The sky has always been a great scene. I remembered star gazing all night long when my friends forget to invite me. I'd let the rain drop on me when my parents fight in the morning or afternoon.

Then there's the land, the place I want to let go. Although its beauty is of magnificence, it does not emit the kind of aura the sky does. Nonetheless, it's a great combination with the oceans.

But, if I have to choose...

I head to school wearing my earphones and playing my jam on full volume. I don't have a lot of friends, neither do people pay attention to me. So I don't really need to greet anyone.

I arrive at my locker and grab the things I need. Right as I close it, one of my friends slams it. It's more like a greeting gesture to them.

"Hey. Sorry about last night. We forgot to invite you," she tells me as I chuckle, "The same apology for th same situation. I tell you. It's fine. I wasn't feeling any good last night anyways."

I walk to my class. She follows me.

"Did your parents fight again?" "24/7. Yeah."

She stops on her tracks as she holds me with her. I look at her.

"You can always leave, you know. You can live with me for the meantime," she assures me. I let go from her gently, "No need. I can take this on.

This friend, Honoka, tends to forget inviting me to events but never fails to comfort me when I need it. Although, this time, I didn't need much comforting.

Another friend, Harold, startles us as we turn a corner. He gave Honoka quite a shock. I'm already used to his crazy antics.

Also why I really like him.

We've been friends since elementary. He always uses the same series of harmless pranks so at this point, they're nothing new.

"Not scared? Why?" Harold asks me as he pouts.

He should really quit being this adorable. I can't hold it.

Harold is a really kind man. Aside from being a famous kid here for his athletic abilities, he's really a gentleman. A lot of girls fall for him for that. Somehow different from the ones we see in movies.

The three of us are classmates so we head to class together.

It's been 6 years since I liked him. We've never separated from each other since we became friends. I started developing feelings for him on the way. I was hoping he woukd have experienced the same thing.

"I'm planning to confess to Harold. Will you help?" I ask Honoka that lunch time when we head to the female's bathroom. Honoka chokes on her burrito.

I help her. As the burrito piece gets out, she looks at me in shock. I gave a questioned look.

"I get that you've had a crush on him for years but aren't you friends? You can just easily tell him?"

She makes a point. "Yeah, but..."

"But?"

"I want it to happen at the restaurant we usually go."

She thinks for a while.

"Oh. Like a romantic scene in movies?" I smile and nod.

"I pretty much can be and will be of help. Finally, I can stop thinking about when you'll ask him out," she sighs. "Ask out who?" Harold wraps his arms around our shoulders. Honoka shrieks as I laugh. "Oh nobody," I tell him.

"Tell me. I'll help," he begs to me, "You should invite him to that restaurant we like. I'm planning to bring you there considering Honoka forgot to invite you to some event again." I roll my eyes. Honoka punches him. As they tease each other, I walk away. They start to follow me as they realize I'm at a long distance from them.

When Harold said all those, I felt a hard hit in my chest. I struggled to breathe for a second. Probably because I really am expecting that things will go well. Hopeful, I expect that he'd like me in that context.

The night has come. I'm wearing my usual clothes. I don't want to be that fancy just because it's a confession. Besides, we've known each other that long.

I tell my parents that I'm heading out. As usual, they are arguing about finances. Even thought of a divorce. Nothing new. I head out anyways.

I arrive at the restaurant. Harold and Honoka just arrived as well. We enter the place and sit at our usual area. Luckily, there aren't a lot of people. Honoka brought our other 2 friends, Mika and Anna. Harold brought 3 of his friends. And for me, no one. Like I said, I don't have a lot of friends.

Although, this is nothing new either.

Fun and problems? There's nothing new. Even confessions aren't that new. I just happen to start experiencing it.

We order our food. While we wait, I notice Harold staring at my area. I feel butterflies in my stomach, how I usually feel when I notice him do that.

Now that I think of it, this weird and hurtful feeling in my chest is new. Though it only lasts for a second.

The food arrives and we enjoy our time. Honoka's and Harold's friends are the only other people I talk to yet only happens during this kind of event.

Amidst the enjoyment, I notice Harold stealing glances at my area. I wonder if he's glancing at me.

An hour before we leave, Honoka looks at me and nods a little. I nod a little as a reply.

"So, should we try something else?" Honoka asks. Mika questions her, "Like what? Knowing secrets and all?" Anna butts in, "How about reveal our crushed?"

I'm pretty sure the two knows or Honoka just told them.

"Mika, go first," one of Harold's friends says immediately. Mika doesn't hesitate and says that it's him, the boy who just started. He blushes as all of us shrieks in happiness.

