Twisted Nightmares
Chapter 24
Swing And A Miss?
Midorya has a heart to heart with a sullen Uraraka.
Mineta patiently watched as Iida and Ojiro were congratulated on screen as his friends cheered for them beside him. Nothing really had changed, other than the fact he also told Midoriya exactly how this exam would end as well. He smiled at Midoriya's jaw dropping in shock once more once the predicted events had happened. Although the others were fine with voicing their happiness.
"They're both amazing!"
"Iida's pretty cool!"
Todoroki and Yaoyorozu's also went by mostly the same, although Mineta decided to hold his tongue and keep poor Midoriya in suspense. Although for this one Midoriya actually didn't ask about what would happen. But Mineta did notice the occasional nervous glance Midoriya sent him while they watched, to his amusement.
Same as last time, Yaoyorozu's panic, then her sudden comeback with help from Todoroki went by as usual. Business as usual. As everyone cheered for the two, Mineta looked at Uraraka from the corner of his eye. The brown haired girl seemed to be shuffling a bit nervously in place. Oh yeah, it's her turn. He briefly recalled sending Midoriya after her last time, as Uraraka hadn't exactly been radiating confidence on her way out. The way she had strode out a bit hesitantly, the nervous look on her face she had tried to cover up with a smile that practically screamed "help". Granted, Mineta could understand being nervous about the exams, he wasn't very confident at first, but both times his plan worked when he managed to stop being such a wuss.
The brown haired girl turned to everyone else. Her nervous smile returned just like before. "Eheheh... Well, I guess it's my turn then?"
"Y-Yeah!" Midoriya managed to squeak out when Uraraka's brown eyes landed on him. He gave a shaky smile. "Good luck Uraraka!"
Sero nodded in agreement whilst giving a thumbs up. "You got this in the bag!"
Mineta hummed in agreement. "You'll do fine." Even if you're partner has a rather large ego. Well, not as big as Bakugo's.
As Uraraka nervously walked out, Mineta noticed that Midoriya had begun to frown, although a bit thoughtfully. Just like last time. Well, might as well did what I did last time. "Psst, Midoriya!"
The green haired boy glanced down at him curiously. "Yeah? What's up?"
Mineta jabbed his thumb towards the shutting door. "Did you see Uraraka? She wasn't exactly radiating confidence..." He said, adding a bit of worry in his voice. "I think something might be wrong." As Mineta expected, Midoriya instantly took the bait. The boy's green eyes widened in concern.
The green haired boy did a double take at the door. "Really? What do you mean?"
Mineta made sure to put a thoughtful expression on his face. "Well, I think she might be lacking in confidence. Something must of happened before..." He put his hand on his chin. "Any idea if something happened recently? Something that could of damaged her self confidence?"
Midoriya frowned as he looked at the floor. A few seconds past, and suddenly his eyes widened. "I-I think I know! It's when she-"
"No, don't tell me!" Mineta quickly whispered as he quickly tilted his head in the direction of the door. "Go tell her, she's about to take her exam! If you're quick, you could catch up with her!" He subtly made sure to add a bit of desperation onto his voice, just to get the point across.
The boy nodded quickly, caught off guard at Mineta's raise in tone. "R-Right!" Midoriya squeaked, as turned and jogged out of the room.
Mineta felt a rather satisfied smile come to his face. All too easy. He went to turn back to watch the screen. Let's just hope that Midoriya doesn't say anything dumb.
"Didn't know you were one to play match up Mineta, this is new." A chipper voice said from beside Mineta.
The grape haired boy turned around to see Sero with a smug smile plastered on his face.
The tape boy jabbed a thumb at the door. "I figured someone like Mina would be more cut for a job like that. Never knew you specialized in hooking people up."
Mineta smiled in amusement as he rubbed the back of his head bashfully. "Is it that obvious?"
"Very," Sero said. "Next time try to be a bit more subtle, you're lucky that Midoriya can be kind of clueless sometimes." The black haired boy instinctively went to scratch an irritating itch on his head, only to realize his helmet was obstructing his hand. He moved to take it off. "Although, I'm kinda glad you're doing the whole match up thing."
Mineta tilted his head curiously as Sero took his helmet off to aggressively scratch at his black hair. "Really? Why's that?"
Rolling his eyes as he relieved himself of the itch, Sero groaned. "Oh please, you think you're the only one who notices Midoriya and Uraraka? It's physically agonizing to watch them interact, but neither of them having enough of a spine to make a move. They always manage to dance around the topic of romance or anything being more than friends. When I see them do that... I believe the term is second hand embarrassment."
