40

Chapter Text

Izuku awoke to the sound of his alarm blaring. 

"Today is here! Today is here! Today is here!"

He reached his hand over and swiped on his phone to turn off All Might's exuberant voice, waking up the brunette sleeping on that side of him in the process.

A few small noises escaped Ochako's throat as he squirmed awake, her eyes blinking open slowly. She focused as she looked at Izuku, a smile growing across both of their faces.

Izuku whispered. "I lo—"

"Iloveyou," she rushed out.

Izuku blinked, taken aback. Ochako leaned in and kissed him on the nose. "I won that time." 

He smiled again, rubbing her back with his arm. "It's not a contest…"

"You're just a sore loser," she teased, moving her head down and kissing him slowly on the lips. They remained locked for a time, each of them closing their eyes and opening them only after they broke apart. 

"Are you ready for today?" Izuku asked, savoring Ochako's taste.

Ochako giggled. "I think you should ask Mina."

He glanced over at the woman snuggled into his left side. She was still fast asleep.

"Mina," he called out softly. "It's time to get up."

The pink woman muttered some rough approximation of human language and buried herself deeper into Izuku's side. 

"Come on, my dad is going to be here in an hour, we gotta get dressed."

"Five more minutes…" she muttered, muffled by Izuku's body. "You're too comfy…"

Waking up with both of his girlfriends always made his quirk happy. As they showed their early morning affection, his instincts always hummed with satisfaction in his head, making sure he started each day off in a good mood.

Izuku lifted his arm around Ochako, rolling over so he was facing Mina fully. He wrapped both his arms around her and pulled her up the bed, causing her to whine quietly.

Her whines stopped when he pressed his lips to hers, kissing her deeply. She moaned softly and began to kiss back, waking up slowly. Izuku began firmly pushing up with his left arm, slowly raising them up into a sitting position. Seemingly instinctively, Mina chased the contact, not wanting to break her lips from his. After several more seconds of kissing, he pulled back and her eyes finally fluttered open.

"Ready to get up?" he asked with a smile.

She nodded dumbly, blinking a few times.

Ochako threw her arms around him from behind, pressing herself into him. "You're going to spoil her," she warning jokingly. 

"I'm going to spoil both of you," Izuku corrected, leaning back into the contact as Ochako giggled. After a few seconds of enjoying each other's warmth, Izuku slowly broke her hug. "We've gotta get up or we're gonna spend all day cuddling."

Mina leaned forward, trying to hug Izuku before he stopped her. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Don't tempt me, foul demon," Izuku rebutted in a fake-serious tone. 

Mina giggled, waking up a little more. "I'll steal your soul yet, foolish mortal!"

Izuku rolled out of bed and began to change into his clothes for the day. He was simultaneously embarrassed and flattered by the way his girlfriends stopped to watch him pull his shirt off and change out of his pajama pants. After he finished, the women finally began to move and change as well.

Izuku averted his gaze, not wanting to cause them any discomfort.

Mina wasn't having any of that.

"Midori, you turn around and appreciate us like we appreciated you right this instant," she demanded.

He jumped a little and gulped before slowly turning around. Ochako was already half changed, buttoning up her shirt as she blushed slightly. His eyes were drawn down, where she wasn't wearing pants. Izuku had a hard time breaking his vision away from her legs, admiring their tone and length. He couldn't deny that he loved her hips just as much, their width causing a particularly primal part of his quirk to pulse greedily.

He finally managed to look over at Mina, who was smirking at him proudly. She wasn't wearing anything other than her bra and panties, proudly displaying her impressive bust and healthy thighs. While Ochako's chest was nothing to scoff at, Mina's was second only to Mo's in the class, and while her legs didn't have the length that Ochako's had, her hips were almost as wide but made Izuku turn just as green. 

Both women had athletic bodies, their arms and shoulders toned, but not overly muscular. Mina held a little more fat around her thighs and backside, but there was no mistaking the strength of her legs. Ochako had more muscle in her long legs, causing her to look both elegant and powerful in equal measure. Between the two of them, Izuku was blessed with two beautifully curvy women, albeit in different ways. 

