Requested by: @Mikazuki_Ikumashi
Pairing: Luz x Nqrse
Genre: Angst
High School AU

Nqrse was 13 years old when he noticed that he saw Luz as more than just a friend. He wouldn't say that he was in love or anything.

But he saw Luz as more important than his friends that he spent time with. Not realizing that his feelings would soon grow even bigger, he decided to ignore it as he continued on with his life.

Nqrse was 15 years old when he realized that he had a crush on Luz.

He couldn't ignore this feeling anymore as he longed to be by the light-haired male's side. But he wanted to keep their friendship so he decided to keep quiet for a little longer before he would confess. But his determination to confess to Luz was high as he was sure that the light-haired male would return his feelings.

After all, he noticed how he was being treated differently than all of his other friends or classmates. He decided to wait a bit longer to confess his feelings though as he decided to make a plan with his other best friend, Araki, to confess in a romantic way. Araki more or less agreed after the pink-haired male pestered him about it.

Araki looked annoyed and it took some time to convince him. But when Nqrse told him that he really loved Luz and that he wanted this to succeed, the red-haired male agreed.

Nqrse was happy to have such a great friend like Araki as he knew they could think of a great plan so Nqrse's confession would be successful.

And he was set on confessing to the light-haired male soon.

Nqrse was 16 years old when he found out that Luz didn't love him back.

They were hanging out with only the two of them because the others were busy. Well, Araki wasn't but Nqrse knew that he lied so the two of them could have some time alone. And he made a mental note to thank him sometime.

They had decided to meet at the new cafe which sold many kinds of sweets as they were just chatting like they always did. "Um... Nqrse, can I tell you something?", Luz asked as he played with the straw of his drink.

"Of course you can, Luz~ You can trust me after all~", Nqrse assured the other and Luz gave him a thankful smile. "Can you come closer please? I don't really want other people to hear...", Luz told the other bashfully as Nqrse giggled but nodded as he leaned in closer.

"Could it be... that he wants to confess?", Nqrse wondered. And he was correct. Luz indeed confessed his feelings.

But not to him.

"I think I love Mafu-kun...", Luz confessed and that's when Nqrse could feel his heart being shattered into pieces.

"Nqrse? Are you alright?", Luz asked concerned when he saw how the pink-haired male didn't react at all and just sat there with his eyes widened. Nqrse soon snapped out of it though as he quickly put on a smile.

"Yes~ But wow, I didn't expect you to love Mafu-chan~ You hid it pretty well!", Nqrse exclaimed as Luz shushed him while the other male apologized giggling. He decided that he would just do his best to avoid Luz for a while now so he could do his best to forget this feeling called love.

But it seemed like god didn't have the same thing in mind. "You think so? So... Nqrse, I was planning to confess to Mafu-kun soon. And I wanted to ask you, if you could help me out.", Luz said as he scratched his cheek and Nqrse just wanted to decline. He wanted to yell at Luz that he couldn't.

That he didn't want to help him because for all these years, Nqrse had been in love with Luz. But instead, he only swallowed his words as he forced himself to smile wider.

"Of course! We're best friends after all so I am going to help you~", Nqrse declared. Ah... how those words hurt for him to say. Luz smiled in relief as he gave the other a quick hug as a thanks. "Thank you! That means a lot to me, really!", Luz said as Nqrse nodded.

"You're welcome~ Sorry, but I have to get going now! See you tomorrow~", Nqrse said as he stood up waving at Luz before he ran off. "A-ah, I can walk you home.", Luz called as the pink-haired male turned back and shook his head.

"I'll be fine~ You go to your beloved Mafu-kun and try to get some precious time with him~", Nqrse teased and Luz blushed as he watched the pink-haired male run off.

He looked out of the window to see that the sky was covered with many grey clouds.

"It's going to rain soon, huh? I hope Nqrse took his umbrella with him...", Luz trailed off before he noticed that he was being called. His expression brightened up a bit when he saw who the caller was as he immediately picked up. "Hello, Mafu-kun! What do you need?"

*****

The rain was falling down heavily on the pink-haired male who didn't even bother to find shelter. He just wanted to get away from the cafe as far as possible. And only when he made sure that he was far enough, did he slow down as he continued walking. He didn't even look where he was walking as he hung his head low.