"Actually," Mineta began as he turned back to the screen, "I'm also happy I'm not the only one who notices. They clearly got something going for each other, but they both start blushing and blabbering incomprehensible stuff, and then run off before anything beyond that happens."
Sero nodded in agreement. "So that's why you sent him after Uraraka then." He crossed his arms as he leaned against the railing. "Think he'll do well?"
"Well," Mineta began as he licked his chapped lips, "I doubt he's going to sweep Uraraka off her feet, he's not exactly Prince Charming. If he manages to stutter his way onto first base, I'd count that as an success."
"Mhm." Sero hummed in agreement. Then his face twisted into an expression of confusion. "Wait, isn't first base kissing?" He chuckled, "Midoriya would have to be one hell of a silver tongued devil to pull that off today."
"Oh." Mineta squeaked out, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. Now he had a weird image of Midoriya somehow seducing Uraraka under the span of ten minutes. He slapped his head as he quickly shook the thought out of his head. Thanks for the mental image Sero. "I...I didn't know that. Then where would he be right now if he successfully scores a few points today?"
Sero shrugged while he scratched out some eye crust. "Dunno. Home base? Like you said earlier, he's not exactly the handsome type. If any girls make any comments on his looks, it's not gonna be 'Wow, he's so hot', it'll probably be 'Aw, he's as cute as a button!'."
Mineta hummed absentmindedly. "Yeah, I guess." He looked back up at Sero, head tilted. "Wait, if even if he succeeds with Uraraka, and gets to home base, where is he right now from a technical standpoint?"
Sero leaned against the little railing near the screens. He looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully as he considered the question. "Well..." Then his lips curved upwards, eyes twinkling in amusement. "The bleachers."
"Ha! I suppose so!" Mineta cackled as he eyed the door once more, "Let's just hope the coach doesn't bench Midoriya then."
Mineta turned upon hearing tutting from beside him. He and Sero turned to see Recovery Girl shaking her head. Oh right. I completely forgot she was there.
"I hope you're not corrupting your classmates, Mineta." Her tone seemed monotone enough, but the two troublemakers knew that she wasn't approving of their behavior.
The grape haired boy put his hands up defensively. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Sero rubbed the back of his head. "Maaaaybe we should be a bit quieter when we talk. We were kinda being a bit loud." He had a nervous grin on, not wanting to face Recovery Girl's wrath. She was small, but anyone knew making her angry was a very, very, bad idea.
The elder nurse frowned. "I sincerely hope you have the best intentions for your classmates, both of you."
Mineta pouted as he crossed his arms. "Hey, I've been trying to do better!" He jabbed a thumb at the black haired boy standing beside him. "Sero's noticed too!" Hope he doesn't mind getting put on the spotlight.
Luckily, Sero was content to nod in agreement, to the grape boy's relief. "That is true. Mineta has been changing for the better, just ask any other students!" He put on a winning smile as he gently elbowed Mineta, "He's been a lot more polite, he's been taking schoolwork more seriously, he's been a LOT less of a filthy pervert as well."
Mineta winced instinctively at Sero's wording of him. "Ouch, I know I wasn't that great of a person, but 'filthy'? That kinda hurts, Sero."
Shrugging awkwardly, Sero flashed the grape boy a weary grin. "Well, you were kinda scummy back then Mineta, no offense. Although you're doing pretty great so far."
Recovery Girl seemed to take his words into consideration as Sero and Mineta shuffled uncomfortably under her gaze. After a few awkward seconds, her expression softened. "If that's true, then I'm happy for that. I'm glad that you realized there's more to UA than getting popular with girls."
Mineta's felt his shoulders droop. "Yeah. When I look back it's pretty embarrassing to remember. I was pretty stupid, huh?"
"I don't think 'stupid' would be the correct wording," Recovery Girl said. "I think 'misguided' would be the better word. Although it's good to hear that you're changing from the better." But she shot a wary look towards the metal doors. "I just hope you sending young Midoriya after Uraraka won't have any... unforeseen consequences."
Let's hope. Mineta thought to himself as he looked at the door as well. Wonder how he's doing right now?
"H-Hey! Uraraka!"
A tinny but familiar voice made Uraraka halt in her tracks, she turned around to see that Deku was jogging up to presumably catch up with her. She waved, although a bit confused. "Deku! Is there something you need?" Did I leave something? She looked down at her costume and began to check herself to see if all of her gear was still there. Helmet? Check. "Or did I forget something back there?"
"No, it's just..." Deku sighed, his shoulders visibly sagging down. "I...I just needed to talk to you for a minute. Do you... have the time?"
