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"You want me to be in your haunted house?" Ochako asked, shocked that Shinsou had thought of her. People didn't usually see her and think 'scary'.
"Yeah," Shinsou said. "It was fun for the school festival last year so I figured we could do one for Halloween."
"Hero course students are busier, though," Kaminari said, butting into their conversation. Shinsou side-eyed him as Kaminari draped an arm on his shoulder. "Doing one for fun when it's not graded or required is just extra work."
"I didn't ask you, did I?" Shinsou drawled, eyeing Kaminari with smirk and gently shrugging off his arm. "Uraraka has a gift for spooks."
"I-I do?" she stuttered.
"Floating objects, unexpected jump scares from corners of the room that would be unreachable otherwise," he explained. "Your work would be a hit."
Ochako pondered it for a moment but was interrupted by another loud blond.
"I couldn't help but overhear you were planning a hero course haunted house," Monoma said. "Why are you bothering with Class A, Shinsou, when you are well aware that Class B is superior in both acting and scares?"
"I'm not aware of that," Shinsou said. Monoma's smile faltered.
"So, Uraraka," Shinsou continued. "Can I count on you?" Uraraka's heart pounded in her ears and she gave a quick nod. Shinsou flashed a small smile that made her cheeks warm. "Good. I'll be in touch then."
He walked away with Monoma trailing behind him, arguing about what quirks from Class B would be the best for scares.
"Weird, he didn't ask me to help," Kaminari said. "I could, like, make lightning or something."
Ochako shrugged and they hurried off to their next class.
Over the weeks leading up to Halloween, Shinsou asked members of both classes to assist in creating a truly scary experience for U.A. students to enjoy. They spent their free time designing mazes, rooms, props, costumes, and make-up looks. It was exciting up until Halloween.
Ochako paced in her dorm, dressed in her costume and make-up. She couldn't help but think maybe Monoma was right. Maybe she should've stuck to the background, applied her quirk, and banged on the walls of the set. She wasn't scary. Not like the rest of Shinsou's recruitments.
Iida's zombie act had frightened Ochako more than once. Shishida was a hulking presence in his beast form and had perfected his jump scare role. Even Bakugou, who had been roped in by Kirishima, was downright terrifying as he writhed against his restraints on a stretcher.
"I can do this. All I'm doing is floating. You do that every day," Ochako mumbled to herself. A soft knock came from her door and Ochako gulped. "Come in."
Tsu, all done up in zombie make-up, opened the door. "Wow, Ochako," she said with wide eyes. "You look great, ribbit."
"Thank you," Ochako said in a small voice. She didn't think she looked bad—but scary? All Ochako wore was a plain black dress, a witch hat, a costume necklace she'd thrifted, and some dripping black make-up around her eyes. Eri wouldn't even flinch in her presence.
"We're heading over," Tsu said. "Are you ready?"
Ochako nodded. There wasn't any time left to worry about how her role would come across. She'd just have to try her hardest and hope for the best.
When they arrived at the set, there was already a long queue waiting to enter.
"Wow, I guess our flyers worked," Midoriya said.
"I can't wait to scare!" Iida proclaimed. "We'll embody only the best ghouls, ghosts, and monsters!"
"Good luck," Tsu said to Ochako as they split off into their positions.
Ochako had the important job of walking throughout the maze to touch certain props and actors. She saw how spooky everyone looked, how spine-chilling some of the sounds and voices were. The longer Ochako took to get to her room, the more she felt like this wasn't going to work.
"Okay, everyone is here," Shinsou muttered as he made it to her room. "TetsuTetsu is on guard at the end and Kirishima is out front ready to let people in."
"Great," Ochako squeaked. Her hands shook as Shinsou readjusted a prop and gave the room a final once over.
"You sound nervous."
"I am." Ochako clenched her fists and took a deep breath. "I'm...not good at this."
"Who told you that? If it's Monoma don't listen to him. He's just jealous."
"Jealous?"
"Because I gave the introductory room to you."
"He might have a point."
Shinsou scowled and walked over to her. Ochako couldn't meet his eye. He placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke softly.
"You underestimate yourself. Plus, this isn't a big deal. It's supposed to be fun."
"I just want to be good."
"Uraraka," Shinsou said and softly squeezed her shoulder. Ochako looked up and he smiled at her. "I wouldn't have given you the first room if I didn't think you could set the tone. Your possession act is amazing. You're amazing. Let's scare some people, okay?"
Amazing? She was amazing?
Ochako nodded and stood on her mark, which happened to be in the middle of a pentagram. Shinsou banged on the door a couple times to signal Kirishima that he could let people in. The first group entered and Ochako was thankful she didn't recognize anyone.
"You've come so willingly to my horror house," Ochako said in her best scratchy witch voice. "Turn back now before it's too late."
She paused for dramatic effect and glanced at Shinsou hiding behind a set piece. He gave her a thumbs up and Ochako inhaled.
"Then perish," Ochako whispered before screaming as loud and high as she could while Shinsou jumped out of his spot snarling. She floated herself into the air, rolling her eyes into the back of her head as Shinsou chased the screaming group into the next room.
Once they were gone, Shinsou turned to Ochako with wide, excited eyes.
"You're better than amazing. That was awesome. Ready to do it again?"
Ochako's heart swelled and she nodded.
"You make a good demon companion," she said as Shinsou banged on the door again.
"I try," he replied with a heart-stopping grin.
The haunted house was a hit! Some people even came through multiple times. With every scream, shriek, and curse word, Ochako's confidence grew. Several people commented as they ran away that they thought she and her act were cool.
After the last group passed through her room, Ochako ran to Shinsou and hugged him as tight as she could.
"This was so much fun!" she said. "We scared All-Might, Shinsou."
"Not Aizawa, though," Shinsou said. "He was stoic as ever."
"Eh, maybe he was scared later on."
Shinsou looked down at her, still wrapped up in her arms, and pecked her on the lips. Ochako blinked in surprise but didn't pull away. He leaned back and Ochako was frozen as she processed what had just happened.
"Say something," Shinsou pleaded. "You're scaring me."
"I—I'm pretty sure your make-up came off when you did that," Ochako said, pointing to his lips which were now only streaked with black. Shinsou gulped and Ochako grinned. "I thought scares were supposed to be fun."
"Not this kind," he said quietly.
"Then let me reassure you." Ochako floated up, sans screaming and eye rolling, and kissed him. When she pulled away, more of his make-up was gone. "Next year you'll have to wear better lipstick," she said with a giggle.
"Noted. Wanna go through before we call it a night?"
"Yes! Then you can tell me honestly who you think was the scariest."
"I don't have to think," he said, grabbing her hand as her feet settled back onto the ground. "That pause after I kissed you will haunt me for weeks."
