Twisted Nightmares

Chapter 15

Aizawa ain't buyin' it.

"Mineta."

It was all that needed to be said. It was cold, and commanding, making Mineta's blood turn to ice. His entire world seemed to almost freeze, time was nonexistent now. He dreaded this moment ever since last night. The owner of said voice was Aizawa, who currently was staring coldly into Mineta's eyes. Mineta felt like he was frozen stiff. The grape boy in question knew very well why he was called here. He swallowed nervously. The Pro Hero was now towering over him, the only thing visible were his eyes. He didn't know if they were red or not, it was still pretty dark outside, so it was hard to tell.

Because last night, before Mineta hopped into his sleeping bag, Aizawa stopped him. While everyone else was getting into their sleeping bags, Aizawa gripped his arm and told him to be out of the cabin an hour before everyone else woke up. The message was as clear as day. Aizawa, was very displeased. Or he was outraged. But since it was Aizawa, Mineta suspected it was a mix of both.

It was rather difficult to tell, since the only facial expressions Mineta had been exposed to that had showed emotion were as follows: Blank Face, Tired Look, Eyes Closed (since he's in his sleeping bag), Insane Smile, and the worst one had to be his red eyed glare when he used his quirk. Red eyes would glow, and his black hair would stand up, giving a very terrifying appearance in the dark. It would always make everyone in the vicinity extremely uncomfortable. Even scarier if you were a random villain in the alleyway running from the crime scene, and just so happened to bump into Eraserhead.

Mineta had been truly dreading this moment ever since the Pro Hero had stopped the boy before he went to sleep to inform him. After he'd made the stupid decision to throw himself off a cliff, he had known Aizawa had been watching him like a hawk. Well, both him and the other two colorful Pussycats had been keeping an eye on him ever since the plunge.

Were they worried? Scared for him? Angry? He figured it was probably all of them combined. Well, Aizawa was probably just angry. Since that and Tired Look were Aizawa's favorites. But the only thing that was mostly visible was Aizawa's eyes. It was an hour before all the other students would wake up, the sun yet to even show a hint of rising.

The Pro Hero eye's drilled into Mineta's, his bloodshot eyes piercing into Mineta's. The boy had never felt so anxious before. The way he was being glared at, it made the grape boy wish he had angered someone else, perhaps Iida. He'd take head chops from the over dramatic class rep than being judged by Aizawa, who was probably also tired along with angry, since it was pretty early in the morning.

"Y-yes sir?" The feeling Mineta currently had was not unlike the feeling he had when the villains had attacked the camp and the USJ. Aizawa could have such and unsettling appearance sometimes. And him standing in the night wasn't helping either.

"I expect you know why you're standing here an hour early?" Aizawa asked, his tone implying there was no room for BS.

Mineta knew he'd have to be careful. Aizawa's glare combined with his crossed arms didn't make Mineta feel any better about his predicament. Straight to the point, then. He knew very well the events from yesterday were the main source of concern. He squeezed his eyes shut. "I...I..."

"Oi, Eraserhead!" A high pitched voice came from Mineta's left, catching the attention of both persons present. The voice revealed itself to be Pixie Bob, the blue Pussycat from yesterday, and the one who saved his hide from being splattered on the dirt after his idiotic stunt. Mineta silently thanked his lucky stars for the break, however long it lasted.

She was also followed by Mandalay, the red Pussycat. She politely greeted Aizawa as well, albeit a bit more calmly than Pixie. After the three Pros exchanged pleasantries, their attention was once again focused on the grape boy standing in front of them, still as a statue. All three of them seemed to be staring into his soul, with no words being said yet. Until Aizawa started talking again.

"Now, I'll ask again Mineta." The commanding voice once again was aimed towards him. "You know why you're here?" The grape boy nodded, although he did not answer again.

Pixie took a deep breath. "What I want to know is...Why?" Her voice had a very sad tone to it, as if it hurt to say it.

Mineta honestly hadn't been expecting a question like that. He raised an eyebrow in confusion. She would have to be more specific. Why what? He was half tempted to put a hand to his chin and ponder on it like how Tsuyu did, when she had something on her mind.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Pixie said. "You have your mother, don't you? There are people you can talk to about this. Depression isn't something you should have to handle by yourself."

