Moonlit

The Hanahaki disease was vaguely mentioned in one of the 100 tales. A woman, in love with a man who didn’t love her back, had suffocated on yellow tulips that she apparently could not stop throwing up. Nobody knew much else about the mysterious illness- no origins were stated, no cure, and there was no record of any villagers in Ishigami Village ever having experienced such a thing. Maybe it was a metaphor? 

‘What a silly way to die. Death by flowers. That’s what you thought when you first heard of the illness. There’s no way such a thing could exist.

But if Chrome has his sorcery, then maybe it wasn’t so improbable. Who knows how much Ishigami Village has yet to discover, and the 100 tales are how we know so much already.’

When Ruri first fell ill, some speculated she had the Hanahaki disease. Since they were young, people had always known that Chrome and Ruri shared a strong bond- perhaps Ruri’s feelings were strong enough to make her sick. However, as time went on, Ruri never once coughed up flowers or flower petals, so the idea was eliminated. 

-

But Ruri was still ill, and nobody knew how to cure her for good. No one was certain that the hot spring water Kohaku brought for baths had healing properties, and nobody even knew what it was that was ailing her. 

That was until one day, Kohaku told you about how she had brought a stranger back home to the village with the hot spring water for her older sister. Her ponytail was tied differently and she was late to retrieve the water, which was very unlike her. Just who exactly was this stranger, and what were their intentions? If Kohaku trusts them enough to bring them back to the village however, you had thought to yourself, maybe they weren’t all that dangerous. 

The stranger was a boy your age who introduced himself as Senku, and you eyed him with a raised brow. Chrome stood not too far behind him, running his mouth about some minerals he had in his shed, but not in the arrogant way he usually did. It was a surprise to see how outgoing your friend was with a foreigner. Chrome and Kohaku explained to you that Senku was a sorcerer- sorry, scientist- able to cure Ruri of her sickness, and upon hearing this, you were excited but reluctant to trust him. 

You wanted to be cold at first. Unattached, uneasy to sway, but my god did Senku make it difficult. Even when he was an asshole sometimes, you couldn’t help but hook on to his every word, enthralled with everything he had to say and offer. You’d observe him in the midst of an experiment with curiosity and stare in amazement over the incredible results he was able to produce. It seemed supernatural to you.

-

It didn’t take you long to get hooked and become a part of the Kingdom of Science, aiding your friends in creating the panacea that would help Ruri beat her sickness. After working hard to create magnets with iron and gain some help from the villagers and outsider, Gen Asagiri, it was time for the final test, with Kinro and Ginro helping to generate the electricity you worked so hard to create. You were on the roof of the shed with Senku and Chrome, waiting in anticipation for what Senku was about to do. 

“Y/N, does the night scare you?” Senku asked you gently as he concentrated his eyes on the bamboo fiber in front of him with a small frown.

“Huh? Well…sure. Everything gets all dark.” You replied, studying his face. “Why do you ask?”

“Back in my day, there was no darkness. With old man Edison’s incandescent light bulb, humanity beat back the night, conquering all twenty four hours of the day. Through the power of science, mankind defeated the darkness, and now we’re gonna do it again.” Your eyes trailed down to watch Senku bring the wires closer to the ends of the fiber. “For the first time in 3700 years, the flame of science will burn.”

The ends met, and a brilliant white light formed and illuminated your faces. You stared in awe of the artificial light, amazed by how Senku was able to make such a thing happen. You realized how loud your heart was pounding, partly because of the incredible power of science and the excitement you felt over this invention and the progress you were making with the Kingdom of Science, but mostly because of the slow smile that spread across Senku’s face, that determined glint in his eye dancing in the warm light. His smile widened when he met your eyes, and the world around you seemed to grow quiet.

-

Multiple windows of opportunity opened as you continued to work hard gathering materials and gain allies. It was only after Senku won the grand bout that your feelings kept nagging at you.

Sitting around a fire with your friends at Senku’s celebration party, you tuned out the conversation and let your mind drift to the scientist. 

You felt a strong sense of pride knowing Senku and how far he’s come in such a short amount of time, starting off as merely a stranger you and many others were weary of, to becoming a leader. Your heart raced every time you watched him fall again in love with his passion, and you found yourself wanting to be near him always. To indulge in what he does, to know of every crazy concept he lived out 3700 years ago. And then you realized what was happening and started thinking very fast. 

Without realizing it, you had slowly been falling in love with Senku. With his mind, his passion and persistence, his wit and cunningness. With him. And with every new hurdle you cleared with the Kingdom of Science, with every thrilling experiment and change you underwent, you fell further. 

But you knew how Senku was. Romance didn’t interest him in the slightest- in fact, he was actually disgusted by the idea of being romantically involved with someone. So how the hell were you to go about this? 

