Fresh Flesh (Bkdk, Dkbk)

- Chapter 57 -

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"W-What? What do you mean you don't know what's wrong with him?!" 

The doctor is holding a clipboard against his chest with both of his hands, looking down at the distraught women with a small frown. His tone is gentle, as if he is trying to keep her calm despite the terrible news she is receiving. 

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but these symptoms are something I have never seen before... It may just be a cold. I'm sure-" 

Inko has tears streaming down her face, and she screams, clutching at her chest. 

"A cold?! My son keeps throwing up black fluid and- and blood, and you say it's just a cold?!" 

The doctor doesn't react to her tone or the tears, still keeping his expression and voice the same. 

"Children have weaker immune systems and could get really sick, ma'am, we did what we can about the blood loss, but there isn't much we can do other than prescribe your son some medicine for fever relief," 

That statement is rewarded by more tears and screams. He can't blame her, not in the slightest. This is the fourth doctor this month, not even counting the others that have been by the house, saying the same bullshit. Katsuki tunes everything out, staring at Izuku. 

His face is pale, his freckles standing out against his ghostly skin. His breathing is rugged and uneven, small pants leaving his mouth as his brows furrow. There is a sand bucket with All Might's face on it next to his bed, almost full of the black liquid and blood he keeps throwing up. 

Despite what it holds, All Might's face grins at him. Izuku's little hands are clutching his bedsheets, almost shaking. Katsuki reaches his hand out and holds it, not looking away from him for even a second. 

Their connected souls buzz with the contact. Izuku's eyes open slightly, and he sees Katsuki next to him. He still manages to smile at him, and Katsuki sees the skin on his own hand crack, revealing the deep void of darkness of his normal form. 

He can't keep this shape up much longer, not without more food. He feels his eyes burn, and quickly tries to get rid of the feeling, using his other hand to roughly rub his eyes. Izuku's smile falters, slowly melting off of his face. 

"Kacchan... why are you crying...?" 

His voice is weak and unsteady, and he hates it. He hates the smell of death in this room. He hates the monsters he sees standing outside of the window, just waiting for Izuku's body to give up on him, for his soul to be fully consumed by someone who is supposed to be his fucking friend. 

His vision blurs and he continues to wipe these annoying fucking rain drops away. 

"I-I'm not crying shitty Deku! It's just your imagination!" 

Izuku doesn't say anything, but he smiles weakly again. He stays quiet as Katsuki sniffs and cries, and he doesn't know if his silence is better or worse. 

"I..." 

His eyes look back at him only to find him looking at the ceiling, his green eyes devoid of their light. 

"I'm sorry... that I'm not a very good friend, Kacchan..."

 He stares at the smile on his face, his skin splitting even more. 

"You're stuck wasting your time sitting here in this gross room with me... when you could be-" 

"Shut the fuck up!!" 

The stinging comes back, and he feels the skin on his shoulder crack. The darkness of his normal form spikes, stabbing out through the fabric of his shirt. He retracts his hand quickly, not wanting to accidentally hurt Izuku more than he already has. His breathing is heavy, and he feels like his chest is about to explode, like his whole body is about to break down into a huge ball of fire, destroying everything around it. 

"Wipe that damn smile off your fucking face! How- How the fuck could you say shit like that when-" 

I'm the one who did this to you. 

His voice breaks and his body hums, another spike erupting from his back. Izuku's hazy eyes look back at him slowly, tears falling from them, his smile turning into a wobbly frown. 

"I just... I want you to leave, and I want mama to leave..." 

Izuku sniffs, his voice breaking. 

"I don't want... my family to watch me die." 

Another spike on his other shoulder. The words that leave his lips only seem to make him worse, taking him one step closer to the end. He is too busy staring at him, too busy struggling with what to say without screaming at the top of his lungs, to notice the door open. 

Inko looks at him, before fatigue briefly leaves her eyes and is replaced with panic. She screams and it breaks Katsuki out of his haze. He disappears before Inko can get to him, and melts into the shadows. 

He waits there, in the void of emptiness, and replays Izuku's words over and over in his mind. He won't let him die. He will fix this, whatever the fuck it takes, whatever it is that he has to do, he'll fucking to do. Their connected souls still ring in his mind even when he's in a different plain. 

Their souls call out to him, and he knows the reason for Izuku's mysterious disease. He had mixed their souls too quickly. He infected him with his own disgusting form that is poisoning and killing him. 

He needs to carefully take apart their connection so that Izuku can finally start to get better. They could go back to normal and put this whole thing behind them after Katsuki apologizes. It takes weeks to get it done. 

Taking the pieces of his soul out of Izuku's is something that needs meticulous care and concentration. He can't help but want to leave a piece of himself in his soul, so he does, being extremely careful this time.

 Finally, after he is sure that he has taken care of everything, he lets himself go back to Izuku.