If you've made it this far, thank you. Forty chapters and over two hundred thousand words is kind of insane to me, although I understand there are MUCH longer fics out there.

It's the most I've ever written about one thing, and as a result it's all a bit scatterbrained. I've been mixing in conceptual ideas I've had about Horikoshi's world with ideas of improvement that I've had for his storyline, and basically just throwing concepts at the wall to see what sticks. That works fine for me because I'm seeing this chapter-to-chapter, but for anyone who discovers the fic late and reads all the way through, it probably seems like an inconsistent mess.

Most of you have provided criticism and feedback that is both fair and helpful. A few people have gotten angry over things that happen in the story, either out of a desire to hurt my feelings or, I hope, out of passion for what they're doing, which is searching for a fic that aligns with their personal tastes. I understand how frustrating that search can be because I lived it, last year. I never left reviews but I got angry at a lot of stories for being unfinished, rarely updated, or having certain elements that grinded my gears. In the end my solution was to just write my own, but not everyone wants to do that.

In the end, I want to keep improving going forward and possibly even go back and revise past mistakes. (I seem to have a running issue with forgetting characters' injuries…) I hope you all continue on this journey with me. With all that being said, here's a romantic chapter because I'm in that kind of mood.

Chapter 40: A Queen's Courage

It was morning time, and Doko headed toward the stairs to go down to the common room.

"Doko!"

He turned to see Mina approaching him bouncily. She seemed very excited about something, and that in turn improved his mood as well. He lifted his eyes and mouth into a smile, matching her energy.

"What is it?"

"Well, since we have time before we start training again, I was thinking…remember when I said we should go on a shopping date?"

"I do remember, although I didn't think it was serious."

Mina pouted. "My dad is making dinner tonight, and invited me over. I told him I'd bring you as well. I was thinking we could turn it into something…"

"Oh, like shop in the afternoon and then head to your place at dinnertime?"

"Yeah!"

"Sounds great." Doko checked the time on his phone. "When do you want to leave?"

"Well…" she traced the floor with her foot. "We kinda need permission from Aizawa, first."

"Oh. Let's go do that then."

"You mean it?" Mina leaned closer to him, her eyes shining. "You want to meet my folks?"

"Well uh…of c-course." He swallowed, but his mouth was dry. "Not like I'm nervous or anything. Nope nope nope."

"Hehehehehe. Don't worry, my dad's not really that type of guy. At least, I don't think so." She frowned for a moment. "I've never brought a boy home before."

"Does he at least know that I'm coming?"

"Oooh, yeah, I'll have to tell him."

Doko sighed in exasperation. "You're going to be the death of me."

"And proud of it!" She boomed, swelling up her chest. "If anyone else got to kill you, I'd be extremely jealous."

…

They found Aizawa in his Heights Alliance office, doing some paperwork. His eyes flashed up, looked down, and then looked up again. Immediately, his shoulders slumped. "You two," he grunted. "What do you want?"

"We're going to have dinner at my family's house tonight," Mina told him. "We want permission to maybe stay after curfew."

"Right. Let me just check something real quick…" he leaned down and pulled a desk open, rummaging through some files before finding something with a small "A-ha!"

He scanned the paper. "Ashido, your address is somewhat close to my apartment."

Mina raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Here." He took a set of keys out of his pocket and tossed them at Doko. He was unprepared for the movement, letting them sail past him, but he flicked his wrist and warped them back into his hand.

"Your spare keys? Why are you giving them back?" He'd used this set during his stay at the teacher's place.

"If you guys end up staying after curfew, do not attempt to come back to UA. It's quite far, and you may run into trouble. You can bet that if we have enemies nearby they'll be looking for students heading in and out of the area. Instead, go straight to my apartment. Do not go anywhere else. I'll come get you both in the morning."

"Huh?" Mina asked. "You're not going to be there?"

He shook his head. "I don't use it very much." Doko thought, I could have told you that.

"Are you sure?" Mina seemed confused. "Wouldn't want to impose…"

"Nonsense. Katayama has been there before, and you can always just stay at your home if you like."

"Oh." She closed her mouth, apparently not having thought of that.

"In any case, if you do both end up sleeping in my apartment, try not to make a mess," he told them, looking back down at his papers in an almost bored manner. "And if you do make one, clean it up."

Doko and Mina both blushed deeply, looked at each other at the same time, and then looked away. The thought had already been hanging in the air, of course…but then he'd just come right out and said it.

