Kiri tries to convince Suri. Pazuzu and Ryuko scheme against Suri. The entire Surisquad plots against Suri. Kendo is helps. Izuku sets up a date for Suri.

"Please, Suri!"

"Nope."

"C'mon, you gotta do it!"

"No I don't."

"Stop being an ass, Mohawk! Get your damn bass!"

"Goddammit, not you too. The answer is still no!"

It had been like that for two weeks now. Literally everyone and their dog had taken their turns begging Suri to join the band team, which seemed silly now that she had been Mina's right hand when it came to teaching the dance routine. The dance team consisted of her, Mina, Tooru, Izuku, Tsu, Ochako, Iida, Ojirou, Mineta, and Shoji; which most of them were picking up fairly quickly thanks to her and Mina. Which only made having to move Izuku over to the stage team suck because he'd become Mina's shining dancer. But of course, if Aoyama was going to be able to become a human disco ball, he needed someone strong enough and fast enough to move him through the gym. And that person was Izuku.

He only agreed to move to the stage crew if he was able to do the first section of the dance with everyone else. Mina and Suri agreed to his deal because he'd brought a caveat to the table in his favor. Eri was going to be in the crowd and he'd apparently told her that he'd be dancing on stage with everyone and she'd been excited to see it.

Can you really deny that request when the happiness of a six year old little girl is on the line?

No, no you can't.

What you can deny is the millionth request to join the band team.

"C'mon Suri," Kirishima said in his warm, raspy tone as he held out his hands idly above her. "It wouldn't kill ya to join them. You'd be great on stage playing your bass and singing with Jirou. I think it'd be amazing."

"I… know… y'all… think that," Suri grunted out between reps because Kirishima had decided the most opportune time to talk to her about the subject was while they were in the weight room. He was currently spotting her during her bench press routine. It was making her agitated again, which was not a good thing when she had close to four hundred kilograms on the bar. "But… the answer.. is still… no!"

With that she pushed upwards, lifting the heavy bar straight up and plopping it into Kirishima's waiting hands. The sudden weight jerked him forward and he stumbled as it loudly clanked and rattled into place back on the machine. He yelped and then laughed nervously as he watched Suri sit up and dab her head with her tank top, instantly soaking it in sweat. She breathed heavily as she reached down and picked up her water bottle, sipping down the ice cold water and enjoying the relief it brought. She eyed Kiri through her peripherals, which made her look more sinister than she actually was, and saw him flinch. Seeing that made her drop the tough woman routine and let out a deep sigh as she stood up and took off some of the weight while Kirishima took her place on the bench.

"Sorry," he sighed as he looked up at Suri who was now spotting him. He gave her a weak smirk as he reached up to take hold of the bar and she helped to move it in position over him. Once it was off, he started through his repetitions, grunting and breathing heavily as he powered through close to two hundred and fifty kilograms of weight on the bar. "Katsuki… thought… I… might… have a… better shot."

"Ah," Suri grinned and giggled softly. "Thought I'd adhere to some brotherly advice huh?"

"Yeah," Kirishima chuckled, which made him falter a little as he pushed the heavy weights upwards and had to realign his breathing. "Something… like that."

"I appreciate you guys all having faith in me. I really do," she chuckled in return. "I just… Being on stage playing music or singing, fuck, singing especially, scares the hell out of me. I can do karaoke for a small group, sure. Y'all know that. But in front of a crowd like what we're expecting? Nah, I'm gucci," she laughed, shaking her head.

"But," Kirishima grunted as he returned the bar back to the machine and sat up on the bench having finished his reps. He grabbed the towel stuffed into his gym shorts pocket and toweled off his forehead and bare chest before looking up at Suri with a puzzled gaze. "I mean you're getting up there and dancing right? Why not be embarrassed about that since being on stage is probably what you're afraid of, am I right?"

"Yeah," Suri grumbled and sighed as she and Kiri grabbed their gym bags and started heading for the door to the weight room. Once they were on the path back towards the dorms, she looked up at the sky and watched the moon. "The difference is, I know I'm good at dancing. I can get in a ring for a fight in front of a crowd cause I know I'm great in a fight. I can show off on the court cause I know I'm a hooper hooper," Suri giggled and then let her expression drop again. "Singing and playing music though? I dunno, I'm not like Jirou cause it's more of a hobby than anything. I'm, like, decent at best, I think."

