A long chapter for the readers that waited a long time for an update! I'm so sorry for being absent for a long time. I didn't get much chance to write. Anyway, I hope everyone will be satisfied with this new chapter! Thank you for reading and loving TVH! Hope to see you all and more new readers love TVH as always! Don't forget to drop your thoughts and love and energy for the author!

xoxo,

Halloween G.

The Ritual

"Welcome home, Kacchan!" A beaming, full of life and happy voice greeted Katsuki as soon as he opened the door to the cabin and was met with a grinning Izuku that went from ear to ear. Already used to her unusual happy disposition recently, he simply gave her a nod and a soft acknowledging hum as he took off both of his shoes and changed to indoor slippers.

"I made dinner, Kacchan, so go ahead and clean yourself first while I prepare the table." She added and took Katsuki's bag off his grasps. Izuku had been taking good care of him for the past three months now. She's been depressed lesser and lesser as the days went by along with her mentioning the other man infrequently now.

Katsuki allowed her to take his things and proceeded to the shower. He kind of noticed that by keeping herself busy and directing her focus into something else, it allows her to forget and not think about the other. It allows her to escape her depression for a while. Katsuki knew that her dealing with her depression wasn't really healthy at all but he also couldn't say otherwise. If it gives her even a little bit of space to breathe, then he will not say anything else. If it allows her to smile and be happy like that, even temporarily, then Katsuki will even play along with her.

Walking out of the shower, Katsuki remembered how he didn't even bring a set of fresh clothes to wear after, so he wrapped a towel below his torso and walked out of the bathroom. Perking up at the sound of door being opened, Izuku peeked from the kitchen to call Katsuki for food only to meet the adonis-bodied handsome Katsuki fresh out of bath. My, what a sight for sore eyes!

"Wha-What... What the heck are you doing, Kacchan?!" Izuku cried and, out of embarrassment and surprise, sent a solidified ball of air towards Katsuki that hit him square on his bare torso.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, DEKU?! ARE YOU TRYING TO FUCKING KILL ME?! I JUST FUCKING FORGOT TO BRING A CHANGE OF CLOTHES! YOU DON'T HAVE TO FUCKING MURDER ME! DIE!" Katsuki bellowed with sparking knuckles, displaying his irritation and anger at Izuku's sudden assault.

"O-Oh... Is that so?" Izuku muttered softly, averting her head to hide the blush that coated her freckle-peppered cheeks. Katsuki watched her being awkward and felt awkward as well, running a hand through his spiked hair and turned away as well, opting to just hurry the hell up to his room. Izuku getting embarrassed at seeing him naked made him feel embarrassed as well.

Leaving Izuku still flushed from her sudden outburst, he quickly climbed the stairs and disappeared. Izuku decided to erase the accident from her mind but damn was it hard— not after witnessing a perfectly sculptured muscular body like Katsuki's.

God, he did grow up well.

Izuku went back and sat on the chair, tried very hard not to think back to Katsuki's body when the person in question suddenly cried very loudly as the loud thumping of him rushing down to her reverberated through the whole cabin accompanied with his "DEKU! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ABSURDLY FUCKING LARGE EGG IN MY FUCKING ROOM?!"

"Oh! You found it!" Izuku smiled cheekily and laughed at the mess Katsuki was in after discovering the egg. Fortunately, he was clothed this time so Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. She would not know where to look if he was still in his state like earlier.

"Don't you fucking dare give me that cheeky 'you found it' crap! What the hell's up with that egg? You fucking went out without telling me again?!"

"Wait. That's what you're mad about?"

"What the hell you fucking deku?! DIE!" Katsuki grumbled while setting off brighter and larger sparks.

"Ka-Kacchan! Listen! I-I just wanted some exercise and you were at school—but look! I am not harmed! I got back by myself safely! Sorry Kacchan! I got bored!" Izuku frantically explained and spouted random things to try and pacify the raging king when she, unexpectedly, succeeded.

"You... were bored?" He asked, calmly— without his intimidating fireworks or the unnecessary loud screaming. Izuku panicked more at this uncharacteristic serenity within the blonde king and threw larger gestures while stating reasons for her boredom and ended her long rant with a soft "Sorry."

"No, it's okay. I should've thought how lonely it was to be left alone in a cabin like this— pretty secluded to boot." Katsuki told her and once again ran a hand through his spikes before glancing his pretty ruby orbs towards the meal his mistress had prepared. "We should eat before dinner cools down."