"Th-thanks anyway, Aizawa-sensei," Doko stammered, twirling the keys around his finger. "We'll be g-going now."

They left his office, unable to meet the eye of the other. Doko's brain was storming up something fierce, and he kept wanting to look over at Mina…not just her face but her chest, her hips, her legs.

They'd be alone together for an evening. Nothing will happen if she doesn't want it to, or if I don't want it to…but still, the thought was there.

Maybe the family meeting will be a disaster and I won't even have to worry about it.

"Let's lighten up, Doko," Mina said, punching his arm lightly.

He looked up at her. Those black-and-gold eyes had returned to their former glow, and any trace of embarrassment had long fled her face.

"There's nothing to worry about. You already got captured by the League of Villains and fought All For One, so what's a little date compared to that?"

"Uhh, well." He squeaked. "When you put it like that…"

She wrapped herself around him, pressing her chest against his arm. "I trust Aizawa when he says we shouldn't come back to UA. If you'd feel more comfortable just going to the apartment alone, then I can easily stay at my house…"

"I'm not ready to make that decision yet," he interrupted, very quickly. "Just…umm…uhhh." She felt really soft, and her face was expectant, curious. How can she look so attractive with any expression? "Let me get back to you on that," he finally muttered.

She giggled. "Well, alright then."

…

Later, they found themselves on the train to the shopping district.

"We can't get anything big," Doko reminded her. They were sitting next to each other by the doors, the movement of the train causing them to sway in sync. There was a light crowd today; no one in their car was having to stand.

"I know," she said. "Maybe a rug though? Like, a soft rug for your floor? It doesn't have to be a big one." She looked up at him and batted her eyelashes in a begging manner.

His mouth twitched. "Possibly."

"Oh, you can't begin to know how excited I am for this. We're gonna turn your room into the trendiest one on campus."

"I don't know about trendy. Ideally I just want it to look nice."

"Well, making it trendy is one way to do that!"

"If you say so. I trust your judgement, Mina." He smiled at her.

She let out an adorable squeak of excitement.

They arrived at their stop and disembarked. The weather was sunny and fresh, and all the shops were open. Still, there was a strange feeling in the air. Less people, yes…but also something…

"Feels strange," he mumbled, as Mina took his hand and held it.

"People aren't recognizing us any more," she said. "No one's thinking about the sports festival after what happened…"

The few people they did see all seemed focused on something, distracted, or generally not in a happy mood. No one was in a bad mood, either, but…

"Unrest…this is the world without All Might, huh?"

"Yep…" Mina blinked. She squeezed his hand and gave him a reassuring smile. "He wants us to stay happy. Maybe if we look happy, they'll feel better too. That's our job as heroes, after all."

"Right. I can look happy. I'm great at looking happy. Yep, everything's fine."

She giggled. "Let's go buy you some stuff, moron."

They browsed several stores. They found a fuzzy blue carpet that Doko liked, then a pink one that Mina liked, and finally a purple one that they both liked…and bought. They also got some color-changing string lights, at Mina's insistence.

"I already have a desk lamp," he complained.

"But that doesn't have ambience! You need ambience in your room!"

"What for?" he asked, raising his eyebrow teasingly.

Mina opened her mouth, closed it, and her cheeks flushed lilac. "I'll pay for it," she muttered grumpily. Doko's eyes danced with mirth.

Later, as she was attempting to drag him into a trendy store, Doko saw a building facade that caught his eye.

"Let's go in there," he said, pointing at it with the hand that wasn't holding Mina's.

She returned to him and followed his gaze. "An antique store? Uhh…" She blinked, seeming to recompose herself. "Is that the kind of stuff you like?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Could we have a look?"

"Sure. By all means." Mina's voice had taken on a softer tone.

Doko ended up being the one to lead her into it. A tinny bell rang as they pushed the door open.

The place was warm and reddish-brown, with all manner of objects stacked up in a way that was beautifully messy to Doko's eyes. It felt quaint and vast all at once, like a labyrinth. He'd expected there to be a degree of dust, but there wasn't. It felt surprisingly clean.

At the desk to their left, an old man was reclining in a chair and reading a paperback book through glasses balanced on the bridge of his nose. When he heard the bell, he stood up, cracking his spine with a sigh, and walked over to them.

"Not often I get customers your age," the man said. "What brings ya?"

