Twisted Nightmares
Chapter 21
New Faces.
SUMMARY:
Mineta catches a break, and gets to meet new people.
"Ah, greetings Mineta! You made it in time!" Iida exclaimed as Mineta approached him and Uraraka, who were both waiting at Midoriya's door.
The boy nodded as he trotted up to join his friends. "Yeah, made sure to get here a little early. Guess you guys had the same idea too." Mineta said.
Truth be told, he was very excited to be doing a little study session with his friends, it was a nice break from the paranoia, and terror he had felt these last few days, he was beginning to get sick of the word "camp".
"It's best to be early, rather than being late," Iida proclaimed. "I'd rather have someone be irritated that I was being a bit early than someone getting mad that I was late."
Mineta nodded. Iida had a good point, being early probably will cause a less angry reaction. "So, do we just wait like five minutes?"
Uraraka sweatdropped at the question. "That's what I was wondering, but I don't know if Deku is getting ready or not, I'm honestly a bit afraid to knock since we're here early." She rubbed the back of her head bashfully.
Mineta just shrugged. "I think we should wait, just in case he's getting something ready or something cleaned up."
Iida seemed to like the suggestion. "I agree, I think that we would not want to be rushed if we were in Midoriya's shoes right now."
And so they did, it was an awkward five minutes for the group, not having any topics to talk about. They either were lost in thought, or staring at their phone screen out of boredom. And one of them would occasionally sneeze every 30 seconds. Nothing really exciting happening, to Mineta's relief.
Because he was very much done with any sort of excitement at all, just from the past few days. He was hoping this would make him forget about this whole time travel stuff, if even for a moment. Right now he was standing with Iida, who had just put away his phone after shooting some family member a text. Uraraka seemed to be shuffling a bit nervously, no doubt anxious about being in Midoriya's home.
Finally losing his patience, Mineta lifted his hand to knock on Midoriya's door. He was pretty sure five minutes had passed, right? Well, he was about to find out either way, and he hoped that if he was wrong, Midoriya would not get too sour. But this was Midoriya, so the chances were in Mineta's favor either way since Midoriya didn't get mad easily. However, as Mineta's hand raised to knock, fate seemed to have a very different plan for him.
The plain looking door was suddenly aggressively swung open, surprising all three students. However, it was only able to open halfway, since a certain grape boy stood in it's way. Mineta cried out in pain as the door nailed him on his little forehead. A very audible thwunk could be heard as the door made contact with Mineta's skull. The force of the impact sent Mineta stumbling on the floor, as he clutched his head in agony. The door was quickly closed, and reopened just a little as a figure quickly squeezed out of the door.
Iida's eyes widened. "Mineta!"
Uraraka winced as she saw the door hit Mineta, knowing that had to hurt. "Ouch...Mineta, are you alright?"
"M-Mineta! I didn't mean to do that!"
Mineta was now acutely aware of a new voice now. He guessed it was Midoriya, since it was decidedly male. He didn't respond however, his normal breathing now reduced to hissing through his clenched teeth in pain. "Oh shi-...shoot, that hurts..." Mineta whispered out in pain. After roughly fifteen seconds of him hissing and clutching at his head, Mineta's eyes finally opened to concerned green ones.
"Mineta, are you alright?" Midoriya's expression was that of horror at what he had done. "I-I'm really sorry, Mineta! I heard you outside and I just thought that I making you guys wait, so I thought that I'd just open it so you didn't have to knock, I should of looked through the peekhole on my door before I opened it, I'm so sorry!"
Mineta just waved off his concerns as he held his head, a bit dazed. "Never start with the head, the victim gets all fuzzy." He giggled at his own little joke, to Midoriya's befuddlement.
"What?" The green haired boy said with a confused look on his face.
"Nothing. It's alright Midoriya, I should of just knocked earlier, it was rude of me just to wait out here." Mineta said, shaking his head of any dizziness. If you had asked him, he honestly knew that Midoriya was at fault here, but he knew better than anyone that a sad Midoriya was a beacon of tears, and Mineta did not want to see Midoriya cry. Making Midoriya cry was basically signing yourself up for Class A to execute you. Besides, the green haired boy obviously hadn't meant to do that.
He shook his head of the dizziness that was still there, and lifted himself up. "Well, this is your home, huh?" Mineta said, slyly changing the subject.
Midoriya nodded, a bit weirded out by Mineta's sudden cheerfulness, but a bit happier that the grape boy wasn't angry. "Oh, y-yeah! My mom's here, she's making us a meal!"
"That's rather nice of her Deku!" Uraraka exclaimed, a beaming smile on her face.
