Love doesn't exist at first sight. All these are fairy tales for naive children or stupid girls. The first time you see a man without knowing who he really is, you can't fall in love with him. Haruki does not believe in such love and it is definitely not allowed to fall in love with the first person he meets.
But what to do when every day you see an object of sympathy surrounded by other girls who sympathize with him in every possible way? What to do if because of unrequited love before going to bed you constantly cough and feel as if the stems of unknown color from the very heart germinate, wrap in their nets and lungs, too, and get closer to the throat, going to open their buds soon?
The best and most correct decision would be to go somewhere far away, leaving school and everything that kept in this city, in order to forget this redheaded young man, whose name makes the heart tremble. But this very Raito Sakamaki, or rather his image in Haru's subconscious, as if keeps her from leaving him like that.
***
More coughing. Right in class.
- Haruki, are you all right? - A classmate whispers excitedly.
Though, it was useless to whisper, because the teacher heard a cough.
- Murakami, if you feel unwell, you can leave the classroom, - the teacher said clearly, and then immediately continued to explain the new topic to the students.
Haruki hurried to leave. I didn't want to stop my classmates from learning... Although I didn't want anyone else to know about her illness anymore.
***
Still, no matter how hard the girl tries to cure her illness, nothing helps. No pills couldn't help her. Even after taking too much sedative, even after a week at home, without seeing Raito live, but clearly imagining him playing the piano, so sensual and mysterious, unusually beautiful, Haruka could not cure this cough, as well as, actually, the attraction to the young man. Although, the first cure was stupid - there is no cure for Hanahaki and hardly, even after a decade, will appear. But the second thing that seemed terrible to her was too unreal for her.
Probably because she was too tired of fighting herself, tired of piercing chest pain, suffocating coughing, Haruki finally decided to take a step forward instead of trying to get away from Raito.
***
- So you want to learn to play the piano? - a music teacher asked her again, not believing that Haru, who was completely indifferent to his lesson and music, suddenly asked her to teach her how to play a musical instrument.
- Yes, I do, - Haruki said, saying she was a little nervous, hoping the teacher would ask Raito to teach her.
The teacher spent three minutes rubbing his nose bridge, thinking about how to buy some of his time or... That's right, the teacher remembered that this new Sakamaki has excellent piano playing skills.
- How about Rajto Sakamaki help you? I don't know if he can do it, but I'll try to convince him.
That's exactly what Haruki wanted to hear. She wasn't ready to meet Raito, didn't think about how she could keep her cough in front of him, didn't know what she was going to talk to him about, and didn't know if he'd accept her chatter or decided to spend the whole time playing the piano. But Haru knew she wouldn't regret it.
