Pony throws a party.

I'd say use your imagination, but I'm doing that for you. FYI, they're gonna be making some dirty jokes, people teaching Pony to swear in Japanese, and having mature conversations in the same chapter, so be aware of tonal shifts and the presence of sensitive topics and material.

As always, I do not own Boku no Hero Academia, nor any of the songs mentioned. Neither those from Macross and Robotech, nor that of Fairy Tail.

Enjoy.

"Hey there, Party People!" Pony tried again, giving her reflection her best possible smile.

The fake grin fell away and she kicked at the carpet.

"-ck," she sighed.

She could say the words, and she could do the poses, she could get everything right… except her face. And it wasn't even something she could fix with her face! It wasn't an under-developed smiling muscle like some of the guys had, or something she could fix with makeup. No, it just had to be her eyes.

They were too blue, the irises too big, and their expression… too innocent. No matter how much she did, she couldn't change who she was. Even if her classmates could ignore the fact she was "that American girl" they couldn't help but see her eyes. The eyes that fit with her stuffed animals and happy-go-lucky attitude around people she liked. The eyes that seemed out of place when people got to know her a little deeper.

Should she just call the whole thing off? Say she caught something that morning and was trying to muscle through, but came up short? Maybe she could get on a train, claim she was going to get snacks, and then got lost or delayed by a villain?

No. No, she was stronger than that. She could do this. Pony could make them see her for who she was, who she really was. If she was just herself tonight, and if everyone else let themselves relax, it should… probably turn out okay.

A knock came from the door to her apartment, and Pony jumped in surprise. Had it got that late already? Who would have come so precisely on time?

Checking the clock on the wall, Pony realized she'd been hyping herself up for a little longer than she'd thought. It was indeed already 5:30. Hopefully it wasn't Yanagi. She'd be toast if they had to spend the first part of the night together, barely able to talk.

She jogged to the door, checking through the eyepiece quickly before sighing and opening up.

"D.S.!" Pony cheered, seeing the violet-black shape of the bird Quirk hovering beside her master.

Pulling the spectre into a hug, Pony was glad to see her eyes were golden, meaning she was in a good mood, and by extension: so was Tokoyami.

"Hey Tokoyami! Please come inside!" she offered, waving him in.

Tokoyami was dressed in a basic t-shirt, unzipped jacket, and some sweatpants. Based on the headphones wrapped around his neck and not in the string bag he had slung over his shoulder, he was planning on being part of the decor tonight while Dark Shadow mingled. It bummed her out, but she could understand he wasn't super comfortable with being at a Girls' Night as the only boy.

It made Pony a little self-conscious, wearing a much less casual tank-top and fuzzy pants, but having to deal with horns, a tail, and double-bent, hooved legs: she'd learnt to prioritize comfort in private. Luckily, Tokoyami's eyes seemed to be firmly situated on his folded arms, and hadn't realized how suggestive the two of them looked.

"Thank you for having us," he mumbled, stepping in and allowing her to close the door.

He was being super formal, Pony noticed, taking off his shoes and bowing, the whole shtick.

"Don't be so much formal!" Pony chided playfully, patting his shoulder and gesturing for him to follow her to the living room, "There's nobody here to impress but myself, and I already know you are you."

A half-squak, half-squeak came from his throat; drawing Pony's attention. He seemed to be blushing, looking up at the ceiling as he tried to hide it. Tilting her head in confusion, Pony tried to figure out what she'd said wrong.

"What's up with him, D.S.?"

"I- um… I did not know you had a follower," Tokoyami explained before his Quirk could.

"Follower… oh! You mean tail?" Pony asked, turning sideways and giving it a little flick back and forth.

"Yes. Tail. It… surprised me."

Turning her head to look at it as best she could, Pony frowned in contemplation. She wasn't really sure why it would be surprising. Sure, she wasn't super-obviously a horse, what with her horns, but she thought he'd have at least noticed she had a quadrupedal mutation. Why wouldn't she have a tail?

A moment of tense quiet passed, and Pony realized she was pretty much staring at her own hindquarters without shame, while a boy stood right next to her feeling… well, probably as awkward as she was feeling right now.

"S-sorry!" she apologized, waving her hand a little, "I just did not realize you did not know about it! I thought that everyone in my class- but you're in 1-A, are you not?"

"It's… I'm sorry for drawing attention to it," Tokoyami blushed, apologizing too, "I didn't pay… particular attention to that part of your costume during our internship. My darkness carries not lechery within its depths."

"Fumi's also sorry he didn't compliment you -s," Dark Shadow butted in, "He thinks it's pretty cute; tail and all. 'Course, he's not really much of an-"

"Dark Shadow!"

"Oh… fine," she sighed, shrugging at Pony apologetically, "I guess nevermind then."

They stood in a very red silence for a while, before Pony mustered the courage to gesture to the open living room floor.

"Um… you can set down anywhere you want to like. We won't really be doing much until everyone gets here. Um… do you enjoy video games?"

"Dark Shadow… she is very good at platformers."

The bird not-Stando gave a thumbs up at that.

"I'm the best Luigi of all time!" she agreed.

Pony smiled, sliding over to the television to boot up her Nintendo, offering the controllers to her guests. She kept one for herself, but specifically chose the Player 3 spot.

"Just for your knowledge: I'm gonna thrusting destroy you with Peach," Pony explained with a grin, "She's not fast, but I can glide like nobody's business."

Dark Shadow and Tokoyami seemed a bit stunned at her declaration. She thought it was a pretty standard challenge, unless she'd said a word wrong?

"Tsunotori… I believe I know which Midnight Expression you're attempting to use," Tokoyami said, shivering a little as he selected a new world.

"Did I say it wrong? Dang it. How's the right way? I wanna be able to make people fear my gaming prowess," Pony asked excitedly.

Tokoyami blinked at her for a moment before bowing his head and grinning in that way which seemed pretty scary to people who didn't know how much of a softie he was. To Pony it was kinda cute.

"To gift you with the power of the forbidden words would indeed be a mad banquet of darkness," he nodded, "The word you used was "thrusting" which describes the motion. You seek to use -ing, which is both the action itself and the curse."

"Ooooh! Thanks Toki."

Setting her ultra-happy grin, Pony clenched her fist around her controller and hit select on Peach.

"In that case: I'm gonna -ing destroy you with Peach!" she beamed.

Tokoyami seemed a bit stunned by her revised challenge, but simply swallowed and nodded. They settled down, cross-legged on the carpet, and began their game.

Dark Shadow wasn't lying. She was a top-tier platformer. While Tokoyami was no slouch, he often found himself behind the two girls, hesitating at certain jumps they took with ease. He wasn't nearly as bad at enemies though, usually switching to their point-man against the bigger clusters and mini-bosses.

They were really getting into a rhythm together when another knock came to the door. Pony didn't break her friends' flow, simply hitting the button which would encapsulate Peach in a bubble without interfering with the other two. Tokoyami seemed about to protest and pause himself, but she shushed him and got to her feet.

"Welcome!" Pony said, greeting the two girls in the doorway.

Both held their arms at right angles to their bodies, elbows tight to their sides and hands drooping in front of them. One was, of course, her newest friend: Yanagi, while the other was evidently one of the girls Dark Shadow had invited. They seemed pretty cool though, both standing in the same pose.

"Thanks for having us, Kero," the latter one said, bringing one of her fingers to her lips and smiling, "I'm Asui Tsuyu. Please call me Tsuyu-chan."

"Nice to meeting you. I'm Pony Tsunotori, and if you like: you can call me Pony too!" she greeted back, glad to have someone else who went by their first name.

"May our coming and our going darken your doorway and your night, but not your bright soul," Yanagi said, drawing Pony's attention back to her.

"That sounds like something Toki would understand," she said, smiling anyway and pulling Yanagi inside, "You should speak with him small tonight."

""You should chat with him a little tonight,"" Yanagi corrected quietly, to which Pony gave a big thumbs up in thanks.

Tsuyu-chan greeted Tokoyami as she sat down, forgoing the controller Dark Shadow offered her in favor of watching. Yanagi picked up the fourth and sorted through the characters until taking Toad.

"This corpse will serve as a most-excellent vessel for my will."

"Hey, she's more morbid than you, Fumi!" Dark Shadow noticed, clearly ecstatic.

Pony giggled, glad her two goth-y friends would hopefully get along. She quickly resumed her spot, snatching up her controller and nudging Tokoyami to hit the next level.

"Is this everyone, Kero?" Tsuyu asked.

"I invited all the girls in my class," Pony said, a bit distracted as they began to fight through the water for the first place, "Kendo and- Ha! I got a block now b-es! -oh, um, anyway, Kendo and Tokage said they couldn't make it, but the others said they'd try. Toki can invite anyone from your class, but he said he only talked to a partnered people about it."

Luigi cut across the screen, unleashing fire on the fish as he raced for the edge, bypassing the Peach who had to keep turning around to prevent running her much faster block into enemies.

"I am only friends with Asu- ahem, Tsuyu and Uraraka among the girls," Tokoyami clarified, catching himself on using Tsuyu's last name, "I did not feel my darkness would prevail in corrupting Hagakure, Ashido, Yaoyorozu, or Jiro to take part in this. Uraraka declined, as she and Midoriya were practicing their Judo today and felt she would be too tired."

"So you were scared of how they'd take it and chickened out?" Tsuyu asked.

Pony and Dark Shadow giggled at the silence with which Tokoyami answered her rhetorical question.

"Your class has been taught the art of ancient style, unarmed violence then?" Yanagi asked, plowing into a pipe as she turned to look at the two from 1-A.

"Not in class, kero," Tsuyu offered, "Ochako-chan learned some Gunhead Martial Arts at her internship, and Midoriya used a few basic tosses and takedowns in some exercises. I think he used to know how, kero, like when he was a kid, but he stopped practicing until recently."

"He also does those other moves," Dark Shadow put in, "The punchy-kicky ones he started using after his internship."

Yanagi nodded, evidently satisfied with the answer. The conversation lulled into a few passing challenges and insults, as well as a few questions from Tsuyu as to why they were skipping all the obvious shortcuts and power ups, which promptly would start a mini-race to gather whatever she'd indicated.

Pony was worried no one else would show up, having expected a few more girls to come over and maybe start to be friends with her. Also, she wanted to get a deal on delivery pizza from a shop a bit into town, and she needed at least five stomachs to justify ordering more than two pizzas. Sadly, Dark Shadow didn't eat, so she wasn't counting.

A knock at the door made Pony almost sigh with relief. She tossed her controller to Tsuyu, who took it and began to play without changing her expression, but based on the slight downswing in trash talk: Pony guessed she wasn't particularly good.

"What up Beeches?!" Komori called, waving at the four at the tv around Pony's shoulder as she came in.

"Mm," Kodai greeted, bowing a little to Pony before glancing in at the gathered people and seeming to lower her shoulders infinitesimally.

Pony placed a hand on the latter's shoulder sympathetically.

"She's not here, but we'll have fun anyway," she promised, smiling at the quiet girl.

"Mm," Kodai agreed, a bit half-heartedly Pony thought.

Tokoyami surrendered his place, as did Dark Shadow, leading to a quick game of pass-along while everyone got their new places and characters. Pony decided to watch, figuring they were probably not going to receive anyone else and she should probably get the toppings and whatnot written down. The final roster had Komori as Toad, Tsuyu as Luigi, Yanagi as Peach, and Kodai as Shy Guy. Truly, none of them were playing into any stereotypes.

"Alrighty everyone," Pony said, cursing the quaver in her voice as she pulled over a small notepad and pencil, "I am thinking we will be eating pizza, so I need your decorations and amount of hunger."

Luckily for her nerves, everyone seemed to pick up on what she meant, despite her nerves making her Japanese worse than usual.

"Mushrooms! All you can get, and I can go for a whole one!" Komori said, pulling a wallet out of her bag and showing she was ready to compensate Pony.