Midoriya smiled at Uraraka's optimism. "Y-yeah!" Midoriya's face was a little red now as he realized just how close the smiling girl was. "I-It was no biggie! Besides, it'll b-be more easier to st-study after we eat!"
"I agree!" Iida said. "A full stomach makes for a happy heart! Studying while in a better mood will most definitely make studying much easier for us!"
Midoriya seemed to be completely cheered up now, as if the whole "slamming the door into Mineta's head" situation had never actually happened. Mineta was fine with that though.
"W-well, we should go inside, no point in standing outside, heh heh!" Midoriya laughed nervously as he stepped inside into his home, beckoning for the others to follow. The others followed Midoriya into his home, where the scent of a home cooked meal assaulted their senses.
Uraraka's expression implied that she seemed to like what she was smelling though. "Wow Deku...that smells really good!" Uraraka said cheerfully.
Midoriya blushed. "Y-yeah, my mom's a great cook! I like Lunch Rush's cooking too, but my mom's home cooked meals..."
"Can't be beaten, right?" Mineta said with a smile, remembering how his own mother made meals for him, and sometimes would buy the expensive ingredients for his birthday meal. He didn't have many friends when he was younger, so he could relate to Midoriya and his affection for his mother.
The three guests walked into the dining room where chairs were set up neatly, with little white plates and bowls. Midoriya turned to the room where the scent of the food was the strongest. Mineta guessed it was the kitchen.
"Mom!" Midoriya called. "My friends are here!"
"I'll be a moment, sweetie!" A voice called from what was presumably the kitchen. Mineta noted it was a rather soft and friendly voice that was rather pleasant on the ears. Judging from the voice, Mineta definitely knew that she was a nice lady.
As they shuffled inside, Mineta frowned in thought. "Hey Midoriya?"
The green haired boy looked over. "Yeah?"
"I'm not mad about the door thing," Mineta began, "but why does your door swing outward? I thought house doors only swing inwards." Mineta said, scratching his head.
Midoriya had an embarrassed smile now. "Ah yeah, about that. It's temporary, our old door broke and we're using this one until we can buy a new one. We thought this would be a permanent replacement, only to find out the hinges were on the outside. So this is just temporary."
The students put their bookbags (which had their studying supplies), by the door after taking off their shoes. Although they were about to sit down, the voice halted their advance.
"I'm here, I'm here!" A hurried voice came out of the kitchen. Footsteps could be heard as a woman entered the dining room.
Midoriya looked at the approaching figure, and then back at his friends."Uh, this is my mom!" The green haired boy said with a smile on his face, gesturing towards the woman known as Inko Midoriya, or "Inko," walked out.
Mineta noted she was a rather short woman. She was a bit round, due her being a little chubby, but that just made her look more huggable in Mineta's opinion. Her face had a warm, friendly, affection smile. Her shining green eyes resembled Midoriya's, as well as her green hair. She was a spitting image of her son.
"Mom, meet my friends!" Midoriya said proudly, gesturing towards the students that stood in front of her. Midoriya pointed towards Uraraka, his crush. "This is U-Uraraka!"
The brown haired girl in question bowed, a smile on her face. "It's very nice you meet you Ma'am!"
Inko smiled. "A pleasure to meet you as well Uraraka! Such good manners!" Inko said, pleased at Uraraka's polite behavior. Her eyes lit up as she recognized Uraraka. "Oh, I remember you! I watched you in the Sports Festival! You put up a great fight against Katsuki."
Uraraka rubbed her head bashfully. "Ah...People still remember that," Uraraka said, recalling her humiliating defeat against the hot headed blonde. She didn't like to think about it. Student or not, she was not a big fan of Bakugo.
Inko seemed to understand she might of hit a sensitive spot for the brown haired girl. "Oh, I didn't want to bring up any unpleasant memories." Inko said, her face now showing regret, despite Uraraka's quick reassurance that it was "no biggie".
Midoriya then turned towards Iida. "That's Iida, he's one of the best students in my class!"
The bespectacled student smiled in pride at his high ranking in the class. He bowed in respect as well, although his bow was a big bigger."Greetings Mrs. Midoriya! You have my thanks for allowing us to enter your home!"
Inko closed her eyes and did a little curtsy, her smile growing. "You're very welcome! I know about you and you're family's hero work!" The green haired women gestured towards her son. "My little Izuku was a huge fan of your family when he was younger, I remember how he gushed over them!"
Midoriya covered his face while looking at the floor in embarrassment. "Mooooom..." Midoriya whined, obviously not wanting his mother to talk about his childhood.
Inko giggled, a warm smile on her face. "Alright honey. Didn't mean to embarrass you sweetie."
