Sayo didn't remember when it started. All she knew was some day she ended up coughing flowers. She wasn't sure what it was. Until, Hina found out.

"Onee-chan? Are you okay?" Hina asked worriedly. Sayo had been coughing nonstop for a good five minutes now.

Sayo didn't have enough breath in her to reply. She continued to cough. She weakly tried to hide the flower petals that had been coming out. She didn't want Hina to see her in this state. But, Hina came in and saw.

"Onee-chan!" Hina ran to her side, "Huh? Flowers?"

"H-Hina... just... just forget you..." Sayo broke off into another coughing fit, more flowers falling out of her mouth.

"Hanahaki..." Hina gulped, "How long has this been going on for?"

"I don't know... what's Hanahaki?" Sayo asked.

"It's a disease. Basically, a flower grows in your lungs and it's because you love someone. The only way you can get rid of it is either with surgery or if you confess and they accept." Hina explained, "Do you know who it is?"

Sayo knew. She just didn't want to admit it. The flowers coming out. She knew what they were. Anthurium. A flower that represented kindness. Everything pointed to Lisa.

"I-Imai-san..." Sayo whispered.

"Oh. You should tell her." Hina said, "Otherwise it'll only get worse."

"I can't. She'd never accept me." Sayo sighed.

"She would. I know it. Come on, onee-chan. You'll die if you don't." Hina pleaded.

"I'm not. At least... not yet..." Sayo said.

"But, onee-"

"Leave me alone!" Sayo yelled.

Hina frowned as she backed out of the room. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want Sayo to die. But, what could she do to help? It was quite obvious Sayo never wanted to tell her.

DIVIDER--

Sayo took a shakey breath. How long ago had that conversation been? She couldn't quite remember. It had been a while. She knew that much. Sayo was worsening every day. She could barely breathe most days.

Sayo had taken a hiatus from Roselia because of her condition. She didn't tell them why she needed time off. They wouldn't ask. She was grateful for that. How could she explain it? And what if Lisa figured it out? Then what?

Sayo started violently coughing again. She was in the bathroom. She had been there for over two hours. Her coughing had been nonstop.

"Huh?" Sayo froze as she stared at red spots littering the flower petals, "Is that... blood?"

Sayo brought a hand up to her mouth. She wiped a finger across her lips. As she brought it up to examine it, she gulped. There was blood on her finger.

Sayo hesitantly searched up what that meant. She froze as she realized it meant she was running out of time. Sayo didn't know what to do. She knew she had to hurry up and do something before it was too late.

"I... I can't tell her... she'd never love me..." Sayo whispered.

Sayo was no fool. She noticed how Lisa looked at Yukina. It was obvious she liked her. Sayo knew she wouldn't return her feelings. Sayo was also too scared to try and get the surgery. Then everyone would know about this. She wanted to keep it a secret from everyone if she could.

Sayo sighed. At the thought of Lisa, she started coughing again. Sayo groaned as she leaned back against the wall.

Someone started knocking on the door, "Onee-chan?"

"Come in..." Sayo mumbled.

Hina hesitantly opened the door. She gasped at the sight of Sayo. Hina frantically ran to her side. Sayo groaned as she felt another cough coming up.

"How long have you been in here?" Hina asked as she carefully pulled Sayo's hair back and tied it into a ponytail.

"I lost track... probably about..." Sayo started coughing again, "two... two hours..."

"You look really bad." Hina sighed, "You need to tell her."

"I can't... she wouldn't love me..." Sayo whispered.

"I'm calling her over and you are telling her." Hina stated.

N-no! Please... I'll do it. I swear!" Sayo yelped at the announcement.

"You keep saying that. I'm not listening to you anymore. She's coming over." Hina stated.

Hina sent a text to Lisa: Do you mind coming over to stay with onee-chan? I have to go and she's really sick.

Sayo leaned over and rested her head on Hina's shoulder. Hina pulled her closer. Sayo relaxed against her side and fell asleep. All the coughing had drained her energy.

Lisa soon texted back: Sure. I can do that.

Hina smiled. At least that was working out as planned. Hina carefully picked Sayo up and rested her down on her bed. Sayo didn't stir as Hina tucked her under the covers.

Hina went and cleaned up the bathroom. She gulped when she noticed the blood. That was not good. Hina hoped Sayo would hold out long enough to confess. She didn't have much time left if she didn't.

Lisa made it to the house relatively quickly. Hina smiled and welcomed her inside.

"She's sleeping right now. You'll know if she wakes up because she'll start coughing." Hina said.

"Okay. Take care."

Hina left. She hoped this would work.

Lisa hesitantly walked up the stairs and to Sayo's room. She had been over a few times, more because of Hina, but still. Lisa peaked into the room. Sayo was tossing violently around in her bed. It looked like she was having a nightmare.