"A date," said Doko pleasantly, squeezing Mina's hand. "Also, I'm trying to redecorate my room. Really just looking for anything interesting I could put in there."

"I see." The man raised his eyebrows, and smiled. "Well, I suppose that rules out the old books I've got." He pointed toward the shelves that lined the right-side wall. "Gimme a shout if you need help with anything. I'll just be reading." He returned to his desk and picked the paperback back up, sitting down again.

Doko gave Mina a glance and a smile. She smiled nervously back; clearly this sort of place was not really her modus operandi.

They began to browse the aisles, looking at various old knick knacks, drenched in shadow and marked with age. "This wooden chest is neat," Doko said, running his fingers over it. It was maybe the size of an old radio, and covered in medieval-looking grooves and markings, he assumed for decorative purposes. "Could store some stuff in it, keep it on my desk."

Mina stared at it for what felt like a long time before saying, "I think I like it too." It was barely above a mumble, but Doko heard it loud and clear.

As he picked up the chest and put it into their shopping pack, he gave his girlfriend another glance. Her eyes had started to dart all over the place; he could tell that she was starting to become intrigued by the place. "Wanna split up?" he suggested. "You can look for something you'd like to have, maybe. I'd buy it for you."

She grinned. "Alright, then. Meet you at the front desk."

For the first time in what felt like hours, they separated their hands from one another and split up through the store. Doko knew it was a foregone conclusion, since they had a lot of things to carry, but he still missed the feeling of her hand in his. That feeling was quickly overrun by his curiosity with the place.

Going around the very back corner, where there was a small reading area with two beanbags and a rug, Doko found a shelf of snowglobes. He leaned forward, looking into the glass. One had a standard winter scene, with a quaint house and a group of children playing outside. But another was a man and a woman under a tree branch, intertwined, embracing.

A strange thought came over him. He was not ignorant to the standard romantic situations. If you need to give your girlfriend a gift, then jewelry is always a safe bet. But…at the same time…I wonder if Mina likes snowglobes?

"Finding everything okay?" a voice asked behind him.

Doko started, nearly dropping the bag, and the old man chuckled. "I didn't mean to startle you. My apologies."

"That's alright," Doko said quickly, brushing himself off. "I was just looking at these snowglobes…"

"Hmm? Ah, yes." The shopkeeper leaned forward, and frowned. "This one's got a little grime…" he raised his hand, and suddenly Doko saw bits of grain and dust get pulled off of the glass surface of the snowglobe, making their way in a floating funnel toward the man's hand. He closed his hand into a fist, capturing the grains.

"A good Quirk for running a store like this," Doko commented. "I was wondering why the place was so clean."

The old man grinned. "Many of us fall into the roles best suited for us, whether we want to or not. That's the way of the world."

Doko didn't really know what to make of that. It sounded as if the man hadn't really wanted to run a store at all, but he didn't push the matter. This man's business was his own.

And how could that apply to me?

"My Quirk is…teleportation," he mumbled. "I can displace things if they are within a certain distance of me, and I can displace myself up to that same distance. I'm…me and her both…" he nodded at Mina, who was inspecting a shelf on the other side of the store. "We're training to be heroes. She emits acid from her hands and feet. We're both…falling into our roles, as it were."

The man nodded, still smiling. "Sounds like quite a time." A strange light danced across his eyes. "What's your name?"

"I'm Doko Katayama."

"Enjoy your youth, Katayama. I'd guess that if you're training to be heroes, then the horrors of the real world will catch up to you far too fast." The old man looked at Mina, as if connecting her to what he was saying. "Enjoy moments like this, boy. You've been blessed."

Doko sniffled, wiping his face. I know.

"...Sir? Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"What's…what's it like, getting older? Do things start to go…faster?"

The shopkeeper's eyes twinkled. "Only if you fill your days with boredom. New experiences will stick in your head, and you will remember them more. Old experiences blend together and pass by in an instant. Always seek new experiences."

"Right." He didn't really know if that was the answer he'd been looking for. I can't really tell this guy about my aging…issue. Especially since I haven't even told Mina about it. He just had to hope that Recovery Girl would figure something out.

In the end, he bought the snowglobe with the embracing lovers and hid it away so Mina didn't see. He didn't really know when he planned to give her the gift, but it would be soon. When it's time, I'll know it's time.

They left the antique store, both feeling warm and refreshed. And then…it was time to board the train again. This time, they were going to the Ashido house.

