Fresh Flesh (Bkdk, Dkbk)

- Chapter 31 -

Both of them get up from the grass, brushing themselves off. Izuku looks back at the rubble of the used to be house. 

"Do you think we'll get in trouble?" 

Kacchan looks back at it too, though he looks more annoyed by it then anything. 

"Not a chance. It's not like people actually cared about this shit hole." 

Izuku nods, his eyes still lingering on it. He doesn't hear any whispers anymore. Could the cells still be intact? Would that mean the spirits down there are trapped forever? What if someone happens to find this place, would-? 

A twig crunches and someone mutters something, making Izuku jump. 

"Ka-" 

He's gone. Izuku doesn't get the chance to say anything, before someone appears out of the tree line a couple of feet in front of him. Todoroki brushes some twigs off of his shoulder, clearly out of breath. He looks at him, and Izuku sees a glint of relief reach his eyes. 

"Midoriya." 

He has a flashlight in his hand, the same pink one Uraraka was carrying. 

"Hey, Todoroki!" 

The other boy goes over to him, his brows slightly furrowed in worry.

"Where did you go? Everyone went back to the car; we've been looking for you for hours." 

Even with his monotone voice, Izuku can tell he's in for a lecture. Just like the supermarket, Izuku gets to find out again that time seems to flow differently when he's with Kacchan. Maybe it's one of the effects he has? He'll have to ask when he sees him again. 

"Y-yeah, sorry. I found a house and I went inside. I think it belonged to the cult members because I found a bunch of pictures inside and then I was walking around in the kitchen and found a trap door! So I opened it and went down, and there were a lot of cells, most of them were empty but then I heard something and ran, and there was this ladder, so I had to drop the flashlight and climb, and then I got out of the house, and it broke! So..." 

He nervously rambles, his hands gesturing in the air as he talks, trying to smile and say it lightheartedly, so that maybe Todoroki will see it as a good thing instead of a terribly bad one. He doesn't have to look back at the house, because Todoroki's eyes are already on the pile of rubble. 

Izuku watches as he stiffens, looks back at him, then back at the house, then back again. He stays silent for a second before it clicks, his eyes widening and his stoic expression breaking into one of clear concern. He grabs Izuku's shoulders, checking for injuries. 

"Are you okay?! Midoriya, you could have been seriously hurt! You can't just go running off, especially in places like this! We're supposed to stick together, next time you want to wander off somewhere bring someone else with you!" 

Izuku nods as Todoroki shakes his shoulders as he talks. 

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again, promise! I just saw this house while I was walking around and couldn't help it!" 

He definitely isn't going to mention how he wasn't alone at all. Todoroki takes a deep breath and relaxes, letting go of Izuku's shoulders. 

"Okay. Let's go back to the car. I think everyone is done for the day." 

He looks like he wants to say more, probably tell him the dangers of going into houses that look like they are about to go down any second, but Izuku is glad that he doesn't. He feels a little disappointed to be going back so soon but doesn't object. 

"Alright..." 

He trails off as he looks into the forest, then back at Todoroki. 

"But how are we going to get back? I have no idea where the car is." 

Todoroki grabs his hand and Izuku jolts. 

"So we don't get separated." 

Todoroki doesn't see his face and starts to walk. It's quiet, the sound of insects and owls coming back. He doesn't see any signs of Kacchan. The whole thing must have tired him out a lot more then Izuku first thought. 

"Did you guys end up finding anything cool?" 

Todoroki shakes his head, his face back to its normal stoic expression. 

"No, just a bunch of markings on trees. We tried to take a bunch of pictures, but no ghosts showed up. Tsuyu says we need to wait for the ghosts to show up in them, and then when we look back, we'll be like 'oh look a ghost was behind us the whole time.'" 

Izuku laughs, and Todoroki gives him a small smile. 

"It's really cool how she always finds places like this. Even if the ghosts show up, at least we'll have cool pictures to remember this by!" 

Its then Izuku realizes that he didn't take any pictures. Not of the house, the pictures on the walls, nothing. He sighs, disappointed. Todoroki looks at him and takes out his own phone. 

"I doubt you had time to take any photos, Midoriya. Want to take one now?" 

Izuku brightens up and smiles at him. 

"Yeah! If we're lucky a ghost will appear behind one of us!"

"I don't think that's a good thing." 

They stop walking, and Todoroki snaps a picture of the two of them. Izuku leans in to see it better, and Todoroki presses on it, letting it take up his whole screen. The flashlight lets them have dim lighting. He has a smile on his face, his eyes bright. 

Todoroki is smiling too, even though it's just the look in his eyes that lets you tell. Izuku laughs, starting to walk again. 

"No ghost! Next time." 

He looks back when he notices Todoroki not following him, still looking at the picture. 

"Todoroki? You okay?" 

The other looks back at him, his face slightly pale. 

"Midoriya. There is something behind you." 

Izuku instantly gets goosebumps and runs back over to him. 

"Don't say things like that! It-" 

He looks down at the phone screen, still showing the picture. 

The shadow figure of Kacchan is standing right behind him, though with how tall he is, the photo only catches his torso and part of his arms. 

Him and Todoroki glance at each other, then break out in a run back to the car.