unedited

///

"We totally knew about the whole thing, by the way."

You playfully rolled your eyes as the three of you stared unamused at Hana and Boone holding hands again.

"Man, the look on your face that day was priceless!" Boone hollered. Hana laughed with him.

Sashi huffed. "So you and Boone just pretended to be like this for like- what, 3 weeks?"

"It's worth it, though." Hana shrugged. "Seeing your annoyed faces almost made me crack though. It was hilarious!"

You shook your head. "I wouldn't be able to do whatever they just did."

"Knowing your competitive drive, Y/N, I thought you would want to do it and see if we could last longer than them," Penn interjected, nudging you with his elbow.

Raising an eyebrow at him, you crossed your arms. "You seriously want to do that?"

"No."

"Good. That would just be plain unnecessary." You emphasized, leaning towards the two at the other side of the table.

"Come on, Y/N. Lighten up. It was just a joke. We wouldn't actually break up."

"Yeah. And besides, I think that's good practice for when we actually break up."

"Which, I think-"

"-We know-"

"-wouldn't happen."

The three of you watched as they basically finished each other's sentences. You were befuddled, Penn was looking bored, and Sashi was just constantly glaring at them. If looks could kill, they would be seriously dead meat.

Eventually, all of you had to move on. Yet, it was still on your mind. It was so easy for them to just pretend that they hate each other for the next 3 weeks.

You glanced at Penn. He was silently eating his lunch. You couldn't possibly imagine the thought of pretending to break up with him and just straight-up hate him. It would just be too unbearable, even if you're together for just a month.

Everything has been smooth sailing in your relationship, and you're afraid you might just jinx it.

Now, the thought of being this other-worldly supervillain has crossed your mind. After school, you would go to this random abandoned shop where no one would suspect that there is actually a portal that leads you to other dimensions. An outsider wouldn't know that an innocent schoolgirl like you would be one of the people causing chaos and forcibly taking powerful artifacts. 

What would happen if Penn found out? 

You have to prepare yourself for the inevitable, 'Y/N, I don't think this is working...'

"Y/N?"

Your eyes refocused to Sashi who was looking at you oddly. You let out a hum, indicating that you heard her. 

"You okay?" 

You noticed that everyone at the table was now staring at you with worried eyes. "Yeah! Why wouldn't I be?" 

They flashed a look of uncertainty but they didn't push you. Sashi, Boone, and Hana continued to consume their food but Penn stilled. He has this look, silently asking, 'Are you sure you're okay?'  to which you replied with a reassuring nod. 

Lunch was done and as always, all of you retreated to your classrooms, finishing the last couple of hours. You were leisurely packing your bags because today was one of those days where you're off from work. Phil insisted to.

Now you're here, coming up with activities to do this evening. You glanced at Penn before your phone ringed. "Hello?" You answered. 

"Are you doing anything today?"

"I don't have work."

"Perfect!" May exclaimed from the other side of the call. "Come help me with grocery shopping!"

"Uh..." You see Penn, done with his stuff as he walked towards you. You wanted to tell your aunt that you wanted to spend time with your boyfriend, but you missed hanging out with her as well, so... "Fine, okay. I'll be there."

She hung up and you faced him with an apologetic smile. "I have to help May with groceries..."

"Oh," Penn's face fell but he brought it back up slightly forced. "It's fine, I..."

"He has to do something, with me and Boone." Sashi popped up out of nowhere. "It's been so long since the three of us hung out."

"Oh, well." You clasped your hands together. "That's great! Have fun, you guys!" You pulled Sashi into a hug and kissed Penn. 

You bolted out of the classroom and went home, leaving Sashi and Penn. 

"Why the sudden meeting?" Penn stepped back.

Sashi crossed her arms. "As I said, it's been a while. You guys are always off to your girlfriends and I'm here, pretending I give a crap. We can go to a karaoke and just let out all our problems."

"But it's a school night."

"So what?" The two of them walked out and saw Boone with Hana from afar. "We don't have work today. We won't be too tired to do anything."

