Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mina marched into Ochako’s pro-hero office with purpose. “Ochako, I need a favor.”

Ochako jerked up from her desk as though awakened from a nap. “Huh?”

She sauntered over and took a seat on the desk so Ochako couldn’t sleep through her explanation. This was serious! She brought out her phone and said, “Have you seen what they’re saying about me on social media?”

Ochako rubbed her eyes, then leaned on a hand. “I forgot my passwords, so it’s been awhile…”

“Well since my interview yesterday, people have been meming that I’m homophobic!”

Her eyebrows raised. “What did you say in your interview?”

“It wasn’t anything actually bad,” she whined.

“Let me see.”

Mina pulled up a clip from the interview, which was easy to do since so many people had clipped it. She turned her phone towards Ochako. There was a big caption at the top stating: Pro-hero Pinky’s response to a gay teen asking for advice:

“I mean, if you gotta, you can just be straight, can’t you?”

Ochako grimaced. “That’s kind of homophobic, Mina.”

“It’s out of context! We were doing an ‘advice for fans’ segment, and people had submitted their issues I was supposed to help them through. I actually gave great advice to several people having love troubles, but then there was a teenager who asked how to deal with being gay in a community where they didn’t think they’d be accepted, and so what I meant was like, ‘Can’t you just act straight while you need to?’ but the words got all twisted up and…”

“That’s still kinda rough.”

“But all the people accusing me of being actively homophobic are totally misrepresenting me! I have gay friends, and have even dated multiple gay people!”

“Gay guys, which is also not necessarily a great look for ‘just-be-straight’ Pinky.”

“That’s not fair! They didn’t know at the time! Or, well, hadn’t fully admitted it, at least. Either way, when we broke up, I was totally graceful about it, didn’t even cry, and totally supported them eventually asking out the guys they secretly liked! I’m even still friends with them!"

Ochako sighed. “Please don’t go onto TigTog and use this as your defense because, to be honest, it’s kind of lackluster.”

“I know that, which is why I’ve come up with an iron-tight defense against the homophobia allegations: Dating you!”

Now Ochako’s eyes widened, her cheeks grew pink, and she blinked five times. “...You want…?”

Mina loved to tease her, and would have liked to taunt her a bit to see how deep she could make Ochako flush, but there was no time for games. No, her issue was urgent, so she cut to the chase “Not for real, of course,”

Ochako paused, eyebrows raising, then turned away. “Of course not.”

“I’ve determined this is the most efficient and decisive way to shut down this PR disaster. After all, how can they accuse me of being homophobic when I’m gay myself?”

“But you’re not actually….?” Ochako went very still, breath held.

“Obviously not! But you’re bi, right? I know it’s not like, a big thing with your hero branding or whatever, but I figured if I’m gonna do this, I ought to do it with someone who wouldn’t necessarily be lying about coming out. And we’re such good friends, too, I thought, why not?”

“Because it’d be a complete sham,” she pointed out.

“Come on, Ochako, do you hate hanging out with me that much? We’d just have to hang out for awhile, say some nice things for the cameras, and then break up. Easy!”

“No, I’m not going to fake date you.”

“Even if I beg?”

“No,”

Mina leaned fully back on the desk, sprawling herself over it as she brought up her hands in a praying position. “Please?”

“Still no.”

“Even to save me from being labeled a ‘problematic fave’ among the hero fanatic youths?”

“Nope.”

“Even if you could strike a huge pride month merchandising deal with the media coverage?”

“No–... hmm.”

Mina sat up at the first crack in Ochako’s defense. “June’s coming up. You could get a great deal—you wouldn’t even have to do anything. I could discuss with my merch people, talk about rainbow tank tops and kneepads and helmets with Uravity’s logo, starting with a grand release on June first collaborating with my merch line, creating an explosion of sales and then a steady stream of royalties to keep paying for this nice little fifteenth floor office you’ve got…”

“Hmm…”

Ochako was looking legit conflicted, and so Mina decided to strike and seal the deal. “Of course, if you’re totally unable to help out a friend, I can go to someone else. Maybe Tsuyu would–”

“She wouldn’t. She hates kissing in public.”

Ochako stood up, slamming a hand into the desk so hard Mina could feel the vibrations.

“I’ll pretend to date you,” she declared.

Mina grinned. Hook, line, and sinker.

“Six months?” Ochako exclaimed.

They were still in Ochako’s office, huddled over a sheet of notebook paper. Mina pointed her marker at Ochako. “You don’t think you’ll be able to stand me that long?”

She grew pink again. Mina loved making her react so strongly. “I’m just saying the longer this goes on, the more likely it is that one of us will slip up.”

“The trick is not to slip up. We gotta do at least six months, since I publicly dated Shouto that long. It’s gonna come off as totally fake if I date a woman for a shorter period of time than I dated a man.”

“You really think people are going to care that much?”

“I care, and you don’t know how crazy some of these hero fans can be. There are accounts dedicated to tracking the food I’ve been seen eating. Even with romance, there’s already a fan account for us.”

Ochako coughed. “Um, for us? Did I hear that right?”

“Yeah! Let me see…” Mina pulled out her phone and searched it up. “Yeah, Pinky-X-Uravity-5-Ever. They’ve got videos of every time we’ve been to a hero gala together. Some theory videos too, where they analyze footage of us working together and try to figure out what we might be saying to each other. And then there’s the cute little music videos they make…”

Though Ochako had been looking over her shoulder, she drew back at the spinning zoom-cuts of Ochako pulling Mina out of some rubble set to the latest viral love tune. “How do you know about this? They have like, ten views.”

Mina shrugged. “I did some research before asking for your help. This is good material—If at least one person thinks we’re already dating, then this is way more believable.”

Ochako gaped like a fish for a moment, then set her jaw. “Well, let’s use this then. We can say we were secretly dating for the past three months, then we only have to fake date for like, three more.”

“We can’t do that! I would never keep dating someone a secret that long!”

“Yeah? What if your girlfriend specifically requested some privacy from the press?”

Mina pouted. “Well what if your girlfriend specifically said she wanted to be open about it as soon as possible so she could show you off and brag?”

Their eyes were locked, determined, but Mina refused to be the first to look away. 

Finally, Ochako glanced away with a pout of her own. “We claim one month of secret dating, and then we do five months in public. Final offer.”

Mina grabbed her hand to shake on it. “Deal.”

Unfortunately, Mina squeezed too eagerly, and ended up pressing all five of Ochako’s fingers against her. Her hair grew light, rising, and then the rest of her body slowly floated up.

“Ack!” Ochako exclaimed, getting up. “Sorry, just a sec.”

Though Ochako tried to press her hands together, Mina instinctively kept a hold on Ochako’s hand to avoid floating all the way up to the ceiling. They fumbled for a minute, Mina’s legs getting above their heads, before Ochako finally told Mina to grab onto her shoulders and then was able to press her fingerpads together.

They landed in a heap, knocking papers off the desk on the way down and shoving Ochako’s rolling chair off towards a bookcase. Ochako landed on her back, and Mina fell right on top of her, legs in a tangle, face just barely offset so their foreheads didn’t crash directly into each other. Mina recovered first, pushing herself up just enough to be able to see Ochako’s face.

It was flushed red, panting from exertion, hair in a mess behind her. She drew in little breaths, lips parted just enough to bring attention to the fullness of them.

That reminded Mina, “We should practice kissing.”

Ochako got up immediately, bonking their foreheads in her haste, and Mina sat back rubbing her head while Ochako stood and began to pace.

“Ow, do you hate the idea that much?” Mina asked.

She glanced back, then turned away again. “Do we need to?”

“Uh, obviously? If we wanna sell this lie, we gotta look the part. Especially if you wanna act like we’ve been dating in secret for a month, we need to look totally natural sharing a kiss after a job well done together, or whatever.” Mina stood up fully now, hands on her hips. “Or is the thought of kissing me that unbearable?”

Mina wasn’t an idiot, she could comprehend the fact that a woman liking women didn’t mean she liked all women. Though Mina was in the upper echelons of hotness, she was aware that some people had “personal taste” that might affect whether they were attracted to her or not. Even so, was she so far outside of Ochako’s range of taste that Ochako wouldn’t want to kiss her at all?

It felt like lead in her gut to think of that. Come on! Mina wasn’t even gay, but she was more than willing to kiss her friend for necessity’s sake. She didn’t foresee any issue with kissing Ochako, so what was the big hold up?

“Sorry,” Ochako muttered. “I just… we’ve been going through a lot today, it’s a lot to take in. I need some mental preparation time. Maybe we could set a date–”

“A date?” Mina latched on, already grinning.

Ochako swallowed hard. “A… a practice-kissing date?”

Mina squealed. “Ooh, that’ll be so fun! That’s a great idea. You’re right, trying to sort out all the details today is pretty overwhelming. How about tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?” Ochako said, blanching.

“Well I wanna come out soon, before this PR nightmare gets more out of control! I was hoping to come out today, but if you need a bit of time, I can just come over to your place tomorrow, we can get our kissing game down, and then we can make some cute posts on social media to reveal the truth.”

“Tomorrow,” she repeated.

“Does that not work?”

She took in a deep breath. “No, it should be fine… Better to just get it done and over with, right?”

She flexed an arm, as though cheering them both on. Mina kept up a smile, although she died inside to see Ochako have to hype herself up to go through this ordeal.

The whole thing had seemed fun when she first thought about it—just hanging out more often with her friend, kissing her a bit, posting some pictures, and having fun. “Are you sure?” Mina checked, just in case. “This is your last chance to back out.”