All the nerves had returned to Doko. "Hey…" he said, his voice sounding very high. "You have siblings, right?"

"Unfortunately," Mina snorted. "A younger sister and an older brother, the worst combination. They're the ones most likely to give you a hard time. My dad is nothing compared to that."

"Greaaaat. You said your dad was the one cooking, right? That's kinda neat."

"Yeah, my mom isn't the most competent person in the kitchen. She makes more money than him, though. I guess it kinda balances out."

Another thing was going through his head, but Doko did not vocalize it. And that thing was…what did the rest of the Ashido family look like? Did they all have her alien appearance? He didn't know why he was wary of asking this aloud, but he just was. In any case, he'd find out soon enough.

Mina's house looked similar in size to his. Doko followed behind her somewhat as they went to the front door, unsure of what to expect.

Before they could reach the door, it was thrown open, and a boy appeared. "Evening, lovebirds," he called with a smirk, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

"Milo!" Mina exclaimed in an annoyed tone. "Were you watching us through the window?"

"Maybe." The eldest Ashido sibling was lanky, all arms and legs and elbows like Sero. He shared Mina's curly hair, although it was cut into a short fade. His left ear was pierced, and while he was tanner than the average Japanese person, he was decidedly not pink. Two small horns did poke out of his hair, but they were grey and did not appear to curve.

Milo Ashido gave Doko a once-over. "You're the one who won the Sports Festival. Mina, you picked a guy who kicked your ass?"

"Actually, I kicked her in the legs," Doko said. "I'm Katayama."

Milo gave him a funny look. "Call me Milo, I guess. Don't much care about formalities, plus it'll probably get confusing in here."

He stepped aside to let them through. "How much older are you than Mina?" Doko asked in interest.

"Two years. I'm in my last year of high school."

"What do you want to do?"

He shrugged. "Freelance. I'm kind of into photography."

"That's neat."

"I guess I don't have to ask you what you want to do. All the UA kids seem crazy. I know a few of the third years. Not in the hero course, but still."

"Yeah, we're a uh…" Doko scratched his neck and chuckled, as he followed the brother into the house. "We're a quirky bunch, I guess. No pun intended."

Mina was looking at the two of them, pouting. "You weren't supposed to be getting along so well."

Milo raised his eyebrows innocently. "What's the problem, sis?"

"You're up to something." Her eyes narrowed.

"Are they here?" a voice said, emerging from the kitchen and walking into the living room. "Oh, yes they are. Good to see you, sweetie."

Mr. Ashido, a broad-shouldered man with hairy arms, hugged his daughter quickly, before turning his head toward Doko. While Milo was of a height with him, Mr. Ashido was just a bit taller. He had Mina's black-and-yellow eyes, but his face was normal, and his hair was straight. No horns. Also, he was wearing an apron.

"You must be Katayama," the man said. He walked over, and offered his hand.

Doko reciprocated the handshake firmly. "Well met, sir. I like your apron."

The man beamed goofily. "Why, thank you! You best be ready for the best meal of your life! I plan to live up to expectations!"

"Well, our options are limited at the dorm. I'm happy to get a home-cooked meal."

"Made with love, as they say," Mr. Ashido chuckled. "Well, welcome to our home. That's all for now, because I need to get back to work, but I'll interrogate you later."

"Daaaad," Mina complained, slumping her shoulders.

"Now honey, this has nothing to do with you. It's man talk is all."

"Can I help?" Milo asked, smirking.

"It has EVERYTHING to do with me!" Mina insisted.

"It's alright," Doko said, somewhat quietly. "Really."

"Yeah, see!" Mr. Ashido clapped him on the shoulder, which somewhat took him by surprise. "The boy won that festival after all! He fought the ice and fire kid and won! He ain't scared of little old me!"

Her father returned to the kitchen, and the three kids sat down in the living room, waiting. "Where's your mom?" he asked.

"She'll be home from work soon," Milo told him, not looking up from his phone.

"And what about…"

"Are you the boyfriend?" a small voice asked him.

Doko looked down. Next to his leg was a little girl who looked almost exactly like Mina. Pink skin, horns, everything. Only her curly hair was blonde, and her eyes were a piercing electric blue.

"I don't know," Doko told the little sister in a pleasant voice, smiling. "Am I?"

She looked him up and down. "I don't know," she said after a moment. "I think you might be out of my sister's league."

