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“There she is!” Mirio rushed to the little girl. Grabbing her around the waist, he spun her in the air. Her yellow dress swayed and her laughs rang like bells. Mirio gave her a kiss on the cheek before setting her back down. “Look how tall you’ve gotten!”
“I haven’t gotten taller since last week,” Eri replied. She glanced behind Mirio to the other approaching man. “Hello, Mr. Amajiki.”
Tamaki forced a smile. “Hi, Eri.” It was a bit too sunny, too crowded for his tastes, but Mirio spent the past year and a half making a point to visit Eri at least every other week, and he preferred Tamaki to come along as well.
“Come on!” Mirio took Eri’s small hand in his own. “I want ice cream!”
She gasped and grinned up at him. Her smile was infectious; Tamaki realized that his own smile was no longer forced. As he plodded behind the other two, he remembered the differences they made in each other’s lives. Eri reminded Mirio that he made a difference, that the loss of his quirk wasn’t in vain. Mirio saved Eri and gave her hope. Because of him, she could smile and laugh again. She could sleep without nightmares because he assured her that everything would be alright. Mirio was her hero.
It was good for both of him, so Tamaki sucked it up and accompanied the two on their outings. He followed them down the sidewalk until they came to an ice cream and crepe stand. Mirio was already pointing flavors out to Eri.
“Babe, what do you want?” Mirio asked, turning to Tamaki with a smile.
Tamaki blinked. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. “Coffee?” He replied with a shrug.
“Café au lait okay?”
When Tamaki nodded, Mirio spoke to the woman behind the counter. She beamed at Eri as she piled two huge scoops of ice cream (one pink, one white) onto a cone and handed it over the counter. Mirio handed the sweet monstrosity to Eri, who thanked the attendant profusely. Next came a scoop of café au lait for Tamaki—in a cup because Tamaki didn’t like the mess. He tried a spoonful tentatively. It could use more coffee flavor, he thought, but it was rich and creamy. He held Mirio’s cone as the other man paid for their ice creams. He took a taste. Chocolate and peanut butter. Mirio wiped a spot off the corner of his mouth before taking his cone back and Tamaki felt his face heat up.
Winking at Tamaki, Mirio then proceeded to take a large bite of his ice cream. He gave an overexaggerated grimace and held his head with his free hand. “Brain freeze! Help me, Eri!” She giggled in response.
They sat on a bench in a nearby park to finish their ice creams. Eri’s feet swung below the seat. Once in a while, Mirio would point an interesting-looking person out, and he and Eri would make up innocuous identities and backstories for them. A few times, Tamaki found himself adding a detail or two, here and there.
Ice cream finished, they continued their walk. The trio passed an arcade, but Eri wasn’t quite ready for that much noise yet.
“Let’s do a purikura!” Mirio exclaimed, pointing out a nearby booth.
“Purikura?” Eri blinked up at them. “What’s that?”
Mirio squatted down to Eri’s level, grinning. “Purikura are photo booths where you take silly pictures and print them out as stickers. You can choose from different backgrounds or digital props.”
“Is it fun?” She didn’t seem convinced.
Tamaki’s first reaction was to deny it. The last time he’d done purikura was with Mirio and Nejire in their second year and he hadn’t enjoyed it, but Mirio earnestly wanted to take pictures with Eri. More and more, he was finding that he couldn’t say no to either of their faces.
“It’s awesome!” Mirio swept Eri off her feet to a squeal of delighted giggles. “Let’s go take some fun pictures!”
Tamaki smiled despite himself. Mirio would have made a great father one day, he thought. However, they obviously couldn’t have children of their own, and adopting would be difficult for them. Tamaki doubted a family court would allow unmarried men of their age to adopt a minor. He frowned. Mirio could be an excellent parent.
Mirio put Eri down and she inspected the pictures on the outside of the booth curiously. Her finger traced the happy faces. She looked up at Mirio with a question on her face. When Mirio nodded assuredly, her expression steeled into determination and she peeked beyond the curtained entrance. Seeing nothing amiss, she walked through.
Turning to Tamaki, Mirio held out his hand. Tamaki took it and squeezed. Mirio’s hands were rough with callouses. He squeezed back and drew Tamaki in after them.
Tamaki listened as Mirio and Eri went through the background choices and discussed which to use.
“Which do you think, Mr. Amajiki?” Eri turned to him shyly.
Looking at the screen, Tamaki noticed one print framed with butterflies. He touched the screen to select it.
Mirio grinned triumphantly. “See? Told you he likes butterflies.”
Eri blushed. “Me, too.” Tamaki thought that one week soon, they should visit a butterfly garden. They had a nice one at the zoo. He’d mention it to Mirio later.
“You guys ready?” Mirio asked, waiting to push the button.
“How many of these are we doing?”
“Three! We each chose one.”
Eri helpfully held up the appropriate number of fingers.
“First one!” Mirio announced. A blue frame of sea animals appeared on the screen. “Peace sign!” Mirio held his fingers out in front of him and stuck his tongue out. Eri did the same. Tamaki, feeling the peer pressure, sedately copied them. The flash went off. Mirio nodded approvingly at the resulting picture.
“Next!” A pink frame with stars and rainbows popped up. Mirio set the timer going and Eri waved at her image on the screen. Mirio crept behind Tamaki and while Tamaki could very well see what he was doing, he felt powerless to stop his boyfriend as he gently tugged the corners of Tamaki’s mouth. Mirio winked into the flash and Tamaki blushed. When the finished picture popped onto the screen, Eri laughed. Mirio opened the editing program and posted a shiny crown on her head.
Finally, Tamaki’s frame, green with butterflies, came up. And maybe the antics of the other two emboldened him, but as the timer counted down, he leaned over to kiss Mirio’s cheek. He wondered what expressions the others had as the flash lit up the little room.
In the final picture, Eri was tugging on her own mouth like Mirio had done to Tamaki in the previous shot, tongue out. Tamaki was kissing Mirio, and Mirio’s face was red, eyes wide in surprise. He chuckled and turned to Tamaki.
“I like that one,” Tamaki replied.
Mirio gave him a small, endearing smile and selected all the pictures to print. When the stickers printed—two a piece—Mirio gave one of each to Eri. “Souvenirs!”
She beamed and held them close to her chest. “Thank you!” Her smile was so precious, knowing that it was a fragile, recent phenomenon. Tamaki reached out and patted her head. This was what it would be like if they could have a family. As much as the thought terrified Tamaki, he could see it.
They walked Eri back to the station, where her foster father was waiting. She waved goodbye to them before heading home.
Tamaki took Mirio’s hand and squeezed. Mirio squeezed back.