"Okay but why aren't the others hobbies then?" Kirishima asked, which made her shrug and think about it. It had been a good question.

"I think it's cause, if I wasn't going to be a hero, that's what I'd end up doing," Suri answered after a moment of honest reflection. "If I wasn't going to UA or Xavier, I'd either sign up for an amateur MMA league locally and work my way up into national circuits. I'd get some local and regional titles under my belt, get some sponsors and go compete in the big leagues. If I wasn't fighting, I could get scouted pretty easily with a solid mixtape without needing to play ball for a D-1 school. If you're good enough, even with the women's league, you could get drafted into the G-League and either get a 2-way contract with a WNBA affiliate or get drafted straight up after a season. Honestly, I had the idea of showing out to the point that I'd make waves enough to become one of the only handful of girls that's made it into the NBA. Make a career out of schooling guys that don't think I'm as good or better than them just cause I've got tits."

The last comment made both of them burst out laughing. It was a long moment of happiness before Kirishima remembered Suri's other choice and gave her a curious look.

"Okay, so what about dancing?" he asked inquisitively.

"Cheerleading or stripping," Suri answered bluntly with a grin. The quickness and directness of her statement made Kirishima sputter which only served to make Suri laugh hysterically. Once she had come down from that jovial high, she shrugged again and finished answering his question. "Cheerleading would be fun because I'd still get to be a part of a sport I love to watch and play. Plus there's the cute outfits and it's a decent pay. But aside from the dancing aspect, I really respect the charity work that a lot of the dance crews do. It's a sort of hero work without needing the license. And the other? I'd have an easy in since I know the guy who owns every club in Salt Lake, so there's that. But really, I could make as good of a living as being a hero and it would be just as hard and fulfilling. You have to be a great performer and be able to grab a crowd, control their attention, and then make them worship you and your ability on stage. Midnight's taught that to us girls since her debut. Girls have to use their looks, their body, and what makes guys think is lesser to their advantage to prove the whole macho bullshit is, well, completely bullshit."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Kirishima thought for a moment, cupping his chin.

"In the words of the immortal Missy Elliot," Suri declared, feigning a super serious tone. "Girls girls, get that cash. If it's 9 to 5 or shakin' yo ass. Ain't no shame, ladies do yo thang, just make sure you ahead of the game."

"Okay, but seriously," Kirishima chuckled after listening to Suri. "You play your bass all the time in the common room if you're not all over Mina, Tooru, and Midoriya. You're pretty good from what I can tell. And we all heard you sing with Jirou. You're amazing, Suri!"

"Pfft, yeah well, compared to my brother. I'm trash as fuck," Suri snorted and rolled her eyes.

"So that's it," Kaminari blurted out.

It made Suri realize that they were now in the common room and she'd finally admitted her hang up in front of everyone. Once she realized everyone was now looking at her expectantly, she grumbled and smacked her palm against her forehead. She silently cursed herself for not being more aware of her surroundings and cursed Bakugou for being right that Kiri would break her out of her shell.

Damn him.

"Is that really what's holding you back?" Tooru asked innocently.

"I know Dante's good and all but he's not that much better than you," Mina shrugged and answered honestly.

"Guys," Suri sighed and groaned. "It is. He is. Like the guy has like a five or six octave range in just his vocals. Then he's like Jirou and can basically play any instrument you put in front of him. Between him and my mom, I'm just not that good. I am not going to get up and sing or play in front of a crowd. Really, I am sorry for that."

"Sounds like a bitch ass reason to me," Pazuzu spoke up, making it known that he and Ryuko were here hanging out with everyone.

"Oh fuck you, ZuZu," Suri snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Offer's on the table," he shrugged and Ryuko nodded eagerly in agreement while wiggling her eyebrows at Suri, Mina, Tooru, and Izuku.

"Later," Suri growled and narrowed her eyes at the two of them.

"Besides, you know he's right," Ryuko smirked.

"No, he's not," Suri argued, coming closer to the couches and folding her arms tight in front of everyone. "It's a perfectly logical reason."

"I would beg to differ, Kuroyashi," Iida answered, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. "Take my brother for example. He had been a shining example of everything that I wish to achieve and I still have a high bar to leap over if I hope to live up to his standards. That being said, it's a bar that I don't turn away from. You should be doing the same and trying to reach that same level as your brother and mom."

