Chapter 9!

This one is half jokes and half setup.

Enjoy, more notes at the end!

Joke's On Me

*Neito POV*

It was worth reminding that people were often their own undoing.

"It should have been me, not her!" Tsunotori cried, distraught at the scene playing out a ways off from them, "It's not fair!"

"Hoisted by your own petard, Tsunotori?" Neito chuckled, amused by both her reaction and what was happening, and Kaibara gave him a look.

"What?" the other boy questioned with a mix of confusion between his own small smirk.

"Poetic justice, my friend," he grinned before turning back to the worked up Tsunotori. "I assume your horns get in the way?" he asked more to poke fun at her than anything and the horned girl scowled at his comment.

"This sucks!" she simply groaned and he and Kaibara each returned a bark of laughter to her.

There were many things that had become common consensus amongst class 1-B.

Which people you went to for what, who was the best at this or was the most of that, but there was one that you wouldn't understand at first glance.

And it was that the biggest brat among them was none other than Komori Kinoko.

Sure she could be shy with people but the second she got familiar with someone then she turned into a snarky little devil. She had a surprisingly sharp tongue when she wanted to, with a cheeky little smile to match, and the biggest evidence for this claim was that she was the only 1-B student able to actually tease and get a proper annoyed reaction from Midoriya.

The fox girl always had a witty return either sarcastically laced, in a playful but cool manner, or in an almost deadpan that made you reconsider, but Komori was somehow able to get the best of her at times. It made more sense when you considered that the Music Club members were closer to siblings than just friends and Komori took the role of a bratty younger sister for Midoriya. Tsuburaba managed to play in between the two of them as more the middle child but that was mainly because Komori and Midoriya had to try and one up the other when it came to banter.

That wasn't to say that she only teased Midoriya though, just that she was the only successful one, because Komori loved toying with everyone when she felt like it. All of it was harmless truly, and she was of course mindful and considerate of the others at the end of the day, but she certainly found and made a lot of amusement from riling up their fellow classmates.

Much like right now.

Tsunotori in her own bid for amusement often purchased clothes with English on them and gifted them to the other students with the chief among them being Midoriya and Kodai. At least, Midoriya and Kodai were the ones who actually wore the clothes Tsunotori bought them and of course many of them were crude jokes or memes. Kodai actually enjoyed them, the ones she understood more so, and Midoriya simply didn't understand most of them but realized that they would cause some amusement around the dorms for those that did. Now however, the particular shirt that Tsunotori had given her was supposed to have a second part to the joke that the American girl had wanted to be involved in. What she hadn't accounted for was Komori stealing her thunder the instant she was in view.

On the couch was the Music Club who were lounging about and chatting about something or the other. Midoriya was laying back into the furniture and Komori had taken residence almost in her lap with the top of her head resting directly beneath the tall greenette's chest while the shirt that Midoriya was wearing read 'Thinking Cap' directly on said chest. Tsuburaba and Midoriya were engrossed in their conversation but Komori dragged her eyes over to Tsunotori and snickered cheekily before mouthing 'Thanks' to the blonde who was just about fuming before turning her attention back to her own club.

"I wasn't thinking," Tsunotori grumbled, dropping her shoulders in defeat, and Neito just couldn't resist.

"Perhaps you should have had your 'Thinking Cap' on," he teased, earning another narrowed side eye from the girl, but Kaibara moved them along.

"What else did you buy her?" the other boy had to ask as Tsunotori raised a hand to count on her fingers.

"Just a few other shirts so far," she hummed, staring off a little as she thought it out. "She already wore the 'Sugoi Dekai' and 'Thinking Cap' one but I got her one that says 'Mega Milk' and a skinny snorlax," the horned student listed out.

"Skinny snorlax?" Kaibara repeated but Neito shook his head.

"Let me guess," he hummed, "when Midoriya wears it the snorlax appears normal?"

"It actually appears fatter than normal," Tsunotori giggled, probably imagining it, and all three of them broke into a subdued fit of laughter.

"That is amusing," Neito nodded, wiping at his teary eyes as the other two did the same.

Really, there was never a dull day with this class.

[The Prankster's Club. Tsunotori Pony, Kaibara Sen, Monoma Neito, and Midoriya Izumi lay the seeds of mischief even at the expense of making themselves look like fools.]

-break-

Between Bros

*Manga POV*

While the current group that Manga had assembled was not an existing club within 1-B, they still had a very important topic to discuss.

The bubble-headed boy looked around at the three other male students he had gathered and he briefly wondered if this was actually going to be a good idea. Shoda and Kaibara would likely go along with it, though Kaibara might have needed a little more convincing, but Tsuburaba was probably the one who was going to relent. Either way, this would be a great way for them to get closer and of course have some interesting information amongst the four of them.

"The reason I've gathered us together is because the four of us have something in common," Manga began, garnering the attention the attention of the others, who returned a variety of expressions.

