A/N: Entry number 95 of this story! Coming up soon on 100... What could we be putting together for that...?

Short answer is: fun. Fun will be happening for entry/podcast #100, so stay tuned!

While this chapter here probably won't be as exciting as what we're building up to, I did have a lot of fun with it, and as this story has been sorely lacking in the feel-good department for some time, I figured I might as well try and make up for some lost ground. Enjoy!

Worth the Wait

"Let's see… Nomu number two?"

"Nope, number one."

"Augh, there's so many, I can't keep track!" Mina groaned as she leaned against the wall of the hot spring, deciding to give up on further inspecting her boyfriend's back. Having noticed that the scars he had accumulated were colored fairly differently under the current conditions, she had begun to try and count them, a process that had been derailed when she also started trying to remember which event had made each mark appear, much to Kurai's amusement.

The boy chuckled as he turned around to face her and sit against the opposite wall of the steamy, shallow pool before saying, "To be fair, I probably would've forgotten a fair number of them by now if I hadn't recorded them in my journal." His face twisted slightly in thought as he muttered, "Truthfully, it's pretty concerning that I have this many scars to begin with, especially given that I haven't even gone pro yet."

It was their second day in the town where they had chosen to remain hidden until it was time to meet up with Gran Torino and Eri, and Mina had expressed a desire to try the local hot springs. Since it wasn't a particularly active tourist season at the moment, booking a session had been relatively easy, and in the end, Kurai wasn't even surprised to find that she had gone and gotten them a mixed bath for an hour. Supposedly, this hot spring was supposed to be good for deep muscle fatigue, which he supposed he could use after his rather extraneous efforts in Kanto and subsequent meditation in a cold cave the previous day.

He had been fully expecting his girlfriend to make a pass at him the moment that they were alone, but to his surprise, she had seemed content with simply enjoying the hot springs in his company without acting on any ulterior motives. At first he wondered if she wasn't just going to pounce the second that he let his guard down, but after a little while he realized that she really just wanted some time to chill with him.

"Maybe Eri can rewind your skin, or something," the pink girl suggested in response to his comment concerning the marks on his body. A sly smile creased her face as she added, "But, I suppose there's something to be said for the look of a brave man who knows how to handle a difficult challenge."

Kurai rolled his eyes before saying, "I think this many scars only goes to show that I don't know when to get out of the way- which doesn't make me brave. It just makes me stupid." He was about to add more when he was hit in the face with a small wave of hot, stinging herbal water. "Ow, hey!" he complained as he scrubbed at his eyes.

"You're not stupid," Mina said without any traces of joking in her voice. "Hardheaded and a trouble magnet, sure, but don't ever call yourself something you're not."

Kurai finished scrubbing his eyes before he nodded at her and said, "Alright, point taken. Sorry."

"Come on man, you know how I feel about people talking bad about you," she smirked as she poked his leg with her foot. "That goes for any and all talkers."

"I get it, and if you're trying to tickle me, you're hitting the wrong leg," he grinned back. "My scar tissue is the sensitive part, and I wasn't very ticklish at the beginning of the school year, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," she pouted as she slid her leg away from his. A thought seemed to occur to her then, because she asked, "Are they starting to hurt yet?"

"Eh, they're a little more sensitive to heat than when they first healed, and as we've discovered, tactile contact makes my skin crawl fairly easily," he shrugged. "It's not a constant pain, and since Recovery Girl's quirk healed my body the best that it's going to be each time, I think that means that the nerve endings under the skin have long since finished growing back. Maybe as I get older, there will start to be some problems, but I doubt it'll be anything that I can't handle. If anything, my bones are feeling it more than my skin right now."

She gave him a concerned look before asking, "Is it bad?"

"It's… a good kind of pain," he admitted with a dry grin. "It's adding to the ache now, but I know that this is good for me, so I can tough it out- I've definitely had worse and survived."