Mineta felt his insides twist. It's not that. I want to tell you. "I-Im not depressed. I'm perfectly fine." Mineta said, then winced. Wow, that really did sound half assed. A toddler could lie better.

The looks on the adults faces informed him that they did in fact, not buy it. Who would? Why did he find himself stuttering? Why am I so easily stressed now?

Sighing, Pixie crouched down to eye level with Mineta, a small but understanding smile on her face. "Look, you can talk to us, okay? You don't have to do this." Pixie said with a stern but soft tone. She glanced over to Aizawa, then back to him. "I'm no counselor, but we can have someone take you back to UA and-".

Mineta's eyes went wide with panic. "NO!" he blurted out, waving his hands in a panicked matter. He realized the volume of his tone, and quickly shut his mouth. It didn't go unnoticed by the Pro Heroes.

Dammit! Stop blurting stuff out!

Aizawa's eyebrow raised at the suddenly rise of volume from Mineta. But he wouldn't budge. "Mineta, do you understand what you did? You attempted suicide. Do you know how serious that is? We cannot just brush this aside like it was an accident."
The grape haired boy couldn't hold it in. "No, no! I just, I just wanted to get a head start!"

The blank look from Aizawa was a telltale sign that he didn't buy it. "I find that hard to believe. You didn't even cry for help, you just settled for staying quiet and continue to plummet towards the ground."

No, no! I have to stay, I can't leave. But I can't tell them! Not yet at least. Gotta play this carefully.

"I...I...okay! Look please, I don't want to go back yet!" He had to save them. He had to. What kind of hero would he be if he didn't? He clenched his fist in frustration. By trying to get a head start ahead of the villains, he just fu-...messed this up royally. He massaged his head with his hands.

Eraserhead shook his head, a blank expression still on his face. "You are in clear need of help, Mineta. We're not doing this to punish you."

Shifting uncomfortably. Mineta shook his head as well. "Look, I can't leave yet! I'll do whatever you want after the camp! I really want to stay! I'm sorry, alright?" Mineta folded his hands. He had to resort to begging. He couldn't leave. Not yet.

His pitiful begging seemed to have gained some sympathy from the Pussycats. The two cat heroes looked undecided. Pixie and Mandalay then stepped away from Aizawa and Mineta. The two began to whisper to each other, inaudible to Mineta and the tired Pro Hero standing in front of him. Even Aizawa looked unsure to what they were muttering about in their little huddle up.

For after what seemed like long minutes, they finally ceased in their whisper session, and waved Aizawa over. "We think we have an idea."

His nerves were so wracked that Mineta managed to sweat even in the semi chilly morning air. Aizawa's back was towards him now, he was almost invisible in the borderline pitch black of the very early morning. His costume blended very well in the dark. Simple design, but very effective during the night. No wonder why he's such a good Pro Hero, even if he is underground. Without his eyes, I probably wouldn't have spotted him.

Once again, Pro Heroes began to whisper, just far enough that Mineta was unable to hear them. With how dark it was, he didn't bother trying to read their lips. He'd probably only get half of the stuff if he really tried. Sighing, Mineta found himself pouting grumpily. How badly could he mess this up? He should of planned more. I'm not All Might, that's for sure. He'd probably be able to fix everything with just punching someone or something.

Best part was, since All Might was All Might, the fact he could just fix anything wasn't something people questioned. Because he's All Might. His thoughts were halted when the whispering died down, making Mineta very aware of the quiet night air and the crickets who chirped at a rather average volume.

The Pro Heroes turned to face Mineta, and he braced for his judgment. This couldn't get any worse, right? Well, probably they could since Aizawa was probably a sadist.

Aizawa had a blank look as he turned and faced Mineta. "Mineta. Do you want to stay at this camp? Do you want to continue your path to become a hero?"

Mineta nodded eagerly. "Yes sir, please! I'm sorry!"

"Then you can stay at this camp..."

"YES!" Mineta almost shouted. He was safe! He got to stay. He...

"...on some conditions."

Eh? Conditions?"What conditions?" Mineta didn't like the sound of that. Conditions was just another way of saying something had a catch. So he intended to figure out what was the "catch". He stared up at them with a blank expression, waiting for an answer.

After a rather pregnant pause, Aizawa continued. "After we are done with the summer camp, and we return to UA. You are to visit a therapist and speak with them each week. Even during summer vacation. We will contact your mother after this, and inform her of this. So no vacation trips for you. If you fail to comply, there will be...unforeseen consequences." His voice was sharp, and left no room for any argument.

