Yo, so it's been a while since I've updated. I moved a few days ago, which was...hectic. But hey, have a chapter.

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Ch. 4

It was the director's idea. Technically speaking, though, it was Mina's idea first. When all the young actors got together for rehearsals the atmosphere was...tense to say the least. The newer actors were nervous around the bigger names, and the more experienced actors weren't really in the business of personally initiating conversation with fifteen other teenagers. Watching them go through the scenes, Nagasaki was struggling to get the chemistry he was looking for between the characters. After the first day, he had hoped it was just because it was the start of a new project. However, when the energy didn't pick up over the next few days he began to worry. He had been walking by a small gathering of teens during a break when he heard Mina tell Denki and Eijiro how much fun she thought it would be if they all had a big party together to get to know each other more. It sounded a bit juvenile, but Nagasaki was convinced the teenagers just needed to get more comfortable around each other to be able to work easily. So, he decided that they would all get together for a party that weekend.

Mina had offered up her house, since they had lots of space and a pool out back. She had spent the whole morning puttering about the house preparing everything. Her parents had a wedding to go to that day, so they had placed a pizza order and cleared out after practically getting Mina's promise in writing that it would only be the actors of class 1A and no damage would be done to the house. The teenagers started to filter in at around 1 pm with arms full of drinks and snacks. Mina watched giddily as her living room filled up with friendly new faces. She had acted a bit in the past, but she hadn't done anything of any note. Being cast in something as big as My Hero Academia was a dream come true, and she had to pinch herself every time she was called in to remind herself that this was all really happening. She ran her hands through her bubblegum pink hair. She had never thought to dye her hair that sort of color, but she had fallen in love with the idea as soon as the stylist had told her what was planned for her. She didn't even mind the weird contacts or spending hours being painted pink. She bounced off to talk to Eijiro, who had just walked in with Katsuki.

A while later, Ochako was sitting on the edge of the pool, dangling her legs in the water and watching a few of the boys playing volleyball. Tenya saw her sitting alone at the other end of the pool and swam over to where she was. He crossed his arms on the pool's edge, anchoring him in place.

"Enjoying the view?" Tenya asked.

Ochako jumped a bit in surprise before looking down at Tenya and replying. "Maybe I am," She said, smiling.

"Did you want to play?" Tenya asked as he hoisted himself up to sit next to Ochako.

"Maybe. Probably a little later I guess. Are you going to play?"

"Why? Were you hoping to watch me too?" A cheeky grin crossed Tenya's face and Ochako felt a blush start creep across her cheeks. She was sure he was flirting with her. She quickly weighed her options and decided she'd have the most fun flirting right back.

"Well, I have to admit, it would be a nice sight," She said, putting on her most alluring eyes.

"Careful, Ochako, flirting with costars can be dangerous territory."

"You're one to talk, seeing as you started it."

"That's true, but I've also got a bit more experience than you do."

"You do have a bit of a reputation."

"Ah, so you've heard some of that."

"Is it untrue?"

"Well, no, not exactly. I've...gotten around. But the magazines paint it in such a negative light. Being in the spotlight at all draws so much attention to things we all do that average people do all the time. Take you and Katsuki, for example."

Ochako felt her attraction drop away immediately. She and Katsuki had dated for quite some time but had broken up a few months ago for personal reasons. While the two were dating, all they were ever asked about at interviews was the relationship. Even after the breakup people still talked about the two of them. The reason for the break up hadn't been made public and the two teenagers were still on very good terms, so plenty of media was buzzing with speculations. Many people painted one or the other in an extremely unflattering light, and some people even insisted that the two were still dating in secret. All in all, Ochako was sick and tired of her relationship with Katuski being thrown into her face.

"What about me and Katsuki?" She spat, glaring at Tenya.

The boy immediately sensed the change in atmosphere. "I just mean that you two-"

"You don't know anything about us."

"No, I didn't mean that-"

"You know what? Forget it." Ochako stood and stormed off towards the house to join the group of kids in the kitchen. Tenya felt bad for upsetting her but thought it best not to go after her.

Later that night, after the sun had set, the twenty teenagers sat huddled around a fire pit in Mina's backyard. Some held marshmallow sticks over the flames, others just huddled in the warmth. Some sat in chairs, others on the ground, all close together. Mina sat crossed legged in one of the lawn chairs, lazily running her fingers through Eijiro's hair as he sat on the ground in front of her.

"I'm really glad everyone came out," She hummed happily.

"Thanks for inviting us," Denki said.

"Yeah, thanks, Mina, this was a lot of fun," Tsuyu added.

"I don't know why Nagasaki seemed to think it was necessary," Shoto said, "but I'm glad we did this."

The group fell into a silence tinged with a bit of awkwardness.

"Okay, can I say something?" Izuku said, finally breaking the silence, "Everyone seems really nice, and I know no one is purposefully pushing people away or anything, and I can't speak for everyone, but as an up and coming actor, working with so many well known or popular actors is incredibly intimidating."

"I'm so glad you said something!" Hanta piped up from where he sat, "I didn't want to mention it because I know no one's doing it on purpose. Like you all seem really nice, it's just hard I guess."

"It just feels weird approaching you all," Minoru added, nodding.

"Hold on," Katsuki piped up from his spot on the ground, "You keep saying 'you all' and 'everyone' like you all know exactly who you're talking about like it's a generally understood thing."

"Yeah," Shoto added, "Could you maybe share with the class who you're talking about?"

"Well, you know," Eijiro started, "The bigger names here. People like Tenya, or Mezo, or Shoto."

"Yeah, or Yuga, Fumikage, Momo," Rikido added.

"Even Denki and Ochako," Kyoka said.

"And Katsuki," Eijiro said, looking over to the boy next to him.

Those who had been named looked a bit surprised. They knew they were more well known actors than some of the others, but they didn't think they had been cold to them in any sort of way."

"It's not that we think you're being mean," Mina said, seeing the shock in some of their faces, "It's just intimidating is all. We know you're not doing it on purpose or anything."

"Were we doing anything in particular that made you feel this way?" Momo asked.

"Not really," Minoru said.

"It's just all the fresh new nervousness of working on a new project, especially something as big as this, combined with knowing that so many of you are really popular and most people have no idea who any of the rest of us are," Tsuyu added.

"I didn't know you felt that way," Katsuki said. IT was addressed to the general group, but he found himself looking mainly at Eijiro.

"Well it's better now, I think," Izuku said, "At least a bit."

"And it feels comforting to know you all know we feel this way, I guess," Mina added.

"I'm glad you all said something," Fumikage said.

"Please don't feel like we're better than you or anything," Momo said, looking incredibly concerned, "I feel pretty confident speaking for the others in saying that we certainly don't see it that way."

"Yeah," Added Shoto, "We're all in this show together. Regardless of what we've done already- or haven't done, I guess- we still all ended up here the same way."

"Please don't feel weird about talking to us or anything," Ochako said.

"Yeah," Added Denki, "I don't know about the others, but I'm super down to be friends with like everyone here, you all seem super cool."

"That's really great to hear," Izuku said. The others nodded in agreement and the group fell beck into lighthearted chatter as the fire crackled on in front of them.