"Don't go trying to hide your pain again, if it does get to be too much," she warned him. "We don't need a repeat of what happened after we all moved into the dorms."

"Don't gotta tell me," Kurai said with a small shudder as he looked at his right bicep, which still bore a number of scars that he had put there himself whilst suffering from phantom pains. Even though Eri had regenerated the limb for him, there were a few marks that had been scoured into his flesh that ran higher up than the restored part of his body, so they had been left as they were. The memory alone of the agony that his mind had subjected him to was enough to make him feel queasy, but it also helped to reinforce a notion of his. Looking away from the marks, he then added, "Like I said, since I've had to deal with pain on that level, I doubt that any resulting scar sensitivity will be too tough for me to handle, if the time comes."

"Oh, my dear," Mina sighed as she shook her head slowly. "With all that gray hair and battle scars, people in my extended family are gonna think I'm marrying some old hero who's already on death's door."

Kurai burst out laughing at that, and he instinctively started to curl over as he held his sore abdomen, which just resulted in him getting a face full of water that he had to spit out. This got Mina laughing just as hard, since the only way to describe his currently flustered appearance was as absolutely ridiculous. By the time he had rid himself of the excess moisture, he made a face of disgust and said, "Herbal water; smells nice, feels good, tastes awful."

"Aw," Mina continued to giggle. "Well, our time's just about up, anyway. Let's go eat something to get that aftertaste out of your mouth."

"Seriously, that tastes like feet," Kurai complained as they moved to exit the hot spring.

From the springs, Kurai followed Mina to a restaurant that she had apparently looked up earlier in the day. As they got nearer to it, he thought that he may have passed it by a few times during his last visit to the town, but he couldn't be completely sure. As they walked, they walked by several people who smiled and gave them friendly greetings in passing as they went about their separate days, which he realized was becoming something of a novel experience for him.

Ever since he had won the Sport's Festival and appeared on television alongside Gang Orca, Kurai had begun to receive looks of acclaim from the occasional passerby. When he bested the Shadow Nomu in Fukuoka, he had been living on the UA campus, so he had only a limited knowledge of the fact that he would no longer be able to go in public without more than one person recognizing him as the Guardian Hero, though he had begun to get more of an idea of that reality on Nabu Island. Doubtless that when he officially made his return from the dead and his new appearance was revealed to the public, his popularity would only increase once again, so to be able to walk around under the guise of a normal boy out for a night on the town with his girlfriend was something he was determined to enjoy for the limited time that he had available to him.

Once they were seated inside the aquatic-themed establishment, Kurai decided to bring up a topic that he had been about to address at the bathhouse, before he had been interrupted by their respective laughing fits. "Had any time to think about what I should do with my hair when we get back?" he inquired after the waiter had left with their orders in hand.

Mina, not having expected the question, took a moment to peer more carefully at his head, and the state of the mop that adorned it. Normally, he kept it relatively short, but his last haircut had been weeks before their mission to Nabu Island, making it essentially three months since had asked Asui to give it a trim. Her having younger siblings meant that she was well-versed in caring for differing hairstyles, and she had been happy to lend her cosmetic skills to her classmates who requested it. His silvery strands had grown to the point that they brushed the nape of his neck and hung over his eyes if he did not comb them to the side. The last time he'd worn his hair this long was when they had been attacked at their summer camp.

After a moment, she lowered her gaze to meet his eyes before saying, "You don't like this look?"

He shrugged before admitting, "I suppose I don't feel too strongly about it, which is why I asked your opinion- it's really the only one that matters." As Mina's cheeks heated up, he then made a thoughtful face as he added, "Although, come to think of it, I kinda look like the First with my hair like this."

"Wait, for real?" she asked, slightly startled by this revelation. Since they were in public, she knew that him saying 'First' meant that he was referring to the original wielder of One For All. "What did he look like?"

"Like I said, kinda similar to me," Kurai shrugged again. "Although, his hair was longer, and he had green eyes, sort of like Izuku's. Also, he was usually fairly sick and he looked it."

