Suggestion by : Erere37

Muichiro's pov

"Muichiro!" I heard someone yell out. I quickly turned around and saw Tanjiro walking towards me. A wide smile immediately formed on my face as I dropped my katana on the ground and ran over to him, jumping into his arms.

Tanjiro stumbled back a bit but managed to stay up, chuckling as he wrapped his arms around me as well "are you that excited to see me?"

I nodded "mhm! It has been so long since we saw each other, no?" I chuckled and he rolled his eyes sarcastically "I guess so yeah but still" he grabbed by cheek "you are getting wayyy too excited over seeking someone like me"

I giggled and pushed his hand away from my face "fine fine, sorry, I'll calm down" I said and got off him, shyly looking away.

Getting way too excited over him? How can I not.. he's just so.. so perfect. I've liked him a lot for a while and it's not just a small crush.. it's really not something like that.. I genuinely love him, a lot.. and I've been planning on confessing to him for a while now but it just needs the perfect moment!

"Hey Tanjiro? I was wondering if you ehm.. want to go out tonight.. watch stars and.. you know.." I mumbled quietly and Tanjiro chuckled "why are you getting so shy all of the sudden?" He asked, making my face grow even more red.

"But to answer your question, yes, I would love to do that" he smiled and my eyes grew wide with excitement "yaayy!" I yelled out.

Tanjiro seemed surprised by my reaction, making me realize what I just did. I covered my mouth "s-sorry.. I didn't mean to do that"

Tanjiro patted my head "it's okay, it makes me happy that you're this excited to spend time with me"

I nodded "mhm! Well, how about we meet up around hmm.. 8pm?"

He nodded "of course! I might be a little late though, I am going for dinner with Kanao"

  My smile faded really quickly "Kanao..?" I mumbled and he nodded "mhm! Do you not remember her? She's t-"

"No no I do remember her.. it's just.. weren't you with her yesterday?" I said and he slowly nodded, asking "yea but.. how do you know? We haven't seen each other for a while"

"O-Oh! I ehm.. Mitsuri told me" I lied. The truth was that I saw him with Kanao but I didn't want to interrupt them.. they always seem so happy together that it's just.. it hurts to watch them.

"Alright! Well, I'll see you around 8pm, okay?" He said and I nodded. We both said bye to each other and Tanjiro walked past me, slowly disappearing from my sight.

…

I sat on the ground, waiting for Tanjiro to come. Stars were already out and I wanted to watch them with him, like we always used to do.. but he was late.. really late.

I sighed and hugged my knees, looking around in hopes of seeking him somewhere but I didn't. My mood began to worsen, who knows if he even comes..

I continued to sit there for twenty more minutes when suddenly I heard laughing. I turned to look to my right and saw Tanjiro with Kanao.

"Why is he bringing her here.. it should be only us.. we are supposed to hang out together.. just me and Tanjiro" I thought to myself and gave Tanjiro a small wave.

"Hi Muichiro, sorry I am late, I lost track of time" he apologized, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck before looking at Kanao.

"It's fine.." I mumbled and looked over at Kanao "..why is she here?"

Tanjiro's eyes widened a bit as he said "don't be rude, Muichiro, I just thought it might be nice to make you two get along, now that she's my girlfriend I think it would be good, you know? It would be a bit odd if my best friend barely knew about my girlfriend"

My heart sank.

Girlfriend..? Did he really say.. a girlfriend??

I felt a lump form in my throat, tears welling up in my eyes almost immediately. "Y-Yeah.. that's a great idea b-but.. let's leave it for another D-day, no? It's r-really late.." I said quietly and stood up.

"Oh, okay, well, bye Muic-" was all I heard before I ran away. I couldn't hold back the tears anymore, they were falling freely from my eyes, quiet sobs escaping my mouth as I ran to my estate as fast as possible.

Once I got there, I slammed the door behind me and dropped on the floor, sobbing my heart out. It hurted, it hurted so much.. I felt like I couldn't breathe, everything felt so dark now.

I hugged my knees and cried, I cried for minutes.. hours, I just.. I cried until I fell asleep on the cold floor.

…

I woke up in the morning due to the sun shining through my window right into my eyes. I groaned and turned around, my back aching from sleeping on the cold floor.

I sat up and rubbed my sore eyes, hugging my knees once again, remembering the events from last night. Suddenly my crow, Ginko, flew through my window right next to me, saying "you look horrible, what happened?"

It seemed like she was being sarcastic and unserious like always but the second I hugged my knees tighter and began to sob, she dropped the act and flew on my arm.

