41

Chapter Text

Izuku woke up Thursday morning to the chirping of birds. He cracked his eyes open slowly as he rubbed his hands up and down the backs of his lovers. Ochako and Mina both began to stir, nuzzling deeper into him and making adorable noises. "Come on, we have to get up," he whispered. "We gotta get back in time to meet my dad."

Ochako pushed herself up on her elbow and rubbed her eyes with her other hand. "What time is it? Didn't your dad say we had to be back by eight?"

"It's a bit past seven," Izuku answered after checking his phone.

"Seven?!" Ochako woke up a little from her worry. "We'll never make that hike in time!"

Izuku cracked a playful smile. "Who said anything about hiking?"

Mina shot out of his arms. "I'm up!" she yelled, her smile manic. Before Izuku could say anything, she had grabbed his face and planted a firm kiss on his lips, causing his quirk to roar to life with an intensity that was almost painful. She broke the kiss and smiled widely. "Come on, let's go!" She scrambled out of the sleeping bag and began frantically dressing herself for the day.

Ochako couldn't help but giggle as Izuku stared dumbly, a small smile growing on his face. The brunette leaned over and pecked him on the forehead. "I guess we better get goin', huh?"

Izuku nodded and got out of the sleeping bag. He flexed his quirk over most of his body, covering himself in scales as he pulled his clothes off and packed them away. "Can you girls take care of the tent? I have to go do something real quick."

"Sure!" Mina chirped happily as she brushed Ochako's hair. Not everyone was like Mina and Izuku and could rock the 'bedhead' look, after all.

"Thanks," Izuku responded as he unzipped the tent and stepped out into the crisp air of the valley. He stretched himself tall, causing his arms and legs to twitch a little as he warmed them up. Izuku made sure his body was stretched and ready before he started jogging toward the lake again. As he approached, he picked up the pace and pushed more of his quirk through his body.

Izuku felt his fins growing between his fingers and toes as his tail and head stretched out. A clear membrane grew over his eyes as his fangs lengthened, finishing his transformation. Izuku jumped forward and dove into the clear mountain lake, the cold water rushing past him and through his gills.

His quirk pulsed stronger, melting into him as he set his sights on the hunt.

He used to do this all the time when he was younger, but he didn't realize until yesterday that these hunts were his dad teaching him to work with his quirk. Out here in nature, where it was just Izuku and a few other people, he could put everything else out of his mind. There was no villains, no Endeavor, no surprises. There was just him, his quirk, and the hunt.

There were no words spoken by his quirk, because no words needed to be spoken. In this moment, he and his quirk were one once more.

Izuku felt alive.

He rocketed through the waters like a torpedo, his arms, legs and tail all serving to guide and propel him. He looked around and felt for vibrations in the wa— 

There . Motion to his right.

Izuku turned with inhuman speed and shot toward the fish. In a flash, he opened his maw and struck.

There was nothing quite like the rush he got when he finally caught his prey. 

With another powerful kick, he burst through the surface of the lake and with a flick of his head, he tossed the fish into the air, opened his maw, and swallowed his breakfast in a single bite. As he returned to shore, he saw his girlfriends beginning to deconstruct the tent. Truth be told, he felt a little bad leaving the work to them, but he wanted some food in his belly if he was going to fly them back.

"Mina, could you toss me the towel out of my backpack?" he asked as he approached the women.

"Sure!" she responded, reaching into his backpack and underhanding the towel to him. "You know, this was much nicer than our last camping trip."

Izuku looked at her with confusion as he dried his body off.

"When you were in the coma," Ochako explained. "Mina said it was kinda like campin'—"

"But without the tents or fire or lack of running water, yeah!" Mina unhooked the last strap from the tentpole, causing the entire thing to collapse. "But now I have both of you! And you're not in a coma, and we actually had a bed big enough for us…" She began to collapse the poles and stuff them back in their bag. "No offense, Ochako. Cuddling with you on the couch was nice, but it was muuuuch nicer here."

 Ochako giggled. "None taken."

Izuku smiled and shook his head silently as he finished drying off and moved to help the women finish cleaning up the campsite. They finished packing up the tent and reorganizing everything into their backpacks in no time with three pairs of hands helping out. 

He was checking the straps on Mina's backpack when his ears twitched and his instincts flared.

Izuku whipped around, claws instantly forming on his hands as scales flowed up his neck and face.