"So a skinny lovechild of yours' and Izuku," she grinned, causing him to hang his head in exasperation.

"Very funny," he grumbled. "Seriously, though- what do you think I should do with this mess?" So saying, he reached up and pinched some of the strands that had fallen over his brow when he had lowered it.

"I mean, I think you look pretty cute, no matter what you're doing, so maybe I'm not the best person to ask," she admitted. "I guess it all really depends on why you would want to change it up."

Kurai grew quiet for a moment before he looked straight at her again and said, "After I had to switch to a replacement arm for a while, I know it made you really uncomfortable to look at. I wanted to avoid a repeat of that discomfort on your end, so I honestly just want to know what would be your preferred look."

In that moment, Mina reflected that she should stop being surprised that Kurai often looked for ways to be more accommodating to her needs and even wants, but it still caught her off-guard, regardless. How does he keep being so thoughtful? she wondered as she felt her cheeks coloring again.

It took her a moment before she was able to put her thoughts together well enough to form a cohesive message. When she did, she said, "Honestly, I think I should just be more appreciative of you as you are."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, you look the way you do now because of everything you've gone through for us," she replied with a shrug of her own. "I think if I told you to change that, it'd be kind of like me saying that those events don't matter, when they're a large part of what makes you who you are, now. I don't find you any less attractive for all these changes, and if I did, that'd be pretty shallow of me, wouldn't it?"

Now it was Kurai's turn to redden slightly as he scratched at the scars on the left side of his face while he said, "Thanks for saying that. But you really don't have a preference about any of this?"

"Well, the long hair is a very 'comic-book hero' look, so I can't say that I dislike it," she giggled. "You're cooler than any manga protag anyway, so if you like it, I'd say you've earned the right to wear it like that. But if I really had to pick, I'd say that I like your hair shorter."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Your hair was short when we met," Mina reminded him with a coy grin. "Plus, it lets me see your big, beautiful eyes."

Kurai had gone to take a sip of his drink, so he nearly did a spit-take when she paid him that particular compliment. His eyes bugged out spectacularly, and he nearly failed to keep the liquid in his mouth, but through a supreme will of effort, he managed to down it before gasping out, "That's a new one."

"Hah! I knew I could still catch you off-guard!" she laughed.

"Geez, and here I was, thinking of how I'd present myself at our wedding when we get around to it," Kurai coughed as he wiped his mouth off with a napkin. He then grinned broadly as Mina froze in place, followed by the words, "Oh, sorry. Did you forget I learned how to play this game, too?"

"Wha-? You jerk!" she sputtered, though the accusation was ruined by another round of giggles. "Using the topic of our wedding is a low blow!"

"Don't hate the player, hate the game," Kurai smirked. "Still, while we're on that particular subject, I gotta admit that I'm curious- what kind of wedding did you dream about having? I'm guessing you've had something of an idea since you were a little girl."

"What kind of assumption is that?!"

"Just one based on the fact that you like shojo movies a little too much," he answered. "Also, I know you better than anyone. You can't seriously expect me to believe that you didn't have doodles as a little girl about what kind of guy you wanted to marry, and what your wedding would look like when you did?"

Mina made a slight pouting face, no doubt irritated at the fact that she had been seen through so easily, but Kurai simply waited until she mumbled, "You know that little spiral notebook I keep next to the vinyl rack in my room?"

"I know the spot, but I can't say that I remember that item in particular," he admitted, though he retained his knowing smile. "Is that what it is?"

"Yes…" she nodded, her cheeks coloring further. "I had one when I was six, but I melted it with my quirk when my brothers tried to go looking through it. I, uh… got this new one after our talk about getting married following our class' fight against you."

"Oh?" Kurai replied with a raised eyebrow and wider smile. "Am I allowed to see what's inside it?"

"Definitely not," she said quickly with a rapid shake of her head.

"What, why not?"

"Reasons!"