“No, no, I can do this. We can do this. Just five months, and then we break up. I can totally handle it.”

This was said with enough confidence that Mina was settled. 

“You’re the best!” Mina exclaimed. “I’ll visit you tomorrow, alright? Be ready!”

Mina put on a cute outfit and melon-flavored lipgloss the next day.

After all, it was kind of her first date with Ochako! And most importantly, she was going to be posting a picture of the two of them on her social media, so she had to look good. This was gonna be adorable.

On the train towards Ochako’s apartment, she scrolled through Pinterest on her phone. She had always had an eye for aesthetics, and… ooh!

She found a gorgeous wedding dress with a plunging neckline and ruffles along the hem revealing petticoats of various pink shades, like the white dress had cracked open to reveal a geode of colors beneath. She pinned it to her “Wedding inspo” board.

That board had existed for over a decade, and in Mina’s heart long before that. From the day her parents first took her to her cousin’s wedding, and she saw the bride beaming on the altar in a stunning opulent dress, she’d dreamed of own marriage. Themed place settings, elaborate flower bouquets, and, of course, a husband waiting for her at the end of the aisle.

She’d get there at some point! So far, none of her relationships had worked out, but that’s because she wasn’t going to accept a subpar (or gay) man just to make her dream come true. She supposed these five months with Ochako were going to delay it further, but she wasn’t all that worried. When the time was right, prince charming would waltz into her life and everything would fall into place.

Finally, Mina reached Ochako’s apartment. When Ochako opened the door, Mina noted her outfit—a worn T-shirt with her family’s construction company logo on the front, and baggy shorts.

The picture they took today would be from the neck up.

Mina sat next to Ochako on the couch. “So.”

“So?”

“Are you ready?” Mina asked.

“Yeah. Are you?”

“Of course.”

She had to be, right? It wasn’t even a big deal. Girls kissed their friends at the bar all the time—this was just like that. Except that they were alone in Ochako’s apartment, on Ochako’s couch, and even though Mina was straight, Ochako liked girls. Did that make this weird?

Mina considered putting her hands on Ochako’s shoulders, but her palms were sweaty. Unlike kissing boys, which had always come so easy and naturally, kissing a girl sure made her sweat. Probably nerves from knowing it was fake.

They turned at the same time, almost bumping heads. “Okay?” Mina asked.

“Yeah,” Ochako whispered, leaning in.

She stared at Ochako, the way her eyelashes lay across her cheeks with her eyes closed, the gentle part of her bang, and the fact that she was actually waiting for Mina to kiss her.

Those eyes fluttered open. “Mina?”

Before she could overthink it any further, Mina dove and pressed their lips together for an instant. She drew back immediately afterwards, so quick that she wouldn’t have been able to describe what it felt like.

There. Done. Now she didn’t have to be nervous about it.

Ochako blinked at her. “Is… is that it?”

Ugh, the judgement in her tone made Mina sweat anew. “That’s just the warm-up.”

Ochako snorted. “Come here.”

And that made Mina all nervous again. She had kissed lots of boys—what if it turned out girls kissed different and she was going to do it all wrong?

There was no more time to fret, as Ochako was on her lips again, more firmly this time, though not hard enough to be uncomfortable. She pressed their lips between each other with slow, wet movements, letting their warm skin drag against each other. Mina remembered to breathe through her nose. This… this wasn’t really different from kissing a boy. It was just lips against lips.

Ochako put a hand on her shoulder, a pinkie raised, and Mina drew in a surprised gasp. That must have felt like an invitation, as Ochako leaned in further, forcing Mina back and parting her lips enough for a tongue to take an exploratory swipe.

Everything felt heady, hot and distracted. When had Mina gotten pressed up against the back of the couch? When had Ochako gotten on top of her lap? When had Ochako’s other hand cradled her cheek, gently guiding her chin up so Ochako could consume her mouth further? Mina could hear her own heart pulsing in her ears, a vicious beat like she was about to collapse from the strain.

Stress. She was stressed. This was different from kissing a boy. Or someone she actually…

Mina shoved Ochako back. Ochako blinked at her, lips still wet. Was Mina’s lipgloss on her now? Maybe she’d licked it all off. Ochako was breathing hard, flushed, chest heaving, and Mina was… going to handle this professionally.

“I don’t think we need to like… kiss with tongue,” Mina said. “It’s just for the cameras, and stuff.”

There was a shudder across Ochako that stung Mina’s heart. Ochako got off her lap and wiped at her own mouth with her forearm, as though trying to get rid of the evidence of her indiscretion.

“Oh,” she said, low and dispirited. “Sorry, I…”

Mina hated seeing that expression. “No! It’s my fault, I should have specified more. I mean, you’re used to making out with girls, of course you would default to that.”

Ochako didn’t look at her. “...Right.”

“But it’s… it’s good! After that, a peck is gonna feel like nothing in comparison, so we won’t get embarrassed or… whatever. So great work!”

Despite Mina’s assurances, Ochako’s shoulders stayed slumped.

Ochako got off the couch. “Well, with that done, we should probably go…”

Mina couldn’t bear to see her friend so dejected. Of course she felt bad, she instinctively got all into a kiss and was rejected, and Mina was the cause for her distress. Letting Ochako leave like this would make Mina feel awful for the rest of the day, maybe even the rest of the week until she found a way to make it up to Ochako.

She had to take responsibility. She had to make things normal between them again. She didn’t want Ochako thinking she was like, creeped out or something by the kiss.

So Mina grabbed onto Ochako’s wrist. “Wait.”

Ochako paused immediately and turned her head back to face her. Those cheeks were still pink from the makeout.

“We still have to take pics,” Mina asserted.

Still, Ochako didn’t look excited. “Oh. Right. For the post.”

They settled down on the couch again, and Mina pulled out her phone, lifting it with one hand and keeping an eye on their position in her camera while leaning towards Ochako.

“We’re just going to hold the pose for a few seconds while I take the photo, try to hold it naturally.”

“Of course,” Ochako murmured, close enough that Mina could feel the air pass over her own lips.

“Okay, three, two, one… go.”

To look natural, the two of them had to close their eyes. Their lips were together again, as warm as Mina recalled, but she resisted any extraneous movement. Her arm shook a little, but it was inevitable as she maneuvered her thumb to press on her phone screen, trying to click a photo. She heard a shutter, and so had an excuse to part again.

She looked down at the result.

Blurry, partially out of frame, and with an angle that made her chin look bad.

“We have to do it again,” Mina declared.

But the next one was also a mess. And the next. Ochako offered to take the pic for the fourth one, but that one ended up worst of all, with an angle so high that it revealed some hidden cowlicks on Ochako’s head.

Five new kisses since the makeout. If one counted the makeout as just one very big and long kiss, that was seven kisses total. Mina was acclimating herself, getting better at not flustering, even though she couldn’t stop her arm from shaking while taking a picture.

“Do you have a camera timer?” Ochako finally asked.

That would probably work, and then they’d be done.

“Let me try this one more time,” Mina said, leaning in and holding her phone with her arm. “Don’t underestimate me! I think I’ve really got it this time…”

After their ninth kiss, Ochako insisted on the timer.

“It’s clearly not working. Just prop it up on something steady and choose the framing you want.”

Though Ochako was no longer as depressed as she’d looked fresh off of rejection, now she was getting a little too bored and business-like for Mina’s tastes. This may have been a fake romance, but someone actively kissing Mina ought to have at least a little excitement about it! Now Ochako was starting to look bored in the pictures, and that just wouldn’t do.

Mina crossed her arms, looking around Ochako’s austere apartment. There was a couch and a coffee table, but the table was so low that it would give a bad angle. “There’s nothing good to put the phone on,” Mina argued.

“I’ll grab a chair or something from the kitchen.”

But as Ochako got up, Mina had a devious idea. “Wait, what about your dresser?”

She frowned. “I’m not dragging my dresser into the living room.”

“I’m saying let’s go to your bedroom.”

And there it was, the startled deer-in-headlights expression with the adorable blush that Mina loved to draw from her. Now this was a proper mood for a kiss!

“My bedroom?” Ochako squeaked,

“Yeah! Isn’t it weird to be having such an intimate moment on your couch? If we’re dating, it makes more sense to show me in your room, and then we can prop the phone up properly.”

She sighed. “Okay, sure. To the bedroom.”

So Mina ended up on Ochako’s minimalist gray comforter, with her phone on a closeby dresser, aimed right at them. She arranged Ochako around a bit, testing a few poses, until she was satisfied.

“Don’t move!” Mina warned, then got up.

She clicked the photo button, then hurried to the bed, almost knocking Ochako off in her haste. Ochako grabbed onto her, muttering a soft, “Relax.”

Easier said than done! Mina grabbed onto Ochako’s shoulder to anchor herself, sweaty hands be damned, and pressed their lips together again.

She kept it held, eyes closed, doing her best not to move or overthink the warm breaths from Ochako brushing over her skin. The timer was set for ten seconds, which she now believed was far too long. Sitting absolutely still like this was awkward.

So gently, hesitantly, Mina sucked, drawing Ochako’s lips closer to hers.

Ochako made a noise low in her throat, and leaned forward.

The shutter sound echoed in the room, and Mina jumped up so fast that Ochako nearly collapsed on the now-empty space beside her. Mina rushed to pick up her phone and check her gallery—anything to avoid looking directly at Ochako after edging their latest kiss towards something more than a peck.

It had just been boring otherwise is all.