"..is it because of Tanjiro?" She asked and I nodded, more tears streaming down my cheeks. She nuzzles her head against my cheek "yea I saw them.. that's why I went to check on you"

Ginko always knew how I felt about Tanjiro, he was basically the only thing I talked about. "It'll be okay, you'll get over it soon enough, he'd such an idiot, bro has no taste, how could he even look at her and go 'yea, I will pick her over Muichiro'"

"I get it.. s-she's pretty, n-nice, likable.. she's just.. b-better.." I mumbled and Ginko immediately looked pissed "don't say that! What happened to your confidence? What happened to the talk we had before?"

I shook my head and buried my head into my knees "I-It's fine.. I-I'll just.. get over it.." I said, knowing it's easy to say such a thing but that'll take so much time to actually do so.

"I am gonna poke her eyes out" she said under her breah and I immediately looked "N-No! Don't do that!"

"And what if I will?" She smirked and I giggled a little "no you won't.."

Like that we talked for a bit, Ginko was just trying her best to make me feel a little better which eventually helped a little bit and I forgot about what happened for a bit but then.. I felt like something was stuck in my throat.

I tried to cough it up but a sudden urge to vomit stopped me. I quickly stood up and ran to the bathroom. I hunched over a toilet and coughed violently, trying to get out whatever was stuck in my throat.

I was sweating, unable to take a deep breah, the coughing got worse and worse when suddenly I finally coughed up something.

It was a flower petal covered with blood. I leaned against a wall, taking deep breaths, wiping some saliva from my chin.

"Why did I cough up a petal..? Maybe I accidentally swallowed it yesterday..? No, that's stupid.." I thought to myself and just clutched my stomach, looking down, trying to ignore the soreness in my throat.

"Maybe I should go to Shinobu..? Just to be sure that it's nothing serious..?" I thought to myself and looked to my right, seeking Ginko sitting next to me.

"You okay?" She asked and I nodded "mhm.. I think I just swallowed a petal and had to cough it up"

"Petal?" She asked and I slowly nodded "yeah, it's nothing.. if it happens more I'll just go talk to Shinobu, she'll know what to do about it.."

Ginko nodded and hopped on my knee, nuzzling her head into my cheek again "it'll be okay, Tanjiro doesn't know what he's missing out on" she said and I shrugged "I don't know anymore.. I mean.. nevermind.. it's okay, I can't force him to be in a relationship with me.."

…

I was walking around the forest mindlessly, just trying to get my mind off of the event that happened yesterday but it just couldn't escape my mind.

I sighed again and decided to go to a place where me and Tanjiro always used to hang out.. our secret place no one but us knew about.

But once I started to get closer to the place.. I heard laughing and talking.. I recognized those laughs very well.

Once I turned the corner, my heart dropped. I saw Tanjiro sitting there with Kanao. Tanjiro immediately noticed me the second I got closer.

"Oh, Muichiro, I didn't expect to see you here!" He said cheerfully and wrapped his arm around Kanao. "What.. is she doing here.. this is.. this is our place! Only ours!" I yelled out, tears welling up in my eyes again.

"Muichiro, calm down, it's nothing serious, it's just a place everyone can go to, and I just decided to take Kanao here, okay? We can go here together on- wait, are you crying?!" He yelled out, noticing my tears that I couldn't hold back anymore.

"M-Muichiro, I didn't realize how important it was to you, I am sorry, I.. I didn't mean to, please don't cry!" He moved closer to me and tried to wipe my tears away but the second he touched my cheek, I felt the weird feeling in my throat again, the urge to cough was unstoppable and I knew I had to run away.

I just pushed his hand away and ran as fast as I could, stopping not too far away because I started to cough again. This time I coughed up more petals and more drops of blood that fell on the ground in front of me.

I struggled to catch my breath, I was violently coughing and gasping for air but without success. I dropped on my knees and coughed even harder, coughing up more petals than last time.

After a while I stopped coughing and finally could take a full breath. I was shaking, my head was spinning like crazy from the lack of air. I just decided to sit there for a while before being able to stand up normally and heading to the butterfly mansion to talk with Shinobu.

…

"Oh, hello Tokito, what brings you here?" Shinobu said with a smile, immediately noticing my pale face "oh dear, are you feeling alright?" She asked worriedly and helped me sit down.

I nodded and looked up at her "is it normal to.. cough up petals with blood..?"

Her eyes widened a bit. It took her a while to process but soon she sat down next to me and asked "Muichiro, are you.. in love with someone?"

I was shocked by that question. It was the last thing I expected her to ask but I answered anyway "Y-Yes.. why are you asking..?"

"Oh dear, Muichiro.." she sighed "okay, do you know anything about hanahaki disease?"

I shook my head slowly, asking quietly "N-No.. what is it..?"

"Well.. hanahaki disease is when a victim is in love with someone but the other person doesn't return their feelings, there is a flower growing in their throat, that's why you are coughing up petals and blood.." she mumbled and I looked down at my lap, asking "what.. can I do to make it disappear..?"