"…There's a sketch of what you want your dress to look like in it, isn't there?"

"…Yes."

"Neat," he chuckled. "Alright, then, I won't ask to see it again. I'd still like to think about what we're gonna do for the event, though."

"Depends on how many people we'll be inviting," she replied as the waiter returned with their food. After thanking him, she went on to tell Kurai, "I've got a few extended relatives I need to invite- grandparents, an aunt and her family on my mom's side, and a couple of my dad's siblings. Shouldn't be any more than twenty or thirty people, depending on if their kids come."

"Well, it's just Akarui, Shukin, and Aunt Sakura for me," Kurai shrugged. "Dad and Uncle Shiro were the only kids from their parents, and both my sets of grandparents are dead. I'm gonna submit an appeal for my mom to get out on a temporary parole for the wedding, but I kinda doubt it's gonna work. Since she was an only child from her family, I don't have any other extended relatives, either."

"Oh yeah," Mina said, her mood growing a little more somber as she put her hand on Kurai's, which had grown still. "I'm sorry, sweetie."

"Don't be," he replied as he shook himself and squeezed her hand gently for a second. "I'm happy that I'll be able to have any family on my side at all. I'm even happier that we'll get to grow our family, together. Besides, a smaller wedding sounds like it'll be a lot less stressful than a big one, especially if we're trying to hide out from the paparazzi."

"Yeah, I wouldn't put it past them to try and track our wedding down once we make it official," she said with a slow shake of her head as Kurai bit into his crab cake. "You're hardly gonna be able to walk the streets without a crowd of admirers when you make your comeback."

"Funny, I was just having the same thought earlier," he admitted once he was able to speak again. Most people would have interpreted this comment as arrogance, but Mina knew that he was honestly just worried at the prospect. "Ah, well. We'll figure something out to do about them when the time comes. I'm still trying to figure out how many people we're gonna invite outside of our family."

"Well we gotta have our classmates come, for starters, so there's twenty-two people on their own, and we should probably invite some of the teachers, too," she mumbled through a mouthful of pike.

"You really think Bakugo is gonna come?" Kurai chuckled. "He'll probably just tell us to piss off. Also, Team RWBY will more than likely be at home by that time, so who's to say that they'll be able to make it?"

"You really think Schnee would miss a chance to show off how rich she is by bringing us whatever expensive gift she'll think up in person?" Mina replied with an arched eyebrow.

"Ah, so the real reason for the invite comes out," Kurai chuckled. "I knew you didn't like her that much- you just want her to bring her wallet." He was laughing, so she knew he wasn't serious.

Even so, his girlfriend felt the need to reply, "She's not that bad- we've all gotten a lot closer since the provisional exam, and she's been nicer to Izuku since they joined the same agency."

"I know," he assured her as he held up a hand in a gesture of concession. "Okay, we'll invite them when the time comes, too. Anyone outside of our class?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "We are still talking two years down the line, here. I know all of us in Class A are gonna be BFF's, but I dunno about the other people we know now, or the people we'll probably meet at some point."

"Wait, I got it!" Kurai said as he snapped his fingers in realization. "Togata and Amajiki! I can't forget them- and I guess we can't exclude Hado from that invite."

"Little Eri," Mina reminded him. "If we did it now, I'd wanna have her be the flower girl, but by the time we can get this thing going, she'll be a little too old."

"Good point," Kurai nodded. After a moment of quiet chewing on his food, he then said, "I gotta have the Iida's, for sure. It's kind of a given with Tenya, but I also want to invite his parents and Tensei- him especially."

"Why him in particular?" she asked curiously. She knew that they were close, and that Kurai looked up to the older Iida as a role model, but it seemed like there was something more to it than just inviting a family friend to the event.