“Ooh,” Mina said once she saw the picture. “I think we can use this! I’ll need to crop it a bit, but we definitely look better here than in the others. Now let me find the other pics to use…”

Naturally, Mina took a few steps back until she could fall back onto the bed. She tapped through her photo gallery, assessing what else she could add to the post.

“Other pics?” Ochako asked.

“Yeah, to make the timeline deeper, so this doesn’t look like it came outta nowhere. I’m sure we must have a few friend pics we can recontextualize. Like see here, when we went to the club last month? We look great in our outfits, and my arm is around your waist here.”

Ochako fell back on the bed, head beside Mina’s, in order to look at the photos too.

Mina forced herself to continue rather than look at Ochako. “Denki also sent me this pic of us at that hero gala last year. Plus there’s this pic I took of you when you visited me in the hospital after pulling me out of that disaster…”

“We can’t use that. I look like a wreck.”

Mina grinned. “That’s what makes it so good. I know it’s because of the big fight you were in, but it also makes you look like you were crying over me getting just a bit injured. It’ll look great in the collage…”

“No way,” Ochako said, reaching for the phone.

She stretched out her arm, getting out of reach. “Yes way.”

Ochako sat up, stretching in earnest, but only caught Mina’s wrist. “Give it here…”

“No, I think it’s cute!”

“It’s not,” Ochako reiterated, tugging Mina’s arm.

Mina fought back in earnest, using her other arm to shove Ochako away. “I took that pic fair and square, so I can use it how I want!”

“I didn’t know you were taking a picture at the time!”

Somehow, the two ended up wrestling, a dangerously well-matched pastime for two professional heroes. Mina thought she was on top, but then there was a pressure at the back of her knees, Ochako having hooked her leg around hers, and suddenly she was on her back, shoved against the mattress, hips pinned down by Ochako’s thighs spread out over them. Her wrists were pinned down, and Ochako squeezed the one leading to the hand holding the phone, making it twitch.

Ochako’s chest heaved with deep breaths as she stared down at Mina. Mina was trapped beneath her, completely at her mercy. She thought about that makeout again, and licked her lips just in case. Would Ochako tease her?

But her hands were released so Ochako could grab the phone.

“I’m deleting it,” Ochako said.

“What? No!” Mina’s voice cracked more than she expected.

Ochako kept her lower body planted on top of Mina’s, so even when Mina stretched up her hands she wasn’t able to reach the phone Ochako was holding high. “My hair is sticking up in like, ten different places. No way am I letting you post it.”

“But you can’t delete it! I like it!”

Though Mina couldn’t reach the phone, she grabbed Ochako’s waist and squeezed to surprise her. Ochako squeaked, doubling over, and Mina was able to snatch the phone. She jerked up her hips, bucking Ochako off, and scrambled to get off the bed.

Unfortunately, she only had a few seconds to desperately crawl towards freedom before Ochako launched and landed on top of her, her chest against Mina’s back, her chin hooked over Mina’s shoulder to speak low into her ear, “I’m deleting it.”

Mina squirmed, but Ochako had caged her in, and although she hadn’t grabbed the phone yet, it was only a matter of time. “No, please! Please, Ochako, you can’t!”

It was so hot beneath another person. Though Mina had been sweating earlier, now she couldn’t tell if this damp, humid feeling was because of her or Ochako’s exertion. “Mina…” Ochako warned, breath tingling over Mina’s ear.

She couldn’t take this. Surrender was the only option. “I won’t post it! Okay? I swear, just let me keep it, and I’ll find a different picture to add to the post.”

Ochako had her hands around Mina’s wrist again, and she squeezed. “You promise?”

Since when had Mina’s ears been this sensitive? She was melting as she murmured, “I promise.”

Finally, Ochako lifted off of her, allowing cool air to flow over those burning points of contact. Mina got up slowly, observing the mess they’d made. Ochako’s blanket had been shifted and undone in the scuffle, and Mina’s outfit was also set askew. Ochako was looking away from her, which gave Mina a great view of how mussed that short hair of hers had gotten.

Mina thought about running her fingers through it to neaten it up, but with how fast her heart was racing, she thought it prudent to avoid anything that could potentially strain it to the point of exploding.

Instead, she focused on her phone. Searching through her gallery. Pictures of Ochako and her trying out a new restaurant together, at the beach, a close-up as Ochako batted the phone away with a laugh…

She had a lot of photos of Ochako.

The one she chose ended up being them at a cafe, showing off some limited edition sundaes. She got approval from Ochako, and then put the whole post together.

Neither of them said anything as Mina worked through the filters. Mina knew she should be saying something, prattling to fight the weird charged energy in the room, but her heart still hadn’t calmed down.

Although they had wrestled in a friendly way before (sparring with one’s classmates and coworkers was a great way to keep sharp), doing it in Ochako’s bed after kissing kind of made it…

Well, it gave it a sort of mood. One that could be easily misinterpreted. Mina wasn’t trying to lead Ochako on! Teasing her was just fun, and things had happened so naturally, and their interactions just bounced in a way that made her want to respond in kind.

“Okay!” Mina declared. “Final check, does this look alright?”

Ochako took the phone from Mina to look, and their fingers didn’t brush at all. She looked at it for less than a minute, mostly swiping through the few pictures Mina had selected and edited, before handing it back to Mina. “Sure.”

Mina hit “post”, and left Ochako’s apartment.

She decided they should keep their dates to public places. Behind closed doors, things got a little too blurry for her tastes.

Chapter Text

With how many UA alumni there were at the bar, it was practically a UA reunion. Mina was happy to be there, squeezed in the corner of a booth with Satou and Tokoyami to one side and Shouto directly across from her, also being squished by their fellow classmates.

Her happiness only increased when the conversation had turned to her favorite subject: Love!

“I’ve never dated anyone,” Shouto admitted, staring at his glass.

The others were distracted, but Mina heard his words and gasped. “Never?”

He shook his head, allowing that soft-looking hair to shift across his forehead, brushing the large burn scar on one eye. The asymmetry worked on him—gave him a striking charm that made anyone and everyone want to stare at his face and the noble lines of its features.

Shouto was hot, okay? Even Mina could admit that. “That’s hard to believe with how many love letters you got in high school.”

His locker turned into a love letter spawning ground at the start of each school year as underclassmen fell under his spell, though it tapered off by the end of the first semester each time as his blunt personality and disengagement with the confessions discouraged admirers from going any further.

He shrugged. “I didn’t really know any of those people, so it didn’t make sense to date them.”

If Mina had been getting that many love letters, she would have had all her admirers stand in a row so she could pluck the hottest from the lineup. Shouto was denser in this department than her, though.

“Maybe they didn’t work out, but would you want to date someone else?” Mina asked.

He tilted his head, considering. “Maybe? I guess I’ve wondered what it would be like.”

Mina leaned forward, and whispered conspiratorially. “Hey… what if we dated?”

His eyes locked onto hers, and his lips parted. He frowned down at his glass, then took a large gulp. When he set his glass back down, he met her eyes again with more determination. “Should we?”

She grinned. He was hot, and they were friends, and even if they were starting from more-or-less curiosity, maybe if they explored things he could turn out to be her dream husband. Not to mention she could already see the headlines that would result from them walking arm-in-arm. She’d like to be photographed beside him. 

“Let’s do it.”

Mina leaned against the wall of a building outside the zoo, chewing her bubblegum. She was dressed casually, tapping through various social media on her phone.

So far, the response to her “coming out” with her “relationship” with Ochako was mostly positive. There were certainly some critical comments, most of which she deleted when they were on the posts she controlled. Pinky-X-Uravity-5-Ever was having a field day and had posted an average of two videos a day for the past four days since the announcement went up. 

An email from her merchandise contact popped up on her notifications, but after a peek she swiped it away. All seemed to be going well in that department.

Someone stepped in front of her, and she smiled on instinct as she lifted her head.

Shouto.

Her smile dimmed at the realization that it wasn’t Ochako, but she kept her lips upturned. “Shouto!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m meeting Izuku for a date,” he said. “And you?”

“Waiting for Ochako.” She grinned devilishly. “Also for a date.”

She waited for him to say something to that. In her negotiations with Ochako, they’d discussed whether they would tell their friends the truth, and decided it would be up to individual discretion. They were certainly friendly with their old UA classmates, and there had been a time when Mina had been quite a bit more than “friendly” with Shouto, but nowadays he was hardly her first choice to confide in. If Ochako had chosen to tell him, though, Mina would wait to hear a cue that he knew the truth.

“Congratulations, by the way,” he said. “It’s about time.”

Mina kept her smile perfectly pasted. Chewed on her bubblegum. Considered his words. Leaned in just a few centimeters. “...About time?”

He nodded. “Izuku thought it was going to take longer, but I thought after that scare you had with the building collapsing on you, and Ochako dragging you out, the adrenaline from the moment would have triggered a realization of latent feelings.”

Her face was serene. Perfectly serene. Not a single crack… right? “Latent feelings?”

“Yes. Izuku has done the analysis—in the alumni group chat, you always heart-react to any message Ochako sends, and frequently are the first to reply.”

“I heart react to everyone.”

“Yes, but the rate of hearts is different for Ochako. He has a whole algorithm he developed with data from the group chat. This relationship of yours has been very gratifying for him, as it’s evidence that such a stark statistical difference in reactions legitimately indicates a potential crush or relationship developing. When Izuku gets here, he can describe it in more detail–”

“That won’t be necessary!” Mina exclaimed, dreading the thought of Ochako arriving as well and getting a front-seat to this easily misinterpretable data. “We’re together now, so it’s kinda a moot point, anyway.”