He was never going to return your feelings, and you had no idea if your feelings would fade. You would never be involved with Senku in the way that you wanted to be and you were horrified at the idea of him finding out about your feelings and being repulsed by you, terrified of losing the friendship you had with him. Right in the midst of your panic, you felt your chest tighten and you started coughing uncontrollably, covering your mouth with your hand. You and the others were taken aback, and you did everything you could to seize your fit.

“Y/N! Are you okay?!” Kohaku cried out and put a hand on your shoulder, while the others around you stared in concern. 

“I’m…fine…” you coughed out, taking sharp inhales and moving your hands away from your face, balling them up into fists. “Something just got caught…in my throat…”

“You sure you're okay?”

“Yup…! No worries!” You straightened up and gave your friend a tight-lipped smile as she reluctantly brought her hand away from you. I need to pull myself together. Senku is outrageously observant. You were grateful that he hadn’t yet joined the party and noticed the yellow flower petal you tucked away into your pocket. 

-

After Ruri was healed and Senku became chief, the Kingdom of Science’s top priority was defeating the Tsukasa Empire, and there was no time to waste. 

Only ten minutes after your incident, Senku had returned to the village and Gen revealed that Tsukasa was planning to strike. Everything moved quickly from there. After Hyoga and Homura’s attack on the village, the citizens were working to rebuild what was lost as well as create an invention that would give the Kingdom of Science the upper hand against the Tsukasa Empire. Senku revealed that the next painstaking project would be to create something called a cellphone, a device that allows you to communicate with others over long distances. You and everyone else could hardly wrap your minds around such a thing (including the modern-timer, Gen, but for different reasons). This is the kind of technology Senku’s people possessed? Was such a thing really possible?

And Senku smiled his signature smile with that determined glint in his eye, and you were reminded that this was Senku we’re talking about. With his brilliance and resilience and the help of the villagers, he could absolutely pull something like that off. Your heart raced as his eyes met yours, and he nodded in sincerity upon seeing the skeptic look on your face. A cell phone huh. 

During the project, your condition didn’t get any better. The pains in your chest were slowly intensifying and you couldn’t stop throwing up flower petals. It started with one or two once or twice a day, and over time increased to four or five petals up to three times a day. Luckily, you were able to sense the petals rising painfully up your throat, and it gave you enough time to make a hurried excuse to get away from the others before being thrown into a full blown fit. 

There was no chance in hell you were going to tell anyone about the disease. It was your fault for being so emotional, especially during such a busy period. Nobody had the time to look out for you and worry, you could make it through this on your own.

But you found that the heartache you felt over Senku only grew with time. Unfortunately, your feelings didn’t fade in the slightest, but only grew stronger and stronger. I mean how could they not? Watching him sprawled over blueprints with a slight pout, listening to him ramble about the science behind this and that- it was all so endearing. You wanted so desperately to tell him how you felt and to have your feelings returned, but that wasn’t an option. You could never be intimate in the way you wanted to be with Senku. 

You were painfully reminded of this on days where Senku was a bit more reserved than usual. When he would retreat into the observatory or the lab for hours, or when he seemed particularly more serious about the mission, avoiding making jokes and keeping conversation outside of the cell phone to a minimum. You felt like you were straying away from him, and on these days, your condition worsened and was more difficult to hide.

Soft touches you initiated had him feigning ignorance, moving away from you and continuing his work. Questions you asked about himself were quickly shut down and maneuvered to more science talk, and you'd retreat from him after failing to be further let into his heart throwing up more and more pretty yellow petals. 

-

After months of hard work, the cell phones (yes, phone(s). Can you believe Senku didn’t tell anyone that TWO were needed?) were complete. A plan was formed to send Gen, Chrome and Magma to hand off one of the phones to Taiju and Yuzuriha, Senku’s modern day friends who were spying within the Tsukasa Empire, and get them to convince other members to join the Kingdom of Science by telling an elaborate lie.

It was the evening prior to Gen, Chrome and Magma’s departure. Everyone was asleep except for you, who sat under a tree staring up at the stars, coughing up more petals here and there. The hanahaki disease didn’t make it easy to sleep and on a good night, you’d only wake up once. You collected every flower petal you threw up and kept them all in small, secret pouches you had sewn into your clothing. You were miserable. Nothing you tried was helping cure this illness that, only a year ago, you were certain was fictional. You knew nothing about the sickness either- you were working with barely anything. 

The only cure you could think of was the most straightforward one- your romantic feelings needed to be returned. The illness seemed to be connected to one-sided love, so surely if Senku returned your feelings, you would be cured, right? 

