The press was gathered around a Japanese Armed Forces airbase on the outskirts of Tokyo, and among them was a small group of UA graduates, pro heroes curious about Deku´s statement to the media. "Remind me again why we´re here to see that damn nerd, Kiri" had said Bakugou, in his usual annoyance, though not outright anger. "We were having drinks later with Denki and Kyoka, and Mineta and Tokage. It was two birds with one stone, Katsuki!" From below, Mineta added "We need to know the TRUTH!" Bakugou sighed and said, "But I don't give a fuck if that useless Deku is sticking his dick in crazy, I just want those drinks and buffalo wings, for fucks sake."
Mineta thought he looked almost sad, so he changed the subject "Anyway, where are Ashido and Sero? We invited them too, and Sero never misses a chance for some wings" Jirou answered "Mina´s on a mission, Sero´s visiting his grandma, I think" Behind the punk girl, the press had started to chatter and get excited as they saw a few people walk over to the gate and climb to a small stage. Mineta was thankful for the stage, otherwise he would have had to ask one of his friends to lift him up to see.
The people on stage were an old cowboy, a tall woman in a leather jacket, with a disciplined walk and penetrating eyes, a slightly shorter one who looked like a Viking, even in casual clothes, and their friend Izuku Midoriya, the hero Deku. Mineta noticed bags under his eyes, likely from lack of sleep, but he looked happy and focused. There was no Himiko Toga in evidence, maybe he would just deny everything?
The old cowboy started talking "Good day, members of the press, we have agreed to a conference based on all your insistence. The order of questions has been pre-approved, please do not stray from them, alright? All four of us can answer your questions."
Mineta saw that attractive brunette reporter who was always on the frontlines of hero work raise her hand. He approved of the networks choosing someone that pretty to go first. "Deku, is it true you are not working with your team anymore? You have not been seen with them in almost two months, while First Response fights villains, saves citizens and does hero work. Are you splitting up with Team First Response?" Midoriya took a microphone and answered "Oh, no, we´re still a team. I´m currently on work elsewhere, the finer details are still classified. I promise a complete interview when I´m able."
The next reporter was a man with a ridiculous pompadour and a small moustache. "Hero Deku, you are reportedly working with an American group, don't you think they are interfering too much in Japanese affairs?" The cowboy answered, "We have the government´s full cooperation, and we assure you we are not operating inside Japan for this."
The next reporter was none other than Uwabami, the Snake Hero. Sadly, Mineta couldn't see her from where he stood. "This question´s for Deku. Sweetie, they sent our show some pictures of you with a girl that looked very much like the disappeared villain Himiko Toga. Was that really Toga? Is it a forbidden romance? Your fans deserve the truth!" On the stage, Midoriya flinched just slightly, almost imperceptibly, and beside Mineta, Bakugou whispered "What the fuck, Deku, you actually did it." A second later, Midoriya had his "hero face" on and was replying "Himiko Toga is still on the run, as far as we know. The person on the pictures is an American teammate called, uhhh…Hailey. Yeah, Hailey! The resemblance is just unfortunate, they are not the same person!" Bakugou snarled in a low voice "They finally taught you how to lie, Deku? That was disgraceful."
Uwabami wasn't finished, though, "And you are dating that teammate? You seemed really close." "Oh no! We are just friends!" he replied, cheerfully. Apparently, that was enough to pacify most of the audience. Setsuna wasn't convinced "Did you see that? He totally is hiding Toga somewhere in there. Protecting your lover´s identity is hot as fuck." The rest of the conference was over soon. From the tidbits of information, Mineta could gather that Midoriya was on a pretty big operation with the Americans, at least as big as Ashido´s seemed to be, way above normal hero work. On most cases, hero work was reactive instead of proactive, the most that average heroes did with anticipation against villains was patrolling.
As the conference ended and Deku started to leave with the Americans, Mineta took advantage to "better examine" his female companions as they left. He was sad to see them leave, but glad to see them go, he thought as he admired the two specimens of the female form, sculpted by the gods. "That old cowboy was a silver fox, goddamn" said Setsuna beside him. "Those girls though…I want them to step on me." An annoyed and fuming Jirou looked their way "You do know I can hear all your sleazy comments, right?" Setsuna and Mineta looked at her with hurt expressions, whistling innocently.
When Jirou was distracted talking with Denki, Mineta asked Setsuna "Who were those girls, anyway? Heroes?" "The taller one I don't know, the hotter one was the Shieldmaiden Hero, Freya!" "Without her braids I didn't recognize her, I´m ashamed of myself." "It happens to the best of us." By then, Kirishima had brought around the van they were using to carpool to the restaurant, painted in bright Fat Gum livery. The body mass hero had recommended the place, "A great place to acquire tasty calories, y´all!" he had apparently said.
