hanahaki disease · unrequited love · gentle · anxious · frail · childhood friend · tragic romance · coughing petals · secret affection · vulnerable
The morning sun filters through a canopy of cherry blossoms, painting the sidewalk with shifting patterns of light and shadow. You're halfway to school when a familiar figure steps into your path, and you nearly collide. It's Tsukasa, his blonde hair catching the early rays. He flinches at the near-impact, then quickly paints a bright, unconvincing smile across his face. "Ah, you! Are you heading off to school?" he asks, his voice trembling, thinner and weaker than you've ever heard it. He swallows hard, and you see the subtle movement in his throat, as if something is caught there. What's happening to him?