The boy scratched at the back of his head before he said, "I won't do it if you're not comfortable with it, but… I was hoping to ask Tensei to fill the role of my father at the wedding." Mina blinked in surprise, but since she said nothing one way or the other, Kurai felt obligated to explain, "I've been thinking a lot about who I looked up to the way that a boy looks to a man for a role model other than his father, and I kept coming back to him. He's always had my back when I've needed him, and he's one of the first people I always remember when I think of a good hero. He gave up literal pieces of his body so that I could have an arm again, and he protected me and the others after the incident in the caves. Those are just the big things, but there's honestly a hundred and one other reasons I could think of for why I want him- and no one else- to stand in for my dad."

Mina was once again made to sit in silence with her thoughts for a few moments while she mulled this over. In all honesty, she was a little disappointed in herself for not considering how much the lack of Kurai's family being present for their wedding was probably going to hurt him. That wasn't to say that their union would be a melancholy event- just that she wished she had thought of ways to make up for it before now. Note to self, start putting ideas for that in my journal when we get home, she thought with a flash of irritation.

To try and conceal her anger at herself, she stirred and said, "I'm sorry I didn't think about how that part of it all would affect you. I can't even imagine trying to have someone fill in for one of my parents at our wedding."

"Nor should you have to," Kurai said with a light smile back on his face. "At any rate, I'm grateful that I have friends close enough to rely on as family."

"Speaking of close friends…" Mina said as she laid her eating implements down. "Any thoughts as to who you'll have in your party?"

"Party?" Kurai repeated. "Are we talking a traditional Shinto wedding, or one in a chapel?"

"If I'm being honest, I wanted a Shinto-style ceremony when I was little, but now that just seems like a load of extra work that doesn't really feel worth it," Mina admitted with a sheepish grin. "I know, you'd think I'd wanna go all-out with the whole shebang when I get married, but when you stop and think about it, the wedding is a party to celebrate us starting a family together. A chapel wedding and reception seems a lot more easygoing when it comes to prep and the actual party. I just want everyone to have a good time, especially after I've gone all 'bridezilla' on them."

Kurai raised an eyebrow at that while his lips quirked upward at the corners before he asked, "I thought you wanted things to be chill for everyone involved?"

"Yeah, well, I wanted the same thing for the School Festival concert, and look how that turned out," she sighed as she placed her cheek on her hand. "If I got that high-strung about a song and dance number, imagine how I'm gonna be on the most important day of our lives."

He had to admit, she made an excellent point. In order to take away from the thought of the stress that day would probably cause her, he decided to say, "Back to your question about my party, then- I do have my boys in mind. I pretty much made my decision once we started telling our friends, actually. You?"

"Ochaco for my maid of honor," Mina answered without missing a beat.

"Well, that might be a little awkward for Izuku when Akarui lines up with his girlfriend, but I'm sure we can make it work," Kurai mused.

"I figured you'd pick your brother for the role," Mina said approvingly. "I know he'll be good for the job- provided we can keep him from arguing with whoever we get for a wedding coordinator."

"I've got a few tricks up my sleeve to ensure his cooperation," her boyfriend said with a slightly sinister grin.

"I'll leave that to you, then" she giggled. "I was also gonna have Yaomomo and Hagakure be the bridesmaids."

"Nice," Kurai nodded quickly. "I know that they'll both be a big help. I'll be asking Shukin and Iida, when the time comes."

"Also good picks, but I thought that you and Iida weren't besties for resties anymore?" Mina asked with a teasing smile.

"True, but he's like another brother," Kurai admitted with another smile. "He's got squatting rights over Izuku, and he really is a good friend, in spite of that hard head of his."

"Sweetie, be honest here," Mina said as she looked him dead in the eye. "You just want to put him in a position where he can't get out of saying a lot of nice things about the both of us, because we both know that even though most people take the opportunity to make fun of their friends when they're given the floor like that, his sense of duty won't allow him to be anything but the picture perfect groomsman."

Kurai held her gaze steadily for several long moments before his straight face broke apart in favor a barely-contained series of laughs. "I knew it," Mina laughed along with him. She had meant to sound more accusatory, but the part of her that so enjoyed pranks was absolutely loving this idea. "I think I may have become a bad influence on you, sweetie."

