Strings and Buttons

Chapter 12: The Offer

He thinks it's a weird question to ask out of the blue, but he answers anyway.

"I guess. The house is better than the one back home."

Katsuki is back inside of the house, the other mother and other father following behind him with smiles on their faces.

"You don't know how happy that makes us feel, Katsuki. We only want you to be happy, and if your happy here then..."

The other father picks up her sentence, pushing up his glasses. Katsuki slowly stops walking, still not turning to them.

"You can stay here forever and always."

The thought never occurred to him. Yeah, this place was a lot nicer, his parents were caring (Even if it was kind of creepy) and the house was in perfect condition, but still. The gross feeling, he gets from this place makes him not want to extend his visits.

He shoves his hands in his pockets and feels the cold smooth surface of the stone that Mr. Hizashi and Mr. Aizawa gave him. Unaware of his current thoughts, his other father continues, his hands out, making gleeful motions.

"There is only one little thing we have to do in order for you to stay here forever!"

His other mother puts a hand on his back, guiding him forward into the dining room. He lets her, but that doesn't mean he likes the feel of her long boney fingers pushing him. He can smell her perfume, a type that his real mother back home wore only on special occasions.

On the table, there is a black box tied closed with red ribbon. She takes her hand from his back and stands behind his chair as he sits down. His other father watches from his other side, letting out small sounds of laughter.

His hands slowly go to the box, untie the red ribbon, and stare at the items inside. Two black buttons gleam in the light of the dining room, and he feels himself shiver. They don't even have to tell him what they want.

"Hell no."

He notices the long thin needle inside of the box with the buttons and pushes the box away, watching it slide smoothly across the table. Before it can get too far, his other mother reaches her arm out and stops it, sliding it back towards him. Her smile seems a little strained, but her voice is sickeningly sweet.

"Katsuki, don't you want to stay here with us? Your parents?"

From being his chair, his other mother looms over him.

"We love you so much Katsuki, don't you want to stay with us forever? It won't hurt, you won't even feel a thing."

"If you don't like the color, we can always change it. Red, like your eyes! Or maybe orange? Green? Any color you want."

He stands up, feeling sick. HIs chair scrapes against the floor and he backs up from his other fathers' arms trying to hug him. He is now facing the two of them, his back to the hallway leading to the drawing room. What the fuck is wrong with these people?

"I'm going to bed."

He doesn't even realize that he's gripping the stone in his hand, hidden in his pocket. The other mothers' eyes seem to look at it, her face falling. But as snaps back and with a small smile she says,

"Of course, you need to think it over. Maybe we can talk after breakfast tomorrow. Ok?"

Katsuki glances at his other father and nods silently, not turning around until he's sure they won't follow him. He rushes to the drawing room and swings the door open. The hallway is dark, and he can barely see the pictures on the walls, but he doesn't care. He can still feel their eyes on him, burning like fire.

As he walks quickly through the hallway, the door shutting behind him, he feels like he's still being watched. The hallway whistles and whispers, even though there aren't any holes or windows here. He feels like if he stops and listens, that he might hear something.

Or that if he stops, the thing watching him will grab his ankle and pull him back in. It feels like the thing watching him is following just a couple feet away, slow and old and tired. His heart is beating so fast and hard against his ribcage that he almost can't hear anything else besides the thumping of blood through his veins.

His breathing is shallow, and he shuts his eyes, quickening his pace to get to the end of the hallway faster. He puts his arms out in front of him and finally, he feels the smooth surface of the wooden door.

He feels for the doorknob and bursts through the door, slamming it closed as fast as he can. He takes the button key from out of his other pocket and locks the door. Only then does he relax, leaning against the door to catch his breath.

The house is eerily quiet. The kind of quiet that lets him know that no one else is here besides him. He thought that he was gone for a while, but maybe time was faster over there then here? He walks into the kitchen and sees nothing out of place. Just how he left it.

His mom's stuff still isn't back, so she must not be either. He goes to the cupboard and takes out some instant noodles, not really feeling like making anything extreme. He feels sluggish as he waits for his noodles, looking out of the window.

It's still so foggy, he can barely see anything.

After his noodles are done, he takes them to the couch and watches T.V while he eats, planning to just kill time while his parents are gone. He throws the empty Styrofoam cup in the trash and puts on his boots.

He steps outside in the mud and begins to walk and when he gets to the well, he waits.