Uraraka quickly caught on to Deku's expression. Deku looks kind of sad... "Of course I do! Always! Is.. something the matter?"
"Wh-What? Of course not!" Deku started, then averted his eyes nervously. "Well, that's not exactly true, heh..it's just..."
Uraraka instantly picked up on Midoriya's tone. "What? What's wrong Deku?"
"Just..." Deku rubbed his shoulder, as if he would regret what he was about to say. "Please don't take this the wrong way."
Uraraka felt a sense of dread upon hearing his words. That doesn't sound good, but if he wants to say it... "Of course Deku, I promise I won't take offense."
"Th-Thanks. It's just... I've noticed you weren't really confident in yourself lately..."
Whatever Uraraka was thinking, came to a complete, screeching halt when she heard those words. What? She squinted her eyes, thinking she had heard Deku incorrectly. "What?"
"I..I don't mean offense Uraraka!" Deku squeaked out fearfully. He waved his hands frantically. "I just... I saw the way you walked out, it's not like you to look..I mean... I don't mean you look bad, I-I mean you looked kind of down? I know it sounds dumb, but I'm...worried about you..."
She felt her heart skip a beat. Worried...about me? "Oh, there's no need Deku!" Uraraka said, putting on a reassuring smile she knew herself wasn't genuine. "I'm perfectly fine!"
Deku's expression tensed into one of concern. "Uraraka... are you sure? You can tell me what's bothering you...if that's okay."
Uraraka's smile began to weaken. She waved off his concern. "It's...it's nothing, Deku. Nothing you need to worry about." She cringed, and resisted the urge to slap herself after the words came out of her mouth. Dang it, I just literally admitted that something IS bothering me! She quickly tried to repair the damage. "Don't worry about me!"
Deku almost seemed to want to back down, but quickly recovered from whatever was holding him back as he continued. "B-But... Uraraka.. you're my best friend! Please... if it's not too personal.. you can talk to me..." He looked up at her with his big green eyes, pleading for her to open up.
Uraraka cursed herself as she found herself under the gaze of Deku's green glistening eyes, as if tears were threatening to spill out any second. She began to lose a battle of will the more she looked at Deku. All this because Deku noticed my slouching earlier... Finally cracking, her fake smile died. Uraraka sighed, looking at Deku with a sad smile on her face. Letting out a hollow laugh, she continued, "Heh. Guess I should work on my posture, huh?"
The green haired boy gave out a rather forced chuckle himself, although stopping immediately when he realized how dumb it was. "C-Can you tell me?"
Uraraka started to nod softly. "Y-Yeah..." she found herself exhaling a shaky breath she had been holding in. When did I start that? "To tell the truth Midoriya... I just feel like I could be a better hero than I am right now."
As she expected, Midoriya immediately denied her claim. "Wh-What? What are you talking about Uraraka? You're one of the best I've ever seen!"
She nodded sadly. "I'm grateful you think so Deku. But it's just... sometimes I feel I could be so much more. I feel like I'm being a disappointment sometimes...Like when I put everything into accomplishing something, and I fail."
Midoriya's eyes widened. He put his hands up halfway, but dropped them back down. "Wait... you mean like the S-Sp-"
"Sports Festival, yeah." Uraraka finished for him. Wow, am i really that easily readable? "It's ironic when you think about it." She let out a laugh that held no humor. "Remember when I was telling everyone I'd do my best?"
The green haired boy nervously nodded. "I-I do."
"Yeah. I told everyone I did my best, and I was confident that I could succeed. Well, trying my best... didn't seem to be enough, huh?" Uraraka ran her fingers through her hair. "Funny, huh?"
"Th-That's all right Uraraka!" Midoriya said hesitantly. "I failed too, I know how you feel about it..."
"I know," Uraraka said quickly, her eyes beginning to water. "But at least you had a chance. I know Yaoyorozu also lost without getting a single hit in, but she got knocked out because she...really didn't have a plan." She cringed upon the mention her other classmate. It sounds like I'm talking down to her. "But I was so sure I could beat Bakugo, but I just got completely flattened. Bakugo didn't even break a sweat, and I made myself look pretty weak." She averted eye contact with Deku before he could see her eyes water. "I know it's just a dumb competition, and just a silly little medal..."
"U-Uraraka..."
"But... the more I think about it, the more I realize how low my chances are in the exam." Uraraka rubbed at her eyes, her hands wet when she brought them back down. "I couldn't even beat my classmate, and I'm expected to go up against a Pro Hero. I know they got the weights, but..." With who my teammate is, and the hero I'm going up against... "It feels like the odds are against me, ya know?"