The dress he chose for today was drenched now and his hair stuck to his face. But he didn't care, as he could only think of the light-haired male. He imagined him giving Mafumafu the smile that he wanted to have.

He imagined the two of them being together, doing all of the things he wanted to do with Luz. He imagined them getting married while he would have to stand there in the audience forcing himself to be happy for them.

Thinking about that made him feel sick and when he bumped into someone he didn't even bother to try and regain his balance as he fell into the ground, dirtying his dress. "I'm so sorry for bumping into you... Nqrse?! What are you doing here? And you're soaked!", the male exclaimed as the pink-haired male didn't feel the rain hitting him anymore as he looked up to see his red-haired friend hovering with an umbrella over him.

"Ah~ The dress is dirty now~ How will you make it up to me, Araki-chan?", Nqrse asked but Araki noticed that something was wrong as he kneeled down and put a hand on the pink-haired male's shoulder. "Hey... you alright?

Did something happen with Luz today?", Araki asked as Nqrse flinched upon hearing the light-haired male's name. He smiled at the other male but Araki could see how hurt he must feel.

"Hey... don't I look pathetic?", Nqrse asked in a joking tone as Araki could only look at him in disbelief. Where did his prideful friend go who didn't let people convince him that it wasn't ok to be like he was?

"Of course not. You're Nqrse, the one who stands up for himself. Anyone would be proud to have you by their side.", Araki assured.

"Then why... why did Luz choose Mafu-chan over me?", Nqrse asked as Araki could see the despair in his eyes. "Wha—".

"Not being accepted by society for who I am is hard... but Luz... Luz was the first one who accepted me for who I am. He was the first one who said that I looked beautiful! So I thought he was the one! But he chose someone else...

If not Luz... then who? There is no one else... there is no one else who could possibly love someone like me!", Nqrse shouted as he gripped onto Araki's shirt. The next second he knew, he was enveloped into a hug by his friend.

"It must have been hard, huh? I'm sorry for not being able to help you more. All I can do for you now is lend you a shoulder to cry on. You did well.", Araki said and that's when Nqrse broke down. He cried as loud as he could, not caring if the passengers would hear him. He buried his head into the other's chest and cried as loud as he could, pouring all of his frustrations out.

Araki merely patted his back as he continued to cry coughing once in a while. It hurt. It hurt him so much. But all he could do was to support Luz because he wanted him to be happy. He would do his best to support the both of them.

Even if it meant pain for him. Even if it meant not being able to fulfill his dream of being by Luz's side. He decided to continue his life with his feelings locked inside his heart.

Because this was the best way to do things. But god didn't even allow him that as his throat suddenly hurt and he coughed again. And he was the only one who noticed that after he coughed a white rose petal was falling onto the ground.

*****

It had been one year since then and Nqrse did his best to support Luz with his crush on Mafumafu. He tried to lock his feelings away just like he intended to. But it proved to be difficult when he realized that he couldn't hide or forget his feelings. Because the white rose petals he coughed up daily reminded him of his love for the taller male. At first he decided to ignore it.

But when the coughing got more frequent and the pain grew more, he decided to research it. And it resulted in him finding out about the Hanahaki Disease. The Hanahaki Disease is an illness which was born by the unrequited love of the patient. The patient would constantly cough up flowers until they would eventually die.

The only ways to make the Hanahaki Disease stop, is to make their crush return their feelings or get surgery which would end up with the patient's love for their crush to disappear though.

When Nqrse found out about it, he couldn't help but curse his life for this fate. Not being able to keep his love for Luz without dying or taking surgery? What did he ever do to deserve this?

Was it not enough for god to let him have his unrequited love? "Nqrse! I managed to ask Mafu-kun to hang out with me! It's not a date but it is going to be just the two of us!", Luz exclaimed cheerfully. Nqrse only forced himself to smile as he nodded. "Congratulations! I'm so proud of you!", Nqrse congratulated him as Luz smiled in return and gave the pink-haired male a hug.

"That's all thanks to you. Without you, I wouldn't have come this far. And for that I want to thank you.", Luz told Nqrse as the pink-haired male felt his heart tighten when he heard that. He was the one who helped his crush succeed in his love life.