"Midori, what's—" Mina's question was cut off as she screamed.

Standing on the edge of the camp was a large bear. 

Izuku pushed more of his quirk throughout his body, growing himself to about eight feet tall as he stomped toward the intruder. He grew and unfurled his wings wide, making himself look as large as possible. Poison gas vented from his maw as he reared back and unleashed a deep, earth-shaking roar.

The bear flinched hard and turned around, running out of the camp as fast as he could. 

Izuku kept up his intimidation as he focused on his smell and hearing, making sure the bear was far gone before he finally relaxed. He let out a deep breath as he shrunk back down to his normal size. "Sorry about that." He looked over to see Mina smiling and looking at her phone while Ochako smiled softly. "Uh…?"

Mina put her phone away. "I'm showing that video to the rest of the girls!" 

"Please don't," Izuku pleaded.

Ochako tilted her head slightly. "Why not?"

Izuku sighed as he knelt down to finish securing Mina's backpack. "I don't… want them to see me reacting that way."

Ochako knelt down in front of him, tracing down his face with a few of her fingers. "You just protected us, what's wrong with that?"

"I know that my more… aggressive tendencies unnerve some of them. Mo especially." He ran a hand through his hair. "She was terrified of me at the USJ and when the rest of you explained that you weren't afraid of me, she looked guilty."

Mina moved over to his back and put her arms around him. "You can't help that. I think she knows better now, though." 

Izuku leaned into the contact slightly. "I hope so. I don't want her to be afraid of me."

"Because you liiike her?" Mina teased, pressing herself into his back further.

"I, uh, um—" Izuku sighed. "It's not the only reason, but yeah…" He paused, feeling guilty. "I know that's greedy and terrible of me, you two are already more than enough and—"

Ochako put a finger to his lips. "Shh…"

"It's okay, Midori," Mina cooed in his ear. "We like her, too."

Izuku already knew that, but hearing them say it directly to him made it just that much more real. "B-but I already have both of you, I couldn't—"

"You're so cute when you're loyal," Mina teased.

Izuku blinked. "I'm always loyal! I've never—"

He was interrupted again, this time by Ochako pecking him on the cheek. "And you're always cute."

"Did…" Izuku looked between the women slowly. "Did you plan that?"

Mina giggled. "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies." 

Izuku couldn't help but laugh as well.

"But we have been talking about it. About her ," Mina continued. "And we wanted to ask you about her."

"W-what about her?" Izuku had a very good idea what Mina was getting at, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.

Mina leaned in even closer, her softness sending electricity up and down his body as she whispered into his ear. "About expanding your hoard, my dragon."

"No. No, no, no."

Yes. YES.

Izuku was trying to fight back his quirk, which was bucking against his control. His eyes were flashing erratically as a dull headache began.

"Mina!" Ochako scolded. "You're doin' that on purpose."

"Sorry…" Mina definitely did not sound sorry.

"Deku, what's wrong?" Ochako asked, reaching out to cup his face again. "I know you like Momo. We like Momo. What Mina is meanin' to say is that she's asking for our permission to try and start the process of seeing if Momo wants to join us. That's all." Ochako looked away. "Truth be told, I'm as nervous as you are."

"B-but shouldn't Mo make that decision herself?" Izuku was running out of ways to refute Mina.

"I think she needs the push," Mina explained. "She's not like Tsu, who's just going to join us when she finally feels like it. Momo needs someone to help her realize it's okay to be happy. I'm not going to force her into it or try and manipulate her, I'm just going to show her that the way is open if she wants."

Izuku paled. "Wait, back up. Tsu?" That couldn't be true. 

Yes.

"Izuchan…" Ochako muttered under her breath with a small chuckle.

"Shouldn't your quirk be noticing this stuff?" Mina asked. "You're supposed to be the big, bad manipulator here!"

Izuku flinched a little. "I, uh, well, my quirk says a lot of things about a lot of people. I try to ignore it most of the time when it comes to stuff like that."

"Why?" Ochako asked.

He sighed. "Making friends is fine, but tricking people into being attracted to me or even dating? That's just wrong. You're not just things to be collected like my quirk thinks, you are all living people with hopes and dreams and you deserve so much more than that."

They are mine.

There was a silence before Ochako spoke again. "What about people who like you because of who you are?" 

"Like we do," Mina interjected before Izuku could respond. 

