On the walk from English class to the lunchroom, Kyoka Jiro stretched with a yawn. While he wasn't as bad as Bakugo based on what Toru had told her, Midoriya was still pushing his team to their limits with after-class training. It wasn't like Kyoka disagreed with the idea, they could all use more work, and Midoriya was really great at finding exactly what they all could work on improving. Plus, their strength as a team was getting better as well. Hell, just look at how they'd done in the Investigation test. They hadn't gotten the detailed results yet, but the whole team walked away feeling pretty satisfied.

But, all of that said, it still left Kyoka's body more than a little sore. Luckily, they'd managed to convince Midoriya to give them that particular afternoon off as a reward for their success. Toru had managed the same with Bakugo, somehow, so they were going to have a girl's night out on the town together. It might actually be her first night without hanging out with...wait, what was the buzzing sound?

Sure enough, what might have seemed like a normal fly was proven not to be, as closer examination showed it was a bright green. "Hey, what's the bzzzz, Jiro?" The pun made her groan, and in seconds the fly had shifted into the familiar face of Garfield Logan, Kyoka's assigned partner. The young hero was social, and Kyoka hadn't necessary disliked spending so much time with him. His jokes were bad, but he had also proved to be kind and always have an ear open for others. "Okay if I join you for lunch?"

Kyoka shrugged, and together they walked towards the lunch room. "Wait, isn't your class's lunch at a different time? Shouldn't you be in class right now?" she asked him. Sure, Kyoka was a big fan of punk aesthetic, but missing class wasn't the best idea in her book. What was the point in getting into UA or Titans if they were just going to flunk out?

The green teen made a raspberry sound with his mouth. "It's just Bio. I basically tested out of it already." Then, mid-stride, he turned into a green horse and continued talking. "I mean, I'm the whole animal kingdom. Who knows more about Biology than me?" Then he shifted back into his normal form, with messy dark green hair, pointed elvin ears, and sharper canines than the average person, his whole body gangly while still having a bit of athletic muscle. "So, what did you want to do tonight?"

[GARFIELD LOGAN/CHANGELING! HIS QUIRK: ZOOSHIFTING! THIS TEEN HERO'S BEEN IN THE BIZ LONGER THAN SOME PROS, HAVING BEEN ADOPTED BY THE DOOM PATROL AT A YOUNG AGE! NOT ONLY CAN HE TURN INTO ANY ANIMAL, EVEN ALIEN ONES, BUT HE CAN STILL TALK AS AN ANIMAL! TOO BAD HE'S STILL GREEN EVERY TIME!]

Flinching a little at his words, Kyoka tried to find the most diplomatic way to say what she needed to. "Sorry Gar, but I've got solo plans. Me and Toru are going to hang out tonight." She saw something flicker in his expression. His toothy smile didn't go away, but the emotion under it felt like it had changed. "I mean, we've kind of spent every day together since you got here. I'll still be back tomorrow, y'know?"

He nodded, the motion so energetic that Kyoka almost believed the positivity he was trying to radiate. "Yeah, I get that. I'll just go chill with Vic." That sounded good to Kyoka, and from there they had a good time having lunch together. She did like Garfield, he was like if Kaminari had any sense of personal skills, so she decided to try and hope that he was being sincere. After all, they were heroes in training, he should be able to handle a night without her.

After class, she and Toru headed to their dorm to get ready, and once they'd gotten dressed up they started to head out on the town. But it was colder than they'd expected, and while Toru had brought a jacket, Kyoka was going to freeze without another layer. Toru ended up waiting near the school gate, while Kyoka ran back to her dorm to get something warm to wear. She'd grabbed the jacket and was on her way back when she heard someone talking around the corner of a building, someone with a familiar voice.

"...yeah, I totally get that Tim, I know you and Steph haven't gotten to see each other much, I'll be fine." That was definitely Gar's voice, and Kyoka peeked her head to see him on his phone, his warm breath coming out misty in the cold air. "Yeah, uh, no Vic's busy too, video calling family. Star's out with her new friend, and Raven's in the mood for being by herself. But I'll be good, see you later!" That last sentence had come out in a rush, like Gar had wanted to cut off the other person from saying something.