Mine.

"Mmhmm," Mina hummed to Ochako, snapping Izuku out of his trance. "That face. He just wants to eat us up. Look at his eyes glow."

"It's flatterin'," Ochako admitted shyly. "I've never had anyone look at me like that before you two…"

"What about Mineta?" Mina suggested.

Ochako shuddered. "N-no! This is way different!"

"Really? Why?" Mina cocked her head. Izuku could tell she was playing dumb, trying to get something out of Ochako.

Ochako was too flustered to notice. "W-well, I guess it's because you two uh, love me? And I-I love you both?"

Mina leaned over and hugged Ochako. "That's exactly right. You're making us happy this way, you know?"

"Y-yeah!" Ochako seemed to gain a little of her confidence back. "I like makin' you two happy! And it feels nice that I can do that just by bein' here."

They finished getting dressed in relative silence, enjoying each other's quiet company in the early morning. The trio headed downstairs as silently as they could, using Ochako's quirk to prevent their backpacks full of equipment from jangling. Momo had been more than happy to help make the things that the girls needed for the camping trip after the hearty—and fattening—meal that Izuku had made, such as a pair of sturdy hiking boots for Ochako. She even went the extra mile and made sun hats for the two girls, complete with two holes for Mina's horns to stick out. 

Ochako had invited Momo to come with them and, surprisingly, she seemed open to the idea. However, she had to decline as her parents wanted to see her, especially after she had spent the entire of their previous week off at the hospital with Izuku. Katsuki was also unavailable to go, as his parents were flying back that day. 

The three of them stepped through the door of their dorm and into the early morning air, the sun just beginning to peek over the horizon. "How long until your dad gets here?" Mina asked.

Izuku leaned back and looked up at the sky with a coy smile. "Oh… any time now."

Ochako let her quirk go slowly, each of them feeling the weight returning to their backpacks. "Where are we goin' again?"

"A forest that my dad owns," Izuku explained. "I grew up playing there." 

"So you must know the place pretty well," Mina guessed.

Izuku nodded fondly. "Like the back of my hand."

Mina leaned over to him. "So… what's the place we're camping look like?"

"And spoil the surprise?" Izuku responded. 

"Oh boo, fine."

Ochako scratched her head. "Now that I think about it, the gates for UA don't open for another hour or so. How's your dad going to get his car in here?" 

Izuku smiled wider. "Who said anything about a car?"

"Wait, you don't mean—"

The beating of wings finally became audible to those who didn't have a dragon quirk enhancing their hearing. Stormclaw came into vision over the trees, heading straight for them.

"No way…" Ochako muttered.

Mina was beaming. "We have the coolest boyfriend."

Stormclaw circled overhead once, dropping in altitude gently before landing in front of them, as quietly as a massive dragon could. His bright green eyes looked down on the three students kindly. "Ready?" his father asked.

Izuku nodded. "Ready." He turned to his girlfriends and gestured towards his father. "After you." 

Stormclaw landed on the edge of his forest property, letting Ochako, Mina and Deku slide off his back. Both Ochako and Mina's legs were shaking something awful when they hit the ground, nearly giving out before Deku wrapped one of his strong arms around each of them, giving them the support they needed until they could steady themselves.

"Don't worry," he said with a smile, "it gets easier each time you do it."

"I'll be back here around eight tomorrow morning," Stormclaw said to Deku. "Be safe."

"We will," Deku assured him. 

Stormclaw smirked. "And be sure to use prot-"

"DAD!" Deku yelled, already turning green. 

Stormclaw began laughing, which was a little unsettling, but Ochako couldn't help but giggle at how flustered her boyfriend had gotten. He kept chucklng as he took off into the air, heading back towards Musutafu. Deku turned back around to face Ochako and Mina, smiling nervously and trying to push the blush from his face. "Ready?" he asked.

