We approach the party in groups, blending in with the crowd of teenagers. It's already in full swing, people dancing to the loud music and already sufficiently drunk. I walk in with Yaoyorozu and Mina, both moving easily through the chaos. I have to struggle to keep up with them.

I notice Shoji already standing in the corner, talking with Midoriya as they try to look inconspicuous. I do my best to look around, but there's no sign of Koto's red hair anywhere. I glance at the faces of a couple redheads, but none of them are her. I move onto anyone with curly hair next, trying not to seem too suspicious, but after a while, it's apparently obvious it's not working.

Mina grabs my arm and brings me to the kitchen, mumbling just loudly enough for me to hear, "loosen up! You look too out of place. You're almost as bad as Bakugo. He's been interrogating every person in here with even a similar bone structure. Ochaco had to yell at him to go outside and cool off."

In reality, I'm not upset with Bakugo. I'm just hoping that if we can easily find Koto, that means she'd be ready to leave with us. I don't want to worry about everything Ma had said, but I find myself overthinking it. Mina pours herself a drink from the large bowl, but I have a feeling the stuff inside isn't punch. She offers me the sticky ladle, but I shake my head no as she takes a sip from her drink.

She winces, but laughs anyway, pulling me close to exclaim, "it's horrible! This is awesome!" She tries to pull me back to the dancefloor, but I get a feeling she's given up on looking for Koto and just wants to party. I take my arm from her grasp and point to the back door.

"I need some air!" I say in English over the music. I hope it reminds her that we're still technically on a mission. I walk out before she can respond, looking around the green lawn, littered with plastic cups. The large pool glows with light as cups and cans float on the surface, long forgotten.

Way in the back of the yard, I see Bakugo standing near a campfire. Voices rise with the smoke, singing joyfully. I jog up to him.

"Hey man," I say in English. "Good thinking, this is definitely where she'd be hanging out."

"Shut up, idiot," he snaps. "Look."

I examine the faces around the campfire as a boy strums a guitar and he sings with the platinum blonde next to him:

"Well, I know that you're in love with him
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues"

I notice the brunette on his other side bears a mild resemblance to Koto. She has the same long curls and she's also wearing a choker, like Koto always does. Her eyes are a deep blue. Maybe contacts, I think.

I notice her standing up silently to leave, as does Bakugo, but he's only staring at the singing blonde. "C'mon, man!" I exclaim.

"What?" He snaps.

"Aren't we going to follow her?"

"She's sitting right over there!" He points to the blonde still at the campfire.

"You're not serious," I say in absolute disbelief. "She's singing."

"Or using her quirk!"

"She doesn't move her mouth when she does that." I rub my face. "Look, do whatever you want, but that's not her. The other girl looks more like her and she didn't actually speak. For all we know, she's mute, which would mean it's probably Koto. So I'm following her."

I look back once to the girl with the long blonde hair, shaking my head. No way is Koto actually singing. That's not her. Besides, she doesn't have a scar, I think sadly. I'm still offended that she didn't tell me about it and that I had to learn about it from Todoroki of all people. I run back to the house as the girl's song follows me.

"Oh and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned

And while Lennon read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died
We were singin'

Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
And singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die."

I walk inside and am once again surrounded by the mass of drunk teenagers. I push past all of them and head over to Shoji.

"A girl with curly brown hair just walked in here," I tell him. "Did you see where she went?"

He looks down at me and morphs one of his hands into a mouth so he can speak into my ear, "don't be discouraged by Bakugo. He feels like this is his fault."

I look at him questioningly, but he shrugs and gestures across the room with his head. "She went to the bathroom."

I make my way around the edge of the room to a door I would assume is the bathroom. I put my ear to the door, but can't hear anything over the music. I knock, but I can't be sure if anybody on the inside hears me or not. I move to the side, putting my back to the wall as the door opens and the brunette peeks out. I can tell immediately that it's not Koto.

Her nose is much too long and her cheekbones aren't as prominent. She's pretty, don't get me wrong. Even with the tears on her eyelashes as if each one was placed with a purpose. She dabs at her eyes with a tissue and flashes me a dangerous smile. Her deep blue eyes flicker in the lights. They look similar to Koto's, but I can tell they're not hers.

"Sorry," I say quickly, already backing up.

"What's there to be sorry about, sweetheart?" She asks, innocently looking up at me and batting her eyelashes.

"I thought you were someone else," I say, smiling despite my disappointment. "I'm gonna get going."

"Aww, I was hoping I could get to know you better," she pouts, grabbing my arm and holding me in place as she gets closer. The bitter scent of alcohol wafts from her mouth.

I put my hands between us, trying to keep my distance. "Sorry, but I really need to find someone."

"That someone wouldn't happen to be a girlfriend, would it?"

"Well, no," I admit, which she takes as an invitation to get even closer. "I bet you're really nice, but I do have to go."

"How about you get me a drink first?" She slurs, her eyelids drooping in a sultry expression. Thank goodness, Midoriya and Uraraka intercept the situation.

"Hey," Midoriya says, grabbing my arm to pull me away with a tense smile.

"Oh?" The girl asks, turning her drunken smile to the green haired boy. "Maybe this cutie wants to get me a drink instead?"

She leans towards him, but I pull her back, seeing the outraged look on Uraraka's face. Does she have a thing for Midoriya or something? It seems that way, with how she looks at him, as if daring him to accept the other girl's offer.

Without even looking at Uraraka, he replies, waving his hands, "sorry, I'm sorta here with someone else and you probably shouldn't be drinking anyway. Aren't you that hero, Shadow Dancer that was on the news as one of the nationally recognized high school rising heroes? You should be keeping your head on straight right now, not doing anything that could be detrimental--"

"Boring!" She exclaims, cutting him off.

"We should go!" Uraraka exclaims. I'm about to ask why when I see her looking out the window.

Bakugo has approached the blonde from the campfire and is currently screaming at her next to the pool. He shoves her once and she nearly falls over, instead stumbling back. Us three run for the door.

As we make it outside, I see the girl looking at him with wide eyes, filled with fear and confusion.

"Just come back!" Bakugo yells in Japanese, pushing her again. I watch as she flails her arms and tumbles backwards towards the water. At the last moment, a streak of light comes out of nowhere and grabs her from the air.

"What's going on, man?" I exclaim as the light disappears towards the sky. From this distance, I can make out a pair of glowing wings, extended in the night sky.

"That was her!" Bakugo yells in my face as the light becomes smaller and fainter.

"You don't know that!" I yell back. "She didn't have a scar, since you seem to know all about that!"

"Guys," Midoriya speaks up, trying to get between us. I notice Mina, Yaoyorozu, and Shoji have joined us as well as a small crowd of other party goers. "People are watching."

I sigh and continue, "this was a waste of time. We're no closer to finding her. Maybe it's time we cut our losses and go home. We might just have to trust she will make her own way back."

"Kirishima, you're just going to accept that?" Uraraka gasps, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"After all this for a girl who obviously isn't my friend?" I snap. "Yeah, she'll be fine."

"Don't say that!" She cries. "Koto is your friend!"

"Really?" I ask, on the verge of tears too. "She doesn't trust me. And she obviously doesn't want to be found, wherever she is. Let's just go home."

Her and I stand there, staring at each other for a long moment before Midoriya takes her arm and leads her away, saying something about finding Todoroki.

"You're just gonna give up?" Bakugo growls from next to me.

"She'll be fine on her own," I mumble, walking back inside to look for Denki.