Haunting

Chapter Four: Hope

The worst thing about this whole situation, Katsuki thought, was the fact that he couldn't understand the fucker anymore.

Deku's ramblings and tangents weren't new to him, and the way Deku used to talk a mile a minute like stopping would bring forth consequence wasn't new either. Admittedly, Katsuki tuned him out most of the time - he regretted it now, why did he do that when he had so little time to hear him stupid stupid stupid - but other times it was nice white noise to listen to. When he was much younger, he made a game out of how much of Deku's jargon he could decipher, unbeknownst to his friend.

It didn't matter how hard he listened now. There was something wrong with his voice, something missing or broken beyond repair. A clearer than normal word or phrase would crop up on occasion during class or study time, almost an actual voice, and Katsuki would jolt in his chair, alert and listening and begging to make sense of any of it, but by the time he was paying attention it had faded away, back into static. He needed the stupid fucking E-thing to get anything comprehensible out of him.

Not only did Deku haunt the classroom, he also tended to haunt Katsuki's dreams as well, now that he was exposed to Deku's voice again. Nightmares of Aunt Inko sobbing, of the funeral, of his own uncontrollable sobs and screaming at the uncaring walls of his room until his voice was gone.

He thought he'd put everything behind him going into U.A, and hearing the little shit's voice again on that first day made him wonder - terrified and confused - if he had finally gone insane from guilt. Thankfully he wasn't the only one visibly shaken by the disembodied noises, and Katsuki slowly began to guess what was going on, dread welling in his gut and making bile rise to the back of his throat. Every day, forced to sit in class and try to pretend he wasn't listening to his past childhood friend mutter to himself.

Sometimes Katsuki wondered if Deku came back just to spite him, but he'd remember his apology and Deku's response and reason that he wasn't anywhere close to "bratty", let alone spiteful . Part of Katsuki desperately wished he was. That the little ghost would throw shit at him, make him freeze in class, scream nonsense, so Katsuki could claim he had the higher ground at least somehow .

But no. Of course not.

Deku reached out to anyone that would listen. He muttered in response to questions meant for the teacher, whisper in student's ears when they were trying to study (Katsuki wondered if he knew to be quiet somehow or if it was just a coincidence), and even going as far as to tap on the desks during lectures, a habit Deku picked up when people began to ignore or talk over him - when Katsuki began to. It was a plea for some kind of acknowledgement. Something. He barely got anything, in the beginning, the class desperately trying to deny what was right in front of their faces. Even Katsuki himself. They all tried to pretend nothing was out of the ordinary, and looking back, Katsuki wondered why he had been so afraid. Deku was too softhearted to do much of anything dangerous, it didn't matter if he was alive or dead.

As ashamed as he was to admit it, he wasn't the one to reach out first. Kaminari and Shinsou were the ones to break the spell.

Sparky tentatively acknowledged the theory that their classroom was haunted. Back then, some still laughed at the idea, claiming Kaminari was being, well, Kaminari. But Shinsou latched onto it, and in no time at all, they begged an EMR reader off of Tokoyami and began to reach out, Kirishima and Sero being talked into it as well.

The group of believers only grew after that first experience. It wasn't until Kirishima begged him that he went along, and he really, really wished he hadn't.

They asked Deku why he thought he was stuck in the school.

" W͠an̡̨͠t̛͟e̡d͘ t͢͞ó ͟b́́e͠͡ -͘ ͏̧́h̴ę͠r̴͢o͜ ͢-̡ ҉ẁ̧͘h̛͞͞en̵͝ ̛͝-̨͢ ̧͟g̶̢re̷w̨ ̢u͟͡p, " Deku explained, voice cracked and glitching every word or so. His voice was painfully familiar. " W̵̨a̢͢ņ̛͟t́͠҉ȩ͞d̸͝ ̧̀-̕͟͟ ̵̵g͢o ͞t̨̡o̷͢ ̡-̀͢ ̨̀U͢͜.̧͏A.̸ ͏J̨͞u̧͡͡m͜͝ped̶̢ ͘-̛̕͟ ŕó̷͘o̕͟f҉ ̸-͢͜ s͜͞a̸̛͢ḑ͘ ̵Ì͟͝ ̴͠-̢͏́ ̀͟I t̷͘h̢i̷n̢͡k̛.̴ Lo͠n͜e̡ly̛҉.̸̨͟ "

Katsuki powered through the rest of the session, then left to the bathroom. He threw up everything he'd eaten that day.

Katsuki often stayed with Aizawa after classes, curled up in the nearly freezing corner of the room by ponytail's desk, the machine sat next to him. He would talk, pause, stop the machine to play back the words Deku spoke but he couldn't hear, and repeat until Aizawa was ready to leave. He would talk about Kirishima and how his behavior confused him, then Sero and Kaminari, then Mina. He would talk about the shenanigans his classmates - his friends - dragged him into, and how he got kicked out of a supermarket (when Katsuki played back the recording to hear his response to that particular experience, all it was was laughter. Katsuki's heart warmed). He would talk about his hero training, how All Might was as a teacher - a conversation Deku was oddly quiet through - and how Aizawa was as a teacher, loud and slightly teasing, getting a glare from the man in response.

Sometimes he found himself apologizing and not much else. It was always taken with kindness and patience, no matter how many times he repeated himself. Sometimes he just let the silence stretch to let Deku speak, only doing so himself when he warned Deku he was stopping the recording. The sentences were choppy and slightly broken, but it was easily understandable with practice. He was thankful he could make it up to the nerd by listening now.

I promise , I'll make you proud, he whispered to the little machine settled in his lap. His body was curled around it in a protective shield. I'll become the number one hero, for me and for you.

I know you will, it whispered back in the ensuing silence.