Apparently, Honoka and her friends like Harold's friends. Because of the sudden secret reveal, the boys asks the girls out im which they agreed to.

"Harold, you should go next," I tell him, excited.

"Well, she's an amazing person. I've always liked her from the very start I met her, she's -"

Just tell us already.

"Just tell us already!"

One of his friends interrupts. We laugh it off.

"Well..."

I hold in my feelings.

"We recently just started dating. I also wanted to point that out," he says as his boys. They tease him. The girls look at me and act happy. I do as well.

"It's Rebecca."

My feelings, heart, everything completely break.

Rebecca, the most famous girl in the campus. Although known for her cheerleading skills and beauty, she's a brat and a bully. Someone you'd know from a movie.

Of all people, why her? She never bullied me though. We've never really paid attention to each other. But why her?

She bullied Mika because she thought she was dating her brother. And that went on for a whole year.

The girls can clearly see the pain in my eyes. I just smile and celebrate with them.

Rebecca comes to our table. She greets us. She glares at Mika as she glares back. We, the girls, just sit back as the boys tease Harold.

I feel a sudden stab in my chest. I start to cough. I use the tissue given to us.

Why am I coughing? I had an abrupt stop. I look at the tissue. There's blood.

Honoka sees this and excuses us. The other two girls just sit quietly as Rebecca sits on my seat being all livey dovey with Harold.

It hurts. Obviously, it would. But, I'm sure it shouldn't be to the extent of coughing out blood.

I use a stall and continue coughing. A minute later and it finally stopped. There's a lot of blood inside the toilet. I flush it away as I wipe my lips with a clean handkerchief.

I just watch the toilet flush. Right before the blood completely drains, I see an object floating. Though, it easily drains with the liquid.

My chest still hurts as if something is stabbing it. The bottom area, probably near the diaphragm has that stabbing feeling.

I already have all my things. I tell Honoka I'm leaving. Before she could stop me, I rush out the toilet and go home.

I immediately head to my room while my parents are ignoring each other in the living room. I had to go quickly since my chest started hurting again. I cough there in my toilet.

Another minute passes and it stops. I sit there, processing what just happened. I look at the toilet. There are objects again. I decided to scoop out one of them.

"What the-"

Someone slams my door open. I hurriedly wipe my lips and head out the bathroom. My dad pushes me to the floor as I head out. He was drunk again.

"You, you..." he gathers his words, "you worthless brat." He hiccuos amidst the words. Time for the "lectures" once again.

I just sit on the floor, listening to every word he's saying.

My mom comes in and casually tells me to go to sleep. My dad leaves and slams the door shut.

I simply sigh and wash myself. Before heading to bed, I sit by my window, gazing at the starry sky.

How I want to be one of those stars.

I look at my hazy reflection on the window.

Funny, I'm just crying tears but the reflection looks like I'm crying stars. There's a twinkling sound in my imagination. How funny is the world. I just wanna end it.

I head to bed, trying to get a good night sleep.

The next morning comes. I skip breakfast and head to school immediately. My parents don't even care so why bother.

I avoid everyone by putting my hoodie cap on. I skip my locker and head to class since I have everything I need.

Honoka and Harold were already there. Rebecca somehow decides to stay. I sit on my seat, ignoring my friends.

Class starts. Honoka gives me a piece of paper.

"We talk later or you gonna get into some dip crap :)"

I write back.

"Geez. Thanks. Way to comfort me."

She chuckles. Harold glances at my side again.

The stabbing pain comes back.

At break time, Honoka approaches me.

"So. What's the deal leaving me?" she takes the seat in front of me. She raises her eyebrows.

I sigh and take out a leaf.

She looks at it then to me. She was about to laugh when I interrupted.

"I coughed it up."

She stares at me then to the leaf then back at me. I just look at the leaf this whole time.

"Are you sure?" she stutters. I nod.

"Maybe when you were coughing, the leaf was already there. Or it could be -"

She stops abruptly and shakes me by my shoulders. Why is she leaning that much to my left?

"Harold. Help me get her to the clinic!"

Clinic... Did I pass out?

The last thing I remember is someone carrying me.

I wake up inside the clinic. The assistant nurse checks up on me and smiles in relief. She brings me water and medicine. I kindly take it.

She tells me to rest for a little while as she'll call my adviser.

The stabbing pain is still there. It's kind of getting worse and worse. This is probably just a heart break. No worries.... Hopefully.

My adviser arrives and brings me back to class. He was kind enough to assist me back. He tells me to be careful next time like eat breakfast and all. I nod and greet him as I head back to class.