He tilted his head, then shrugged. “I suppose. What’s important is that you realized sooner than Izuku expected, meaning for once I was correct in my assessment. He was convinced you were going to be dense and ignore your feelings unless you got a direct confession or something.”

Though it was valuable for her cover, Mina couldn’t bear to let this go completely uncorrected. “Kinda odd that you apparently guessed it before I even came out. Like, come on, we literally dated. You had direct evidence of my straightness–”

“Actually, that was some of the key evidence for our case.”

Mina took a deep breath. She was doing her very best to not stop smiling, to not drop the facade in any way that would give him new curious nuggets to investigate, but Shouto was trying her. “Sorry? Did I seem that bad during our relationship?”

Mina personally thought that although she ended up not considering husband material, their six months together was quite pleasant. However, he put his hand on his chin, properly considering the question, and his seriousness only made her more embarrassed. She would rather he treated it like a joke. 

“You didn’t seem bad, exactly. I remember you being happy with me, and I was happy with you, but… there was always something like a block, I think. We never got deeper than the surface. We did stuff together, but I always got the impression that you just wanted to do stuff, and not specifically that it had to be with me.”

He glanced sideways at her, as though gauging her reaction, but she was doing her best roleplaying a woman having a perfectly normal and not-insulting conversation.

“Sorry,” he muttered, as though he had sensed the tension in her shoulders. “I don’t mean to be rude. The truth is, I see it that way because I also felt that way. When we got together, I was… I was trying to catch up on things I thought I had missed out on while focusing on her work. I thought dating would broaden my horizons, and it did, but the truth was… I would have dated just about anyone who suggested it that night.”

She nearly choked on her gum. “Anyone?”

“Well, any friend.”

The truth was clear to her now: Shouto was projecting his own feelings during their relationship onto her. He had been gay and not feeling it, and so he imagined she had been the same, and thus was making these inaccurate assumptions. With the true source of the misconception found, she felt secure in maneuvering the conversation towards him so he would stop saying such silly things about her. “And if Izuku had asked that night?”

Finally, Shouto showed a modicum of embarrassment, lips going thin as the tip of one ear frosted to keep him cool. “Well. I may have figured out some things sooner.”

At that moment, someone ahead of them waved, and as they approached it became clear it was Izuku, smiling wide.

“Hey, Mina! Crazy seeing you here. Are you…?”

“Waiting for my date, yes,” she responded. “Your boyfriend was kind enough to keep me company.”

Saying ‘your boyfriend’ used to make Izuku turn red as a tomato, but he had acclimated enough by now that he just laughed and reached out a hand, naturally grabbing onto Shouto’s arm. “What were you talking about?”

Shouto started, “About Mina finally realizing–”

“We reminisced,” Mina interrupted, then redirected: “Shouto thinks if he had dated you instead of me way back when, then he would have realized things sooner.”

That detail fully captured Izuku’s attention, and as he squeezed Shouto’s arm it was clear his head was full of his relationship and thankfully completely distracted from Mina’s. Having Shouto psychoanalyze her was bad enough, but if Izuku got on her case and started pulling out notebooks with the full stats on exactly how quickly she responded to Ochako’s texts versus others, then she would end up in a minefield where any wrong move might reveal the fake nature of her relationship.

“Seeing you date Mina made me realize things too, though,” Izuku muttered.

She giggled at their lovestruck mooning. Though Shouto hadn’t turned out to be the husband of her dreams, she had been his cupid and, however indirectly, helped him get together with Izuku.

Ochako appeared then, jogging towards them. “Sorry I’m late!”

Mina followed Izuku’s lead and slid her arm into Ochako’s as well. She would not be outdone by them. “Double-date?” she offered.

Mina and Ochako were winning in the public displays of affection contest.

When Izuku and Shouto held hands, Mina put an arm over Ochako’s shoulder to bring her closer. When Shouto leaned his head on Izuku’s shoulder, Mina gave Ochako a kiss on the cheek. When Izuku bought Shouto a polar bear keychain, Mina bought Ochako a bunny plushie.

She was so distracted in her secret competitive game that she only realized the date was ending when Izuku said, “Ah, there’s the exit.”

Suddenly, she realized she hadn’t taken a single photo of herself and Ochako this whole time. 

“Wait!” She declared, “Don’t you want to take some pics before we leave?”

Ochako stiffened at the reminder that they had to go through the trouble to create more evidence for their fake dating scheme, but fortunately Shouto and Izuku were both focused on Mina. Izuku clapped his hands together. “Great idea, Mina.”

They started with a group photo, Shouto stretching a long arm to catch all of them in a selfie, and then Mina suggested couple pics.

Izuku and Shouto went first, with Mina holding a phone camera. They first took a photo of themselves just side-by-side, arms around each other’s waists. Then Mina had a devilish idea. “Now a kiss!” she told them.

Though she had been hoping to elicit one of Izuku’s tomato-blushes, the two men just laughed, and with an easy, practiced motion, they turned towards each other and tilted just so, creating a picture perfect kiss.

It was so easy, both of them at perfect ease, that the thought of Mina and Ochako trying to appear so experienced made Mina sweat.

“Did you get it?” Izuku asked as they parted.

She snapped back into focus. Right. She hadn’t even tried to click the shutter button. “Uh, no, sorry! One more time…”

They moved just as naturally as before, but this time Mina properly took the picture.

Izuku said, “Your turn!”

They rotated, Izuku taking up a phone camera with a serious pose, squinting to get the perfect angle as Mina and Ochako stood next to each other. They held up their interlaced fingers and towards each other with a smile to the camera. It was a warm day, and Mina hoped Ochako would take that as the reason her palms were wet with sweat.

Then was the moment of reckoning. 

“Now kiss,” Shouto said in a deadpan that made Ochako laugh.

Mina swallowed hard, doing her best to keep smiling and taking deep, normal breaths. It was just a kiss. They had kissed a bunch at Ochako’s apartment! This was just like that.

They turned towards each other, Ochako’s eyes already starting to slide closed. Those soft lips were ready, starting to pucker slightly in anticipation, and Mina’s thoughts slammed at rapid fire pace.

Will we look as good as Shouto and Izuku? Will we look natural? I didn’t wear my flavored chapstick today. What if I mess it up and they can tell we don’t kiss all the time? Should I grab her to pull her close? No, it’s too late for that. She’s about to kiss me. I’m about to kiss her. I can totally do it, can’t I? Just like the bedroom. Normal-style. Friends kiss each other all the time, I don’t have to be nervous. But our practice kiss was awhile ago, and it’s a new day now, and we’re in public, and maybe I’ve forgotten how to do it…

Mina turned away at the last moment, allowing Ochako to just kiss her cheek. She kept smiling through it, though, so when she checked the picture, it looked like an intentional, affectionate cheek kiss. That was okay, right?

Izuku and Shouto didn’t say anything, at least. They parted amicably with them after exiting the zoo, without any sort of accusations of their whole relationship being fake.

Afterwards, Ochako and Mina walked together, hand-in-hand, to the train station. For several minutes, they were quiet. Which was weird; Mina loved to talk, but her head was a tangle, and although holding onto Ochako was relieving, she kept running over that moment with the photo and wondering if she should have done something different.

Finally, Ochako asked, “You didn’t want to kiss me?”

She stiffened. “It wasn’t like that!”

Mina glanced around, realizing how bad this conversation could sound to any eavesdroppers. She darted into the first alleyway she saw, dragging Ochako along with her for a modicum of privacy.

“I was just worried,” Mina clarified, keeping an eye on the entrance of the alley.

“About kissing me?”

“About making it look, like, natural. You saw how smooth Izuku and Shouto were? I remember when Izuku used to get all red from just the mention of a kiss, and now he can smack on a guy’s lips without a hint of embarrassment, and then I was like ‘wait, I don’t know if I can make it look that experienced’ and so I…” Mina sighed, and admitted, “I chickened out.”

Ochako squeezed her hand. “That’s kind of a relief to hear.”

Mina looked at her, eyes wide. “It is?”

“I was kinda worried I was the only one who would be nervous about this, but seeing someone as confident as you get flustered is… nice.”

Mina faltered at the idea of her reacting like a blushing maiden. Over Ochako? Over her friend?  “I’m not like… flustered. I just realized that we…” 

Every explanation sounded like her getting all embarrassed over a mere kiss with a woman, until she figured it out.

“We haven’t practiced enough!” she declared.

Ochako’s head snapped towards her. “...We haven’t?”

Mina considered the remedy. Going directly to Ochako’s place, shoving her onto the couch, and indulging in the intense makeout Ochako had shown her, over and over again, until she was so bloated on the taste of her lips that a peck in public felt like nothing at all.

No, Mina could tell from the flush already crawling up her neck that going somewhere private with Ochako wasn’t a wise course of action. Getting all sweaty with Ochako like that would just be embarrassing, especially since they had already tried making out, and it hadn’t helped in this key moment. No, the real issue…

“We need to practice in public,” Mina told her.

Ochako raised an eyebrow. “...Are you an exhibitionist?”

“No it’s just like, the circumstances are different. Kissing you in your apartment when we’re safely alone is totally different from kissing you somewhere new where people can see us. It wasn’t proper practice for what we’re actually going to do here.”

Though Ochako didn’t look particularly convinced, she was polite enough to engage with Mina’s theory. “So… you wanna kiss now?”

Mina swallowed hard. “Now?”

