Quite possibly a date?

You only realize how much you missed the people in your life when they come back to you, a fact that I have heard many state, but not one I could relate to myself until now. It's been almost a week since mom, dad, and the kids appeared and every day feels like the best day because I get to spend time with them again. Dad instantly falls for my tricks once more, ending up covered in a bucket of slime I had gathered every time Mina used her quirk. It's weird that I do that, yes, but I have been wanting to dump a bucket of slime on someone, so yeah. Besides, I didn't just dump a bucket of slime on my father without reason, we made a wager, which he lost, terribly, so he was punished. Took him a while to get the stuff off his skin and out his hair, but he left the bathroom smelling like the forest and grinning brighter than ever. Mom does what she does best and makes the kitchen her own, successfully modeling it to her taste and desire so she can cook up the delicacies only she can make. She makes mac and cheese first thing first because it's my favorite and it's always better when she makes it. She also sleeps with me every night, not once joining dad in their guest room, and sometimes dad would join in too, because why not? I have enough space for us to squeeze in and I quite enjoy it. And my siblings are just the greatest creatures to walk this earth and nothing compares to their collective adorableness and no one will be changing my mind. They are not much alike, not at all. As young as they are they have character alright, clear distinguishing personalities that set them apart from each other. Elijah is a quiet little boy, not talking very much and when speaking it is only when he deems it absolutely necessary, I have learned. His exceptional silence makes it very easy for him to disappear and reappear almost as well as Alissa and that is a bit concerning considering he's a baby, a small human who you can easily lose sight of. He still loves building blocks and is smart enough to make somewhat complex models that sometimes impress me. He likes to eat, he really does, I caught him making a run with a stolen cookie once. An adorable thief that one.

Clover on the other hand, well, she's Clover. She talks to me, she does, she plays with her toys and talks to me about anything that comes to that beautiful mind of hers and I must say; for a two-year-old, she is quite the conversationalist. She has a lot of little books she likes to amuse herself with, as well as many toys that involve letters and learning to spell. She's gonna be a reader, I reckon. Maybe not, but she seems to like letters and sings her phonics song often. Clover is also incredibly fast, something I had learned when I had to chase her to get the TV remote. How do her chubby little legs give her that much speed? I was honestly baffled by the speed of that child and dad could only laugh at me.

Also, she has good aim.

It's safe to say that the past week has been amazing for me.

"Do you have any friends Alissa?" My mother asks when we're gathered in the living room enjoying some random movie. The question makes me snort and Alissa doesn't seem much better off.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I've only ever seen Zena's friends come over" mom admits, and that is an amazing point. You would think that my cousin has no friends - I would tease her about it maybe - but she actually does, well, she has one friend I think. She swears Iida is not her friend because she despises him, but they interact.

"Well I do have friends" she has one, she mentally reminds herself but doesn't openly admit that.

"Do they come over?"

"Nope," she says popping the P.

"Any reason why?"

"Nope"

Yeah, Alissa's friend situation is one I couldn't understand at first. She is absolutely in love with her friend, she swears she has a better friendship than I do with Eijiro and Mina - I take offense. She went and got a friend who likes to do the weirdest experiments - just like her - and they both build weird things. Fun fact, that friend doesn't even go to the same school as her. They met at some robotics competition - at least I think it was robotics - and things clicked immediately. They exchanged numbers and Alissa talks to her every day.

I'm betting all my money that her friend is Mei.

It would only make sense because I seem to somehow meet or have a family member who knows someone from the story, I swear. There's me being friends with Mina and Eijiro, then there's Iida being a pain in the ass for Alissa. Morgan is friends with Mirko - coolest of all - and I'm sure Israel will meet Mirio and the likes.

"Ring ring"

My phone buzzes on my lap and I regret having Mina mess with my device because she went and made this my damn ringtone. Every time someone calls I hear her voice just going "ring-ring" in the most innocent way and it sometimes peeves. I need to change it but I never get around to it and always draw scrutiny when my phone rings.

Looking at my screen I see nothing but pink, immediately knowing that the very person responsible for my ringtone is the one calling me now. For a moment I debate not answering if only to mess with her and have her be offended.