Ochako nodded. "Yep, we—Deku, your eyes are glowin'. You alright?"

"Oh, that," Deku laughed, grateful for a change of subject, and turned his now-slitted eyes to her. "I'm at home in the forest; my quirk is basically frolicing in my head. I'm gonna be letting it out to play all day." 

"You make it sound like you've got an actual dragon up there," Mina pointed out, cocking her hip.

Deku rubbed his head. "Ah, it's just a figure of speech. All of my family has favorite environments that their quirks run extra hot in. It lets us use our quirks more without putting in extra effort. We're more in-tune with them there."

"Really?" Ochako asked. "So you love nature?"

"Just forests," Deku explained. "My dad's quirk favors the shoreline, while Ryuko loves hills. It seems to be based on what color we are; my grandfather loves the coast as well, while his father loved deserts."

"Deserts?" Mina repeated. "Not many of those around here."

Deku laughed. "Right. Gallant would take vacations every year to a different one. I remember watching an interview after he went to the Sahara for the first time; he was positively glowing." He smiled fondly at the memory for a few moments before he returned to the present. "Well, no sense standing around; we have quite a hike ahead of us!"

Midori wasn't kidding; the hike was no joke. However, none of them complained, as it was still far, far easier than what they had to deal with during Hell Week. They had been at it for several hours, only taking a few breaks as they began climbing up a large hill. Or a small mountain. It really depended on who you were talking to; Mina wasn't a geologist, or whoever it was that made those decisions.

During one of their breaks, Mina had found a beetle with 'horns' kinda like hers. She picked it up and ran over to Ochako. "Look, it's just like me! It's a Mini-Mina!" She had held it out to Ochako for her to touch it, but she didn't seem to be into the idea. Mina, of course, did the only sensible thing and began to chase Ochako around the trail with the beetle, giggling the whole time. Midori had nearly doubled over with laughter when Ochako used her quirk to jump into a tree out of Mina's reach. Ochako tried to look mad, but she was smiling too hard to really pull it off.

They had seen a lot of wildlife on their trek so far, from pheasants to rabbits to deer and more, but she had noticed something odd: whenever they heard or saw Midori, they all ran. She originally attributed this to their general skittishness, but over the afternoon, she realized that it was something else.

About an hour before noon, Midori walked off the path to use the bathroom. Mina and Ochako were waiting around when Mina spotted a deer off the path the other way. She silently pointed it out to Ochako and the two of them crept closer to the animal, keeping their movements slow and steady. The deer looked up and began watching them, but stayed put. It let the girls get within about fifty feet of it before Mina chose to stop pushing her luck. They stayed like that for a minute or so, Ochako and Mina watching the deer alternate between grazing and looking back at them.

Then Midori returned to the trail. She saw the deer's vision snap past the women back to the man over a hundred feet behind them for only a moment before it took off, running as fast as it could in the opposite direction.

It was clear: the animals weren't running from Ochako or Mina; it was only Midori.

The two women returned to the trail and Mina brought it up, her curiosity too strong for her to let it go. "Midori, why are all the animals scared of you?" She figured it was a weird question; maybe he wouldn't even know what she was talking about.

"Oh, that's simple," he said instead, causing her to do a double-take. She didn't see a trace of mirth in his glowing eyes. "I'm a predator."

Ochako giggled nervously. "What do you mean?"

"I'm a predator," he repeated as he began walking up the trail. "They know it. It's an instinct thing, I guess. Er, theirs, not mine."

Mina raised an eyebrow. "You're telling me that they can tell what your quirk is?"

"Not exactly," Midori said, looking over his shoulder. "I'm guessing it's the way I carry myself, or maybe it's horns, or maybe it's my eyes; it might even be a combination." He shrugged. "It's not like their fears are unfounded."

"Explain," Mina demanded.

Midori smiled fondly. "I used to hunt here all the time. It was a great way to not only train me with my quirk, but it was a fantastic outlet for my instincts. The game here is some of the best I've ever had, too."