"I… can't accept that," Izuku said finally. "I can barely accept you two. After so many years of being rejected by everyone except for my family and Kacchan's, I still can't believe that some people actually like me for me. You two are the exception, not the rule. I'm happy with you two, I don't need more, I don't deserve more, I don't want more."

His quirk pulsed with indignation.

Mina squeezed him a little harder. "Are you trying to convince us or yourself?"

"Was it that obvious?" Izuku asked softly.

Ochako took Izuku's hands and guided him up slowly, Mina hanging off his back like a cape before she could wrap her legs around his waist. "Deku, I feel the same way. It's like it's too good to be true, right?"

Izuku nodded, looking up into her eyes.

"Again," Mina emphasized, "I'm not going to bend Momo to my will or anything. I'm just checking with you two to see if it's okay for me to look into things and maybe move some stuff along. If it doesn't work out, no harm done, but if it does work out, who are we to deny ourselves happiness?"

Izuku finally relented. "Alright. You can try." 

Mina hugged him tighter and squealed in joy. 

"I wouldn't underestimate her," Ochako warned.

Izuku laughed dryly. "Oh, I know not to underestimate either of you. That's what has me so worried."

Izuku flew his girlfriends back to the entrance of the forest, arriving just a few minutes before his father did. His mother was riding on him this time, eager to greet them with a breakfast she had made for them and brought in a basket. They ate happily and then returned to the dorm on dragon-back, dashing inside to change and shower before heading back outside to walk to the final day of the Sports Festival, where Hadou would be competing.

Izuku's father had purchased another box and Ryuko joined them again, of course, as she wanted to cheer on her star intern. He hoped that his family would go easy on teasing him with Ochako and Mina actually there, but he was woefully mistaken. 

Playing pranks was in Ryuko's nature, by virtue of her instincts, and Hisashi was obligated by international father law to tease Izuku about his girlfriends. They didn't want to embarrass their guests, of course, so both of them settled for teasing Izuku in low whispers that only he could hear, thanks to his quirk. It must have been quite entertaining to them to watch Ochako and Mina's confusion whenever Izuku failed to contain any physical reactions to their jabs. Mina noticed the smile that Ryuko wasn't trying very hard to hide every time Izuku would blush seemingly randomly, so he was pretty sure she had an idea of what was going on.

Izuku even thought he caught Ryuko winking at Mina once.

The festival was… on another level. While Izuku and Shouto had certainly had dramatic shows of power, not to mention Katsuki, Ochako, and many other of his classmates… but it all paled in comparison to what the seniors of UA could do. After watching the skill and strength of the upperclassmen, it put into perspective just how far Izuku had to go.

He had more raw power than some of them—or rather, he would once he got his transformation under control—and Shouto was more powerful than many of them, but Izuku would put every one of his classmates at a disadvantage against the 4th-years. They simply had skill and experience that he didn't. 

And his quirk wanted it. 

So much power.

'I can only gain that skill and experience with time. I must be patient.'

I have the raw strength. I need to know how to apply it. None would stand in my way.

'That's why I need to continue through UA. There's no better place to teach me how to control my quirk. I have access to resources here I can't find anywhere else. Like All Might!'

Not fast enough. I can do better.

Izuku furrowed his brow. 'How can I do better?'

A vision formed in his mind. A woman with periwinkle blue hair and an adorable, energetic smile.

'Hadou?'

Hadou. She has the experience, skill, and power I want.

'She's my TA already and there are plenty of heroes—like All Might —who are more experienced. I don't see…'

His instincts pushed his mind to consider something more. Izuku's mind was filled with visions of her generous chest and her wide hips packed onto a body two inches shorter than Mina. Her body was toned by years of training, leaving her strong and fit, while her face was gorgeous and her lips made him want to kiss them for days.

She can be more. She will be more.

'What?! Why?! What's the point?!'

She has much value.

'I can get her 'value' without lusting after her.'

Izuku's mind was directed to the memory of Hadou sitting on his lap, petting his horns while she shoved his face into her soft, comforting bust. 

Izuku was glad that nobody could see him activate his quirk underneath his pants.

She is a jewel. She belongs in my collection. She belongs in my hoard. She is mine.

Izuku hated these thoughts. He stood up from his seat between Ochako and Mina, making some half-hearted excuse about needing some air before heading for the door. He needed a distraction to keep himself from thinking about Hadou. Where he would find that distraction, he didn't know, but sitting in that room wasn't doing him any favors.

