I'm back with another chapter! This one was a blast to write, let me tell you. I hope you all enjoy!
"You asked for it, you got it! Next up: a 48-hour marathon of Ghost Harassers, on the Used To Be About History Channel."
Ochako grinned at her couch companion. "Everything ready? Popcorn?"
"Check."
"Pizza?"
"Check."
"Drinks?"
"Check."
"Guidebook for this universe's jokes, so we don't get lost with the humor?"
"Obviously," Shouto confirmed. "Ready to not move until sunset?"
"You bet I am!"
Suddenly the screen changed, and Toby Determined's voice rang out from the tv. "We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news!"
Ochako frowned at the screen. "Aw, what? It was just starting!"
"Nothing Toby says can ever really be calling "breaking news," Shouto agreed dryly.
"Hey, it's starting!" The two of them looked over to see Grenda and Candy entering the room, followed by a confused but intrigued Izuku and Mina. "Turn it up!" The four of them gathered around the tv as the new broadcast continued.
The screen switched to show Toby, looking absolutely filthy next to a tent, flies buzzing around him. "Well, tonight's the night, but I've been out here for days! The Northwest family's annual ball-shindig is here, and even though common folk aren't let in, that won't stop us from camping out to get a peak at the fanciness." Images of people camping out, chatting excitedly outside the Northwest mansion gates, flew across the screen.
Ochako huffed. "Seriously? This is breaking news? It's just some rich-people party. Who even cares?"
Shouto nodded. "I've been to those. They're not very fun."
"Maybe this one is different?" Izuku offered. "I mean, from what we saw of her house that one time, it really was amazing. At the very least, it would be fun to explore."
"Forget exploration, I've heard that they give out live quails in their gift baskets," Grenda revealed. "That's the kind of party I definitely want to check out."
"That does sound awesome," Mina agreed.
"Give me your life, Pacifica," Candy sighed dreamily, as Pacifica was shown waving at the crowd.
"Guys, in case you haven't forgotten, Pacifica Northwest is the worst." Ochako certainly hadn't forgotten. All those insults towards Mina, all the times she'd mocked Ochako for not having money… Sure, she and Mina had pretty much settled on some sort of peaceful truce after that mini-golf mess, but that didn't mean Ochako had to start liking her.
Someone knocked on the door, and she got up to answer it. "And that's not jealousy talking - I'd say that to her face."
She opened the door to a familiar blonde teen, wearing sunglasses, a trench coat, and a purple scarf. "I need your help."
Ochako blinked at her. "Your the worst." Then she shut the door and turned back to the others. "See?"
The others stared at her for a moment, before Pacifica knocked on the door again, more rapidly this time. Ochako sighed and opened it. "What do you even want?"
"Look, you think it's easy for me to come here?" She swatted a fly away from her face. "I don't want to be seen in this hovel. But there's something haunting Northwest manor, and we're willing to hire you and Shouto to help. If you don't, the party could be ruined!"
Shouto, who was walking over, blinked. "Why me and Ochako specifically?"
Pacifica shrugged. "We saw you two in the papers, taking down that massive vampire bat and saving those cops."
"Oh right, that."
"Is this like that thing with the fighting game character, we're Izuku and I aren't going to find out how that happened?" Mina wondered curiously.
"Nah, it's just a long story." Honestly, both of those instances were so weird. Although Ochako guessed that it made sense. Without the cult, people were now accepting and talking about the strangeness in the town. Naturally some of their adventures might make the paper. She turned back to Pacifica. "How much money are we talking about?"
"Four-thousand each," Pacifica informed her. "And don't try to negotiate the price with me. If you don't like it, take it up with my parents."
Honestly, that was super cheap, even in American dollars. Considering how rich the Northwests were, they were totally being scammed. But it was eight-thousand dollars more than they already had, and hopefully they wouldn't be doing any long term saving in this world.
"Four-thousand each, and Mina, Izuku, Candy, and Grenda can come," Shouto countered. At their surprised looks, he shrugged. "You guys did say you wanted to go. And it wouldn't be fair if only Ochako and I went." Grenda, Candy, and Mina cheered, while Izuku looked more curious than anything.