"Fumi likes Hawaiian, but he's never really hungry."

"I'll make up the difference if you get one," Tsuyu put in, "I like sweet things, and I can eat more than I'm hungry for without digesting it."

"I will consume whatever is produced. Consider my vote to share with someone of a unique pallet, or else a traditional pepperoni to help subsidize those who wish for more."

"Tomatoes."

Pony drew a trio of circles on her pad, marking the medium ones with "Mushroom Max" and "Tomatoes" on the other. The largest she placed as "Hawaiian" with a little "¼ Mushrooms" in the corner. No one would like her crazy topping trio, but it would be cheaper than getting one for herself.

"Three should be enough for everyone…" Pony mumbled to herself, double-checking the headcount, "but I suppose I could get an extra, just in case."

"Last call for decorations. Going once? Twice?"

No one said anything, and Pony took that as confirmation. She pulled over the magazine with the coupon in it, before scribbling down exactly what she was going to say on the other page of her pad. Phones made her nervous, so reading what she was going to say aloud rather than just talking helped make sure she was clear and didn't confuse anyone.

Dialing up the place, she tried to calm herself and speak clearly.

["Moshi-moshi, Antonio's Pizza."]

"Hello," Pony said, swallowing and tracing the words with a finger, "I would like to order four Pizzas, and use the "Grand Breakaway Deal" coupon."

["Can do. What would you like on those?"]

"The first is a medium cheese and tomato. The second a medium with extra mushrooms," she paused, looking at Komori for a moment before adding, "Probably extra extra mushrooms."

There was a moment of quiet as the guy on the other end muttered something that was probably writing down her order.

["Kay, that's the requirement pair. What's your half-off?"]

"A large Hawaiian, with mushrooms on one of the quarter parts," she said, making sure to read extra clearly.

A gentle knock came to the door, and Tsuyu glanced over to her, pointing first at herself then at the door. Pony gave her a nod, thankful someone could check for her while she talked. She almost missed the next words as it was.

["M'kay. And are you going for the optional quarter-off fourth and eighth-off fifth?"]

"A medium pepperoni for the fourth, yes," she said, coming back to the call.

Pony was about to confirm the order when the last member of the party came in the door. Shiozaki noticed what she was doing and seemed a bit timid. Poor girl hated asking for special treatment, but Pony wasn't about to let her starve because of guilt. She waved her over and pointed to the paper.

"You want anything different?" she whispered, covering the receiver with a hand.

Shiozaki shook her head.

"If you're getting breadsticks, I suppose that would be all. Thank you, Tsunotori-chan," she hissed back, smiling gratefully.

["I've got three mediums: one ultra mushroom, one tomato, one pepperoni, and one large Hawaiian with mushrooms on a fourth,"] the pizza guy clarified, ["That everything?"]

"Um, can I get an order of breadsticks for the fifth?"

["Absolutely… that'll bring the order to 8100 yen."]

"Perfect! Many thanks!"

She quickly gave the proper address, and was given an estimated time in turn, before she hung up. Sighing in relief, Pony plopped down beside her guests, specifically between Tokoyami and Shiozaki.

"Okay, the Pizza is on the way," she announced happily, shooting a look at Komori which led to her fumbling a button and falling off a cliff, "so anybody who brought treats or cash: Pony up."

Her request was met with silence, and she worried she'd offended them when Tokoyami choked out a laugh he was clearly trying to hide behind a cough. Dark Shadow slid over to his bag and removed a net filled with bright, red apples.

"Marry me now…" Pony whispered, drawing a blush from a few of the others she barely registered.

Tsuyu had a few jello cups and plastic spoons, which everyone agreed should go into the fridge and be eaten later. Yanagi brought some bags of chips out of the second bag she'd been hovering along, which were promptly opened and set on one of the low tables Pony brought in. Komori had a big bag of chocolate truffles (because her puns evidently weren't just vocal) along with 1200 yen, of which Pony accepted 800. Kodai had nothing, but Pony assured her it was fine, seeing as she hadn't told anyone to bring anything. Shiozaki was also empty-handed, which seemed to make Kodai feel better.

"Are you sure we can't run to the convenience store and purchase some candy for everyone?" Shiozaki asked, seeming quite worried she was being disrespectful.

"You seem really stressed, kero. Pony-chan, do you have any violent video games we can put in to let Shiozaki unwind?" Tsuyu asked, stunning the religious girl into silence.

"There's a one about exorcism by the Box," Pony pointed to the other gaming system, "The one with the big guns."

As they switched over to making Shiozaki play one of the Doom games, ignoring her protests that she wasn't allowed as they sat her down and placed the controller in her hands, Pony felt herself relax. She'd been worried they'd be a bit stiff and awkward around her, especially with Tokoyami and Tsuyu there. But everything was going pretty smoothly. And not one of them had batted an eye to see she owned such a violent game.

Maybe… maybe they would be able to accept her for her.

Ibara was absolutely not enjoying her run of the hyper-visceral game they'd pushed on her. Normally she would have avoided playing it even a little, but… it was addictingly fun.

I'm going to have to beg for forgiveness tomorrow… she thought sadly, booting another demon off a cliff and wondering if it was because she'd begun to master her more violent side.

"You've… never played a shooter before?" the Quirk, Dark Shadow was its name, asked.

"I don't believe so?" she said, not sure why they found it so odd, "Why?"

"'Cause you're on the toughest difficulty and… kind of kickin' -s?" Dark Shadow supplied, her tone evidently stunned but hard to read due to the echo-y nature it held.

Ibara winced at the curse word, barely restraining herself from asking them to abstain from such language. She couldn't impose her own morals on others. Instead, she tried to focus on decimating the unholy spawn who had dared invade the terrestrial world.

"It is no doubt because her divine power extends to even her simulated prowess," Yanagi decided, "As well, she remains within the tutorial section, and has yet to face a true challenge of skill."

"That will changed when she gets to the Supervisor," Tsunotori agreed, nodding, "He is unstoppable at this level of hardness."

""Behold, we are surrounded by demons, yea, we are encircled about by the angels of him who hath sought to destroy our souls. Behold, our iniquities are great. O Lord, canst thou not turn away thine anger from us?"" Ibara quoted, finishing the last mob and heading up to the evident boss room.

The room fell silent, and the cutscene showed her opponent. He revealed some kind of chain weapon, which bothered her. She would not be chained by something so pitiful as that, and by such a despicable foe. Ibara clicked the switch weapon button, rotating through her gear.

"Shiozaki, don't you want the rockets for this guy? He seems like a champignon of high damage," Komori checked.

As an answer, Ibara stopped on the closest-ranged weapon.

"No, not the Chainsaw!" Dark Shadow wailed dramatically.

"Yes. The Chainsaw," Ibara grinned, before deadpanning the sound effect with her mouth, "Rigigigigigig."

As the much better audio came back in, everyone became as silent as Kodai, staring at her in shock, before shifting their eyes to the screen. She couldn't see the collective jaw-drop as she started eating the measly lifebar of the enemy, but she could feel the air in the room grow even more amazed.

A cutscene came on as she went to melee the last bits of his life away, and Ibara decided to end it with something cool.

""Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you,"" she quoted as he disintegrated.

Turning away, Ibara handed the controller to Tsunotori. Getting to her feet, she stepped over to the table to grab an apple and a single tortilla chip.

"I don't believe it, Kero…"

""That: is why you failed,"" Ibara grinned, sitting back down and snapping off the edge of the chip.

"Please don't ever make me play something like that again, Asui-san," she continued, wiggling a few vines threateningly at the frog girl, "If you do, I'll have to make you believe in me."

"Kero…"

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Ibara backtracked, realizing she'd just made a mistake, "Did you want me to call you Tsuyu-chan as well?"

It took Tsuyu a few moments of swallowing before she spoke up.

"You can call me whatever you like, kero kero. Um… I'll be right back."

Getting up, she asked Tsunotori where the restroom was, then vanished towards it. Ibara felt a little guilty. Had she gone too far? Dark Shadow gave her the thumbs up, either congratulating her or reassuring her, Ibara wasn't sure.

Luckily, when Tsuyu re-emerged, she gave Ibara a smile which seemed friendly enough.

"Sorry about that, I had to apologize to my girlfriend," she explained.

"Oh… um, my bad?" Ibara tried, not entirely sure how those two points connected.

Yanagi died yet again on the screen, which conveniently drew their attention away from the awkward silence. Ibara gave silent thanks to her Heavenly Father for giving the zombie-themed girl such awful gaming skills and saving her from being forced to ask why her threat had made Tsuyu apologize to someone not even there.

"Mm?" Kodai asked, glancing around until she found Tsunotori.

Ibara was rather proud of her classmates. Each of the girls had a unique way of communicating, but as the year had been progressing: each of them had learned how to understand one another. Tsunotori and Kodai seemed to have the most intimate understanding however, using non-verbal cues and significant looks to bypass speaking. The horned girl had difficulty with the more complex Japanese words, while the latter didn't really speak at the best of times; so it all worked out.

"Right!" Tsunotori beamed, giving Kodai a thumbs up and broad smile, "Everyone's here, so that means it is time for us to decide on our schedule!"

Almost without pause, Tokoyami slid back towards the wall, bringing the untouched headphones around his neck to his ears instead. Evidently he was only here as Dark Shadow's ride. A pity. She found him quite engaging, at least so far as they'd interacted before then.

Yanagi shut the game off without hesitation, turning around so they were formed into a sort of rough circle. Everyone shuffled about for a moment, trying to find a comfortable position, before looking to Tsunotori expectantly. Ibara noticed a twinge of anxiety in her eyes as she swallowed and cleared her throat. Kodai seemed to pick up on it as well, nudging her with a shoulder encouragingly.

"We've got all of the hours to do just about anything," Tsunotori informed them, smiling back at Kodai for a moment, "Pizza should be here in an hour or so, but that won't be going to another place. Rules are very much simple: no going into rooms with closed doors, please don't break my things, and have lots of fun. That said, anyone with any suggestions can talk now."

Realizing she might be the wet blanket here, Ibara raised a hand tentatively. Tsunotori blinked at her for a moment before tilting her head in confusion.

"This isn't classroom, Shiozaki… why are you lifting your hand?"

"S-sorry," she mumbled, lowering it and twisting her fingers together in her lap, "I just… was going to ask if we could add another rule? I'd ask that… well, if it wasn't too much of a hassle for everyone… I've been to a few sleep-overs before, and I was wondering if we could, um-"

"If you continue to speak your way in circles, you'll never say anything," Yanagi said, not really with a lot of emotion, but Ibara realized she was wasting time.

"Right! Sorry," Ibara lowered her head apologetically, "What I mean to ask is: can we try to keep things PG-13?"

"Kero, I'm with Shiozaki-chan," Tsuyu approved, raising a hand, "I'm pretty blunt about things, but if she isn't comfortable with stuff, we should be respectful about it."

"Mm," Kodai agreed.

"Totally! We're gonna be Heroes, and that means doing the big things and the little stuff," Dark Shadow said, bouncing in place a little.

"Thanks for speaking up, Shiozaki!" Komori cheered, giving her a pair of thumbs up and sticking her tongue out playfully around her grin, "I'd hate to make you uncomfortable and ruin our friendship, and not even know how I Blewit."

The mutual groan helped ease Ibara's worries. She knew they'd respect her wishes, but she'd expected at least one of them to be begrudging of the rule.

"You are quite fortunate that Tokage is not present," Yanagi informed her, "She is most invested in mature themes, and is poplar enough to sway many votes to her side."

If silence could ring, the sound would be deafening in their little cluster. Even Tokoyami, scrolling through his phone with music presumably going into his covered ears, paused in his motion to glance up before looking back down.

"Did- did you just make a mushroom pun?" Komori asked, her voice shaking with controlled emotion.

Yanagi didn't respond, merely brushing her hair out of her eyes and hovering a chip over to nibble on. Ibara rolled her eyes. She could at least admit to her failures, if not her evident attraction.

