Fresh Flesh (Bkdk, Dkbk)

- Chapter 51 -

Izuku stops jumping around, stars practically in his eyes as he grips his hands in his. There are kids jumping around the play places, swinging from the plastic structures and screaming at the top of their lungs. 

 "You need to come Kacchan! I want my mama to meet my best friend!" 

Izuku's curls are bouncing as he tries to hold in his excitement and his eyes look like they are glowing more than usual. The words 'best friend' sends a bolt of satisfaction up his spine and he feels the smile on his face grow slightly bigger. 

He never thought he would ever be in a situation like this, having a best friend and someone who talks to him still feels so new, but being someone's best friend, being Izuku's best friend, makes him understand why humans deal with the problems of relationships. 

Izuku's happiness is fucking contagious. 

"Of fucking course I am! You're having it here, right?" 

Izuku shakes his head quickly. 

"No! My mama said there wasn't any room for us! We're having it at my house! That means we can play with all my toys! I have this all might figure that you'll like kacchan! You know, All might?! That guy I was talking about before, he-!" 

Quickly, that excitement is washed away by the cold reality, the one that he has been ignoring for a while now. Being in this form, doing these things, feeling like an actual human, he almost forgot that he can't even leave this place. He's trapped here. 

The colorful entrance of the building mocks him with smiling animals and rainbows. He looks back at Izuku, who is just waiting for him to answer. After his prolonged silence, the smile on Izuku's face slightly falls. 

"What's wrong Kacchan?" 

He stares back at him, the screaming and laughing of all the other kids tuned out into nothing but muffled noise. His throat feels dry, and he swallows. 

"I'm stuck in this building, I can't leave." 

Izuku blinks, not even moving or saying anything. Maybe he is actually taking it better than he first thought- Fat tears are dropping from his eyes, over his cheeks and onto the floor, and he isn't even making any noise. He quickly grabs Izuku's cheeks, trying to wipe the tears away. 

That seems to do something, because then Izuku starts to sniffle and cry louder. 

"W-Why can't you leave?! M-Mama can't move my birthday here! She said she needs a reser- res- Kacchan I can't say the word!" 

He sighs and continues to wipe the tears off of his face, even when they just keep flowing out. 

"Reservation, Izuku." 

Izuku's voice is watery as he continues to cry and sniffle. 

"Y-Yeah!" 

Another new feeling worms into his gut, though he doesn't know what it's called. 

"Oh my, boys! What's going on?!" 

He feels that feeling being cut in half by one he knows extremely well. Annoyance. One of the helpers rushes over to them, clearly concerned by Izuku's sobbing. The woman kneels down and tries to get Izuku to calm down and talk, but the boy isn't listening at all. 

He feels himself grip his hand tighter, glaring at the women. 

"Midoriya, let's go to the sleepy time section, okay? That way you can calm down." 

Izuku cries harder. The sleepy time section, one of the places he actually likes being in. It's a small, separate room from the huge play places, where kids can take naps when they need to, or calm down. The woman grabs Izuku's other hand and leads the two of them. 

She stops in front of the glass door, and takes a key from her pocket to unlock it. It does so with a satisfying click, and she pushes it open gently, smiling down at Izuku. 

"Come in here, Midoriya. It's okay, do you need me to call your mom?" 

Izuku is still crying, but he manages to shake his head. 

"Okay, I won't. But I'll have to tell her you were a little sad today when she gets here." 

She puts her hand on his back and gently pushes him to the room. Suddenly, he senses something inside of the room. Another monster. He grips his hand tighter, his nails digging into his skin. He can't let Izuku go in there alone. The helper gives him a small smile. 

"I know you want to stay with your friend, but Midoriya needs to calm down. Why don't you play with the other kids until he gets out?" 

He glares at her harder, still not letting go. 

"I wanna go in with him too." 

The rules of the room are posted up in colorful letters right next to the door. 

'If a child doesn't need to calm down or take a nap, then they are not allowed in the sleepy time section! Please help us keep this area separate so that your children may keep the safe space they need!' 

She glances at the rules, before looking back at him. 

"...If you promise you'll be quiet..." 

"I promise!" 

She smiles and lets them both walk into the room. She shuts the door softly. The room's walls are covered in black paper, with yellow stars, a moon, and planets taped onto it. Clearly, these were all made by children. 

There is a small bookcase full of picture books, and a rocking chair, where a man sits, reading a book to a little boy sitting half asleep on a beanbag. There are sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows all around the room, and he can barely see the soft carpet. 

Izuku has calmed down a lot more, the soft soothing music playing on the speakers probably doing their thing. He plops himself down on a pile of blankets and sniffs, his eyes puffy and red. He follows, sitting down next to him. 

He sees a little girl hugging a big bear plushie in her sleep, snoring. But despite the calm atmosphere that this room emits, there is a monster lurking in the corner, a big grin on its face.