Kirishima's POV

We talk for another hour or so before we all go home, mainly discussing the travel arrangements. I climb into one of the black SUVs with Mina and we set off on the three hour drive back to our town. 

I notice her nodding off, her head sliding down the window, then snapping up. As her heavy eyelids once again flutter closed, I reach over and put my arm around her shoulders. 

Her eyelids flick open and she stares at me with tired attentiveness as my heart beats heavily. I pull my arm back, trusting that the darkness of the night hides my face, as I'm surely blushing. "I just...um…" I stutter, rubbing my own face, only now realizing how fatigued I am. "I figured you'd be more comfortable if you lay down. It's a long ride."

She offers me a sleepy smile and curls up on the bench seat, her head resting on my lap. "Thanks, Kiri," she mumbles. "You're the best."

My heart stutters at the sight of her peaceful face as she drifts off, her warm cheek pressed against my leg. I look up through the front windshield to try and ignore the butterflies in my stomach. The driver catches my eyes in the rear view mirror and I can see the smirk on his face. 

My face heats up even more as I look out the window. I want to scream from all the emotions running rampant in my body, but I force myself to stay calm until I fall asleep against the window. 

•°•°•°•

The first day of the mission arrives with me waking up at 6 am. For some reason, I can't seem to fall back asleep despite our meet-up time being not until later. So instead of going back to bed, I do a once-over of my luggage, then go to the bonus room to work out a bit. 

After a while, Ma knocks on the door and comes in. "Hey Ei." 

"Hey," I chirp, reracking the dumbbells I was using. I grab a towel to wipe the sweat from my face and hands. "Lunchtime already?"

"Yes, but…" she pauses, looking away for a moment before looking back at me. "Your mother and I just want you to be safe. We know that you'll be with your teachers and this is your friend, but…"

"What?" I ask apprehensively. 

"Are you sure she even wants to be found?" The words tumble from her mouth. 

"Ma!" I exclaim. 

"If she ran that far away, she probably has a reason to," she explains. "And she did say she'd be back, right?"

"You don't understand, it's dangerous for her to be out there by herself! We're going to see her back safely."

"She's training to be a hero just like you," she replies. "I'm sure she's not as helpless as you're making her out to be."

"I'm not--" I sigh and try to level with her, "look, a lot of things happened and I don't want her to put herself in danger. Yes, she's going to be a hero, but she's also sorta fragile right now. And who's to say the League of Villains didn't follow her because they knew she'd be vulnerable?"

"They wouldn't have a way to know where she's going though, would they?"

"Ma, they're capable of more than you know. And even if they're not following her, what if a villain there recognizes her from the sports festival and decides to do something?"

"Ei, you can't live your life focused on only the what ifs," she says, sighing. 

"What are you saying?" I ask, starting to get a little angry. There are too many things that could happen to her for me to not be worried.

"You're allowed to be concerned about your friend, but don't you think you're being a little controlling?"

"Hey, this wasn't my idea," I reply. "I'm just going along with it."

"Okay," she says quietly. "But I don't want you to drag her back kicking and screaming if she doesn't want to go."

"Ma, you don't get it," I say exasperatedly. "It's what's best for her, to be here and to be safe."

"I thought heroes were willing to put themselves in danger to keep others safe."

"And that's what we're doing!"

"How do you know she's not doing the same thing?" She asks. 

I pause. "What?"

"You don't know what she's doing there and it might be for the best for her to stay until she does whatever she needs to," Ma says, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You don't have to fight everyone's battles for them."

"But she's my friend!"

"And I'm sure she doesn't want to burden you with whatever's been going on."

"But…" I feel a tear slip down my cheek. "Why doesn't she trust me?"

"Oh Ei," she wraps me in a hug. "I'm sure she trusts you. She probably doesn't want to bring you down. She may have too much pride to let you in."

"So what do I do?" I sniffle into her shoulder. 

"Just listen," she says. "If you find her, you can tell her why you're there and ask her to come back with you, but trust me, you can't force her to do anything. She'll follow if it's what feels right to her."

I sigh, pulling away. "I think I understand what you're saying."

"Just consider it, okay?" She asks.

I sigh, putting my head in my hands. "Okay, I'll try to think about it."

"That's my boy," she says, hugging me tight. "I just don't want anything to go wrong between you two. I just think if you try to drag her back, something bad may happen."

"I know, you've said," I mumble, giving her a quick squeeze before pulling away. "I need to go shower before the mission."

With that, I leave for the bathroom, leaving Ma alone in the room. 

•°•°•°•

I meet with Mina at the train station and ride with her to Musutafu where we join the rest of the group. I look around and see everyone else already here; Present Mic, Bakugo, Midoriya, Uraraka, Denki, Todoroki, and Shoji. Of course, we're meeting Yaoyorozu at the airport in America. I think Mic said we're going to the Kansas City airport (which isn't even in Kansas, I learned, it's in Missouri which still confuses me). 

"Hey, Kirishima," Uraraka calls. "Hey Mina!"

We go over and join her discussion with Midoriya. 

"Hey guys," I say, putting an arm around Uraraka and giving her a small squeeze. "How're you holding up?" I ask quietly. 

"I don't really know," she responds. "I'm just so nervous. I mean what if nothing comes from this? What if we don't find her?"

"Hey, we gotta keep a good attitude," I say, clenching my fist. "We'll do all that we can."

She nods, pursing her lips. "Yeah, of course," she mumbles. 

"Alright, don't worry too much." I pull away and head over to Bakugo. "Hey man," I greet my explosive friend. 

"What?" He grumbles, arms crossed with his luggage and hero costume case sitting at his feet. 

"How's your day been?" I ask, trying to make conversation, but he rolls his eyes and continues watching the trains as they pass through the station. I continue, "mine was pretty good. Got a nice workout in this morning. And hey, I've been working on my endurance, so I bet I can take on your Howitzer Impact no problem!"

"Wanna bet, idiot?" He growls, jaw clenched. I examine his face a little longer and can't see any of the usual bloodlust and determination in his eyes when he challenges someone. Instead, I see frustration, which of course I'm used to, but this time it feels a little different. 

"Alrighty folks!" Present Mic calls out, effectively capturing the attention of everybody in the station. "LET'S GO!!"

I wince at the harsh volume and follow my English teacher onto our train. I take a seat with the rest of my classmates, Bakugo grabbing the seat beside me which makes me smile. 

"Okay, so here's the plan," Mic exclaims, but Uraraka puts a hand on his forearm to silence him. 

"You all should've gotten your tickets in your email from Yaoyorozu, so have those ready," she says. "You've probably noticed that this is a red-eye flight, so be sure to get some rest on the way. We need to be ready to go the moment we get there."

"Nice briefing, little listener!" Mic screeches. I notice Mina and Denki covering their ears on his other side. 

It doesn't take long for us to get to the airport and onto our flight to America. 

------Authors Note------

Hey guys!!

Here's an early chapter as a present to all of you!! Thank you for all your constant support, it means so much to me!

We also have more fanart!

I got this a while ago from lovelyavvz, but forgot to post it, sorry!! But I just love it to bits! She's absolutely adorable!

As another present, I've decided to start a discord server for all of us to hang out on! Here's the link:

https://discord.gg/mRzfuVpSHc

Additionally, I've been working on another special side story with lovelyavvz that I think you'll all really like! It's the Fantasy AU, but this time, including Koto! I won't be regularly updating it, but every now and then, I'll add a chapter. Muted Voices is still my main project, but this is just something special for all of you. Head on over to my profile to find the book, Siren.