Pacifica seemed to consider this, twitching slightly, as though the idea of letting all these common folk enter her very special house for her very special party was disdainful. Still, she relented, pulling golden invitations out of her jacket. "You're just lucky I'm desperate."
The others cheered. "Desperate! Desperate!"
"We'll lend you some dresses - it'll be great!" Candy insisted. "Not sure about the boys though."
"We could probably ask Stan," Izuku suggested. "I'm sure he knows a good place to get cheap suits."
Pacifica rolled her eyes at them. "Just be there on time, alright?"
"Yeah yeah, we'll be there," Ochako agreed. At least her first and possibly last fancy rich person party should be interesting.
They pulled up to the mansion in a black Rolls Royce, as people cheered and guards under umbrellas lined up on each side of the driveway. The gates were open, and they entered the grounds of the manor they'd only seen a glimpse of before.
"Welcome to Northwest Manor dorks," Pacifica announced, as the front doors were opened in front of them. "Try not to touch anything."
It was a grand entrance room, filled with deep stone and mahogany, a grand staircase leading upwards, maids and butlers fixing up the final finishing touches for the party below. Above, there hung the fossil of a massive aquatic dinosaur. A cider fountain was being set up, as was an ice sculpture of Pacifica as a mermaid.
It was rather incredible, Shouto could admit. He was used to big houses, considering his father, but their home, and the homes Shouto had visited, were mostly Japanese in design. This was his first time experiencing a rustic western home like this.
"Oh wow, everything is fancy!" Mina exclaimed as she looked around, unconsciously adjusting the sleeves of her white-gold dress. "I've never seen anything like this outside of tv shows. I can't believe some people really live like this."
"I mean, it's great, but what's the point of it all?" Ochako muttered. She'd gotten dressed for the occasion as well, wearing a cute pink dress, but she still didn't seem very happy to be here.
"To impress all of our guests, obviously," Pacifica huffed, leading them further into her house. "High standards are what make the Northwest family great. Not that I'd expect you to get that."
Shouto raised an eyebrow. "I thought that was lying about founding the town?" Predictably, she ignored him.
"The rumors were true!" Candy held up her gift basket, and out of it emerged a live quail and two chicks. "Although, I'm not sure how to get them back in the basket."
"Ah, if it isn't the duo of the hour!" Shouto looked away from Candy and Grenda chasing the quails to see Pacifica's parents approaching them. Next to them, Pacifica stiffened a little and stood up straighter.
The hairs on the back of Shouto's neck stood up.
"Are you two going to be okay?" Izuku asked, shifting his bow-tie around nervously. He'd gone with a bow-tie rather than a normal tie like Shouto, admitting that it probably wouldn't look the best to be wearing normal ties at a fancy party, considering how bad he was at tying them.
"Yeah, don't worry!" Ochako waved him off. "You guys have fun, we'll join you soon!"
Mina and Izuku wandered a little ways away, but not too far, clearly still keeping an eye on them. Shouto appreciated the gesture.
"Well then, I assume that means you'll try to fix our… situation, before the guests arrive?"
"We'll do our best," Shouto assured him coolly, as Ochako nodded alongside him.
"Excellent! Pacifica, take our guests to the… problem room."
Pacifica nodded and led Shouto and Ochako away, through the arching, gilded halls of the Northwest mansion. Ochako gripped her amulet a bit tighter, and Shouto shifted the bag around his neck, carrying anointed water as well as the journal with the exorcist chant. He pulled out both and handed the former to Ochako, flipping through the pages of the latter.
"This is the main room where it's been happening," Pacifica said, leading them into a small room with a pool table, a wall covered entirely in bookshelves, a fireplace, above which sat a painting of a lumberjack, and dozens of taxidermized animals of all species.
"Yeah, this looks like the kind of room that would be haunted, alright," Ochako admitted, looking around. "I wouldn't be too worried, though. Ghosts land on a 10-category scale, and floating plates sound like a category one." Shouto flipped open the book and landed on the page showing the author's rendition of a "category one" ghost.
Pacifica raised an eyebrow. "So what, are you going to bore him back to the afterlife by reading from this book?"
"We'll perform an exorcism that way if we need to. But hopefully we can just splash him with anointed water, and he'll be out of your hair," Shouto said, turning back to study the room.
Thunder rumbled, and then-
-Something was different.