However, Iida seemed to stand even straighter. "I'm rather flattered Midoriya. I didn't know you held my family in such high regard." The bespectacled boy straightened his glasses. "My family aims to be inspirational to others, especially to the young minded!"
Inko shuffled a bit uncomfortably at the mention of his family. She glanced towards the floor with a sad expression on her face. "I'm sorry about your brother...I heard about it after it happened."
Iida looked at the floor, remembering his visit to his brother, and how his brother had given him the terrible news of his early retirement. He swallowed. "I...I appreciate your condolences." Iida's voice was surprisingly steady, although a bit quieter now than last time.
The room was deathly quiet now. Not a sound was heard, only the sizzling of Inko's cooking, reminding the woman that she was still cooking something. She straightened up, and her green eyes widened. "Oh! I have to get that! I'll be back in a moment!" Turning around, Inko hurried back into the kitchen.
Mineta's face was blank, as he hadn't been acknowledged by Midoriya's mother. "I'm also here too, by the way." Mineta blurted out sarcastically causing Uraraka to snicker at his subtle jab.
In response to his mother's sudden leave, Midoriya waved his hands. "Sorry! I don't think she noticed you..." His voice trailed off as he really couldn't say anything else.
Mineta however, shrugged it off. Even if he was a bit annoyed at not being seen by the woman, he honestly could see the humor in the situation. Being too short to be noticed by a short person was actually kind of amusing. He chuckled in amusement. "I'm sure she's just a bit frazzled." Mineta said with a smile on his face.
Laughing nervously, Midoriya rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, she can get like that sometimes, I should go help her finish her dish." The green haired boy turned and followed his mother into the kitchen, leaving his guests a bit bewildered at the sudden events that had transpired.
The sudden shift of tones left everyone a little baffled, until Mineta broke the silence. "Well, I think that went well enough, all things considered."
Uraraka still wore a small smile. "Yeah! It could of gone worse! I think it went pretty well too, Deku's mother is very nice!" She said cheerfully.
Iida hummed thoughtfully. "Yes. It appears it is never a dull moment in Midoriya's home, I'm sure of that."
"No kidding." Mineta said as they heard the clanking of dishes and pots coming from the kitchen as the two Midoriyas prepared the meal. Inko could be heard instructing Midoriya to give her certain spices and utensils. "Well, whatever they are making, smells pretty good!" Mineta said, backing the statement Uraraka made earlier.
Now it was awkward silence once more, Mineta having ran out of topics to discuss. Mineta went to pull out his phone to text Kaminari and Mina about how their studying was going, (No doubt if they answered, they would get scolded by Yaoyorozu for using their phones in the middle of a study session).
However, the savior from their boredom came in the form of a little woman named Inko Midoriya, with her son behind her. "Sorry about that!" Inko said. "I had to make sure it wasn't burning before it finished!" The short woman turned towards Mineta. "And I apologize for not noticing you, my thoughts are a bit scattered." Inko said as she leaned down a little, her face the same level as Mineta's.
The grape boy waved his hands. "No, it's okay! I kind of unintentionally placed myself behind them so it would probably be a bit difficult to spot me." Mineta wasn't kidding either, his small size made games like hide and seek laughably easy.
Midoriya stood by his mother as he gestured towards the grape boy. "Mom, this is Mineta!"
The purple boy in question smiled, and extended his hand. "It's nice to meet you miss!" Mineta said kindly.
Inko's smile somehow grew even larger at Mineta's gesture. "Aww, aren't you the cutest little thing!" She cooed, pinching Mineta's cheeks with her hands.
Although he was surprised, the boy simply lowered his arm and kept smiling, not bothered by her sudden act of affection. In his defense, he did look like a little kid in comparison to his classmates. Normally he'd get a bit flustered or annoyed at someone doing that... But it was the same issue as getting mad at Midoriya, it was just impossible to do. Inko was a pure soul, and a very nice mother. Midoriya could probably attest to that, seeing as he was one of the nicest people at UA.
Mineta settled for just smiling and let Inko be herself, not wanting the woman to feel bad. He did however make the mistake of attempting to speak as the woman pinched his cheeks. "Phank yu," Mineta attempted to thank her, but it sounded weird as his face was currently being squeezed by Inko.
Realizing the difficulty Mineta was having with speaking, Inko quickly released the grape haired boy from her grasp. "Sorry." She said sweetly, but her voice and her smile betrayed that she wasn't too sorry about it.
Mineta wouldn't hold it against her though, he personally found it hard to get mad at sweet mothers. "No problem. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Inko glanced towards the kitchen where her cooking meal was."Well, why don't we go to the living room? I've got 5 or 10 minutes until my meal is ready, so we could talk there." Inko suggested kindly.
