I look up at the sign, the familiar swooping handwriting of Kayda's brush strokes dancing across the plank of wood. The entire outside(and some of the inside) of the metal building is covered in beautiful murals that she used to work on at night when she was having insomnia. Now, her days and nights are so busy, she hasn't had time to add to anything. 

Just above the sign is a large mural of the ocean and it's creatures. She has said that each one represents a member of their family, all living together in a chaotic, but beautiful ecosystem. She has Ruri as an anemone, providing protection to those little fish who need it. Sayuri is represented as a dolphin, jumping out of the water, beautiful and family driven. Yasu is seen as a blue whale, humming its tunes and providing music for the whole ocean. She painted herself as a fiddler crab, though she won't tell us why (I think it's because she feels like she's always moving around and busy, but some of the others disagree). Reina is shown as a stingray, normally friendly and harmless, but you don't want to be at the wrong end of one of her roasts. Uka and Yuta are painted as two clownfish, chasing each other around. Their parents are the sun and moon, appearing on the horizons on either side. While they aren't always there, they still provide light and warmth to their little ecosystem. 

But those aren't all. Ochaco had basically been adopted into the family by the time The Garage was built, so Kayda added her as a clam at the bottom, opening to show a brilliant pearl right in the center. 

I enter The Garage, a smile already donning my face. 

"KOTO!!" A cacophony of voices calls out to me. I wave to Ochaco, Reina, and her siblings as they sit in the makeshift bleachers, eating takeout. Their whole family shares the same jet black hair(though some of them have dyed parts of it, they all keep at least some of it the same as their family; it's kinda an unspoken sibling thing). The twins rush over to me, taking each of my hands in theirs and dragging me towards the group. 

"You did so well in the festival!" Yuta exclaims excitedly. "I used that big guy you were on a team with in the cavalry battle as inspiration for my robot! You're gonna love it!"

"Sadly we agreed on no flamethrowers this time, so that counted out the top two places for me," Uka explains quietly, a chart showing all the competitors popping up in my head and obscuring my vision. They continue steering me, knowing I can't see right now. I notice the chart has many names crossed out, but three are circled: Sero, Kaminari, and Yaoyorozu. 

He removes the image from my mind and puts a finger to his lips with a devilish grin. Ah, so this is a secret match. That means Yuta is probably only telling me he modeled his off of Shoji because he wants Uka to be worried about the six arms. But he probably has some other trick up his sleeve.

I sit between Ochaco and Yasu in the front row. He gives me a wide grin and ruffles my hair. His sun kissed skin is darker than the rest of his siblings and he dyed the front stands of his hair a rich purple since the last time I saw him. It is swiped back in its usual style, the sides shaved. His blinding smile is warm and comforting. I find myself relaxing in his presence. He's like an older brother to me. In fact, Reina's whole family is like another family to me. 

"How are you doing, kid?" He asks, leaning back casually in his chair. 

"Well, she's been stressed lately and really sad and angry too, but something good probably happened today. She's in a better mood than lately," Sayuri leans forward from the top row, her expertly curled ombre hair cascading forward over her chest which is nearly falling out of her low cut shirt. "She's also relieved. That feeling has grown since she stepped i-"

"He didn't ask you," Kayda snaps from behind her laptop, not even looking up at her sister. 

"Like she said, I'm stressed, but doing better now that I'm here," I sign. Reina translates before stuffing noodles into her mouth and slurping loudly. 

"Oh, right! We got you some soba too!" Ochaco reaches under her seat and pulls out a takeout container. 

I take it from her with a thankful smile. Steam drifts out of the package as I open it. I take in the delicious scent, shoveling it into my mouth as soon as the chopsticks are in my hand. The one granola bar I had today isn't holding me over. 

I absentmindedly eat as Kayda grills Sayuri about where her "flavor of the week" is. I feel bad for her, cause she really does try to make it work with these guys, but they don't like the feeling of constantly being psychoanalysed.

"I'm taking a break from dating for a while," she states confidently, crossing her legs. "If the right man shows up, I'll look into a relationship with him."

"Bets on how long it'll take for her to find 'the right man' again?" Kayda asks, smirking at her sister's frustrated face. 

"Do you have no faith in me?!?" She screeches. 

"I give it one week!" Yuta pipes up excitedly. 

"No, that's far too long," Uka says, placing a hand on his chin, brows furrowed in contemplation. "I give it five days. Tops."

"I don't know guys. She sounds pretty serious this time," Yasu says, rubbing the back of his neck. He shoots Sayuri a smile which she readily returns. "Maybe a week and a half?"

Her smile immediately falls and she leans forward to smack his head. 

"I believe in you, Sayuri!!" Ochaco chirps, shoving mochi into her mouth. "You don't need a man to make you happy! If he's the one for you, he'll stay by you no matter what. If he doesn't accept your quirk, he'll never accept you, right Reina?"

Reina appears pensive for a moment before saying, "Eight days."