"The painting," Ochako hissed, and Shouto looked over to see that the lumberjack in the painting had vanished. Shit.
Pacifica screamed, looking down at her feet as blood dripped onto the floor around her. Looking up, Shouto saw that the taxidermy heads were starting to bleed from the eyes and the mouth, chanting: "Ancient sins. Ancient sins." The window shutters slammed, and objects started flying around the room, circling about their heads. Ochako clutched her pendant and reached out, light covering the objects - then sputtering out, yanked back from her control. Miniature clouds gathered around the chandelier on the ceiling, lightning flashing inside them.
"What is this!?" Pacifica yelled, as the three of them backed up against each other in the center of the room. "What do we do?"
The bottle holding the anointed water shattered in Ochako's hand, and the fireplace roared out of control. "Even with that convenience store, I could still control the flying objects," She whispered. "This is a category ten."
"Ancient blood and blackened skies, the forest dark shall once more rise!" The heads on the walls chanted, blood still pouring out of their mouths and eyes. The fireplace roared once again, and this time, a skeletal hand emerged, followed by another. Then a torso and head, the latter cleaved in with an axe. Skin and clothes grew around the skeletal frame, forming the lumberjack of the painting. Shouto grabbed Pacifica's hand, and the three of them ducked around the flying objects and dove under the pool table before the ghost could catch sight of them.
"I smell a Northwest!" The ghost boomed, blue fire bursting out of its head in the shape of a long wild beard. A double handed axe appeared in one hand, then slammed into the ground as the ghost dragged it behind him. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"
"Hurry, say your dumb exorcism already!" Pacifica hissed.
Shouto flipped through the pages, landing once again on the spell. "Right. Abite spiritus immundus, et pacem lucrifacere-"
"Found you!" The table lifted above and away from them, and Shouto rolled to the side, just as the axe slammed down where he once was. "Do not try to bind me! The prophecy will be fulfilled, and I will have my vengeance!"
"This way!" Pacifica scrambled to her feet and led them out of the room. They ran down the halls, the ghost chasing after them.
"No offense, but why do you have a painting of some guy who's sworn vengeance on your family in your house?" Ochako panted, dodging the objects that were rocketing towards them. "Isn't that basically asking for trouble?"
"Hey, don't blame me! I didn't put that thing there!" The ghost's laughter echoed behind them, and Shouto dodged a tree root that seemed to be growing out of nowhere. The further they ran, the more plants started covering the walls.
"Your manor, built on our blood and sacrifice, will be a forest! Your guests, wood! A hundred and fifty years I've waited, to avenge our deaths on the family so hated!"
The guests!?
Ochako's eyes widened. "The others! Has this weird forest spell hit the main dining hall yet? We need to save them!"
"We will, once we get rid of the ghost," Shouto agreed, dodging a charging taxidermized animal. "He isn't giving us the time to perform the exorcism - we'll need another way."
"A silver mirror," Ochako agreed. "We can catch him with one." They rounded another corner, and ran through a small garden.
"Watch out for the peacocks," Pacifica warned them, lifting up the hem of her dress. The warning came a bit too late - one of the birds smacked Ochako in the face.
She scowled, ducking under a rapidly growing tree. "Have I mentioned how much I hate this place yet?"
"Several times," Shouto said blandly. They entered the house again, mud tracking behind them, water from the storm dripping off their hair and clothes. "There! That room has a silver mirror."
He made to head into the room, but was stopped by two hands grabbing his arm and pulling him back. "Wait! That room has my parent's favorite carpet pattern. They'll lose it if we track mud in there!"
"We can't afford to worry about a dumb carpet!" Ochako yelled, but Shouto focused on Pacifica's face, and the absolute terror in her expression.
He knew that terror.
"We'll find another mirror," he agreed, backing away from the room and towards one of the walls with a tapestry on it - only to find his hand going through the artwork, and into empty space. "In here."
The other two followed him, ducking under the tapestry, which fluttered down behind them. Ochako lit up her necklace, and the three of them surveyed the dusty room. "What is this place?"
"I - I don't know," Pacifica admitted, looking around. "I've never seen this room before. When was it hidden away?" She grabbed one of the sheets covering a mountain of objects, and pulled it down, looking at what was beneath… and then stepping away in horror.