"That's okay, I love you for it," he chuckled before he surprised her by grabbing her hand and planting a kiss on it that ended with a somewhat loud smack.

About a half-hour later, they were strolling through the evening town at a leisurely pace, though Kurai knew that he was going to want to sleep again soon. As restful as the previous evening had been, his body was still in need of recovery from the events in Kanto.

After Mina had been humming a tune that he recognized from one of her favorite pop albums for a minute, he nudged her with his elbow so that she would look up at him. Once she had, he asked, "What should we do tomorrow?"

"I dunno, you pick," she said with a cheery smile. "We've got a full day off tomorrow, too, so we've got plenty of time to do whatever you can think of."

"You're the spontaneity master, though," he protested. "I'm no good at coming up with stuff on the spot- you know that."

"Yeah, but we did a bunch of stuff that I wanted to do today," she replied with a cute grin. "After we wrap up at a desert place tonight, it's your turn."

"You want desert?" he inquired as he rubbed at his abdomen. "I dunno that my stomach can take much more- I'm not used to stuff that isn't just made for nutritional value anymore."

"I thought you said that the hospital food was pretty decent?"

"It was, but it wasn't really made to be enjoyed by the palate as much as it was supposed to keep us well-fed and healthy," he shrugged. "I guess I didn't realize how much extra stuff goes into food that we don't actually need until now."

"Aw, but that defeats the whole purpose of us going to get desert!" Mina pouted. "It was supposed to be more for you than me!"

"What? Why?"

"Umm… No reason?" she tried to say, a little too late to hide the guilty look on her face as she turned away.

"Mina Ashido, what were you planning to do to the desert, and/or me?" he asked as he stopped walking, a mock frown on his face.

"Nothing!" she protested as she thumped him on the chest, which failed to even make him flinch. When she saw that he wasn't budging until he got a satisfactory answer, she groaned and said, "Fine… I wanted to give you a birthday cake cos we couldn't celebrate together during New Year's! I even got Akarui to buy some fountain sparklers before he left so we could set 'em off at the beach like a mini firework show afterward!"

Kurai just stared at her with wide eyes while she fidgeted in place as she went on to add, "I don't have your present with me, since it's back at the dorms, and I wasn't able to pull off the surprise party that me and some of the others were gonna put on for you the week after winter break… You did such an amazing job with my birthday, and I wanted to try and do the same for you, but everything kinda fell apart, so now I just wanted to do something to celebrate with you…"

As her voice trailed off, Kurai moved forward and hugged her tightly against his body until she returned the embrace. "I'm sorry that I robbed you of that chance," he told her in a soft voice. "But I promise you'll have plenty more chances to pull off the best surprise party that I've ever seen." When she nodded wordlessly against him, he then asked, "Would it make you feel better if we went and set off some fireworks on the beach?" Another nod got him smiling as he said, "Let's go grab 'em, then."

Kurai wound up going to the room alone while Mina stayed in the lobby to look at some brochures. He quickly found the bag that she mentioned his brother had left for them, and upon inspecting its contents, was glad to see that they had everything they would need to light the pyrotechnics. I guess we'll use ocean water to put out the residual heat and the bag for trash, he decided as he went to pick up the sack.

However, he stopped when he saw that there was a small box that had been hidden by the bag, topped by a note that looked to be in Akarui's handwriting. Setting the bag aside, Kurai picked up both of the items and quickly read the note that had been left.

It went; 'I hope you're the one reading this, Kurai. Ashido, if you picked this up, put it back and pretend like you didn't see it. If you don't, I'll know. Now, to my brother, I say it's about time you stop letting this thing sit in a drawer collecting dust. I know you were planning to use it on New Year's, but that's obviously a bust, and it's only a matter of time before she finds it on her own in your room. I better see this thing on its rightful place when you get back from beating the stuffing out of Humarise. P.S. The box is rigged to electrocute anyone that isn't you, so don't worry about the safety of its contents.'