"...Anyways," Tsunotori continued, making a cute motion with her hands as if to literally set the odd pun aside for later, "Does anyone else have any rules?"

Everyone shook their heads, except Dark Shadow, who's suggestion of banning puns was summarily shot down by the two who'd made them so far.

"In that case, Shiozaki was the first to suggest a thing, so that means she has to go last for things to do. Tsuyu-chan is first, alphabetically, yes?"

Again, there was a unanimous agreement, along with a nod of Kodai's head praising Tsunotori's ability to correctly identify the arrangement of Japanese letters.

"Well, I've never had a sleep-over before except with one person at a time," she admitted, "We usually watch movies and talk about things bothering us, kero. So I guess I'll just suggest that before someone else takes it."

Tsunotori scribbled something down on her notepad before nodding and glancing around, mouthing something silently as she tapped her pencil in the air.

"Next is… Kodai?"

"Mm."

Kodai held out her hand for the notepad, writing down her suggestion before handing it back. Tsunotori's face turned a bright red.

"She- um… she says: "make everyone confess their crushes."" Tsunotori read off.

"Aw yeah!" Komori pumped her fist in the air, "I like it! For mine: We get to paint Tokoyami's nails all sorts of dapperling colors."

A few of the girls giggled at the idea, including his Quirk, leading to the boy in the corner paling a good deal, though he likely didn't know why.

"As an addendum," Dark Shadow interjected, "Could we paint everyone's nails? I've never got to before, since… I don't have nails."

Yanagi patted the Quirk's back reassuringly, before looking at Kodai and Tsunotori significantly. They both sighed, the former reaching into her bag and pulling out a pair of bottles, while the latter thumbed at the hallway.

"I have colors, but we cannot drip on the ground. It is very hard to soap."

After getting promises from everyone, Tsunotori wrote down the idea, underlining Tokoyami's name with malicious intent.

"Okay then… we're skipping Shiozaki until the end," she winked at Ibara playfully, "so next is… Dark Shadow?"

The Quirk shook its head.

"I've got nothing. In a pinch I can think of something, but if not I'll just go along with your guys' stuff."

"Oh. Okay. If you change your head, just let us know."

That made it Tsunotori's turn. She considered it for a moment before grinning brightly, but with an evil tint to her eyes.

"Truth or Dare's mine! I was worried someone else would kidnap it, but now it's carved- ah: set in stone. Which just leaves Yanagi before Shiozaki gets hers."

The zombie-girl stuck her tongue out at Tsunotori, evidently not done imitating Komori, before taking up a thoughtful expression. Then a light seemed to come into her eyes, and she leaned forward with intentional slowness.

"We must tell one another the terrifying tales of ghosts and spectres which will frighten us enough to stay awake until morning," she said, an eerie light coming up from nowhere and catching her lower face.

Ibara now realized what everyone meant by a "holy light" coming behind her when she quoted scripture. Yanagi had the opposite energy.

""The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence."" she whispered, calling upon said light to help counter the fear she could sense in herself and the others.

"Your Quotes won't save you…" Yanagi hissed with a grin, before the two let their respective auras fade.

"I suppose not," Ibara admitted, lowering her hands from the prayerful position and raising a finger, "But I offer this: my suggestion, as a way to prevent evil from achieving victory. If we must learn dark truths about one another this night, then let the final activity be one of healing. Let us be open to ask one another for help in our fears and our quests."

Oddly enough, the others glanced to Yanagi with confused faces. She hadn't thought she'd been that cryptic in her word choice.

"She's saying we should cuddle and have a mini-therapy session before bed," Kodai spoke up, stunning everyone.

"Oh… um, yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Tsunotori managed, writing it down and marking it with a six, "Any objections to doing nails first? Just so it's out of the way before the food gets here?"

It was unanimous, but Ibara raised her hand once again, her cheeks dusted with pink.

"Um… before we get to that, may I use your restroom?" she managed in a very small voice.

Yui was surprised at how much fun this all was. Sure, Itsuka wasn't there to have fun with them, but Pony was right: they were managing alright. She'd made sure to bother Tokoyami by interrupting his otherwise uniform, orange-cream toenails with a single sky blue addition one off from his right big toe, and that was hilarious. She'd even given a little smile when he'd quite literally squawked in protest.

She wasn't jazzed about the colors she got slapped with, namely a gaudy indigo and ugly green, but if all else failed she could just grow the paint until it fell off. Or wear gloves. It wasn't the strangest thing she'd worn to class, and no one had ever called her out before.

"Tsunotori?" Shiozaki asked, lounging on a nest of her vines while Tsuyu and Dark Shadow tackled her nails with luminescent reds.

Pony grinned and made a small click with her mouth, pointing a finger gun at the vine-haired girl.

"I don't mean to sound impatient, but-"

Shiozaki was cut off by a ring at the doorbell. Her jaw stayed open as she glanced over at the door, before closing it and shaking her head.

"Nevermind, I suppose, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.""

The lady of the house leapt up, sliding over to the door with her wallet in hand. It was indeed the pizza delivery, as when Pony turned around: she was carrying an array of grease-bottomed and delicious-smelling boxes.

"I'll handle those," Yanagi stepped in, telekinetically pulling them free from Pony's arms to float them to the center of the room, "Kodai, if you would?"

"Mm," Yui nodded, picking up one of the paper plates Pony had provided them and enlarging it into a sort of mat.

The Pizzas were deposited safely where they wouldn't stain anything, but no one dug in. While everyone but Shiozaki had already finished their colorations, only Tokoyami was dried enough to risk finger foods again, and he seemed a bit timid still. Yui supposed she could see why. Even with their work to include him, he was still the odd-man-out. Quite literally.

Shuffling over to him, she made sure to establish eye-contact before catching his attention.

"Mm?" she asked, tilting her head towards the pizza and flicking her eyes once down at his hands.

Tokoyami frowned, following her glance and the indication of her face for a moment. She could almost see the wheels turning as he tried to figure out what she was saying.

"I will be sustained by the blackness within the shadows," he finally said, somehow getting it right.

Yui tilted her head sideways, her expression remaining the same but her eyes getting a little skeptical. Tokoyami seemed to recoil indignantly.

"Even supposing I was not able to survive on the unseen alone," he protested, huffing and turning away, "To eat before others would be a rude action. An evil not born of the dark but of decadence."

So common courtesy was evidently part of his list of "do's"? Good to know.

"I suppose it's time to pick the movie then?" Tsuyu asked the room at large, taking a moment to blow on the last of the paint on Shiozaki's pinky.

"We're doing the movie now? Says who?" Komori complained, but kept a jolly tone to ensure no one thought it was an argument-starter.

"I mean, kero, if you want to play truth-or-dare with no hands, I can't stop you from self-sabotage."

The mushroom girl stuck her tongue out at the frogess, who returned the gesture by extending her own out to the point it tickled Komori's nose, making her laugh. Yanagi's eyes flicked away for a moment, but Yui was attuned to such small details. It wasn't love, but… this more confident Komori had caught the zombie-girl's eye. That meant it was time to help her stupid friends.

Sliding over to Pony, she nudged the girl and directed her with her eyes. Komori, Yanagi, the television, and then at the little pairs of people that had formed during the painting. A knowing grin rewarded her, and Yui spared a small smile. Now they just had to convince Tsuyu and one of the lovebirds to go along with it.

"I'll handle Yanagi," Pony whispered, nodding at the argentiette, "You convince Tsuyu-chan, kay?"

Shrugging in acceptance, Yui started to shuffle her way across the carpet, keeping on her shins and not lifting them off the ground. Building up her static a little, she leveled a finger at Tsuyu and tapped her sheek. The mixture of a surprised screech and angry croak was quite unnerving, but it served its purpose.

"Kodai!" Shiozaki gasped, a hand moving to cover her mouth, "Why would you do that to Tsuyu?"

Yui shrugged, before thumbing back at Pony. The girls glanced to where she'd indicated, noticing the way Komori frowned as the horse-girl whispered something privately to Yanagi. They nodded in understanding, before going back to the sham.

"I am most disappointed in your actions, Kodai," Shiozaki continued, a bit wooden in her acting, "Now, you should apologize to Tsuyu."

Shooting her a look of mild disappointment, Yui rolled her eyes and leaned in to whisper to Tsuyu her plan. Shiozaki closed her eyes, nodding a little as she heard as well. She wasn't shooting it down, at least.

As Yui pulled away, Tsuyu gave her a nod.

"I understand, Kero. I forgive you for shocking me."

Yui smiled without changing her bland expression, a feat she'd seen very few others manage, which made the viridettes beside her giggle in amusement.

With that, they waited for Pony to finish her side of the preparations. Yanagi's little titter of amusement at the end of it was all they could have hoped for. Komori's cheeks puckered a little, and she quickly turned to sit beside the television, either for the remote or the disk-player so she could distract herself with the movie selection.

"Okay then!" Pony cheered, sliding beside her, "Any suggestions?"

"The Last Unicorn?" Tsuyu suggested.

"The Princess Bride?" Shiozaki tried, getting a fist-bump from Tsuyu.

"Quirk Awakening II?" Yanagi asked, her tone its usual dull but with a gleam in her eyes.

The last suggestion was met with a few sounds of agreement, much to Pony's evident dismay.

"I-I haven't seen that one," she admitted, twisting her hands in her lap, "I-if we watch it, can I- um… would someone be okay with letting me cuddle them?"

A chorus of ascent filled the room.

"Absolutely! If we are to enjoy this film and food together, we must ensure everyone is doing so," Shiozaki said firmly.

"Are you sure you don't just want to cuddle with a cute girl, Shiozaki?" Dark Shadow joked, poking her cheek, "Aren't the 1-A girls you're crushing on enough?"

The vine-haired girl spluttered a little in indignation, earning a few laughs from the others.

"Honestly? Same," Komori admitted, smiling sheepishly, "I like a good scary movie, but usually I have my stuffed shroom to cuddle when it's really freaking me out."

"Call your partners now," Tsuyu cut in, sliding over to Dark Shadow and wrapping her arms around her.

The Quirk seemed lost for words at being taken first, but she wasn't the only one. Pony paled as she realized what Yui had done, reacting too late as she set herself down beside Shiozaki and firmly planted her head on her shoulder. Yui wasn't one to waste a stone on a single bird, after all, especially when she could turn said stone into a boulder.

Pony now had the choice. Curl up with Tokoyami, her obvious crush, or take Komori and make her new friend Yanagi jealous. The heart-sick girl didn't actually have a choice, now that Yui thought about it.

As she stepped past them, she narrowed her adorable eyes at Yui. She simply stared back, wrapping her arms around Shiozaki's sides possessively and earning a squeak of surprise from the religious girl.

""Do you know the ancient Klingon proverb which tells us: "Revenge is a dish best served cold"?" I control the thermostat here, and I can make it very cold in this space," Pony warned her, plopping down beside Tokoyami and holding out her arms expectantly for him.

Yui hadn't expected to have the pleasure of seeing Tokoyami squirm and be forced to initiate the cuddles. She was pleasantly surprised when he looked away, scooted closer, and let her curl into his arms. Two down…

Everyone turned to look at Komori and Yanagi, both of whom were staring at one another awkwardly. Most people would be wondering around that time if Yui'd pushed their luck too far, but she was just glad they were both able to recognize they'd been set up and neither was going to complain about it.

"Pony," Yui called, drawing everyone's attention instantly.

She didn't need to say anything else, so she didn't. Instead, she jerked her chin towards the K-pop concert still on the TV, then glanced at the odd couple still not doing anything. The American exchange-student gave a nod, her beautiful brain picking up exactly what Yui needed.

While Pony got the film going to sort of kick the un-cuddly two in the tail, Yui turned her attention to her own cushion. Shiozaki was still frozen in surprise, her vines subconsciously forming into a more comfortable seat for them and wrapping around Yui's back nicely. She decided to have a little fun with the religious girl.