"That's a.. but difficult.. the person has to either return your feelings and the flower disappears after some time.. or I can do a surgery.. but that'll make you forget about the person you love"

"N-No! I can't forget about him! B-But.. he won't return my feelings either.. he's already dating Kanao.." I mumbled quietly, trying my best to hold my tears back.

I hated feeling so vulnerable in front of someone I barely talk to but now.. it was just uncontrollable.

"Oh.. so Tanjiro is the person you love.. I see.." she said and patted my back, saying "Muichiro.. I don't know much about Tanjiro but.. I am sure he would understand, you need to tell him and he needs to help you.. if you don't want the surgery.. there's no other option.. if you don't do anything quickly, it'll kill you"

I shook my head "I.. don't know if I can.. he seems so happy with K-Kanao.. I don't want to force him to like me of s-something.."

"Muichiro, this is serious, I give you two days to tell him, if you won't, I have no other option but do the surgery" she said with a serious tone and I nodded a little "I know.. I'll.. I'll try.."

…

I really didn't want to tell him.. One day has already passed and I couldn't even look Tanjiro in the eyes. Every evening, night, morning, afternoon.. I coughed up more petals and the pain in my throat and the difficulty with breathing was getting worse.

I knew I had to talk to him.. I didn't want to die.. I didn't want to forget about him.. but I didn't want to confess either.. but I knew I had to pick one.

I walked for a bit more time before spotting Tanjiro sitting by a lake. "Tanjiro.." I mumbled, my voice hoarse from coughing.

Tanjiro immediately turned around and ran over to me "Muichiro! I am so sorry for what I did before! I really didn't know that it was this important to you! I promise I'll never do such a-"

"Tanjiro.. I-It's okay.. please just, let me t-talk now.. I need to tell you something.." I said, sensing a familiar feeling in my throat, knowing I have to hurry up before I start coughing again.

"Okay.. tell me" Tanjiro said with a hint of worry in his voice, bending down a bit to get on my eye level.

"I-I… I.." was all I could say before blood and petals filled my mouth, a second later escaping my mouth and falling onto the ground in front of me.

"M-Muichiro!! Oh my god, are you okay?!" Tanjiro yelled out in panic as I coughed harder, grabbing onto his arm desperately, trying to say something but without success.

My vision was starting to blur again due to the lack of air, my ears were ringing and Tanjiro's words were fading away. I was scared.. I was absolutely horrified. My grasp onto Tanjiro's shirt loosened as I dropped on the ground.

The last thing I heard was Tanjiro's voice faintly calling out my name before my whole vision went black.

Tanjiro's pov - 30 minutes later

I sat by Muichiro's bed, watching Shinobu inspect his throat before sighing "did he tell you about this?" She asked and turned to look at me.

I shook my head "I mean.. he wanted to tell me something but then started to cough and passed out.. he probably wanted to tell me but couldn't.."

Shinobu nodded and sat down next to me "Tanjiro, he had a hanahaki disease.. Do you know what that is?'

My eyes widened "fuck, you're right.. the petals and blood.. I should have known the second I saw him cough them up.. did he tell you who the person he loves is??"

Shinobu looked at me seriously "it's you, Tanjiro, he loves you"

My heart sank "m-me?! B-But.. I a-"

"Yes I know, you're with Kanao but.. look at him, he's about to die, Tanjiro and his life can only be saved by you or surgery.. and you know what happens after the surgery.."

"Fuck.. yea I know.." I leaned back against my chair and sighed "I don't want him to forget me.. I.. I'll do it, I'll do whatever it takes to make him happy, even if I might not feel the same way.. I will make it work"

Shinobu smiled and took my hand "you are a good guy, Tanjiro, thank you"

I nodded and looked over at Muichiro, asking "when will he wake up?"

"He should wake up soon, but who knows.. it might take a while" she'd said and I nodded "I'll stay here, I won't leave until he wakes up.

…

And soon enough, he began to wake up. He shakily rubbed his eyes and turned to his right, immediately making eye contact with me.

"You're awake.." I smiled and he slowly nodded "Ta-Tanjiro.. I.." he said weakly but I stopped him by grabbing his hand.

"Don't say anything, Shinobu already told me about it.. and.. Muichiro, the truth is.. I do like you too, a lot" I lied.. I felt a bit guilty for lying but I knew that it was for a good thing, that by this one lie I can save his life and make him happy.

His eyes widened as he mumbled "r-really..?"

"Yes.. I do.. I am sorry it took me so long to realize.. I never meant to hurt you like this, I never wanted to make you cry or go through such suffering… I will fix it now, I promise"

Muichiro's eyes filled with tears as he smiled "thank you.. T-Tanjiro.."

...

Word count : 2945