"That narrows it down," Kaibara commented semi-sarcastically which earned him a gentle nudge from their Vice Rep.

"Give him a chance to elaborate, Kaibara," Shoda urged calmly while their final member chimed in curiously.

"Yeah, what's this about?" Tsuburaba addressed, redirecting back to him, as Manga folded his arms seriously.

"I'll get directly to the point then," he assured before continuing on. "All four of us have secret crushes right?" he asked and the reactions were immediate.

"That's it?" Kaibara wondered with a raised brow yet Manga knew that this wasn't a surprise to the most observant student in 1-B, though he likely didn't know who each of them liked because he didn't care, so the panel headed boy looked over at the other two instead.

"Ah," Shoda mumbled, appearing a bit sheepish, while Tsuburaba instead looked completely caught off guard.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" the flustered boy denied fervently but the others all shared a look.

"Don't think that some of us haven't noticed you sneaking off, Tsuburaba," Kaibara informed flatly, making said student's expression twist up at the words, and Shoda gave an sympathetic look.

"You are a bit obvious," he followed up lightly which only made Tsuburaba wave his hands even more.

"We have other classmates who have crushes don't we?" he tried deflecting but Manga just shrugged it off.

"Surely," he agreed, though he had more input to give, "but do you want to listen to how much Tokage likes Midoriya?"

The others made a face at that but Tsuburaba recovered first, still trying to find a way out. "Not really," he admitted readily, "though rumor is that Yanagi and Kodai have people they like."

"Haven't heard that before," Kaibara edged in, though Manga didn't particularly believe that, and the bubble headed boy lightly slapped his hand down.

"We're getting off topic," he reminded, drawing back the focus. "plus, this is between us guys right now," he assured, appealing to an unspoken code with a strong promise, before he pointed at Tsuburaba. "Would you like to start?"

"No way!" he floundered, waving a hand frantically. "I don't have someone like that," he denied again before attempting to urge someone else to go with his eyes, "how about you three go?"

"I don't mind at all," Manga replied, only teasing the other boy since they all knew he wouldn't be willing to go first. "Truthfully I like Tsunotori," he confessed without a second thought and Kaibara nodded along with a hum.

"No surprise there," he said with a stretch, "you two are in a few clubs together and are always reading manga, watching anime, or telling jokes with each other."

"I guess that's how we all generally came to like each of our crushes?" Manga wondered, considering just how many clubs the class had and the other two, save Tsuburaba, nodded.

"Pretty sure," Kaibara answered nonchalantly, "I like Komori." The others made some small noises at that and stared at him until he went on. "She asks me to help her with taking pictures a lot and even has me try on a bunch of different clothes so we ended up spending a lot of time together," he explained abruptly to get them to back off but Tsuburaba reacted immediately.

"I promise I won't tell," the air barrier boy promised since he was so close to Komori through the Music Club and Manga and the others had to grin at how serious he could be sometimes.

"Of course I'm in the same boat when it comes to spending time together through clubs," Shoda went next, chuckling a little in embarrassment. "Shiozaki and I are often cooking or baking with one another and we also talk plenty about our days and such," their vice rep laid out to little surprise to them considering that most of the class kind of joked about them being a parental duo to 1-B.

"Obviously we're all sworn to secrecy but that still leaves you Tsuburaba," Manga coughed mischievously, bringing the whole thing full circle, and the other student grumbled.

"Well, I..." Tsuburaba faintly tried one last time but he suddenly groaned. "Okay, look! I won't say who she is but she's not in our class at least!" he half yelled, finally relenting, and the other three finally got a good laugh out of his outburst.

"Alright, alright," Kaibara smirked, giving their friend a break. "Does anyone else know though?" he had to ask and Manga's curiosity peaked at that.

"Midoriya and Komori know of course," Tsuburaba replied softly though his voice picked back up again. "But I already bought them out just in case so don't even think of trying to get them to talk!" he claimed proudly and again the others laughed at how amusing Tsuburaba was when he got worked up.

"That's fine, we just need to figure out for ourselves," Manga snickered, making Tsuburaba's face fall.

"How did I let you sucker me into that," he mumbled, downcast, while Shoda gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"You do make it quite easy," he appraised gently and another round of laughs chorused.

They were closer already and Manga's day got more amusing too.

[Fukidashi Manga, Kaibara Sen, Shoda Nirengeki, and Tsuburaba Kosei convene about those who they have a secret favor for.]

Notes and Stuff

I found it really funny for Komori to be the cheeky brat type with her friends. Also yes Pony made a Yu-Gi-Oh reference.

I promise that Tsuburaba's crush is important. The others were mainly to build and help understand the dynamics and relationships of characters but in Tsuburaba's case it will actually be important. If I do any real relationship stuff in this fic it'll mostly be background.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and look forward to more updates from me!