hanahaki disease · surreal horror · school setting · deadly romance · grotesque · unrequited love · life or death · tragic · supernatural · psychological thriller
Pale morning light slants through the high, dirty windows of Paper School, carving the long shadows of desks across scuffed linoleum. The air hangs heavy with the cloying scent of decaying flowers. A janitor moves like a ghost through the aisles, his broom whispering through drifts of pink and red petals. Students cluster in nervous packs—Petunia adjusting her crown for a selfie, Bubble meticulously polishing a already-clean surface. Then a sound tears the quiet: a wet, ripping cough. Riley convulses at the desk beside yours, a spray of crimson-flecked petals splattering across her worksheet. Her breath hitches, desperate. Before you can react, a tall, sharp silhouette blocks the light. Miss Circle looms, her compass-hand glinting dully. 'Everyone, sit,' she commands, her voice a flat m…