Lisa entered the room. She placed a hand on Sayo's head. It felt quite warm. Sayo leaned into her hand. Lisa sighed. She definitely looked really sick.

"Sayo?" Lisa called.

Sayo wearily opened her eyes, "Im... Imai-san?"

"Hey. Do you need anything?" Lisa smiled at her.

"Water..." Sayo whispered.

"Okay. I'll be right back." Lisa nodded and then left the room.

Sayo started coughing. She tried to hide the petals under her blanket. She hoped it wouldn't be noticable. Sayo hid under her covers in shame. Lisa would come back and see this, wouldn't she? What would she think?

"Sayo? You alright?" Lisa entered the room again, a cup of water in her hand this time.

Sayo nervously peaked out from the covers. Lisa was knelt down beside her. Sayo sat up. Lisa handed her the water. Sayo gulped it down quickly.

"Sayo... what is going on?" Lisa asked, "You've been sick for quite some time."

"I... I need to tell you something." Sayo announced nervously.

"What's up?" Lisa asked.

"I... I like you..." Sayo hid under the covers again.

Lisa said nothing for a while. Sayo refused to look up. She stayed buried under her cover.

"I'm sorry, Sayo. I don't feel that way." Lisa said.

"I... I understand..." Sayo whispered, "I'm... I'm sorry..."

"Sayo, what's going on? Why did you say that?" Lisa asked.

"Just leave. I don't need help." Sayo stated.

"But, you're really-"

"Leave!"

Lisa sighed. She hesitantly left the room.

Sayo threw off her covers. She buried her face into her pillows and cried. She knew it wouldn't end well for her. Lisa would never accept her feelings.

Sayo felt her chest tighten. She struggled to breathe. Sayo fell out of her bed as she tried to stand. She couldn't breathe. Sayo started violently coughing again. Blood was coming out of her mouth. This wasn't looking good.

She couldn't do anything. Sayo knew this was going to end in her death. She couldn't call for help. She didn't have enough strength to move anymore. Unless by some freak chance Lisa came back up, she was going to die.

DIVIDER--

Hina came home an hour later. She was surprised to find Lisa in the living room.

"What's up?" Hina asked.

"She didn't want me around." Lisa said.

"Why not?" Hina questioned.

"She... she confessed to me and... I rejected her." Lisa mumbled.

"What?" Hina didn't like the sound of that. It was supposed to work out. They were supposed to love each other.

"Was I leading her on?" Lisa asked, "I don't understand why she asked that."

Hina ran up to Sayo's room without answering. She threw open the door. Sayo was lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood. She looked extremely pale and didn't appear to be breathing. Hina cried out as she ran to her side.

"Onee-chan!" Hina cried in anguish.

Lisa rushed to her at the sound. She froze at the door.

"W-what?" Lisa covered her mouth to keep herself from screaming in fear.

"Wake up! Please!" Hina begged as she frantically shook Sayo, "Please..."

Lisa ran to her side. Hina was bawling her eyes out as she looked at Lisa. Her eyes held a pleading look. Lisa hesitantly reached out and felt for a pulse.

"I'm sorry... there's no pulse. She... she's gone..." Lisa whispered.

"N-no! No!" Hina screamed.

Lisa frowned. She held out her arms, ready to try and comfort Hina.

"You killed her! It's all your fault!" Hina screeched as she threw herself at Lisa.

Lisa barely had time to react. Hina started punching her. Lisa tried to restrain her, but Hina was too strong. She was too insane to be stopped.

"What did I do?" Lisa asked as she barely blocked another punch.

"You didn't love her back..." Hina cried.

"What does that have to do with any of this!?" Lisa ran for the door.

"She loved you. So much it ended with Hanahaki. And you killed her because you didn't accept her feelings!" Hina chased after her and pulled her back into the room.

"She... she..." Lisa was at a loss for words.

"Get out. I never want to see you again!" Hina yelled.

Lisa quickly ran outside. She took a few deep breaths. That was not what she had been expecting at all. Lisa felt horrible.

Why didn't Sayo just tell her? She would've acted differently. Lisa regretted everything now. She killed Sayo. That was what she believed. All because she didn't feel the same way. Or... did she?

Lisa didn't dwell on that thought. It was too late to change what had happened. Sayo was dead. Nothing could fix that. Not even the fact that now she realized that maybe... maybe she did feel the same way.

Lisa didn't know what to do. She took off running. She couldn't bear to remain at the house. Lisa ran home and locked herself in her room. She threw herself onto her bed and started crying.

It was all her fault. If she had just taken a bit more time to really think about it, maybe she could've stopped that. If she had realized what those feeling were sooner, it wouldn't have ended up like that.