Sayuri groans, hopping down from her seat and going over to Ochaco, wrapping her in a hug from the side. "I'm glad at least one person believes in me. Now if only my family would," she sends a glare at the rest of her siblings who all smile innocently. 

I tap her arm and motion between me and Ochaco. She seems to catch my meaning, pulling me into their hug as well. "Well, that's two votes of confidence, but my family still doesn't trust me," she pouts. I pat her reassuringly on the head. 

She probably won't make it too far, but she needs somebody to have confidence in her for once. 

Ruri walks in, pulling the large doors close behind her. "What're we talking about?"

"How long Sayuri will last on her relationship fast," Yuta speaks up. 

"Oh, I'd say eight days," she says without a moment of hesitation. 

"Sorry, sis. I already put my bets on eight days," Reina scoots over to make room for her oldest sister. 

"Shoot, does someone have bets on a week?"

"Me!" Yuta throws both his hands up. 

Ruri looks up at the ceiling and mumbles, "well, I could go with six days, but past statistics lean more towards eight, so six is a gamble. Did anyone say nine days?" She sits up, looking back at Kayda. 

"Nope," she replies, turning her laptop around to reveal the chart she has made up. 

"Alright, put me down for nine days," Ruri nods her head, seemingly content with her bet. 

"Well, I'm gonna take the risk," Kayda replies, turning the computer back around so she can type. "I'm going with six days!" 

"Great! And now that everyone's here," Yuta speaks up, standing in front of us. "The games may begin!!"

Everyone in the stands cheers as they go to retrieve their robots. I whistle while illusing a loud round of applause. The sound hypes us all up even more. Sayuri returns to her seat, probably silently vowing to get revenge on her siblings in some evil way. 

I increase the volume of the cheering crowd as the boys direct their robots into the ring. The machines stand just taller than the twins, probably my height. I notice that Yuta's robot does indeed have six arms, but also has some sort of spike on each one. Uka's robot is less conspicuous, clearly using the same base he has with all of his latest ones. 

"Aaaaaannnnndddd……" Yasu says, building the tension in the room. "START!" 

I illuse the sound of a bell chiming as he sits back to watch. In a matter of only a few seconds, Uka's robot has shot a large net at its opponent, small cannonballs at the edges wrapping around the machine and sending it off balance. He flicks a switch that activates some sort of tazer in his own bot, frying the wrapped up one. 

We are all silent as Yuta rages to himself, throwing his controller at the ground. "Good game, I guess," he grumbles as he crosses his arms and pouts. 

"I gave you plenty of openings," Uka says quietly to which Yuta scoffs. 

"So what did yours do, Yuta?" Ruri decides to be the peacekeeper, getting down from her seat to console her brother. 

"The spikes were gonna emit high frequencies into his robot, vibrating the circuit boards until they cracked!" He continues, pouting, "Koto told me that's how she got through the UA entrance exam! I just wanted to design a robot after her cause she's so cool!! But he ruined it!!"

Kayda snickers from the back, "hey, if you can get one of those things working again, you should give it to Sayuri. She's gonna be pretty lonely for the next six days."

My jaw drops as I turn to see her smirking at a very flustered Sayuri. Beside me, I hear Ochaco choking on her mochi. Yasu laughs loudly on my other side and Reina is laughing so hard she's snorting. 

Yuta makes a disgusted noise from the ring. "Eww! I'm not letting her use one of my machines just 'cause she's horny!"

I pat Ochaco's back as she coughs violently. 

"Anyways, I gotta get back to work, so I'll see you guys later," Kayda closes her laptop and waves over her shoulder, her sleek black ponytail swishing with every step. 

"Well, that was an adventure," I sign to Ochaco as her breathing settles. 

"It always is," she grins. 

"Alright! Let's head up to my room and we can chat!" Reina bounces down from her seat right behind us. 

"Just remember," Ruri speaks up. "It is a school night, so don't stay up too late, okay? Are you girls staying over tonight?"

Ochaco and I both shake our heads, knowing we have homework to get done too. 

"Alright, well if I don't see you before you leave, have a good night!" She begins walking out before rushing back in a split second, pulling Yuta out of the way of a falling wrench. 

"Geez, can't you leave this for tomorrow? You two have homework," she scolds the twins as Reina, Ochaco, and I leave. We run through the rain back to their large, covered porch. 

"Whew, so…" Reina takes off her glasses to dry them as we take off our shoes. "What's happening? I got a text from Ochaco saying that Mic was worried about you and needed us to 'watch' you. What's that about? And why do you seem...fine all of a sudden?"

"Yeah, we heard Sayuri! I know you weren't okay earlier today. What changed to put you in such a good mood? And why weren't you okay in the first place?"

I sigh, following behind the two as we walk through the house, going up to the second floor where Reina's room is. She opens the door to the lime green and grey room, immediately flopping down on the bed, ready to listen. 

