Strings and Buttons

Chapter 9: Fog Talks

The only thing that gave away that it was the man from the attic was the blonde hair. But unlike the Mr. Toshinori at home, this one was big and muscular, standing tall and strong. Katsuki remembers seeing the pictures of the old man when he was younger, and now, he is standing over him.

He watches as the disgusting rats scurry up his legs, into his clothes, and out of sight. The biggest rat of all of them scurried up to his shoulder, jumped onto his hair, its little paws digging dangerously close to his button eyes, and onto the top of the man's head.

And still, the man stood, completely unbothered by the chittering and the breathing of the small vermin inside of his clothes. Katsuki stares at the big rat, its red eyes staring back until the man puts his top hat back on, hiding it with the rest.

"My apologizes if they started you young man! The rats are always hungry in the trenches of war, you know."

Katsuki looks back at him, and he doesn't like feeling toward over, so he stands up, brushes himself off, and gives him a stern look.

"Your seriously fucking nasty with those rats crawling all over you like that."

The old man from the attic flashes him a charming smile, though there is something gleaming in his button eyes that makes Katsuki want to get away from him.

"Nasty is seeing the rat's feed. There is always food to be found thanks to the bombs. Would you like to see?"

Katsuki doesn't like the sound of that at all, so he is quick to decline.

"Hell no."

He trails off, looking back at the window that changes scenery.

"I'm going to bed."

The old man from the attic nods, though he stares at Katsuki like he wants to do something. It creeps him the hell out.

"Well... If you ever change your mind, the rats would be very happy to share a meal with you, young man. They like the company..."

The man slowly steps out from the doorway, turns slowly, and begins to walk down the hall. Katsuki watches him and doesn't shut the door until he sees the man's top hat disappear from the stairs. He slams it shut and locks it, finally relaxing.

This place is fucking weird.

Katsuki looks around his room one last time before climbing into the big comfortable bed. It doesn't take long for him to fall asleep, but he could swear that he saw red eyes peaking at him from the window.

He wakes up, not the clean and bright ceiling, but to the chipped and dirty one. He sighs and slowly sits up, looking around his mostly empty room. Once he gets up and goes downstairs to eat something, he takes a better look at the house.

 It looks even worse after seeing that perfect looking one behind the door. His parents are in their respective studies, so he doesn't bother talking to them. They would just give him dry responses or tell him to fuck off.

He passes the drawing room and looks at the door. He goes over to it, puts the key inside, and unlocks it. When he swings the door open, there is nothing but the brick wall. He spends a minute or two just staring at it, before slowly shutting it.

What the fuck.

He leaves the room and goes to the front door, putting on his boots. There is the sound of creaking behind him and he turns around, Mitsuki looking at him with hands on her hips. It feels weird seeing her without button eyes, or with all that different build and stuff, but it doesn't make him feel uneasy like the other version of her.

"Where the hell are you going?"

He tugs on his second boot, tying them up.

"I'm gonna go see Deku."

"Who the fuck is that?"

Katsuki stands up and fixes his coat, wrapping his red scarf around his neck.

"Deku. He's the son of the women who owns the house."

"Did you finish studying?"

"Yeah. I'll do more when i get back old hag, get off my ass."

Before Mitsuki can say anything, Katsuki goes out the door and shuts it. The air is still cold, the fog never seeming to leave. He glances up at the stairs that lead up to the old man's flat, and he shivers.

Maybe that whole thing was just a very vivid dream. Maybe he's just losing his shit.

He walks off of the porch and into the mud, continuing to walk through the grounds. It only takes a couple of minutes to get to the well. He looks at it, his hands grazing over the old stone and the wooden lid.

"Kacchan!"

He jumps and whirls around to see Deku, the nerd bundled up in a hoodie, a dark green jacket, with his scarf. He has a bright smile on his face, and Katsuki relaxes.

"Deku, don't go jumping out like that its fucking creepy."

Deku smiles and he steps closer to him, the cat walking around his legs and jumping up to sit on the stone of the well.

"Sorry kacchan, i just saw you and walked over. What do you want to do today?"

Katsuki told Deku about his dream, right in front of the well with the dumb cat looking between the two of them as if it could understand. He watched Deku's expressions closely, from ones of surprise to confusion to a frown.

"Are you sure it was a dream kacchan?"

Katsuki leans against the well, shoving mud away with the tip of his boot.

"If it was real Deku then why the hell would the brick wall be there."

He gives him a look, and Deku's cheeks turn pink.

"Well yeah, but my mom says that creepy things go on in that house. Thats why I'm not allowed to go inside. And you remember what Mr. Toshinori said about the door, and Mr. Hisashi's tea reading thing..."