Shuffling up a little, she placed her lips near Shiozaki's ear and whispered: "Am I as pretty as your 1-A girls, Ibara?"

To no one's surprise, Shiozaki started resembling a Christmas tree, with a red, round face hanging in the center of a green triangle of vines. What wasn't expected was her similarly soft response, a little menacing with how out of place her quiet threat was.

""And again, I command thee that thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife; nor seek thy neighbor's life.""

Taking the hint, Yui nodded and kept her hands to herself, respectfully nuzzling into Shiozaki's shoulder rather than her collar. Luckily, her efforts were not in vain; as both of the peppy-emo couples were much more intertwined by the time the opening credits were over. Nothing crazy, but their arms were around one another at least. Dark Shadow shot her a thumbs up, which she nodded back.

Of course, her luck didn't hold out. The moment actual scary things started happening on screen, Yui's face was buried in Shiozaki's hair. She really didn't like gore, or jump-scares, and instinctively punched things that threatened to produce them.

It's for the morons. Just think about the cute couples and it'll all be over soon, she silently reminded herself over and over.

Shiozaki brought her arms around Yui, pulling her closer and more secure. Glancing up, she met the compassionate, beautiful, forest-green eyes with her own, confused at the sudden 180.

"It's okay to be scared," she whispered, nuzzling a little tighter, "Even if you're not quite as pretty as Jiro and Yaomomo."

Shiozaki… could tease?!

Has she always been so- gah, -k! -d-n Jumpscares!

Tensing up at the sudden appearance of a villain (or something innocuous, she wasn't really paying attention to the plot), Yui twisted away from the film and buried her face in her guardian angel's shoulder again. She had to remember the love-struck idiots and the tomato pizza. Itsuka would want her to be able to endure it for their sake, so she could be brave.

A few minutes in, Yui brushed her thumb along her now-dried nails, nodding as she decided they were dry enough. She gave Shiozaki a little nudge, nodding at the pizza boxes.

"Mm?" Yui asked, her eyes flicking down to the bright crimson and maroon polish on the religious girl's fingers to try and reinforce her question.

Shiozaki frowned, her brow furrowing as she computed the separate pieces of her query. Then her expression lit up, and Yui's patience was again rewarded. Instead of grabbing her some pizza though, she just checked her own nails and softly called out towards Pony.

"Tsunotori? I believe everyone's nails should be dry now," she half-whispered, "Do we want to pause the movie and eat or simply-"

A horn jabbed through the air and cut open the box of Hawaiian, spearing a slice with something darker on it and returning the food to Pony's face.

"Every woman for herself!" she screamed, eating it and curling closer into Tokoyami's chest as something else scary happened and sent mutual quivers through everyone.

"Hm," Yui nodded, liking the straight-forward plan.

Her approval evaporated the moment she realized she'd have to leave Shiozaki's safe embrace to go get some. Well, she could live here now. Starvation wasn't so bad, right?

She ended up not having to test that theory. Tokoyami glanced over at Tsuyu and Dark Shadow, both of whom were contentedly pointing out the visual effects, and when neither of them moved, he frowned in annoyance. Evidently she would not be getting him pizza, but Pony broke her own rule and sent out another horn to scoop up a slice for him. Yanagi telekinetically brought slices over for herself and her cuddle partner, while Shiozaki stuck with her vines to bring Yui some tomato.

"Mm," she thanked her pillow, before taking a bite and revising the statement as: "MM!"

Since she didn't have to grab for anyone else, Tsuyu took a moment to snap herself a piece like a regular frog would a fly, swallowing the whole thing in one gulp and shocking some of the more "cultured" girls; namely Shiozaki and Yanagi. Shaking her head, the vine-haired girl said a quick prayer over her greasy food, before breaking off a breadstick and munching on it happily.

"What happened to "every woman for herself!"?" Komori asked, translating the phrase into Japanese so she wouldn't butcher the pronunciation of English.

Pony pouted towards her, before turning away and burying her head in Tokoyami's chest.

"Shut up, you're snuggling a ghost-girl, it's scarier for me," her voice came from his shirt, muffled but still audible.

"You're literally wrapped around a crow though?" Komori checked, confused, "Aren't you being spore over nothing?"

Silence followed her pun, with even Yanagi frowning and looking at her in disappointment. Komori quickly backpedaled as soon as she noticed.

"Yeah, sorry, that one wasn't very good," she apologized.

"None of them have been very good," Yui said bluntly, turning back to watch the movie, "That one was just sad."

"Well, now that we're all thoroughly terrified and fed," Kinoko said, sliding around to place her back to the credits on the TV, "I believe someone had some amazing idea involving making everyone confess about their crushes?"

The other girls paled, with Tokoyami sliding his headphones back up his neck as Pony shuffled away from where she'd been nestled. Kinoko had to respect that, her own cuddle buddy having needed to use the restroom and ended their spectacular embrace early. Had she been required to let go on her own volition… yeah, she wouldn't be able to.

"What kind of crushes?" Tsuyu-chan asked, tilting her head as she asked in her usual blunt way, "I could just mention my girlfriend and be done, but that wouldn't be very interesting, but if we're talking purely physical: I can mention a few different people."

They turned to look at Kodai, who'd suggested it in the first place. She was still sprawled over Shiozaki, but one she was dislodged with a gentle shove: she moved to answer their question.

Reaching into her bag, Kodai pulled out a four-sided die, and nodded towards Pony's notebook. With a quick scribble, she revealed the plan.

Each person would roll the die on their turn, and would reveal any and all of their crushes based on the number. 1 would be purely physical, and could include anyone from Pro Heroes to classmates. 2 would be emotional or romantic only, and they had to give reasons. 3 was taste, so what kind of people they would have a crush on, and a choice on which of the first two areas they wanted to talk about. 4 was the big hitter: soulmate. Physical and emotional. All in: who did they want to be with forever?

"Huh… this is more intense that I thought it'd be," Yanagi admitted, picking up the pyramidal die and looking at the metal-embossed numbers, "I expected we would be interrogating one another as we went around sequentially, perhaps on an attraction, but nothing this specific and extensive."

"It's certainly going to be more complex than just saying a name," Shiozaki agreed.

"I mush say, it's got me excited!" Kinoko agreed, "I say you go first, Kodai, since you came up with it. No humming though. I wanna hear your pretty voice break our hearts when you tell us you don't find any of us attractive."

Yanagi patted her shoulder, shaking her head to inform her the pun was not a hit. -n. She'd have to blow them away with the next one.

Kodai's expression didn't change, but her eyes seemed to change somehow. Kinoko frowned and tried to look a little closer, but before she could: their oft-silent friend held out her hand for the die, nodding an agreement. She got a 3.

"I like my best friend," Kodai said, her words deliberate and soft, "Exclusively. I can't find anyone attractive unless I have a bond with them which goes beyond the superficial. The terms are: Demisexual and Demiromantic. They're a pain in the -s, since it means it's always awkward when I have a crush, and I don't have a "type" beyond someone who has the patience to be my friend. -l, I'm horny 24/7 and I can't even find good smut to get off to unless it's a bad fan fiction where I love the characters already. Plus, real or fake, I have to find them hot before I can find them romantically appealing, which means anytime I do get a crush: I'm essentially already in super-perv mode."

Kinoko blinked in surprise. She hadn't heard Kodai talk so much… probably ever. Probably not even if she counted up everything she'd ever said that wasn't "mm". The others were just as stunned.

"Oh. Oh, man…" Pony mumbled, her eyes widening as she realized something.

Rather than allowing a conversation to happen, Kodai tossed the die to Dark Shadow, which shifted the focus of everyone instantly.

"I don't… I don't think I can," she apologized, handing off the die to the nearest hand she could find, "I don't… I don't have those kinds of urges. Fumi's my partner, and I don't really… have the equipment to find people attractive."

"And we love you anyway, Kero," Tsuyu assured her, pulling her into a one-armed hug.

Pony nodded her head, giving Dark Shadow the thumbs up. That, of course, meant Kinoko had to tease.

"But when Pony and Tokoyami need someone to add to the cuddle pile or… well, whatever happens," she smirked, looking between the three, "You'll help out, right?"

"Komori!" Shiozaki protested, seeming aghast.

"It's not uncommon to utilize Quirks in the bedroom," Yanagi put in, contemplatively, "Surely she's familiar with his methods of self-"

"No!"

"Please don't imply I would abuse Dark Shadow's power in such a- heinous way!" Tokoyami objected, seeming offended, "She is more than some mere toy or tool, and I will not have her spoken of as if I would use her so."

The air in the room seemed suddenly very tense and thick. Kinoko wondered if there would be a fight. Tokoyami stood and bowed to them all, his posture very stiff.

"I believe we've overstayed our welcome. I apologize," he said, turning to leave.

"Wait!"

All eyes turned to Yanagi, who'd stood as well. She bowed more deeply than he had, before turning and doing the same for Dark Shadow.

"I didn't mean to offend you. I'm sorry for speaking as if you were not a person. I'm the one who's made the spirit of this party depart," she apologized.

The two watched one another for a few moments, Dark Shadow glancing back and forth in worry. Then, Tokoyami lowered his head.

"Perhaps I took your jibes too harshly," he admitted, "I just… don't want Dark Shadow to suffer any more than she has. I restrained her growth out of fear, and only recently have I allowed her the freedom she deserves to… mature."

The moment was passed, but it wasn't as easy as it had been beforehand. Kinoko wondered if the rest of the night would be this… delicate.

"I um… I once offered to join him while he, ah… had his alone time," Dark Shadow admitted, speaking up in what might have been an attempt to restore some levity, "He wouldn't let me. But… I will admit: I kind of want to see what would happen if he did let me join in once he gets to that point."

A bird's jaw dropping was a comical thought, and looked just as funny in real life. Even more hilarious was the sudden transformation of Pony's face into one so filled with a blush that she could have briefly passed for the 1-A horned girl. Ashido, wasn't it?

A few giggles passed through the room helping to ease the air a little more, before someone spoke up.

"How positively… scandalous," Shiozaki sighed, shaking her head and letting her closed fist drop open.

The die fell out, landing on a 2. She seemed a bit relieved at that.

"I suppose I'm next. Romantically, I'm interested in three people," she admitted, evidently unable to bring her eyes up from her feet as she spoke, her hands wrapped around a few vines from her hair, "Two of them I'm interested in as a pair. One I was… surprised, to find would be a good partner. You all likely are aware of Jiro and Yaoyorozu from class 1-A, and my… interactions with them, during the sports festival, so I'll begin there."

She sighed, shuffling a bit uncomfortably.

"Jiro is… musically inclined, for one. She is also very patient and empathetic. I find her presence soothing, and her honest spirit one I wish to emulate. Meanwhile, Yaoyorozu is insightful, and kind. Her soul is generous and full of hope and charity. And together they… they provide me with a great deal of peace. Jiro has a great deal of irreverence for social stigmas, and a sharp wit, while Yaoyorozu's curiosity and gentle rebukes feel loving even in the darkest of times. I know my chances of being in a relationship with them is… very slim, especially because of the restrictions I must obey, but I can't help what my heart feels for them."

Kodai slid over to her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and giving her a microscopic nod of encouragement. Shiozaki smiled and leaned towards her briefly.

"As for the third, well… I must confess to not having seen her in some time, but I did at one point meet a girl from Germany who was quite… intriguing," Shiozaki giggled, shaking her head slightly, "I don't for a moment believe she was interested in me in return, but… I did find her rather tsundere persona quite comforting in its consistency."

With that, she threw the die to Yanagi. She probably didn't mean it as a punishment, but the zombie-aspect girl certainly took it that way as she tossed and got a 1. Kinoko might have pretended she wasn't intimately interested in her answer, but it was a bit late to try and pretend she didn't have a crush.

