t w o

Just as the clock above the front counter, the boy walks out. Instead of his uniform, he's now clad in long jeans that make him look even lankier than before with a My Neighbor Totoro shirt on. As he sits across from Tobi he offers a slight smile. "Nice shirt, man," Tobi comments as she takes a sip her recently refilled rose tea.

The boy smiles a bit again. "Thanks. Alright, I know you don't wanna sit here and talk about my super dope shirt. You wanna know about the Hanahaki disease." Tobi looks down at her tea, hesitant.

"Uh, yeah -- but before we start talking about whatever the hell the Hanahaki disease is, um," She pauses and looks up at him from her tea before laughing, a smile taking up her face. "what's your name?"

"Oh, I thought you'd never ask!" He laughs as she picks up her tea and begins to sip at it. "My name's Ashton."

Smiling, Tobi puts down her tea and says, "Neat. Can I call you Ash?"

For a moment, he stares ahead at her blankly before blinking and regaining composure. "Uh, I'd rather you not, actually."

Crossing her arms in front of her on the table, Tobi shrugs and responds. "Alright, no problem, dude." Taking one of her arms from under the other, she extends it to him across the table and says, "Name's Tobi. Nice to meetcha, Ashton."

Grasping her hand and with a raised eyebrow Ashton responds, "Likewise. Also, not to be rude, but isn't Toby a guy's name?"

"Eh, it's all in the spelling. I spell it with an i, so it's automatically a girl's name. Kinda like the name Danny and Danni. No difference in pronunciation, but one's for lads and one's for lasses."

He releases her hand and falls backward into the chair, laughing. "Lads and lasses," Chuckling a bit more Ashton adds, "Man, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that without a Scottish accent."

As he continues to laugh Tobi rolls her eyes. "Har har, you're so funny." Heaving a long sigh, she waves her hand and says, "Alright, alright, I didn't wait here forever to sit and laugh about my dialect." Once Tobi says this, Ashton's laughter quickly tapers off and he regains his composure. "I want you to tell me about the Hanahaki disease."

After clearing his throat, he straightens his back and leans into the table slightly, his expression serious. "Okay, I can tell you what it is, but can I ask you a question first?"

"You just did, but sure, man."

He gives a slight roll of his eyes before focusing on her. "Are you in love with anyone?"

For a moment, she stares at him before giggles have her shaking the table. "Okay, okay, is this some sort of elaborate pickup? Because, if it is, it was probably not a super great idea for you to make me sit here for over an hour." Tobi tells him, a wide grin on her face as she laughs.

With his face and tone still serious and level, he repeats, "Do you?"

Quickly, Tobi regains her composure and, still smiling, responds, "Nah, I don't think so."

Ashton raises an eyebrow and, in the same serious and level voice as before, responds, "Well, there must be someone you're in love with. Do you know how I know?"

Amused by his serious demeanor, Tobi leans forward with her arms crossed in front of her, mimicking his posture with a smile still intact. "No, but I am curious to know just how you know that I am, quote, in love with someone."

With a somber tone and a fleeting smile, he replies, "I know because the Hanahaki disease is a disease of unrequited love. You're obviously in love with someone and I know because you have Hanahaki."

As she sits there with an eyebrow raised disbelievingly, Tobi feels her stomach drop, but lets our an airy laugh. "Yeah, okay. How many girls have you gotten with that Hanahaki crap, huh?" Tapping the brim of her teacup with her fingertip, she reasons, "I mean, I've never even heard of this so-called 'Hanahaki disease', dude. I even looked through medical books trying to find some stupid information on these stupid flower petals I keep coughing up and I didn't find anything. So how am I supposed to know if what you're saying is true?"

With what seems like a bored expression, he begins, "Do you wanna know why you can't find the Hanahaki disease in a traditional textbook? It's because it's not some easily classifiable disease. It comes from unrequited love, but how is someone gonna prove that a disease is caused by something as abstract as love, huh?"

Now silent after hearing him explain, Tobi stares into her teacup, not knowing what to say or do. Finally, she asks, "So is there a cure? I mean, how am I supposed to get rid of this?"

After a pause that seemed to last a lifetime for Tobi, he replies, "Generally there are two ways to get rid of it: you could, one, confess to the person you have feelings for and, y'know, if they reciprocate it's all sunshine and rainbows and blah blah blah. Or, two, you could have it surgically removed from the lungs. But, if you opt for two, then you're gonna stop being in love with that person. Some people lose the ability to love altogether." Ashton shrugs after saying this as if it isn't a big deal.

As she absorbs the information given to her, Tobi asks him, "Alright, but what if I don't get it removed and the person doesn't, I dunno, like me back or whatever?"

After giving her a shrug, Ashton responds, "Then you die. The flowers take root in your lungs and, as they grow, you cough 'em up, but they'll start to suffocate you. By the end of it, if you haven't had it removed and if they don't feel the same way, you'll be coughing up bloody petals." Following his statement is a long pause. Finally, he mutters to her, "It's a very slow and, quite honestly, cruel way to die."

For a long while, Tobi is quiet. Then, finally, she questions, "Do you know what would happen if I just, I don't know, stopped being in love with them? What would happen then? What if..." She trails off before looking at him again and asking, "What if I fell in love with someone else?"

Giving her a flat look, Ashton inquires, "You don't think it'll be that easy to fall in love, do you? To just forget about the feelings you feel for this person?"

With a humorless smile, Tobi replies, "I don't know if it'll be easy by any means, but if others have the liberty of falling in and out of love, then I do too. The amount of time I have to do that is just... a little bit shorter than most." She shrugs at the end of her sentence before turning her head to the ceiling. "Man, this sucks." She groans.

With a raised eyebrow, Ashton comments, "You are really something else, you know that?"

"Yes, I'm aware." She responds, still looking towards the ceiling. "Which is why I think my next question shouldn't be the most shocking thing to hear."

"Alright, then what's your question, Tobi?"

Pulling her head down to look at him again, she asks, "Would you be interested in helping me fall out of love with this guy? Or, if need be, fall in love with someone else?"

After a short pause, he bursts into laughter. "You know what? Why not, man. You're crazy as hell, but I like it, so yeah, I'll help you with the whole Hanahaki thing."

With a wide smile, Tobi responds, "I look forward to working with you."

"So do you have any ideas on who you're gonna try and fall in love with now, or are you just kinda winging it?" Ashton asks as he leans back in a more comfortable and casual position in his chair.

Leaning back in her chair as well, she responds with a shrug, "I dunno, maybe I'll just like go on blind dates or something and hope it works out." She shrugs again. "I mean, I've never tried to fall in love. Crap like that just kinda happens." She groans before saying flippantly, "I don't really know, but we've got time to figure out a game plan." As she says this she coughs up another handful of flower petals.

While they both stare at her collection of saliva covered petals, Ashton mutters, "Tell that to your Hanahaki disease."