Hey guys! I'm so sorry this chapter took so long to get out. My daughter decided she didn't want to be induced and thought it would be fun to break my water almost a week and a half before her due date. The ironic part of that is that she still came out the day she was supposed to be induced. Anyway! So, here's the rest of the festival chapter. Trigger warnings include: horror, and some sexual content at the end. Song selection: Come Back Home by Sofia Carson. Enjoy, and keep some tissues on hand.

"Come on, Katsu!" Leinei yells, her hands around her mouth as Katsuki attempts the same obstacle course Eijirou had been running through. Some of their classmates have gathered around, cheering for him too as he attempts to beat the record for fastest time, held by none other than All Might. Even Shindo was cheering for him, pumping his fist into the air as he reached the end just a few seconds after the time.

"Aw, better luck next time," the person running the attraction chuckles. "Alright, who's next?"

"That was bullshit," he hisses under his breath as he wipes some of the sweat from his forehead. Leinei offers him a reassuring smile as she pats his arm. "A few fucking seconds. Just a few fucking seconds faster and I would've beaten it."

"Maybe next year," she offers, trying to cheer him up. "But you were amazing! You had the fastest time so far!"

"Hell yeah," Shindo adds, offering a high five to him. Katsuki is quiet for a minute, before slapping his hand against his with a small smirk.

"Yeah, I was pretty great huh?" he boasts, wrapping an arm around Leinei and kissing the side of her head. "Okay, we did something I wanted to do. Who's turn is it?"

"Mine," Shindo says excitedly. "Your friends told me about the haunted house attraction put on by Class C. The pink one-"

"Mina."

"Yeah, Mina, she said it was actually terrifying. You guys up for a game of chicken?"

"Hell yeah," Katsuki scoffs, looking at Leinei. "You up for it?"

"Um.." Her stomach twists a bit, but she smiles, trying to match their enthusiasm. "Yeah. Yeah, that sounds fun. Let's go."

The boys whoop and they start off towards the same haunted house attraction that their friends had gone through earlier. She couldn't quell the nervous anxiety in her stomach, hearing the screams from inside as they stood in line for it. She flinched with each one, but smiled each time they asked if she was okay.

I'm fine. It's just a stupid haunted house. We know some of the kids from Class C. Shinso's in Class C. It's just a haunted house.

She continues to repeat it in her head as the line trickles into the attraction. She didn't even realize how tightly she's holding Katsuki's hand, who flinches but doesn't say anything. Her eyes were starting to hurt again, seeing a yellow tinged black haze floating around some of the students laughing as they left. She blinks and rubs her eyes with her free hand as they walk into the building.

"First one to scream uncle buys the next round of snacks," Shindo says, grinning as they walk down a hall dimmed to a dark purple, alternating strobe lights coupled with surrounding whispers from overhead and underfoot speakers setting an already eerie setting. As they walk past a panel in the wall, it slowly opens, a candelabra, a small grandfather clock, and a teapot floating out of it.

Katsuki looks over his shoulder, brow furrowed. The objects just float there for a moment as he stares at them. He presses his lips into a thin line, before slowly looking forward again. They make it further down the hall before the lights blink off. Shindo lets out a nervous laugh as the whispers increase in volume, the light coming back on. A girl with matted black hair is standing there, makeup on her face made to look like she's bleeding from her eyes and mouth, wearing black out contacts on her eyes. Before any of them could react, the lights flash off again, only to come back on a second later. She was gone.

"Okay, this is definitely more than a little unsettling," Shindo mumbles under his breath, letting out a slightly broken chuckle. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you guys have a villain course."

"Yeah, they've always been really good at this," Leinei adds in a strained voice. She was starting to feel sick as they kept walking down the hallway, the ambient purple light fading to a dark blue as they entered a massive room. The whispers have stopped, leaving an unsettling silence around them. Katsuki flinches as Leinei's nails dig into his hand, looking over at her.

"This doesn't seem so bad-"

The trio nearly jumps out of their skin as the door slams closed behind them, the light dimming even more until it's just almost pitch black. The barest of touches brush against them, goosebumps raising on their skin as girlish giggles echo around them, seemingly in their ears while also distant. A torrent of wind shoves them into the center of the room after, Shindo almost tripping over something on the floor. With a small fwoosh, blue flames form on the wicks of candles surrounding them in a circle, showing what seems to be a cultish symbol drawn in red paint that they were standing on.

