A/N: So...this took a while. So sorry about that, and I've got an announcement as to why. But, I should be able to upload 3 chapters this week, even if it will take a lot out of me. I know this keeps happening, but at this point, I've just accepted that life is just way too unpredictable. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
"Strip club?" Mirio asked, leaving the two of them to ponder on his suggestion. The two boys looked on in shock and confusion, racking their brains for either a good response, or a reason as to why Mirio would ask that.
"Sure thing, you'll be paying though" A voice erupted from the staircase, as a much more composed Eri walked down the steps, grinning.
"Why would I take the person who punched me in the balls to a strip club? Oh and there's also the fact that you're 14 and I don't particularly want to go to jail?" Mirio replied, slightly taken aback by her retort, but he wasn't going to back down now, since this was the sarcasm skirmish, and neither was going to give in.
"I'm 14 physically, but i'm 26 mentally. And you'll take me because Katsuki's already got access to a private showing whenever he wants, and Izuku's so awkward he'll make the strippers want to put their clothes back on" Eri confidently responded, walking next to her real and pseudo brother, who at this point were just along for the ride.
"And why do you want to see a bunch of hot, dumb, and probably broke women take off their clothes? Taking notes for an interview?" Mirio cheekily stated, before Izuku walked up to him, and sternly put a hand on Mirio's shoulder. Even if the blonde third year was taller and more muscular than Izuku was, he was still scared shitless, as a thick blanket of fear fell across the room, as Katsuki's smile turned into a fearful stare, Eri's subdued laughter replaced with an open jaw, hearing Izuku utter the most sinister and devastating threat she had heard.
"Are you looking for a death wish, or did your alcoholism finally make you suicidal?"
Mirio smiled through the fear, as he had rarely seen Izuku this infuriated, but he couldn't help but notice that this was different. His eye for detail told him that this wasn't a wave of pure, unadulterated anger, but rather that it was temporary... put on even. As he pondered his hypothesis, Izuku's facial expression changed, and he spoke once more, if you could call it that.
"PFFFFFFFFFFFFTTT- THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE!" Izuku bellowed, howling in laughter as the trio let out a collective sigh of relief, before Eri walked up to her laughing mess of a brother.
"Izuku what the hell was that?! How did you- I was-" Eri asked, in disbelief at her brother's acting skills.
Izuku, after laughing for a solid minute, eventually responded, "I was pissed off for real, but only for a second, but I thought it would be funnier to see what you all would do if I pretended to be serious."
"See? He's a devil" Katsuki replied, regaining his composure.
"Anyways, I was just kidding about going to a strip club. I just thought we could watch a movie or something, it's not like we can go anywhere with our broke asses" Mirio said, sitting down on the sofa.
"Well how about you three pick a movie, and i'll make some popcorn?" Izuku suggested, walking over to the kitchen.
"Sure thing, and let's pick something scary. Then Camie's gonna have to deal with a scarred Katsuki" Eri mischievously said, grinning at him.
"I'm not a pussy Eri, I can handle scary films" Katsuku replied, although with less confidence than normal.
"Gonna have to side with Eri here Kaachan, you may act tough, but scary films aren't exactly your strong suit" Izuku interjected, heating a pot with a bit of clarified butter in it.
"Oh shut up Deku! I'm just jumpy, that's all!" Katsuki yelled back, grabbing the remote and flicking through the TV to find something good to watch.
"Why? Are you on edge all the time?" Eri replied, asking him genuinely
"Eri! Don't ask about his time with Camie like that, none of us need to know" Mirio said in an over-the-top voice, only for Katsuki to go bright red out of embarrassment.
"And that Mirio is why you're single" Izuku said apathetically, waiting for the popcorn to pop.
"Uh no, I'm single because of my crippling stress and alcoholism, which is how I cope" Mirio replied, mostly joking.
"Mirio, you okay?" Izuku said, walking behind the trio on the sofa and putting a hand atop his shoulder, being serious for once.
"I'm fine Izuku, seriously, it's just that this is my last year, but I'm good." Mirio replied, with an unwavering smile on his face, as Izuku sat down next to Eri on a separate chair he bought from the dining table and saw that Kaachan had picked a comedic- documentary series hosted by Keigo Takami, stage name "Hawks", due to his scholarly work with birdlife.
"Oh this should be good, Takami's a funny guy, sorry, 'Hawks' is a funny guy" Izuku said, chuckling a bit.
"Shut up nerd, it's starting" Katsuki replied, fanboying hard over the young comedian.
"Yeah yeah, anyways the popcorn's done" Izuku replied, standing up to get the popcorn, as a single question entered his mind:
"I wonder what Ochako and the others are doing?" Izuku asked in his head, as his mind wandered...
Meanwhile, the girls were still in the car, sitting straight so that they didn't ruin their dresses.
"So what are we going to do?" Ochako asked, with everyone on their phones for the first part of the journey, and wanting to have some conversation.
"Well I was thinking we would go and have some fun at a private karaoke place, and if we're still hungry we can go to a Matsuya that's nearby." Nejire replied, focusing on the road whilst she drove.
(A/N: If anyone has any song suggestions for the next chapter, then I'll put the lyrics in, as long as it isn't gonna get me banned from Wattpad.)
"That sounds nice, we won't be seen by a bunch of creepy guys at the karaoke at least" Ochako said, sighing a bit.
"So that's where your mind goes, interesting" Camie said with a grin, turning her neck to the left, since Ochako was in the left seat at the back, with Himiko in front of her.
"So Ochako, does this mean you're not looking for anyone?" Himiko asked, not caring at all if it was a personal topic, and not having any tact when asking about it.