But that was never going to happen. Senku hasn’t once expressed any romantic interest in you or anyone else. And if you were to tell him that the only way you could avoid death was by having your feelings returned, that’d put a massive weight on him. You couldn’t do that. You couldn’t let Senku feel like he had killed you. 

You coughed again, this time a little more violently, and covered your mouth. God, you hated this.

“You sure do have quite the asty-nay cough there.” A voice sang and cut through the still air.

You quickly put your hands down and turned your head toward the owner. Only a distance away from you was the mentalist, a small smile dancing on his face as he approached you and took a seat at the foot of the tree beside you.

“I guess it is still quite chilly. Not spring just yet.”

“What are you doing out here?”

Gen chuckled and craned his neck to look at you. “Couldn’t sleep and decided to come out to get some fresh air. I have quite the role in this scheme, it’s stressful ya know?” 

You rolled your eyes at his whining, continuing to gaze up at the stars.

“It must also be stressful covering up that dreadful hanahaki disease.” 

Your eyes widened and you quickly whipped your head to look at him, but his gaze had left your face, now staring off into the same sky. Shit, I’m figured out. Do I play dumb?

“No point in trying to hide it from me, dear Y/N. I’ve been observing you. Your symptoms are all too familiar.” Gen sang again. Damn. It’s like he read my mind. And in a way he did. He is a mentalist after all. But how would he know of the hanahaki disease? It must’ve existed in his time. 

“Yes, us modern-timers also dealt with hanahaki. Lots of lives were lost over it. It’s quite poetic, honestly. Death by flowers.” Gen commented in an airy tone. “The more pressing question is, how do you know of it? You didn’t recognize pneumonia but know of this?”

“It was briefly mentioned in one of the 100 tales. Nobody in the village had ever beared the sickness, so I assumed it wasn’t real. Well, that was until…”

The short light-heartedness of the conversation quickly faded away. Gen’s face was now hard, mouth formed into a frown, and you sighed. 

“Of course you would’ve been the first to get suspicious.” 

“You mean dear Senku hasn’t figured you out yet? That’s surprising, but you know better than anyone that our Senku is no idiot. He’ll find out soon enough. And what do you plan to do when he confronts you?”

“He won’t. I’ll cover it up so he has no need to get suspicious and investigate me.” 

Gen shrugged his shoulders and an airy smile formed on his face yet again. “I’m sure you already figured out that to cure the hanahaki disease, your beloved needs to return your feelings. But this is Senku we’re talking about, so that seems highly unlikely.”

He even knew that Senku was the person you fell for. How obvious were you? Then again, Gen is a mentalist.

“There is…another way, but it’s impossible in this stone world. You could get surgery to remove the flowers from your lungs, but that’d mean losing the feelings you have for Senku. Even if you were willing to give that up, nobody could help with the operation, certainly not me.”

“So that’s it? I’m out of options?”

Gen’s smile was sour now, and he seemed to be reflecting on something, but his train of thought was interrupted when you started coughing again, not being quick enough to cover your mouth and doubling over to throw up more yellow tulip flower petals onto the grass. Gen stared in horror. You stared in horror.

“I don’t want you to worry about me, Gen. I’ll…I’ll figure something out. I refuse to die. I can’t die. I just can’t leave my friends with that grief and guilt. Plus, they’re busy preparing for the battle against the Tsukasa Empire. I can’t distract them from our goal. I feel horrible putting this on you but please don’t tell anyone.” 

Gen stared at you, very obviously having some internal conflict in his head. But eventually he sighed again and his shoulders sagged. “Don’t die, dear Y/N, or else I’ll feel partly responsible.”

-

Nothing was working.

You were convinced you’ve tried every healing method you could possibly think of. In the summer, you would take hot spring baths, in the winter, you wore layers. You forced yourself to eat and drink plenty (even though the disease gave you a lack of appetite), you trained on the daily (despite being tired), and you kept yourself busy. The coughing would seize for a little while though, and you found that better than being hunched over 24/7. 

It had become increasingly more difficult to randomly leave and throw up flower petals though. Someone else will soon figure it out, but you couldn’t predict if that would be before or after the disease had claimed your life. 

Gen helped cover for you and you appreciated it beyond belief, but now it was time for him to take on his task of delivering the cellphone to Taiju and Yuzuriha. 

“Don’t start throwing up flowers while I’m gone, dear Y/N.” You also appreciated his lightheartedness throughout the whole thing. It was a bit easier to manage with the mentalist being able to cheer you up just a slight bit.

You were thankful that you and the others had Homura to focus on instead of just sitting and waiting around for the phone to be delivered the entire time, but you were also getting increasingly weaker. You definitely weren’t a prominent fighter however, so nobody was really looking to you for much assistance in the strength department. In lots of ways, things could've been worse. 