He set out pacing around the upper level of the stadium, looking through hero news and discussions on his phone as a way to get his mind off of Hadou. 

Izuku read through a report on the situation around Musutafu; the article talked about the significant increase of heroes nearby to protect the UA Sports Festival in the wake of the USJ incident and covered several incidents of local villains getting beatdowns from heroes not normally seen in the area. He skipped over the forum theorizing about Endeavor's maximum temperature, as the mere thought of the man sent angry pulses through his mind as his quirk snarled. Izuku let an article about Miruko distract him, fascinated by the way— 

"Greenhorn!"

Izuku froze. This wasn't happening. He was having a nightmare again.

Hadou, in her gym uniform, ran up to him with a wide smile. "Did you watch me out there?"

"Uh, y-yeah, you were amazing," Izuku stuttered, trying to contain his bucking quirk.

"Thanks!" she chirped. "But hey, I haven't been able to talk with you in private since I got back. You got a minute?" She was a little quieter and more somber, but he didn't know if there was a force in the universe that could completely dull her sparkle.

"Sure," Izuku responded, trying to force a smile onto his face.

Hadou grabbed him by the hand and dragged him off to a side hallway, causing his nerves to worsen. She turned around and looked up at him, their eyes staring into each other's. 

"Greenhorn, I heard about the USJ and I was so worried… but this isn't about me. Are you okay?" She was genuinely concerned.

He smiled, trying to placate her worries. "I am. Truly. It was scary, terrifying even, but I did what I had to do to protect everyone. In the end, everyone came out of it relatively unscathed."

"Except for you!" she shot back. "You put yourself in a coma!" 

"It was that or lose some of my classmates," Izuku said quietly. "I don't regret what I did. I would do it all over again if I had to."

"I know you would," Hadou almost whispered. "That's what makes you 'you'. Like that time you jumped in front of that bee that was chasing me!" She giggled as he blushed slightly. "But I don't want you to keep hurting yourself."

"W-what should—"

"I want you to get better!" she explained. "I've learned a lot here at UA, with your cousin, and overseas and I want to teach you! You can't imagine how happy I was when I found out I got assigned to your class!" She was bouncing up and down with excitement.

"O-oh… I, uh, thank you." Izuku really wished his quirk would stop pulsing so painfully in his head.

She stopped bouncing and gained a heartfelt look on her face. "I care about you, Greenhorn. It's going to be my personal goal to teach you everything I can. Don't think that means you can slack off, though! I'm going to push you harder than everyone else!"

Izuku raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that favoritism?"

"Hmm, I guess you're right." Hadou thought for a moment. "Well, anybody else who wants to join is welcome to, but you don't get a choice! You are now officially enrolled in Nejire's Extracurricular Training!" 

Oh, this wasn't how Izuku saw his day going. "T-thank you, Had—"

"Ah!" She shot a finger toward him accusingly. "What have I told you a hundred times?!"

"N-not to call you Hadou?" he offered sheepishly.

"No, I told you to call me Nejire." She cocked her hip and tapped her foot expectantly. "I want to hear you say it this time."

"Hadou, please."

"Say it!" she demanded with a pout on her face. How was she so adorable and beautiful at the same time?

Izuku sighed, resigning himself to defeat. "N—" He gulped. "N-Nejire."

His eyes flashed.

Mine.

'Oh no.'

"Good!" Her pout vanished, replaced by her cheerful grin. She rushed forward and threw her arms around him, pulling Izuku into a deep hug as his own arms reflexively wrapped around her.

He could feel her warmth and the toned musculature from years of brutal training under his cousin and the UA faculty; Izuku knew her stamina was greater than most pro heroes, due to her quirk's reliance upon it. However, even with how fit she was, he was distracted by just how soft she felt, especially with her prodigious chest pressing against his abs.

It wasn't fair. He had spent all that time trying to corral and dismiss his quirk, just for her to come along and give it exactly what it wanted.

She pulled back finally. "Now, let's go see your family! Come on!" She grabbed him by the hand and hurried off, dragging him behind her.

He didn't like the low rumble his quirk was making in his mind as they walked back to his family's luxury box. 

It sounded almost like deep laughter.

The dinner at Midori's house was almost marred by disaster before it began. Ochako received a call the day before, Friday, and was stunned to hear that her parents were coming into town the following day. Midori, however, didn't hesitate to invite her parents as well. Ochako seemed a little unsure, but she called her parents back and asked them if they wanted to have dinner at Stormclaw's house. 