Kyoka knew she should be going back to Toru, but she couldn't help but continue watching as he dialed another number and brought the phone up to his ear again. "Hey, Rita, it's me. Yeah, I miss you guys too. Japan's pretty great, I've made a lot of friends. I got assigned a partner, for safety and stuff, her name's Jiro. She's pretty punk rock, I think Jane would love her...no, nothing's wrong, I just felt like calling. Y-yeah, I know it's been a while. How's...oh, you have to go? That's fine, I know the Brotherhood of Evil's been more active lately. If you ever want to take Danny to come stop by, it would be...yeah, love you too Rita."

Just for a few seconds, as Gar was desperately trying to keep someone on the phone with him, Kyoka felt like she saw a bit of him that explained a lot. The dude was lonely, it was like he needed to not be alone. Once she'd thought about that for a few seconds, Kyoka took a deep breath and did the only thing she could. "Hey, Gar!" That could his attention, just as a few tears had started to slide down his colorful face. "Want to hang out with Toru and I tonight?"

The last week being partnered to Mina Ashido had been...interesting. Cassandra Sandsmark, Cassie to her friends, liked to see herself as a fairly normal girl. Sure, she was training to become a pro hero, and she could be a little competitive, but there was always something appealing to her, about being something like normal. Mina was a good compliment to that. The pink hero was all overreactions and energy, and it let Cassie naturally fall into the Straight Man archetype, something she always enjoyed.

That particular night, Cassie was hanging out in Mina's room, letting her paint all of her finger and toenails pink. It wasn't something Cassie was normally interested in, but Mina had been really excited to try it out, and Cassie couldn't bring herself to say no. They were all the way done with both hands and halfway through the first foot when there was a sudden tapping on the room's doom. Confused, Mina set the nail paint aside and walked over to open it up, only to find a small owl standing on the carpeted floor.

The second the door was open, the owl just trotted in, right up to Cassie. She knew instantly what this mean, and her temper flared. "Tell her no!" she spat at the thing, quickly. "Not now! I just want a few days to myse-"

Cassie wasn't even able to finish the sentence, when suddenly Mina and Cassie were no longer the only two people in the room. Suddenly, a third woman was there with them. Despite being just over six feet tall, she gave off a presence, a light, that made her seem far more enormous than that. She was curvy, but with enough muscles showing through her business suit to make it clear she was not one to cross lightly. The entire ensemble fit her perfectly, all of it in shades of grey, with the exception of a sky-blue necktie. Her auburn hair contrasted with her olive complexion, and the wavy locks were assembled into the most complicated braid any mortal would ever see. There was also a resemblance between her and Cassie, enough that most people would know immediately that the two were related. The owl flew up to land on her jacketed shoulder, and the woman looked at Cassie with a stern expression. "What was it you wanted to tell me, sister dear?"

If Cassie was at all put out by her sister's displeasure, it didn't show. She rose from the bed, and though she was almost a full foot shorter, she still did her best to look her sister in the eye. "I'm trying to spend time on my own, make some friends! It's kind of hard to do that when you guys just show up without asking! I'd prefer it if you left." But all of that said, Cassie let out a strained breath and closed the difference between them, giving her older sister a hug. "It is good to see you, though."

A slow smile spread across the woman's face, and she hugged Cassie back. "It's good to see you too, little sister." Then they broke apart, the older sister looking more embarrassed by the show of affection. Her eyes focused on Mina, who was watching all of this with a slack-jawed expression, her normally pink face pale from the shock. "Are you going to continue being rude, or are you going to introduce me?"

"Ha," Cassie huffed in the imitation of a laugh. "As if you don't already know who she is." The taller woman elbowed Cassie, and with no other choice, she complied. "This is Mina Ashido, an aspiring pro hero and my assigned partner for this trip. Mine, this is my older half-sister, Athena."