She shrugged. “An alley is semi-public, isn’t it? Anyone could look in, but it’s also a little private. We could practice here as an in-between.”

Ochako’s eyes darted down to Mina’s lips, and Mina found herself looking at Ochako’s lips again as well. “That’s… a good idea,” Mina admitted.

Instead of Ochako shoving her against the wall to make out with her, Ochako just stared at her. Mina waited, licking her lips in case they were dry.

Eventually, Ochako said, “You should kiss me.”

“I should?”

“Well I was ready and willing. You’re the one who chickened out just then.”

Mina pouted. “That was just one time…”

“Prove it.”

Goaded, Mina was able to set aside her nerves long enough to prove that she was totally chill and capable of kissing a woman without being a mess about it.

She grabbed Ochako by the shoulders to brace herself, then shoved her mouth against Ochako’s.

“Ow!”

Their teeth had clacked, practically ringing through Mina’s skull.

“Take it slow,” Ochako murmured.

“I know that,” Mina snapped.

Because she did know that. She had kissed plenty before! If Shouto had asked her to kiss him for a zoo photo, she would have had no problem! But it was this fake relationship that had her overthinking every single move in a way she never had with her boyfriends. Now every interaction was fraught with these crazy nerves and concerns she’d never had before.

Mina tried again, slower. Pressing their lips gently together. She held it for one full second, then drew back.

Ochako opened her eyes, grinning. Mina was still holding onto her shoulders.

“Well?” Ochako asked. 

“We should try a few times, to be sure.”

So Mina kept her grip on Ochako, peppering her with little kisses. Slowly, she steadied. Her pulse calmed down. It was just a pressing of lips, it wasn’t a big deal.

“You should move towards me, too,” Mina told her. “We can’t just practice me kissing you, we need to be ready for the reverse.”

Ochako grabbed her cheeks and pulled her into a kiss.

Thank goodness they were practicing, because the way Mina’s heart swooped told her she would need to acclimate herself to this as well—the way Ochako’s touch and the impression of her need when she tugged her closer made Mina want to squirm and gasp into her. She had to stay cool, had to keep control and not like, freak out over this.

Like Mina, Ochako peppered her with kisses, and Mina tried to respond so they were both moving towards each other. There was an occasional awkward mark, one moving too far left or right, but by the end they were moving in sync, aware where each tended to lean and aim with each kiss.

Then Ochako lingered, lips wet and warm against Mina’s, and Mina found her own lips parting, curious, wanting…

Ochako drew back first. “Do you think that’s enough? To be confident kissing in public?”

Mina blinked. Snapped her mouth shut. Nodded.

She glanced to the alleyway opening. Nobody seemed to be watching them, but there were people passing by. Maybe someone saw.

Mina took a deep breath. “Thanks. For that. I think it’ll be easy-peasy next time!”

Ochako laughed, and Mina looked at the way her lips spread with a smile, and she thought about the fact that she had gotten to have those lips, and she’d get to kiss them even more going forward…

She turned away. Was it homophobic to find kissing women uncomfortable? Because that’s how Mina felt—like she was on a highwire desperately trying not to plummet to the ground. Every action and reaction felt like life or death, and Mina was obsessing over details that she’d never paid attention to in her previous relationships.

She might not be into women, but she couldn’t imagine hating them either. Like, it’s not like they were that different from men, so kissing them shouldn’t feel so different. The fakeness of it must have her on edge.

Mina decided that from now on: No more practice kissing. They had done enough, she was as comfortable as she was going to get, and she would just have to handle whatever they had to do next in public.

Chapter Text

“You should kiss me,” Mina said.

Eijirou looked up from the shounen magazine he’d been flipping through on his bed. “Huh? Like, right now?”

“No, not right now! The mood isn’t right.”

They were in Eijirou’s dorm room. Mina had found a chair between all the various weights and had been attempting to do some homework, but she’d quickly grown bored. Based on the magazine Eijirou had placed on top of his notebooks, she figured he’d lost his focus too.

Internally, she apologized to Momo, who had suggested they have a “homework date” to improve their grades. Worth a shot, but neither of them was gonna hold the other accountable.

“The mood?” he might as well have been struggling through their math assignment with how perplexed he looked.

“Yeah, like the whole vibe! It’s gonna be your first kiss too, right?”

He nodded.

“So we gotta make it special. Like after a nice date. Or after we bare our hearts to each other.”

He chuckled. “I think we kinda already did that.”

They both liked to put up a cheery front for the rest of the class, but with each other, walls had come down. Being with someone who’d known you since middle school made it a little easier to admit that you were a mess, that you weren’t okay, and they had vented and cried to each other more than half a dozen times by now.

It’s why she had chosen him to be her boyfriend. He was the guy here at UA she’d known the longest, and they understood each other.

“Well maybe you could scatter rose petals and candles in my room. Or something,” Mina suggested.

He frowned. “That seems difficult to clean up. And a fire hazard?”

She huffed. “You read too much of those battle manga. You oughta check out some of my romance shoujo manga sometimes, then you’d understand what I mean by a mood.”

He shifted, evading her gaze. “Sorry I’m not… not really a romantic.”

It was hard to be mad when he looked like a kicked puppy. She sighed. “No, I knew that. I shouldn’t have expected so much of you.”

“Hey, no! Being a good boyfriend is manly, so I wanna try for you, at least! Maybe… I could just get you some roses? Like a normal bouquet or something.”

Mina laughed, “Don’t ask me, just go out and get them.”

“Well I wanted to be sure…”

“Yes, I would accept a bouquet of roses from you. And after that, with the roses between us, we could kiss.”

He didn’t say anything for several seconds. Doubt crept into Mina’s spine. She and Eijirou talked about everything, and were chatty to a fault. He didn’t go quiet like this often.

“Or…” she started, “...do you not want to kiss me?”

He sat up straight. “I didn’t say that! I’m not trying to say that, it’s just more like, uh, like, you know, we’re still so young…”

“We’re seventeen. Lots of couples have had sex at this age.”

“Okay but we’ve only been dating like, a month!”

“Three weeks and five days, technically.”

“I just don’t want to rush this!”

“Well then when will we finally kiss?” Mina stood up from her chair. “Are you gonna wait until the day we get married?”

His face blanched. 

That stung. Here she was, getting all excited about having a boyfriend, daydreaming about walking down the aisle to him in fancy clothees, and here he was looking sick at the thought.

Mina got up, eyes stinging. “Never mind.”

She started for the door, but just as she reached out to open it, there was a tug at her other wrist.

Turning back, she saw Eijirou holding onto her, lips wobbling. “Mina, I…”

She sucked in a breath. Maybe he would kiss her? Did she look okay? She hoped her eyes weren’t rimmed red. But she’d seen boys kiss girls during a fight in movies and stuff. It could be just like that; he would pull her close, and maybe that’d be kind of romantic?

But he stayed steady, holding onto her, but not drawing her closer. He said, “I’m like, trying not to freak out. All the guys have been teasing me about it, you know, asking about how far we’ve gone and stuff, and it feels… I don’t know, it feels rude to think of you like that. You’re one of my best friends, so I don't want to turn you into just a girlfriend.”

Mina turned to face him fully. “I want to be your girlfriend, though. A girlfriend can be like, just as deep as your friendships. I’m still the same person.”

“I know, I know, it just feels… there’s a lot of pressure. I’m the man, I’m supposed to like, do stuff to you, but it feels wrong.”

She breathed out. He was just nervous. She took a step closer. “That’s okay, I want you to do stuff. You don’t have to hold back.”

Instead of drawing her into a kiss, like in the movies, he just kept that pensive expression and nodded. “I know that, like in my head, I know that, but translating it into an action is still… a lot.”

She shifted her hand, sliding to take his hand in hers. At the very least, they had become adept at holding hands. This was an anchor, a safe activity for them so far. His shoulders loosened as she squeezed his palm.

“We don’t have to rush,” she said, “but think about our first kiss, okay?”

He took in a deep breath. “Yeah. I’ll try, Mina. I’ll try.”

It was midnight gym time.

Every now and again, Mina wanted to hang out with Eijirou, and the easiest way to guarantee his full attention was to go to the 24/7 pro-hero gym he frequented around midnight. He’d explained it to Mina as an ideal time because nearly nobody else was there, so he didn’t have to wait for any of the machines or weights. 

After nearly three months of “dating” Ochako, Mina was acclimated to pretending romantic intimacy with her, but that laser focus had made her neglect some of her other friendships. So here she was in her sports bra and leggings, waving to Eijirou as she entered.

“Yes! You can spot me tonight!” Eijirou exclaimed, pumping a fist.

She laughed. “I missed you too.”

They hugged, then parted and got started with a warm up on treadmills. They exchanged pleasantries, and then Eijirou got to the inevitable topic.

“I see you and Ochako are dating,” he said with a smirk. “What, were we co-bearding in high school?”

She shook her head.”It’s fake.”

He frowned. “What’s fake?”

“The whole relationship. I’m straight, Eijirou.”

He stumbled, almost getting flung off the treadmill. He set his pace slower. “Hey, hold up, what do you mean?”

She and Ochako had set a policy that they could share the truth with whoever they wanted. Mina tried to keep things locked down, but this was the kind of gossip she was dying to confess to someone. And who better to admit to than Eijirou, her good friend and ex-boyfriend who understood just how straight she was from the fact that he’d realized that he couldn’t give her what she wanted back then?

“Do you remember that clip of me that went viral a few months ago? That made everyone say I was homophobic?”

