Kirishima's POV

Later that evening, we reconvene at dinner. I sit with Mina and Uraraka, the same people I grouped up with today. I would've asked Bakugo, but he left before I could. He still isn't back yet, as a matter of fact, the only people back are our group and Mic's. Yaoyorozu and Midoriya sit across from us, studiously writing everything we're saying into a notebook. 

"The family in her old house hadn't seen her," Uraraka states sadly, picking at the button of her overalls, the sleeve of her black and white striped shirt wet with tears. I know that all day, she's been losing hope, but saying all of the dead ends out loud seems to be making it too real for her. 

"They didn't really want us on their lawn, either," Mina adds, taking off her technicolor snapback she's been using to hide her horns. "I guess we made them nervous cause they had little kids playing out there."

"Nothing at the school either," I say. "There was a poster for the local ice cream shop, so we checked there too. There were a lot of people our age there, but she wasn't."

All of a sudden, Bakugo stomps in, Shoji quickly on his tail. I almost forget about how serious the situation is when I see Shoji. Why in the world Yaoyorozu gave him such a colorful poncho, I don't know. I mean I guess it makes sense to cover his arms, but he looks a tad ridiculous. 

"She was at the flower shop," Bakugo growls, walking over to stand behind his chair, clutching it tightly. 

"Kacchan, take a seat," Midoriya pleads, getting his pen ready. "Tell us what happened."

"Don't tell me what to do, Deku!!"

Shoji sits on our side of the table and one of his hands forms into a mouth, saying, "we went to the local cemetery and I used my quirk to find where her parents are buried. There were flowers on the stone, so we figured she'd been there. We found the nearest floral shop which was only a couple of blocks away. We went in and showed the lady a picture, asking if she's seen anybody like that. It took her awhile to answer because Bakugo was yelling at her, but she eventually said that Yamada had been there a couple days ago. She showed us the security footage."

"The flowers she bought matched the ones on the grave," Bakugo snaps, wanting to get the story over with. "We went to other stores, but nobody would fuckin' talk to us."

"Nobody would talk to you," Shoji corrects, giving him a look. "Eventually I just told him to wait outside. Nobody else saw her and they wouldn't let us watch the security footage because we couldn't convince them that we didn't have malintent." He glares at Bakugo.

Midoriya hastily writes everything down and I can see Uraraka getting happy tears in her eyes. "She's here," she mumbles. 

"Big news!" A voice exclaims from the doorway. We all look over to see Denki standing there with a confident grin, wearing a polo shirt and khaki shorts. He's next to Todoroki whose hat is now on backwards and is sporting ripped jeans, a loose fitting black t-shirt, and a silver chain with a key on it dangling from his neck. 

I guess Yaoyorozu tried to make him look even cooler. Or was that Denki's decision? I glance over at Mina to see her face heat up a bit upon seeing Todoroki. It immediately feels like my heart is being cleaved in two for the millionth time this week. 

"Did you find her?!?" Uraraka exclaims, pushing away from the table and standing. The table begins to float as she runs over to the boys. 

"Umm, Ochaco?" Yaoyorozu calls. The girl turns around and her face flushes red as she passes her fingertips together. 

"Release!" She says, immediately looking back to the boys in anticipation as the long wooden table comes crashing back down to the floor. "What did you find?!?"

Denki smiles and saunters into the room. "We were talking with some girls who go to the local high school. There's a party on Friday and we've been invited." There's a collective groan from the whole room as they walk in and take a seat. 

"Okay…" Midoriya says, obviously trying to be polite. "But what does that have to do--"

"She could be there!" Denki exclaims. 

We all share wary looks with each other. Uraraka comes back to sit between Mina and I, letting her head hit the table dejectedly. I rub her back, trying to be comforting.

"Think about it," Todoroki explains. "She could be staying with a friend. Kaminari says teenagers like to party. She could be there, or at the very least someone she's been in contact with."

"It's not a horrible idea," Mic says, tapping his chin. Uraraka looks up from her lap. "We do know she's at least been to town. Now Koto isn't exactly a partier, but although it's the last place I would expect her to be, we shouldn't rule it out. I think if we haven't found her by then, it wouldn't hurt to check."

We all wait for a long moment for somebody to object, but when nobody does, Kaminari lifts his hands, as if inviting any criticism to his idea. "I guess we're going to the party, then," he says, kicking his feet up on the table and leaning back. 

Bakugo kicks the legs of the chair out from underneath him, sending him sprawling on the ground. 

•°•°•°•

When Friday comes around, we have no more leads than on the first day. As the week's progressed, it seems more and more like we have to go along with Denki's idea. As a matter of fact, Present Mic has lost so much hope, he's been talking about just going home. 

Denki didn't have much trouble convincing him to let us go to the party anyway; it seems as though Mic can never turn down a party. Even so, he said he can't go with us, but he'll be nearby with his phone on in case we find her. 

We adjust our disguises after dinner, Bakugo finally returning to the house. He's been leaving on his own most of the time. As Yaoyorozu goes around, fixing little imperfections in everybody's outfits, Bakugo makes himself a plate of food and goes to sit by himself in the dining room. 

I look around, wondering if he's going to join us.

Shoji walks up next to me, staring at my friend. "Where's he been?" I ask him quietly. 

"He's been staking out the cemetery," he responds. "I gave up trying to get him to look anywhere else. He's convinced she'll go back."

We watch him for a while, his back to us, when Yaoyorozu brushes past us, wearing a flowery romper, and sends us a discouraging look. She sits down next to Bakugo and I watch my friend's shoulders tense. She says something quietly to him, placing a navy blue hat on his head. I wait for him to blow up on her, but he just growls something. Even from here, I can tell he's baring his teeth at her. She shrugs and responds quietly, with enough poise handling his temper that even I'm impressed. 

She stands and walks back towards us, sending us another look that says we shouldn't be eavesdropping. It's now that I realize Shoji is still next to me; he surely heard the whole thing, but he walks away before I can ask.