not even wanting to be friends with her made her stomach churn.

No. Misa, you're being ridiculous. Of course Peko wants to be friends with you. She would have said something if she didn't.

Fuyuhiko said something that Misa couldn't hear and grabbed Peko's hand. Peko smiled.

Misa felt an unbearable tightness in her chest. She dropped the rose in the garbage can and left before she could be noticed by either of the teens.

-

Chiaki had been standing by her locker with Hajime when she saw Misa sprint by her with tears streaming down her face. After saying a quick goodbye to the boy beside her, the gamer took off after the florist with speed that nobody knew she had. She caught up with the brunette just outside the cafeteria and put her hand on the girl's shoulder, gently turning her around. Misa clutched her chest as if were trying to pull something out of it.

"Misa, what's wrong?" Chiaki asked.

"Can't - I can't breathe! Chi-Chiaki I - I can't-"

"Hey," Chiaki said in a soft voice, "it's okay. You're going to be okay. Just take some deep breaths for me, okay? Breath in, two, three, out, two, three."

Misa tried to follow Chiaki's instructions and it seemed to help for a moment before the pain caused her to flinch and broke her out of it. She shook her head wildly as she clutched her chest again and ran to her room. Chiaki followed after her.

Misa had been in such a rush that she hadn't even closed the door to her dorm. She had merely flung herself into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. When Chiaki arrived, she sat down on the floor and leaned her head against the wooden door. She could hear Misa sobbing and vomiting inside.

"Misa," Chiaki asked gently when the noise seemed to stop, "would you like me to get Mikan?"

It was silent for a moment before Misa released another soft sob.

"I don't know what's happening to me."

"Do you want me to get Mikan?" Chiaki asked again.

"N-no," Misa hiccuped, "please, just give me some time to figure this out on my own first. This isn't... normal. I don't know if she'll know much more than I do and I think that would make her feel bad. I'm sorry to have worried you and wasted your time. I'll be okay. Please, go back to class."

Chiaki placed her hand against the door and was about to argue before letting out a sigh and letting her hand fall to her side.

"Please, let me know if you need anything."

And then Misa was alone. She stayed in the bathroom for hours, not able to find the strength to tear her eyes away from the fully grown roses in the toilet bowl. Blood dripped off of the sharp thorns and mixed with the water, turning it a bright pink.