"Uraraka..." Deku whispered out, disbelief on his face. It seemed the boy was having a hard time accepting this new information. "H-Have you always felt this way?"
"N-Not always..." Uraraka said, picking up on Deku's shaky voice, her eyebrows scrunching up in concern. Did I make him cry? "I had my doubts before I went to this school, but during the entrance exams, I needed help to get a rock off me. That didn't really do much for my self confidence, heh."
"O-Oh," Deku whispered, uncertainty in his tone. "I didn't mean to patronize you, I thought you were in danger and-"
"No, no." Uraraka said, gently waving her hands. "I'm grateful to you Deku! Without you, I probably would have been crushed. It's... I guess you could say I'm disappointed in myself sometimes." She looked down at her right hand, looking at the little pads on her fingers. "I'm trying my best Deku, but I don't know that it'll be enough, it might be-"
Whatever Uraraka was going to say was abruptly halted when two gloved hands wrapped around her hand. Her eyes went wide when she realized that it was Deku's gloved hands that was gripping her hand. He gave her a reassuring squeeze. Her face almost seemed to burn on instinct. "D-D-Deku?" She squeaked, a bit too loudly for her liking. "Wh-What?"
"Uraraka, look at me. Please."
The brown haired girl tore her gaze from his hands, and forced herself to look up, and immediately regretted her decision. Deku's radiant green eyes shone, full of concern, and...understanding? Uraraka swallowed and tried to steady her breath. Why is my heart pounding?
"Uraraka..." He said, letting out a weak laugh. "I uh, suppose this is the part where I say 'I won't pretend that I know how your feeling', but...I know what that feeling is like." The boy's eyes wandered down to where he held Uraraka's petite hand. "I've felt like that for most of my life, before I got into UA..."
Her eyes widened. "D-Deku? What do you mean?"
Deku's eyes also had water in them as he looked back down to Uraraka's hand. "Did I ever tell you that I'm a late bloomer? That my quirk developed very later on in my life?" He subconsciously squeezed his friend's hand a bit tighter.
Her eyes went huge at the information. "Y-You were? I d-didn't know..."
The green haired boy nodded softly, blinking away the wetness in his eyes. "Yeah. Back then me and my mom thought that I was quirkless, and it kinda..." Deku reluctantly removed his hands from Uraraka's and stared at his own gloved palms. "Put a sudden halt to my dreams as a kid..."
As Deku released his grip, Uraraka exhaled the breath she didn't even realized she'd been holding in. She felt relieved that Deku had let go, but a small part of her felt...disappointment? Why am I feeling disappointed? No! I can't be thinking about that right now! Regaining her focus, she quickly pushed the thought of the way temporarily as she eventually managed to look up at Deku's freckled face. "S-So you're saying you were essentially quirkless when you were a kid?"
Deku's green eyes looked back up and locked with Uraraka's brown ones. "Y-Yes. When the doctor told me, I was crushed. I always wanted to be a hero ever since I saw All Might for the first time, but when I was told I was quirkless... well I was alone." Deku tightened his hands into fists. "Everyone told me I couldn't be a hero because I didn't have a quirk." He uncurled his digits, and ran his left hand through his green hair. "The kids at my school liked to make fun of me for being quirkless. Even my teacher didn't care. To them, I was just there for them to push around whenever they saw fit."
"Th-That's horrible..." Uraraka whispered, wincing as she now had a disturbing image of Deku being made fun of by everyone in the class, with no one to protect him. "Y-You don't have to talk about it if you don't want t-to.."
The boy simply waved off her concerns. "It's all right Uraraka. I can handle talking about it." He gave a soft smile in hopes of not agitating Uraraka anymore. Once she seemed to calm down a little, he continued, "Although I tried to be optimistic. Quirk or not, I still would try to get into UA. I analyzed quirks in my notes, hoping that it would help somehow into getting into UA. But..." Deku shuffled a bit uncomfortably. " Everyone still made fun of me for wanting to go into UA since I didn't have a quirk. Thanks to that, I still had a small amount of doubt later on. I tried really hard to ignore it, but after awhile... it started to get to me slowly over time." He smiled and took a deep breath. "But I thankfully got my quirk, and it helped me cope with the nagging feeling."
Uraraka held her breath as she felt Deku's hand on her shoulder. "I-I-I... U-Uh, D-D-Deku?" She whispered, but not loud enough for him to hear.
