Thursday 11th February 2021

Author's Note
Please feel free to point out my typos and errors! And if something isn't clear to you, don't be shy to ask!

That's it for now. Thank you!

Word Count: 3700+

Notes:
•Shouta Aizawa (Eraser Head) and Hizashi Yamada (Present Mic) have adopted Hitoshi Shinso and Eri.

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Preview
With Mineta expelled for sexual harassment, there's an open spot in the hero course. Hitoshi Shinso has gotten the privilege of claiming that spot. Now, a fortnight after transferring from 1-C to 1-A, Shinso has also gotten the privilege of becoming a victim of Hanahaki.
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The new transfer student at 1-A was lounging on his bed after another day of training. It was already dusk, so the boy was resting until dinner was ready. Any time now, someone from the Bakusquad or Midoriya will knock on his door and assist him downstairs for dinner like some sort of noble. It's already been a couple weeks since he'd transferred to 1-A, but the habit hadn't yet gotten rid of.

As he was scrolling through photos in his phone, he felt a strange itching in his throat; the sort of itching you have when you have a sore throat, or when you feel a cough coming on. The itching got a little intense, and he held his neck; gently rubbing it to try and make the itch go away.

He sat up straight on his bed, placing his phone on the bed side table. He forcibly coughed; thinking if he did so, the itchiness would cease. But instead, it resulted in him having a coughing fit. He carefully poured a glass of water from the jug on his bedside table, and downed the glass. But, again, that did nothing. The itch turned into a scratch, and then his chest tightened as if he was holding his breath underwater for too long. The coughing only worsened the pain. Suddenly, he felt dizzy, and then he felt nauseous.

Quickly but carefully, he scrambled to the bathroom. He hunched over the sink, and coughed up whatever was blocking his throat. He wasn't really paying attention to what he was throwing up, rather, he was paying attention to getting it out of his system. He heard someone open the door to his dorm and walk inside.

"Shinso? Are you in here?" Midoriya.

He heard footsteps coming closer. "I'm sorry, I knocked but you didn't- Are you okay?"

He felt Midoriya rub circles on his back. "Are those- petals?"

Shinso opening his eyes, and indeed, there were small pink petals scattered in the sink.

"Did those- did you-"

"I coughed them up."

"But- how? Those are flowers. How do you cough them up? Unless, you ate them, but you're not senseless enough to do that. Unless they were forced down your throat and-"

"Midoriya." The boy looked up, flustered.

"S-sorry. You need to see Recovery Girl. We don't know if this is a terminal thing or not," Midoriya knitted in eyebrows together in worry.

"Either way, we'll have to wait till tomorrow," Shinso left the water run on the sink, and cleaned himself up.

"Come on, the others are probably waiting on us." Midoriya nodded, and they walked out of the dorm room and made their way to the elevator.

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"Oh! Hey, Shinso! Come 'ere a sec!" Mina waved the boy over to where the Bakusquad (minus Bakugo) were seated on the couches, while Midoriya made his way towards the dining table and took a seat beside Iida.

The purple-haired boy took a seat next to Mina on the couch. "So, we were wondering if you'd like to have a sleepover tonight!"

He coughed, "Don't we have school tomorrow?"

"Are you sick?" Sero asked.

"Nothing too bad."

"Yes, today's a school night, but who cares?" Mina grinned.

"Bakugo," the other four replied simultaneously.

Shinso coughed.

Mina waved them off, "It's fine. He'll be okay with it."

Kirishima turned and called towards the kitchen, "Hey Bakubro!"

"What do you want, Shitty Hair?!" A voice yelled from the kitchen.

"You up for a sleepover tonight?!"

"Isn't today a school night?" Tokoyami asked the red-haired teen.

"Are you freakin' kidding me?! Of course not!" Bakugo yelled from the kitchen.

Kirishima turned back, "What'd we say?"

Mina huffed, "Fine."

"Tomorrow's Movie Night, Mina. You'll have fun then," Shinso assured.

"Yeah! And the day after that is Game Night!" Kaminari grinned.

Shinso coughed again.

"You sure you fine?" Kaminari asked.

Shinso coughed and nodded, "Just a sore throat."