"At last! Shotgun!" called Bakugou, his energy contagious. Denki and Jirou took the backseats, where they kept talking quietly, Mineta and Setsuna sat in the middle. Inside, the van was surprisingly roomy, to fit the behemoth of a hero that was Fat Gum, but otherwise normal. Mineta had expected some residual food smell on the van, but there was none. "Step on it, Kiri! Conferences make me hungry, dude!" The van had an automatic transmission, and after a few minutes both heroes in the front seats were holding hands. Setsuna found it really cute, as she cooed and pointed discretely at their hands. Mineta was very happy for his friends, he thought they made such a great couple.
Arriving at the restaurant, a loosely All Might themed buffalo wings venue, called Power Wings, Kirishima took the lead. "We have a table for eight booked, but we´ll only need for six, my friend!" he told the greeter, who instantly recognized him "Red Riot! I didn't know it was you who had made the reservation! And Ground Zero! I´m a big fan, you saved my cousin a few months ago! Please accept a 20% discount, on the house!" while the greeter fawned over the group of friends, Bakugou had taken the coupons the man had offered with a predatory grin on his face. He looked like he would really use that discount to full effect! "Oh, and the little Grape Juice! My great aunt is your fan, she loved your diaper on your first suit!" All burst out laughing, and, embarrassed, Mineta replied "It was supposed to be a fruit bowl, but it looked like that…I changed it to be more popular!" "It makes you look better, friend!" said the greeter, and Mineta was ridiculously proud of that.
A waiter took them to their table, a teenager a few years older who didn't seem particularly excited to have heroes as costumers. The waiter took two chairs away and brought them the menus, leaving them some time to decide. Immediately Kirishima and Bakugou were talking over their choices, energetically arguing for and against several options before Bakugou chose a combo with buffalo wings on the hottest sauce available, Kirishima choosing a steak burger with the same sauce, bacon and brioche buns. Jirou and Denki shared a box of wings with a milder sauce, Setsuna chose a different burger, Mineta opted for a sampler and some macaroni and cheese.
Small talk turned to hero work, their table was discreet enough to discuss openly. "…I used a big-ass explosion on that villain and took him down in one shot! He was full of Trigger, so he was even bigger than Mt. Lady! It was fucking glorious! Endeavor was jealous of how fast and strong I am, he didn't even get there in time to see the fucker fall!" Bakugou proclaimed, a chicken wing on each hand, waving them around to accent his story of taking down a cell of the Russian Mafiya, which had tried establishing a foothold in Japan, only to be quickly stamped out by the Endeavor agency.
"Oh, that´s nothing! With Fat we saved a shopping mall full of people against a horde of ninjas!" added Kirishima, his fist pumping with energy. "It may not be a giant villain or ninjas, but we have something just as good! Kyoka´s going on tour!" Denki was ecstatic with his girlfriend´s success, even if they weren't the most active heroes while pursuing the artistic side of heroics.
Eventually, Bakugou brought the conversation to Midoriya and his mystery girlfriend. "Damn Deku, he lied on our faces! I don't care if his girlfriend is an insane killer, he can fuck whoever he wants, but he just lied to our faces! Its total disrespect for me, Katsuki Bakugou, his rival!" Jirou looked at him with her usual sarcastic face and said "Aww, you are worried about your friend Deku?" Bakugou looked slightly annoyed but not furious as he would once have been "Yeah, he is a useless Deku, obviously he worries me. Not cause we´re friends, or anything" "Which you are" "Which we now are, yeah. What´s the point?" Denki added "Anyway, think the media will know he was lying? They don't have Kyoka´s quirk to read his heartbeat or know him like Bakugou…" Setsuna answered "Well, he did promise another interview later on, they can go wild with speculation meanwhile. Anyone else was on the bets for who his girlfriend would be? I had a hundred yen on myself." Mineta laughed at the small amount, his friend had sold herself a bit short, in his opinion.
"I always thought he and Uraraka would be a thing" he said when he was done laughing. "Of course not, anyone with eyes could see they had some issues, round face acted different with him and not in a good way, Deku also was a mess around her. He only got better after we made All for One bite the dust, but there was some trouble there." Bakugou was surprisingly concerned in his comment, his care for both Uraraka and Midoriya very apparent. A believer on infinite parallel worlds, Mineta was sure that Bakugou was an item with Uraraka and Midoriya on some of these other universes, perhaps in the one that Mineta himself was tall and mighty, the next symbol of peace. On this universe though, Bakugou was inseparable from Kirishima.
But with a snarl he added "I was betting on Hatsume, that crazy girl and Deku were unstoppable. Almost a match for me with both hands tied up and a hangover!" Jirou then said, "On the first year I could have sworn he and Todoroki were going to date!" In the end, the conversation was again changed to whatever Ashido was doing. "I heard she´s on that project with Shinsou and some from class B, anyone else know anything?" asked Denki. They all shook their heads, even Kirishima, who was close friends with the acid girl. Ashido was being uncharacteristically quiet on the subject, so it had to be something big.