Chapter Four:
The driver that brought the three Heroines to the Endoru Forest was shaken awake by the sound of Ragdoll knocking on the window of the van, who gave the driver the hand signal that the mission was done, which prompted them to press a button on the dashboard and open the back doors of the van. As the driver sent a glance through the indoor window of the van to the back, they couldn't stop themselves from thinking a rather upsetting thought at the sight that greeted them, namely Midnight carrying a young girl who was without a doubt a holder of an Animal-classed Mutant-Quirk in her arms in a fashion a mother would carry her child, kind of awkwardly due to the girl's mutations.
"Great. They actually brought the damn animal with them. I don't get paid enough for this, I'm demanding a raise if I have to deal with this crap again." Thought the driver bitterly as Midnight took a seat on one of the benches in the back of the van, laying down the girl on the remainder of the bench, who proceeded to curl up and snuggle closer to Midnight with the reptilian girl's head ending up in the dark purple haired woman's lap. The members of The Wild, Wild Pussycats meanwhile took their seats on the opposite side of the back of the van, seeing that the other one was already occupied by Midnight and the sleeping Mutant. While the driver's opinion regarding holders of Animal-classed Mutant-Quirks wasn't uncommon amongst the more and less ignorant populace, they were smart enough to not voice it, especially when the Mutant seemed to have taken a liking of sorts to Midnight (something that, from the brief glimpses, seemed to be mutual) and the driver didn't want to get knocked out by sleeping gas, since they were driving and they didn't really trust their passengers to get the van to the post-mission rendezvous point without any scratches, bethey to the in- or outside of the van.
"Normally I'd say something like 'make the ride as bumpy as possible', but if the young one is anything like the creature her mutation resembles, I'd rather avoid risking getting cooked alive in a rolling tin can due to her literally heating things up because of a rude awakening, so please… try to keep the ride as smooth as possible." Requested Midnight to the driver while running a hand through the sleeping girl resting her head in the R-rated Hero's lap's green hair, which the dark purple haired woman absentmindedly noted had a quality similar to poofy moss.
"Roger. Route to the rendezvous point for identification, temporary guardianship setup, etc etc etc, is set. Beginning extraction." Replied the driver, mumbling some of the post-mission procedures 'above their pay grade' in a kind of disinterested manner but otherwise remained professional.
"Would you actually ask for a ride as bumpy as possible?" Asked Ragdoll in a way that implied both curiosity and a reluctance to actually know, knowing what kind of answer the dark purple haired woman would probably give her.
"If you treat me to dinner, yes." Replied Midnight with a grin without missing a beat, which caused everyone awake in the van to blush. The members of The Wild, Wild Pussycats looked like they would have reacted rather loudly in embarrassment if it wasn't for the very real source of danger of getting them cooked alive sleeping in Midnight's lap, so they settled on giving the grinning woman a mild glare.
"Really?" Asked Mandalay in a tone of disbelief.
"Sorry, not sorry, but you did phrase the question in a way I couldn't help myself. Sometimes Midnight bleeds into Nemuri when the opportunity for a double entendre or something similar arises. Besides, people get funny when they're flustered." Replied Midnight while rubbing the back of her head with the hand that wasn't stroking the sleeping girl in her lap's hair.