"My preference is for shorter, healthily weighted persons," Yanagi said, keeping her voice neutral, "Pony, Komori, Kodai, Uraraka, Ashido, Fukidashi, & Shoda all fall within my selection of classmates I find physically appealing. Mr. Brave, Burnin', & Cow Lady have all been Pro Hero Crushes of mine in the past."

While some of the others complained that she didn't make it very interesting, Kinoko was internally cheering. Yanagi thought she was hot! Or cute? Maybe just pretty? Something that put her in the physical crush range, anyway. Sure, there was some competition, but they'd had a moment tonight! She just had to keep it going!

"You're a bit of a slippery jack, you know?" she complimented her, smirking, "I take it we've got another girl in the bi club then?"

"You may include me in that listing, if you wish," Yanagi allowed.

This time she openly did a fist pump. She regretted it when the die floated over to land on her knuckles. Looking to the last person to roll it, Kinoko gave her a look of betrayal. She got back the usual bland expression, but in her eyes there was a light of curiosity. Oh shiitake…

It was a 2. Oh dear, she was in truffle now.

"I um… oh jeez," Kinoko mumbled, itching at the back of her head and feeling a few shrooms pop up on her hair as she got anxious, "Well, I, um… I guess emotionally I kind of have crushes on smart girls? Like… I'm pretty good, yeah? I can memorize pretty well, and I'm not exactly bad at school stuff, but… Like, really smart people? Ah man…"

As her anxiety started to come back in, her hair dropped over her eyes, making it harder to see everyone and her own voice more difficult to hear. She'd been so comfortable, but her emotions had decided to rear its head.

They're not laughing at you, they're not going to hate you. Breathe, think of some types of mushrooms. Button, Wood Ear, Enoki, Golden Needle, Velvet Shank, Matsutake, Grisette, Entoloma, Hebelumn, Tricholoma…

Taking a deep breath, Kinoko tried again.

"S-since Yanagi gave a list, I guess I can too. Um… Kendo, a-and Kodai, and Sh-Shiozaki, and Yanagi from our class are really appealing. And, um, Yaoyorozu from 1-A seems like she's pretty cool, maybe? I guess I just like that sort of formal, bright minded kinda person in a partner…"

She left the die on the ground before her, not worrying about passing it as she tried to pull her hair back into place. A pair of cool arms captured her chest and shoulders, and before she could tense: Yanagi was hugging her. Shiozaki was on her other side, doing the same and sending a few vines to wrap her forearms, which oddly helped too. Kodai placed a hand on hers, still straight-faced but with an almost tender look in her dull eyes.

"Th-thanks, guys," Kinoko whispered, smiling and nodding, "It's, ah… it's nice to have people who'll help when I- well, when that happens."

They didn't respond vocally, instead just giving her an extra squeeze.

"Thank you for your bravery," Tokoyami said, picking up the die and rolling it around in his hand, "I shall endeavor to give you something to brighten your spirits and dispel the creeping black within your heart."

Kinoko giggled. He was funny. Not quite as cool as Yanagi, but… he was close.

Shiozaki slid off her, but Yanagi stayed close, holding her loosely as they waited for Tokoyami's roll to stick in the carpet. Kinoko managed to get an arm around Yanagi in turn by the time he finally threw the stupid thing. It was a 4.

"Well well, our first soulmate confession," Pony giggled, "So, aside from Dark Shadow: who are you gonna end up with?"

"I will pair my darkness with an unequaled light," he said, closing his eyes and making a dramatic fist, "Our mutual power will be unrivaled and unbreakable in its union. Even in the most bleak midnight, her brightness will illuminate my soul, while in the unbearable heat of the most blistering day, I shall be a shade which none other can offer as succor."

His answer was met with dead silence. Everyone glanced to one another, confused. Eventually, their eyes found Kodai.

"Does that count?" Tsuyu asked, tilting her head.

"No," Kodai said, her tone slightly more enthusiastic than absolute zero, "Say it again, or we will beat the answer from your body with our curiosity."

Evidently Kodai was also super violent. Neat.

Tokoyami's mouth opened to refute the idea, but quickly closed again when he saw that she was serious. Kinoko giggled at the poor guy, shifting closer to Yanagi while they waited for him to try again. She was pretty cool, in a heat sense, but Kinoko had always had a… higher body temperature than most girls, so things evened out. The slight shuffle on the zombie-girl's part certainly suggested she liked it too. Hopefully nothing too… obvious happened.

"I… I find the best union between myself and another one where my partner is… bright," Tokoyami tried, narrowing his eyes at Kodai as if daring her to interrupt, "If there is such a concept as a soulmate, then as I'm as surprised as anyone else to find mine would not be a being of darkness, such as myself, but… someone else."

Kinoko noticed his eyes flicking towards Pony, and then to herself and Yanagi, and smirked at him. "Bright" indeed.

"You don't want a matching pair," Yanagi spoke up, her voice a little behind Kinoko's ear as she spoke up, "But do you want an opposite of attraction?"

Tokoyami's eyes flicked towards Pony again. If anyone was an opposite to Tokoyami's whole goth depressing bit, it was probably her. It also explained why he kept looking at her and Yanagi. They were… kinda like that, and if either of their ships could make it work, then that meant hope for the other.

"No," Tokoyami corrected, itching at his knee with a hand and frowning a little, "While the principle of magnetism holds true, trying to be involved with someone who shares no common traits would be folly. A mad banquet of foolishness. Rather I would seek a… complimentary partnership."

Turning to Kodai, he raised an eyebrow.

"Sufficient?"

"Mm," she nodded.

"That means it's my turn!" Pony grinned, sliding over and snatching up the die.

She got another 4, and grinned over at Tokoyami. Kinoko made a silent bet things were about to get much more interesting.

"I think my soulmate has got to be a guy who's a listener. Somebody who doesn't pay attention to crap from other people or judge me at a glance. And he's gotta be somebody who I trust, and who'll go flying with me."

Grinning and sliding right over to the only boy there, she winked at him with a massive grin.

"Anybody know anyone like that?" she asked innocently, sliding her hand towards his.

Tokoyami had his beak clamped shut, which Kinoko couldn't blame him for. If she squawked when she panicked, she wouldn't trust her voice either. Unfortunately for Tokoyami, he had to worry about someone else spilling his secret feelings.

"Fumi," Dark Shadow hissed, loud whispering to try and get everyone's attention, "I think she wants you to ask her out."

Everyone but the two lovebirds laughed at that, but in a kind way to show they weren't trying to be insulting. Tokoyami still glared at them all.

"P-Pony," he managed, clicking his beak very sharply as he almost bit his words in half, "If you wish to pursue the shaded endeavor of romantic pursuits with me… I would not be unhappy with the prospect. Nor would I ever reject the offer to fly together."

His fingers found hers and they laced together as Pony got comfortable at his side. She let out an honest-to-Kami nicker of pleasure as she rubbed her head against his cheek, her horns and his face angled away from one another just barely. It was so sweet, Komori instinctively grew a mushroom on her thumb and bit into it for the contrasting flavor.

A few "aw"s sounded, but Yanagi made a different sound behind her.

"Was that… poisonous?" she asked, hesitantly.

Kinoko looked down at the shroom she'd bit into.

"No, just a Cremini," Kinko assured her, offering the other half up for her to see, "I can control their color a bit though, so it probably looks like it is."

To her supreme shock, the zombie girl leaned forward and bit off the rest from her thumb, leaving it clean and the barest trace of her lips across Kinoko's skin. Had she not been leaning on her already, Yanagi would have had a collapsing girl on her hands.

"Now that everyone interesting's gone, kero," Tsuyu said, snatching up the die with her tongue, "I'll finish us off. I'm Demi, just like Kodai. My girlfriend Habuko's the only one for me though. Shiozaki's imitation of her paralyzing stare notwithstanding."

Kodai recovered from watching the other animal-mutant students get affectionate (or whatever passed for that in Tokoyami's world), enough to turn and hold out her knuckles for a fist bump. Kinoko barely registered it. She needed to go to more girls' nights. They were positively magical.

"Since I ended that particular game," Tsuyu offered, trying not to stare at the sudden couples that had just formed up and would probably be cuddling through the rest of the night if she didn't stop them, "I'll go first for the next one. Pony-chan, are we supposed to have any special rules in this one, or just wing it until you decide to make one like Kodai-chan did for Tokoyami?"

The horse-girl opened her eyes, staring at her with a sudden sadness at being pulled away from her nuzzling, but Tsuyu held firm. She could not be intimidated by simple tricks like puppy eyes. Eventually, she relented.

Sighing and standing up with a groan, Pony walked over to Tsuyu. Reaching up, she snapped a horn off her head and leveled it at the frog girl in a rather intimidating gesture, even though she would have looked scarier had the broken end not been replaced by a new one.

"You are played a very dangerous game, Madame Tsuyu," she informed her, before stabbing the last piece of ham, pineapple, mushroom pizza and taking it back with her, "And for my first rule: Tsuyu must be the first person to be asked in this game."

"I believe it's: "Playing" Pony," Shiozaki spoke up, somehow not at all terrified of being stabbed.

"Rule two:" Pony said, rather predictably, "Shiozaki isn't allowed to speak in confusing scripture quotes for the rest of the game."

Everyone immediately turned to look at the vine-haired girl, wondering if they could get her to curse aloud with that one. Predictably, she just sagged and nodded in acceptance.

"Rule three: keep it PG-13," she continued, getting more serious, "You get one f-bomb tonight at the top, and nothing more sexual than inuendo. We don't need to convince Shiozaki we're all just flesh-bags of debauchery."

That got some giggles. It wasn't an unusual rule, but it was good to have it set down. Plus, Shiozaki's smile was pretty cute to see.

"Mm?" Kodai asked, raising a hand but keeping her expression deadpan.

Pony frowned, folding her arms and giving a fake pout.

"No, you don't get to be the exception," she told her, leveling a finger mock-accusingly, "And no: you are also not just a flesh-bag of debauchery."

Frowning while also somehow keeping a neutral expression, Kodai opened her mouth, which got everyone's attention immediately.

"I enjoy being a flesh-bag of debauchery," she protested, "It provides me excellent opportunities for constant puns. Would you deprive the world of my ever-present humor and perverted gaze?"

It took a moment for them to realize Kodai was attempting to make a joke. Tsuyu was the first to choke off a laugh, the mixture of coughs and "Kero"s prompting a few giggles and then some polite chuckles from the others.

"Any other rules, or are you ready to try and test my resolve?" Tsuyu asked, putting a little challenge into her voice.

Pony smirked, before cracking her knuckles and taking her place again, leaning her shoulder against Tokoyami's chest almost possessively.

"Rule four: everyone has to go once before you do a repeat," she said, nodding at everyone before pointing to Dark Shadow, "And since you know her best: DS you get to give her the first one."

The Quirk froze, its golden eyes vanishing for a moment that Tsuyu realized was a blink. It- that was she hadn't ever done that before. Evidently she was becoming more and more sentient and distinct from Tokoyami as he let her have more free reign.

"Oh, um… okay?" she agreed, fluttering around to take a spot between Kodai and Yanagi, "So… anything?"

Tsuyu gave her the thumbs-up, mimicking Dark Shadow's past method of conveying joy. She nodded and placed a hand at her beak, evidently thinking.

"Truth or dare, I guess?" she challenged, snapping her fingers and looking up at the others.

"Dare!" Tsuyu said, clenching her fists and preparing for the ultimate test of her conviction, even though she doubted Dark Shadow would come up with anything too bad.

"I dare you to prank-call Bakugo so hard he won't speak to you come Monday," Dark Shadow challenged, radiating smugness Tsuyu didn't know she was capable of.

Everyone else was just as stunned. Even the girls who hadn't really heard much about Bakugo's exploits outside of the sport's festival seemed shocked and worried for Tsuyu's continued survival. For her part, Tsuyu felt… well, she wasn't exactly thrilled about the concept, but the inklings of an idea suddenly sparked in the back of her mind.