As if being jolted out of the brief shock from Katsuki's calmness, Izuku craned her head slowly towards the table and back to the blonde before exclaiming "Ah! Yes! Food! It'll get cold! Let's eat."

"Stupid." Katsuki muttered and shuffled in his seat, getting comfortable, before digging in.

Izuku was still dazed but was happy when Katsuki complimented her cooking. He was always the one with peculiar and hard to please taste buds. So him finally liking Izuku's cooking was like a great accomplishment to the witch. It'd been a while since she last properly took a good look at Katsuki's peaceful and relaxed profile. She was happy.

"Kacchan?" She called to which the man just gazed up from his bowl with an arched brow. "Thank you." She said with a very lovely and beautiful smile that Katsuki hadn't seen in her face for a while now. He missed her smiling like that that it surprised him and he choked on his soup.

"Wa-Water!" Izuku got up and ran to grab a glassful of water before handing it over to him while she rubbed his back in soothing touches that only worsened the blonde's condition before he finally pushed her hand away slightly while muttering "I'm fine" in between his coughs.

"A-Are you sure?" She asked worriedly.

"Don't give me that stupid look. I said I'm fine. Now eat!" Katsuki pointed at her seat across him to spur the witch into movement. The latter finally moved from Katsuki's back and returned to her seat but still held a worried look over to the king, who was trying incredibly hard to keep a poker face on and not blush really hard under that gaze.

"A-Anyway... What was that egg?"

"Oh? I don't really know but I think it'll suit you. Every boy must have a pet, right? You just won't be having a dog though." Izuku said. The smile that was ever present on her visage and the happiness that coloured her days were gradually returning now and Katsuki was willing to take on anything as long as it meant she'll keep that happy smile on her face. Even the mysterious creature he was yet to meet that she dumped in his care— he will take it.

"Kacchan... I... I'll be going out tomorrow again." Izuku spoke before sipping the soup from her spoon. "And maybe for the next few days as well." She added. She didn't need to cast an eye towards the other to know that her words had shocked him. He was ridiculously against the idea of her going out itself that it didn't need a clairvoyant to know his answer.

"Are you searching for him yourself?"

Izuku shook her head. That wasn't the reason why she was going out more frequently for the past few days, whether Katsuki knew or not. There was something else and Katsuki felt she didn't want him to know what it was.

He took a mouthful of food and silently chewed on it. Izuku couldn't quite tell what the other was thinking as he just silently sat there, chewing on his food, without any of his usual protests about her going out by herself again. So it made Izuku fidget uncontrollably on her seat. It wasn't like Katsuki to just sit there without a word after her declaring that she was going out again.

After a while, and a few quiet huffs of exasperated sighs, Katsuki finally gave his answer and conceded to the witch's wish.

"Fine." He spoke that brought delight unto Izuku's nervous face. "But be back before the sun sets or at least before I come home."

It wasn't anything hard on Izuku's part. Katsuki's demand was well within reason and her power so she assured him that she will be back even before Katsuki. Izuku happily partook on the feast on the table while Katsuki just watched, mesmerised at this childish and innocent witch that just makes you forget just how cruel she could be, while she wore that big happy grin.

Of course, even though Katsuki acquiesced to Izuku's little declaration of exploring out the cabin once more, he cannot let her actually go without him knowing where she goes first. So he tailed her the very next day— ditching school— without her knowing. He was sure Izuku wouldn't tell him where she actually goes to so he resorted to that. He'd been a lot better at moving stealthily for a while now, so it was high time he put that skill into good use.

He surreptitiously followed after the witch when she came into this waterfall. It was the very same waterfall that was close to the lake she used to take a nap at. He watched her navigate her way behind the water curtain and into an open cave as she walked further inside.

Katsuki still followed her, now curious as to what her agenda was in that hidden cave. He followed her in and into a big air pocket with its ceiling suddenly stretching high up. At their front, where Izuku was walking towards to, was a big beautiful cerulean lake that seemed to glow dimly with the very little light that managed to seep into the numerous tiny cracks at the ceiling.

Stopping by the lake's edges, Izuku suddenly stripped out of her robes and dropped it into the ground before carefully and gingerly dipping her feet onto the lake and eventually half of her body.

Witnessing the sudden events, Katsuki blushed at the accidental lucky lecher moment and quickly averted his gaze. Thinking that maybe the witch just wanted a nice bath and he intruded on her got him very ashamed of himself. He was about to turn around and go home first when suddenly the whole surrounding lighted up.