Deku squeezed her shoulder in an effort to reassure her. "I...I won't patronize you Uraraka. What am I trying to say is... I know that these feelings are...difficult to deal with, and that they won't go away in just a few days. But I promise that they won't be permanent. You don't have to go through this yourself, Uraraka. You...you can talk to me..."
I... What do I say? Uraraka thought to herself, as she considered the boy who was squeezing her shoulder. "I...I don't know Deku...I don't want to burden you with my problems..." And my insecurities. Her subconscious reminded her.
Deku gently squeezed her shoulder once again in response. "Uraraka, it's not a burden, ok? You'll never be a burden to me. Besides, I want to help you, no one is forcing me to help. It's the best I can do to repay you."
Whatever Uraraka was expecting him to say, it wasn't that. Repay me? She cocked her head to one side as she squinted her eyes. "What do you mean Deku? Repay me for what?" I don't remember having him owe me any favors...
The green haired boy's soft smile transformed into a grin of mild amusement. "You know! For everything you've done for me!"
"I don't...?"
"Ever since the beginning, you've always been there for me! Back when we first met you saved me from falling, and when we started talking more, you were always there to encourage me and help me!" Deku released Uraraka's shoulder from his gentle grip, and gestured towards his costume. "And when I was a kid, Deku was used as an insult against me... but you gave it meaning! You gave me my hero name! Because of you Uraraka...I'm never gonna give up!" He took a step closer to Uraraka. "And... I won't ever abandon you, okay? No matter what you're going through...I'll always be there for you." He gazed at Uraraka through his gentle eyes, giving her a soft smile. "So please...let me help you, okay? You're my best friend."
Uraraka was at a loss for words. H-He'll always be there for me? "D-Deku..." Whatever embarrassment she had felt from Deku being so close quickly vanished, as she was feeling a weird feeling in her chest. She'd realize later on, the feeling she was feeling was affection for Deku swelling inside her. Before she knew it, she had wrapped her arms around the boy in front of her, trapping him in a tight embrace. She rested her chin on his shoulder.
"U-Uh! U-Uraraka! I... A-Ah..." Deku managed to squeak out.
Lifting her chin a little, she angled herself to whisper to Deku. "Thank you..." She exhaled the breath she'd been holding in. "Deku." She noticed that the boy's frame had tensed when she thanked him. A few long seconds passed was only then did she realize what she was doing. Uraraka's face went red, and her heart started to pound once more. Ah... I'm probably making him uncomfortable. The boy looked like he was about to collapse on the spot. Probably should of asked first... The brown haired girl gently unraveled her arms from around Deku, and let them go limp at her side. Before Uraraka knew what she was doing, she was staring at the floor, her brown hair shielding her tomato red face from being seen by Deku. "S-Sorry Deku. Th-Thanks for being there for me, uh... I guess I ought to go do my exam now...thanks for talking to me." She turned around and sped walk away before she did anything else stupid, or possibly faint.
"Ah, hey Midoriya!" Sero said as the green haired boy entered through the automatic doors. "Oh, and... Tsuyu!"
Indeed, the frog girl was trailing in behind Midoriya. "Ribbit. Hello Sero. Hi... Mineta."
The grape haired boy immediately picked up on Tsuyu's hesitation in her voice. I haven't apologized for the whole groping thing yet. At least, not in this timeline. Best to keep my distance until I do, she probably doesn't really want to talk to me at all. "Hi, Asui." However Mineta's slightly sour mood was put on hold when he realized what he was going to say. "Heya Midoriya!" He greeted as the boy walked over to stand by him. He gave Midoriya a smug grin, and lowered his voice so Tsuyu wouldn't be able to hear. "How'd you do? Find out what was bugging her?"
Mineta wanted to ask if Midoriya made any progress with Uraraka, but realized that they still had left him out of the loop with the whole match up thing, so he'd have to be careful with his wording. However he quickly realized something was wrong upon viewing Midoriya's expression. The boy had sweat coming down his face, and his legs shook as if he was about to collapse. Mineta inwardly panicked. OhShitDidISaySomethingWrongThisTimeWhatHaveIDone "M-Midoriya? Did everything go all right? What happened?"
A few minutes ago...
Midoriya smiled at Uraraka, who stood in front of him with an unsure expression on her face. "So please..." He said. "Let me help you, okay? You're my best friend."
Uraraka had an expression of shock on her face. "D-Deku..."