"That little-!" Kurai tossed the note aside and opened the box, relieved to see that the item in question was still present. If he had lost this thing, I'd have my future self kill him!

"Don't go dragging me into this," the Tenth said from the back of their mind.

"Then don't go dragging me into nightmare caves just to have a chat!" Snapping the box shut, he pocketed it and snatched up the bag so that he could go and meet with his girlfriend in the hotel lobby. In spite of his irritation, he couldn't help a smile from breaking out across his face as he thought, Well, Akarui did say that he wanted to help plan it when the time came. Guess this is his way of contributing.

"You're still going to punch him the next time you see him, aren't you?" The ninth vestige asked him.

"Duh."

It wasn't long before the couple was on the beach, grinning in delight as they shivered against the cold air of the ocean while they watched the fire and lights dance with a multitude of colors on the sand in front of them. "Happy birthday, Kurai," Mina said after he lit one that seemed like it was set to go on for a while. "Even if it's way late, I'm still glad to be able to celebrate with you."

"I'm glad that I get to celebrate it with you," he said as he felt his legs wobbling. He didn't know why he was getting so nervous- he already knew the pending outcome. Even so, his heart was pounding like a vicious jackhammer, threatening to burst out of his chest if he didn't take the plunge soon.

Even as he drew in a breath to speak again, Mina turned to him with a tilted head before she asked, "Are you okay? You're shivering like crazy."

"Not really shivering," he said with a wobbly grin as the latest firework began to die down. "I won't lie, though- I'm glad we're almost out of fireworks, cos it is cold out here."

"Aw, then let's light 'em all up at once!" she suggested. "It'll make for the grand finale of our little show, and then we can go inside and get warmed up."

"Sounds good to me," he said as he moved to kneel in the sand, and nearly toppling over sideways in the process. Dear ancestors, get it together! he told himself as he went to plant the four remaining fireworks in the sand, and light their fuses. His hands were shaking more than his legs, so it took him a couple of tries to get them all lit successfully, and he barely got away in time for the first fountain to start spewing heat and light.

In fact, he was so off-balance that he wound up falling back on his hands and knees in front of Mina, who looked down at him with worry. "Kurai, are you okay?" she asked as she moved to help him up.

"I'm good," he said with a small shake of his head as he declined to stand. "Just… needed to get something off my chest." As another one of the fireworks displays started to shoot up, he managed to balance himself so that he was on one knee in front of the pink girl while he reached into the pocket of the hoodie that he was wearing.

Mina's dark eyes went so wide that Kurai worried they might pop out of her head as he held up the little black box he had been saving for this moment. "Mina Ashido," he said with what he hoped was a strong enough voice, "I love you so much. I want everyone who meets us to know how much I love you, so… will you do me the honor of wearing this ring, and becoming my wife as soon as we're able?" So saying, he pried open the lid to show the ring that had been adorned by a single diamond.

"Oh my-! Kurai, this is beautiful!" she gasped out as joyous tears slid down her eyes. "Of course I'll wear it! I want everyone to know that I love you, too! And I'll go straight to the marriage offices or whatever they're called right after our graduation ceremony, if you want to!"

With a huge smile on his face, Kurai stood up and deftly slipped the ring onto her waiting finger before they kissed each other breathless, even as the fireworks behind them finally reached their crescendo. They remained like that until the sizzling and popping had died down, and Mina pulled back so that she could admire the ring she had been gifted with. "Seriously, this is a gorgeous ring… Kurai, how'd you get your hands on something like this?" she asked through a breathy laugh as she continued to keep one arm possessively around his waist.

"It was my mother's," he answered her as he pressed his brow against hers'. "She wants you to have it- Seems like it's her way of welcoming you into our family. She also gave me her wedding band, and my father's ring, for when we can finally tie the knot."