He scrunched his nose, thinking. “Uh… vaguely? Maybe? I was more blown away by your dating announcement…”

“Exactly. When I got all that homophobia slander, I knew I had to shut it down quick, and what better way to shut it down than to come out?”

“You know there’s a thing called apology videos?”

“But those can be so tricky, and people dissect them or act like it’s not enough or whatever! I wanted to do something that would make it impossible for someone to accuse me of hating gay people without looking like a dick. So I talked to Ochako, since she’s bi and all, and she agreed to pretend to date me for awhile.”

Eijirou fully stopped the treadmill. “And you’re… still straight?”

She bristled, and slowed down her pace to a brisk march. “Well, obviously. You, of all people, should know that.”

He sighed. “We were kids, Mina, neither of us knew what we really wanted.”

“You didn’t know, but I did. That’s why we broke up, remember?”

“We broke up because I had a wet dream about Katsuki and realized I never felt that way about you, but that doesn’t mean you felt that way about me.”

She pursed her lips. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He sighed again, leaning on the treadmill bar. “Look, I’m not trying to tell you how you felt or whatever, but like… that whole time with us, you were always talking about what we should be doing like we were characters in one of your romances. Like, the way you approached me was totally different from the way Katsuki approached me when he had feelings for me.”

“Of course I’m not going to court like ol’ shove-em-against-a-wall, ask-questions-later Bakugou Katsuki! I have class. That’s hardly damning.”

“But then there’s also when you dated Shouto, you used to talk about him like… like an accessory to show off, not like someone you were actually interested in getting intimate with, or whatever. And when I saw you with Ochako on the news, it was like something finally clicked, you know? Why we both gravitated towards each other, and—”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mina snapped. “You don’t know me better than I know me.”

His lips drew into a tight line, holding back. Finally, he turned back to the treadmill, turning the pace up as high as it could go.

Mina did the same, and the two of them sweat out their anger.

They were calmer after some weights as well. They paused for a water break, and Eijirou began their conversation anew.

“Seriously, though, if you’re really straight…”

She resented that if.

“...isn’t that even worse?”

“What? In what way?”

“Like, Mina, you’re pretending to be gay to avoid the consequences of saying something shitty. This is like, twenty times worse than just apologizing or whatnot. You’re taking advantage of the gay community. If this got out, can you imagine what people would—”

Her blood pressure rose fast. “It won’t come out. Ochako and I have practiced, we’re careful.”

He paused, glancing sideways at her. “You’ve practiced?”

The inquisitiveness of his gaze made her clam up. She shrugged noncommittally, hoping to brush past it. “We should get back to our weights.”

Eijirou didn’t allow it, though. He grabbed her wrist as she tried to escape. “Practice in what way?”

“Just like, you know, kissing. For the cameras and stuff. It’s not a big deal.”

“You really needed to practice it?”

“Uh, yes? We wanted it to look natural for the cameras, so we had to get used to it.”

“And how much practice, exactly, have you been doing?”

“...Just a bit, at the beginning.”

“How much is a bit?”

She jerked her wrist away from him, forcing him to drop it. “What is your problem? A normal amount. Lay off.”

A single eyebrow raised. “So you’ve been making out with Ochako?”

“No!” She paused. “...Mostly.”

“So you have!”

“Only by accident!”

“How does someone make out by accident?”

She hated this line of questioning. “That is Ochako and my business, and not yours.”

“And Ochako is… okay with all of this?”

“Obviously. She wouldn’t do it otherwise. Regardless of what you think of my genius plot, she totally approves and is on board.”

Eijirou was frowning at her again, so she turned away and marched to the free weights. They were here to exercise, weren’t they? Not to interrogate.

He didn’t get the memo, though. He followed her, and although he picked up some weights as well, he kept talking. “Are you certain she’s okay with it?”

“Duh, otherwise she wouldn’t be working with me.”

“It’s just… even though you’re straight, she’s bi, right? If you guys are getting all close, don’t you think she’s gonna feel… that she could develop feelings?”

Mina dropped a weight, and although the floor was padded, it bounced with a loud thud. She pointed an accusatory finger at Eijirou. “You think just ‘cause she’s bi she’ll fall for anyone she kisses? She’s not gonna fall in love with me!”

If Ochako were, it would have been long ago. When they were teenagers having sleepovers, curled close under the covers. Or when Ochako had come out and started dealing with those feelings for girls. Or after Ochako had rescued her from that wreck, and Mina had woken up from one of the worst disasters she’d dealt with in years, snapping her eyes open in panic, only to see Ochako looming over her, and had all her muscles relax in blissful relief. If she’s here, it’ll be okay, Mina had thought.

Were there any time to fall in love, it would have been then, but Ochako had watched over her and waited by her hospital bed as a friend. There was no confession, no lovestruck declarations, and they left that hospital as the friends they always were. Close, sure, and Mina had realized how much she trusted Ochako, but they weren’t in love or anything as intense as that. Just good friends. Best friends, maybe.

Eijirou sighed. “I’m just saying, the stakes might be different between the two of you. She’s at risk of catching feelings where you’re apparently not, and if all of this got out her own community might get pissed at her. And if this whole relationship is fake, then what happens if Ochako actually wants to date someone else?”

The thought made Mina’s lips curl down. “She… isn’t interested in anyone right now.”

“Are you sure?”

She bent over, using the excuse of picking up her lost weight as an excuse to avoid his eyes. 

Because she wasn’t sure. Mina, who loved talk of crushes and love, had not asked Ochako anything about it in months. It just didn’t feel… necessary. Last time she had asked, Ochako hadn’t been interested in anyone. Hopefully that was still true.

Eijirou said, “Look, I’ll drop it, because it’s clear we’re not gonna agree on this, but… for what it’s worth, I think you ought to check in with Ochako. Make sure she’s really okay with it. If you’re a real ally or whatever, you better not hurt her along the way.”

She didn’t respond.

Ochako and Mina were shuffled into the ferris wheel capsule, and the door was closed behind them.

This amusement park date had been great so far. They’d taken at least a dozen pictures of each other, of their food, and now it was the end of the day. Inside the ferris wheel, they could take a final picture of a romantic kiss, the sunset casting a perfect glow on the two of them.

It should have been perfect, easy as their other dates had been. Since the zoo, Mina had gotten better at being normal when they kissed. She usually got a little worked up, but didn’t show it. It was all just for the cameras, after all.

But Eijirou’s words kept swirling through Mina’s head. Was Ochako really okay with this? Mina wanted to ask her, but felt weird asking about it in a public food court at this park. Since they started dating, Mina had avoided seeing Ochako alone. They used to have movie nights, sleepovers, and other hang outs where Mina could have spoken privately about this sort of thing, but with the new energy between them… the thought of being alone with Ochako, with no cameras or witnesses, made her feel weird.

The ferris wheel moved, capsule by capsule, filling each one up methodically. Ochako was looking outside, anticipating the view. The crown of her head was already glowing red from the sun slipping beneath a mountain.

Ochako turned towards her, smiling, and Mina’s mouth went dry.

She started to say something, but Mina had to interrupt, “Do you want to stop dating?”

Her smile dropped. “Huh?”

Mina looked outwards. The ferris wheel was moving in earnest now, clunking along as they slowly headed towards the apex, and from here they could see warm colors of light reflecting off a nearby body of water.

Her mouth went faster than her brain, prattling. “I pressured you into this, and like didn’t totally think through the kinda burden it might be, like you’re stuck with me, so even if you wanted to date someone else, like if you were into someone else, I’d be trapping you with me, and even though we said at least five months, you at first said just three, and so if you want to stop then and be free of all this and pursue whoever you really want, I’m totally down! Like, we can talk about it, can’t we? I don’t wanna put you in a bad spot, you know?”

“Mina.”

They were at the top of the ferris wheel. The entire capsule was filled with the warm glow of the setting sun, but Mina was scared to look at the person across from her.

Ochako palmed her cheek, forcing her to turn towards her. And before Mina could understand anything, Ochako’s lips were on hers.

Mina squeaked, but her eyes closed on instinct. Ochako kept them pressed together, not loosening her grip on Mina. Mina was frozen, heart slamming against her rib cage, confused and thrilled and terrified all at once.

Then a camera shutter clicked.

Ochako pulled back and glanced down at her phone, which she had been holding up with her other hand.

“Turned out well,” Ochako said. “I’ve gotten better at selfies.”

Mina’s breath left her in a long shudder. She had to fight to keep her voice from trembling as she asked, “What…?”

Ochako karate-chopped Mina’s head. “Don’t be an idiot. I’m here because I said I would be, didn’t I? This is fun. Are you not having fun with me?”

“No, no, I am…”

“So stop overthinking it. If I wanna break up early, I’ll say so. We’ve still got a few months left, so let’s make the most of it.”

Mina’s tension lessened just a smidgen. If Ochako felt okay… they could enjoy this together.

At least as long as it lasted.

Chapter Text

Of all the people to run into in Barcelona, in the line for a club…

“Well, well! Looks like Class 3A has finally spread their wings. Of course, I have been here since three days ago, and you have only appeared just now. Bow before my superior experience–”

“I’ve also been here for several days already,” Mina snapped at Monoma. “And since we’ve all graduated, it’s pretty silly to be invoking our classes.”

Hopefully, Mina looked around for Kendou, who usually attenuated the worst of his personality. 

He explained, “I only happen to be alone at the moment because the companion I chose to accompany me on this trip decided to be a spoilsport.”

Though he barked out a casual laugh, there was a tension in his jaw. Mina could relate.