If you had asked Midoriya, he had been worried for Uraraka ever since she had failed to beat Kachaan in the Sports Festival. The way she slouched, and had that smile that didn't seem to be genuine sometimes. Although he knew that she was having problems with that, it hurt to hear her say it out loud. It hurt him since he knew exactly what she was going through. But no matter what, I'll always be there for-
His train of thought came to a grinding halt when he felt arms wrap around him. He realized Uraraka had decided to hug him in the middle of his inner monologue, effectively making him a stuttering mess. His face went tomato red as he felt her chin on his shoulder. He struggled to form a simple sentence. "U-Uh! U-Uraraka...A-Ah..." His thoughts became a jumbled mess as he began to sweat nervously. Ahh...She's hugging me... He got a full whiff of her perfume, making him realize that Uraraka might have been a bit excessive with how much perfume she put on. The strong scent making him feel a little dizzy, and his eyes started to water. Although... he really didn't mind it too much. It was...oddly pleasant? He felt Uraraka lift her chin, her brown hair brushing against his face.
"Thank you..."
Immediately all of his muscles tensed, almost instinctively. Somehow his face burned even more than before.
"Deku."
Usually, when Midoriya's face was burning, face red, sweating, legs shaking, it usually meant he wasn't feeling well, or just sick in simpler terms. He felt her warm breath against his ear, and when she whispered his nickname, he felt a new sensation he couldn't explain. When he heard her voice that close... An odd sensation shot through his body like a gunshot, making him feel like he was about to melt into a little puddle. The feeling was a bit scary and weird, he had never experienced this feeling before. But for some reason, while it was frightening, it was also...exciting? He couldn't explain it, but it was definitely intriguing. After a few seconds, the girl release him from her embrace, which helped ease his poor heart that that was thudding against his rib cage. Thankfully, he felt it slow just a small amount. Midoriya tried to ignore the slight disappointment he felt when Uraraka had released him.
She took a step back, and bowed her head. "S-Sorry Deku. Th-Thanks for being there for me, uh... I guess I oughta go do my exam now...thanks for talking to me." She turned and walked away quickly, before Midoriya could get another word out.
He stood there for several long moments, contemplating on what to do next. What was that feeling I had just now? That got me really worked up... but it shouldn't have! Uraraka's my best friend! I shouldn't act like that in front of her... I probably made her uncomfortable with my silence...
"Are you alright Midoriya? Ribbit."
Midoriya jumped back in shock as Tsuyu seemed to suddenly materialize right in front of him. "AH! Oh. H-Hi, A-Asui." How long was I standing here?
"Call me Tsuyu, ribbit."
"R-Right. Sorry. What are you doing here?" He gestured towards the closed automatic doors to the spectator room. "Did you come to check up with Recovery Girl?"
Tsuyu shook her head. "I didn't really get hurt too much. I just came to watch the other practicals." She put a finger on her chin thoughtfully. "Are you alright? You're face is a bit red, and you're sweating. You also look like your about to conk out." She glanced towards the doors. "Maybe you should see Recovery Girl."
"N-No! I'm okay!" Midoriya quickly said before Tsuyu could get any other ideas. He jabbed a thumb towards the doors once more. "Guess we should go in the spectator room, then." He turned around, and clumsily stumbled through the automatic doors, with Tsuyu trailing in behind him.
Sero was quick to greet them both, along with Mineta, who turned to Midoriya after having a brief exchange with Tsuyu. It was kind of foggy, he only listened to bits and pieces of whatever they were saying, only when Mineta's slightly concerned voice pierced his eardrums did he realize that the boy was talking to him.
"M-Midoriya? Did everything go all right? What happened?"
What happened... His mind quickly replayed what happened just a few minutes ago.
"Thank you...Deku."
He remembered Uraraka's soft expression before she embraced him. He remembered the scent of her perfume and her soft voice right up against his ear. Her arms wrapping around him... He mentally slapped himself, Gah! Why am I thinking about it so much?! Stop being weird! But he remembered the sensation of butterflies in his stomach when she hugged him. The feeling was weird, but good kind of weird. Midoriya couldn't stop thinking of all the different things he noticed about Uraraka those few minutes ago. He wouldn't admit it, but he honestly wouldn't mind if Uraraka did something like that again.
Ignoring the odd expression on Mineta's face, Midoriya felt a goofy grin come to his face when he thought more about Uraraka. He let out a longing sigh. "It was... nice." He knew he'd be thinking about this for a long time.
Nice? Well, that's certainly not horrible. Mineta thought to himself, although he was a bit weirded out by Midoriya's borderline comical grin he had. It appeared that the green haired boy had a bit more luck than last time, Mineta remembered that Midoriya had just gave him a shaky thumbs up, and that was it. But now the green haired boy seemed to be in a daydreaming state, a dumb grin plastered on his face as he stared at the screen. Mineta suspected that the boy wasn't even watching anything, just lost in his own world. Well at least he seemed to do well. I'll let him ponder about what he'll say to Uraraka after she succeeds. He's at least near home base by now, but not first.