"You don't mean with a gun or somethin', do you?" Ochako asked, seeming to know the answer.

Midori rubbed his head. "Uh no, not exactly."

"That's pretty hardcore," Mina admitted.

Ochako laughed. "I used to go huntin' with my gran'dad. There's somethin' satisfyin' about eatin' somethin' you've caught yourself, huh?"

Mina cracked a grin. "I bet Kyouka would think it was badass."

Midori flinched a little. "O-oh, you think so?" 

"Yeah!" Ochako agreed. "Think about it: your boyfriend coming back with somethin' he's hunted with his bare hands? Makes me feel like a warrior princess out of one of those old fantasy novels."

Midori laughed. "I'm glad you see it that way! A lot of people are weirded out when they hear it."

Mina's eyes snapped to her boyfriend. "But you didn't hesitate to tell us."

"Er, uh, no, I guess I didn't."

Mina dashed forward and threw a hug around her boyfriend, snaking her arms between his pack and his back. "You're learning to trust us! I'm so proud of you!" 

"Oh." Midori seemed surprised. "I… didn't even think about it. I guess I am, huh?"

Ochako walked over and planted a kiss on his cheek as she hugged him around the shoulders. "You don't know how happy that makes me."

"And me!" Mina added.

Midori looked like he was going to start crying. "I-I'm glad. Thanks for being so good to me," he said quietly. 

Mina squeezed him once more before breaking her hug. "I'm sure Ochako and I feel the same way. Now, Mister Predator, how much farther to the top?"

Midori wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. "Not too much farther now. Probably another hour or so? We'll eat lunch once we get there."

"Then there's no time to lose!" Ochako declared. "I'm already getting hungry!

The three of them reached the top of the wooded hill just as the sun reached the highest point in the sky. Deku led Ochako and Mina to a shady spot under a tree and sat down, looking out over the forest fondly.

Ochako couldn't help but stare as the three of them set down their packs; the view was absolutely spectacular. She could see for miles in every direction, an ocean of green stretched out before her. 

"Deku, this is…" 

"Beautiful," Mina finished.

He smiled knowingly. "It's been too long since I've been back here. My dad and I ate more meals than I can count under this very tree."

Ochako sat down on his left as Mina sat on his right. They both leaned into him, enjoying the peaceful contact. Deku pulled out three sandwiches from his backpack and handed them out. They ate in silence, each of them appreciating the sound of the wind blowing and the birds chirping in the trees. 

Ochako finished her sandwich and looked over at Deku, surprised to see a few tears leaking from his eyes.

Well, maybe she wasn't that surprised.

She shifted, scooting a little closer so she was fully pressed into his side, her arm wrapping around him as she rested her head on his. On Deku's right, Mina mirrored Ochako, putting her arm around him as well and resting her head on his shoulder.

Deku's head slumped as a few more tears rolled down his cheeks. He looked over the forest, his eyes glowing brighter than they had.

"Thank you," Ochako began softly, "for sharin' this place with us. For sharin' this… memory with us." 

Mina sighed. "I can't wait to come back here all the time."

"If you had told me a month ago that I would be sitting here with two women who loved me like you two do…" Deku trailed off, but Ochako knew what he was trying to say. 

They sat there in silence for several more minutes. There may not have been words, but each of them could feel the love in the air. 

Finally, Deku took a deep breath and stood up slowly, stretching himself up into the air. Ochako didn't feel bad at all about grabbing an eyeful of his abs as his shirt lifted up. She glanced over at Mina, who was doing the same thing, causing both of them to smirk softly. 

"Well, time to get to the campsite," Deku said, leaning over from side to side, stretching his muscles. 

"We're not camping here?" Mina asked.

"Nope!" Deku pointed out to the west. "See that big gap in the trees over there?"

Ochako deflated a little. "That has to be at least five miles!" 

"More like six, I think," Deku clarified.

 Mina hoisted up her backpack. "Well, let's get going then! I wanna get there before nightfall!"

"Oh, that'll be easy," Deku said confidently as he began to take off his shirt.