"I have to agree with Pazuzu on this one, Suri," Tsu croaked, looking up at Suri as she spoke. "It really is a lame reason to not want to do something."

"Besides, you're gonna be on stage one way or another," Pazuzu answered with a devilish grin.

It was a look that Suri knew not to trust.

"Yes, I already will be," Suri said slowly, narrowing her eyes at the werewolf. "Dancing. That's it."

The fact that Mina, Izuku, and Tooru suddenly flinched made all of her red flag warnings begin to go haywire. She watched the three of them smile weakly and look away before she looked back at Pazuzu and Ryuko who were both grinning ear to ear. She slowly began to frown and her eyes began to widen at the two troublemakers as all of the tension began to sink away and get replaced by a feeling of dread.

"Oh hell, what did you two do?" Suri asked, her voice growing worried.

"Well, your mates here said you've been strugglin' but it wasn't hard to not notice. You seriously dunno how to hide your shit when you're being all bitchy," Pazuzu said with as much sass as he could manage. "So, we asked em what crawled up your ass and they told us."

"Pazuzu…"

"We were giving Kirishima a chance to do his thing but now we don't have a choice," Ryuko smiled, the same devilish smile that her boyfriend had that carried just as much mischief with it.

"Ryuko…"

"Sorry, Suri," Mina whined and put her hands together, essentially begging for forgiveness.

"What. Did. You. Do?" Suri asked slowly.

"Hah," Pazuzu laughed, and chuckled to himself. "You're gonna be busy as fuck."

"Busy with what?"

"We might have put your name down for some things so you're pulling triple duty, babe," Ryuko answered. "I'm really looking forward to seeing you at the singing competition and the beauty pageant. You're gonna do great."

"You what?!"

"If I'm being honest," Aizawa sighed with exhaustion as he watched Suri pace angrily back and forth next to his desk in the teacher's lounge. "I think your friends are right. Your excuse not to do the competitions or do more in your class project is stupid."

"Fine, you think it's stupid," Suri growled back at him. "But you can't be okay with me getting signed up without my knowledge or permission!"

"Technically it's fine," Aizawa replied, not even looking at Suri. "Given that Hamano is your Beta, he can do things like this under pack law."

Suri's eye twitched as she stopped and scowled harder at her teacher. It didn't even click that he'd just revealed Pazauzu's real name to her which was something she didn't even know.

"Really?" Suri asked dryly. "You're gonna quote pack law? To me?"

"Honestly, I think you'd do fantastic in the beauty pageant," Midnight spoke up, flashing Suri the brightest smile she could offer. "You've got a lot going for you so I say show it off and just let out all of that youthful vigor! Make it a pleasure for all of us."

Midnight was swooning now, reminiscing on being a decade or so younger and was swaying around like a giddy schoolgirl. It made Suri sigh and let all of the anger seep away. There was no being angry watching Midnight like this. Honestly, it was one of her teacher's best qualities and always seemed to bring a smile to Suri's face.

"I have to agree with them kid," All Might sighed and spoke up next. "Honestly, I thought being the center of attention and showing off was your kind of thing. This is the perfect chance for that if you ask me."

"It's not that though," Suri defended herself.

"If you ask me, I think you need to just calm down, puff your chest out and just do the damn thing," he shrugged and sat back in his chair.

"But singing and music is Dante's thing! Not mine," she growled at him.

"Is that what this is all about?" All Might asked incredulously, cocking an eyebrow at his niece, before chuckling and shaking his head in disbelief.

"Stop comparing yourself to your brother," Aizawa groaned and looked up at her, scowling hard as their eyes met. "You're not anyone else but yourself. This is your own thing. You need to stop complaining and buck up because you're wasting everyone's time with such a trivial excuse. Time is precious, Kuroyashi, or haven't I taught you that?"

"Yes, sir," Suri sighed out after finally stopping herself from gritting her teeth and clenching her fists so tightly. But truthfully, she knew they were right. And it didn't help that Atiena had a very I told you so expression on her face inside their mind. She headed for the door then but stopped as she got to it, hung her head and looked back over her shoulder at her teachers. "Thank you, Mr. Aizawa, Miss Midnight, Uncle Toshi. I needed that."