"Was… was that too much?" Dark Shadow suddenly asked, all the confidence gone and replaced by her usual timidity when faced with light.

Shaking her head, Tsuyu extended her tongue and patted the Quirk's head comfortingly.

"Not at all," she assured her, noticing Pony's glance of jealousy as she spoke Japanese not only casually: but with her tongue otherwise occupied, "I'll do that right now. Speaker phone or private?"

Relieved, Dark Shadow shook her head.

"Either/or. Whatever you're comfortable with."

"I'm comfortable with either," Tsuyu insisted, but stopped herself.

Dark Shadow wasn't a person yet. She was getting there, but she was still developing, and forcing her to make decisions like that was probably a bit rude. So, to try and ease the pressure off her new(ish?) friend, Tsuyu pulled out her phone and rummaged through the class group-chat.

Hitting the icon next to the name "Capn Blasty," she pressed the speakerphone button and held the mic towards her mouth. Tsuyu placed a finger to her lips, smirking while the others looked on in horror. Tokoyami bowed his head in reverence for the soon to be deceased, making Tsuyu want to reprimand him, but then the line connected.

["Whaddyou want Frog-face?"] the usual pissed snarl came from the phone's speaker.

"Hi Bakugo-kun," she said, matching his anger with indifference, "I'm at a girl's night and just got dared to call you-"

A repeating chime told her he'd hung up.

The sighs of relief were cut short as Tsuyu hit the "redial" option, replaced by incredulous looks. She just smiled.

"I ain't no quitter," she informed the aghast others.

["What?!"]

"You didn't let me finish," she accused him.

["I'm not being part of your stupid g-"]

"I just want to ask you how big you are," Tsuyu cut him off, the stunned silence around her mirrored across the call.

For a moment, nobody made a sound, though Shiozaki's glare was making Tsuyu feel like she needed to apologize to Habuko again for getting hot and bothered by another girl.

["The -k you just ask, Frog-Face?"] Bakugo asked, his voice uncharacteristically hesitant.

"How big are you?" she asked again, utterly without shame, "You know? We talking thumb to wrist, pinky to wrist, forearm?"

Tsuyu was toeing the third rule she knew, but Bakugo required she play hardball. Still, she kept her eyes on Shiozaki, knowing that her reaction was the indicator that would call her out if she went too far.

["...Who else is listening to this call?"] Bakugo asked, a bit of indignance in his tone indicating she'd insulted him ever so subtly.

"Tokoyami and Dark Shadow from our class and Pony, Kodai, Shiozaki, Komori, and Yanagi from 1-B."

["So your boyfriend Bird-Face, his Quirk, Babyface, Whiteboard, Vines, Puffball, and Scooby-Doo?"] he verified, a bit of a laugh in his huff, ["I'm honored. I didn't even know y'all swung that way."]

The reactions were immediate, overlapping as everyone tried to get a word in.

"He's my boyfriend, you son of a -ch! And I dare you to call me that to my face! I'll stab ya good, and you can try exploding your wounds closed!"

"Fumi's not into you, don't get a bigger head, it might tip you over this time!"

"How dare you give me such a minimalistic nickname! I demand you repent and provide me a proper one immediately!"

"Do you desire that I should solve the mystery of your death, Bakugo? I believe me and my band of "meddling kids" will be quite capable of hiding our complicity."

"Mm," Kodai said, her eyes suddenly very cold.

"I resent that you made a good mushroom pun without knowing my Quirk even had to do with mushrooms! My hair is not that puffy!"

"When next we duel, my darkness shall overwhelm your spirit in vengeance for your insults this day."

They all fell short as raucous laughter came over the phone, the tinny factor of the call becoming more prominent as the little mic tried to keep up with the volume of his amusement.

["Come at me, little -ch!"] he challenged back, his English barely accented, ["I'm down for a good brawl, and I'm not afraid to challenge your class for the title of Best Glue-Maker."]

Dark Shadow and Tokoyami moved as one, the latter pulling Pony into his arms protectively while the latter grabbed the phone out of Tsuyu's hand.

"Now you listen here you little -t," she hissed, her eyes turning red and growing slightly in the shadowed room, "You better pray you fight me at High Noon, because I'm going to break you otherwise. I might break you anyway, but at least that way you'll be alive to regret it."

A soft, green glow came from behind Dark Shadow, and she slowly shrank back to her usual size, returning the phone and looking around apologetically. Komori smiled as she continued to place a few bioluminescent mushrooms on her back, caressing them and the Quirk comfortingly.

Tsuyu bowed her head in thanks to both of them, giving Dark Shadow a reassuring smile.

["...Well, well, well,"] Bakugo's voice came, a measure of respect in it now, ["Seems like I've finally got some good competition. As for whatever the rest of you were saying… I didn't hear what any of you were saying, but Vines: Cracker Jack's your new nickname, unless you want Puss Smasher?"]

Shiozaki's face turned red with fury, then shifted to a deathly pale that Yanagi raised an eyebrow at.

"H-how did you-"

["Trashcan told me. I gotta respect that you could lay into a Pro like that, even if you shoulda been goin' all out before so we coulda fought in the Sports Festival."]

"...Cracker Jack's more clever," she finally admitted, a bit of color coming back into her cheeks.

["I know it is. Now I just have to come up with one for Ponytail,"] he said, almost conversationally.

"Jack of all Trades?" Shiozaki offered, smirking a bit herself.

["I was thinking Jack-in-the-box."]

Narrowing her eyes, Shiozaki folded her arms and looked away.

["It's good, right?"]

Tsuyu decided it was about time she pulled out her one f-bomb for the night, not really wanting to be tempted to use it later on.

"Bakugo, Shiozaki's never going to say this, so I'm gonna for her: "-k you" Kero."

["Ha! Nice!"] he laughed, evidently in a better mood now, ["Now, unless anyone else has something to say? … No? Okay then. Frog-Face:"]

She perked up, realizing he'd circled around back to her original question during the prank call. Tsuyu'd been a bit on the fence about going all the way with her idea, but with how much he was enjoying things now… she didn't have any regrets. Pony and Tokoyami were hugging, not as if she was actually scared of Bakugo's threat but more in that it had hurt her feelings and was going to take any excuse to hold her crush. Meanwhile the other goth-kawai pair seemed to be feeling a little left out, which seeing as their exclusion was that of being insulted was… interesting. Shiozaki's head was wrapped in her vines, a soft whine coming from inside which might have been her screaming, but otherwise she was still fine.

"Yes?"

["I'll say… middle finger to wrist is… closer than the other guesses."]

His smirk was almost audible, the smugness in his voice positively dripping from the phone. Tsuyu blinked, figuring he'd be more specific than that. Also, that he'd claim a more impressive extent. It was probably already a lie, but from what she'd seen: guys tended to think arm length was somehow appealing. From her… personal experience, a quarter-meter was already well past the comfort zone. Of course, that made her prank all the better.

"Huh… I think I'm bigger than you, kero kero," she mused, instantly silencing everyone again.

She noticed Komori give her a strange look, but she pursed her lips; holding back whatever she was going to say. Before Tsuyu could ask her about it, Bakugo spoke up again, his tone filled with restrained curiosity and fury.

["... the -k you just say?"]

"Quirk: Frog," Tsuyu said in her best Present Mic impersonation, "Pretty much can do anything a Frog can. Kero. Anything a Frog can."

["You're -kin' with me, aren't you? I'm bein' punked."]

"Habuko likes it," Tsuyu offered, intentionally keeping it vague.

["Even if that were somehow true, Frog-face, there's no way you'd even come close,"] he insisted, though she thought there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

"If that helps you sleep at night," she yawned, smiling at her friends as their expressions returned to the horror of when the first call had begun, "We can check after school sometime, if you're willing to help me take care of it after?"

The line went dead once more, and Tsuyu didn't bother calling back. Grinning, she pocketed her phone and looked around at the others, a bit smug herself.

"That about do it, Dark Shadow?" she asked innocently.

The Quirk shook herself, peeking out from around her fingers as the glow of the mushrooms continued to limit her energy.

"Y-yeah… I will be getting revenge if he takes his anger out on us next week for that though," she informed Tsuyu, retreating towards Tokoyami as if wanting to get back into him but remembering she was a bit more tangible than normal.

Giving the thumbs up, Tsuyu glanced around to find her target. There were so many options, but… perhaps best to go for something to help everyone relax.

"Shiozaki," she decided, "Truth or Dare?"

The vine-haired girl jumped, evidently startled she'd been chosen, but she rallied quickly enough.

"Truth!" she declared proudly, "I have no secrets to hide."

Tsuyu raised an eyebrow, silently doubting before offering her question.

"If you had to fight one of your crushes, who would it be?"

She clearly hadn't anticipated hypotheticals, which were usually more dangerous than cut and dry interrogations. Shiozaki placed a vine to her chin, imitating a contemplative hand, pursing her lips as she considered. Her actual hands remained behind her body, acting kind of as a chair for her to lean back against.

"How far would I be fighting them?" she clarified, lowering a vine and pointing it at Tsuyu questioningly, "Would I merely need to restrain them, or are we presuming they became affected by some kind of Quirk that required I deal damage of some kind?"

Tsuyu considered, wondering what would be best.

"Kero. While it would be fun to figure out which girl you want to tie up the most," Tsuyu said as bluntly as usual, "I think for this one we're gonna say you have to knock them out. Beat them into submission, Kero Kero."

"In that case I must take into account who would prove easiest to subdue without harming them…" Shiozaki worried, suddenly getting into her caring mode, "I suppose- but then she'd- oh dear…"

She shook her head, hands moving up to cup her own face as visions of combat evidently danced through her head. Her vines wriggled nervously, wrapping around her limbs a bit as she tried to figure out her answer. Tsuyu prepared to get her to answer with a knee-jerk reaction when she finally stilled, sagging a bit.

"I-I believe that… if, for some reason, I had to hurt one of the people I have a crush on presently… it would have to be Jiro," she admitted, grabbing some of her vines and stroking them in her lap nervously, "She would likely be doing the most damage to my vines, and the pain would help me to fight more effectively without holding back."

The other girls nodded, seeing the sense in her words. Jiro had blown up quite a few of them, and based on how Shiozaki had been bleeding from her scalp as she'd fought back, and also how she'd been acting after… yeah, they could see that.

"Th-that being said, I would rather not hurt anyone!" she quickly amended, before Kodai placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We know," she assured her, "You're good."

The religious girl smiled in thanks, before turning back to Tsuyu with a questioning gaze. She nodded in return, confirming she could take her turn. Shiozaki glanced around, frowning until she found Pony, who immediately looked away.

"Pony?" she asked, smiling a little mischievously, "Truth or Dare?"

"-t," she sighed, "Dare. At least I know I'm safe with one of you nearby here."

"I dare you to spend the next half-hour on the ceiling. The method is yours to choose, and you may receive outside help, but you must not remove your feet, legs, or posterior from the skim coat until the timer runs out. Oh, and you must give your challenge whilst doing so."

"Nevermind, you're just as vicious as everyone else, just less evil. But if you say so: I'll get my tail up there," Pony sighed, bumping Dark Shadow with a shoulder in a silent request for help.

Without a word, She wrapped herself around Pony's midriff, lifting her up and flipping her around. They stalled a bit halfway up, but a quick slash of Pony's horn helped get rid of the light weakening her.

"No!" Komori wailed, mock-distraught as she caught the remains of her mushrooms.

She quickly stopped her mourning when Pony's eyes flitted to her, a sudden look of fear appearing instead. Luckily for her, Pony had other prey.

"Toki?" she asked, very sweetly, "Truth or Dare?"

He looked up at her, folding his arms and holding a bit of a staring contest with her as he decided, before losing and looking at his shoes.

"Dare," he decided, evidently not in the mood to talk.

"Read us some of your poems."

Tsuyu looked over at him, incredulous.

"Since when do you have poems, kero?" she asked, intrigued.

