~Iris' POV~

Instead of expulsion, I was suspended for the rest of the week. My uncle arrived to pick me up. He didn't say a single word to me until we got to his apartment where he unleashed his tirade until he was blue in the face. I spent my suspension locked in Uncle Vlad's apartment working on pointless worksheets from school. He confiscated my phone and made the neighbors and apartment building staff aware that I wasn't allowed to step out of the building which was annoying as I really wanted to go for a walk and get out of his stuffy apartment.

It didn't take me long to complete the stupid worksheets, I finished them within the first hour and spent the rest of my time in suspension worrying about Himiko and reading the books Uncle Vlad had confiscated from me and hid in his closet. Thanks to that I was able to survive till Sunday.

A familiar loud obnoxious knock sounded from the door. I looked up from my bland bowl of cereal unable to conceal the grin that broke across my face. My parents were finally here! Uncle Vlad frowned as I raced to the door.

"Mom! Dad!" I wrenched open the door and flew into their open arms.

"Sweetie, what happened?!" My mom gasped as she took one look at the healing shiner over my left eye, compliments of the elbow of the idiot I'd tackled down the stairs as we were falling. Her gaze fell to the bruising on my nose and her eyes widened.

"Sekijiro?" My dad turned to my uncle as my parents pulled me inside.

"She started a fight at school." My uncle replied, unfeeling.

"Did she even get medical treatment?" My mother growled as she noticed me wince the moment she poked at the bruising on my nose.

My uncle shook his head, "she seemed fine enough to start the fight and stab another student."

"Did you even bother to ask her why she started it?" My father growled.

"Why should that matter? She started a fight, that is against the rule-." Uncle Vlad cut off as my mother threw him a threatening look.

"If you ever neglect to mention to me that my daughter was injured under your care, again there will be hell to pay." My mother hissed, icily before throwing a glare at my father, "deal with this, now." Venom dripped from her every word before she turned to me with a warm maternal smile, "get your shoes on darling, let's wait for your father downstairs."

Uncle Vlad looked as if he wanted to protest but thought better of it as my mother threw him a fearsome glare. I resisted the urge to laugh as I stepped into my shoes and practically skipped out the door.

My mother joined me and we headed down to the main lobby. "Should we go to urgent care and have that looked at?" She asked worriedly.

"No, it's okay now." I offered her a reassuring smile, "thanks Mom."

"Why did you start a fight at school?" She asked curiously.

"Some assholes were picking on my friend." I shot.

"Friend?" My mom asked with a smile, "you made a friend?"

I felt my cheeks flush with heat, "uh...yeah..."

"That's so nice. Tell me about them."

"Her name is Himiko Toga, she kinda has a thing for blood so maybe she'll be into horror stuff and she's been nothing but nice to me..." For some reason, telling my mom about her made me feel somewhat flustered. I couldn't think of what to say. There was so much I wanted to say and yet so much I didn't know how to say.

My mom smiled, "...honey...are you sure you like this Toga girl, just as a friend?"

I frowned, "what do you mean?"

"Perhaps you like her as more than a friend?"

I thought about it and felt my face grow hot. Did I?

"It would make sense considering how your last relationship went." My mom snickered.

I rolled my eyes, "is this about the Jason mask again?"

My mother giggled, "mhmm, and why did you make that poor boy wear it?"

"It was the only way I'd find him attractive enough to let him touch me." I frowned.

"Mhmm, and do you feel those same kind of repulsed feelings at the thought of Toga touching you?" She poked at me with a smile.

"Ugh, I'm done with this conversation." I grumbled as my face burned as I realized I didn't feel that same sense of repulsion at the thought of Toga touching me as I felt when boys touched me.

My mother grinned. "My baby has a crush."

"Ugh! Mother!" I groaned.

My mother smiled and draped her arm across my shoulders, "I'm proud of you for protecting your friend, that was very nice of you. Try not to take as much damage next time. And don't stab people when there are witnesses."

"I didn't stab him...Himiko did..." I grumbled.

My mother's smile grew, "you took the blame for her?" She said in a singsong voice. "My baby definitely has a crush."

I pretended to roll my eyes while concealing a smile, glad my mom was on my side and not upset that I'd gotten into a fight. My Dad joined us a few minutes later and my mom filled him in as we headed to a nearby coffee shop for some iced coffee and pastries before heading to the theater.

As we arrived at the theater, I spotted Himiko stepping out of an upscale boutique with a nicely dressed woman who looked somewhat like her, though much stiffer and prudish. She turned to Himiko the moment they exited the store and hissed something at her. I saw Himiko's demeanor shift, becoming meek, mild and almost scared. She bowed her head at her mother's words.

"Darling, everything alright?" My mother placed a hand on my shoulder as she realized I'd stopped walking. She followed my gaze. "Oh, is that the crush?"