She told him, “My companions also backed out at the last minute.”

This was supposed to be her hot girl summer! She had persuaded Tooru and Tsuyu to come along with her to Barcelona, but then at the last minute Tsuyu’s little sister had gotten into a big accident that made traveling away from her out of the question, and Tooru got pneumonia on the day their flight was supposed to leave.

So Mina went alone, convincing herself she could have a hip and sexy independent self-discovery journey anyway. There had been some solidly good parts. The city was beautiful, and there was fascinating food and sights on every corner.

The city was romantic, and Mina was devastatingly single. She thought she’d bump into some handsome European man who would fall in love with her at first sight, then whisk her away to his perfectly quaint cottage-style apartment to show her a brand new world.

Unfortunately, that dream was a challenge when she could barely even hold a conversation with a stranger. Mina knew no Spanish, and she barely remembered enough English from school to haltingly get through the essential conversations with clerks and asking for directions. 

The clubs Mina had gotten into had been loud enough to avoid verbal conversation, but Mina found herself unexpectedly shy in this foreign country, filled with tall and unfamiliar men who tried to grind against her before she could even see their face. Though she enjoyed dancing, she found herself shoving more men away than pulling them closer, and privately she was relieved none of her friends were around to see how badly she was doing in that department. 

Monoma, despite his usual smugness, gave a commiserating snort. “We know some unreliable people, huh.”

Though her friends hadn’t been able to help it, she found herself agreeing to keep a good mood. “Totally.”

Somehow, the two of them ended up looking after each other. Monoma bought her a drink, she bought him a drink. Then they had another. And another.

While taking a break from the dance floor, Mina sipped at her cosmopolitan and watched, fascinated, as Monoma danced with a man. The man was grinding hard against his backside, and Monoma was leaning back unashamed.

She hadn’t known Monoma swung that way. Not that there was anything wrong with that—Eijirou was still one of her best friends. Still, it shocked her to see him open about it in front of her. Was he out? She had never heard anything about it.

Another man approached, tugging the grinder by the shoulder. The two of them shouted, arms swinging animatedly. They stood close, familiar with each other. Monoma frowned, watching as they seemed to gear up for a fight. He slipped away without a word, catching Mina’s eye and heading to her.

She ordered him a shot of tequila. He downed it gratefully.

Soon they were on the dance floor together.

They didn’t grind—they faced each other as they bounced to the music. When Monoma shut his mouth, he was surprisingly good company. He wasn’t an expert dancer, but he was committed. Unlike the men who played it safe by merely shifting foot to foot, raising a fist to pump if they felt particularly riotous, Monoma rolled his body and swung with a theatrical energy that approached Mina’s.

She respected it. Respected him, in that moment.

More drinks. More dancing. They were drunk enough that standing was a struggle, so their hands ended up on each other. Just shoulders at first to stay steady, but as the night went on, they wandered towards the waist. Their bodies got closer, slotting against each other…

“Hey!” Monoma shouted into her ear, squeezing her side as he got closer. “Wanna be bad?”

This felt like the hot girl summer she had envisioned. Drunk out of her mind, not with a terrifying stranger, but with a guy she vaguely knew, lit up with the adrenaline of the dance floor, getting dangerously close to something that she already knew she was going to regret in the morning.

“Fuck yeah!” she shouted.

Their lips were on each other in an instant.

He was nothing like Eijirou, whose one attempt had been a reticent smacking of lips. Monoma practically swallowed her mouth, and she found the wet sensations hilarious. She laughed as they kissed, but Monoma didn’t seem to mind.

Already, she was composing the text she was going to send to the girl’s group chat. Guess who I just made out with??? Maybe she would wait until she got back to Japan, force them all into a sleepover to confess this crazy story. They were definitely going to cringe, but it was the kind of zany anecdote that would hold their attention and have them asking questions in a curious rush.

Eventually, Mina got bored of the kissing and dragged him outside. 

“I don’t want to go back to my hotel tonight,” he confessed.

“No?”

“I’m sharing the room with a total dick.”

She grinned, imagining an even more exciting Barcelona hookup story. “You better come back with me, then.”

Mina woke up to a splitting headache and something in the room buzzing insistently.

She rolled over, arm slapping another body in her hotel room bed.

She got up instantly, then regretted the movement for how it made her head pound. When she gained the strength to open her eyes, she discovered a blond man beside her, tangled up in the sheets.

Monoma, right.

On the nightstand beside him, his phone was incessantly buzzing. Since he was still dead to the world, she reached over him and picked it up. She saw seven missed calls, and a current Eyebags is calling…

Her eyes widened, and there was a weird drop in her stomach, like when she opened an exam and realized that she’d studied all the wrong topics.

In case it was an emergency, she answered the call. “Hello?”

“Who is this? Where’s Neito?”

Though he didn’t recognize her instantly, she recognized Shinsou’s voice. “It’s Ashido Mina. Monoma is fine.”

“Wha—Ashido? Why do you have his phone? Where is he?”

Monoma shifted with a groan.

“Um, he’s really fine, just hungover. We ran into each other at the club. Don’t worry—”

The phone was abruptly plucked out of her hand. Monoma was awake.

Monoma said, “I’m in her hotel room, not that it matters to you.”

There was noise on the other side Mina had trouble parsing as Monoma got up and bustled around the room, collecting shed clothes and other items.

“Well I’m single, aren’t I? If it pisses you off so much–”

More muffled sounds from the phone.

“You know exactly why, Hitoshi.”

Somehow, Monoma collected all his stuff and left the room without saying a word to Mina, arguing on the phone the whole time.

Mina, lying in bed with her phone probably too close to her face, glared at her TigTog, paused to avoid giving the video extra views. On the screen, familiar blond and purple hair tangled together as their faces practically melded into one, with the background of an alley. More scandalous, though, was the dishevelment of their casual clothes, the placement of their hands, and the way Shinsou’s legs were spread and wrapped around Monoma’s hips.

Pro-heroes Nighthide and Phantom Thief caught in late-night rendezvous, read the caption.

It was the third video she’d seen about it. What was the big deal? They had been dating for years. They weren’t the type to do announcements, but they had taken each other as dates for various galas. Their relationship certainly wasn’t secret. Still, seeing larger-than-life pro-heroes groping each other in a semi-public alley outside a club was apparently sizzling hot news that the pro-hero fandom and tabloids couldn’t get enough of.

He’s not even a good kisser, Mina thought, barely resisting the urge to comment the fact onto the video. Compared to Ochako…

She rolled over, trying to banish that train of thought. This was about Monoma and Shinsou’s ridiculous public display of affection. Monoma was probably soaking up this attention, preening like a bird at the civilians commenting blushing emojis.

Mina shouldn’t care. She hadn’t even thought of Monoma in years, only rarely encountering him at events where they exchanged basic pleasantries or a joke or two until he got annoying enough that she’d excuse herself. Their brief encounter in Barcelona had made for a scintillating story that she had recounted blow-by-blow for all her friends once she got home, and was something she could now reference with a groan like I can’t believe we did that, but neither of them actually grew closer as a result. He had been her entertainment, and she had been his weapon that night. They had used each other, and had no more relationship.

So why was she staring at her phone with a hot ball of jealousy in her gut?

She had never felt that way about him and Shinsou. It wasn’t actually about them, she was pretty sure, it was… everything surrounding them. The glamour, the mystique, the public eyes all honed in on them not for a genuine fuck-up, but for being so head-over-heels for each other that they eschewed all propriety for an evening together.

Mina and Ochako had been in that spotlight briefly at the dawn of their fake relationship, but since they announced it over four months ago, the fervor had died down. The merch sold well initially, especially through June, but sales had since fallen and their co-merchandising efforts were being pulled back with the reduced demand. Even Pinky-X-Uravity-5-Ever hadn’t posted a video in weeks, apparently sated or bored or too busy to dedicate time celebrating a tame, now boring pro-hero couple.

They were coming up on that five-month deadline—just another two weeks before they would break up and go back to living as they had before. That would probably be the next big thing to capture the public’s attention, and then that would fade as well. Things would go back to normal, and this whole ruse would be left as a fun fact on each other’s HeroWiki pages. “Getting together” and “Break up” dates inscribed with less than a sentence about what happened in between, if there was a sentence at all.

Mina was supposed to be planning a graceful end, a perfect and classy announcement that would show everyone neither of them were holding grudges. Every time she sat down to think it up, though, her mind went blank. What could she say she was unhappy with? Why would they break up? When things were going so well?

Once again, she set that aside for future Mina to deal with. They weren’t broken up with yet, so she was allowed to dream up their next date ideas.

After seeing Monoma and Shinsou like that, the thought of going on another cafe date with Ochako to share desserts and hold hands across the table and call each other pet names felt tepid. She zoomed in on Shinsou’s neck, stretched out and showing dark marks she realized were hickeys. They got to embrace and mark each other, while she and Ochako…

Mina turned off the phone and flung it away so it bounced out of reach.

It was that smugass smile of Monoma’s that made her relationship suddenly feel so inadequate. Like she had been nibbling at a snack while an entire meal in front of her rotted away.

She was about to lose Ochako with nothing to show for it. No fun, sexy little scandals or even a hickey to prove they had ever been anything more than friends.

Or like, pretending to be.

Mina forced herself out of bed and picked up her phone. She was tired of moping about this. They were friends, and friends were allowed to ask each other for favors! If Mina wanted a juicy caught-by-the-paparazzi photo in some skeezy alleyway to commemorate this fake relationship and prove it existed for as long as it did, why not ask?