"All those who are afflicted by darkness attempt to express their pain via the written word and meter," Yanagi came to his aid, nodding solemnly, "To force him to reveal those writings is truly a powerful gambit."

"So we should ask for yours next round?" Dark Shadow asked, her eyes appearing in Pony's lap below a stroking hand.

"That depends," Yanagi countered, looking up and raising herself off the ground ever so slightly, "Are you comfortable up there, so entangled with the body of your master's infatuation?"

"Shutting up."

"As I so presumed you would," she said, a bit of satisfaction tinting her otherwise bland tone.

Tsuyu shushed them, pointing to Tokoyami. He'd pulled out his phone, scrolling through something with the look of a man searching for something that would qualify as "lesser of two evils."

"How many poems?" he asked, glancing up at Pony warrily.

She evidently saw his discomfort, and held up (or was it held down?) a peace sign.

"Two!"

"Very well then," he sighed, touching a spot and clearing his throat.

"Upon this sky do I build by church:

Woven of moonlight thread,

Its mortar of smoke.

To no gods do I pray,

Save she crowned of devils' horns."

Tsuyu nodded, placing a finger to her lips.

"That was awful," she deadpanned, "It didn't rhyme even once."

"It is known as freeform poetry," Yanagi defended him, holding out a fist to get a dark fistbump.

"So it's whatever you want it to be? Sounds pretty lazy."

"You don't understand our vision!" Yanagi screeched, hovering a few errant napkins around Tsuyu's head like ghosts.

Snapping out her tongue, she grabbed hers and ate the thing. It didn't taste half-bad, the bits of pizza sauce and her own flavor making it taste kind of like chewing on one of her nails after an italian dinner. The other girls seemed to be running low on shocked expressions, but they were giving it a go with what they had left.

"Gross," Komori grinned, giving her the thumbs up and snatching one up to nibble on herself.

Evidently not agreeing with the sentiment that paper towels were good eats, Shiozaki shook her head and reached over to pat Tokoyami's shoulder.

"Well I for one found it very nice," she praised, "Despite the… blasphemy."

Tsuyu wondered if she was going to get soap-boxy on them, but the singular wink of her forest-colored eye assured them all she was joking. That was… not what she'd expected from the religious girl. She seemed so… one-note before.

"Please," she continued, gesturing to his phone with a subtle wave, "continue."

Tokoyami scrolled down a little more, frowning kind of intensely even for him. He paused at one point, his head tipping side to side as he considered before nodding to himself.

"Adrift.

Adrift in the sea of lightless stars.

Forbidden hearts bleed forbidden love, oh the birth of the waves of sorrow.

In glades of lost dreams do I lie, gazing to the oceans beneath the clouds.

From whence does my beloved sing?

Which isle imprisons her voice?

Would that I could sail, sail this empty void; and this solitude escape.

For I am Adrift.

Adrift in this sea of lightless stars."

"Now that's a poem," Tsuyu praised, leveling a finger gun.

"It seems as though it's become out of date, as of recently," Yanagi noted, folding her arms and smirking for once.

Tokoyami turned to her, blank-faced in his own right, before bowing his head in what looked like acceptance.

"Yanagi, would you rather reveal a secret or perform a daring task?" he asked, revealing he was just thinking about how to get revenge for her poking at his now present love-life.

Tsuyu was very proud 1-A was representing itself so well. Not taking any crap from anyone, no matter the daunting trials before them. She was also very disappointed that he was starting to infect her with emo energy and make her use words like "daunting trials" even internally.

"Truth," Yanagi decided, folding her arms defiantly, "I fear no knowledge, nor its revelation."

If mutual respect was a sound, it was the emo hum coming from Tokoyami's chest as he nodded. If he wasn't evidently taken, Tsuyu would have been passing on Yanagi's name to Mina for instant shipping material. Though, based on what he'd said earlier: evidently that wouldn't have turned out well.

Even if he hadn't met Pony before hand, if they'd ended up trying to date: he'd made it clear his perspective was that it wouldn't have worked out. Probably some months of "goth-er than thou" flirting, mutual pining and brooding, and then… nothing.

Considering, Tsuyu nodded to herself, realizing they wouldn't really have much of a spark. They were so similar, even with their obvious differences, they'd probably never really push one another or change. They'd just kind of be, probably having little or no desire to progress beyond moody dates where they did whatever emo kids did. Without any real differences to drive them forward, they'd be… emo alone together. Which was like emo squared or something.

"If Komori grew mushrooms on your body to the point you couldn't move, how long would it take before you had a panic attack?"

Oh -t, he's playing hardball.

Tsuyu wasn't going to interfere though. She was far too interested in seeing how Yanagi countered him. For her part, Yanagi seemed to at least be taking the question seriously.

"Perhaps… an hour? After that amount of time the inability to move or feel normally might become rather anxiety inducing," she decided, her posture one of controlled casualness.

"Then if Komori suddenly attacked you with her powers right now-" Tokoyami began, before she cut him off.

"She would know better than that," Yanagi said flatly, "especially since attempting to do so now would only allow her access to my arms and face, since I'm not prepared to remove either my shirt or my sweatpants at this time."

Without hesitation, she turned to Kodai and smiled.

"That being said, I'm certain someone's identified a loophole to that already. Truth or Dare, Kodai-san?"

"Dare."

"You think saying that will save you from having to talk?" Tsuyu asked.

"That or she believes dare gives her a taller chance of being able to do something sexual," Pony offered, getting a nod from Shiozaki and coming down to the ground again.

She shook her head a bit, dizzy and with a lot of red in her face that clearly wasn't from Tokoyami allowing her to lean against him. Still, she smiled and gave them a thumbs up to keep going.

Yanagi nodded to herself before grinning and pointing to the TV and its accompanying gaming systems.

"Perform Karaoke to the song of your choice," she decided, causing the flat-faced girl to slump ever so slightly in defeat.

Pony let one of her horns fly off, sending it to poke at the machine ineffectively, evidently getting comfy and not wanting to get up while she was recovering. Luckily, Shiozaki's charity knew no bounds, and she went to set up before Pony accidentally stabbed anything.

"I guess that means Komori's last this round," Dark Shadow noted, clapping her hands silently, "Do you know who you're gonna pick? You can do anyone!"

Yanagi seemed to immediately perk up, but Komori's gaze shifted over to Tsuyu herself.

Interesting… I wonder what she has in mind?

"I have a… question I wouldn't mind having answered," she admitted, before turning to look over at Kodai, "And before you try getting me to ask out Yanagi… screw it, you're totally gonna do that no matter what, aren't you?"

"Mm."

Turning to the ghost girl, she smirked and leaned on her shoulder.

"Better nip this in the bulb before she gets some ideas," Komori told her evident crush, "So I might as well ask you now: wanna go out sometime?"

"Certainly."

"See, she thinks it's too soon, so now you can't-"

Komori blinked, her brain evidently just registering the answer.

"Wait, you-"

"The first date is often a token between complete strangers," Yanagi continued, utterly unreadable, "To agree to one between one of my new friends and myself is no great sacrifice or leap of logic, and should it prove enjoyable, it is better to begin as soon as possible, so as to maximize one's short time on this planet."

It was hard to tell with the white hair covering the other eye, but the blink Yanagi sent Komori seemed a bit more like a reassuring wink. The hug right after certainly supported the theory too. Tsuyu should've been recording this. Habuko would have loved it.

"You've been holding out on us!" Komori complained, shaking Kodai's impassive form, "You sing better than I do! One of you better dare me to do a singing battle against this woman by the end of the night or you're all waking up to a mushroom forest of broken dreams!"

Dark Shadow smiled to herself.

She couldn't actually smile, yet, but that was the closest comparison she had to how her darkness shifted when she felt happy these days. Even thinking back to only a few weeks ago felt… like a different lifetime. When she'd gone crazy at the sports festival it was… like she was some kind of animal, or at least not connected to her past the way she was now. But after Fumi and Pony had talked while they were flying, she'd just kind of… woken up.

She knew why of course. Fumi had been intentionally directing her actions on his own ever since she'd come into being, worried about how her power might overwhelm him and his willpower. She had to admit, if something happened in the dark, like it had at the building on fire… she might kill someone on accident. They couldn't let that happen. She wouldn't let it happen. No matter what, she would stay in control of herself, no matter what.

You say that now, but what if I lose control? What if I want you to do something and your self-expression makes you decide to fight your own way?

Fumi's doubts came across their mental link, despite his best efforts to quash them. Even as the deprecating emotions flowed into her, his love for her and desire to maintain their partnership overwhelmed the dark energy, prompting another smile.

No matter what: I'm your Quirk. I'm not a person, I'm a tool. When you need to use me: don't hesitate. I'm glad you want me to be free, but don't be so narrow minded. I like being used. It's my purpose. When the time comes: wield me as your iridescent sword, your all-encompassing shield, your chariot to the future.

Fumi looked over at her, the continued worry now reflected in his face as well as their bond. She sent him all the reassurance she could, before turning to see what Kodai would have Komori do.

"Mm."

"Dare!" Komori accepted proudly, clenching her fists and grinning.

"Karaoke. You vs Me. I win: you don't make another mushroom pun the rest of the night. You win: I will smile."

"Done and done sister!" she agreed, sliding over to the mic and keying for a song, "Dark Shadow? You're the most neutral party here, so you can be our judge if you want?"

Giving the thumbs up, Dark Shadow agreed immediately.

She didn't really get music yet. She was trying, but it just wasn't quite there yet. She just hoped she could go off of everyone else's reactions.

Komori selected one titled Watashi no Kare wa Pilot, which seemed odd. Wasn't Yanagi her girlfriend? Maybe it was a pun? Then again, she was pretty certain Yanagi couldn't fly. …yet.

"And now, making her first stage-time debut: Shemage!" Komori cheered for herself as the music loaded.

Then she started to sway. A four jaws hit the floor as her entire demeanor changed from just another girl into something more like the pop-stars they'd put on for music. Her lips and eyes both smiled, which Dark Shadow didn't even know was a thing they could do.

Her voice was just as soft as the strings and gentle horns in the music itself, ebbing and flowing with the rhythm as she sang about all the signs of love a pilot could give. She danced around the room ever so slightly, eventually standing before Yanagi and bending her knees a little to reach out and brush the side of her cheek.

"I love you, you love me?" she sang, before pulling away elegantly, winking like a professional actress and continuing on about how her boyfriend was head over heels for the plane instead of her.

Dark Shadow had to give it to her: Komori could pull off the music just as well as Kodai. As the music faded, she decided she'd have to mark her on a number scale to keep it in mind. Maybe a 7? Then Komori revealed her secret hand.

The music ramped up again, but this time with a more Broadway-esque trumpet background instead of the softer Japanese-style accompaniment. She spun back to face them all, and it was all over. Kodai and Pony's mouths fell open too as she switched to English.

"Stagelights: Flashing,

The Feeling: Smashing!

My heart and soul belong to you!"

She'd already won, and Kodai hadn't even gone yet. Dark Shadow was pretty sure she was cheating, doing that, but she couldn't really call her on it… some impartial judge she was.

As she finished out, giving a curtsy with an imaginary skirt somewhere over her fuzzy pants, everyone seemed to rally themselves and look to Kodai expectantly. Her expression remained impassive, but with how her shoulders slumped she might have internally surrendered.

Still, she stood up readily enough, walking over and accepting the mic. Grabbing the controller to look for a different song, she didn't move to look at them until she found what she was evidently looking for.

Turning back as it loaded up, Kodai closed her eyes and took a breath. For a single moment nothing was different, then her face relaxed, and it was like a secret person had just peeked out from behind Kodai's expression. When she opened her eyes, they were filled with more emotion than anyone Dark Shadow had ever seen. She couldn't even name all the feelings in those blue pools.

Strings and piano came in, and without even looking at the words she got them in one.

"Ai mo, yume mo, kimi to naraba!

Majikaru ni kawaru sa

Egao no, Mahou wo kakeyou!"

