Over the course of the following weeks after the meeting between Izuchi and Mina, the two girls quickly became close friends, especially when they found something they had a mutual interest in. Dance Dance Revolution at the arcade for various reasons. Izuchi enjoyed it because it was a game that didn't require having a level of dexterity that she simply didn't have in the account of her only having an effective total of six fingers. Mina enjoyed the game simply because she liked dancing, which was something she often did to burn energy whenever she got stir crazy and had the space to do so, resulting in her having a very high score. Izuchi wasn't the only one in awe Mina seeing obtain the highest score in the entire arcade, while dancing with both her feet and hands on both pads, as the literally pink-skinned girl's performance had caused an awesome-struck crowd to gather. Considering that the song she was dancing to, which was called 'Fly Octo Fly x Ebb and Flow', was rated as 'Hard', it wasn't too surprising that a crowd gathered.
Mina finally noticed the gathered crowd by the time the song ended and gave them a couple of bows with a cheeky grin on her face.
"Thank you! Thank you! For my next number, I'm gonna need a volunteer. That means you, Miss Guacamole!" Exclaimed Mina as she tapped her foot on the up-arrow on the dance-pad until she stopped as she got to the song she wanted and called Izuchi up to the second dance-pad. Despite practically freezing on the spot at the attention she received for a brief moment, Izuchi eventually made her way to the dance-pad next to Mina, who was tapping her foot up and down impatiently. "About time. Ya ready Miss Guacamole?"
"You bet I am, Sakura-shampoo. Let's dance!" Replied Izuchi with a cocky grin as Mina selected the song, which started playing. The two of them kept on dancing, Mina always getting the higher score and Izuchi usually getting a decent one, for several hours with the occasional break in between until they were downright ordered to leave as the arcade was nearing the time of closing.
Waiting on the two girls outside the arcade were Nemuri and Yumi, who not only looked very amused but started properly dating, and the two adults had been enjoying a day for themselves (outside the bedroom) while the kids were at the arcade. There was also something else that was just around the corner that made all four of them anxious, the court case against Inko Midoriya on the charges of child abandonment and neglect. Something that Izuchi had been having mixed feelings about. On the one hand, her mother was without a doubt going to end up in jail. On the other hand, she didn't really feel sad or upset about it and that made her feel uncomfortable. That uncomfortability was however washed away when Izuchi confessed her feelings regarding the court case over dinner, by Mina telling her friend and frequent roommate what said roommate really needed to hear.
"Inko Midoriya may be your mother, Izuchi. But she isn't your mommy." Stated Mina confidently.
"If she's not my mommy, who is?" Asked Izuchi, who was on the verge of crying. What the reptilian girl didn't seem to notice was that the adults, more specifically Nemuri, seemed to tense up at the addressing of parental views.
"Search your feelings Izuchi, you already know the answer… always wanted to say that." Despite receiving looks from the adults that clearly said 'really?', Mina was without a doubt completely unrepentant regarding her phrasing.
"Mina…"
"Yeah?"
"Let's make ourselves scarce for a few minutes, I think these two need a moment without us." Replied Yumi in a tone that left no room for doubt as the Underground Heroine stood up. Catching on what the half-Russian/half-Japanese woman was doing, the literally pink-skinned girl rose from her seat and followed Yumi towards the kitchen.
"Izuchi?" Asked Nemuri her charge hesitantly, having her suspicions about how the reptilian girl had come to view the dark purple haired woman.
"Nemuri…"
"That might be my name, but that's not what you really want to say, is it?"
"…no."
"I think I know how you feel. Come on. You can say it."
"…"
"Something that I didn't expect to happen when I became your guardian was to start seeing you as more than 'that kid I helped rescue and became the guardian of' after about a month. I started seeing you as… as…"
"Ma…ma."
"Indeed Izuchi. Without even knowing it, you managed to worm your way into my heart. Knowing that your mother is very unlikely to win the court case and as a result lose the right to call herself your parent, do you want to make it official?" Asked Nemuri with an expression on her face that looked somewhere in between being happy and being on the verge of crying.
"I don't know. Try asking me again later."