"Your ring tone is stupid"

She laughs on the other end, very much proud of herself I'm sure.

"You haven't changed it yet though" she points out. "It contradicts your dislike"

I sigh, promising to change it later but knowing that I won't. I'm too lazy to change it anyways.

"Need something?"

"Yeah, just letting you know that I stole a hoodie," she says casually and I hear a zipper in the background. Most likely the very jacket she stole. "Wasn't intentional this time"

I'm not even surprised. A lot of my hoodies have gone missing and it's all because of my raccoon-eyed thief. Do I ever try to get any of them back? No. Do I constantly accuse her and order her to bring them back while fully knowing that she won't ever do that? Yes.

Am I stupid?

Indubitably

Back to the topic.

"You called me to let me know that you stole another article of clothing right out of my closet?" I summarize.

"Yes and no" she replies. "Called because I'm bored and want to go somewhere. Already asked Eiji but he's busy helping his moms today, apparently, they synched up and he has to be the man of the house"

I can imagine him going to the store to get them all kinds of snacks as well as pads with no shame. I've seen him walk right down the isle of pads, scanned them very carefully and critically, and all without an ounce of hesitation or embarrassment.

"You called Eijiro before me" I'm somewhat offended

"You never wanna go anywhere" she accuses. "Never, we have to drag you out of the house, so you have no right to feel offended"

Good point. Why go out when I have everything I need right here? It's pointless, I like staying home.

"But you're calling me because you want to go out?"

"Yes"

"With me, the person who doesn't like going anywhere?"

"Yes"

"Very logical, Mina, very logical"

"I know, sometimes my genius, it scares me," she says, using the words I have taught her so shamelessly.

"Truly a thief"

"Oh shut up" she snickers. "So we're going out in two hours"

"Do I have a say?" Here I was hoping I would enjoy a day doing nothing

"Nope, be ready in two hours, maybe less"

~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's hazardous, don't you agree, Kurama?"

The little fox makes an odd sound to my words and I'll take that as a yes, yes, he does agree that this situation is bothersome. There are many reasons why I don't like leaving the house, one of them being the need to find suitable clothes to wear. It's a bother to look through all the clothes I have in hopes of finding something that's good enough to be seen in public yet comfortable enough that I won't want to throw myself under a bus. Honestly, all my clothes are quite comfortable because I will never purchase anything that makes me uncomfortable. The problem is just that I do not like looking for clothes to wear. Worst of all, Mina hasn't clarified where we will be going - I doubt she even knows where she wants to go - and that lack of knowledge makes it harder still to choose some clothes.

"Jeans and a hoodie is the most appealing outfit right now" it's my go-to for everything and I think I've worn it almost all the times I have gone out with Eijiro and Mina. I just don't like looking for clothes but I know that if I wear this combo again Mina will reprimand me for it.

Should wear something else

"Anything to offer, Kurama?" I seek advice from my trusty little fox who seems to represent me as a person entirely. He's on my bed, leisurely as he enjoys his day. He's looking at me with those dark eyes that I sometimes believe are mocking me for the things I do. He is highly opinionated when I request his help, maybe a bit smug too.

"Nothing?"

He yawns, stretches, and rests his head on a white turtle neck I had carelessly discarded on my bed.

Turtle neck it is then.

"Thanks for the suggestion" I'll reward him with a treat before I leave.

Looking around some more, I find a black pair of jeans and a deep orange shirt with plus ultra printed out on it. I regard it for a moment, wondering when I had gotten a plus ultra shirt, but deciding to wear it either way. It'll look good enough.

Getting dressed, I ignore the cat that rubs against my feet and almost fall on my face when I nearly step on the poor guy. He should know better than to move between my feet when I'm trying to pull on my jeans. I have stepped on the exact same cat once before, you'd think he'd be more cautious around me since then, but cats don't learn apparently.

"You don't have much thought behind those eyes, do you, little guy?"

He's adorable, but that's all he has going for him because he obviously isn't very bright. Or perhaps he is purposefully naive to torment others with guilt when they accidentally step on him. It's hard to tell when it comes to cats, devious creatures that they sometimes are. I saw one bullying my puppy the other day, it just happened to be Israel's cat and I took that quite personally.

