Tensei would never.

He wouldn't. Choose a strip club as the spot for his bachelor party? The thought alone was preposterous.

His bride, however, insisted he let loose before they tied the knot. She argued his friends would like it. She was, how can Tenya put it?

A free spirit?

Hatsume Mei wasn't only a genius of robotics who met Tensei while he was on recovery after that terrible accident that had Tenya taking insomnia medication. She was also his savior - well, her tech was - and a funny character. She was so flashy that the uptight Iida family found her to be interesting, to say the least. Tenya himself had taken a little while to grow used to her loud talking and overall big ideas. Tensei seemed to like her, though - and that was enough for Tenya.

The strip club? That was a whole other story.

The loud bass rhythm echoed off the walls. Women in various stages of disrobing were parading around with drinks and trays. Iida was no virgin, but he still had difficulty not staring at the nude breasts every time a girl approached their table. He was still twenty-two years old.

He drank to loosen up. He still couldn't believe Bakugou was there - Ochako had half dared him to go. She said it had to count so she could go to a male stripper club when one of her friends got engaged.

Honestly, the blond looked just as bored as Iida. He was a lightweight too, so Tenya shouldn't have been surprised when he started shouting at the girls dancing on the stage.

"Hah! My girlfriend can do the splits!"

"Bakugou-san," he hissed. "That is most inappropriate!"

"What?" he whined. The dancer had barely heard him hassling over the loud music.

"Keep your thoughts to yourself," Iida asked. Bakugou grumbled but as soon as a skinny girl in nothing but panties and top asked their table if they needed anything:

"She's all skin and bones," he whisper yelled to Tenya. "Ochako has real curves. You know, like a fucking woman-"

"Bakugou-san!" he interrupted before the waitress could hear and get offended. The blond colleague was going to single handedly get all the strippers insecurity issues!

"Fuck this," Bakugou got the money he owed for drinks and some for tips. "She dances better than these chicks anyways. Imma go get myself the real thing."

Iida had way too much information on his good friend Ochako already, thank you very much. So when Bakugou left and he saw himself in the company of his brother's colleagues – who were, allow him to say, ogling and slipping tips to the dancers – Iida wondered if he, too, could leave.

He was appalled to notice the song making his ears ring was now saying something about a "wet-ass-pussy"? Maybe an hour there was good enough for Tensei. He scraped his chair back to leave when a stunning brunette in a short, fitted navy blue dress approached him with an easy smile.

"Too much for a first-comer, am I right?" she asked over the noise, leaning to speak in his ear. Her doe eeyes were knowing and teasing, and Tenya just nodded, completely lost. It wasn't his scene at all. At least someone saw that.

"Care to join me out back?" she offered in a polite voice.

"Is it quieter?" he shouted.

She just looked at him as if he was an adorable little boy. "Aw, yes it is! Music's muted!"

"Take me," Iida got up, immediately noticing he towered over her small and delicate frame. He ignored the cheers and whoops from his brother and his friends as she led him by the hand.

They made their way through a dark hallway with pink neon lights, and Iida looked away from the closed doors and the half nude dancers all over the place. The woman had curves, but she was so, so small, Tenya felt like picking her up so her feet wouldn't have to touch the undoubtedly dirty floor.

"Here," she led him inside a sort of living room. It had a spacious couch, a coffee table, and several drinks on a minibar. As soon as she closed the doors, the music stayed outside.

He already felt better. "Thank you."

She smiled. "You're welcome. What's your name, hot stuff?"

"Iida Tenya," he breathed out as she poured him some beer, which she had noticed had been his drink of choice back at the table.

"Well, I'm glad you're feeling more comfortable, sweet," she sat next to him easily. "You looked ready to pass out back there."

"I was gonna leave," he admitted with a sip of his glass. "It's my brother's bachelor but still."

"What about you?" her caramel eyes were pretty. "Married?"

"Oh no," he shifted uncomfortably. He had to tell her he wasn't into the offer behind coming to a room like this. "Not even a girlfriend right now," he added but didn't know why.

"Aren't I lucky," she leaned in with a relaxed smile, aiming for his lips.

"W-What about you?" he dodged her face, her lips hitting his cheek instead. "Do you have anyone special?"

"Me?" she blinked almost owlishly, gorgeous honey hair styled back. "I'm not, like, seeing anyone."

He nodded, flushing a little. Her thigh was touching his jeans-covered one. "Why not?"

She snorted. "Kinda hard to meet decent guys doing what I do, hun."

"Oh," he fiddled with his glass of beer. "What's your name?"