"You don't sound very sure." Mineta said thoughtfully. "Aren't there instructions on the recipe stuff?"
Inko laughed. "Oh, there definitely are instructions, but I don't need the suggested times. I just eye it."
Mineta tilted his head. "Eye it?" He echoed in confusion.
"That's right," Inko said, winking at Mineta. "Call it Mother's intuition, I've been cooking long enough to know that kind of stuff, and when to know when it's ready. We got five-to-ten minutes until it's ready. Trust me, I know my cooking."
Mineta nodded, although a bit confused. He never really knew about "intuition" about cooking, but then again, he never really waltzed up to his mother while she cooked and asked if she had "read the directions". If he did, it'd probably earn him an odd look from her.
"But I agree with what she said earlier, we should go sit down!" Midoriya said, turning towards the living room. He beckoned the three students to follow him in. Mineta, Uraraka, and Iida followed the green haired boy to the couch and the extra chairs Inko had gotten out, just in case there wasn't enough seating for them. Mineta guessed from his behavior that he didn't get many guests.
"It's very nice to have finally met you kids," Inko said, sitting down herself after her guests were comfortably seated. "Izuku has told me so much about you kids and your class." Midoriya blushed a little in embarrassment. Inko smiled softly. "How's UA treating you kids?" Her voice, although kind, had a hint of worry in it.
Mineta had a good idea why though, with how UA's luck had seemingly gone rotten with all the villain attacks and dramatics in recent events. It had become a hot topic for drama articles and rumor magazines. News channels and papers had also had their piece of UA drama. He didn't blame her for her worrisome attitude on the subject. Lord knows what kind of rumors or theories Inko had heard.
"UA is a prime example of what all hero schools should be!" Iida said. "It's is the greatest Hero School in Japan!"
Uraraka nodded. "I think it's great! One of the best! I've learned so much, especially myself and how I can use my quirk, and so much about hero work!" Uraraka meant every word, and she got to meet a certain space themed hero as an added bonus to attending UA. She'd stay there forever if she could. Well, not forever, she had plans for her hero career, but she still loved being at that school.
"Yeah, I've learned a ton of stuff as well!" Mineta said gladly with a grin plastered on his face. He wasn't lying either, although it actually hadn't happened from a technical standpoint, the exams had inspired "Grape Rush", the move he used on Midnight, and the move he used on the villains. Although when he used it during the camp attack, he didn't yell "Grape Rush" since he was kind of trying to stealth attack them. Stealth attack sounds like something from a video game, heh.
"Yeah! My friends have definitely gotten stronger over these past few months!" Midoriya said, obviously proud of the progress his friends had made in developing and strengthening their quirks. "They've improved so much, and I have as well!" Midoriya was smiling again, although it appeared his mother was accustomed to his blinding smile.
Why, that's good to hear!" Inko said. "How are the teachers? Do they treat you fairly?"
Iida was about to go on another proclamation about UA, but Uraraka beat him to the punch. "The teachers are great! Having Pro Heroes as your own teachers is an amazing thing to experience!" She shuffled a bit, remembering a certain teacher. "Although Aizawa is actually pretty scary sometimes, and we see him the most out of all the other teachers."
Mineta nodded. "Yeah, if he's mad... that guy can get pretty terrifying, especially with those red eyes, eugh." Mineta shivered, remembering Aizawa's terrifying presence.
Iida hand twitched, as if it was tempted to start chopping. But the bespectacled student kept it under control, to Mineta's relief. "He's just doing what's best for us. Although he can seem rather cruel sometimes, Pushing us to our limits is the best way to quickly improve our quirks." He pushed up his glasses. "But I can agree, he can be rather intimidating with how he handles teaching."
Inko's eyebrows raised, her green eyes sparkling with curiosity. "He certainly sounds like a unique teacher. Is there any other teachers that are as notable as him?"
Mineta was extremely tempted to say "Midnight", but he'd probably get disapproving looks from basically everyone in the room.
Midoriya however, was content with voicing his opinion. "All Might is a great teacher!" Midoriya said cheerfully. His excited tone made Uraraka and Inko smile, who both were well aware of his admiration of the Number One Hero. "He's the best hero ever! He teaches us with Hero Basics, and we have training sessions, and sparring sessions, and heroes vs villain scenarios where one team are heroes, and the other are the villains! We get to fight and it's a cool way to learn about my classmates and their quirks!" Midoriya rambled on as his friends and mother listened, clearly amused at his adorable enthusiasm at the mention of All Might and UA in general.
"And I'm glad you like your school sweetie," Inko said. "I'm so proud that you got in UA. It's good to hear that it's everything you hoped for."