With that she opened the door and left the teacher's lounge before she began walking back towards the cafeteria to get lunch. She'd spent the first quarter of her lunch break on the frivolous endeavor to get out of the two extra competitions that Pazuzu - or rather, Hamano - and Ryuko had signed her up for. Though, part of that blame went to Tooru and Izuku who'd been there to help them fill out the paperwork. They were in the proverbial dog house, but she figured maybe that might be too harsh since they were just trying to help. Was this the best way to help? Probably not but hey, it had done the trick because now she had zero choice but to buckle up, put on her big girl panties and get her ass on stage. Three different times. And that realization hit her like a bag of bricks and made her gowl and want to scream. Instead of screaming however, she strolled to one of the cafeteria tables and slammed her palms against the edge before glaring at everyone in attendance after scaring the shit out of them.

"First of all, you're a fucking asshole, Hamano," Suri snarled under her breath as she rolled her eyes up to look at Pazuzu who was sitting with Ryuko, Tooru, Izuku, Mina, Nishijima, Mai, Kirishima, and Shiozaki. The use of his name made Pazuzu go wide eyed before he scowled and cursed loudly at his plate. The slam had made Jirou, who was standing at the other end of the table and had been going over synching the dance team and band with Mina, jump and yelp in terror. "Second, Jirou, I'mma need the tabs for the song. Which means," she heavily sighed and gave her pinkette girlfriend a sad look. "I have to drop from the dance team. I'm really fucking sorry, Mina."

"It's okay! I promise," Mina nodded and tried to reassure the beast girl. "We're working on something with Izuku and Aoyama at the moment. So even though we're losing you on the dance team, we'll still be able to keep everything symmetrical."

"I'm still sorry," Suri said, before turning to Tooru and Izuku. She narrowed her eyes at both of them and pouted her lips at them, "and you two. What gave you the idea to sign me up for a singing competition and a beauty pageant? Like, really?"

"Oh, I'll take blame for the singing competition, on the gods," Pazuzu answered with a smug grin and overly eager tone. "They told me about how you were bitching out of the class stuff and I thought it'd be fuckin' funny."

"Oh ha ha, I'm totally laughing you ass," Suri rolled her eyes and gave Pazuzu the full snarky attitude he so rightfully deserved.

"I-I uh… I-I told them about how nervous you were singing in front of crowds," Izuku spoke, shyly scratching the back of his head and not meeting Suri's eyes. "I thought they might have an idea of how to help since you really enjoy singing for us when we go to the karaoke club."

"And we know you've been wanting to get up and take a turn ever since we started doing Karaoke Thursdays with the rest of class," Mina admitted, giving Suri a serious look.

"Okay fine, I have," she grumbled in return. "But there had to be a better way than this. And I haven't even gotten to the pageant thing, was that your idea too wolf boy?"

Suri glared at Pazuzu who just snickered and shook his head up at Suri. Beside her, Tooru cautiously raised a hand and refused to meet anyone's eyes with how nervous she was.

"A-Actually… that was me."

"Babe," Suri sighed, looking at Tooru and seeing how nervous she was about admitting her actions. It made Suri calm down and realize how off the handle she was seeming to everyone, not just her girlfriend. It made sense why Tooru was nervous then. "I love that you think that I, of all people, am worthy of any sort of pageantry. I really do. But… where are we going to get a dress? Like, what am I gonna wear that could compete with the other girls?"

"Kuroyashi, you're signed up for the beauty pageant too?"

Suri turned to see Kendo from 1-B passing behind her who gave the beast girl a confident smile. The two girls made no effort in hiding that they both sized each other up and Suri couldn't help but find that confidence in herself again. She looked over the big sister of their rival class and took in her long orange hair, teal green eyes, and tomboyish good looks. Suri could admit that Kendo was attractive, and wouldn't mind seeing more of her. But in that moment, Suri wasn't thinking sex for once when she was staring down a cute girl; she was thinking competitively.

"Yeah," she answered with a small smirk and as much confidence as she could throw on. "Yeah, I am. I take it I'm gonna be going against you then?"

"Yeah," she chuckled and shrugged. "Pony thought it would be a fun idea for me. I actually signed the paper on accident but in the end I said what the hell, why not?"

"Gee, that sounds kinda similar to my situation," Suri said, turning a little to look over her shoulder at Tooru.