Everything would be over soon, anyway, what was the worst that could come from asking?

Ochako had work today, but Mina knew when she would be off. She texted, Hey, can you come over after work?

Mina changed her sheets, fluffed her pillows, took a shower, and put on a casually loose but temptingly thin T-shirt with a wide collar before Ochako came over. Even if Ochako didn’t find her hot enough to date for real, it couldn’t hurt to turn up her charms a little for the sake of persuading Ochako that such a favor wouldn’t be totally unpleasant.

Ochako brought takeout to share. Even though they hadn’t had a night in together in months, Ochako still remembered her favorite order from the restaurant around the corner.

She waited until after they ate to sit Ochako down to explain the situation.

Mina shoved the phone in her face. “Did you see what Monoma and Shinsou have been up to?”

Ochako squinted at the video. “...I don’t really keep up with that stuff, but that sucks to be caught in the act.”

“No, it rocks,” Mina seethed. “Monoma is probably thrilled everyone is talking about them. He wouldn’t have made out with Shinsou somewhere so public unless he was willing and maybe even hoping to get caught.”

Ochako snorted. “I guess that sounds like him.”

“Which got me thinking about us.”

Ochako stopped breathing, eyes meeting Mina.

“We oughta concoct something similar.”

She breathed out. “...What do you mean?”

“Well we’ve been having all these cute, chaste dates and stuff, but that’s such a nothingburger to the tabloids! Don’t you think it would be fun to be caught being naughty outside a club?”

Ochako swallowed. “Uh, I don’t know about fun…”

Mina pouted. “You had no trouble making out with me before–”

She coughed. “Not the… I mean doing it in like, an alley and stuff.”

“I completely get it! It’s intimidating, and like, I remember our first public kiss had a whole adjustment period, and this is another level. Which is why I invited you over to practice first!”

Ochako stared at her, eyes bouncing briefly downwards before deciding to settle on Mina’s face. Her face was rapidly growing redder, and Mina hoped that meant she was going to be flustered enough to agree this was the most logical path forward without asking too many questions.

“I know it seems like a lot, but hear me out. If we practice now, I bet we can get to a level where we can get all frisky in an alley without feeling too uncomfortable by next weekend. There’s a club that the paparazzi knows pro-heroes like—although that fact has driven away a lot of pro-heroes recently, that makes it an ideal candidate for us to stage a delicious lil scene. Something to give our relationship that little oomph for realism. Like, isn’t it actually kind of unrealistic that we haven’t been caught doing something like that yet? If we’re really invested in making this believable, we basically have to do this…”

Ochako got up from Mina’s couch and began to pace. “You… really think this is necessary?”

Mina shrugged, and when her shoulders lowered, the collar of her shirt slipped to the side. “I mean, if it could help our case, why hold back?

“And you’re certain that you want to… ‘practice’ with me? Right now?”

“Of course!” Mina exclaimed, leaning forward, allowing her shirt collar to fall and separate slightly from her chest. “It would be fun! Unless you don’t want to?”

Ochako looked at her, then looked away. Then looked back. Closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Finally, Ochako slapped her own cheeks, as though hyping herself up. “Okay!”

Mina’s back straightened. “Okay?”

Ochako nodded. “Okay.”

Mina and Ochako sat down beside each other on the edge of Mina’s bed. Somewhere comfortable, at least to start, Mina had explained. They could practice Ochako pinning her against a wall later.

She shifted, feeling awkward in the face of the impending makeout. How did one initiate something like this, again? She’d gotten comfortable with kissing Ochako without turning into a mess of nerves every time, but once again she found her heart pounding and her palms sweaty at the prospect of getting even closer to her than before.

Ochako put her hand on Mina’s. “Are you sure…?”

Mina took a deep breath. She was hot and sexy and could totally handle some platonic making out without getting all jittery about it!

She got up and planted herself on Ochako’s lap, facing her. She stretched her arms forward and over Ochako’s neck, anchoring her. Like this, there would be no question that she was ready to get to business. “Totally!” she assured Ochako.

Ochako’s hand went to Mina’s waist, and a shiver went up her spine. Thank goodness she was sitting down, or she might have lost balance.

“Look,” Ochako said, “I’m not really an expert when it comes to scandals, and I don’t totally get why you’re so bent on making us into one, but… if you really want this–”

“I do!” Mina lightly bounced in her lap.

Ochako’s grip went tight, making Mina jerk involuntarily. “For real though, I don’t know how far you want to go with this whole scandal thing. Like, just kissing? Or would you… would you want us to like, have our hands in… or like, under our clothing…”

As Ochako began to ramble, her fingers made nervous motions against Mina’s sides that had her eyes fluttering.

“...There’s a lot of potential boundaries, is what I’m saying. And like, when we first started, I didn’t know how far to go, and so I kind of went too hard, and I drew back when you asked, of course. But the further we go, the more I’m afraid we might reach a point…”

Why was Mina feeling so high-strung? Like every movement was lighting her on fire? It wasn’t like this with Monoma, who she stumbled with in a mindless, curious sort of way. Maybe it was the sobriety.

“...where you might get uncomfortable, or regret this, and I don’t wanna hurt you, so could you describe what, exactly, you wanna do?”

Mina didn’t know.

All she knew was that she was too hot under her clothes, and Ochako’s worried expression as she looked up at her made her stomach flip like a pancake, and suddenly she wished she’d searched up How do two women have sex? online beforehand because she was abruptly curious what Ochako would consider too far.

She leaned in to Ochako, bringing their faces so close their breaths could be shared.

“How about this,” she said, “you just… do whatever you want, and I’ll say when to stop, okay?”

Ochako breathed out. Her grip steadied again, and she looked serious. “You promise you’ll tell me when you want to stop?”

Mina nodded. “I promise.”

Their lips met, hesitating. This was familiar, but then they shifted. Sucking, sliding, searching for each other’s weaknesses. There was a light brush of teeth against Mina’s lower lip, and her body shuddered, pressing closer to Ochako.

Things moved quickly, like a candle catching a curtain and going up in flames. Ochako was tugging her closer, hands on her body, grabbing and stroking anywhere, when Mina tugged Ochako’s hair and pulled her mouth away to take in some gasping breaths, begging for air in the humid space between them.

With Ochako’s mouth free though, she reoriented to plant those lips against the base of Mina’s neck, and sucked, and oh. Mina didn’t know she could let out a whine quite like that.

The subsequent rocking was instinctual, just Mina trying to get closer to who was making her feel so good, but it set Ochako into a frenzy. Soon Mina was lifted and thrown onto the bed, and she was trapped as Ochako crawled on top of her. Mina’s shirt rode up, and all she could think was that her bared stomach would feel so very good with Ochako’s hands on it.

Ochako looked down at her, gulping in air. Ochako’s hair had gotten mussed. Had Mina done that? Had Mina caused that intense flush?

Somehow, Ochako was still looking at her instead of ravishing her. She was waiting for something, a glint of hesitation in her eyes.

Mina grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her down into another searing kiss. Energy renewed, Ochako descended upon her.

Mina never told her to stop.

Mina holds her bouquet tight. It’s almost time.

She’s in a wide, poofy dress. It’s mostly white, but under the skirt are petticoats in a gradient of pinks, which will look brilliant as her dress swishes going down the aisle.

Mina’s veil is a bit dense, but she can see enough in front of her to take each step closer to her goal. Down past the pews, up to front, the very center of everything. Her dream. She finds her place and turns towards her future husband. He grasps the veil and flips it back, allowing her to finally take him in.

The person standing in front of her is wearing a pastel pink suit. It’s sharp, but curved in all the right ways. Mina looks up and…

It’s Ochako.

Ochako, who will put the ring on her finger. Ochako who will kiss her in the way that makes her heart flutter. Ochako who will whisk her away after this on a brilliant honeymoon where they can spend each night like their first night together, touching and tasting and exploring each other like a revelation.

It’s perfect.

Mina bolts upright.

The clock says it’s 4:38 AM. Her heart says it’s time to admit it.

She pats urgently at the other person in bed with her. “Holy shit, Ochako. Ochako.”

Ochako groans, rolling over.

“I’m a lesbian.”

“Yes, dear,” she mumbled.

When Ochako didn’t say anything, Mina shook her shoulder. “No, as in for real. Not like pretend, I think I’m actually a lesbian.”

“Oh.”

It takes her a moment, but Ochako heaves herself upwards.

“Oh! It’s happening. What tipped you off? The gay sex we just had?”

Mina shook her head. “No–”

“No!?”

“–I had a dream…”

Mina described it all to Ochako, that vision of a future husband she had been carrying all those years, and the sudden revelation in the night that really, there wasn’t actually anything stopping that husband from being a wife other than Mina’s preconceived notions from childhood. The realization that all this activity she had been enjoying with her “friend” could actually lead to what she wanted for her future.

“That is, if…” Mina blushed. “...I don’t want to assume just because you were willing to do me a favor that you’d be down to date me for real, but if you give me a chance to at least maybe go on a real date or two, so I can show you–”

Ochako grabbed and kissed her.

“If I hadn’t been interested,” Ochako said, “I wouldn’t have said yes in the first place.”

She flushed anew. “Ah.”

And so they curled into each other, discussing all the things they hadn’t realized or had held back during nearly five months of pretending to date, and times before that too. Moments painted anew with their shared memories and sincere feelings shared.

The sun began to rise, but the two of them stayed under the covers together, whispering and laughing until they fell back into blissful dreams.