"Well, I wish you good luck then! I'm gonna go skip today so see you tomorrow~ You can call me to tell me how it went~", Nqrse said as he skipped out of the classroom. "Nqrse, that's not good!", Luz called out as the pink-haired male only stuck his tongue out before continuing to go on.

"Luz-kun~ About hanging out! Where do you want to go?", the albino asked as Luz turned over to Mafumafu happily. "You can choose where to go!", Luz told him as they discussed it.

"Soraru-san? Where are you going?", Mafumafu asked when he noticed the raven-haired male passing the classroom. "I'm gonna skip.", he simply answered as the younger male pouted.

"Eh? That's not good!", Mafumafu exclaimed as Luz smiled happily when he noticed that the two of them were the same. "Are you perhaps going to Nqrse?", Luz asked as the older male only narrowed his eyes but nodded.

"That's nice! Please have fun then!", Luz wished him as Soraru looked at him coldly at him before it changed back to his emotionless expression.

"Thanks. You two have fun on your date.", Soraru said as he walked away. "It's not what you think it is!", Mafumafu shouted blushing. "A-anyways, let's continue talking about where to go.", Mafumafu told Luz who only smiled as he discussed with Mafumafu about their possible date.

*****

Nqrse ran to the nearest school's bathroom as he hovered above the sink and coughed, trying to not get the flowers on him. He tried to swallow it back but there were too many flowers as the only thing he could do was cough everything up.

The rose petals were now full roses as well and their white petals were tainted with red as it was mixed with his blood.

He heard some footsteps but instead of trying to hide he just looked up, not surprised to see Soraru standing there. "From a scale from 1 to 10 how beautiful do I look?", Nqrse asked jokingly.

Soraru just sighed as he walked towards the younger male and handed him his jacket to cover up the blood which got on the blouse of Nqrse's uniform. There was a short silence before Soraru spoke up. "I'd say it'd be around 7 or 8 right now. Depends on your taste.", Soraru answered as Nqrse only giggled and nodded.

"I see~ If I already have such a high ranking, I wonder how I'd look if I dress up?", Nqrse asked as he let himself being pulled aside while Soraru cleaned the flowers up. "I'd rather not be blinded seeing you then, thank you very much.", Soraru said as Nqrse only laughed loudly.

Nqrse liked Soraru.

And this was one of the reason why. The older male had found out about the Hanahaki Disease some months ago after Nqrse had been too careless and the raven-haired became suspicious.

Nqrse had thought Soraru would try to convince him to get surgery like everyone else who knew about this. But he was surprised when he saw that Soraru just accepted it and treated him like always. "Want to talk about it?", Soraru asked as Nqrse laughed and nodded lightly.

"If you don't mind.", Nqrse answered and Soraru nodded waiting for him to talk. So he told Soraru about everything that happened today. About how Luz would hang out with Mafumafu. About how it hurt him to know that Luz would soon ask the albino out. And about how he was the one who helped Luz with all of that.

Soraru only listened to him, humming once in a while. But he didn't say anything further. Didn't say that he did anything wrong. Didn't say anything about that he should do something. Because he knew that Nqrse didn't want to hear that.

He only patted Nqrse's back whenever the male would start coughing up flower petals, handing him a bottle of water which the other male was thankful for. The time passed quickly and Soraru noticed that school was over. "Want to stop by somewhere today? My treat.", Soraru suggested as Nqrse looked up smiling.

"Sure~ I'll make sure to take that chance then~", Nqrse chirped as the older male only sighed. "Yes, yes. Let's go then.", Soraru said as they both stood up and finally exited the bathroom.

*****

"Want to stop by a cafe first before we go to the cinema?", Luz asked Mafumafu who only nodded. He then noticed two people in front of him as he lightly pulled Luz's sleeve.

"Aren't those Soraru-san and Nqrse-kun? Didn't they want to skip?", Mafumafu asked as they both looked at Nqrse clinging onto the raven-haired male who didn't push him off but just talked like no one was clinging to him at all. And for some reason, Luz felt his heart sting a bit at the sight of that. "Yes... I wonder what they were doing.", Luz said as Mafumafu hummed in agreement.

"Well, I can just ask Soraru-san to tell me everything later when I go to his house so let's go!", Mafumafu exclaimed cheerfully as Luz nodded before he decided to go with the albino.

He didn't know why but for some reason he couldn't get the pink-haired male off his head throughout the whole day after what he saw.