At lunch time, Honoka assures me that the leaf probably just flew to my toilet. That's a possibility so I agree with her.

Harold sits with us. Rebecca sits with her friends 3 tables from us. She keeps glaring at us.

Harold tells us to ignore her. He then asks what happened. I merely said that it was just a headache and I didn't eat breakfast. He scolds me for that and demands that I eat lots of food for lunch. I chuckle and obey thy master.

I still continue hiding my broken feelings.

I also noticed. The more I hide it, the more stabbing pain hurts.

When I arrive home, ignoring my parents fighting again, I take medicine that was given to me. We had this medicine so I take them from our dining room, still ignoring everyone.

It eased the pain a bit.

The following month went by as my usual routine. Luckily Rebecca understood that Harold and I are just friends. She wasn't such a brat at all.

Ha! How I wish that was the case.

When I arrive at my locker, Rebecca had pried it open, throwing my stuff all over the place. Everyone laughs with her as she reads a letter out loud.

I don't recall having that letter so it didn't affect me. Only the destruction of my stuff.

She spots me and calls me out. I slowly head to her. She pushed me to the floor.

"Who do you think you are hanging out with my boyfriend?" she laughs as she and her friends surround me. The other students take videos and laugh at me as they pour glue.

Honoka, Mika, Anna, Harold, and his friends arrive at the scene as the last drop of glue hits me.

Harold pulls Rebecca away as the boys pushes Rebecca's friends. Honoka, Mika, and Anna help me get up.

Rebecca ignores whatever Harold said. She proceeds to tell a lie. A lie that made the stabbing pain hurt even more.

"Your best friend here tried to steal you from me because she likes you. And you know what she did? The only reason why I'm doing this. She burned all my paperwork."

"That doesn't excuse you. So what if she likes me? I already know that. And you know she's not my type yet she's still my best friend. You could have told me instead or telk her to replace it than to embarrass her."

The pain hurts even more.

This past month has not been easy despite the facade in school and then this happens.

There was no reasonable cause for the fever, uncontrollable shaking, and loss of appetite I suffered. With this happening, I can feel my body getting colder and colder. I shake uncontrollably again..

I puke out the breakfast I had. Then proceed to cough uncontrollably. Everyone continues to film. Rebecca laughs at me. Majority laugs with her as the minority worries.

Mika notices something in between my fingers. Anna did too. They tell me to just cough it all out. They gently take my hands away during the stop. Then the coughing again.

There's supposed to be nothing wrong with coughing. I probably could have acquired a virus or just a simple disease.

But this. There is definitely something wrong.

I'm coughing flower petals. I can even tell what flowers these are - Candytuft, Fuchsia, Wisteria, Clematis, and Purple Anemone. These are all purple flowers.

Good. If I'm gonna die by coughing flowers, it would be of my favorite color.

I continue coughing. The students around started worrying.

So they finally realize the urgency. Great. Good job, crapheads.

Some students call the teachers and nurses.

Honoka, Mika, and Anna try to console me and do somethibg about this.

Rebecca is the only one who still finds this funny. Even her friends don't think it's funny anymore. Harold pushes her away as her laugh and smile fade. She screams at him for a break up and leaves. Harold is confused between consoling me or Rebecca. He looks at our directions simultaneously. He bites his lips of frustration and runs... to Rebecca.

This is friendship? Your lover matters more?

The coughing is getting in the way of my breathing. I can feel myself crying at the pain. People start to talk to each other as they point at me. My friends were even confused.

I remembered the twinkling sound I heard every night when I'm crying.

Anna gets up and screams to get the nurses here quickly. Students the back area run to follow up on the students calling the nurses.

The coughing has finally got in the way of my breathing. I stop coughing yet I am now unconscious. My physical state is, at the moment.

The nurses arrive with a wheel chair.

Why the hell did they take that long? Aren't they supposed to be ready at any time of the day?

The three girls run with me to the clinic.

So, apparently, they have to take me to the hospital immediately.

Immediately. Wow. This is indeed immediate, considering I just coughed up FLOWERS!

This is my spiritual state, by the way.

I arrive at the hospital shortly. They treat me enough just to know if I'm still alive. After that, they rush me to the X-ray lab.

There they found, plants engraved in my lungs.

"What the - How is that possible?" A nurse questions.

The doctor continues to scan.

"Candytuft, Fuchsia, Wisteria, Clematis, and Purple Anemone. Green Carnation and Spider Mum. Ausmas, Yellow Butterfly Bush. Bird of Paradise, Orang Dahlia. Begonia. Lily of the Valley. Periwinkle. Snapdragon. These are all flowers of the Spring."