Mineta shuddered. "Unforeseen consequences, like what?"

Aizawa leaned down to eye level with Mineta. "I'll leave that to your imagination."

Shit, I honestly have no clue what he means... this was Aizawa!

He wouldn't get to visit that water park he his mother promised to take him to, but he couldn't just wuss out now. "Alright, alright." Mineta finally gave in "I'll do it." He didn't want to, but he didn't have a choice anymore. Considering that tomorrow night, hell would be breaking loose. Besides, maybe Aizawa would forget about it!

He knew that last thought was just wishful thinking. Because when Aizawa said he'd do something, he meant it. Mineta didn't want to talk to anyone though. He was fine! But...no. Did he dare? Would he dare to?

Mineta felt a burning sensation in his stomach, he suspected the burning was probably dread. Mineta knew what he had to do. He would have to play along, he'd explain to Aizawa after the impending camp attack was halted. He found himself hesitantly nodding. "Yes. Alright, I'll see the therapist. As long as I can stay. I'm sorry."

Now he was having a staring contest with Aizawa, neither parties budging.

Finally, the underground Hero backed down, annoyed at Mineta's blank expression. "Very well. I don't suggest you go back to sleep, you have less then an hour." His tone was going back to his normal bored expression, which was a good sign. Mineta thought so, at least. "There will be another condition, but we will go into that later. You should probably get warmed up, sitting around waiting for everyone else won't do your muscles good."

Yessir, sounds good. Gotcha.

Mineta bowed, and began walking away. Only a few seconds passed, and the sound of a second pair of footsteps made him well aware someone was following him. He stopped in his tracks, and glanced to his side. The blue clad Pixie Bob stood by him, a worried expression clear on her face, even with the lack of light in the sky. "Mineta. You still did not answer my question. And before you ask, Aizawa didn't send me after you. I came because I wanted some answers."

Mineta frowned. What was she going on about?

"I asked why you jumped. Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Pixie's question almost made Mineta snicker. Who would he tell? Right now, he was sure he was on bad terms with everyone in his class. Well, save Midoriya. How could you make that guy mad? "Who would care?" Mineta said. Then resisted the urge to slap himself when he realized what he just said. Didn't I JUST make a mental note to think before I spoke? Saying that definitely isn't going to help. He mentally cursed himself when he saw the way Pixie's eyes widened at his response.

"What do you mean? You're friends would care!" Pixie argued, her expression now that of complete worry.

Mineta sighed. Well, I already dug my own grave, might as well speak my mind. "Midoriya's the only one I think would care, to be honest." Mineta shot back. "You remember him right? Green haired kid. He's impossible to anger, unless you happened to be a villain attacking his friends."

Pixie nodded. He was one of the few boys who stuck out during the students fight against her earth beasts in the forests, right? She was keeping an eye on him, he was a fine young man. Strong and cool headed, and had cute little freckles. She was slightly disappointed that he wasn't 18. Pixie nodded. "Yes, he's a nice boy."

Mineta continued, "He's the only one who actually is still nice to me. I've been lashing out at my only other friend recently, and I've been feeling pretty terrible lately. I didn't have reason to be mean to the other people, but I still was." Mineta mentally slapped himself. Was this turning into a therapy session?

Pixie frowned at his response. "You should apologize to them." He wanted to, but he never got the chance yet. Since Monoma decided to jump in earlier yesterday before the students piled on the bus, he hadn't gotten the chance. Damn that blondie. "I've been wanting to," Mineta quickly said. "But I haven't gotten the chance." He knew that didn't sound like a good answer, and the fact Pixie's expression didn't change told him she didn't believe him.

His suspicions were confirmed when she huffed, probably in irritation at his lack of cooperation. "Just...do it today before or after training today, alright?"

Mineta nodded in response. He'd been wanting to do that. And he'd make sure to do it today. After a horrible experience yesterday, Mineta felt that he was getting back on track for the villain attack. Maybe he'd finally be able to figure out what he was going to do.

Maybe things wouldn't turn out so bad in the end.

Wow, I didn't rewrite much of this chapter, without my editing I think it holds up pretty well on its own! Well, if you enjoyed please Review/Follow/Fav