Ochako and Mina both stared, equal parts confused and enraptured by the defined muscles on his back. 

He turned around, both women's vision snapping up to stare at his blazing eyes.

"You didn't forget who you were with, did you?"

His wings burst from his back, kicking up a breeze.

"OhmyGodIloveyou," Mina rushed out in a single breath.

"Two dragon rides in one day?" Ochako asked, grinning. "Aren't we just the luckiest two girls in the world!"

Deku rubbed the back of his head, blushing slightly. "It's really nothing. You'll get used to them if you stick around me long enough."

Mina smirked. "Oh, we plan to. But uh, can you carry both of us?"

"Oh yeah," Deku shot back immediately, not even considering otherwise. "No problem. But if Ochako would want to lighten the load, I wouldn't say no."

Ochako nodded. "Sure!" She pressed her fingers to the three backpacks, taking their weight away before she touched Mina, making her float off the ground slightly. 

"Woah, this is still weird," Mina whined as Ochako grabbed her by the wrist to keep her from floating away. 

She began to touch herself when Deku stopped her. "Hey, no need. I don't want you to get sick."

Ochako smiled softly. "You sure you can carry me and fly?"

"You've seen me carry Kacchan, right?" Scales grew along Deku's exposed skin as his entire body bulked up and grew. She actually had to look up at him as he smiled widely, his face still mostly human. "It'll be no problem. Promise."

Ochako nodded, lifting Mina up onto Deku's back, the pink woman wrapping her arms around his neck and shoulders. Deku leaned over, giving Ochako space to climb onto his broad back; she did so, locking her legs around his midsection and her hands around Mina's waist. 

"Ready?" he asked, looking over his shoulder. 

"Ready!" Ochako and Mina responded simultaneously.

Deku's wings rose up slowly, the dense, lithe muscles along the 'arm' that made up his wing tensing. She and Mina felt the powerful sinews in his back preparing to beat his wings and Ochako herself could feel his thick thighs bulging as he readied himself. 

Then, in one thunderous motion, the three of them shot into the sky. 

As she considered just how much strength Deku possessed in his body—especially when he was using his quirk—she felt herself beginning to blush.

However, those thoughts quickly vanished, replaced by the thrill of flight. Deku beat his wings slowly, almost lazily as Ochako and Mina cheered, smiles wide on their faces.

Ochako looked around; while the view on top of the hill was spectacular, this was something else entirely. The wind whipped through her hair as she looked out over the seemingly endless trees flying by underneath her. For a moment, she pictured herself in her hero costume, riding a fully transformed Deku into battle with Mina at her side. She felt powerful, like with Deku and Mina, she could do anything.

Deku turned slightly, banking to the left as they soared past a tree slightly taller than the rest. He began to beat his wings faster, gaining in altitude for about thirty seconds before pitching forward and diving down, laughing as Ochako and Mina clutched onto him tighter. 

Despite the high speeds and turns, Ochako never felt like she was in danger of falling off. He was very conscious of her and Mina's balance, and his scales gave great traction. However, she could tell that it wouldn't take much before her legs would begin to get rubbed raw. They were already a little sensitive from riding Stormclaw all the way out here, but it seemed like Deku had that in mind.

He banked hard to the right as the came upon the clearing he had pointed out at the peak of the hill. Ochako and Mina gasped again as a great, crystal-clear lake came into view, glistening beautifully in the midday sun. 

Deku began to slowly lose altitude as they crossed over the lake. Ochako felt like she could almost reach down and touch the water, but she knew it was much further than it appeared. He unfurled his wings wide, letting them act as parachutes as they approached the shoreline. The slowed more and more until they finally returned to ground, where Deku's powerful legs absorbed most of the shock of landing. 

He knelt down and let Ochako and Mina slide off his back. The women kept a hand on him to steady themselves as they got their land-legs back underneath them. Ochako guessed it was the adrenaline that made her weak in the knees, but she was smiling too wide to really care about it at the moment. 