Suffice to say, they were stunned.

But they accepted. 

Ochako left the dorm earlier in the day to meet with her parents and Mina was secretly a little disappointed that she wasn't going to see Ochako tell them about her relationship. Mina was stunned when Ochako told her that she hadn't told her parents that she was dating the two of them, but Mina simply chalked it up to nerves.

Mina rode with Bakugou and Midori over to his house and… honestly, she was expecting something a little more. The location was amazing and the house was nice—much nicer than her family's—but she had a much grander image in her head. The house was large, make no mistake, but it had an air of modesty about it. The three students were greeted at the door by Inko, who gave each of them a big hug.

Bakugou and Stormclaw settled into the dining room next to the kitchen, where there was a large window overlooking the beach outside, while Midori and Mina set to helping Inko cook. Once she got to work, her opinions on the home changed slightly. While the building itself wasn't particularly large or expensive, the interior was decked out with every modern convenience she had ever heard of and some she hadn't. 

Mina considered herself an adequate cook, but her boyfriend and his mother were something else. They worked together like an impeccable team and were smiling the entire time. Both were eager to help her learn, of course, and were very patient when she struggled. Mina felt like she had learned more in an hour than she had the past few years of self-instruction.

"Hey, Third-Place," Bakugou called over while Inko was helping Mina prepare some vegetables. "When's dinner?"

Midori rolled his eyes. "Hey now, I think you're Third-Place. I got second at the festival and you got third. Or did you conveniently forget that already?"

"Whatever," Bakugou sneered dismissively. "That's just cause you never had to face me and you know it."

"Is that so?" Midori responded.

Bakugou's smirked. "We both know I'd win."

"Oh yeah?" Midori had stepped a little closer.

"Hey!" Inko called tersely. "No fighting in the house."

"Sorry, Auntie."

 "Sorry, Mom."

Bakugou and Midori looked at each other for a few seconds, then large smiles began to grow on their faces. Before Mina could question, the two of them made a mad dash for the back door and threw it open, sprinting outside and onto the beach. Mina watched them begin to spar on the sand out of the large window, a wild grin on each of their faces.

Inko shook her head, but she was smiling. "I swear, those boys are still children sometimes. Hisashi?"

The man stood up, chuckling. "I'll go keep an eye on them. I'm sure they're eager to see how much they've grown since starting UA, anyway." He made his way to the door and walked out after the two students, smiling the whole way.

Inko sighed contentedly. "You know, I haven't seen Izuku happy like that in a long time. He's always been cheerful and playful when he's at home, but there's been a shadow looming over him for years." She turned to Mina with a motherly smile. "That shadow is more or less gone and that's thanks to you and Uraraka, I think. Thank you."

Mina began to blush. "Oh, it's nothing, Mamadoriya. He makes me really happy too, same with Ochako. He's a really great guy."

"Most people were afraid of him," Inko explained softly as she continued to work. "There's something naturally intimidating about him beyond just his physical appearance. He has an aura about him that causes people to feel uneasy or fearful. You two girls and—from what he's told us—most of the rest of your class have been nothing but good to him."

"I don't see how those other kids in his class could be that afraid of him," Mina responded. "Sure, I get what they were afraid of, but he's so much nicer than he is scary."

Inko laughed softly. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that it took hero course students to realize that."

They worked in a peaceful silence for a few more minutes before Mina spoke again. "He keeps talking about how dangerous he is, how violent his instincts can be, but he's honestly done a good job at containing it. I almost feel like he's exaggerating it sometimes. I know he's not, because of the USJ and such, but…"

The mood darkened slightly and Inko spoke in a much more serious tone. "Again, that's because of you girls. And he's been in a controlled environment." 

"A controlled environment?" Mina asked. "The USJ didn't seem like that."

"No, it didn't," Inko agreed. "And you saw how that went. My poor baby…" Inko put her knife down for a moment and turned to Mina. "You all are doing your internships soon. That will be the next big test for him. He'll be out in the wild, relatively. He'll be with his father, but he'll be exposed to so many unknown factors. I know my baby boy will do his best, but it's in my nature to worry."

"Oh, I see," Mina muttered, nodding. "He's interning with Stormclaw so he doesn't get shoved into a completely unknown situation."

Inko smiled. "Exactly. Baby steps. He'll get exposure, but who better to help him with his instincts than his father?"