That earned her an enthusiastic nod from her son. "Yep! I don't regret going there!" Midoriya pumped his fist. "As long as I'm at UA, I'll always do my best!"
Uraraka nodded. "Yeah!" She said as Iida smiled and nodded in agreement.
Mineta however was more focused on Inko. He wasn't the smartest in the class sure, but that didn't mean he was an idiot. Although his friends were smiling and talking about their favorite school, Mineta was more focused on how Inko worriedly glanced at Midoriya.
More specifically, the ugly scars on his bare hands.
Midoriya also seemed to notice how his mother's smile was gone. "Mom?"
Inko just looked up, and gave a seemingly genuine smile. "Oh nothing honey, just have some things on my mind."
It wasn't genuine. Mineta himself had practice over time on acting. He knew a fake smile when he saw one. And something was definitely bothering Inko. Mineta knew better than anyone when someone was acting.
Inko glanced up towards the kitchen, her smile going down a little once more. "Oh, I have to finish that up, it's almost done. Mineta?"
Mineta glanced up in surprise at the woman who had a kind smile. She gestured for him to follow her. "Do you think you could give me a hand in the kitchen? I could use an extra pair of hands."
Even Midoriya looked up, caught of guard as well. "Oh, I can help with that Mom-"
"No, it's alright." Mineta said, waving off Midoriya's concerns. Whatever Inko was wanting, he wanted to know. Hesitantly getting up from his chair, Mineta reluctantly trailed after Midoriya's mother into the kitchen.
Inko watched as the small grape haired boy followed her into her kitchen, watching as he curiously looked around her kitchen. "Thank you for coming, I just needed some help," Inko said. "I'm an old woman, not as fast as I used to be."
Mineta frowned at her words in confusion. "But you're not old."
Inko let out a chuckle at that comment. "Izuku says the same exact thing. I can see why you get along with him so well."
The boy nodded thoughtfully. "Well, what exactly do you need help with?" Mineta looked at the hot meal on the stove top. "My height isn't exactly really the best for stuff like this if you need me to reach for spices or something or-"
"Actually," Inko began, cutting the boy off. "I needed your input on something that's been bothering me for a long time. Sorry for bringing you here, but I had to get your honest opinion."
Mineta, obviously confused, scratched his head in befuddlement. "If it's something like make-up or something, I don't really know a lot-"
Inko laughed. "Oh no honey, not that sort of thing, heavens no. It's more about UA."
Once more a confused expression was plastered on Mineta's face. "Well, UA is great, as I said before. I've learned-" Mineta trailed off when Inko's cheerful facade finally died.
The green haired woman rubbed her arm as she sighed. "I... I suppose I should be more honest. I asked you for a specific reason, Mineta. I originally wanted to talk to a teacher, but I wouldn't get the answers I truly wanted."
He shuffled uncomfortably, obviously nervous. Inko didn't want to stress the poor boy, but he was her best source for information on the matter. "You've just become friends recently with Izuku, is that correct?"
He froze, looking up at her with widened, shocked eyes. "How did you-"
"I'm sorry," Inko said. She felt slightly bad for cornering the boy. When her Izuku first came to UA, Uraraka and Iida were some of his first friends at UA. She remembered how happy he was when he came back from his first day, excitedly telling her about how he made friends, and just how nice it had been.
She almost cried at how happy her little boy was. The day he asked her if he could be a hero, and she cried and apologized to him over and over. The night ended with her embracing her baby, both of them having tears pooling out of their eyes.
But now, he had a quirk, and his seemingly impossible dreams were becoming a reality. All Might himself was a teacher at UA, and the #1 Hero was obviously Izuku's favorite. Izuku had probably never been happier, other than when he discovered that he had a lately developed quirk. And if she asked questions, Uraraka and Iida might be dodgy with their answers. She didn't blame them, they'd probably think they were protecting him. But she was his mother, and she needed to know what the students thought.
"You were with Izuku at the USJ attack, correct?" Inko said plainly, causing Mineta's eyes to widen again.
"Y-Yes ma'am." Mineta's voice shook a little as he spoke.
"Did it take long for the heroes to come and save you?" Inko's said, her voice holding no room for dodgy answers.
Mineta hesitated. "Well," Mineta said, scratching his head. "It definitely took longer than I would of liked." And he was honest about that too, the USJ attack was probably one of the worst experiences in Mineta's life. Well, one of the worst experiences. "I almost died."
Inko flinched from the comment, and took a deep breath. "Y-Yes, I'm aware of that. I'm glad Izuku loves UA, and his friends like him. But I never thought the attack would happen." Inko absentmindedly stirred at her food she cooking. "UA was Izuku's dream. And I felt horrible for not encouraging him once he got the letter of approval." She then gestured towards the living room, where Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida were conversing. "Do you see his hands?"