It looked like Athena didn't care for some of what Cassie had said. "You don't have to put so much weight on the 'half' part, Cassie." Then, she extended a hand to Mina. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mina Ashido."

Slowly, Mina extended a pink palm and shook the woman's hand, slowly, and both Cassie and Athena could see the wheels turning in her head as she looked from one sister to the other. "So...wait a second...you're not...are you?" It made Cassie want to tear her hair out. Why did everyone have to react like this?!

If Athena cared at all about how this was making Cassie feel, she didn't show it. "I am the Goddess of Wisdom, War, Courage, Law, Mathematics, and a great many other things. Cassie and I share a father, Zeus." That explanation over with, it seemed like Athena realized for the first time what she'd interrupted. "Oh, were you painting Cassie's nails?" Mina nodded, still star-struck. "Can you do mine as well? I need to relax."

[CASSANDRA SANDSMARK/WONDER GIRL II! THIS POWERHOUSE DOESN'T HAVE A QUIRK, AND SHE DOESN'T NEED ONE EITHER! WHY? WELL, IT SEEMS THE HEAD GOD OF OLYMPUS IS STILL A FAN OF AFFAIRS, BECAUSE CASSIE'S HIS DAUGHTER! AS A DEMIGOD, SHE HAS ENHANCED STRENGTH, DURABILITY, AND REFLEXES! PLUS, SHE HAS SUPPORT ITEMS CRAFTED BY THE GODS THEMSELVES!]

And so a Greek goddess sat on Mina's bed, and began what she'd really come here to do: complain about their other siblings. It was one of the many things Cassie hated about these family visits: they weren't there for her, they were there so someone could agree with them after millenia of disputes. Athena came to complain about what Ares had been doing lately, and that Artemis needed to just pick a woman and settle down, and that Hermes needed to get off the computer at some point.

As Mina finished Cassie's nails and started on the goddess's, Cassie reflected on the other thing that she hated about people meeting her siblings. Athena, like the rest of them, was perfect. They were gods and goddesses, and despite having half the same genetics, Cassie wasn't. She was a human. One imbued with special powers, sure, but still just a teenage girl. She had blonde hair that needed half an hour in the bathroom to look presentable, a pretty plain face, and a body that didn't look special in the slightest. Sitting next to Athena, she looked like a nobody. More days than she'd care to admit, Cassie wish she'd just been born a regular human, just as powerless as her mother. Finally, in a break between complaints, Cassie slipped in a question. "Hey, how's dad been?"

It had been years since she'd last asked the question, but she felt it couldn't hurt at this point. Athena just shrugged. "Well, he's still dad. But you know how he is: making Hera unhappy, avoiding responsibility however he can, enjoying human pleasures far too much."

Cassie wasn't able to bring herself to do more than let out an annoyed huff. "No, I don't really know, Athena. I've still never actually met dad, remember?" Things got awkward quickly after that, and once the nails were done Athena had to leave, though she did promise a boon to Mina as thanks for the nails. Cassie was pretty sure Mina had no clue what that meant.

Now that it was back to just Mina and Cassie, she knew what was going to happen next. Mina would start gushing about Athena, want to meet the other siblings, get godly favors, the whole works. That's what had happened with Kole, after all. "I don't want to sound rude, but your sis is a jerk!" That stunned Cassie completely, leaving her unprepared for the rest of the tyrade. "She just showed up out of nowhere, even when you told her not to! Then, she just vented to you, didn't listen to you, and left the second you tried talking to her about how you felt!"

Before she realized what she was doing, Cassie had risen from the bed and given Mina a hug that was probably more than a little too tight. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so much." Cassie loved her siblings, but it was amazing to hear someone see them and not go gaga right away. "Can you...not tell anyone else about that?" Mina promised to keep the secret, and they spent the rest of the night not mentioning Athena or Cassie's semi-divine heritage.