"It's Camie."

"Do you mind telling me your surname?" he frowned.

"Utsushimi?" Camie giggled. "Why?"

"I don't feel comfortable calling you by your first name," he explained. Iida could feel his words slurring. Maybe he should quit the beer. "We're not close."

"We could be," she licked her lips and slowly straddled his lap. "If you let me."

"Ah, Utsushimi-san," blue eyes flitted sideways. "I-I don't... I'm not..."

"What?" Caramel eyes teasingly searched his face. "You don't want me?"

She was a pro, he'd give her that. The way she swayed her hips on his lap had Tenya almost forgetting where he was. "That's not it."

"Then what is it," she lowered her face to whisper in his ear, "Tenya?"

Iida could admit he shuddered at that. The way Camie chuckled and hugged his neck so they were chest to chest did not help his resolve one bit.

"I don't like... performing in public," he pushed his glasses up. The idea of having any sort of sexual activity in a spot reserved for just that made his skin crawl. Call him germophobic or demisexual, but he had never been attracted to the idea of meeting someone, picking them up and having sex in a shitty motel in the same night.

"No one will bother us, you dork," she pushed her hips downward again. "You're safe with me."

"S-Still," he gently held her waist so she couldn't move on top of him. "I'd appreciate it if we could just...talk, instead."

Camie stilled. Well, no meant no. She slid back to her spot next to him on the couch.

"What do you want to talk about?" she supported a cheek on her fist. This was, at the very least, going to be better than gagging in dick for the third time that week. Camie restricted herself to one client per night and preferred to make the rounds until she found someone who wasn't gross and who would be generally satisfied without going all the way. She took fewer clients than most girls there, and didn't make as much, but those were her personal preferences in order to work there. The boss lady couldn't care less, as long as you agreed to both dance in the pole and serve drinks in shifts.

"Anything, really," he pushed his glasses up again. This one was such a pent-up nerd that Camie figured he was harmless. The moment he asked her surname she knew she'd found an oddball. He wasn't bad, just...weird.

But he looked relieved to interact without her ass in reach. And that was more than Camie could say for...well, any man she'd interacted with in this business.

"Well, what do you do?" she asked. "I, like, can't help but think you're into some nerd shit, like computers."

"Because I wear glasses?" he defended.

"No," she snorted. "Because you're wearing a fucking vest to a strip club."

He probably didn't own cool clothes. Camie wished he got himself a girlfriend who could give him some basic pointers on fashion. That got him to grin a little at his own stupidity and damn, he had a nice smile.

"Yeah, well," he scratched his cheek sheepishly. "I work in finance."

"Wolf of Wall Street," she teased. "I can totally see you in a suit."

Iida rolled his eyes. "Well, what about you? Do you work anywhere else?"

She sighed. "Yeah. I'm saving for school."

Blue eyes sparkled to life. "Which school? What do you want to study? Are you aware of the government aid to help students who-"

"Whoa, big guy," she laughed. "I shouldn't've used the S word. Duly noted, damn."

He didn't even look sorry. "Tell me more! What do you want to do?"

Was he seriously this cute?

"At the moment I'm, like, working my ass off as a waitress in a fam restaurant during the day and on this joint on the weekends or nights off. I wanna go to college to work as sort of those PR people, ya know?"

He nodded vigorously. He only understood about 70% of what she was saying, but it was a very lovely 70%. "That sounds like a great plan!"

Camie couldn't help but laugh. "Dude, I'm 21."

"I'm twenty-two!" he gasped as if this was a huge coincidence, and not a random fact enhanced by the fact he was tipsy.

"No, you dork, I mean I already have two jobs and stopping to go to school would be a dumb move. TLDR; I feel like my time maybe passed."

This time he gasped louder, completely offended. "It's never too late to LEARN!"

She cackled. "Oh my God, man, you're like, such a funny dude."

"Why?" Iida frowned.

"You're telling a stripper she needs to go to school," she explained. Why didn't he see the joke?

"Yeah?"

"Like I have big brain disease and am wasting the potential here," she joked.

"Exactly," he moved his arms as if he was chopping, and Camie made a mental note not to give him any more beer. "If you want to study and you're not, by definition you are not using your brain how you want it!"

She shook her head. This guy was drunk drunk.

"I can help you!"

"Heard that one before," Camie muttered. In her two years as a sex worker, she had been offered a car as a tip for her services, ten grand if she moved in with an older man, and a contract as a sugar baby to a guy who wasn't so bad. All of them, of course, backed out.