Mineta looked, and saw what she was talking about. Scars. Ugly scars on Midoriya's hand, from overuse of his quirk. Most people would probably notice them immediately upon meeting the green haired boy. "Yeah. I see them."
Inko continued, "UA is his dream, he obviously loves being there, but the longer he stays, the more he's getting hurt. I originally was so happy for him getting into UA. I cried from happiness when I found out he passed the entrance exams. But now, at least every month, something happens. He's broken more bones then he had during his entire childhood. He's hurting himself, and I don't know how much longer I can take it. My heart hurt every time I found out he managed to break another part of his arms or legs. You saw him in the Sports Festival, right?"
Another nod from the silent grape boy.
"It was one of the worst experiences of my life. As if coming to the hospital to see my baby boy hurt wasn't bad enough...I had to stare at my television and helplessly watch as my sweet little Izuku willingly destroyed his own body in his fight. It tore my heart in half to see his arms be completely destroyed." Inko's voice started to strain, as if she was trying not to cry. She sniffled. "The longer he stays in that school, the more he gets hurt."
Mineta's eyes widened, finally catching on to what she was saying. "Are you saying you're thinking about pulling Midoriya out of UA?"
Inko nodded, her eyes watering. "I've been considering it, yes. But I know if I did, Izuku would be devastated if I did. But I'd rather have him mad at me than..." She trailed off, not daring to even finish the sentence. She sniffled, and took a tissue from the table to wipe at her eyes. "I don't know what to do, I'm wanting to take him out for his safety."
Inko took a deep breath, trying to hold in a sob that threatened to break out. She knew if Izuku heard her crying, his instinct would kick in, and he'd rush into the kitchen to comfort her. "Do you think UA is capable of keeping my baby boy safe?" Inko whispered. "I'm not going to ask the teachers. I know how they can be when trying to convince a parent, especially how confident they can be in their system."
After hearing that, Mineta realized the other reason why Inko had chosen him. Mineta hadn't been friends with Midoriya as long Uraraka or Iida had, and their answers might be biased for Midoriya's sake. Mineta couldn't blame them though, they cared greatly for their green haired friend. And also they weren't with Midoriya on the boat during the USJ attack. Inko must have read the police report, so she had done her research.
Inko continued, "Do you think that the teachers there can keep my son safe? In your personal experience, do you think they care capable of protecting their students?"
Mineta began to panic a little on the inside. Ever since the first camp attack, he had small doubts about the teachers ability to protect them. But those traitorous thoughts were always quickly stomped out. "But, all the other students were at the USJ too!" Mineta said, his voice a little desperate. "My mom hasn't pulled me out!"
"But Izuku had injuries from the encounter," Inko countered. "If you were hurt like my little Izuku has at his time at UA, what do you think your mother would say? What would she want?"
Her words stopped any arguments that Mineta had. Midoriya's mother had a solid point. He imagined his own mother, and her distraught reaction if he'd been scarred and injured like Midoriya. "She...she'd want me out of UA."
Inko nodded, seemingly a little satisfied that she'd gotten him to see her side of the story. "Do you think the teachers can make sure the students are safe then? Do you feel safe at UA?"
Mineta wanted to reassure her, tell her that she had nothing to worry about. But as he thought about it, his own experiences in UA stopped him. The attack at USJ was an awful experience, but it didn't compare to dying and waking up. He remembered crying the first time, fully convinced that it just had to be a nightmare. It just had to be. Only to find out he was dead wrong. And he was fully aware that there was to be an attack on the summer camp. Midoriya would be in danger. Well, everyone would be in danger obviously.
"Please don't lie to me." Inko said.
It was a simple plea. She wanted to know what he thought truthfully. Mineta knew she must of seen the conflict on his expression. Should he lie? Or tell her the truth?
"I..." Mineta began, but hesitated. If he told her the truth, it might have irreversible consequences. But the poor woman was wanting at least some kind of answer. Midoriya had been blissfully unaware that as he went to school, that his mother was considering pulling him out. But she deserved an answer. So he gave it to her. "No. I don't think they'll be able to keep him safe." Mineta said.
Inko's stern look died. She grabbed another tissue, wiping at her eyes once more. "I understand." Inko said, taking a deep breath in, trying to steady her breath, although she ended up failing. She sniffled again. "Thank you for being honest." Her voice shook with emotion, sounding close to borderline crying.
Mineta however, wasn't finished. He quickly shook his head. "I wasn't finished."
Inko looked up, slightly confused at his comment. "What do you mean?"