The doctors declares that.

"A-are you not confused?" a nurse worriedly asks.

"I am. I am. This is just... Astounding. Mysterious. Call all the biologists and botanists here. They should be useful. Prepare surgery for the patient. We need samples and proof of such."

The nurses immediately obey.

I have flowers in my lungs.

"Doc. Is the patient crying... stars?" the nurse asks him. The doctor looks closely from outside the room.

I'm crying again? Of course. Why not? It hurts. It all hurts.

"Yeah. She is. How's this possible?"

Amidst the surgery, they realize that theh can't just remove the roots. If they did, there's no knowing what the effects or result will be. They sew me back and bring me to my room.

There, Honoka and the others waited. I'm still unconscious.

Two weeks pass and I still am. My friends except Harold, visit and take care of me day by day. My parents didn't once visit me nor did they care about the news. Harold wants to visit me but Rebecca threatened to break up with him. Guess who's more important.

Summer has come. That's a couple of months since then. I'm still in the coma. The doctor and nurses bring me back to the X-ray lab.

The flowers changed but are still connected to my lungs.

"Lily of the Nile, Sea Holly, Lupine. Phlox, Yucca, Scabiosa, Queen Anne's Lace. Bird Bill Dayflower, Freesia, Gentian. Day Lily. Gladiolus. Belles of Ireland. Ooh that came a long way," the doctor says.

The nurse glares, meaning not to joke around. The doctor chuckles and continues, "Lady's Slipper. Columbine. There are a lot of flowers types in her lungs. Sunflower. Tickseed. Yarrow. Cockscomb. Agapanthus. Lycoris, Azalea, Canna, and Cardinal. These are the flowers on the recent experiments of our fellow scientists."

"These are summer flowers. How is it even possible to change like that?" another nurse questions.

"Not even science can discover such mystery," he sighs and sits down. He shares something to the nurses that might be useful.

"My son told me at the dinning table last night about fictional diseases. He proceeded to tell such astounding ideas for diseases. He then starts mentioning about the Hanahaki Disease."

"Hana... Haki? That sounds familiar," another doctor adds.

"It's famous among East Asian literature. It's a disease caused by unrequited or one-sided love. And the stars that the patient cried. The same cause yet of a different disease called Star Tears Disease."

"Ah. I remembered that. I read the newspaper. A recent study also showed the possibility of such fiction to be realistic. A case happened in Russia and Japan. Although Russia's case was a prank, the Japan one is yet to be confirmed."

They all stay silent for a while as they think.

Hanahaki Diseases and Star Tear Disease...

Was the twinkling sound associated with this? Was I legit crying literal stars those nights?

How can fiction become real. This is just mysterious. And why is this happening to me?

Fall has come and studies say that the flowers in my lungs changed again. And I'm still in the coma. This situation got bad by March now it's gotten worse despite my stage.

Wow. 6 months. A great achievement.

The flowers this time are as follows: Bluebeard. Waterfall Azure Mist. Chrysanthemum. Cosmos. Butterfly Weed. Rose. Begonia. Primrose. Zinnia. Pansy. Baby's Breath.

These flowers and the flowers before were of different colors. Apparently when the scientists heard of the "fictional" diseases, the color of the flowers woud have depended on what I like. And I like purple but came out a rainbow.

According to researches, time bounded by these fictional diseases would only sum up from 2 weeks to 3 months. Over 3 months of these is a rare case.

I can't tell if I'm supposed to be dramatic or logical on this yet I'm still in a coma!

December has come. 9 months and I'm simply chilling in my coma. The flowers changed again.

Poinsettia. Hellebores. Ranunculus. Glory of the Snow. Crocus. Cyclamen. Snowdrop.

It dropped from a number of 11 types of flowers to 7.

I need to wake up. Mika and Anna are tired of me now. They're going to leave Honoka until she stops taking care of me. Yet Honoka still stayed. Harold hasn't visited.

These past months, my body temperature gradually decreased. I haven't been shaking uncontrollably since then.

Now, it's seems to be the opposite. My body maintains a 0°C. That's already the coldest point. And my body is just shaking. The nurses are trying to bring me somewhere.

"Code Blue! Code Blue!"

Someone presses a button.

I am immediately carried to the ER.

"Patient is still unconscious yet having a sudden cardiac arrest."

They ar performing medical applications.

I start coughing again. But I'm still unconscious. The doctors dealing with my lungs noticed the flowers.

I notice also.