"MYRA!" Mina exclaimed hotly, while Milo went into uproarious laughter, slapping his knees with his hands.

"It's funny that you should say that," Doko told the little girl seriously. "Because sometimes it feels like she's out of my league."

Myra Ashido frowned. "Sounds like you both need to stop moping about it, then."

Milo laughed even harder, and this time, Doko joined in, too. "So, Myra, huh?" He looked up at the other two. "Mina, Milo, and Myra?"

"Yeah, our parents are all kinds of cutesy," said Milo. Mina scooted toward Doko, wrapping her arm around his while pouting.

He gave her a look. "I like it. This is a nice house, too."

Myra, who'd sat crisscross down on the floor, blinked up at him. "Better than yours?"

Mina tensed up next to him. Clearly, she thought that her sister should not have said that. But Doko didn't mind…he was not so mentally weak. "Yeah, honestly," he told the little girl. "Why do you ask? Do you like your house?"

Myra wrinkled her nose. "Sometimes it's annoying."

"But only sometimes, though."

Her blue eyes went pensive. "Yeah, I guess so. Most of the time I have nothing to complain about."

"Certainly doesn't feel like it," Milo mumbled.

Doko chuckled. He gave Mina another look. It was like their places had switched; she seemed on edge now, while he had been put at ease. He gave her an eye-twinkling smile. He hoped she understood the meaning there: I like your family. It's fine.

His girlfriend returned with a grin of her own, but it seemed weaker, more false. Doko wondered if there was something else bothering her.

The door opened soon after, and Mrs. Ashido appeared. Doko had been thinking that since Mina and Myra both looked pink, and Milo and Mr. Ashido did not, then it must be a female thing, and that Mrs. Ashido would be pink as well. She was not. In fact, she was the most normal-looking one in the family, aside from the massive curled horns that adorned her head. They were larger than even Mina's, almost appearing like ram's horns. And the woman looked, to be frank, exhausted.

She gave the living room a cursory, almost bored glance. "Oh, good," Mrs. Ashido mumbled. "Everyone's here." She murmured a greeting to Doko, barely acknowledging his presence, and then trudged toward the kitchen table. "It nearly ready, honey?!" she shouted in a pointlessly loud voice toward the kitchen.

"ALMOST, SWEETIE!" Mr. Ashido yelled back. Doko winced, his hands moving up to his ears, but the Ashido siblings seemed unaffected.

"This is routine," Milo told him seriously, upon seeing his gesture. "They're both going deaf, we're certain of it."

"And so will the lot of you, at that rate," Doko mumbled.

They gathered in the kitchen for dinner. Mr. Ashido had not been bragging for no reason; his food was very good. There was a special sort of fulfilling warmth to it that Doko didn't know if he'd ever tasted before. Made with love…

The family had been laughing and joking between themselves for some time, but then Mr. Ashido shifted the focus. "So, Katayama," he said, chewing. "What's it really like at UA? Our daughter says it's brilliant, but we can't trust her in the slightest. You understand, of course." He winked.

"Daaaaaad…" Mina groaned.

"Well," Doko said. "I'm not quite sure where to begin."

"Do the heroes teach normal classes well enough?" the father asked, leaning forward. "I've heard that since they don't really have educational backgrounds, it is somewhat difficult to follow…"

"That's a baseless rumor," said Doko confidently. "Ectoplasm-sensei has a background in math, and Midnight-sensei has an art degree. Anyone would be able to know that if they did their research." After a moment, he quickly added, "not that I was insinuating that you didn't research anything…"

"Oh, that's alright," Mr. Ashido waved his hand. "Seems like you love and defend the school just as much as my daughter, though. You two have lots of friends there?"

"Oh, yeah. There's Tsuyu Asui, she's probably our best friend. She's got a mutant frog Quirk. And then there's Hanta Sero and Toru Hagakure, who both take my train."

"Mina's told us about them," said Mrs. Ashido. "You should invite them over at some point too, Mina. It's not good for all of you to be stuck up in that dorm all the time."

"Maybe," Mina mumbled, turning her chopsticks over in her hand absent-mindedly. Doko grabbed her hand under the table, and held it. He didn't know what was bothering her, but he meant to find out at some point.

"You guys must be really close as a group, huh," said Milo. "My friends constantly flake out on me."

"That's because you met them all over the Internet," Myra pointed out flatly.