"Fine." Penn sighed. "I'll go if Boone's going too."

"Going where?" Boone chimed in the conversation. 

"Oh- I just remembered I have to go help my mom with her garden." Hana jumped and frantically bid her goodbyes to her classmates before she's completely out of the building.

"That was convenient," Sashi noted. "Anyway, it's perfect! Three of us, Jim's Karaoke, today."

***

Finally managing to convince the two, Sashi opened the entrance for Penn and Boone, who looked gloomier than when they were at school. She groaned in exasperation. "Oh, come on. Just cooperate with me for a minute!" 

Penn and Boone shared a confused look, thinking about the same idea, 'When did she become the nice person?'

"Is there some kind of ulterior motive?"

Sashi didn't say anything but the two still followed her, leading them to a booth that Sashi had paid for. "Do you even know what that word means?" She asked. "And no, I don't. I just want us to lay back and just- relax. Now, pick a song, Boone."

Boone hesitantly flipped through a book full of songs. When he pointed to a certain song, Sashi inputted the specific order of numbers to the box and the instrumental played before handing him a mic. 

"How do you know about these things?" Penn asked, flipping through the pages himself. "I don't even know there's a karaoke thing in the town."

"I'm Asian. We have these in every street." Sashi said with a boastful grin.

The server arrived with a tray of drinks to Boone's decent singing. He was hitting the notes, but his timing could use some work. In front of the three of them was a table full of nuts and chips, and tall glasses of iced tea. 

Sashi queued plenty of mellow songs to occupy the silence before she took some of the chip bags herself. "So, any stories to tell?" 

Penn didn't know if the question was directed at either him or Boone, but it still got him thinking.

The other guy beside him told about the time where he and Hana still got to talk every night to devise their plan. It was a pretty worthless story, considering that it's just a way to rub it in their faces, but it's better than nothing.

His thoughts were flooding his mind, it was all just questions and doubts about your relationship. Not that he doesn't want it. Penn would do anything for you.

He's just afraid that everything would suddenly change the moment you find out he's a part-time hero.

"Why the long face?" Sashi noticed upon seeing that Penn has been quiet for a while.

When he didn't answer, Sashi wordlessly took a sip on her glass of iced tea.

"Is this about Y/N?"

The second he heard your name, his head snapped up as if he was doused by cold water down his back. "What about her?"

"Well... what else could it be? The two of you have been stuck together like glue."

Penn's shoulders slumped and he felt like he's going to melt from all of this overthinking. He rubbed his face and let out a heavy sigh. "I'm just..."

"Just what?"

"I don't... She..." Finally, with bated breath, he said, "I can't tell her about... you know... work."

"You don't have to tell her about it," Boone said ever so casually.

"Then what if one day I can't show up on our date because I'm doing who-knows-what in other universes?" Penn sprung as if he was preparing it. "What if one day, I won't be able to show up to any of our dates?"

"Well, you didn't get to bail on a single date yet, so why now?" Boone interjected.

"Yeah. Weirdly enough, from all the dates you guys went to in a month, the both of you were present and were not once an hour late..." Sashi spoke up. "And you guys meet up at the same time because you are both free."

"Sashi stating the obvious again." Boone scoffed, searching for a new song to queue. "How can you say that that's weird? Of course, they have to make time for each other. They're a couple."

Sashi replied with her rolling her eyes. "Fine, sorry. I worded it wrong."

When the two of them noticed that Penn was still quiet, moping, Sashi placed a hand on his shoulders. "Penn, you of all people would know that someone like Y/N would accept you for who you are. Hero or no hero, you're still the guy she liked."

"Yeah!" Boone agreed. "The same guy who would risk everything just to protect his friends and even people he doesn't know."

Penn allowed a small grin in his features. He looked at the faces of his friends who fought beside him, took care of him, and loved him. "Love you guys."

Boone and Sashi said it back, smiling at him in return.

"Now pass me the mic and let's sing along to some rock songs or whatever."