They are now black. They're all black roses.

My heart rate is getting faster and faster. Even in this state of mind, I can't breathe.

It goes on for about 30 minutes.

My heart rate is now lower than 60. Lower than the normal one.

The doctors decide to have an urgent and immediate meeting.

They tell Honoka and Harold, who just arrived with Rebecca, that there are two ways to save me.

One is to surgically remove the roots but this will cause me my emotions. If they are removed, I will no longer have them.

The second one is if my one-sided love is requited. That means the one I like should have liked me back to prevent this.

Harold knew what the second one meant. He asks for a surgery suit and approaches me. Honoka asks one as well as Rebecca. She just wants to witness the urgency. Honoka also told the doctor to surgically remove them since my parents didn't really care anyways.

Harold crouches near my head. He told me that he didn't mean all what he said when the situation became bad.

"I actually liked you. I was just afraid of losing you."

I was happy to hear that but...

The coughing is getting worse.

"Are you sure? Or are you just saying that because that's what she WANTED to hear?" Honoka interrupts. Harold doesn't say anything.

"Guess acting doesn't work." As Harold says that, Honoka was ready to throw a fit. The doctors warn them as they perform surgery.

Harold takes Rebecca's hand and leaves.

"Honoka. She really is my best friend. But I don't think I'll ever choose her over Rebecca. I need to have my own life."

They try to leave but the staff forbids until the surgery finishes. They just step aside and ket the professional handle.

The coughing gets worse as more flowers and leaves come out.

The pain is too much. Please end me! I'm in too much pain!

"Then let go."

A twinkling sound tells me.

"Let go and join me in the sky."

A series of stars surround my spiritual self. They guide me to a dead end. It's a cliff. Beyond and below are stars shining and glimmering. It was amazing.

The sky has always been a great scene. I remembered star gazing all night long when my friends forget to invite me. I'd let the rain drop on me when my parents fight in the morning or afternoon.

"Hold on. Please! Your friend needs you!"

Then there's the land, the place I want to let go.

"You need to hold on. The roots will come off. I'll come off! Please! Don't leave me!"

Its vines and grass surround my leg. I pull it off only to grab a hold of a hanging rock at the cliff.

I'll either fall to the stars or climb to the land.

The land. Although its beauty is of magnificence, it does not emit the kind of aura the sky does. Nonetheless, it's a great combination with the oceans.

But, if I have to choose...

"Patient's heart rate is decreasing."

The doctors are hurriedly getting the roots. But they're deeply engraved. It'll risk me dying. Honoka is crying. Harold... Doesn't matter.

Honoka...

...

I'm sorry.

I climb a bit up to the land. The stars do not stop me. Just enough to move one arm around, a vine approaches me. I pluck out the purple rose near me.

Please take care of Honoka for me.

I drop the flower near the approaching vine as it stops... as I let go and fall as well.

Honoka kneels to the floor.

"Patient's heart rate..."

They look at Honoka.

"I'm sorry."

The staff opens the doors and let's Honoka and the other leave. Honoka cries and cries at the loss of her friend.

The doctors and nurses witness a vine sprouting. It turns into a beautiful and shining purple rose with words engraved on the petals.

"Thank you for being there for me, Honoka."

The flower falls from its stem as the plants in the lungs wilt.

A doctor takes the flower and brings it to Honoka, who is crying outside.

"Honoka, dear. I think your friend here left a farewell gift."

The doctor gives the flower.

As Honoka reads it, she bursts into tears.

She holds a proper burial for me after the doctors have grabbed enough specimen to study.

At the funeral, Mika and Anna shows up to comfort Honoka. Honoka doesn't get mad and accepts then anyways. Rebecca and Harold attends as well. Rebecca even apologized although it is too late. Honoka doesn't really care anymore. Many students also attended and bid me a farewell.

4 months have passed. Honoka has grabbed my things from my home. Still the same thing, parents didn't care. Didn't even attend my funeral.

Honoka kept all my things in her home with her boyfriend, who in fact was a proper man and not one of Harold's friends.

She planted the flower inside a glass and preserved it. At night, the flower would glow as the stars would too. She knows this is me staying with her.

Several years have passed. She's a graduate with a stabe job and finaces and a great family, having 4 children. She named her eldest after mine.

The flower and the stars will continue to shine. Until we meet again, I'll continue to guide her.

As for the disease, the cases went high in the air. Majority of the victims had theirs removed surgically as the others had requited love. There were onky a few cases of deatg for them.

Lucky.

Doesn't matter.

Whatever form I am, I'll be beside my only friend.

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