"Mom." I hissed under my breath.

"Invite her to join us." My mother poked me in the side with a smile.

Her mother was going to take one look at my bruised face and tell her daughter to stay far away from the delinquent. I hesitated.

As if sensing my train of thought, my mother gave my shoulder a squeeze, "your father and I can back you up as your wingman and wingwoman."

"Wait, we're doing what, now?" Dad asked, confused.

"Helping our daughter score." My mother hissed.

"That sounds very wrong." My father chuckled.

"Could you two be any more mortifying?" I groaned.

"Yes." They replied in unison before cackling loudly causing Himiko and her mother to glance in our direction.

Her cat-like golden eyes grew wide as she spotted me. I took a deep breath to calm myself before approaching, "h-hey Himiko." Why the hell was I nervous? Why did my mom have to say all that stuff and get me all flustered?!

"I-Iris." Himiko smiled.

We stood there awkwardly for a moment. My mom's words kept echoing through my head, did I like her as more than a friend? Why would she say that?! I was just trying to survive life with Uncle no fun Vlad, I didn't want to complicate things with friends or more than friends.

"You're doing great, dear." My mom whispered next to me.

I resisted the urge to groan and focused on Himiko. "Um...do you want to join us for a movie?" I asked hesitantly.

Himiko looked at her mother who frowned.

"Himiko, who is this?" Her mother asked stiffly.

"Iris Kan, a friend from school." She replied stiff and uncomfortable, it looked like she was struggling to hold her 'perfect school girl' mask in place.

Her mother continued to frown.

"We're Iris's parents, it's so nice to meet you and we'd love to chaperone the girls on their outing." My mother extended a hand to Mrs. Toga with an award winning smile.

Himiko seemed like she was trying her best not to look too hopeful and waited for her mother's response. Mrs. Toga thought it over before giving in with a sigh, "fine, it's a school night so don't be out too late." She threw Himiko a look of warning.

"Yes, mother." Himiko smiled and bowed her head politely.

Mrs. Toga looked me over, warily, before letting out another sigh and taking her leave, briskly. Once she was out of sight, Himiko seemed to relax and offered me a natural smile.

My mom elbowed my dad in the side and pulled him toward the door, "we're going to stock up on snacks you two go find us some seats." Mom winked at me as she dragged my dad away.

Himiko and I both started speaking at the same time before we both stopped, red faced and quickly looked away from one another. Feeling like I was about to overheat, I took a breath and tried again only to groan inwardly as Himiko also started talking again. We both blushed and stopped talking.

Giving in with a sigh, I quickly covered her mouth with my hand, "how was school? Anyone bother you?" I asked before pulling my hand away.

Her cheeks were bright red, her cat-like golden eyes wide before she stammered out a response, "n-no worse than usual."

I relaxed, relieved. I'd been worried about someone retaliating against her for what happened. "That's good."

"Were you worried about me?" She asked curiously.

My face burned at this, "come on, the first movie is going to start soon." I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the theater. The person at the ticket counter handed us two tickets. My parents must have informed them of our arrival. I could see my mom and dad at the concession area with armfuls of junk food.

I pulled Himiko to our theater. It was completely empty. I glanced down at my hand wondering why it was so hot and felt a wave of embarrassment wash over me as I realized I was holding Himiko's hand. I quickly dropped her hand and busied myself with trying to find the perfect seat as my face flushed with heat. I quickly found some seats in the middle of the theater and dropped into one still feeling flustered and weird.

Himiko sat next to me. She fidgeted nervously trying to figure out where to put her hands. We both moved at the same time to use the same armrest and I felt a spark jolt through me as we bumped arms. We both jumped and jerked our arms away.

A few other people trickled in and sat far away from us. My parents arrived just before the credits began with armfuls of junk food and sat one seat away from me claiming the chair between us was to house the mountain of snacks. As we all got settled down and each grabbed a box of candy, the movie began. The horror marathon began with Friday the 13th. I could feel my mother glancing in my direction and heard her and my dad giggling like kids. I felt my face flush with heat once more remembering our earlier conversation and threw some skittles at them to shut them up which nearly sent them into hysterics.

Himiko glanced over curiously, a smile dancing across her lips as she observed our antics. "Is this a funny movie?" She pondered.

"Iris really loves the mask." My mother giggled causing my father to choke on a laugh.

"You're both terrible." I hissed and threw more skittles at them.

Himiko giggled quietly next to me and we all settled down to watch the movie.

Throughout the movie, I threw curious looks over at Himiko and was relieved to see she seemed to really enjoy the movie, especially the bloody scenes. Her eyes glittered every time Jason appeared on screen. I smiled, I had a feeling she'd like this kind of stuff and her stuffy parents probably didn't let her experience it.