"So, what movie are we watching tomorrow night?" Kirishima asked.

"I think it's Shoji, Tokoyami, and Koda's turn tomorrow," Mina looked over at them.

"We chose The Invisible Man," Tokoyami replied.

"Wait," Uraraka spoke up, "Isn't that a horror thriller?"

"It was their idea," Koda replied in a small voice.

Uraraka visibly shrunk.

Nobody really had a say in the matter. Every week, a group each has a chance to choose a movie. To keep it fair, so that the same people doesn't have to choose the movie every time. The same happens in Game Night: a group is chosen to select the game they'll be playing for the night. Nobody has a say in the matter, no matter how inappropriate or disturbing it is, the game will be changed only if whoever's turn it is that night wants to change it. This can sometimes be irritating, because someone could choose, say, a horror movie, and some aren't too fond of the genre, but they can't do anything about it.

"Don't worry, Ochaco," Tsu placed a hand on the brunette's shoulder, "you can sit out."

She sighed, "It's a thing the whole class does. It'd be rude to sit out."

"If it makes you feel any better, Uraraka, Kacchan isn't a fan of horror movies either, " Midoriya said.

All eyes fell on the green-haired teen.

Bakugo and Momo walked into the living room with a few plates of food in their arms.

All eyes fell on Bakugo, who raised an eyebrow, "What're you looking at, extras?"

Kaminari turned to Midoriya, "Not believable."

"Just wait till tomorrow," Midoriya winked with a finger to his lips.

"Tch."

Bakugo placed a plate in front of Uraraka and Tsu. Sitting next to Kirishima, he placed a plate in front of the red-head and himself. Momo served Midoriya, Iida, Todoroki and Shinso (who had taken a seat at a vacant table). Seems the ones lounging around had already had their dinner.

"Um... what's the test tomorrow about?" Hagakure spoke.

"We have a test?!" Sero and Kaminari exclaimed.

"I believe it is a Math test," Tokoyami replied.

"A Math test?!" Sero and Kaminari exclaimed again.

"Don't worry," Kirishima swallowed his food, "Bakubro will help you two," he grinned as he put his left hand on Bakugo's back.

"Like hell I will!"

"Aw come on, Kacchan!" Kaminari pleaded.

A tick mark was visible on Bakugo's forehead. Before he could blow a fuse, however, someone coughed.

Shinso was having another coughing fit. He had a hand covering his mouth. He quickly excused himself and hurried towards the bathroom.

"Is Shinso okay?" Momo asked.

"He said it was nothing, but... he might have a fever," Mina replied, her eyes having followed Shinso.

Midoriya excused himself too, "I'll check on him."

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"Shinso?" Midoriya peeped into the bathroom.

The purple-haired teen was hunched over the sink, throwing up. Exactly like how the green-head had seen him in his room earlier. Midoriya rubbed circles on the older boy's back, seeing more pink-tinted petals in the sink.

"You seem to be throwing up more petals than last time." Shinso had his head down, and he was lightly panting while clutching onto the ceramic sink.

Momo walked into the bathroom, "Is everything alright?"

'Maybe Yaoyorozu can help,' Midoriya thought, He glanced at Shinso and decided to have Momo help.

"Yaoyorozu, do you know of any disease that makes the patient throw up flowers?" Momo seemed to stop.

"Flowers...?" Midoriya gestured for her to come closer. She glanced at the sink. "Are those- did they, did he throw those up?"

"Yeah. When I went to get him for dinner, he was throwing up in the bathroom as well," Midoriya replied. "Do you have an idea of what's happening to him?"

Shinso let the water run and started cleaning himself up.

"I- do."

The 2 boys looked at over at her, silently willing her to continue.

"It's called Hanahaki - the Hanahaki Disease. I read about it a while back, so I don't remember the details. But I do know it used to be a fictional disease. With the appearance of Quirks and all, even a fictional disease became real," she nervously chuckled.

"So, exactly, what is it?" Shinso asked.

"Well, it's a flower growing between your lungs. Well, 'A' flower depending on the size. If it's a small flower, say, a buttercup, the number would be unknown. But, if it was a sunflower, it'll most likely be only 1."