"We've also had to fight together," said Doko. "That…can't be discounted. And, Ashido-san…" he turned to Mina's father. "If you have misgivings about UA, I get it. Not everything there is perfect all the time. But…the way I see it, we've started on a path, and we can't stop now."

"The disheveled-looking guy who came by our house made a good point, actually," Mr. Ashido said in-between bites. "You guys's teacher. Aizawa, was it? He said that it was because All Might lost his powers that I should keep Mina in school. That we would all feel safer with more pros around in the future. And I think I agree with that. I don't know if I imagine my daughter as being one of those pros, but…" he shrugged. "Gotta get used to some stuff."

"That's sort of been my mentality as well…" said Doko. "Just gotta…take it all in stride."

After the meal was over, Milo and Mina fought over who had to clean the kitchen, and then their mother said they both had to do it. The two of them glumly took the dishes away while Myra laughed, and Doko stood up, unsure of what to do.

Then, Mr. Ashido took him aside toward the entryway of the house. They were separated from the others by a wall, alone.

"So," the man said. His face was serious, but not stern. "I'm certain you knew this was coming. But, I've got to know. What are your intentions with my daughter?"

Doko had anticipated this question, and many possible answers. But none of them sounded very convincing in his head. I just have to be honest.

He met the man's black-and-gold gaze with his own violet gaze.

"If you're asking long-term, I do not know. I've never been in a relationship before and I'm really just sort of figuring this out as I go along. But the reason I've never been in a relationship before is because no one has ever made me feel so strongly about them as Mina. Not…not even my family, sir. I don't know how much she might have told you, but…I did not have the best home life."

He did not sound surprised, meaning Mina had prepared him a little, but he did ask, "Did? As in, past tense?"

"Yes, sir. The move into the dorms also marked a permanent move out of that house for me. I am now a ward of the government, technically. Since UA is the government-sponsored school, I have full protection there."

"I…I see."

"If that changes your perception of me, so be it. But I want to become a hero to make sure no one has to go through what I went through again. Now more than ever, I…" Doko thought of All Might, of what he had brought to society, of what was missing without him. "I want to make people happy. And Mina is the center of all that. I want to make her happy most of all."

Mr. Ashido took a step back away from him, his eyes twinkling. The man was smiling.

"You just go ahead and do that, Doko Katayama. I wish you the best of luck."

…

They stopped by the door, saying their goodbyes. Doko was slightly unsure of what was going on. Was Mina staying here for the night, or…no, there she was, putting her shoes back on.

"So, are you two heading all the way back to UA?" Mrs. Ashido asked. "It's kind of late."

Doko opened his mouth, but Mina spoke over him, jumping in front. "Yep! Heading back to UA. We'll be fine," she said.

Doko blinked, confused. Why was she lying? They weren't going back.

"Well, be careful out there. Have a good night."

"Nice to meet you, Katayama!"

"Night!"

"Good night. Nice to meet all of you, too."

They left the house, going into the warm summer evening. Insects buzzed in their ears, and Doko took a deep breath of the outside air. The family visit was over; it had worked out fine. Relief. And they were all good people, too!

"I like your family a lot," he told Mina honestly. She did not immediately respond, simply walking next to him.

"Mina?"

"...You liked them?" she mumbled.

"Yeah, of course. They were all great. Your dad didn't give me a hard time or anything like that."

"...I see."

It was only a ten-minute walk or so to Aizawa's apartment. They continued in silence for five of those ten minutes.

"So, umm…" Doko coughed. "Why did you lie and tell them we were going back to UA?"

She gave him a strange, enigmatic look. "I don't think my parents would approve of us going to an apartment."

"But, you could have just stayed at home…"

That had been the wrong thing to say. Mina broke ahead of him, walking in front of him silently for the rest of the way.

Doko was lost, worried. He stepped in front of her again to open the door to the apartment, with the spare key Aizawa had given him.

They crept into the darkness. The place was exactly like Doko had left it, just a few days ago. He turned on the lights, and Mina closed the door behind them. They set their shopping bags and shoes by the door, and then…moved toward the couch.

Doko turned to look at his girlfriend. Her eyes were averted at the floor. She was hugging herself, looking uncharacteristically self-conscious.

"Mina," Doko said, very seriously. "I have to remind you once again, that I am very, very stupid. I want more than anything to be able to figure out what's wrong, and know just what to do to make you feel better, but I can't, because I don't know. So…please, tell me."