"I ain't complainin', it's nice to know your friends think you can do stuff you never would have thought of right?" Kendo said with a small smirk of her own. It was apparent to both Suri and herself that the pageant wasn't exactly their own ideas and they'd both been given a little push in the same direction. "Anyway, I look forward to it. Just don't get any hard feelings when I win."

"Is that right?" Suri narrowed her eyes in defiance, her grin growing wider. "You trying to convince me or yourself that you're gonna take home first place?"

"Oh trust me, I'm gonna win," Kendo replied back.

"You're sure about that, sweetie? Banking on that commercial with Uwabami a little too hard aren't ya?" Suri chuckled softly, before holding her fist up in front of Kendo. "Thanks by the way, I'm looking forward to this even more. So good luck and all but… you're still gonna lose."

"Me too. Just keep telling yourself you're gonna win, Kuroyashi, but this is one thing our class is gonna come out on top of. Good luck, hun," Kendo said and was more than happy to bump fists with Suri.

As she walked away, she gave Suri a playful wink before disappearing back into the crowd of her classmates. Suri smiled wide as she watched Kendo walk away and wasn't shy about checking the other girl out. Because damn did she have a nice ass. Then she turned back to the group and let the facade drop into worry and despair as she sighed and grumbled loudly with hearty frustration.

"Tooru, please tell me you have an idea for this thing."

"Of course I do," she chirped happily. "I can take care of getting you all dolled up. There's just one thing you have to figure out on your own."

Suri's eye twitched again and she gave Tooru an even, emotionless glare that told everyone how unprepared for all of this she really was.

"And that would be?"

The fact that Tooru began nervously chuckling and scratched the side of her chin in one of her usual sheepish ticks made Suri's eye twitch again. The fact that Tooru was nervous about unloading this next part only made Suri even more nervous herself. If Tooru was being sheepish and quiet in a situation like this, it meant she knew Suri was going to hate the answer. Oh and she so totally would hate the answer.

"The talent portion of the pageant," Tooru finally said in barely more than a whisper.

"You're fucking me?"

"Umm… not at the moment?" she replied, smiling and hoping the answer might alleviate some of the stress.

"Oh! Oh! If she's not, I will," Ryuko blurted out with a grin.

"I hate you guys," Suri grumbled and dropped her head, relenting the whole mean and domineering face she was trying to put on for everyone to hide her nerves. It made everyone at the table start to giggle and snicker.

"Love you too," everyone said in unison, each with big grins on their faces.

"Suri, whatever you decide to do, and whatever you decide to wear, I'm sure Eri will love it," Izuku added with a tender voice.

It was filled with an eagerness and sincerity that made Suri look up from where her head was drooped and look at him. She studied his face for a short moment and couldn't find a sign of him bluffing or just saying something to make her feel better. It was the wholly honest truth that he was so sure of believing one hundred percent.

"That's right, she's coming isn't she?" Suri finally asked softly.

"Yeah," he chuckled. "I know that seeing us on stage singing and dancing will make her smile for real. It's what I'm hoping to do anyway. She seemed interested and excited about it when I told her about it when she came last week. She's still scared and frightened so I'm hoping this will all help her feel better."

"Yeah," Suri nodded slowly. "I'm sure it will."

"And seeing you during the beauty pageant and singing competition," Izuku started before looking Suri straight in the eyes, making her breath hitch in her throat. "I'm sure she'll enjoy it just as much as us."

Suri took the next moment to relearn how to breathe properly because gods she loved the way he looked at her in moments like this. When she was able to breathe and calm down the flash of heat in her core she swallowed hard and let her mouth stop from being so dry. Damn him. Once she was able to focus, she took a deep breath and smiled softly at Izuku.

"Hey, Izu," she said with as much gentle care as possible. "Would it be cool if you took me to see her again? Maybe I can get a better idea of what to do if I'm doing it for her."

Izuku paused and looked at Suri, studying her face for a long moment himself. When her words clicked, his expression brightened and he lit up like the fourth of July. The pure joy and excitement in his face made Suri sheepishly smile and have to choke off a giggle from his reaction. His excitement held him hostage for the next moment before he nodded happily.

"Of course! I'll clear it with Mr. Aizawa!"

And just like that, Suri and Izuku had a date to go see a certain, precious six year old little girl that had forgotten how to smile. A date to see if Suri could figure out what part she needed to play in making that certain little girl smile for real.

And honestly, that sounded like a damn good date to Suri.