Mina stared out the window at her boyfriend, who was shooting a blast of poison gas into the air. Stormclaw was nearby and held some device in his hand like he was measuring something. "He's going to be stepping into unknown and dangerous waters."

"And Izuku knows that," Inko added. "But with people like you to help him, I know he'll succeed. Even if you don't keep dating him, just being his friend means the world to him."

Mina began to blush again. "Oh, well, I don't have any intentions of breaking up with him…"

"I know," Inko said kindly, "but you're young. Things happen. Maybe you'll find out in a week or ten that you just aren't right for each other. There's just no way to know. But regardless of what happens, know that your friendship is invaluable. Izuku barely talks about anything but you and Uraraka when he calls us."

Mina's heart swelled with pride. "I'm so happy that I'm helping him. He means a lot to me and I want to help him as much as I can."

Inko washed her hands off and began to write something on a small piece of paper. "Here, this is my number. If you, Uraraka, Yaoyorozu or anybody else that he winds up telling has questions about how to help him, please let me know. I have quite a bit of experience with my own husband; I know what it's like to be in a relationship with a dragon."

Mina couldn't help but hug Inko. "Thank you!"

Inko returned the hug in the warm, kind way that only mothers could. "You are very welcome. Now, let's finish preparing, the Urarakas will be here soon."

The meal at Deku's house was incredible, but she couldn't enjoy it fully. Not with her thoughts weighing heavily on her mind. Mina and Deku could tell something was up, but they allowed her to maintain her act during the meal to let Ochako save face. 

The meal was incredible and so was the house. Ochako could only imagine having the money to a house like that on a private beach. Each room of the house was probably more expensive than her parent's entire apartment.

And that just made her feel worse.

The whole dinner passed in a bit of a blur, as Ochako battled between trying to force herself to enjoy the evening and the weight of her heart. At the end of it, she couldn't really remember much of what happened.

Her parents seemed to have a good time, although she could tell that her mood was affecting them as well, which was to be expected. They were the reason she was feeling this way. 

The evening came to a close with her parents exchanging pleasantries with Deku's parents and Bakugou's parents, as well as a gracious invitation from Inko for them to return whenever they were in town. Her parents were heading back to the train station alone, leaving her to ride back to UA with the rest of her classmates; they couldn't really afford to stay overnight anyway. 

She hugged them both goodbye, holding tight to each of them. 

"Ochako," her father finally said, looking down on her. "We're sorry that we—"

"No," Ochako interrupted him. "It's fine. I'm… thankful you brought it up. You two only know what's best for me, I know that. Thank you. I had a lot of fun today, I promise. I love you both." She hugged him one last time and then bent down to hug her mother. 

"We love you too," her mother returned. "We'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"Okay," Ochako answered. "Travel safe."

"We will," her father assured her as her parents got into the taxi and began to drive away.

She watched the car pull out of the lengthy drive and turn away before she walked back to the front porch of Deku's house, where the others were waiting for her. No words were exchanged, but Mina and Deku kept themselves close to her, providing silent comfort as they all got into Stormclaw's car and rode back to the dorms.

Once they arrived, Deku and Bakugou exchanged a silent glance, communicating more than she could guess in an instant. The blonde nodded and headed inside, while Deku whipped his shirt off and put a firm arm around both Ochako and Mina. Wings sprouted from his back as he took to the sky, dragging them both with him.

Ochako wasn't exactly surprised. She had a feeling something like this was coming.

Deku landed on the roof and let go, quickly putting his shirt back on as he and Mina turned to face her. "What's wrong?" he asked directly.

Ochako sighed. "Can we sit down?"

"Of course," Deku responded instantly, his eyes glowing bright. She was sure that her being upset was driving his quirk crazy. It was nice to know that her happiness was always his top concern; she wouldn't have to ever worry about him being inattentive.

"Why do you two want to be heroes?" she asked quietly.

"I don't like bullies," Mina answered quickly from her right, not even having to think. "And there aren't any worse bullies than the villains who terrorize innocent people. I want to protect people from those who would use their power to hurt others."

Deku stared into the night sky with a grim determination on her left. "I want to save people and be like All Might and my dad. I want people to hear the beating of my wings and feel safe. I want to defy the path laid out before me and be the greatest hero."

Ochako looked down, her words almost failing her. "You two have such noble motives compared to mine. I, uh…" She gulped. Deku reached out and grabbed her hand softly. "I wanted to do it for the m-money."