*****

"Fuwa! That was a good movie!", Mafumafu exclaimed as Luz nodded in agreement. They were sitting in the cafe at the moment while talking about the movie. Luz could only look at Mafumafu in content when he saw how excited the other male was, talking about the movie.

He couldn't wait anymore as he decided to confess now. "Mafu-kun... can I tell you a secret?", Luz asked as the albino stopped and nodded. "Of course~ I'll take that secret to my grave!", Mafumafu exclaimed as Luz chuckled before he leaned closer. "I love you.", he merely said as he watched the albino growing red.

"Excuse me for a second!", Mafumafu said as he stood up and rushed to the toilet leaving a baffled Luz behind.

*****

"That was a nice crêpe~ Thank you, aniki!", Nqrse exclaimed as Soraru rolled his eyes. "Don't call me that.", he merely responded. They were talking about the most random things. More like, Nqrse was talking and Soraru would listen to him, occasionally saying something as well.

But they were interrupted by Soraru's phone as he took it out to read the message.

And he widened his eyes when he read the message as Nqrse grew curious. "Hm? Was that Mafu-chan?", Nqrse asked as he leaned closer but Soraru quickly pulled his phone away.

"Don't.", he warned the other pretending to be annoyed when he actually was a bit nervous. "Don't worry~ It's just me~", Nqrse said as they both "fought" a bit until the pink-haired male won and got the phone. He read the message as his smile froze and Soraru could only curse himself for letting Nqrse read it.

Mafu: Soraru-san, what should I do? Luz-kun Just confessed to me...

Soraru only stared at the pink-haired male who handed him the phone back. "Ahaha... so he finally went and did it! I have to congratulate him as soon as I get back then! Ahahahaha....", Nqrse laughed and Soraru didn't know what to say.

Nqrse suddenly broke down as the raven-haired male rushed to his side. "Nqrse?! Nqrse!", Soraru exclaimed as he gave the younger male a bottle of water. Nqrse couldn't even stop coughing to drink though, as the flowers constantly fell on the ground mixed with his blood.

They heard something falling as they turned to see Araki standing there with the groceries he bought on the floor. He immediately rushed to Nqrse's side as well as he panicked and decided that he finally had enough.

"This is it! I am calling the ambulance and ask them to perform surgery on you immediately!", Araki exclaimed as Soraru stopped him when he saw that Nqrse didn't like that idea at all.

"Stop it. He doesn't want to.", Soraru said as Araki slapped his hand away. "You are telling me that I should just leave him be even though he is literally dying on the ground right now?! There must be something wrong with your head if you can't see what's good for him!", Araki shouted at Soraru who stood up.

"I think you should calm down. I know that it's really bad right now but I really don't want to force him to do anything. We have to think of his feelings as well. Even if it hurts us.", Soraru argued.

"You think this is good for him?! Letting him die on his unrequited love?! Do you even care about him at all?! You don't, right?!", Araki asked as Soraru narrowed his eyes and glared at him.

"You don't know anything about me so don't you dare to assume those things.", Soraru said calmly but they all knew that Araki's words hit him hard. "You... if you care about him then—". "Stop! Stop it!", Nqrse shouted using his remaining voice as Araki and Soraru both looked at him.

"I don't want to give you guys anymore trouble because I am selfish... Soraru-san, thank you for supporting my decisions no matter how stupid they were... But Araki is right. I... will take surgery.", Nqrse said and Soraru stayed still as he nodded. Araki acted quickly as he called the ambulance. "That's right, Nqrse. Please try to keep it together until the ambulance comes. You can do this."

*****

"Is everything alright, Mafu-kun?", Luz asked when he noticed Mafumafu looking worried when he came back. "A-ah... yes! Luz-kun... about your confession.", Mafumafu started as Luz nodded. "I'm sorry! I am really happy! But I can't accept your feelings!", Mafumafu exclaimed as he bowed. Mafumafu expected Luz to be sad but instead he only chuckled and nodded.

"Yes... I kind of expected that already when you didn't answer immediately. But I am still happy that I confessed to you.", Luz said as Mafumafu nodded. "Hey, Luz-kun... I have been wondering this for a while but are you sure that you loved me?", Mafumafu asked as Luz tilted his head confused. "Yes... why would you ask?", Luz asked.