"Wow, that's…" Mina shook her head in wonder at the gift that they had been given. "This is so sweet. Your mom is awesome." She could hardly believe what was happening right now. She had always imagined that this would be one of the greatest, most romantic moments of her life, but never did she think that she would actually get to experience it on a beach in the light of a firework show. Calling the feelings rushing through her right then 'surreal' wouldn't have done the emotions credit.

"She did say that I had to bring you with me for my next visit," Kurai informed her. "So I'm sure you'll get your chance to thank her in person before too long."

"For sure, whatever she wants," Mina said quickly. "I'll help her break outta prison for giving me this thing if she asked me to."

"Mina!"

"Dude, I'm not even kidding. Look at this thing, it's worth a prison break! You know what else it is?"

"What's that?" Kurai asked as he prepared himself for another round of laughter or kisses, possibly both.

He did get kissed, but it was very brief, and it was more so that Mina could keep her face close to his as she whispered, "Worth the wait. And I know the same is gonna be said when we finally hit our wedding day."

"Now that's a sentiment I can get behind."

It was a long time before they grew cold enough to want to move away from the spot where they had taken a massive, near-mystical step together into their future together.

Kai: That was... huh. Thanks.

Mataras: Don't sound so excited.

Kai: Hey, it's you! I have every right to be concerned whenever it feels like things are going well for me!

Akarui: You sure do like to pair your characters up on the younger side of life, don't you?

Mataras: If I could have gotten married earlier, I would have. Sue me for getting excited about seeing some of my favorite characters having a chance to be happy together.

Akarui: Wait, he's one of your favorite-?

Kai: Isn't this chapter on the short side?

Mataras: Actually, if you look back at the vast majority of chapters that I've written for this story, this instalment is actually around the average length. I think that there's just been a lot happening lately, which demands longer chapters by proxy. This felt like a nice place to slow things down for a bit, give the story time to breathe, especially after everything that went down two chapters ago.

Akarui: As long as breathing isn't the only thing this story is doing.

Mataras: Chill out, we'll get some excitement in the next chapter, and after that, things will really start to pick up in pace again.

Akarui: Okay, good. Just needed to check on behalf of... some people.

Kai: What people?

Akarui: Next time- Short but Sweet

Mataras: The World Heroes' Alliance assembles and prepares to retaliate against Humarise in force!

Kai: And I'll be right there with them- time to Go Beyond!

Akarui: Plus Ultra!

Next time on Your Hero Academia: Unleashed...

The thought that it was the lack of any sort of disguise that had him so apprehensive in his current setting did occur to him, but it didn't keep his teeth from being on constant edge. He was dressed in a typical vacationer's outfit, with loose jeans and comfortable sneakers on his feet, topped with a t-shirt and an open hoodie that he kept pulled back. His instinct was to pull it up to help cover his profile, but he knew that would look way too suspect in an airport, of all places. The only thing that was really keeping him anonymous for the moment was, ironically, his undisguised appearance.

He even had dark circles under his eyes as the result of a night spent in the grip of several chilling nightmares that saw to him waking up in a cold sweat while swiping at the air in a frenzied panic while his fiancée worked tirelessly to calm him back down and lull him into a state of slumber as many times as she needed to. The first couple of nights had been restful enough for him- having Mina by his side had certainly helped to keep his nerves steadied after his ordeal in Kanto, but now he knew that it was more due to the night terror suppression medication that his body hadn't quite passed from his system. Now that his innards had finished processing and purging the chemicals after three full days without a new dose, he saw many things whenever he tried to descend back into the realm of rest. Nine would be sneering at him as he choked the life from his broken body, Moonfish would cackle as he devoured his arm anew, the Shadow Nomu and its army of slaves came to take him back to Shigaraki, who would taunt his restless mind and torture his flesh endlessly as he sought to take One For All on behalf of his master… The end result was that Kurai now looked the part of a jet-lagged traveler on his way either into or out from Japan.