"You…you would have rather me stay at home than come here with you?"

He raised his eyebrows. "No, I didn't…uh…" Honesty. "I did not have a preference one way or the other."

"So, you don't really care about doing…" Mina coughed, looking around the apartment. "You didn't want to…"

His eyes widened to saucers. "M-Mina?"

"I mean, I'd heard that boys were usually in the mood, so I thought this would be a fine opportunity…but with you it's so hard to tell…"

He took a step closer to her.

"Am I…" Mina suddenly sobbed, her voice cracking. "Am I just too weird-looking?"

Doko put his hands on her shoulders. "Mina. No, I…"

"You saw the rest of my family. Me and Myra are the only weird-looking ones. My mom and dad have some strange traits, and my grandparents have some others, and with me and my sister they just all combined together to make some…freak."

"Look at me," he told her sternly.

Slowly, she lifted her head. Their faces were very close.

"First of all, I want to apologize. This is all very new to me and I'm horrible at showing my feelings. And it's because of that that you're upset. Because I haven't done a good job of showing that…Mina, I love you. It's that simple. When I first saw you at the entrance exam, when you saved my life, my first thought wasn't that you were strange-looking, or even that you were exotic. It was that you were cute. Just plain cute-as-a-button."

Mina sobbed again, but her lips had twitched. She continued to look into his eyes.

"And since I got to know you more and more, you've just gotten cuter to me. Prettier to me. Every time I learn a new thing about you is amazing. And if I act too distant, or not proactive enough…it's because I'm scared of messing things up. You're so amazing to me that I always feel like I…"

He took a deep breath. Goodness, this was hard to say.

"I feel like I have to pretend like I don't want to be with you as much as I do. Because I don't want to come off as a creep. If that happens, and then you d-decide you don't l-like me anymore, then…" he suddenly felt tears flowing up into his own eyes. "I d-don't know what I'd do…" He stepped back, releasing her shoulders.

"Doko!" she said frantically, stepping forward, matching his movement, keeping the space between them narrow. "Please, please, please, don't ever think that I might stop liking you! I don't know about most of this, because I've never felt this way before about anyone, but…" She pressed her hands against his chest, and leaned in very, very close. "I love you too. And I want to be with you. I know I'm a great dancer, but can we stop dancing around each other, please?"

Doko laughed at that. They were both laughing, their foreheads falling into one another, their voices weak and thick with emotion.

And then, they kissed. It was different from their past kisses, he could tell immediately. They were melting into one another, their hands roaming everywhere, pushing each other as close as they could possibly be.

Mina opened her lips, and licked his with her tongue, begging for entrance. He obliged. His mouth filled with the sweet taste of her. She pressed against him harder and harder, pushing him back toward the couch.

They began fumbling at each other's clothes, kissing frantically and only briefly separating to bring their shirts over their heads. Mina grabbed Doko's hand, and guided it to her chest. For the first time, he felt her breast through her lacey white bra, firm and supple all at once, perfectly sized for his hand to cup. He rubbed it and then brushed her nipple lightly with his fingers. She moaned into his mouth, and pushed him back onto the couch, following suit by sitting into his lap, straddling him. One of his hands traced down her full hips and squeezed her butt.

She giggled into his mouth between kisses. "What's gotten into you, huh?" she breathed into his ear, proceeding to kiss and nibble at it. He couldn't say anything in response; it was all too overwhelming.

Her neck, kiss her neck. He moved down and did so. She readjusted herself in his lap, and he slid further, kissing her shoulder-blade, and then tentatively reaching his hand up to unhook her bra. "Can I?" he asked, looking up at her.

Mina's eyes were glowing, filled with love. "Of course," she whispered huskily.

He freed her breasts, taking the full sight of them in for the first time. They were firm and perky and pink and…

Without even really knowing what he was doing, he began to kiss them. Mina moaned again. I must be doing something right…

Suddenly, her hands began to wander, making their way down to his pants. He was still focused on her breasts, kissing one and fondling the other, so he was only vaguely aware of what she was doing. Just as soon as he fully realized, she'd unzipped them fully, and pulled his manhood out into the open air.

Don't make a mess, Aizawa had said. And if you do, clean it up.

There'd be time to worry about that later. Plenty of time. All the time in the world.

"Mina…" he breathed, as her fingers brushed the tip of his most sensitive area.

"Doko…" she breathed back.

They did not get much sleep that night.