"No, really," he insisted, and took her hand in his. "I applied for college and needed government aid. If you have enough saved up you should be good for less interest than I paid for, even! There's nothing stopping you from living your dream!"

Who did this guy honestly think he was?

He sounded like a hero from a comic book, spouting unrealistic shit like dropping everything to follow your dreams and damn the consequences. It was true that she was close to her goal amount, but lately she had been wondering if she even had the capacity to go through college.

She wasn't the same girl who graduated high school. Yes, she was thousands of dollars richer, so she could finally afford a break on one of her jobs and go to school without missing rent, but she also had abandoned her naivity. Studying PR so she could administer some company's social media? Sounded awesome but...what company would hire her with that job history? Because she either put in her resume what she did, or she had no real job for years. Her part time job as a waitress that she had ever since high school wouldn't impress anyone.

But tonight, with Iida Tenya there? She actually felt more than a hot dancer. She was a severely missed piece in the PR game.

So she nodded. "Yeah, why the hell not?"

He excitedly offered his contact so they could meet and he could help her apply for school. She knew he'd block her the following day, but still.

He was not fucking around. After a text message that read like a business email apologizing for his behavior two nights back - Camie had to wonder if he had ever actually dealt with someone drunk before, because he was entry level embarrassing at most - he made sure to send her the equivalent to a book on government aid.

The PDFs were many, and Camie groaned as she tied her apron to go about her shift. She wasn't even in school and there was already homework? This was bullshit. She told him she had to get through her day job first, and he offered to help.

Again. This guy was either a serial killer or seriously cute.

He said he had notes from back when he applied, a couple years back, and they'd do her good. Iida offered to drop them by her house so she wouldn't have to meet with him, but he was blissfully unaware of the dangers a woman faced living alone. So, she gave him the address of the restaurant, where the couple of owners - Suzuki-chan and Suzuki-san - would not hesitate to call the cops on any guy who bothered Camie. It had happened before.

He showed up for lunch with a stack of papers. "What can I get ya, Tenya?" she put pen to paper as he blushed.

Iida wasn't used to being called his given name. Only family called him that. Even his closest friends, Uraraka, Bakugou (by extension), Midoriya and Asui all called him Iida. "T-The, um? Daily special?" he offered. He was a big man, but he was cowering. Shrinking as if to not draw too much attention to himself, or to the fact that he had checked Camie out in her outfit. She looked adorable in her waitress dress and apron.

Camie smiled slowly, like a cat who got its prey. "You want liver soup?"

He choked. "Ah!" hastily picking up the menu, he changed the order.

"Okay, hun, I thought so." Iida requested salmon with fried rice and Camie walked away trying to ignore Suzuki-chan eyeing the exchange.

"He's handsome," she noted from her place at the cashier.

"He's nice," Camie shrugged as she pinned the order. "Tryna help me get to school."

The middle-aged woman gasped. "And he wears a suit to visit you?"

"He works in finance," Camie crossed her arms, leaning against the counter. "Some hot shot. He's probably on his lunch break."

"Well, girl, you better go and offer him some water, juice, something. And if he's helping you his lunch is on the house."

"Suzuki-chan..." Camie's arms fell by her body, already defeated. There was no arguing with her, but she was way too kind to her.

"No buts. Go get his help. In fact you make that order a double, dear," she raised her voice so Suzuki-san, her husband, could hear her from the kitchen. "Camie's eating with her friend today."

Brown eyes widened. "But Suzuki-chan, the customers..."

"Will be seen to by Haru-chan today."

Haru was the couple's other employee, a complete smoking machine who dressed in all black. The girl was oddly a good friend of Camie's and both were grateful for the Suzuki couple for hiring them when most people wouldn't.

Camie agreed, but only after saying she'd stay the extra half hour to cover for Haru-chan.

She joined Iida with their order shortly after.

"Speak."

He blinked, thanking the food before he noticed her sitting in front of him. "Uh...?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh," he showed her the papers, color-coded and filled with sticky notes. "I brought what I talked to you about-"

"No," she interrupted, breaking chopsticks to eat. "What are you doing here, where I work, just to help some random chick get her studies back?"

"Oh," understanding dawned on him as well as a healthy dose of red on his cheeks. "M-My, um... Friends said I should make an effort to step out of my comfort zone."

"And help strippers?"

"Not necessarily," he conceded with an embarrassed smile. "Just...reach out more. Make more friends. I can come across as...what's the word.."

"A robot?"

Ouch. "Pretty much."

She hummed in thought. Friends, huh? He didn't seem dangerous, but...

"Okay, show me the papers."

And that was the first of their lunch dates.