There were paintings, lots of them, mirror reflections of some of the paintings scattered around the manor, the ones that depicted the good deeds of the Northwest family. These paintings, however, told a different story - liars, thieves, frauds, all grinning at the painter, happily destroying the lives of native people, townsfolk, nature.
"...Oh," Ochako finally said quietly. "Guess it wasn't just Nathaniel Northwest whose true identity was covered up."
Pacifica stared blankly at the paintings, and Shouto noticed her hands were shaking. "So, it's all true then." Her voice came out as a whisper, but it might as well have been a shout, considering how well Shouto heard it. "Nathaniel Northwest really was the village idiot, and his son used all the money given to him for the cover-up to build our home."
She shook even harder, glaring at the photos, and in the soft blue light of Ochako's amulet, her eyes looked shiny, like she was about to cry. "The prophecy the ghost mentioned - it was given to our ancestor when a mudslide killed the lumberjack. When he was locked out of a party he was promised he could attend - my parents always told me…" She trailed off, before suddenly sinking to her knees.
"You - you were right, Ochako," She finally said. "And Shouto, when you gave me that newspaper - our family is just a line of frauds, and I'm the next link in that chain. Just a spoiled rich girl who's too scared of her parents to-" She broke off, eyes widening, before looking up at them defensively. "Never mind."
Shouto and Ochako exchanged glances, and Shouto could see how pale his friend was. "No - that's not-" She sputtered, looking to him for help. Shouto nodded at her, before sitting down next to the heiress.
"I get it," he said quietly.
Pacifica shot him a look. "No, I'm pretty sure you don't."
"I'm pretty sure I do," Shouto countered. "Parents like yours… like ours… they don't want a child, they want something they can mold into their own image, no matter what we want for ourselves. And when they realize they're dealing with someone who has their own opinions and doesn't want to just follow what they say, they'll try and beat it into us until we comply." Unconsciously, his hand went to his scar, and Pacifica's eyes widened.
"They - there's a bell," she stammered. "When - whenever I went against them, they'd ring the bell, and then lock me in a small closet for four hours. Now I hear the bell, and I can't think of anything but the dark small space. I can't go against them." She pulled her arms around her knees. "I'm too scared."
"It's scary," Shouto agreed. "But I think you're braver than you give yourself credit for. You're not averting your eyes from the truth, even though it's hard. And admitting it takes a lot of courage - I know how hard that is."
Ochako nodded vigorously. "Shouto's right. Maybe you've been an asshole, but that doesn't mean you need to stay one. People change! I'm sure-"
"There you are, Northwest!" They all spun around to see the ghost emerging from the wall, axe poised to strike. "You will not escape justice!"
Pacifica flinched, and without thinking, Shouto jumped in front of her, fire lit up in his hands. Next to him, Ochako did the same thing.
"What do you even think you're doing!?" She shouted at the ghost. "You were killed by rich assholes, so you're taking it out on a fifteen-year-old girl? What kind of justice is that?"
The lumberjack paused briefly, before scowling at them. "She is a Northwest, no matter her age! They are all the same, and they must all shoulder the blame!"
"Bullshit," Shouto hissed. "None of this is her fault!"
"The sins of the fathers aren't for their children to bear," Ochako agreed shortly. "Her parents are awful people, and so is most of her family line, but that doesn't mean she should be hurt for it! You're hurting an innocent person!"
Shouto stared the ghost right in his glowing eyes. "I understand wanting vengeance against the people who hurt you. You have every right to feel hurt and angry. But Pacifica doesn't deserve that hate. The party guests - our friends - they don't deserve your wrath."
Behind them, he could hear Pacifica's shaky breath, and then the girl got to her feet, pushing past the two of them to stand before the ghost. Shouto sucked in a breath, and Ochako reached for her, but she stood firm. "I don't want to die for my family," she said softly. "But I want to make things right, starting with you. How can I do that?"
The ghost reeled back, completely shaken, eyes comically wide. Then he looked at her with an appraising glance. "A Northwest must open the party gates, and fulfill the promise made so long ago. If you do that, then I will move on, and lift the forest from your home."
"Then that's what I'll do." She turned around to give them both nervous glances. "...Can you back me up?"