"Well, you do enjoy spending time with me. But whenever we hung out together, you would often talk about Nqrse-kun. Like how he liked the things I liked as well. And how Nqrse would react to those things... I'm sorry if I am wrong though.", Mafumafu apologized as Luz was shocked.

Did he talk about Nqrse that often? Now that he thought about it, he did talk about Nqrse a lot. But he never expected that the feeling he felt towards the other male was love.

Before Luz could think more about it, Mafumafu's phone started ringing as he took it confused. He guessed that Soraru would explain why he read his messages but didn't answer. But he didn't expect what Soraru said next.

"Mafumafu, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be home later. Please just go home after your hangout with Luz.", Soraru informed Mafumafu who tilted his head confused. "Eh? Why?", Mafumafu asked. "I... am at the hospital right now. Is Luz there with you? I think he should listen to this.", Soraru said as Mafumafu put it on loudspeaker so Luz and him could both listen to it.

"Don't worry, it's not me who has to be hospitalized. But... it's Nqrse.", Soraru confessed as Luz felt his heart stop. "N-nqrse?! What happened to him?", Luz asked. And Soraru decided to explain everything to him. About how Nqrse had Hanahaki and how he found out about. He had to explain what Hanahaki is to the two of them as none of them knew what that even was.

He decided to leave the part out that it was Luz who was his crush though.

"H-hanahaki? And he never told me about it? If he did, then... then I could have helped him!", Luz exclaimed feeling tears welling up when he thought about the pink-haired male suffering.

"I have enough of this. Give me the phone.", someone said as they could hear some arguing, then a sigh before someone spoke up.

"Luz, listen up! Soraru may have spared your feelings but I won't be like that! So I will tell you this! Nqrse only ended up this way because of you!", Araki shouted as Luz was shocked.

"Why would it be Luz-kun's fault?! He didn't do anything wrong!", Mafumafu exclaimed, deciding to take Luz's side.

"Oh, really? Nqrse has been in love with you for almost four years! Four years! But you never noticed anything!", Araki accused. "Well, I wouldn't know if he didn't tell me!", Luz argued as the redhead only scoffed.

"You think so? It was pretty obvious to me. If that was all, then I could have forgiven you. But that you had the guts to ask for his help to confess to Mafumafu... That you never questioned the fact that he skipped school since high school...

That you almost never helped whenever he said he wasn't feeling well and he could only depend on me and Soraru sometimes and not on the person he actually needed...

For that I will never forgive you.

And if Nqrse dies today because it's too late for surgery I'm going to punch Soraru for one. And I am going to kill you for doing this to him.", Araki said and there was some arguing again as they could hear Soraru trying to calm Araki down.

"I'm sorry. I'll try to calm Araki down.", Soraru assured them. "How long did you know about this?", Mafumafu asked as Soraru thought about it for a bit before answering.

"I guess I've known for a few months now. I noticed because he seemed to be less cheerful than usual so I decided to see what was going on and that's how I found out.", Soraru told them.

"If you knew... why didn't you tell me?", Luz asked as it was Soraru's time to scoff. "Do you actually think I will tell something as personal as that to someone who didn't notice one single thing?", Soraru asked.

"But then I would be to blame too! I didn't notice anything as well!", Mafumafu exclaimed, defending Luz. "I know you're trying to be nice but you were not the one spending almost 24/7 with Nqrse. You only see him sometimes while Luz almost sees him everyday.", Soraru reminded him.

"Luz, I don't want to argue with you any longer. I want to be there for Nqrse when he is done with the surgery. I... will give you the address of the hospital though... But don't tell Araki that I said that...", Soraru muttered. Luz was surprised that the older male did that as he felt grateful.

"Thank you...", Luz thanked the other male. "Don't thank me. I didn't do this for you. Well, I'll be going now. And I think Araki said it already...

But if Nqrse dies from this... I'm going to make sure that you get what you deserve.", Soraru said before hanging up.

Luz immediately stood up as he paid and was about to rush outside before Mafumafu stopped him. "Wait. I'll come with you.", he told Luz as he nodded and they both rushed to the hospital.

*****

"Good job, Nqrse. How do you feel?", Soraru asked as the pink-haired male put his thumbs up.