"Is it terminal?" Midoriya asked.

"It is believed to be. I must have the book in my room... After you're done with dinner, come up to my room, I can explain it better to you then."

"Thanks/Thank you, Yaoyorozu." Momo smiled and exited the bathroom with the 2 boys tailing behind.

"You doing good, bro?" Kaminari asked. Shinso nodded.

Momo had already made her way up the elevator towards her room, while Midoriya and Shinso quickly finished up their dinner.

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Midoriya knocked on Momo's dorm door. A faint 'come in', and the 2 boys invited themselves in. Momo had replaced her bed from home with a smaller bed, so there seemed to be more space, and so, she'd added a bookshelf; and that is where she was currently standing. She had her face buried in a book as she took a seat at her desk chair.

She looked up, "Oh, I'm so sorry! You can sit on my bed."

They nodded and did as told. "I have the book here. It says the disease is born from unrequited love. One-sided love, otherwise," Momo started, "It states that the blood and cells from the power of your quirk running in your veins, is what creates the seed. Love and all other feelings originate from your heart. That feeling of love, along with the blood and power cells, somehow create the seed. It doesn't say how the seed sows, but it seems that as the shoot appears from the seed, it settles between your lungs."

"Then, doesn't that mean the flower started growing a long time ago?" Midoriya asked. Momo nodded. Shinso coughed.

"Yes. The shoot slowly grows its stem up your trachea- or- windpipe. As the flower grows, it slowly blocks your air supply, resulting in you coughing up the petals that's clogging your throat," she continued, "you could die from suffocation of the petals in your throat, or when the roots wrap around your lungs and squeeze the air out of them."

The boys were quiet for a moment, trying to wrap their heads around it all.

"Is there medication?" Midoriya inquired. Momo shook her head.

"It's unlikely. But you can get surgery to remove the plant from your system," Momo said, "Although, it comes with a price."

"What kind of price? Like, money-price, or something else?" Midoriya asked.

"Something else. Because this is somehow created directly from the heart, getting rid of it surgically, will likely get rid of all feelings of love."

"So?" Shinso spoke for the first time since entering the room. He coughed. The 2 others looked at him. "That doesn't sound like a big deal."

"Shinso, do you know exactly what that means?" Midoriya furrowed his brows.

"You would have the inability to love someone. No matter how hard you try, you would never be able to fall in love- or- love your family and friends the way you're supposed to," Momo finished for Midoriya.

"That doesn't seem so bad," Shinso muttered. The other 2 present in the room exchanged glances.

"We don't- we don't know anything about you, Shinso, nor what you may or may not be going through, but- giving up all feelings of love is too big a price to pay. I may be sounding selfish, and I may not understand the pain you're going through, but, you've got friends who still very much care about your well-being. Whether you like it or not, all of 1-A are your friends," Midoriya grinned.

"You might not care much about yourself, but we do. And you wont be getting surgery on our watch," Momo smiled. Shinso looked at the two of them and sighed.

"Is there another way?"

"Yes, actually," she paused, "Confessing."

"Confessing," Shinso repeated.

"Confessing," Momo confirmed.

"Confessing?" Midoriya asked.

"Telling the person you love, that- you love them," Momo established.

"But, as much as there's a chance of things going 'up', there's a higher chance of it going 'down'," Midoriya awkwardly chuckled.

"Did it go 'down' for you?" Shinso asked, then coughed.

"What?"

"When you told them how you felt, did it go 'down' for you?"

"O-oh, nonononononono, I didn't mean it like that. I was just saying," he sweat dropped.

Momo silently giggled. "Anyway, if the other party returns your feelings, the plant will gradually stop growing, and you'll likely throw up the remains of it."

"And if they reject me?" Shinso questioned. Momo didn't make eye-contact.

"It- it will enhance the growth speed; reducing your time."

"Reducing his time?" Midoriya asked, "You mean, he'll have less time to live?"

Momo nodded, "Feelings, in this case, is water and sunlight for the flowers; whatever you feel -nervous, worried, happy, sad- the flowers grow from it. If your feelings aren't returned, you'll likely be- you'll definitely be heartbroken. And that feeling is more direct from the heart that the others; just like love. And its strong- like fertilizer that enhances plant growth."