"We'll be right behind you," Ochako promised. Shouto nodded firmly, extinguishing his flames.
The ghost led them out of the room, and the three of them nervously followed, wandering the green-covered halls until they found themselves in the main room once again.
Rather than rustic western, the room was now a true forest, more taxidermied animals roaming about, and wood statues of horrified partygoers littering the hall. Ochako sucked in a breath, and Shouto followed her gaze to see the statues of Mina and Izuku standing protectively in front of Candy, Grenda, and some other young guest he didn't know.
A rush of protective fury filled him, and he forced himself to remain calm. Pacifica just needs to open the gate. Then they'll be okay. It's going to be okay.
Pacifica looked just as horrified as they were. Then she took a deep breath, steeling her nerves and running over to the lever that would open the gate.
"Pacifica Elise Northwest!" At the familiar voice, she froze.
There, underneath a small trapdoor, were Pacifica's parents, glaring at her. "Stop this instant!" Her father commanded. "We can't let the town see us like this! We have a reputation to uphold! Just come into the panic room. We have enough food for a week - and then we can eat the butler."
Shouto gaped at them. "Are you serious? If she doesn't do this, everyone here will die! Forget your reputation - the ghost will come after you next, and you'll end up just like them."
"Pah! Common rabble like you wouldn't understand," the man scoffed. "Pacifica, come, now." He pulled out a small bell.
"Oh, don't you dare!" The bell was surrounded by familiar turquoise light, and then it went flying away. Ochako turned to Pacifica. "You've got this!"
Pacifica held her father's gaze for one terrifying moment - and then broke it, glaring at both of her parents. "I won't let all these people die because of our family's sins. I won't be another link in the chain - I'm going to fix this!" And with that, she pulled the lever, opening the gate.
Her parents gasped in horror. The lumberjack gasped in delight. "Yes, yes! It's happening. My heart, once as hard as oak, now grows soft like… I don't know, birch, or something."
The greenery faded away, and moments later, all the guests were back to normal, the taxidermy animals back in their proper places.
The ghost smiled. "Pacifica, you are not like the other Northwests. I feel… lumber justice." And with that, he softly faded away. The axe that was embedded in his head clattered to the floor.
Pacifica smiled at the place where the ghost had moved on, then looked at the two of them, her smile more shy. Ochako wasted no time, jumping forward and giving her a big hug. "That was amazing! You're a real hero, you know."
Pacifica blushed. "I - um. Thanks. Couldn't have done it without you two."
"But you were the one to save the day, in the end. Regardless of your parents," Shouto reminded her. "That was amazing." Pacifica beamed.
"Hey! Are you guys alright? What happened?" Shouto looked over to see Mina and Izuku running over to them. "There was a ghost, and then-"
"Pacifica helped the ghost move on," Ochako announced proudly, letting go of the other girl. "It was super awesome."
Mina blinked, then smiled. "Oh - great job! Sounds like a wild story - you'll have to tell us later."
"We will," Shouto promised, as the townsfolk poured into the building, running around exploring everything. "For now though, we should probably, you know… celebrate. Or something."
Mina grinned. "Sounds like a plan to me." Without wasting another moment, she grabbed Shouto's arm and pulled him over to where different groups of people - friends, couples, family - were all starting to dance. "So, you two are getting along with her, now?"
"Yeah," Shouto admitted. "She's still prickly, but it's not like I have room to complain. Besides… She's a lot like me, as it turns out. Similar situations."
His friend's gaze softened. "Oh. Well, maybe some good friends to help support her is what she needs. Just like you."
"Yeah." The two of them spun around a bit, Mina guiding him through the dance. It was… rather enjoyable.
"You know, I never could've imagined doing anything like this, when we first got here," Mina admitted. "I mean, we got on each other's nerves all the time for the first couple weeks, didn't we? It's so strange, looking back on it."
Shouto did know. It seemed like a lifetime ago, that he'd been so annoyed with her. Maybe it was because things changed so drastically after they met Cipher for the first time… but when it came to Mina it was more than that.
"It feels like we've known each other forever, now," he finally said. "It feels a bit like that with Izuku and Ochako as well, but…"
"Not to the same degree," Mina finished. "Yeah, I get the feeling." She looked thoughtful. "I mean, we'll have to go home eventually, but that doesn't mean we can't still hang out all the time. I don't want to lose any of you guys."