"Feeling good~ You gotta buy me some ice cream though~", Nqrse chirped as Soraru rolled his eyes but nodded. "Sure. As soon as you get discharged, we can hang out and can do what you want.", Soraru said as Nqrse nodded.

"I'll take you up for those words then~", Nqrse chirped as he motioned for Soraru to come over which he did. Nqrse pulled the other in a hug. "Thank you for taking my side every time even when it was unreasonable. You are like a family to me at this point.", Nqrse told the raven-haired male who hugged him back.

"I could say the same to you. Get better so we can fool around like we always do again.", Soraru said as Nqrse hummed before he let go. "I'll get going then. See you tomorrow.", Soraru said as he nodded at Araki who nodded back.

"Take care on your way home, Soraru.", Araki told him to which the raven-haired male nodded. "Yeah, you too.", Soraru said before exiting the room. "So... let's talk about everything.", Araki said as Nqrse nodded.

*****

"Soraru-san! Is Nqrse alright?!", Luz asked as Soraru nodded. "Yes. The surgery succeeded and he is in a stable condition now.", Soraru informed Luz who sighed out in relief.

"That's great! Now that he is in a stable condition I can tell him my feelings as well! I want to make it up to him!", Luz said as he rushed off and Soraru wanted to stop him.

Soraru was shocked and he gave Mafumafu a look as the albino tilted his head.

"Is something wrong, Soraru-san? Isn't it great that they can finally make up and return each other's feelings? I managed to make Luz-kun realize that he doesn't love me but Nqrse!", Mafumafu exclaimed happily. But Soraru couldn't feel the same amount of happiness because... he knew that this wouldn't work.

And he felt bad for both of them. Especially for Luz who didn't understand what would happen after a surgery. "Mafumafu... I think you don't understand it completely... Let me explain to you... the consequences of a surgery when you get rid of the Hanahaki Disease."

*****

Luz quickly rushed to Nqrse's room, looking forward to see him. He promised that he'd take care of Nqrse this time. To never make him suffer again but make him smile everyday to make it up. He stopped though because he almost bumped into the door who passed by.

"Woah, are you a friend of Nqrse-kun?", the doctor asked as Luz nodded. "Well, don't worry. He is perfectly fine again. It was really difficult because his lungs were almost completely crushed by the roots. We barely managed to save him.

This love must have hurt him a lot. I am just happy that he decided to do surgery instead of keeping his feelings of love for his crush and dying from it. I'm sure that he'll find the right one for him someday.", the doctor said confusing Luz slightly.

"Well, I'll be going now. See you.", he said before walking away. Luz was confused but he shook it off as he opened the door, looking forward to see Nqrse. But all of his hope was shattered as soon as he opened the door.

He saw Araki leaning down to kiss Nqrse. And he felt like someone stabbed him into his heart when he saw that the pink-haired male returned the gesture. That's when the doctor's words hit him as he finally understood.

Nqrse didn't love him anymore.

All of his romantic feelings towards him were gone, the moment he got the surgery. Luz quickly ran away as he searched a place to be alone. That's when he ran into Soraru and Mafumafu.

Mafumafu was actually crying while Soraru only patted Luz's shoulder. "I'm sorry... I should have tried to help Nqrse differently and maybe I should have told you after all...", Soraru apologized. "It's my fault! I should have done my best to help you so this wouldn't have ended this way!", Mafumafu cried out as Luz gave him a pained smile.

"Please don't blame yourselves... It was my fault for not realizing anything and for not doing anything...", Luz told them. "I-if there is anything I can do t-then—". "Please don't worry about me anymore, Mafu-kun... I just need some time alone...", Luz told them and Soraru nodded as he urged Mafumafu to follow him.

Reluctantly, Mafumafu turned and walked away with Soraru. There was a long silence and they almost exited the building until they suddenly heard some coughing.

Confused and worried they turned around as their confused expressions morphed into horror when they saw the state Luz was in. Luz coughed a lot and Mafumafu immediately rushed towards him as Soraru followed him closely after. Mafumafu was focused on Luz but Soraru just couldn't help but shift his attention somewhere else.

Of course, Soraru was worried as well but his focus was somewhere else other than the light-haired male. Which were the pink flower petals of a rose on the floor.

And he only felt like it was a new nightmare starting when he realized that those were the favorite flowers of Nqrse.