Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia, despite the guy who tried to sell it to me in a dark alleyway for a bag of jellybeans.

~o~

Mineta didn't understand why, but at that moment, he was so afraid his legs wouldn't move. His mouth gaped, and though he tried to speak, nothing came out. Killing intent alone froze him in place, as he faced true evil.

"You bled on my coat," Overhaul noted dispassionately, slipping the white glove off his fingers. "And you're covered in filth."

He touched his coat with his bare hand, and it dissolved into strands of thread, which disintegrated to dust.

A second touch restored the fabric, the destroyed threads winding and snapping back into place like magic, as if it had been created anew. Overhaul pulled the newly cleaned coat over his shoulders, looking down at Mineta with cold, golden colored eyes.

His gaze narrowed. "But there's a worse smell in the air than trash. I've smelled this rotten Quirk before. You…had a run in with Biojinx. So, that old witch is still alive?"

Mineta stared at the restored jacket, his heart pounding. 'W-What power!' He spoke up, swallowing the blood in his throat from his broken nose. "You know Biojinx? Tell me – how do I break her Quirk? Am I gonna die? What…" he stopped, not knowing what he was going to say. Could he really trust this guy, who scared him just by existing? Even the air around him seemed colder almost. But without information, he might…

A pocket knife clattered on the ground at Mineta's feet. "Kill yourself," Overhaul said flatly, his hand in his pocket. "Before the save point is established. You don't have much time. Once her Quirk takes hold, there's no stopping it until it breaks on its own."

Mineta stared, fear in his round eyes. "There…there has to be another way!" he said, feeling sick. "There just has to be!"

Smoke seeped from his skin in a mist with a hiss, filling the air with jasmine, and time seemed to slow and condense around Mineta all at once. "What…what is this? H-hey, help me or something, don't just stand there!" Purple sparks shot over his vision, and he heard faint music.

Overhaul stared pityingly. "Too late."

It only took a moment for the smoke to clear, and then Mineta was revealed, without any kind of damage. The purple haze was gone from his vision.

"I-I'm okay!" Mineta gasped, patting his chest. "I can't believe it, I'm alive-"

Overhaul's hand closed around Mineta's face, and he exploded into a vapor of blood and tissue down to the molecular level.

He didn't have time to shout. It was all so fast.

His consciousness spiraled through smoke, as if falling through space, and all at once he was staring at Overhaul again, gasping with shock and fear. "What did you just do to me?" Mineta choked out, patting himself to make sure he was really still alive. "Was…that some kind of illusion?"

Even with his face covered by the plague doctor's mask, Overhaul seemed displeased. "Did I just kill you, then? I can't remember. You alone will keep your memories from the 'reset'."

He walked forward again, and Mineta was frozen with fear, his staccato heartbeat nearly a heart attack.

"I've always wondered if my power could destroy her reality Quirk now that I'm not a brat anymore, but it seems the old witch is as strong as ever…but perhaps once wasn't enough."

Mineta did have time to scream this time, as Overhaul's hand closed on his shoulder.

The pain was indescribable. It was like all the cells in his body caught fire all at once, and tore themselves away from the others viciously, and then he didn't have nerves to feel the pain anymore, he was nothing at all, without even thoughts to prove he existed…

He had the sensation of falling through smoke, as if in a tunnel of purple incense, and then he was back, staring at Overhaul in the same position as before.

He did find the strength to run, this time, but the man's gloved hands caught his arm in an instant, his grip like steel.

"Was that not strong enough?" Overhaul wondered dispassionately, since it was obvious by Mineta's reaction that he'd been killed already. He barely seemed to notice Mineta's struggling. He kicked Mineta's feet out, and pulled off his other glove. "Perhaps full strength then…"

Mineta dissolved so quickly he was only a red smear on the pavement, but before Overhaul would have had time to restore him, smoke whirled and the annoying stink of jasmine and sage sang through the air…

"Leave me alone!" Mineta shouted, trying to run again to no avail. He struggled uselessly. "You already tried, it doesn't work, stop!"

His words cut off with a strangled gasp, and smoke whirled again.

"Stop it…"

Jasmine and sage filled his nose, the smell strong and smoky.

"Was that not enough, then?" Overhaul wondered again, staring at Mineta.

He fell through purple smoke, reappearing in front of the monster once again…

"How many times have you died? Not that it matters…"

Mineta shattered into pieces, falling to the pavement.

"I'll give you whatever you want, just don't kill me!" Mineta begged as he clutched Overhaul's pant leg, snot dripping from his nose. The germophobic man stared with disgust, and his hand closed on Mineta's skull.

Smoke whirled-

Faint wind chimes sang-

Incense whirled with purple and sparks of light-

Mineta 'reset' once again, and collapsed to the ground immediately, his threshold for sensory input annihilated.

Overhaul paused, this time, looking down at Mineta. "How many times have you died?" he asked again, without a hint of remorse or emotion.

"I…lost count…" Mineta choked out, and he began crying pathetically.

"Tch." Overhaul slipped his glove back on, disgusted. "Her power hasn't waned at all. Even now, I can't overcome her Quirk. I suppose you'll break free eventually, though who knows how much of your life she'll have eaten by then. This is further proof…Quirks were never supposed to exist in this world. They are a sickness, an abomination, and I'll be the surgeon who cuts them away from reality entirely…"

He turned on one heel, walking away sedately as if nothing had happened at all.

It took a long time for Mineta to find the strength to stand. He threw up once, vacating his stomach noisily. The light rain increased into a storm, and he lurched to his feet.

U.A…he had to get to U.A! They would know what was going on, they could fix it!

Mineta stumbled out of the warehouse district without running into further trouble, and nearly cried with relief when he spotted a familiar face. "HEY! Over here!" Mineta shouted.

Izuku Midoriya turned his head, recognition flashing over his plain features. "Oh, Mineta, hey! It's rare to run into you outside of class." The green haired hero cringed back as he noticed Mineta's grimy appearance and the snot dripping from his nose. "What happened to you? Was there a villain attack?"

"You have to get me to the school!" Mineta wailed, pathetically grateful to see Midoriya though the annoying boy spent too much time around Mineta's future third wife, Uraraka, for his taste. "It's an emergency!"

He was so focused on Midoriya, he neglected to look both ways when crossing the street, and got hit by a car.

~o~