Strings and Buttons

Chapter 10: Punishment

Deku seems to be lost in his mind for a second, his eyes glazing over, and he thinks. Katsuki nudges his shoulder with his own and the other one snaps back.

"It's probably nothing, it's just a dumb dream."

Deku gives him a worried look and then nods slowly.

"If you say so kacchan..."

The cat rubs itself against Deku's legs again, its paws covered in mud.

"But just to be safe, i don't think you should go there again. It could be really dangerous..."

Katsuki nods and shoves his hands into his pockets, his face slightly damp because of the fog. He guesses he could listen to Deku this once since he's so worried about it.

"Whatever."

They spend the rest of the afternoon trying to see how far the well went, putting small rocks and clumps of dirt into the small holes in the wooden lid and then putting their ears against it and listening.

There would be about a two-minute wait before the rock made a small ploomp sound, hitting the bottom. After they got bored and ended up playing some hiding game with sticks, talking about their parents, Katsuki's dream, and school, it was late. Katsuki's stomach was grumbling as he said goodbye to Deku and his cat, walking back home.

His parents are sitting at the dining room table, silently eating their meal. There is a cold plate of food waiting at Katsuki's spot, and he slides into the chair wordlessly.

He feels his moms fiery glare boring into him as he takes a bit of potato and steak. There is a couple of beats of silence before Mitsuki gets sick of it, dropping her utensils onto the table.

"Where the hell were you, Katsuki?"

"I told you I was with Deku."

"For eight hours straight? You said you were going to fucking study when you got home, now its fucking late. What do you plan to do about it?"

Katsuki continues to eat, not answering.

"Well?!"

He stands up, finishing the rest of his food, and begins to leave the kitchen. He doesn't bother with it anymore.

"Katsuki!"

He gets to his room and slams the door shut. He hears his parents both talking, his mom a lot louder than his dad. He can't make out anything they're saying, but it doesn't matter. He goes to his bed and plops down on it, groaning.

His stomach rumbles and he climbs under the covers.

Its dumb, he shouldn't have gotten so mad, but he couldn't help it. Not after experiencing what he could have. He falls asleep, and in the middle of the night, he finds himself back in his room. Not his normal room, but his better room. Maybe a couple of visits over there won't kill him. He just won't tell Deku about it.

He wakes up feeling better than he's ever felt, and he gets out of bed. Right when he leaves his room, the smell of pancakes, eggs, and bacon fill his nose.

He goes downstairs and into the kitchen, where his 'other dad' is making food.

There is an entire spread of breakfast on the dining table of orange juice, milk, pancakes, waffles, everything. His other dad grins at him, his black button eyes gleaming with merriment.

"Good morning, Katsuki! How did you sleep?"

He stares at him for a moment before answering.

"I slept fine. Where's the other old hag?"

The man skillfully flips the omelet in the pan, the sound of sizzling increasing.

"Shes out this morning! Always so busy, you know your mother! Why don't you go outside and explore a bit before breakfast?"

Katsuki nods, walking towards the front door. He sees his boots by the door and puts them on. He can still hear his other dad humming to himself in the kitchen when he goes out the door. He walks down the steps and looks back, only to see his other father looking at him with that same smile through the small kitchen window.

He turns away from him and instead begins to look around. The house is the exact same as the normal house, but its better. The shingles aren't dangling from the roof, the trees aren't dead and thin, and the mud isn't so bad that it squelches and sucks under his shoe.

He goes down to Mr. Hizashi's and Mr. Aizawa's flat, only to see the door covered in bright lit up signs. They have arrows pointing to the door reading things like 'famous radio host' 'come on in and listen.' He decides he'll probably visit later.

If the people here are people he knows, except with a few changes, then Deku must be around here somewhere.

With that thought in mind, Katsuki turns on his heel and begins to walk to the well. Except he only gets so far before he sees something that takes his attention.

"Deku?"

Deku is leaned down, petting his cat with his back facing Katsuki. He walks over and calls again.

"Deku!"

The boy perks up and turns around, a big smile on his face. Katsuki stops in his tracks, staring at him.

Deku's button eyes don't surprise him.

It's the way his mouth is sewn shut.

There is a meow and Deku's cat, Shoto, purrs against the nerd's leg. It's the only thing besides himself that he's seen here without button eyes. Deku looks at him confused, tilting his head slightly in question. Katsuki can't do anything but stare at him.

"Deku, what the fuck happened to your mouth?"

He watches as the nerd flushes, his cheeks turning red as he looks away. Deku can't say anything even if he wanted to.

"You know, you shouldn't look at him like that. You'll only hurt his feelings."

Katsuki looks in the direction the voice came from, only to have his eyes land on the cat. It looks back at him, its different colored eyes big and bright.

"What?"

Shoto climbs onto Deku's shoulder, jumping up and landing on it smoothly. The green haired boy isn't bothered by it at all, still clearly embarrassed.