Chapter 25

I averted my eyes from his. "There's no truth to tell. But whatever makes you sleep at night." "And that's that." Dekus voice was low and overly articulated. "You've been so unsatisfactory for a while. It's as if you enjoy me, and that's certainly not what I want."

"Who even said I had to be satisfactory, huh?!" I shot Deku a death glare. A few of them. He laughed. "Me, more or less. Remember what I said when I first sharpened my knife on you? Reactions I like to see. And I don't get them anymore." Deku swiftly jumped up and stepped onto my left toes with one of his feet.

I hissed, which made Deku chuckle. "It's anything and everything, but for me, not you. I get what I want, not you. This is about me, not fucking you." I spat a bitter chuckle out. "Fucking little narcissist. Earth is heliocentric, not Deku-centric." Deku made a hysteric noise somewhere between screeching and laughing.

"So you just noticed?! I learned only from the best. Isn't that right, Kacchan?" He patted my cheek, still not stepping off my toes. I felt them going numb. "I'm this close to just slicing you up lengthwise-" He gestured as if to hit me, but stopped millimeters before my cheek. "-So better keep it low."

Then he stepped away from me and I almost winced at the feeling of blood rushing back into my toes. Deku started running circles around me. "If I can't hurt you physically anymore, what can I do? Am I suddenly powerless again?" He stopped right behind me and I heard the familiar noise of his knife flicking open.

"Everyone has a weak point or two, right? I'll just have to find it again. You're no machine. You are vulnerable, no matter how tough you act." Dekus knife was at my throat, even quicker than the times before. "Oshiete, what makes you cry?"

Mistakes are made. And I made many.

My first mistake was to grin. My second one was to say "That's for me to know and for you to find out". My last and biggest mistake was to believe Deku was less violent than before. The reaction was like straight out of a Horror movie.

The knife swiftly slit over my throat, leaving nothing more than a scratch. Until it hit my shoulder. The blade cut my sleeve, my skin and my flesh like butter, leaving a deep, messy cut. "I fucking hate your smile, Kacchan. I want to wipe it off your face forever. Won't you forget to smile? For me?"

I gritted my teeth, but it was no use. I winced anyways. It made Deku laugh. "I love those sounds out of your mouth. It's so much better than the shit you spew all day." Then I felt my flesh rip a second time, just a few centimeters below the first cut.

"FUCK!" I clutched my hand around my shoulder. Deku walked around me again, stopping in front of me. "You know what upsets me most? I'm still not getting out of you what I want. This is still… unsatisfying." His venomously glowing eyes pierced through me.

Then they widened. "I found it. You're still hoping for a happy end, right? Hope. Disgusting." He came close to me again, cupping my cheeks with his hands. Then he hissed into my ear. "Let it go, Kacchan. It's over. Hope dies last, but the last has already been… long before it'll end."

As Deku observed me from this close distance, his face suddenly softened. "Oh, I know. You can't let go. I'm settled too deep in positive feelings, of all." All I could do was stare and observe him unravel what I had tried to keep secret.

"Kacchan…" He leaned his head onto my right shoulder. "I hate you. You know that, right?" I suppressed the urge to hug him and never let go of him with a lot of effort. "…Yeah." He nuzzled his head even deeper into the crook of my neck, so I could feel his hot breath against my skin. "Then why do you stare at me this way all the time? Why are you trying to be nice to me? Why do you trust me with your life, although I hurt you so often?"

I opened my mouth, but Deku pressed his finger against my lips to shush me. "No, don't tell me it's because you're sorry. Someone like you can't be that masochistic." He ran his left hand along my right cheek. "Tell me the truth. The truth that lets me know I have full control of you. The truth that devotes you to me forever, just like I knew it would. A decision for the eternity, remember? I knew it before it was true." I slowly took a breath, knowing if I spoke, it'd be the death of me. "I…" my voice broke.

Deku moved closer to my neck and I could feel his satisfied smile. "And I saw this coming aswell. You're predictable, Kacchan. Some day that will be your undoing. That and the fact that…" He chuckled soundlessly. "You still wear arrogance of power you no longer have. You're all deceit and pretense. You're so strong, so reckless, invincible, but you can't even say those three little words."

Dekus left hand forced my head in his direction. His expression had dropped. "You know I won't accept them. I will use them to my advantage, toy with you even longer until you break and I drop you." He gently caressed my right shoulder. "So why did you fall for all of my tricks? Why do you want to say 'I love you' so bad?" I couldn't answer. I didn't fucking know either.

Deku straightened up and took my face into his hands. "You love me, don't you? Despite everything I am and everything I'm not, despite everything I did and didn't do…" He came closer to my face. "I'll say it again, you're predictable. And that's why I know for a fact that… you'll let me take advantage of it."

He pulled me into a hard, loveless kiss. Although I was well aware of the fact that he didn't love me, the fact that he was playing with my feelings, I couldn't restrain myself from kissing back. I was rougher than I meant to.

This kiss was technically another fucked up agreement between us. Deku used my love against me, and I… I basically took advantage of the fact that he was taking advantage of me.

Well, as long as we both got what we wanted…