Mameigwess - dekubaku

Chapter 5

Katsuki rubbed his temple as he took a deep breath. As he exhaled, he tried to block out the loud chattering around him.

He'd gone to bed fairly early the previous night, but after spending the remainder of his afternoon drinking his feelings away he was very hungover. He'd managed to go without a dream — or he was too drunk to remember anything — but he woke up feeling even more tired than he did after one of those hellish nights.

Only, they didn't seem like they'd been so hellish anymore. In his drunken state Katsuki had managed to get a lot of thinking in. Izuku's words still sat heavily in his mind.

'You want to see me.'

Did he?

Katsuki tried to brush the night off. The whole talk of souls sounded like something that you could only come up with in a dream. It didn't sound real.

But Katsuki had learnt about mythological beings since he could read, and even before that when his parents told him stories. He knew more than anybody the types of things that were possible. The world had endless possibilities of lore that people like him were still discovering. He was probably the first human to understand wendigos in the way that he did.

Before they'd stepped foot in that forest, any rumour of wendigo mating was a complete guess. Only now could he confirm the guesses and distinguish right from wrong on their habits. So what was to say that was all there was to learn?

Katsuki had heard similar stories from other creatures like werewolves. When they mate they form a bond that binds two souls together; but he didn't think it was that literal. Actually connecting two souls? What was the purpose for that?

What was the purpose for any mythical creature, the rational side of his brain argued. And it was right, none of them made sense. Why would something taking the form of a human need blood to survive? Or why could they grow fur and ears and a tail and a snout? Why did some souls remain in the world after death? Why were there so many half humans, half something else in the world?

None of this made any sense, but it was the world he grew up with. So why were souls being bound so hard for him to grasp?

"You look like shit."

The table wobbled as a tray was dropped down on it. Katsuki looked up through his hair, keeping his face angled down, at the person now sitting opposite him.

"Hangover?" Sero dropped himself beside Kaminari and grabbed a squashed sandwich from his bag.

Katsuki rolled his eyes and ignored them. He folded his arms on the table and dropped his head on them. His head was pounding with a headache and he didn't think he could stomach food right now. He didn't remember drinking that much, but maybe he'd had more than he remembered.

"Bro," Kirishima's way too loud voice appeared beside him. "How much did you drink after I left?"

Katsuki shrugged.

"Wait, hold up," Ashido whined, making Katsuki jump as her shrill voice appeared out of nowhere. This really wasn't good for his head. "How come you got to see him but we didn't?"

"Yeah. What about us, Katsuki?" Kaminari said dramatically, pointing his fork at him. "Do we not matter to you?"

"No," Katsuki grumbled into his arm.

"Oh, but Eijiro does?" Sero teased, taking a large bite from his sandwich.

Katsuki lifted his hand to flip him off before dropping it back down onto the table. He was too hungover to be dealing with this.

"The romance saga continues!" Ashido cheered.

"I hate all of you," Katsuki lifted his head to give the group a tired scowl.