Senku could’ve found out a lot faster, for example. But he didn’t, and you’ve been able to remain by his side. 

In all honesty, you were scared when you first found out you had Hanahaki disease. When you coughed up that first flower petal, a million thoughts rushed into your head and you felt faint, both possibly from your coughing fit and your stress. 

You were the only one to have ever endured the Hanahaki disease. Nobody else had ever experienced it, and you didn’t even believe it was real! So when you continued throwing up petals, you were sent spirialing. You were overthinking everything you knew, and while it may have been dramatic, you felt lost and scared. It made you think about your relationship with Senku as well. You feel guilty for accidentally putting this weight on him without his knowledge, for putting this weight on the entirety of Ishigami Village. 

The sickness seemed to subside while working alongside Senku and Gen in convincing members of the Tsukasa Empire to join over to the Kingdom of Science, at least for a little while. You were close with Senku, and you didn’t need to grieve over anything for a little while. You could just focus on the present. You could just be content with the little nods of affirmation he'd give you accompanied with a small smile.

If all else fails in the end, you’ll be happy to just have known this incredible man.

The rest seems like a blur after getting Ukyo to join Senku. The Kingdom of Science was starting to prepare its infiltration of the miracle cave after Chrome had returned safe from his capture, and the battle was a haze. There were many close calls and many times you thought you wouldn’t be able to uphold the agreement that no blood would be shed. You were scared you were going to lose the people you love. 

-

But in the end, you reigned victorious. Tsukasa had teamed with Senku to take down Hyoga, and the rest of you had worked to capture Homura and tie the both of them up. As you were all making your way back to your base, you stopped to stare at the sun approaching the horizon.

“It’s hard to believe but finally...it’s over.”

A laugh you were all too familiar with. You turned around to see Senku climbing up to join you at your side. “Are you making a joke or what? That’s backwards. Right now, we’re finally getting started. We got all these people to work together with us, to build a real kingdom of science.”

You looked over at him in all his glory as the rising sun hit you both. Another chapter was beginning, another with Senku in it, another promised to be just as exciting and eventful as the last. Your heart soared. 

-

Senku is upset. Obviously he’s upset, he has to kill his dying friend. You had seen the more colder and distant parts of Senku before, but you had never imagined him being so emotional, so delicate. Your heart had wings just a while ago, now it was breaking again. 

And it was around this time that everyone was coming together that you were entering the final stages of your sickness. Flowers. Flowers were blooming in your lungs, and it was now permanently difficult to breathe. It was insanely hard to disguise your wheeze and sharp inhales, not being able to explain to the people who love and care for you that you were slowly suffocating.

You knew you didn’t have much time left, and you were getting panicked. You didn’t have any time to think of other possible cures, and you don’t have the strength to pursue any projects. Were you seriously doomed?

“Maybe not, dear Y/N.” Gen. What did he mean by that? “I just so happened to find some leftover panacea while clearing out the lab,” and at that, your eyes widened as Gen held up a leaf with the drug. Of course. The cure all sulfa drug. How did you not think of this sooner?

“The thing is, I have no idea if this’ll work. I’ve never heard of a drug being able to cure hanahaki, hell It may even kill you immediately! But, if it’s meant to be a cure-all drug, why not give it a try?” 

There was no time to waste. Gen immediately gave you the medicine to take, and you two waited anxiously to see what happened. A minute passed. Two. Five. Okay, so you weren’t dead- that was a good sign. 

Hours passed, and you didnt cough up a single flower. By the end of the day, you had nothing to stuff your pockets with. You had never hugged anyone harder in your life.

-

By morning the next day however, Gen found you in your tent limp and unmoving. His eyes widened at the scene in front of him and tears formed, rushing off to call for help and being forced to tell everyone about your condition. Tulips. Yellow tulips drenched in blood, some sticking to your face and arm, some on the ground.

The drug had gotten rid of your symptoms for a little while, but didn’t actually cure you. Neither you nor Gen were medical professionals in the slightest and had no idea how to go about using the antibiotic on the hanahaki disease. Maybe if you took it regularly, you would've lived. Maybe if you had taken it earlier. Maybe. 

The feeling was bittersweet. In your last moments, you could see your life flash before your eyes, and you internally laughed at the cliche. You saw yourself grow up in the village, befriending Kohaku, Chrome, Ruri, Kaseki and Suika. You saw yourself hunched over Senku to watch him experiment with something, a smile on his face and your eyes wide with awe. You saw many memories with Senku, some of them being times where you felt like you had a chance. Times when you caught Senku staring at you, rare times where Senku showed a bit more vulnerability, and talked more openly about his past. He grew just like you did, and you did it together.