Ritualistic chanting starts around them, the sounds of something metallic dragging the floor accompanying. They could see the bounce of sparks from it, watching them skitter across the floor before dying away. Leinei's chest feels tight as Shindo laughs awkwardly, glancing at Katsuki who seems pale faced even in the darker lighting.

"I-I can't do this," Leinei whispers, breaking away from the group and hurrying across the room. The boys call after her, their footsteps echoing in the room as she goes through the next door. This hall seems normal, a bright exit sign at the end over a door. She picks her pace up a little bit, before there's a rustling above and a flash of messy purple hair as a body dangles from the ceiling.

"Bo-oh son of a bitch!"

The body falls to the ground, holding their nose as Leinei stands there with her fist outstretched for a few seconds before pulling it back to her chest. She's struggling a bit to breathe, as the body groans. It takes her a moment to realize who it was, then guilt floods her as Shindo and Katsuki catch up to her.

"I am so sorry, Shinso, oh my god, I didn't mean to," she says, kneeling down as he takes his hand away from his swollen and bruising nose. Katsuki is trying not to laugh, but Shindo looks as horrified as Leinei feels. "I really didn't recognize you, holy crap, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he says, tilting his head back as he pinches the bridge of his nose. "Honestly not the first time I've been hit today. Kaminari got me pretty good in the gut when he came through earlier."

"That would be why he looks like he kicked someone's puppy," Katsuki remarks as Leinei helps her friend and training partner stand up. Shindo lets out a low whistle seeing the detail in Shinso's zombie makeup, and how the now slightly crooked nose looks natural with it.

"Do you need to go see Recovery Girl?" Leinei asks.

"Nah. I'm fine. I'll probably go after the festival is over to make sure it's not too messed up. I forgot how hard you hit, Salinsa."

"Well, you got most of your moves from me to begin with," she laughs nervously as Katsuki beams proudly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Positive. You guys should head out before my classmates get mad you skipped through the ritual room."

They say their goodbyes as Shinso pulls himself back into his cubbyhole to wait for the next person coming through. Leinei takes a breath as soon as they're out of the horror attraction, her shoulders slumping as she covers her face with her hand. A soft groan leaves her throat as the boys look at her.

"I chickened out first. I owe you both food now." She lets her hand fall and smiles at them, the expression strained. "Let's go before they close the stands down."

The rest of the festival was spent alternating between the various attractions and the food stands, everyone full of laughs and smiles despite the fiasco at the haunted house. They even got pictures taken with some of the cardboard cutouts of various heroes. Mina had caught Shindo and his friends before they'd left, and talked them into taking one big picture together, asking a passerby to get the picture for them.

"Don't worry, I'll get everyone a copy," she says proudly, looking at it after as Leinei smiles. "Always good to have some kinda memory to remember today by!"

The festival came to a close, Shindo and his friends bidding the group goodbye before heading out to their bus to head back to Ketsubutsu. Leinei stretches her arms above her head as their own group walks back to the dorms, yawning and leaning to either side as she smiles wide. Denki was carrying about six different plushies, each a different hero that had been attending that day. Ejirou was thoroughly exhausted after challenging the obstacle course over and over again, never having gotten any closer to beating All Might's record. Hanta had broken off at some point when Kendall called to ask how the concert went, most likely already at the dorms. Mina was on her phone deciding what frames to put their newest group photo in.

"Today was honestly a lot of fun," Denki pipes up as they start up the stairs to the dorms. Everyone nods in agreement, each exhausted. "It sucks it had to end too."

"All good things must," Leinei murmurs, shrugging as Katsuki opens the door for them. "It's how we learn to appreciate them. Because we really don't know what we have until it's gone."

"Yeah, but it's not like we won't all make more memories together too," Mina adds, looking up from her phone with a smile. "We still got two more years of this and all sorts of more memories to make!"