I'm standing in front of my mirror to admire my clothes, the jeans that don't quite reach my ankles, the white turtle neck that accentuates the deep orange shirt, and the necklace I recently purchased, silver with an adorable fox dangling from it. Eijiro had convinced me to buy it and I saw no reason to say no to him and earn that sad puppy look he wears so well.

I should give him a puppy.

Turning away from my mirror I come to an abrupt stop when my eyes land on the white snake dangling from the led lights in my room. How in the world did it get up there? Should I help it down? Will it be ok?

I mean, it's a snake, if it got up there by itself and can likely get back down.

Can I let it stay here?

"You won't eat it, will you Kurama?" It's questionable when it comes to him. He's a fox, a carnivore, he's very likely to eat most of the animals in this house and I'm surprised he hasn't attempted that as of yet. He's surprisingly domestic for some fox Mirko just picked up. I don't know where she gets these animals, if she just picks them up off the street or if she takes them from a shelter or something.

There's a snake in my room and I'm concerned for it.

Heh

"You'll be ok"

Kurama won't eat it. If he does then there's something for me to deal with when I get back.

"There's a snake in my room, so beware" I warn when I get back downstairs, grabbing a pair of white sneakers on the way to the door. "Also a fox, so if you hear a commotion, a snake's probably dead, but I'm giving Kurama the benefit of a doubt"

"There's snakes in the house?" My mother is immediately concerned, because well, she has tiny children who wander the house.

"We have a lot of animals, they're all harmless though," Alissa says shrugging. "All the snakes are pretty small and not much of a threat, plus they don't come out in the open, and most are put away very carefully, I don't know how one got into Zena's room though"

It's on a little adventure and I'll allow its exploration of the house.

"Besides, I saw Clover fearlessly grab one of the creatures the other day, she seems to like them" I admit. I was more concerned for the snake more than anything else. She was holding it pretty tight, but it lived.

I don't stick around to hear what my mother has to say to that discovery, likely avoiding a scolding for not taking the snake away from my sister. The snake couldn't bite, that's for sure, so she was fine.

Just as I successfully get my sneakers on my feet, a familiar pickup truck stops in the driveway and a familiar pink-skinned girl exuberantly waves me over as if I don't see the car parked right in front of my house.

"How long did It take for you to find something other than your hoodie and jeans?" Are the first words she says to me when she practically pulls me into the truck. She seems very proud of me for not wearing my usual outfit which has me snorting.

"Thirty minutes" an embarrassingly long time if you ask me. "Hello, Mr. Ashido"

Mr. Ashido offers me a polite smile through the rearview as he starts the car once more. He's dressed in a turtle neck as well and Mina mumbles something about being left out of our little secret dress code. Mina's father is a somewhat mousy man, small and reserved and his hair is a mouse-brown that very much resembles the pink hair on Mina's head. He wears these somewhat nerdy glasses that he often has to push up his nose before they fall and his eyes are an unusual shade of blue, almost seeming to change at every moment and I can't understand it.

Mina's dad is hot when in professor mode, with his nice-looking suits, neat hair, the glasses, the tan skin, the way he carries himself with confidence so effortlessly.

But he's also a big fat dork, a complete contrast to professor Ashido, a nerd of a father who appears shy, is often quiet, makes psychology jokes that I have learned to understand through being around him enough times, he coddles his daughter whenever he can, buying her all kinds of things and praising her for the simplest things. It's adorable.

So this man is hot and adorable, it's perfect.

"Are you thinking about my da-"

"No"

"You are a lost cause"

I ignore that comment and the others that enter my mind in favor of asking where we're going.

