Fresh Flesh (Bkdk, Dkbk)

- Chapter 52 -

Before he can get rid of it, Izuku grabs his attention again. He leans his head on his shoulder, letting out a deep breath. Izuku's body relaxes, but suddenly his own feels tense, his hands feel too sweaty, and he has the sudden urge to let go of Izuku's hand, because maybe he thinks so too. The thought is dumb, because he can sense what he's feeling anytime he wants to. Right now, Izuku just feels relaxed and sad. 

 "Why can't you leave Kacchan?" 

His voice is soft and raspy, right in his ear. He keeps his eyes on the monster instead of shifting to look at Izuku, so the green haired boy isn't forced to move his head.

"I think it's because I'm attached to this shit hole." 

Silence passes through them after his sentence ends. The soft music is some sort of lullaby he's never heard before. He sees the monster move, swaying in the corner left and right, making a small whooshing sound every time it moves like that. 

"I want you to come to my party..." 

Izuku's voice is getting smaller, and he can feel the way he almost curls into himself. 

"You're my only friend Kacchan... I didn't invite anyone else..." 

He ignores the way his skin prickles in a feeling he thinks is happiness. He shouldn't be happy that Izuku only has him as a friend, he shouldn't feel like he's better than everyone else because Izuku chose him, made him so important.

He shouldn't feel happy because he can't even fucking go, even when he wants to, so so fucking bad. He doesn't say anything, just looking at the monster in the corner. Izuku doesn't say anything either, and when he's finally about to speak, he hears soft snoring in his ear. 

He sits there, still holding his hand. He won't accept just giving up. There has to be a way he can leave this hellhole, some way he hasn't figured out in all of his years wandering around. He tries to think, but the whooshing sound that the asshole in the corner is making is only getting louder, and it's distracting the hell out of him. 

'Hey! Shut the fuck up! I'm trying to think!' 

He glares at it, ready to get back on track. 

'About what. How you are going to eat that human?' 

He stares at it, his eyes slightly widening. It talked. It actually responded. He almost tricks himself into believing that he was just making it up, but it speaks again. 

'How did you change shape. Teach me. Teach me and I'll let you have the girl. I take the boy. Teach me.' 

The monster's long arm lifts up, held in his direction, pointing at Izuku. He scoots himself closer to Izuku, their sides pressed together. '

Hell no! He isn't food! He's my best friend, bastard!' 

The monster's voice is drawn out and deep, like the breaking of the earth and the breathing of a forest. So, he sounds old as fuck. 

'No bond. No rules. Food. Teach me. Change shape, teach me...' 

'Bond? What the hell are you talking about?!' 

The monster begins to sway again. Despite its neck being so long and its head so heavy that it leans towards its body, it doesn't seem to have a problem seeing. 

'Bond. Attach to human. Feed. Bond. Teach.' 

The monster continues to sway, its head brushing against the walls. It's closest to the little girl, and he sees her shift in her sleep, her eyebrows furrowing in distress. He doesn't care about the little girl that might be in danger being so close to the monster, but about the words that were just said. 

The solution to his problem. All he needs to do is bond with Izuku, and he can follow him wherever he goes. He doesn't have to stay stuck in here forever. The thought doesn't feel real, the possibility of it all making his head spin. 

'Teach me. Change. Shape.' 

He slowly nods. 

'Okay. I'll teach you. Tell me how to bond first.' 

The monster goes quiet, but still sways. 

Whoosh. 

Whoosh. 

Whooshhhhhh. 

Done contemplating, the monster answers. 

'Bond. Soul. Tie. Death.' 

Clearly, speaking isn't really this guy's forte. But when he looks at it, he gets flashes of instructions in his mind. To bond, he has to attach himself to Izuku, using his own soul. A warning pops into his mind. 

The human body is fragile and won't be able to handle so much of his soul at one time, so he has to be careful. His skin tingles, and he blinks, looking back at the monster. 

'Teach. Chang-' 

A loud splat cuts off the monster's speech, and finally the whooshing sound stops. The little girl goes back to sleeping peacefully. He lets go of Izuku's hand and carefully puts his head in his lap, putting his fingers in his hair. 

He stares at the freckles on his pudgy cheeks and the way his breathing comes out softly. He feels the tingling sensation grow stronger at the tips of his fingers and closes his eyes. He will only put a little. Just a little piece of his soul should be enough...

 -<>- 

"Kacchan?" 

He opens his eyes and looks down at Izuku's face. The boy is just waking up, wiping his eyes and sitting up, supporting himself with his arms. His eyes are hazy for a moment, before he quickly stiffens and looks at him. 

"H-How long have i been asleep?!" 

He shrugs and notices that the girl from before is gone. He looks back at Izuku. 

"Not long, nerd, don't freak out. I um..." 

He looks away from his big eyes. 

"I figured out a way for me to go to your party." 

He doesn't see the other boy's reaction, but he can guess it well enough by the sound of his voice. 

"Really?! Are you serious!? Wait, but I thought you said-" 

He looks back at him and ruffles his hair. 

"Forget about that shit. Just know I took care of it." 

Izuku stares at him for a moment, before grinning brightly. 

"Okay!"