Mineta glanced at Midoriya. "I don't think he'll need the teachers to protect him. You read what happened at the USJ, right?"
Inko nodded. "Yes, Izuku, the police, and the teachers filled me in on what happened. News sites were swarming the topic." She stirred her spoon in the pot nervously.
Taking that as a sign to keep going, Mineta continued, "Did Midoriya tell you that he saved my life?"
Inko's eyes widened with surprise. Her little Izuku hadn't said anything about saving them. "No, he didn't."
Mineta kept going. "Well, he did. I was on a boat, scared out of my mind, just a sniveling little coward. I was convinced we were going to die. It was me, Midoriya, and..."
He trailed off, not knowing what to call Tsuyu. Inko probably had no idea who the frog girl was, and he didn't know if Tsuyu considered him a friend. "Another classmate. We were stuck on the boat, and we were surrounded by villains. We were essentially cut off from any help from other classmates. I was crying, scared out of my mind. I was basically useless in the situation, until Midoriya came up with a plan. He utilized all of our quirks, and we managed to defeat the villains. After that, we got attacked by more, and Midoriya risked his life to save me and my classmate." Mineta winced, remembering how the Nomu and the hands dude tried to kill them. Midoriya was ready to give his life to protect them, and Mineta would never forget that. "If you had pulled Midoriya out before the USJ attack I would be dead."
Mineta remembered it as clear as day, how they all crouched on the deck of the boat. How Mineta himself started crying from terror, blubbering on about how useless his quirk was, the situation seemed hopeless. How could they win? They were hopelessly outnumbered. It was three heroes in training versus an entire squad of murderous, bloodthirsty villains. All odds were against them.
But Midoriya just smiled, had that heroic glint in his eyes, and came up with a plan that actually worked. Mineta remembered how amazing it felt when he saw his grapes actually able to trap the villains. He was useful! He remembered how some people poked fun at him, saying that he would never be able to get into UA, especially with his quirk. Even though he proved them all wrong, he still didn't feel very confident about himself, or his quirk. Until UA. He saw that he could be a hero.
Inko seemed to physically recoiled from Mineta's bluntness about him dying, and how little he seemed bothered at the idea of him dying.
Mineta went for the bullseye. "Midoriya is probably one of the best students in our class, although he isn't scoring the highest educational wise, his probably the most likely candidate to become a Pro Hero. Midoriya saved. My. Life."
Mineta stopped when he saw Inko's shocked expression. Her hands were over her mouth.
"Miss Midoriya?"
His words shook Inko from her stupor. "He, he really is a hero, isn't he?" Inko finally said through her tears. She had a smile, although it had a bit of sadness in it. She looked back into the living room, where Izuku was laughing with his friends, and talking about heroes and quirks. "He never told me he personally saved you." Inko wiped away more stray tears. "Of course he wouldn't. My little Izuku is sometimes too humble for his own good. Thank you for telling me Mineta."
The grape haired boy felt a swelling feeling in his chest. Was that pride? Mineta's reward for his honesty came in the form of free headpats from Inko, which he gladly accepted.
She glanced at the meal on the stove. "It's almost ready, you should go with your friends. I already ate, so I'm sure you have a lot of catching up to do."
Mineta turned and started walking towards his friends, but was stopped by Inko.
"And Mineta?"
The grape haired boy looked behind him.
Inko smiled softly. "Thank you for your honesty."
Mineta smiled and gave a thumbs up.
"Ah, hey Mineta!" Midoriya called to the returning grape haired boy. "Sorry if you didn't want to help, I uh, didn't think she'd ask you for help, and we were-"
What was with the Midoriyas and their apologizing? Sure, it was adorable, but sometimes it felt like they tried to make you feel bad. That obviously wasn't the case however. If you told Izuku that you thought he was trying to make you feel bad, he'd just apologize again. It'd be an endless cycle. So Mineta just smiled and accepted his apology. "No biggie, you're mother is a very nice woman."
Midoriya seemed relieved at nonchalant attitude. "Oh, that's good. I'm guessing it's almost ready?" The grape haired boy nodded. Midoriya smiled in response, "I think we should move to the dining room."
The four UA students all were nicely seated, and to Inko's credit, her food was actually amazing. It reminded Mineta of his own mother's cooking.
"Vis if gweat!" Uraraka said, mouth full of food. Her expression could be only described as complete bliss. Inko's cooking was not something to underestimate, Iida, Uraraka, and Mineta could attest to that. The brown haired girl felt slightly envious that Midoriya got to have homecooked meals this good.
Since Inko already ate, she had seated herself in the living room while the children enjoyed her cooking.