"Surgery doesn't seem like a bad idea," Shinso muttered.

"Won't you at least give it a shot?" Midoriya asked.

"Easier said than done," Shinso scoffed.

"What do you mean?" Midoriya knitted his eyebrows.

"I think he means that he doesn't know who he's in love with," Momo replied.

"But- how is that even possible?" Midoriya's eyes widened, "I mean, the Hanahaki started weeks before, if I'm right."

"True. But Love has a unique way of hiding. Like in close friendships," Momo replied.

"You mean like Kacchan and Kirishima?" Midoriya inquired. Momo and Shinso chuckled.

"Yep, exactly. And it's easy to brush them off saying that it's just sibling love," Momo further explained.

"So, if we want to figure out who this person is..." Midoriya put a finger to his chin in thought.

"Actually, wait," Momo opened the book again, and flipped through some pages, "Here. It says that the flower that's growing in you is the person you love's favorite flower."

"The petals are tinted pink," Midoriya said.

"Okay, so what flowers have small petals tinted pink?" Momo questioned.

"Wait, is it possible that the petals could be white tinted pink from blood?" Shinso asked after a few seconds of thinking.

"That is likely," Momo considered.

"All I can think of are daisies," Midoriya shrugged.

"Who of all the people you know likes daisies, Shinso?" Momo asked. Shinso shrugged then coughed.

"Let's try something else. Figuring out who likes daisies will definitely take a long time. What about we think about the trigger to your coughing fits, Shinso?" Momo decided, "what were you doing the first time? In your room?"

"Well, I was scrolling through pictures on my phone," Shinso replied.

"What pictures?"

"Um... of this class. I think it was from last week's Game Night," he coughed.

"Okay, at least we know they're from our class; narrows it down a bit. Now we only have 19 students to work with," Momo clapped her hands.

"What about the second time- oh right, they were talking about the test tomorrow," Midoriya frowned.

"Wait, you seem to spend a lot of time with the 'Bakusquad', as they call themselves," Momo pointed out.

"That's only because they drag me into their conversations," Shinso grumbled.

"I mean, she's right. You don't spend your time with anyone besides them and me," Midoriya said.

"You're right, I guess," Shinso shrugged.

"That's easy then! Only 6 people!" Momo stated.

"True. Let's see... thoughts on Mina?" Midoriya inquired.

"She's nice. Loud, clingy, fun to be with, I guess."

"Hm... ok, ok. Kirishima?"

"The only person Bakugo would actually listen too," he thought harder, "um... really nice, friendly, smiley."

"Smiley?" Momo held back a laugh.

"He's always smiling. Hard to imagine him upset," Shinso shrugged.

"Okay. Next: Kacchan."

"Angry Pomeranian." Shinso didn't miss a beat. Momo and Midoriya laughed light-heartedly.

"True. Kaminari?" Momo asked.

"Um... electric?" Shinso questioned; more to himself than the other 2.

"Can you... um... elaborate?" Momo asked.

Shinso coughed a few times.

"I don't really know how to explain-" he coughed.

A lightbulb seemed to go off in Midoriya's head, 'cause he quickly scrolled through his phone for a few seconds muttering, "I'm so sorry if you go into a coughing fit because of this, but hopefully, it'll help in the near future and you won't have to- Aha!"

Midoriya showed his phone to Shinso, and just as he suspected, Shinso started coughing and headed to the bathroom with a hand over his mouth.

Momo leaned closer to Midoriya, trying to see what was on his phone. Midoriya showed her his screen: it was a picture of Kaminari at the UA festival.

"An unlikely pair," Momo stated, leaning back in her chair.

Midoriya, being Midoriya, went into the bathroom to help Shinso in any way.

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Sero, Kaminari, Sato, Shoji, and Kirishima distributed the snacks among all of their classmates. It was past 9pm, and everyone was seated in the living room (some on the couches, others on the floor with blankets) for Movie Night. Midoriya and Shinso came downstairs at the nick of time; Mina was just about to click 'Play'.