"We'll stick together," he agreed.
For a brief moment, he felt that strange something in the back of his mind. It almost seemed to be laughing.
"This is pretty great," Ochako said, looking around at all the fun everyone seemed to be having. "Probably a lot more exciting than the usual party around here."
"Definitely." Pacifica's smile faded, and she frowned at the ground. "Don't get used to it. Next year, things will be the same as always, I'm sure."
"Well, it's nice while it lasts, right?" Izuku offered. Pacifica nodded, but she still seemed hesitant. Ochako frowned.
"Hey, are you going to be okay after this? With your parents, I mean."
Pacifica froze, before plastering on a disinterested expression. "It's fine. I can handle their tantrum, or whatever."
Izuku was smart - he quickly caught on to what they meant, judging by the way his eyes widened. "A-Are you sure? Because if you're not, then maybe you should have a sleepover somewhere else tonight, with one of your other friends?"
"Or you could stay with us," Ochako suggested. "I know it's nothing compared to this place, but the people are nicer, and I'm sure the others wouldn't mind. And we'd keep your parents away, even if that means Stan chasing them out with a broom."
Pacifica let out a surprised laugh at the mental image. "Really, I'll be fine. But… thanks for the offer."
"If you change your mind, let us know," Izuku insisted.
"Right." She looked between the two of them, then smirked. "You two should go dance, you know. I'm going to see if I can get some food. Later nerds." She waved a lazy hand in their direction, before wandering off.
Ochako looked towards the dancers, then back at Izuku, before giving him an exaggerated bow and offering her hand. "Might I have this dance, good sir?"
Izuku laughed, then mock-curtsied. "Of course, good lady!"
…Oh, he was really cute.
The two of them headed towards the dancefloor and watched the other dancers, before trying some steps of their own. Neither were great at it, but Ochako found that laughing over their missteps was part of the fun.
Shouto and Mina glided on by, talking softly to each other, and Ochako craned her head to get a better look. "Hey, do you think… I mean, those two have been pretty close lately, right?"
Izuku blinked, and looked over at their friends. "Yeah… but I don't think it's romantic, you know? I think they've just become really close friends."
"...Yeah." Ochako was almost surprised by how quickly she agreed, but it did make sense. The other two were close, but… that didn't always mean romantic feelings. Honestly, with the way they still bickered, they seemed more like siblings than anything.
"It's strange to think that if we hadn't been sent here by that portal villain, we might not have become friends with those two," she finally said. "We're all pretty different now than when we first got here, aren't we?"
"For sure," Izuku agreed. "I mean, we have a lot more experience now than we did, even if we can't use our quirks. And we've got new powers of our own, we've all learned how to live together, and how to scam people and skirt the law from Stan… although that part probably isn't much of a good thing, even though it's definitely helped. It could be useful in figuring out villain's motives and how they operate when we become official heroes-" he paused. "And I'm rambling again. Sorry."
"Don't apologize, it's cute." Ochako's brain then caught up to her mouth, and she felt her cheeks warm. Across from her, Izuku looked a bit red too. "Um, so! Dancing?"
"Dancing," Izuku agreed quickly, as the next song started playing. "I'll try not to step on your toes as much anymore, I promise."
"Same here. No toe-stepping." By the look of Izuku's sheepish grin, he knew just as well as her that they were both going to break that promise.
Somehow, Ochako found she didn't mind at all.
At first, I planned for all four kids to be heavily involved in this chapter, but it just wasn't being written well, so I narrowed down the scope, and it flowed a lot better. And when choosing two of the Mystery Crew to deal with the ghost, I realized it had to be Ochako and Shouto. Mina's mostly gotten over her issues with Pacifica, and Izuku never really had much interaction with her. On the other hand, Ochako still had a lot left to resolve, and if anyone could understand what Pacifica was going through, it would be Shouto.
As for the last bit... romance isn't a big part of the story at all, but that doesn't mean it isn't a lot of fun to write.
And, of course, you all know what's coming next.
I hope you enjoyed the story, and if you did, please leave a comment to let me know! Even small ones can make my day - all the recent comments have made writing these past couple chapters a lot easier.