"That's right!" Eijirou hooks his arms around Leinei and Katsuki's necks, pulling them in for a hug as he beams. "And as soon as Bakubro gets his provisional, we'll all be in the field together, and show everyone just how manly we are!"

"Hell yeah," Denki adds, nodding his head. "And we can all start an agency together! And hang out and work at the same time! Like all of us together, we'll be unstoppable and one of the best!"

"I love that!" Mina squeals, bouncing on her heels as they all sit around one of the coffee tables. Leinei grips Katsuki's hand, her shoulders slumping as she hears her friends talk more and more about their plans for the future, for their agency. A pit formed in her stomach, and she wanted to cry again. All of her friends were so happy, so excited for a future that wouldn't be for her.

Why? Why can't I be happy with them…? Why can't I be normal for five minutes without remembering I'm not?

She wants to say something, to apologize and dismiss herself before she bursts into tears and ruins everyone's happy mood. She goes to open her mouth, only to have Katsuki's hand cover it. He tells their friends they're going up to his room, before standing and pulling Leinei to her feet. Mina yells something about wearing protection as he pulls her away from the merrimakers, the two of them climbing the stairs in silence until they get to his room. She was relieved for the quiet, despite the overwhelming feeling of dread bearing down on her as the pit in her stomach grew to the size of a sinkhole.

"You looked like your battery was drained," he tells her as he closes the door to his room behind them. She shrugs as she sits on his bed, feeling uncomfortable despite having spent too many nights in here for that to make sense. To her, it felt like there was an ocean between them, too far to touch him despite just being steps away.

"It's just been a long day," she says instead, leaning back on her hands as he walks over to her and leans on the bed with his hands on either side of her thighs, pushing the edge of the mattress down. It was a position they'd been in a thousand times before, that this time seemed more intimate.

"I know," he murmurs, his crimson eyes soft as he rests his forehead against hers. Her heart skips as he runs the tip of his nose along hers, trailing it before pressing his lips to hers. She melts, her eyes closing as she reaches one hand up to cup his cheek, brushing her thumb over his cheekbone as he pulls away slightly. "I love you, Leinei."

"I love you too, Katsuki," she whispers, the words feeling heavy leaving her lips as he smiles gently and kisses her again. He wraps one of his arms around her waist, cupping the other on the back of her head as he holds her against him. Her chest felt tight, feeling the overwhelming amount of affection and love he held for her. It was almost enough to send her into a sobbing mess, wanting to tell him, wanting to let him know what was going to happen.

That I'll be gone.

Instead, she holds him closer, wrapping her arms around his shoulder and neck, tangling her fingers in his hair as they continue to kiss. Slowly, articles of clothing start coming off, discarded to the floor. Gentle touches graced each other's skin, lingering and seemingly engraving themselves into each other. Whispered promises of love and forever were traded back and forth, the connection forged despite the circumstances.

Neither knew how much time they'd spent so close together, just that it was late by the time they'd both finished and decided to lay in each other's arms. Leinei ached, but she didn't mind, feeling at peace for once as she laid against his chest, drawing circles over his heart. Katsuki's fingertips brushed up and down against her spine, his eyes closed as he smiled gently.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asks after a few seconds of silence, prompting her to look up at him and stifle a small giggle. "I just know it's supposed to hurt the first time or something-"

"I'm fine," she promises him, pushing herself up on one hand and cupping his cheek with the other. He turns his head into her palm, pressing a gentle lingering kiss to her skin. "I love you."

"I love you too, Short Stack," he tells her, pulling her back down so he could rest his chin on top of her head and hug her close. She wrapped her arms around him best she could, sliding one of her naked legs between his. It felt so right, it all did. Being there with him, being with him, loving him, that's what felt right.

He's my home…

"Hey, Katsu..?"

"Hmm?" he hums sleepily, angling his head to look down at her as he brushes some of her hair from her face. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

"No," she says softly, looking up at him with a gentle smile. She traced each plane of his face with her fingertips again, having propped herself up on her elbow to do so. "I just…I just wanted you to know that no matter what happens, I love you. And that you're my home."

"Yeah..?" he smiles, leaning his head forward to kiss her forehead and letting his lips linger. "I love you too. No matter what."

No matter what…

I know I'll come home.