Maybe I should end it?

Lisa froze at the voice that popped into her head. Was she really considering doing that? No. She didn't deserve such an easy escape. She didn't deserve the ability to leave so soon. She deserved to suffer for what she had put Sayo through.

DIVIDER--

Hina was nice enough not to inform anyone about what had happened. All she had said was Sayo died. It took a lot of pushing for her to even say it was Hanahaki that killed her. Hina lied whenever asked if she knew who Sayo loved. She said she didn't. Lisa was grateful. That was something she didn't have to worry about.

Sure, Hina could say who it was and she would just have to pretend she hadn't known. But, Lisa didn't know if she could lie that deeply. That would be tough to hold onto for so long.

Though, Lisa knew it was only a matter of time before someone found out. Ever since that day, she had changed. She shut herself off. She never smiled anymore. It was a struggle for her to get up in the morning.

Lisa knew her friends were getting concerned for her. Yukina and Moca especially. Lisa had quit her job, unable to function enough to work. Moca had confronted her on one of the rare days she was a school, but Lisa avoided answering.

All of Roselia was concerned, as Lisa hadn't met up with them since Sayo's death. They had disbanded Roselia, but they still would hang out together. Lisa never once showed up.

Yukina couldn't even talk to her. Lisa never answered her phone. She never spoke in school. She wouldn't talk to Yukina across their balconies like she used to. She had shut herself off from the world.

Tonight, Yukina had had it. She wasn't taking Lisa's silence any longer. She entered Lisa's house, as she still had a key. Yukina went to Lisa's bedroom. She didn't knock or announce herself, she just walked inside. She couldn't risk Lisa locking the door on her.

Lisa was sitting on her bed. She looked at Yukina with a blank expression. Her eyes were dull and lifeless. They no longer had the spark they used to have in them.

"We need to talk." Yukina stated, "Whatever is going on has to be fixed. This you can't stay."

Lisa said nothing. She just continued to stare at Yukina. Yukina moved closer.

"What's happened to you? What happened to the Lisa we all knew?" Yukina asked, her voice full of sorrow.

"Go away."

"Lisa... ever since Sayo... died... you've changed. What happened?" Yukina grabbed Lisa's hands.

Lisa looked away. She gripped her bedsheets tightly. Yukina couldn't tell what she was thinking, but part of her assumed she had just triggered a memory.

"I killed her..." Lisa whispered in a very faint voice.

"What do you mean?" Yukina asked. She wasn't sure what to think.

"Because I... I didn't say I liked her..."

It clicked in Yukina's head now. She had forgotten the very important part. Sayo died from Hanahaki. That explained everything. Well, almost everything.

"You couldn't have known." Yukina protested.

"She confessed to me and I rejected her..." Lisa mumbled.

"So? That doesn't mean it's your fault." Yukina replied.

"I didn't notice at the time... but now I can see all the signs that showed she had it. If I had noticed... she'd be alive."

"You aren't making sense to me. What all happened?" Yukina still couldn't understand why Lisa blamed herself so much.

"Hina asked me to stay with Sayo while she had to do something. I went to check on her. After I gave her a glass of water, she confessed to me. I rejected her. I tried asking why she confessed, but she just yelled for me to get out. I stayed in the living room until Hina came home. I didn't even think to check on her..." Lisa whispered.

"Lisa, it isn't your fault. Sayo didn't tell you. You couldn't have expected to figure it out." Yukina said.

"I rejected her because I couldn't realize my feelings... if I had just thought more on it, maybe things wouldn't have turned out this way."

"I know you're in pain, but please, you have to stop blaming yourself. It's not your fault."

"Please leave."

Yukina sighed. She hesitantly let go of Lisa's hands and left. She didn't want to, but she shouldn't force Lisa to talk too much. She'd return tomorrow to talk more.

DIVIDER--

"Yukina, I'm sorry... Lisa passed away last night. It appears to be from natural causes."

Lisa was gone. Yukina didn't know what to do. Especially not with those circumstances. Lisa didn't die from suicide. She passed from natural causes. That was not what she had been expecting. She would have somewhat understood if it was suicide, but that was not the case at all.

The three remaining members of Roselia had met up to talk about that. It was a shock to everyone. No one understood how she could have just died like that.

"Ah." Yukina suddenly said, confusing the other two, "Perhaps dying from a broken heart is actually a thing?"

That made the most sense to her. How else did she die so suddenly?

Not that it mattered. Dead meant dead. You can't change that. Lisa was dead. The means of her death didn't change that fact. The only thing Yukina could do was hope that Lisa was happy now. Perhaps her and Sayo were together now.

She'd have to wait to find that out.