"Shinso and Midoriya sure seem to be spending alot of time together these past couple days," Mina whispered to the BakuSquad. They, minus Bakugo, glanced at the lilac-haired boy, and slightly nodded.

"Do you think there's something going on between them?" Denki whispered, eyebrows wiggling.

"It's possible..." Sero trailed off.

"What's Midoriya doing?" Kirishima whispered.

They saw that Midoriya was doing a 'shoo'ing motion with his hands to Shinso. Shinso, though looking very reluctant, walked over to the BakuSquad and sat beside Denki with a blanket. The BakuSquad (minus Bakugo)'s eyes were on him.

He side-glanced at them, coughed into his fist, and asked, "What?"

Mina, Kiri, Sero, and Denki glanced at each other. "Is there something going on between the 2 of you?" Mina whispered.

"2 of who?"

"You and Midoriya, dude!" Denki whisper-shouted.

The corners of Shinso's mouth seemed to twitch, then he coughed into his fist, "No."

"Will you idiots shut up?! Some of us are tying to watch a movie!" Bakugo whisper-yelled.

The others, minus Shinso, raised their hands in surrender and continued watching the movie.

Ochaco was clinging onto Tsu; Hagakure held onto Jiro's arm tightly; Bakugo very subtly, had the blanket a little bit too high on his face, saying it was cold (But Kirishima could feel him jumping a little once in a while); Koda hid his face behind his knees and arms on the couch.

Shinso was coughing and he felt that he was disturbing the class, so about an hour into the movie, he stood up and decided to go back to his room. Denki looked up at him, "Where're you going, dude?"

"Back to my room," he picked up hs blanket, coughing.

"Why?" Mina asked.

"My coughing must disturb you guys alot, " he coughed, "I'll just go back upstairs."

He walked towards the elevator.

Mina, Denki and Sero watched his retreating figure.

"Hey, Denki," Mina whispered. He looked towards her. She jerked her head sternly in the direction Shinso left. Denki nodded, not willing to argue, and stood up. He took a bucket of popcorn with him as he made his way upto Shinso's room.

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There was a knock at Shinso's door. He was lying on his bed, coughing in agony. "Come in."

Denki pushed open the door with his foot; a laptop and a bucket on popcorn in his arms.

"Heyo, bro."

He sat up on his bed, "Kaminari? Why are you here?"

He closed the door behind him. Walking towards Shinso's bed, he sat and laid the laptop on the former's bed. "Well... we felt bad you had to miss the movie, so Mina convinced me to come watch it here with you," he grinned.

Shinso coughed a few times, "Why? Just go back down and watch the movie with the rest. I'm too tired anyway."

Denki pouted. But instead of leaving, he crawled on the bed till he was sitting next to the lilac-haired boy and got under the covers. He shoved the bucket of popcorn into Shinso's arms, and proceeded to set up the movie.

"Kaminari-" "Shush!" Denki put a finger to the other boy's lips; his eyes still on the laptop screen.

Shinso could feel that familiar itch. The same one he had gotten yesterday, yet a bit more intense. And he knew he was gonna throw up. Shinso scrambled out of bed and into his bathroom.

"Hey, Shinso? You ok?" Denki called, his head tilted and his eyes on the bathroom door.

When no verbal answer came, and only hard coughing was heard, he got off the bed and poked his head into the bathroom, "Shinso?" The mentioned boy was hunched over the sink, coughing petals, blood, and saliva. He was also panting breathlessly, and there were tears at the corners of his eyes. Denki placed a hand on his back, "Hey, what's happening?"

Shinso just shook his head, coughing more. "L-leave," he croaked out.

"What? Dude, you need help! There are literal flowers coming out of your mouth!" Denki gaped.

Shinso swallowed, trying to keep the petals at bay for a few moments, "Kaminari, please go. You being here isn't helping at all."

Denki scrunched his eyebrows, sadly, and backed away from the bathroom. He took his laptop off the bed and made his way to the door.

"And don't tell anyone," Shinso called. Denki, forgetting the other boy couldn't see him, nodded, and quietly left the room.

Shinso sighed, squatting, with his hands still holding onto the sink. He never expected it to be this agonising. To be in love or to have Hanahaki? He thinks both.