Strings and Buttons

Chapter 11: A Question

"She knows you'd listen, so she wants to keep him quiet. It's not Midoriya's fault."

Katsuki glares down at the cat, his arms folded.

"Who the hell are you talking about?"

Shoto looks at him blankly, that arrogant gleam still in his eyes. It makes Katsuki's irritation build.

"If you really don't know who I'm talking about, then you need to start looking around yourself. I'm sure you get an odd feeling from this place."

Deku watches the two of them, his embarrassment ebbing away as he looks at Katsuki and nods, his button eyes almost pleading. Shoto looks at Deku and jumps from his shoulder, his paws not even darkening in the mud.

"I'll give you one last warning since Midoriya likes you so much. You'll need to keep that stone to keep you safe from this world and her web of lies."

As he finishes his sentence, the cat stiffens, looking towards the trees. Then, he crouches low and begins to run, chasing after something that Katsuki can't see. Deku's face is contorted into a serious expression, his eyebrows furrowed slightly as he steps closer to Katsuki.

He grips his hands in both of his own and Katsuki can see the twitch of his mouth against the twine like he wants to say something.

"Katsuki!"

His other mother calls, probably back from whatever she was doing. Deku lets go of his hands, puts a finger to his mouth in a shushing gesture, and rushes away. Katsuki watches after him, his hands still in the air.

There is another call for him, and he turns away, feeling a certain heaviness in his gut. His mind is stuck on glistening black twine and dark green buttons. He walks back to the house, expecting to see the other mother and his other father at the front.

There is no one, and he's about to just walk inside when in the corner of his eye he spots the door of Mr. Hizashi and Mr. Aizawa's flat.

Its slightly open, and he knows for a fact that it was completely closed last time. He goes over to it, his boots thumping against the brick stairs down to their flat. He knocked on the door just for shits and giggles, but the sound of cats meowing didn't come through.

They wouldn't just leave it open if they weren't inside, so Katsuki opens the door and steps through. The smell of dust and velvet hits his nose, and the door shuts behind him. Its dark, so dark that he can't even see his hand in front of his face. When he did though, his fingers brushed against something soft and smooth.

He grips the fabric of the curtain and swings it open. His eyes have to adjust to the assault of light, and he rubs them with his hand, temporarily blinded. The first thing he sees when his eyes go back to normal is the huge stage all the way at the end of the room.

It has a chair, a desk, and another chair and there is a spotlight pointing down at the center of it, drawing out that there is no one sitting in the chairs. There is velvet, soft looking seats between the set up and where Katsuki is standing.

Tons of seats, all set up in rows and rows. There are even seat balconies, small lights coming down from them. And filing every single one of those seats are cats, all swaying their tails and meowing. He would have heard the meows sooner if not for the way they were almost whispering them.

"Did you pay the fee?"

Katsuki turns to his left to see Mr. Aizawa, his long hair put up in a bun, his button eyes staring down at him.

"What fee?"

Mr. Aizawa sighs and takes his hands out of the pockets of his dress pants.

"You have to pay a fee if you want to be a part of the live audience problem child. But since we know you, i guess you can just pay us back later. Take a seat, its starting soon."

Katsuki's eyes linger at the man for a moment in confusion, but he walks. There aren't any empty seats when he goes down the aisle. The cats, all with buttons, look at him, meowing to each other. Finally, after what feels like forever, he finds one empty seat right at the front.

Almost immediately after he sits down, the lights dim further until the only bright light is the one shining onto the center of the stage.

The show, as he later finds out, is a talk show hosted by Mr. Hizashi, his button eyes occasionally meeting Katsuki's red ones as he interviews and interacts with the rest of the audience.

Katsuki can't take his eyes away from the person being interviewed, a green haired woman with a distorted face that he's never seen before. The show ends, and as he walks out of the flat and to the garden, planning on looking around some more.

That is until he sees his other parents standing there, holding each other's arms as they smile the same looking smile at him.

"Did you have a good time Katsuki?"

She looks at him expectantly and Katsuki just shrugs.

"It was fine."

The three of them walk to the other house, going up to the porch. As they walk, his other mother reaches out to him, patting his head softly. It sends a sudden chill down his spine, and he glares at her, swatting her hand away.

He feels the bones of her fingers when he does and his nose crinkles.

"Don't fucking do that."

She looks at him blankly, her smile faltering slightly. But in almost an instant, she withdrawals her hand and smiles at him.

"Sorry Katsuki, i couldn't help it. Your hair is soft."

From behind them, his other father speaks as they enter the house.

"Do you like it here Katsuki?"