"Dad's just gonna drop us off at this burger place I like and from there we see what happens" she explains happily. "It's an adventure today"

The last time I went on an adventure with her, Eijiro got stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel. That was terrible luck on his part, though.

~~~~~~~~

It takes ten minutes of driving for us to reach the burger place and the name almost has me on the floor laughing because the place is "The Burger Place". Who owns this restaurant? I can't even be too surprised when I remember Izuku wearing a shirt that says "shirt". It must be common in this reality, a hilarious thing to do, but I won't be complaining. After Mina assures her father that we'll be fine on our own, he's leaving and Mina is dragging me into the restaurant. She's wearing one of the jackets she stole from me, a purple thing with some sort of abstract drawing that I liked. It looks good on her, especially with the green crop top, so I don't bring it up nor do I complain. I won't be getting it back anyway. I almost wanna hide all my hoodies just to spite her.

"My mom makes excellent burgers" I inform when we find a booth, making it clear that I could have had a burger at my house, where I like to be.

"Yes, I know, so can mine" she rolls her eyes. "Geez, you really don't like leaving the house"

I really don't. As a child, I didn't go out often and maybe that is the reason I'm not fond of leaving the house. Though you would think my lack of excursions as a child would make me more willing to do what I could not have back then, but it's very much the opposite ain't it?

"The burgers here are great, I promise you," she says, trying to make me a tad more optimistic about this.

Looking at the menu I can just imagine all the fat I'll be ingesting today. I've got a pretty fast metabolism so I never worry about these things, there's that on top of the fact that I'm a healthy eater overall, something I have been trying to teach Mina and Eijiro.

"There's a burger named after All Might," I notice. "He has eaten here, huh?"

"Yup, multiple times"

"I guess I'll try that" why not see how good this burger is if All Might likes it. It makes no sense to me for him to be able to eat this or basically anything solid when his stomach is destroyed. He should be ingesting liquid foods and very careful foods as well.

Mina decides to have it with me and orders the same as well as some soda and ice cream for later. I opt for a multi-fruit smoothie and consider a slice of cake for later as a treat. Haven't had cake in a while so I'm craving it when I see the assortment on the menu.

"Say, Mina, how many of my jackets have you stolen?" I find myself wondering when I catch her playing with the sleeve of the jacket.

"A lot"

"Don't have a number, huh?"

She shakes her head and tries to count them on her fingers

"I think seven or eight," she says hesitantly. Her honesty makes this somewhat comical because she's so very casual with the fact that she has been taking my clothes for whatever reason." You have a lot of hoodies"

"I like them, very comfy"

"Yeah, they are, they're all so soft inside" she hugs herself with the happiest expression on her face and I have to roll my eyes.

"You know, you could just ask where I buy them instead of stealing them"

"Yes, but that's no fun" she grins. "Besides, new ones don't smell like you and you smell amazing, so that's an upside"

So she's taking my stuff because they smell like me? Okay, she could also ask what products I use, and then she too can smell like me and I point that out and once again she shakes her head because that is no fun, explaining that everyone has a unique smell so even if she uses the same products as me she would still not get the scent she enjoys.

Welp, there's no stopping her then.

"This is unfair" it truly is.

"How about I give you something in return, then it's all fair" she suggests

"You'll have to give me eight things"

"I don't mind" she shrugs. "I've got this crop top that will look great on you and a sleeveless turtle neck too"

Our food arrives pretty quickly and whilst I eat I listen to her talk about whatever may come to her mind. Apparently, she has a lot of clothes she would like to see me wear and invites me to spend the night so she can dress me up. She wasn't lying when she said this place makes amazing burgers, because the burger I ordered is delicious. I'm sad to say that it's better than my mother's burger, but I believe that's because of whatever sauce they use. The sauce is what makes this burger special, they've got a secret formula.

"This is good"

"Told you"

She's proud that I like the burger and that can be seen on her face as she wears this smug expression as she munches on her burger. Her thoughts are pleasant, as they so often are. She is always in the right here and now, her thoughts remaining on the moment and not straying, she's not even making plans for when we leave the restaurant, just appreciating the food and complimenting the chef.

"You're staring," she says bluntly pointing a finger at me with a tilt of her head. "Are you in my head"

"I often am, Mina"

She hums and continues to eat, though now she's aware of how invested I am in her thoughts she posses a mental conversation between us, trying very hard to make me laugh and look like a mad man for laughing at apparently nothing.

"Are you never bothered by the fact I'm constantly aware of your thoughts?" It's not something that would make me comfortable, I admit, but Mina never seems to care, ever since I first told her about my quirk.

"Not really," she says sounding and appearing thoughtful. "Sometimes I'm embarrassed when I remember that you're in my head, but it doesn't bother me simply because I know that it's just you. And it's not like you can turn your quirk off at will and it's not like your purposefully in my head, unless you actually want to be though"

"You do have some curious things in that head of yours" I admit, having laughed at the thoughts that would randomly enter her mind.

"I know" she chuckles. "You're in my head a lot, aren't you?"

"You are one of the people I spend a lot of time with" I know her inside out, and she knows just as much about me as I do her and that's all without a mental quirk.

"I wonder what's that like"

"A bit annoying sometimes, a lot annoying when I first unlocked my quirk. There are constant thoughts in my head all the time no matter what and I can't silence them. I can ignore them, having gotten so used to them that I can tune in and out when I want to. It's like a buzz in the back of my head" I explain as best I can. There are times I get headaches, though they come up less often these days.

"Sucks to be you" she jokes, playing with the straw in her cup. "It's a cool ability though"

"Yeah, I suppose" it's hard for people to lie to me, for one, because thoughts often betray what leaves their mouths.

