The Shadows I Hide

Chapter 20: Answers

 In the days that followed Izuku wasn't able to get much sleep. That was largely because he had begun to take precautions against his demon side, by chaining himself to his chair every night and having Kacchan release him every morning. But it was also partially due to wondering. On the fourth night since he'd become aware of his night time strolls as a demon he had decided that he needed to see for himself what the demons had done to him. The following day, Izuku made plans with Kacchan to go and see. Kacchan had agreed not to tell anyone of his predicament and since he already knew about it Kacchan was the only one Izuku felt he could talk to about this, even if it was a little hard to communicate with him sometimes. After some talking on Izuku's part and some yelling on Katsuki's they eventually agreed to sneak out late on Saturday night to investigate the place, the demons had brought him when they'd had him for that brief time. Izuku was so focused on all of this as he walked down the hall that he couldn't hear his name being called out

"Deku!" Izuku gasped Uraraka's shout, finally breaking through his thoughts.

"Hey," she said, much softer this time noticing she had his attention. "Can we talk? You've been acting really weird recently and we haven't had a proper talk in a while." Izuku put on a fake smile and a falsely cheerful tone.

"Oh, hey Uraraka. Yeah sorry about that I've been really busy. I'd love to chat but I've got somewhere to be right now. Well then by-"

"I know you're avoiding me!" she shouted after him, the pain in her voice coming through clear as day. Izuku hated himself for making her sound that way. Hated himself for doing what he was doing. But he still forced himself to speak with a normal tone when glancing back at her.

"I haven't been avoiding you. I've just been having a lot of work lately."

Uraraka's eyes filled up with tears before she turned around and ran. Izuku turned away again cursing himself. It hurt to see her like that, but she would be safer this way.

"Hey, Deku. Get up, it's time" It was around ten-thirty on Saturday evening and Kacchan was on Izuku's balcony banging on the glass. Izuku was ready. He opened the door and stepped outside to the cold night air. The two teens we're in silent agreement about where to go and silently both boys slid down the drainage pipe to the ground. Each of them brought small backpacks with supplies they thought they might need, and they both wore dark clothes although Kacchan was significantly less accustomed to moving stealthily. Izuku wasn't worried though. Kacchan was a fast learner. They successfully escaped school grounds without detection and made their way to the train system. Izuku couldn't quite remember where he'd been kept prisoner, but he could vaguely remember an address plate on the side of a building he'd passed by in the area. Finding that building seemed like the best idea, and from there Izuku could try to backtrack and find the building he'd escaped from. They each paid for tickets and rode in silence. The train had a few other passengers, but they paid them no mind, which was fine for the two UA students, the less attention they attracted the better. They managed to reach their stop without incident, and after checking a map they began walking. The building was only some six blocks away or so, but in the silence of their walk, Bakugo spoke.

"Deku, are you sure you're doing the right thing by round face?"

"What!" exclaimed Deku, "I have no idea what you're talking about," Bakugo looked at him sternly.

"Don't give me that crap. You've been going out of your way to avoid her this past week. It's plain as day to anyone that sees it, not just me," Izuku sighed and his expression turned serious.

"So what if I am? I'm dangerous, I don't want her to get hurt... And besides... it's not like she'd want to be anywhere near me if she knew what was going on," When Kacchan didn't respond Deku looked at him to see that Bakugo was looking at him with an expression of disbelief. He'd never seen Kacchan with that expression before.

"What?" he asked.

"Do you really think that?" asked the blond boy.

"Yeah," Kacchan rolled his eyes.

"You dense as hell Deku," he said.

"And what the heck is that supposed to mean?

"Nothing, forget it. But listen, I'm not going to tell you what to do in your situation, but just be sure you know what you're doing. She's clearly upset about being treated the way you've been treating her," Izuku looked away, turning his head back to the path ahead of them.

"Yeah well, I'm doing this to protect her," That was the end of the discussion, and the two teens walked the rest of the way in silence. Finally reaching the building Deku recognized the area immediately.

"I know where we are," he said. Bakugo nodded.

"Lead the way then," And so he did. As Izuku guided them he was reliving the previous time he'd been here. The adrenaline in his body, the pain all over, the fear in running for his life. He couldn't help but feel a bit of trepidation at returning here willingly. Finally, he found it, the little window at the bottom of the wall that he'd crawled out of.

"Here it is," he said quietly. "But be careful, I don't know if they're still here or not," Izuku was scared, but he swallowed his fear and climbed in through the window feet first, letting his legs dangle in the air before letting himself drop. He felt a moment of weightlessness as he fell until he felt the ground and bent his knees as he fell to slow his descent. He was pleased to note that his landing hadn't made much noise at all. Bakugo did the same thing, carrying the other end of a length of rope he had tied outside a moment ago. Izuku was glad that the hot head was actually listening to what he'd told him. Then again, Bakugo might be stubborn, but he was far from stupid.

Looking around, the pair couldn't sense anyone nearby. As their eyes adjusted to the gloom they took in the decaying basement warily. It smelled old and damp down there and was completely silent.

"It looks like they abandoned this place," said Izuku casting his gaze across the neglected support beams.

"Yeah, I would still be careful though. We don't know if there might be a straggler," he agreed.

"We should probably try to find the room I was kept in. I'm pretty sure It was over there," he said pointing up a flight of stairs."

The pair walked silently up the stairs and made a left where Izuku instructed. After walking for a short time Izuku saw the familiar door and shuddered involuntarily.

"You're not gonna chicken out on me are you?" asked Bakugo?

"No, of course not," said Izuku before pushing open the door.

It was incredibly dark in the room, and Izuku couldn't see well enough to make out anything. They both opened their bags and removed the flashlights they had each packed for themselves. Turning them on they both winced at the sudden brightness but adjusted quickly and began to shine their lights around the room. It was much the same as Izuku remembered it. A dark damp windowless room littered with assorted bits of trash and rubble. The candles he had seen before were still there. But there was one thing that Izuku noticed now which he hadn't before. Kacchan noticed too.

"That's... Not a good sign," Izuku nodded numbly, he felt sick. On the floor, marked out around the place he had been lying when he had awoken was a large pentagram painted on the stone in crimson.

"It's my blood," he said. "Why else would they have sliced my palms so deliberately the last time" Kacchan gave him a disgusted look.

"Well that's great," he said sarcastically. A loud crash suddenly rang out down the hallway outside. Hesitating only briefly, Izuku dashed to the doorway and spun to look in the direction the sound came from just in time, a dark cloak whipping around a corner and the sound of footsteps running at high speed.