Numerous candles ignited as they floated around the lake Izuku was at the center at. The thousands of crystals embedded on the walls and grounds of the cave added a very magical glow to the place. After a short silence, after the candles lit by themselves— which was probably Izuku's doing— Katsuki could hear a soft murmur from Izuku.

He couldn't quite make out everything she was saying. All he could hear were some words that sounded too foreign to him. They were all a slur of words to his ears. He could hear some Inrita... finis... contractus... being said over and over again. It was then that it dawned on Katsuki that Izuku was performing a ritual. It was also then that he noticed how the candles formed a circle and how the bright red rubies, that stood out amongst all the stones, seemed to form an enchantment inside the circle.

What ritual is this?

After having repeated the chanting for a certain amount of time, a sudden gust of wind gushed from Izuku as her outstretched hand high above her hand fell to her side and she gasped for breath.

"It still won't work after all. So a human and a witch's contract is this powerful, huh?" She voiced her unfiltered thoughts as she traced the mark, identical to Shouto's, etched on top of her left chest. She didn't care if she spoke her thoughts. After all, she believed that she was alone. "Guess there's only that then."

After having said that, Izuku once again lifted her hands up above her before materializing a small ritual dagger in her hand.

"Hoc pugione et discumbere in corde meo. Et non nocuerunt mihi memores mea. Tenetur eam dimittere unum in contractus." (Let this dagger sit in my heart. Let it hurt as I remember my love. Let it release the one bound to this contract.) Izuku repeated at least thrice before suddenly impaling the dagger straight to her heart. Katsuki, alarmed at the actions of his mistress, cared not if she was naked or if she discovers him but he immediately ran towards her; yelling curses and insults at the reckless move of the witch.

He jumped down at the waist-high lake and scrambled towards the witch, still bent over and clutching her chest, before grabbing her by the shoulder and she fell limply on his arms while muttering a soft "et oblinito in memoriam ejus dilectione mea." (Let it seal the memories of my love.)

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING DEKU?!" Katsuki cried angrily before Izuku's hands released the dagger and it vanished. Even the wound the dagger created was gone. It was just like it didn't even happen at all. There was no trace of the impaling material. "What the fuck?"

"Mm." Moaning, Izuku stirred up as if she was asleep and looked towards Katsuki's worried, alert and very alarmed ruby orbs. "Oh, it's Kacchan. Good mor—" she tried to greet before noticing the unfamiliar and high rocky ceiling, the soft movement and sound of the rippling water, and the feel of Katsuki's skin on her skin.

The cave reverberated with Izuku's high-pitched scream as she pushed the man, who held her in his arms, away and fell in the water. Katsuki, unsure of what just happened, momentarily panicked before Izuku's head popped out of the water as her arms tried to cover what they could cover.

"Wh-Why is Kacchan here? Wh-Why am I here? W-W-Wh-Why am I n-n-n-naked?" She stuttered as she sported a very deep shade of red blush.

"I should be asking you that! What were you doing stabbing yourself like that?! Where's the dagger? Why are you not hurt? What the fuck happened?!" Katsuki asked questions after questions looking more distraught than ever. Well, if you witnessed someone impaling theirselves you'd be traumatised as well.

"I... I did what? Why would I stab myself? I came here for a bath... right?" She whispered in a very unsure voice before letting her eyes roam around the cave and found nothing out of the sorts that told her anything other than taking a simple bath.

"What the fuck?! I thought you'd be taking a bath at first as well! But then you had to go and start whispering weird incantations!"

"What are you talking about, Kacchan?"

"Is this about him again?! That fucking bastard?!" Katsuki cried, unable to accept that the half-breed could deal this much effect on her— that he could turn her into a mess like this. He refuses to accept that Shouto held a much larger share of her heart.

"Who are you talking about, Kacchan?" Izuku, looking lost more than ever, slowly walked towards the side to grab her robe and cover herself up.

"That fucking half-breed, Todoroki Shouto!" Katsuki burst.

Reaching his limit, he didn't care if he causes her more heartache by reminding her of that bastard. He wanted her to give up on him even though he knew very well that she wouldn't be able to because he also knew that even if his' and Shouto's roles were reversed, she also wouldn't give up on him. She was just like that.

He turned his head away in an attempt to protect himself— from the sight of a heartbroken Izuku still yearning, hoping and wishing for the other to come home and be with them again.

"Kacchan.." She spoke carefully and Katsuki dreaded to hear the sadness in her voice whenever she speaks about him. "... who is that?"