Forced Manipulation

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Katsuki's eyes shot open, the faint buzzing from the fluorescent light woke him up from his trance. He quickly glanced around, taking in all of his surroundings. This area seemed so familiar to him, yet he couldn't remember where. He looked in front of him, noticing a large, wooden door. He looked down, realizing that he was still wearing his black skull t-shirt and his tight, midnight blue sweats which hung at his waist.

The numbers four, six, nine, and three were carved into the wood and had been plated with rusted gold.

"What the...?" Katsuki mumbled, raising a hand to the numbers, his fingertips brushing against them. "These numbers..."

He reached out for the thick, bright yellow, brass door handle. However, as soon as he wrapped his hand around the handle, he stopped himself. What was he doing? He had no idea where the door would lead him! What would be waiting behind the door? Could this be some villain hideout? If it was, he had to be careful! He didn't have his quirk after all. He slowly turned the knob before violently yanking the door open, ready for whatever villain or monster that was lurking behind the door, ready to attack him. To his surprise, there was nobody there! As his ruby eyes scanned the area, all he saw was a few boxes scattered around the room, stacked against the wall.

"H-Hello?" The ash-blonde called out in confusion, wondering if anyone was even home. This wasn't Jason's apartment, right? He let out a shaky sigh. It had to have been before he had moved in, hell, he might have not even reunited with his mother yet! Maybe... Maybe he wouldn't get hurt! "S-Sir..? I don't mean to intrude... Your door was unlocked..!"

As he stepped inside the apartment, making sure to take his shoes off, he heard a faint noise come from down the hall. It was extremely muffled, throwing the ash-blonde off on what it was. He walked cautiously down towards the kitchen and peered into it. It hadn't even looked like it was used yet! The multicolored tile floor seemed to be spotless, whereas the stovetop and the counter had begun to collect dust. He quickly swiped his hand over one of the burners, cringing at the amount of dust that resided on his hand. It was almost like Jason hadn't even used this kitchen! Had he been just spending money at restaurants? He glanced over to the trash can, seeing that it was overflowing with empty cans and bottles of beer! Katsuki gawked at this, nearly picking one of the bottles up in case he wasn't hallucinating. How much was Jason drinking a day?!

"Sir..?" Katsuki asked the air, the muffled sound getting even louder. It sounded like...Crying? The ash-blonde raised an eyebrow. He had never heard Jason cry before! He never had a reason to cry! Jason was tough, what caused him to cry like this?

As he continued to make his way down the hallway, he could feel an urging sense of dread running deep through his body. This felt wrong. Yet, he couldn't stop himself from gripping the door handle, like his body was compelled to do it! He fumbled the doorknob, before cracking it ajar. He dared not to peek in, in case he was going to see something that might scar him.

"Sir..? I'm going to enter the room, pardon me for my intrusion..!" He quickly pushed the frail door, expecting to see Jason sitting on the floor, crying his eyes out.

To his shock, Jason was nowhere to be found! As he peered into the room, he was surprised to see an older man hunched over the toilet, sobbing quietly to himself. Meanwhile, the bathtub was running, nearly filling to the brim. Katsuki quickly recognized the man to be none other than his father!