Mina cheered again as Ochako released her quirk. "That was awesome! I'm so jealous you get to do that all the time!"

"Heh, yeah," Deku muttered, rubbing the back of his head as he smiled. "Jirou said the same thing."

Mina's smirk grew again. "I'm telling you, that girl has it bad for you. You should have seen her when Pony and her tried to 'confront' us yesterday."

His vision snapped down to Mina's, his eyes glowing brighter.

"Oh, it was so cute!" Mina squealed. "This was after you went up to go take that tea to 'Mo',"—Mina winked—"Kyouka and Pony came over to Ochako and I and thought they were going to catch us in a lie or something."

"Well, Kyouka did," Ochako clarified. "Pony just seemed curious."

Mina sighed. "That girl…" She shook her head. "I don't know if I would be able to do it. Go to a different country for school, I mean. Pony's tough."

"In more ways than one," Ochako added. 

"Oh yeah," Mina agreed. "We trained together on… Friday of last week, I think. The whole week is kind of a blur. Anyway … remember how that warp villain guy had one of her horns sticking out of him?"

Ochako nodded. "Iida told me the story when I trained with him on Wednesday. He said that she was the bravest out of anyone there. She stood her ground and stared the villain down; Iida said it was a little intimidatin'. She did what was necessary and stopped the villain by warpin' anyone else away by stabbin' him and… he said she was saying somethin' while she did it."

"What, in English?" Deku asked as he shrunk back down.

Ochako nodded. "Iida said he couldn't follow what she was sayin' in the moment, but it sounded like… poetry? The weird thing is that the villain responded in kind." Ochako rubbed her chin and shrugged. "The point is that Pony is a badass. She has the determination to come live in Japan for school and still had the grit to glare down a villain and stop him."

"For sure," Mina agreed again, "but we're getting sidetracked. Kyouka and her came up and confronted us. When I told her that yes, we were dating you, she was surprised I just came out and admitted it. Then…" Mina leaned over, smirking at Deku. "Then I told her that she could join if she wanted to." Mina began cackling. "You should have seen her! She turned so red!"

Ochako couldn't help but laugh a little too. "She bit her jack to try and calm herself down. She's so cool all the time it's extra adorable when she cracks and shows her softer side."

"I just wish I knew her better," Mina admitted. "She seems really cool, but I haven't really had the time to really get to know her. I trained with her on Thursday, which was a ton of fun, but still."

Ochako sighed again. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

Deku had just been standing there, absorbing all of the information Ochako and Mina were throwing at him with a very focused expression on his face. Ochako guessed that since they were his 'hoard', he wanted to know everything he could.

"Anyway," Mina said, "we could stand here and talk about girls all day, but shouldn't we set up camp?"

Deku's face relaxed. "You're right. I'll set up the fire pit, can you two set up the tent?"

Ochako and her girlfriend nodded and set down their packs, ready to help.

It only took about a half hour to get everything set up, giving the three of them plenty of time to relax and enjoy the beautiful lake. After the terror of the USJ, the nervous uncertainty of the week in the hospital, the grueling Hell Week and the excitement of the Sports Festival, Mina welcomed the opportunity to truly relax. She loved the opportunity to lounge around, skip rocks, take sun-warmed naps and talk peacefully with the two people she cared more about than anything outside her family.

Around five, Ochako and Mina had stepped into the lake to wash the sweat and dirt of the day off themselves. Once they finished and were drying off, her stomach rumbled, which Midori heard. There was something really endearing about how he snapped to attention. 

"Time for dinner, then," he declared. "Ochako, could you get the fire going?"

"Ugh," she fake-whined. "Why can't you just breathe fire like a normal dragon?" 

Midori smiled knowingly, shaking his head. "Mina, could you get the food? It's in my backpack."

Mina nodded, hopping up from the blanket she was laying on and heading over to his bag. She rummaged through it for a moment, pushing his clothes aside. Her brow furrowed as she leaned in a little closer, trying to find wherever he had stashed dinner. 