Ochako was rendered a blushing mess because of this, her conflicting feelings for Izuku invading her mind, as she looked down, "That's right, I did just move here after all" Ochako said, her smile fading slightly, as Camie cringed slightly from Himiko's invasiveness, as Nejire tried not to sigh and ruin the mood any further, but she didn't need to worry, since Himiko was already on it.
"Oh that's good, I thought you had a crush on Izu or something!" Himiko replied, laughing a bit, as Ochako looked up at the back of her head, able to see a reflection of her face from the front mirror that she pulled down.
"Why is that good?" Ochako asked, a bit suspicious, trying to hide her jealousy, as the mood shifted, the tension in the car made it feel a lot smaller than it was, as Camie and Nejire's eyes widened, able to perceive the danger of this conversation, but neither of them could think of something to say.
"Well I kind of like Izu, he's just so cute y'know?! Plus he's gonna be a therapist and be helping people, so that's really cool! So if you liked him then it would be weird when we started to go out" Himiko said with pure confidence, as Nejire gripped the steering wheel as tight as possible, trying not to slap the stupidity out of her cousin, and she wondered if she was drunk with the way she was talking.
"And does he know that you like him and want to go out with him?" Ochako asked, her eyebrow twitching slightly, her fists clenched and voice laced with anger and slight hatred, still looking into her snake-like eyes from the mirror, although her subtle showing of aggression went completely over Himiko's head, which only served to piss her off even more.
"Nah, but I'm gonna make sure he's mine anyways. Besides, if I work at it, I can get what I want, right?" Himikoreplied rhetorically, taking the concept of hard work to an absurd degree, as Camie was dumbfounded at her stupidity and surprised at her outlook.
"Wh- That's not how it works?! You can't just constantly work to force people to like you that way, it's based on the connection the two of you have!" Ochako replied, her tone sharp, a mismatch with her usually calm and bubbly demeanour.
"Huh? So flirting and getting to know someone isn't hard work? And don't those things lead to you getting a partner?" Himiko asked, tilting her head, with the innocence of a child, almost asking herself rather than Ochako, that nonchalant dismissal of her outlook something that would rub people the wrong way, and Ochako was now realising why she seemed to be hated by everyone around her, and she too wanted to cave her skull in.
"Yes it helps, but if someone doesn't like you then they don't like you. You can't change that!" Ochako responded, as Nejire saw where this was going, and decided to speak up.
"Ochako, Himiko, why don't you calm down. Besides, this is all hypothetical, right?" Nejire uttered, her words calming, but her expression was oppressive, making Ochako check herself, and her emotions.
"She's right, you just got here and you don't know if you like him or not! Besides, Himiko's just kidding, someone like her isn't going to seriously know about that, just calm down, and don't think about it" Ochako thought to herself, whilst simultaneously taking deep breaths.
"I'm calm though Nejire! I mean if I have Izu or not, it's fine, I'm okay either way, I just think he's a cutie~" Himiko said, with a slightly mischievous smile, and despite her complete 180 on her feelings, everyone could tell that she was telling the truth, guessing that was just how she was.
"Anyways, we're pulling up to the karaoke place now, so get ready to step out" Nejire announced, as she turned into the parking area and found a good place to park, as Ochako calmed herself down, and smiled once again, putting that whole situation behind her, besides, it was too soon to think about something like that, right?
After Nejire turned the car off, the four of them stepped out, the sky going dark as their beauty radiated from them, with a few teenagers looking over at them, with one awkwardly looking away, before getting a message from a classmate.
Eri: "What's up?"
Kota: "Nothing, I was at karaoke with some of my friends, and now they're being idiots and looking at these girls
Eri: "For fucks sake- I swear, most guys our age are just horny idiots"
Kota: "Is that a backhanded complaint?"
Eri: "I said most, dumbass. And you better not be looking at them!"
Kota: "I'm not! How can I message you and look at those 4 at the same time"
Eri: "So you know there's 4 of them...so much for not looking at them."
Kota: "Shut up- Anyways, wyd?"
Eri: "Chilling and watching a film. Also, asking for a friend here, are the girls pretty?"
Kota: "Who's the horny idiot now?"
Eri: "I'm not an idiot, that's you"
Kota: "But you are horny?"
Eri: "Wouldn't you like to know~"
Kota: "I-. No. No, I wouldn't. Also, I'm leaving the place, so I can't tell you what they look like. Have fun watching your film...hopefully, it's not an adult film"
Eri: "What the fuck- It's not an adult film asshole. Hell it's not even a film, it's a comedy show, Idk why I typed that lmao"
Kota: "Porn isn't supposed to be funny Eri"
Eri: "How would you know?"
Kota: "wOuLdN't YoU lIkE tO kNoW?"
Eri: "Shut up and go home asshole, it's late. Good night, and I'll ttyl"
Kota: "Whatever, goodnight"
As Eri put her phone down she could feel her face go a slight bit red, and her heart was a bit faster than normal, as Izuku noticed these changes.
"Who were you talking to, Eri?" Izuku asked, having seen the icon on her phone for a second, and with Eri's face, he already knew.
Eri looked at him and gulped, before a pin dropped in her head, realising that Nejire had mentioned something about going to karaoke, and the fact that the times matched up, meant that they may have seen each other. This realisation made her once nervous face turn into a grin.
"No one important, but I do have an interesting idea..." she said, laughing to herself, with the three boys looking at her, waiting for her next words...
A/N: And i'm back! And with another double upload, hopefully, but I do want to catch up, so I will be uploading another chapter either later today, or god forbid doing them both tomorrow, but we'll see! Anyways, I hope you all liked this chapter, since I tried to get the plot and the rom-com aspects moving along now, and I hope it's written well!
But until next time, have a nice day!