"Mineta."
He blinked. "Asui." he greeted back in a monotone voice. "Congratulations on passing your exam." I should take the cautious route with her. I know last time she asked if I planned for my exam... but with my slightly better reputation maybe she'll say something else.
"Thanks, ribbit." Tsuyu responded, her voice an equal amount of monotone in it. "Might I ask what you're doing here?"
Mineta picked up on her slightly accusing voice. He decided to play it cool. "Me and Sero are here to watch the other people do their exams. What about you?"
Tsuyu tilted her head. "Same as you I suppose. But that's all you're here for?"
Her blank face made it difficult as always to decipher. "Yeah. Is uh, something wrong?"
The frog girl stared at him for a few long awkward seconds, then blinked. "No. Have you and Sero planned at all for your exam?"
Welp. The grape haired boy nodded. "Yeah, we got a plan down that we think will work. I'm confident that we'll do just fine." I did decently the previous two times.
"You must be pretty happy that your opponent is Midnight then." Tsuyu croaked. "Lucky you, huh?"
Mineta squinted his eyes in confusion. Why would I be lucky that my opponent could knock me out just because I breathed it in pink mist? I'd rather fight someone else. I wouldn't mind Mic or something. "Uh, how am I lucky?"
For the first time that day, Tsuyu's blank face changed. Her normally expressionless face changed slightly as she raised an eyebrow. "Because it's Midnight? I'm surprised you haven't planned to somehow rip her clothes off during the exam or something. What are you playing at?"
What am I playing at? Mineta's eyes widened in surprise. Where did this come from? It's like the roles have been reversed from last time I talked to her in this room... He shook his head. "Tsu-...Asui, I'm not like that anymore, I've been seriously trying to be better."
Luckily Sero once again came in to save the day. "He's not kidding Tsuyu, old Mineta is basically gone by now. He's being serious about this thing."
In response, Tsuyu chose to stare blankly at the tape boy, who tried to hold a convincing grin. She suddenly turned to Midoriya, who was still in a different world at the moment. "Is this true Midoriya? Ribbit."
No response. The boy had his eyes closed, a rather content smile on his face as he faced the screens that showed Uraraka and Aoyama preparing for their exam.
Tsuyu tapped him on the shoulder. "Earth to Midoriya? Come back to us, ribbit."
Midoriya's eyes shot open. "Uhhh...huh?" He blurted out as he twisted his neck to face the frog girl. "What are we talking about?"
She gestured a large hand towards the grape boy that looked on in confusion. "According to him and Sero, Mineta here is apparently being a better person or something. In simpler terms, he's supposedly less of a scumbag. Is that true?"
Midoriya squinted for a few dragged out seconds, then recognition flashed in his eyes. "O-Oh! Yeah, of course he is Tsuyu! Don't believe anything said against him, he's really being a better hero, and a better person in general!" He rubbed the back of his head as he sweatdropped. "I know it kinda sounds hard to believe at first, given his track record, but trust me! He's changed for the best. Or... I guess reformed would be a good word to describe it."
The frog girl seemed to absorb this information, and looked blankly at Mineta for several long seconds, causing him to shuffle uncomfortably under her gaze. Finally, she backed down. "Okay, I believe you Midoriya." She said, glancing at Midoriya, then back to Mineta. "Sorry I guess, ribbit."
I just want the tension to go down at this rate, so I'll take it. Mineta simply put both his hands up halfway. "No worries Asui. I can understand why you'd think that, and I really can't blame you for doing so."
"Although I'm glad to hear you're changing for the better," Tsuyu croaked, "Can I ask you something?"
"Fire away." Mineta blurted out dumbly.
"What made you change your whole demeanor?" Tsuyu said, "A change this big probably didn't happen overnight, ribbit. May I ask what caused the change?"
Mineta felt himself subconsciously glance down at his chest. "Well, let's just say reality decided to hit me hard."
He cried out in agony as he was pinned to the earth as the villain's block held him fast. He let out a pathetic gasp as he felt his broken ribs puncture his own internal organs. He couldn't move. It hurt so much, it hurts...
He blinked, his face expressionless. "Really hard."
Tsuyu hummed as she considered his words, "Well, whatever hit you, it was very much needed in my opinion. Good to see that you're changing then."