Finally, she gave up. "Midori, I can't find it!" 

"Hmm, I must have forgotten it. What a shame." 

Mina whipped around to her boyfriend, her face a mixture of confusion and disbelief. "Are you se-"

Midori had already taken his shirt off and was kicking his shoes to the side as he pulled his shorts down. His body was covered in scales, keeping Mina from sneaking any peeks at anything. He smirked at her as he flexed his fingers, showing off the fins he had grown between them. "I guess I'll have to figure something out." He smirked with an exaggerated shrug, taking a moment to appreciate Mina's stunned look before he turned around and dashed toward the lake, jumping into the air and diving into the water with practiced grace.

It took a few moments for Mina to come back to her senses. "God, he's hot," she mumbled, causing Ochako to giggle behind her. 

Ochako tapped her on the shoulder. "Come on, I'll show you how to build a fire like my gran'dad did."

Mina nodded and hurried off to help, glancing back over the lake, where the only evidence that Midori was down there were a few ripples on the surface.

After several minutes, the women got the fire going and sat down next to it, staring over the lake as it shone in the setting sunlight. Their relaxed gazes snapped to a disturbance in the middle of a lake, where a few seconds later, Midori burst forth, carrying a fish in his fully-draconic maw. He flipped the fish into the air, opening wide and catching it in his curved jaw, seeming to swallow it whole before he dove back underneath the water.

"He looks so happy out here," Ochako observed quietly.

Mina nodded. "Like he said, this is his natural environment."

There was a long, peaceful silence as they watched the lake. "A house in the forest would be nice, wouldn't it? Quiet, beautiful, clean air…"

"Oh yeah," Mina agreed. "Imagine falling asleep to the sound of a trickling creek or watching the snowfall in the winter."

There was another beat of silence before both Mina and Ochako began to blush. "Did we just?" Ochako asked softly.

Mina laughed nervously. "It might be a little early for us to be thinking about where we are gonna live once we're a family, yeah?"

"Y-yeah," Ochako agreed. 

Before Mina could turn too much more purple at the thought of her future, a noise in front of them grabbed her attention. The water at the shore broke and Midori emerged, glistening, dripping and carrying an armful of large fish. "Who knows how to filet a fish?" he asked, smiling as his scales faded from his head and chest. 

Ochako and Mina didn't answer at first, too enraptured by their shirtless, wet, predator of a boyfriend who had gone out and hunted food for them with his bare hands. Mina could sympathize with Ochako feeling like a 'warrior princess' now. She felt like a queen, like Midori and Ochako would conquer the world with her and for her.

"Uh…?"

Mina and Ochako both jumped back to attention, scrambling up from their seats. "Oh, uh, yeah! I do!" Mina declared. 

He smiled at her, his eyes still burning brightly. She saw a clear membrane slowly retracting across them sideways—likely what let him see normally underwater. "Great! Let's get to work."

"We'll handle it," Ochako declared firmly. "You just relax. We're not gonna let you do everything'! We're a team!"

Midori smiled warmly as his eyes flashed for a second, which was just further confirmation for Mina's suspicions that he enjoyed his hoard taking care of him as much as he enjoyed taking care of his hoard. "Thank you," he said finally, "I appreciate it."

Mina showed Ochako the best way to prepare and cook the fish while Midori relaxed nearby, watching them work with pure adoration and affection in his eyes. After a busy day in the outdoors, the grilled fish tasted especially great, if Mina did say so herself. 

After they had eaten and cleaned up, it wasn't long before sunlight rapidly left the campground, thanks to its location between low mountain peaks. The temperature began to drop gradually and Mina felt the exhaustion of their hike really begin to catch up to her.

Between her exhaustion, the chill and the hearty meal, she was ready for bed. Midori seemed to notice, as he moved over to her and knelt down, planting a kiss on her forehead and reaching his arm under her back and legs. He picked her up in a bridal carry, causing her to shudder the smallest amount as she felt his powerful muscles lift her with ease. 