Midoriya was going to say something, but stopped. He saw as Mineta sat blankly, not taking anymore bites of his food. "Mineta? You ok?"
Mineta looked up. "Y-yeah, I was just lost in thought." Midoriya nodded his head in understanding. "What's on your mind?" Midoriya said.
Mineta simply looked up. "Do you know anything about time travel?"
Below me once more is from the original draft, and since it has to do with replying to reviews, I'm keeping it here. Including the large paragraph explaining this chapter. I changed some sentences once more, and separated the run on paragraphs to make it look neater. If you enjoyed, please Review/Follow/Fav! Cya
Mineta learns that he isn't the only one trying to protect people. Writing Inko is a ton of fun, she's so innocent and pure, (And huggable!) One of my headcanons is that she can read people pretty easily, mothers instinct. Which is why she asked Mineta about this, she knew he wasn't just a childish kid. ALSO the other reason why she asked a student instead of a teacher is because the teachers weren't there at the beginning of the USJ attack, other then the ones that were there already. She wanted to know how safe the student's thought they would be. And if she started confronting the teachers, Midoriya might find out, and...you know. Drama. Inko wasn't completely ready to take Izuku out of UA, just heavily considering it as you saw. As you noticed, this was a dialogue heavy chapter, but it was an excuse to put Inko in the story. And yes, I'm finally back after all this time. It wasn't the greatest week at the camp, and when I got back and started on the chapter, I got a horrible crick in my neck, making moving my neck complete agony. You can imagine it didn't help for writing as I sat in front of a computer. To make things worse, I lost a follower or two. Because you guys are helping me keep going with this story, that hit me pretty hard. But I'm thankful for anyone else who's still here with me, favorite/follow/reviewers. I'm glad you're here. I'm once again sorry that this is mostly filler, I hope you guys understand. Also anyone else get that reference near the start? I had a good chuckle writing it. Also, if you're wondering why I was being so vague about what dish Inko was making, is because I know little to none about Japanese foods and culture, and I'm not going to pretend that I do. So sorry about that. Alrighty, time to answer reviews!
Ickarium chapter 20 . Jun 2
Oh, my bad. I don't know much about that guy, or what Re:Zero even is. But time powers are always nice in fiction, most of the time! Let's hope it won't be as grim!
Crimson Revenant chapter 20 . Jun 2
I tried to develop him a bit more in this chapter as well! And yeah, seeing Mineta being bashed just because people don't like him is kind of dumb. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
fencer29 chapter 20 . Jun 2
Yeah, Mandela effect is an odd thing. I don't know myself if it will be a plot point, we'll just see how the story develops! And I didn't mean to hate on your review style, I appreciate criticism, it helps develop my writing story. I hope to see you next time.
Kai Dragoon chapter 20 . Jun 3
We'll just have to see! I got stuff planned, and it's gonna be something. I can't say much without spoiling it.
bajy chapter 20 . Jun 3
Thanks, I'm glad you're looking forward to more.
Echonic chapter 20 . Jun 3
Yeah, I look kind of dumb now don't I? Sorry about that, to you and Ickarium, XD If I get the time, I might. Is it on Hulu or Netflix or any streaming service for that matter I wonder.
Uniquebooks chapter 20 . Jun 3
I'm trying my best, believe me.
The Keeper of Worlds chapter 20 . Jun 3
Thank you lots, man! I'm very happy to see you're pumped for more! Cuz I am as well!
Guest chapter 20 . Jun 3
That's one of my main ideas with this story, other than story progression is developing Mineta and how using his second quirk changes him, for better or worse, we have yet to see. Thank you for reading my story!
Perran Onh chapter 20 . Jun 5
All you had to do was follow the damn train, Mineta!
B312 chapter 20 . Jun 8
Glad to hear you enjoy this! I think it isn't the best, but I'm thankful that some people like this story.
Tom chapter 20 . Jun 6
Thanks for the rather beefy review man! I'd like to clarify something. It does NOT branch into a bad timeline permanently after Mineta dies. It's just his quirk doesn't immediately take effect upon death. You know how when you're trying to sleep, and you finally conk out? There's this unexplainable amount of time between falling asleep and waking up? It is why Mineta "Wakes up" after he dies. It's because his quirk has taken effect. It's why I only write a few paragraphs of their reactions to Mineta's death, as it takes some time for his quirk to take effect. There's little chance that'll change, but I don't know how to even develop that other type of spin off story for "Alternate Universes". So for now, Mineta's quirk rewinds time. No alternate universes. And I do agree, some of the stuff they do to Mineta just because they hate him is really messed up. On the archive of our own website, there's multiple tags where "Mineta doesn't exist" or some shit like that. I know they don't like him, but really?