He winced at her first comment, but smiled and pushed through. "Thanks. I'm trying my best." He glanced at the screen which started to show Uraraka and Aoyama at the starting point for their practical. Suddenly he remembered what he did last time. Might as well do the same for this run. "Oh, I forgot to mention Asui." Mineta started in a slightly lowered voice. He swallowed, hoping that the frog girl was feeling forgiving today, and for her to hopefully not unleash her wrath upon him. "I've been meaning to apologize for what happened at USJ." He rubbed the back of his head, letting out a nervous laugh. "I know it's kind of late..."
Tsuyu turned around to tilt her head. "You mean when you panicked and did nothing? I don't think you should have to apologize for that, fear is a natural thing in people, and we're not adults yet, so it's not unexpected for us to freeze up in situations like that."
"No uh, not that." Mineta chirped as he scratched his head. Perhaps I should of been more specific...
"Ribbit. Then can you specify? I'm sure you know quite a lot happened during the USJ attack."
Mineta felt himself sweatdrop. "A-Ah...well when I... kinda groped you in the water?" He winced at the pathetic excuse of an apology. Oh no, she's gonna rip me in half.
After several agonizing seconds of Tsuyu just staring blankly at him, Tsuyu finally spoke. "You're really serious about this whole reform thing, aren't you?"
The grape boy blinked in surprise, as he noticed that Tsuyu's tone held no sarcasm or disdain. She's genuinely curious. Huh. He simply gave another nervous smile in reply. "Uh, yeah. I am. Is that... okay?"
"Is that...okay?"
Tsuyu honestly thought she was dreaming at the moment. The fact that Mineta seemed to want to be a better person, and completely reform who he was... sounded completely impossible. If she wasn't dreaming, she expected to see flying pigs the next time she stepped outside. Mineta not being a pervert? Sounds like the start of a bad joke. Is this actually happening? She remembered earlier a week or two when Mineta started to act different, she originally brushed it off, thinking it was one of his grand schemes to try and score himself a girl. Jirou had agreed with her theory, seeing as this was Mineta.
"Uh, Asui?"
The pervert's high pitched and nervous voice pulled Tsuyu out of her train of thought. She turned to face him. "Sorry. I was thinking." She considered Mineta's words. It seemed that he was being genuine, but she decided to be cautious, seeing as this was Mineta. "Yeah. Sure, all right. I forgive you Mineta, but I'm going to be a bit... cautious about this whole reform thing, given your track record. It's not personal, but the sudden change under a few weeks... I can't help but be a bit hesitant, given how the 'old you' tended to act. I'm sure you understand."
Mineta seemed to be happy at her forgiveness, but visibly deflated when she mentioned the last part. "Yeah. I can understand." He suddenly straightened his posture, his back no longer slouching. "But I'll be better, I promise. I'm sorry for all the other perverted comments I might of made, and I promise the perverted stuff is in the past."
Midoriya's voice from beside them announcing that the exam was about to begin. The two students turned to watch the screen, the conversation effectively over.
TFW when your crush won't hug you, and whisper their nickname for you in your ear why even live bro. Also... Jeez Midoriya, try not to faint next time you see your gal! Hey guys. Looks like a new chapter is out, I made the mistake of deleting the two update posts so new people wouldn't just drop the story because no one likes multiple updates in a row. But that was a mistake, as the confused reviews clearly informed me that I shouldn't of done that, as multiple people were like "wait this is the same chap" n stuff like that. To be completely honest, I'm not very proud of this chapter, in fact, I hate it. I feel like some of the dialogue was clumsy. One of my more harsh critics is going to have a field day ripping this chapter apart in the reviews, that's for sure. Also, I know Uraraka seems a bit OOC, but this is my fanfic, and I think that she sometimes have doubts about herself in general. Now, I know you have questions about that, so I'll answer the one that's probably all on your guys minds.
Q: Did you write this chapter just so you could have IzuOcha fluff?
A: Absolutely.
One other thing I wanted to add is I wanted to give a shoutout to one of my readers for helping me with issues on my profile a few months back: "Golden Wind Requiem" There was some issues, and he let me know about them, so I fixed them. He also is writing a Mineta based story, a crossover with No More Heroes! It's called "Purple Violence" (Also has a much better cover art then my garbage Microsoft paint cover)Go show him some love! If you're reading this Requiem, thanks!
And now that I've gotten out of my angsty update spam from weeks back, I'll start responding to reviews. (But please when you post the review don't post it just so I can respond, I want to know what y'all think! Next chapter will have responses to reviews now that its calmed down) But as always if you liked this chapter, please Review/Follow/Fav! Cya until next time! (PS I am working on redux chapters as well! Don't worry!)