"Can you make sure you douse the fire, Ochako?" he asked quietly.

Ochako walked over and ran her hand through Mina's hair. "Sure. I'll be right behind you."

"I'm not a damsel," Mina pouted playfully. "I can walk."

Midori laughed softly as he smiled down at her. "Just because you're not a princess doesn't mean you don't deserve to be treated like one sometimes."

Her expression softened and she nuzzled into him as a wide smile grew on her face. "You're such a dork."

"H-hey!" 

She reached up and ran a hand along one of his horns. "I never said I didn't like it…"

Midori let her down as they reached the tent, but not before he leaned in and kissed her lovingly on the lips. Mina chased after the contact as long as she could, but as she got her feet back underneath her, she settled for hugging him around his chest. "Thank you," she muttered softly. "Today was wonderful."

She felt hands tracing up her arms and realized Ochako was on the other side of Midori. Her head poked over his shoulder, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek. "Same goes for me. Thanks for sharin' all of this with us."

Mina saw some wetness form in his eyes. "I told you that I'd spoil you both, didn't I?" He smiled softly. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. This used to be my favorite place in the world."

"Used to?" Ochako asked with a suddenly worried tone. "What happened?"

Midori smiled a little wider. "I got a new favorite place: wherever you two are."

Ochako and Mina groaned simultaneously. Mina reached up and pulled him down, giving him a kiss on the lips. "Like I said: dork ." 

Suddenly, both Midori and Mina's eyes went wide as they felt their weight being taken from them. Behind them, Ochako lifted both of them up and began to push—or perhaps carry—them inside the tent. "I'm tired of standin' out here. I want my cuddles."

Ochako zipped the flap up behind them as she placed her boyfriend and girlfriend on the air mattress with the two sleeping bags that Mina and Ochako had zipped together into one giant bag. "Now, get into your pajamas!" she ordered as she let her quirk go, her smile clear even through the darkness.

They changed relatively quickly, despite being nearly blind inside the tent. Mina may have 'accidentally' tripped and grabbed Ochako's butt, but who could really blame her? She tried to do the same to Midori, but he caught her hands.

"Careful," he warned.

"It's not fair that you can see in the dark," she pouted.

Midori chuckled as he let her hands go. "Who's sleeping in the middle?"

"You," Mina answered immediately.

"Yep, you," Ochako confirmed.

"But I slept there last night," he protested.

Mina reached over until she found his chest and began to trace her fingers up and down it. "We both think you deserve it again. Listen to your girlfriends." 

Midori tried to protest weakly, but soon just sighed and gave in, opening the sleeping bag and slipping in. Ochako and Mina took their places on each side of him and nuzzled in. Mina felt all her worries melt away, just like she always did when she cuddled up to one of her lovers. 

"You know," Ochako began, her voice barely over a whisper, "being with you two is my favorite place too."

Mina giggled. "You're both dorks." 

"So this isn't your favorite place?" Midori asked.

She burrowed a little deeper into his side, taking in his warmth and smell. Underneath his arm, she felt protected and loved, and at his side she felt stronger and more confident. 

"I never said that…" 

Ochako reached her arm across Midori's chest, tracing her mittened hand down Mina's hair and onto her face. "Does that make you a dork, too?"

"It means I love you," Mina responded evasively. 

Midori laughed. "We should do this more often. It was… really nice to spend the whole day with you two like this."

"It was like a mini-vacation," Ochako agreed. "I felt so relaxed."

Mina reached up and began to slowly pet one of Midori's horns; Ochako followed suit shortly after. As their boyfriend purred, he slowly closed his eyes. "I love you both…" he mumbled, trailing off.

Ochako and Mina both kissed him on the cheek, Mina having to crane her neck to reach. "I love you both," Mina repeated.

"I love you both, too," Ochako finished.

In the peace of the forest, with the lake lapping calmly outside, in the darkness of nature without any lights, in a warm embrace, punctuated only by the purring of Midori and the calm breathing of Ochako, Mina fell asleep.