~~~~~~~

After we left the burger place Mina had the brilliant idea to go watch a movie, a horror movie. She was enthusiastic about it, so I assumed she could handle a horror movie no problem. The one she picked actually looked terrifying and not even halfway into the movie I did not doubt that this movie would instill nightmares in many. I don't mind horrors, they never affected me in my last life and they certainly don't now, especially with my constant calm, so when someone got brutally manhandled and torn to pieces on the screen I simply stuffed my face with popcorn while some man screamed like a young girl. Mina on the other hand was not as unaffected as I am. She got scared and while she tried to act as if the movie didn't bother her, it's obvious enough to me that the movie did what it was made for.

"You chose this movie" I whisper when she jumps at a particular scene. "And you're scared"

"Didn't think it would be this scary" she admits sounding sheepish. "I mean why would they allow kids to watch it if it was this terrifying"

A very valid question, I must agree.

"Should we leave?"

"We paid for this"

"Yes, but you're scared and we're only halfway through, you'll have nightmares"

"We'll watch it to the end"

She's stubborn and I don't try to sway her anymore. Slumping in my seat, I continue to eat my popcorn and drink my soda, the trickling fear of so many playing around at the edge of my mind and trying to affect me as it does them. With Mina so close the feeling sends a shiver up my spine until my mind does what it does best and stills the foreign emotions, to once again bring a sense of serenity. I watch the movie without trouble, unlike most of everyone in this room. When the end nears I'm not surprised by the outcome and not surprised that the killer is shown once more in the end, teasing at a sequel that likely won't come anytime soon.

As soon as the movie is over, many are leaving, and Mina downs her entire soda before following suit. There's this stupid smile on my face as I follow her, feeling mirth for some reason, perhaps because she was so stubborn to leave and now the images won't leave her mind. I shouldn't be amused by this, not at all.

"That was a bad idea" she mumbles when we leave the theater and I give her a pointed look. I did suggest we leave for the sake of her.

"Yes, it was"

"How are you not scared?" She wonders, amazed and maybe a bit upset that she is the only one shaken by the movie.

"I'm not easily scared" never have been. "My quirk doesn't let me experience strong emotions anyway, and while I feel the emotions of others as if it were my own, my quirk shuts that down too"

It's a defense mechanism of my quirk, an effect that is meant to keep me level-headed.

She sighs, mumbling something I don't quite catch before starting a trek down the sidewalk. I catch up easily enough and she proposes going to an arcade to have some fun and forget about the movie and I have no objections.

"Hold my hand please" she holds her hand out to me and I simply stare at her.

"You want me to hold your hand because the movie scared you?" I bite my lip, trying not to laugh or smile at her, lest I upset her even more.

"It's stupid, I know, just hold my hand"

I hold in the want to laugh to save her some face and take her hand with no further words. She's embarrassed about her request and refuses to look at me as she drags me down the sidewalk and towards whatever arcade is in the neighborhood.

"I told you not to watch the movie"

"Shut up"