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Kyouka Jirou hated just about anything horror related – so when Mina suggested that they round up the girls and go visit the local haunted house that weekend, she was very much opposed to the idea.
Naturally Jirou’s protests fell on deaf ears and, four days later, she found herself standing outside of the aforementioned attraction with the rest of the girls, cursing her pink haired fiend of a friend.
“Oh unclench Kyo,” Tooru giggled, sidling up beside her. “It’ll be fun with all us girls there!”
“Indeed,” Momo nodded, placing a comforting hand on her best friend’s shoulder. “We’ll be sure to have each other’s backs, no matter what!”
Their words did nothing to calm her racing heart but she nodded anyway, following her friends as they joined the queue.
“Who knows, maybe one of the monsters will be cute?” Mina grinned as she fumbled around in her purse, searching for her ticket.
“If they are, Mina, then it’s not going to be a very good haunted house.”
They all laughed at Tsu’s response, shuffling along as the line moved forward, allowing the next group of teenagers into the attraction. Screams sounded from inside before the doors slammed shut again and Jirou felt her blood run cold. She really hated this.
“Man, those screams definitely don’t help make it any less scary.” Ochako said, a nervous edge to her voice. Jirou couldn’t help but agree.
“Don’t forget it’s just the actors jumping out at them,” Momo said in her usual calm, motherly way. “They’re not actually being attacked.”
“And yet I still feel like I’m gonna wet my pants any second.” Jirou muttered dryly as the line moved up again. The next group, consisting of six or seven boys who looked to be around their age, entered the house and Jirou realized that her group was next. A chill ran down her spine as another set of screams filled the air.
“Okay girls, you’ll be heading in in a minute.” The man working the door approached them. “Can I have your tickets?”
Jirou pulled hers out of her pocket and handed it to him while her friends did the same. The man motioned for them to approach the door. “Alright, the rules are pretty simple: no running, no assaulting the actors or other people going through the attraction, and no flashlights or flash photography while inside.”
Mina and Tooru were practically vibrating with excitement at this point while Jirou felt like she was two seconds away from losing her lunch.
“You okay Kyouka?” Momo whispered in her ear. Jirou stiffened but nodded anyway, doing her best to shoot her friend a reassuring smile. “Yeah I’m okay.” As much as she hated this, she didn’t want to be the one to ruin the night for everyone by being a bad sport.
Momo watched her carefully, waiting to see if she’d say anything else, before nodding and turning back to the group.
“Okay girls, you’re up.” The man opened the door and frightened screams filled the air once more. “Don’t forget the rules and have fun!”
One minute into the haunted house and Jirou already wanted out.
It was pitch black and she knew any moment something else would jump out.
She felt a hand grab hers and screamed.
“Sorry, it’s just me!” Ochako yelped.
“Jeez Kyouka, are you trying to give the rest of us a heart attack?” She heard Tooru’s voice ahead of her.
“It’s not my fault I can’t se– AHHH” Jirou screamed as the hallway suddenly lit up and a masked figure came out of the wall. At least she wasn’t the only one screaming now.
Not long after the first, a new masked figure leapt out from behind them and began to chase them waving an axe. The girls raced forward screaming hysterically.
And then the lights went out again.
Jirou cursed under her breath upon realizing she had lost Uraraka’s hand. She heard new male voices mixing with the voices of her friends and grabbed Ochako’s hand again before they got mixed in with the group of boys ahead of them.
Deciding just holding hands wasn’t good enough; she grabbed onto Uraraka’s arm and clung to it for dear life.
Though something didn’t seem right about Uraraka’s arm; it was a little too… muscular.
Before Jirou could question it, the group entered a new section of the house and it was no longer pitch black. The room was modeled after an abandoned hospital and Jirou squeezed her eyes shut, knowing something gross was going to happen. Sure enough, screams filled the air and Jirou felt herself being dragged forward by the arm she was latched to. As they turned a corner, a couple of zombie nurses jumped out at them.
Jirou screamed and dove into the chest of the person she had been latched onto. She knew now that it was definitely not Uraraka, if their scream was anything to go by. As she breathed in again, she inhaled the faint scent of spicy cologne and firewood. It was oddly comforting.
She heard a throat clear above her and she froze, gripping onto the white cotton t-shirt before her like her life depended on it. “Uh, not that I’m complaining, but are you okay?”
Slowly, she raised her head and looked into a pair of warm, golden eyes. These eyes were (unfortunately) on the face of a rather attractive blonde boy with a sheepish grin on his face.
Unable to find her voice, Jirou simply nodded. The boy’s smile warmed when he saw the nod and he looked around. They were outside of the hospital room now, next to the one of the safe exits the attraction offered.
“It looks like our friends went on without us,” he said with a humorless chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. Jirou looked around for the first time and realized the boy was right; the others had gone ahead without them. “Our groups must’ve mixed up in that dark hallway.”
“Yeah,” Jirou said, her voice finally coming back. She released the boy’s shirt and stepped back, suddenly feeling embarrassed for clinging onto him. “Man, I really hate this place. Sorry for grabbing you like that.”
The blonde shrugged, his sunny smile never leaving his face. “Don’t worry about it. I could never complain about a pretty girl latching onto me in a haunted house.” He added a wink to the end of his sentence and Jirou felt her face heat up a good hundred or so degrees.
“W-well, I’m sorry anyway…” She said, looking away so he couldn’t see her flaming cheeks.
“What’s your name?” The boy asked, moving forward once more.
“K-Kyouka Jirou–hey!” She grabbed his arm suddenly when she realized he was moving, startling him. “Can we not continue just yet? This is just… a lot.”
“You’re not a fan of scary stuff, are ya?” The blonde shot her a sympathetic smile.
“No, I hate it.”
“Honestly, I’m not a big fan either.” He admitted, rubbing one of his arms nervously as he eyed the safe exit. “Do you want to just… y’know, leave?”
Jirou smiled for the first time since they’d arrived at the scary attraction. “I would love that.”
The boy returned her smile, looking rather relieved. “Great, let’s go then. We can wait for our friends by the final exit.” He started towards the door before stopping and turning around again. “My name is Denki Kaminari by the way.”
“Nice to meet ya, Kaminari.”
And just like that, haunted houses didn’t seem so bad anymore.