Rock cut in, but her serene expression and relaxed posture didn't change. She wasn't looking at anyone, simply holding her note and staring up at the corner where the ceiling met the wall opposite her. She didn't dance or sway, but she held them all just as captive.

It was a song about love and longing, though those words were never said. Kodai put so much emotion into it, there had to be more than just the song in her voice. It was like the lyrics were coming from inside her, just as much as the words. Dark Shadow didn't even understand what that meant, and she was the one who thought it.

Then, too soon, the song was over, and her impassive mask came back over.

"I concede…" Komori whispered, falling over sideways so her ear landed in Yanagi's lap, "No more puns tonight."

Based on how much they'd been touchy before, Dark Shadow didn't understand why Yanagi suddenly became red-faced and looked away with a poorly-hidden look of embarrassment, nor why Komori didn't react at all. Had Kodai's music killed the mushroom girl's emotions and given what was left to Yanagi's? Could music do that to emotions? Could music have a Quirk that singers could access? So many questions! She'd have to ask Midoriya.

Shiozaki stood up, walking over and pulling Kodai into a hug. For a moment, no one reacted, unsure of what they'd just witnessed. Then, the other girl's hands snaked around to hug back. Dark Shadow barely heard the hints of a whisper from the taller girl, but Kodai's mouth was facing her somewhat more, and she caught a few words.

"She just… doesn't see me."

A few more inaudible reassurances, and Kodai pulled away, nodding in thanks as her eyes too returned to their dull, usual appearance.

Interesting.

"Wait!" Komori realized, turning to Dark Shadow worriedly, "We almost forgot you, DS!"

Raising her hands in placation, Dark Shadow shook her head, settling back towards the wall a little more.

"I'm not very interesting, truthfully," she admitted, "I've only really been alive fairly recently, so just count me with Fumi's dares and stuff, kay?"

"Oh… well, if you're really sure?"

"Positive."

"Well, um, in that case… Tsuyu?" Komori asked, sitting up and looking at her with a bit of wariness in her face, "T-truth or dare?"

"Kero, I feel like I'll go the safe route with Truth this time," she decided, smiling, "Just don't ask about what I can eat. I'll tell you guys that anytime, no coercion required, but it's a bit gross right before bed."

"No, no," Komori mumbled, her hands rubbing at the big puff of hair behind her head, "It is related to your Quirk, but, not your tongue…"

Tsuyu nodded in acceptance, but Komori herself seemed oddly timid. Why was she nervous? She was the one who'd asked, after all. She'd even got to pick whoever she wanted.

"Um, this one's a bit personal. If you want, I could ask it somewhere private before you answer?" Komori admitted, focusing on what seemed to be a particularly normal patch of carpet.

"You can just ask it here, Kero," Tsuyu said, keeping on-brand with her no-filter, no-social cares attitude.

Dark Shadow liked that about her.

"Well, um… it's about that prank call?" she asked, smiling in what seemed like apology.

"Yes?"

"Um… were you just pranking him, or can you really… um, ya know?"

"Oh. Oh!" Tsuyu's eyes went a little wide, "Um… wow, I… kero, wow, I didn't expect you to ask that. Kero-kero. Um… I guess it's only fair. Yeah. I can. I haven't, um… very often. It takes a lot out of me to do it, kero, but when Habuko suggested I could, I… well, I gave it a shot. Not very useful for Hero Work, but it does offer some interesting opportunities. Pranking Bakugo for one, kero."

Komori seemed to relax a little as Tsuyu blushed more and more, while some of the others seemed torn between interest and embarrassment themselves.

"I know, right!" Komori beamed, reaching over with her fist to get a timid knuckles from Tsuyu, "It's so much easier to use the lavatory- oh -t."

As her own words registered, Komori paled. It was like all the light and energy just drained out of her. When she was nervous it was just bottled up, or pushed down a bit, but this was… like it was gone.

"Komori?" Tsuyu asked, her tone indicating her Hero Instincts had kicked in.

"I, um- -t, I didn't mean to- that is, I didn't want to make everyone- -nit, I got too excited to maybe meet someone else…" she trailed off, her hair covering her eyes as she curled up a little, not unlike a dying spider.

"Then your Quirk-" Yanagi asked, her tone reassuring but cautious.

"Not- not my Quirk," Komori explained, her voice getting very small, "It's more like Pony's hooves. A mutation, of sorts…"

Wrapping her friend and date in a hug, Yanagi remained silent. It seemed like she didn't want to interrupt her flow, but also wanted to give support. Good information for later.

"I um… well, the biological term is Hermaphrodite," she admitted, curling up into Yanagi's embrace without evident thought, "Even though my cells say I'm female, and I know I'm a girl… my body-"

"Don't you dare say it's wrong," Shiozaki cut in, pulling both of them into a hug herself, her vines making up the difference her arms could not, "You are a wonderful woman, Komori, no matter what physical aspects you have!"

"Th-thanks, but I wasn't going to say wrong," Komori mumbled, a hint of a smile in her voice.

Shiozaki seemed to think she'd messed up, her own face paling for a moment before Komori shifted to hug her as well.

"But I know you didn't mean anything by it," she whispered.

Once everyone'd calmed down a little more, Tsuyu spoke up again, holding out her fist towards the mushroom girl.

"Well, now that I know what that fist-bump was about, we need to do it again," she explained, grinning, "Intersex buddies?"

"Intersex buddies," Komori agreed, finally pulling her hair out of her eyes again, "I'm sorry I went to pieces over two things today. I didn't think I'd be spilling all my secrets in one night, -d-n."

The others assured her it was perfectly fine, and Dark Shadow decided to try the hug thing to help her out. It felt… really nice, actually. Fumi seemed to enjoy it too, feeling the hug through her.

"I guess it's fair game if you wanna ask me for more details," Komori mumbled, itching at her ears while Yanagi took her back into her arms without delay, "But I'm gonna be sticking with dares from now on, so don't try and waste one on a question."

"I'm more interested in why you thought it was such a big deal," Pony admitted, grinning broadly, "Everyone's fine with my legs bending backwards, but you think we'd have a problem with you having double the equipment for making baby mushrooms?"

"It's… kind of a me thing," she admitted, blushing a little, "I kinda… like having both? I know, it's really gross and I should probably get a transition to one or the other, especially since I'm absolutely not a guy. I mean, come on: I'm called Shemage for crying out loud, I'm not exactly playing a subtle game here."

"There's no problem with having both," Shiozaki spoke up again, blushing and playing with a few vines in her hands, "I want both of something when I should choose one or neither too, after all."

"Right, your whole 1-A girls crush thing," Komori remembered, earning a squeak from the religious girl, "How's that going for you, by the way?"

While the vine girl squeaked and stammered through something complicated Dark Shadow wasn't interested in (human mating was so… over-engineered), the others got back into the game.

"Truth or Dare, Pony?" Tsuyu asked, rubbing her hands together.

Considering; Pony took another bite of her apple, nodding her head a little so Fumi's beak would itch a spot she didn't want to reach for just yet. He was so embarrassed, and very much wanted to wipe the spot with a paper towel, but also not wanting to offend her. It was adorable, him fighting the urge to wonder what her hair even tasted like.

"Dare."

"Make Tokoyami squawk in embarrassment at least three times in the next ten minutes, starting now," Tsu commanded.

"Done," Pony said instantly, sliding over to the karaoke mic and going to her favorites, "Someone cover Shiozaki's ears."

The techno music wasn't as nice as the other songs, but Fumi seemed to get chills of fear as he heard Pony begin to sing in English. Even with their meager understanding of her home language, everyone else immediately registered that she was singing a very NSFAM song.

She got to the first chorus, brushing Fumi's beak with a finger as she sang to him directly.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me."

That was squawk one, Fumi's whole face burning in shame, embarrassment, and a few more private emotions he tried to keep from her out of habit. Pony didn't stop though. She continued through the whole song, making sensual moves that toed the PG-13 night rating line she herself had set down, and by the time it was over: she'd made Fumi squawk not thrice but seven times, and had actually pulled his bag over to clutch to his chest in an effort to hide a certain biological reaction to what was undoubtedly a mating dance.

"What a depraved aura of dark intent," he wheezed.

Tsuyu gave her the thumbs up, while Fumi recalled Dark Shadow to act like a blanket he could hide under. She decided to tease him a bit, and wrapped her arms over his and her head on top of him, essentially turning into a costume of sorts and making him look more fearsome than embarrassed. Pony even wolf whistled at him, which only exacerbated the problem.

"As fun as that was, I figure it's time to settle down a bit," she said, winking at him before turning to Shiozaki, "Truth or Dare, Miss "Both is good"?"

"I- you-" Shiozaki sputtered, before shaking her head and looking way, "Truth."

"What are your vines?" she asked, creating another mushroom on her hand and munching it contentedly, "Like, are they vegetables? Can you eat them like my shrooms?"

It was clear she'd never even considered her Quirk in that manner. Shiozaki brought around the tip of one, placing it in her mouth and sucking on it experimentally, her jaw moving as she gnawed on it. Her expression showed she did not like the flavor at all.

After a moment, she detached it and looked around for somewhere to put the destroyed piece of her hair.

"They are… absolutely not edible," she decided, throwing it into the garbage bag they'd brought over for the pizza boxes.

"And ever since that day, there have been rumors of the voice of a young boy crying beneath the bridge, begging for his best friend to come back…" Reiko hissed, smiling evilly at her compatriots, all of them crammed together in terror.

That was, except for Komori, who was absolutely glued to her back, her face buried so deeply in her shirt that she was pretty sure it would leave an imprint even after washing. It would be a very interesting prop for her next scary story night. Maybe a possessed cloth? Or perhaps a scorned lover who would seek out whoever wore the shirt of her beloved? Questions for later.

"I-I-I think that's enough scary stories for one night!" Pony shivered, curling into Tokoyami's chest again, "Sh-shiozaki, y-your turn!"

The vine-haired girl seemed somewhat occupied. On one side, Kodai was wrapped around her like a koala bear, arms and legs locked together near her hip and elbow. Meanwhile, Tsuyu had her back to Kodai, her arms and legs up in a defensive posture while Shiozaki wrapped them all in a continually growing cocoon. For her part, the religious girl was whispering scripture somethings at rapid fire speeds, evidently comforting the other two near her.

"Um, I guess we're all just… going to bed then?" Pony mumbled, turning around so she could imitate Tsuyu's style of keeping her back to someone instead of open to attack, carefully lacing Tokoyami's head between her horns while his arms held her safe.

DS came around from behind Tokoyami, wrapping around them both and laying her head on Pony's stomach, eyes glowing protectively.

"It seems you have at least one evil spirit willing to protect you tonight," Reiko teased, before Komori's whine behind her cut off any room for her to talk.

Pony, for her part, was petting Dark Shadow's head without thinking, her crystalline eyes darling around the dark room nervously. Tokoyami was keeping still, though thanks to his Quirk and his darling: he wasn't exactly able to do much but shift his arms up and down a bit on Pony's midriff, which he seemed to be keeping stone-still away from anything that might be even moderately suggestive. Cute.

"G'night everybody," Reiko whispered, giggling as she pulled over their pillows with her Quirk and helped everyone get comfy, "And don't let the-"

"No!"

"Don't say anything else!"

"Let the darkness lie, for it will take no more stoking this night!"

"The spirits of the adversary need no motivation!"

"Kero-Kero!"

"Mm!"

Reiko giggled. They were all so cute when they were scared.

Yay. More ships. (Also: I apologize if this updates halfway through. Sometimes it doesn't like to carry over the underlines for the English Sections and I have to go back and edit.)

So: what do you guys think of Pony's party? Do you think she did a good job? Was she totally missing a party game that could have made this awesome?

Thoughts, comments, criticisms, and ship arguments always welcome.

I post these to try and become a better writer, so your reviews help make this all worth it.

Love you all!

Be safe out there!