I close the door behind us and wait until they're both looking to sign my explanation. "Look, I really wasn't doing okay for the past few days. I got into an argument with Bakugo, which isn't that surprising really, but he basically told me I should kill myself."

My friends gasp as they read my words. Ochaco stands and starts going for the door. "That's it. He's dying today," she says, but Reina holds her back, wanting to hear the rest.

I continue with my explanation, "I got into an actual fight with him and was feeling so weird. I've been lost for the past couple days and then today, when we fought in class, I lost control. I really didn't want to hold back and…" 

I pause as I consider what I did to him today. "Holy crap, I could've killed him," I illuse as I raise a hand to my mouth. 

"Let's not get too dramatic here…" Reina says, her eyes wide. 

"No!" I illuse back. "If I had lost that last shred of concentration and illused into his heart, it could've inverted a valve or something and then his heart wouldn't beat properly and he would die!!"

My breathing picks up, fully recognizing the strength of my own power. 

"But you didn't," Ochaco says evenly, placing a hand on my knee. "Look, it's not okay what he did though, so let's not gloss over that."

"It's okay, we sorted that out," I illuse, standing from the bed to pace around the room. 

"Wait, what? When?" She asks, eyebrows knit together. 

"After school, I figured I should bring him his stuff, considering he could barely walk. I wanted to see how much damage I had done. And I needed to apologize. I really hurt him. It's hard to think about."

"If anything, he's the one who should be apologizing!" Ochaco demands. 

I sigh, lowering my head. "I know. You're right. He isn't the type to apologize for anything. But I also hurt him. I wasn't going to stoop to his level. Maybe hearing me apologize will spur him into apologizing too."

"I...really hope so," Ochaco's voice sounds strained. I know she doesn't particularly like Bakugo and she hates the way he treats me. This whole situation can't be a point in his favor, but I'm sure she sees that I'm trying with him. She may not understand why, but she's trying to be supportive. 

"I don't want to think he's all bad," she practically whispers. "I just don't want you to get hurt because he's being careless. Mic was worried about you. I was worried about you. It was...really scary to see you like that in class today. I've never seen you that angry. I want to make sure you know you can talk to us."

"Just...tell us if anything isn't okay," Reina interjects. "We're here. We'll always be here, okay?"

I nod my head slowly. 

"So…" Ochaco continues, obviously trying to change the subject. "Why did you end up in a good mood after all that?"

"Ah, right," I continue illusing. "To explain that, I need to go back awhile…"

And so I tell them about meeting Endeavor in that restaurant, being forced to meet with him today, snapping at him, and above all, meeting Bakugo's mother. 

"She smacked him in the head?!?" Ochaco exclaims through her laughter. 

"Multiple times!!" I respond, causing her and Reina to laugh even harder. 

"Yeah, that definitely explains it," Reina wipes her eyes, clearing away the tears of laughter. 

We sit for a moment, composing ourselves before Ochaco speaks again, "I need to get home to do homework and pack for my internship."

"Oh, that's right! Where are you going?" I illuse excitedly. 

"Gunhead's agency!" She chirps. Reina and I both stare at her blankly. "I want to get better at hand to hand combat! Sure, I am planning on working as a rescue hero, but I'll be more versatile if I can fight!" She makes punching motions in front of her. 

"Well, I think that's a great idea," Reina says. 

"Agreed," I add. "We do so much combat in class, that it would be wise to get some extra training."

"So where are you going?" She turns to me. 

"Nyikang's agency," I illuse simply. They both cock their heads. "He's not as well known as most, but his quirk is possession. I figured he could help me with Echolocation, though I'm not really sure how."

"Huh, do you think you could possess somebody with Echolocation?" Reina asks. 

"Well I can already make people's muscles tense and release, so who knows? Maybe if I got a good enough handle on it, I could make them move wherever I want."

"Speaking of," Ochaco perks up, "have you gotten better control of that move?"

I close my eyes, smirking as I fill the room with sound. "You could say that," the air around us says. I let it lift us all off of Reina's bed, though I do have to strain a bit. I feel my friends grinning wildly and pretending to swim through the sound. I laugh and increase the vibrations around then, so they actually have something to push against. 

After a while, I start to feel light-headed, so I gradually bring us back down to the floor and dissipate the sound. 

"THAT WAS AWESOME!!!" Ochaco and Reina scream at the same time. I squint my eyes, the loud sound not working in favor of the pounding headache that's growing. Even so, I can't help but smile at their enthusiasm. 

"So you're saying," Reina begins excitedly, "that you could use that in battle?!?" I nod quickly. "THAT WOULD BE SICK!"

I laugh quietly, checking my phone for the time. "Look, you guys. It's a school night and I should really get back."

"Oh, right! Me too," Ochaco adds. 

"Maybe after your internships, we can have a bonfire or something?" Reina offers. I nod, already excited. "Alright, well I hope I see you before you leave, but if not, I'll give you a hug now!"

She pulls us both into a tight hug for a full minute before we pull away and head home.