There. She said it. 

"My family hasn't ever had a lot of money, you know?" she continued, trying to justify herself in front of the others. "I always saw how they looked exhausted and stressed all the time. They tried to shield me from the reality, but you can't do that forever. I hope you two don't think less of me…"

"Of course not!" Mina exclaimed, putting her hands on Ochako's shoulders. "You want to provide for your family, there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, I'm proud of you for having such a down-to-earth goal. You're more grounded than either of us."

Ochako tried to smile, like All Might told her. "Y-yeah, exactly. I want to give my mom and dad the easy life that they deserve. I want to be a hero and I'll take care of them!"

"That sounds heroic to me," Mina cooed. "You want to help people, top to bottom. Is that what you were worried about?" 

She realized Deku hadn't said anything yet. Her heart sank slightly, worried that he might have a less flattering opinion of her. 

Ochako looked to her left and saw him shaking slightly. The smile on his face made her worried still, but in an entirely different way. "Um, Deku?"

He threw his head back and began to laugh a loud, unrestrained laugh. He let her hands go and stood up, throwing his arms wide as he continued to laugh into the night sky.

Mina was concerned as well. "Midori? Are you… okay?"

"You were worried about being greedy?" he finally asked, still laughing. 

She felt a little hurt. "Why are you laughin' at me?"

"That's not it," Deku explained, his laughter dying slowly. "Ochako, my entire family revolves around that 'greed'."

Mina and Ochako's eyes widened slightly. 

"Remember what I told you on the night we started dating?" he asked. "We're greedy. All of us. The only reason any of us can be heroes is because heroes get paid. If it was just for free, I don't know if any of us could do it."

Mina tilted her head. "Wait, even the uh, what was it, uh, the quirks like your dad and cousin."

"Metallic?" Ochako suggested.

"Yeah, that!" Mina snapped her fingers. "Even them?"

Deku nodded. "Even them. Our desire to grow our hoards is at the forefront of our minds at nearly all times. If being a hero didn't pay, we would find other ways to use our quirks, I suspect." He sat back down next to Ochako and his smile quickly faded. "It's especially important for me. Since my quirk is chromatic, it doesn't have that degree of altruism and 'goodness' that the metallics do. My father and cousin will do pro bono work from time to time, but I don't know if I could convince my quirk to do the same."

"When you put it that way," Ochako muttered, "it does make sense."

He turned to her with his smile completely gone. "That's not the only thing weighing down on you. What else?"

She flinched. Was it that obvious?

"My parents were… pretty surprised when I told them I was datin' you," she began, looking at Mina. "Then even more surprised when I told them I was datin' both of you. Before I say anything else, I just want to say that my parents are great people. They love me and want what's best for me. That's all they've ever wanted. They've made sacrifice after sacrifice to make sure I was taken care of the best that they could."

Mina nodded along, not exactly sure where Ochako was going.

"They're also very practical people. They had to be, to do what had to be done while I was growin' up. They're… concerned about a few things. Firstly…" She turned to look at Deku. "They were concerned that I was datin' you for your family's money. Ah! Let me rephrase!" She saw the look of shock on Deku's face. "They didn't think I was, but they had to ask to make sure. They thought I was better than that and they were right, but they were just worried." 

Ochako looked down with a small smile. "I'm grateful that they're looking out for me. The other thing was… I told them some stuff. Not any of the uh…" She began to blush a little. "More intimate stuff, but I told them that we cuddled and about the campin' trip and such. My parents don't want to see me get hurt and they're concerned that, well, this might just be 'puppy love', you know?"

"Passionate and intense feelings fueled by inexperience and hormones that in the end are, in fact, rather shallow," Deku clarified, sounding like a textbook. She noticed how intensely his eyes were glowing. 

"Y-yeah. That."

Deku looked up into the stars shining above, or at least those that he could see through all the light pollution. "I've been concerned about the same thing."

Ochako's jaw dropped. "R-really?"

Mina squeezed her hand a little. "Same here. It would be pretty silly to not be worried about that." 

"Do you think…?" She couldn't bear to finish the question.

"I don't think it is," Deku responded. "But maybe it is. I don't think people realize they're in 'puppy love' until it's too late. And after all, we're just a bunch of dumb teenagers, right?" He laughed dryly. "Ryuko is always telling me that." 

That didn't exactly bolster Ochako's confidence. "What do we do?"

Mina reached over and hugged her fully. "We keep going the way we have been. I feel like our connection is deeper than that, but our relationship is still new. These past few weeks have been the happiest of my life and if we keep going like this, then I don't see us going anywhere but up."

Deku laughed once. "My mom and I had a long talk the other day. Once she stopped crying about how her 'baby boy was growing up', she talked to me about love. The heart of her advice was this: love isn't a place, it's a journey. We can't get complacent, we have to keep working at it every day. I'm not exactly sure I 100% know what that means, but I'll do my best to figure it out."

He put his arms around her as well. "I have no intention of letting either of you go. In the short time I've known you, I've become a better person in almost every way. I promise to keep trying every day to make us work and to make us better."

"Me too," Mina added. 

Between the two of them, she felt so safe and warm, but she also felt confident and supported. Mina and Deku made her feel good on every level. "Me three."

Izuku stood up, gently pulling Ochako and Mina up with him. "Let's get ready for bed. It's Mina's turn to be in the middle."

Ochako looked down at her two lovers and felt her heart swell. "Right! And uh, thank you both. For everything."

The next day went fairly smoothly. Izuku woke up with his girlfriends and spent some time enjoying their company before getting up and making breakfast for the rest of his classmates. He trained with Katsuki, Eiko and Satou for much of the rest of the morning, spent the early afternoon swimming with Tsuyu and spent the latter part of the day catching up on his studying with Momo in the common room.

Dinner was prepared by Satou and Mina, the latter of which was eager to test out the new skills that Izuku's mother had taught her. It wasn't the greatest thing he had ever tasted, but it was still very good. He could taste some of his mother's influence in the dish, which was very welcome. Every day seemed to make Heights Alliance seem more like home.

Tomorrow, classes started up again, which meant Izuku had some class representative responsibilities to handle. 

He stood up tall and waved his hand wide as people finished their dinners. "Hey, everyone! Listen up for a bit!" 

Izuku looked around the room, making sure all nineteen pairs of eyes were on him. "I hope all of you have been paying attention to the syllabus, but just in case you haven't, let me remind you: this upcoming week we are preparing for our internships that begin the following week. That all starts with us picking our hero names tomorrow!"

Murmurs shot up around the room; Izuku could tell that some of them had, in fact, not been reading the syllabus. "Keep in mind that these names could and very likely will stick, so don't just show up with something half-baked. Put some thought into it, alright? We are students at the most prestigious hero university in the nation, we should act like it! That means supporting each other; so please, ask each other for help if you need some ideas! I'm looking forward to hearing what each of you chooses tomorrow!" He smiled wide. "That's all!"

He watched carefully as his classmates began to talk amongst themselves in earnest. Izuku himself had already settled on his name, but judging from the looks on several of his classmates' faces, many hadn't. 

Mina was talking with Eiko, Sero and Katsuki, while Ochako was talking with Iida and Tsuyu. Jirou, Momo and Pony were discussing quietly, while Tokoyami, Kouda, Shouji and Satou were doing the same. Aoyama had a look on his face that told Izuku he was already very confident in his name, while Mineta and Kaminari were walking towards the stairs, talking excitedly. 

What caught Izuku's eye the most was Hagakure and Shouto. The man was sitting peacefully on one of the couches, deep in thought, when the woman hopped up to him and began bubbling at him. Izuku put a little of his quirk into his ears to listen in.

"Hey, Todoroki! Could you give me a hand?" she asked happily.

Shouto blinked. "Uh… sure. What do you need?"

"Well, I'm not sure what I want my hero name to be," Hagakure explained. "I was gonna go with 'Invisible Girl' or something, but Midoriya wants me to do better than that. You're real smart, could you help?"

"Um… I guess?" Shouto responded, seemingly unused to female attention. 

Izuku could sympathize.

"Great!" she exclaimed, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him off toward the elevator. "Let me tell you about my quirk!"

Shouto seemed completely out of his element. "It's not just invisibility…?"

Izuku couldn't help but crack a smile as the elevator doors shut behind them. 

He turned back to the rest of the class and smiled wider.

Tomorrow, he would show his hero name off to the world. Then, soon after, it would be time for internships. It was thanks to Katsuki, Ochako, Mina, and more that he had gotten this far, but it wasn't time for him to slow down. If anything, he needed to run towards his goal even faster.