Izuku approached the door to the boys' locker room, and as he did, he started to regret wearing his Yamikumo costume. The Sun was still up in the sky, and its heat was welling up inside the costume at a rapid pace, like a cup being filled too quickly. The green-haired boy was already sweating quite profusely and there were stains visible underneath his armpits, all over his torso, down his legs, and all across the top of his mask. To say he was uncomfortable inside the costume was quite an understatement.

"This was such a bad idea," he thought with exasperation. "To be wearing a full-body costume, including a mask, during this time of the day? What was I thinking?! It's not like anyone's gonna see me right now, since everyone's gone home and Hatsume is busy distracting Old Man Sorahiko. Ohhhhh, Shimura-san was right... I'm just using this opportunity to play superhero-"

He suddenly broke off from his musings when he saw the door to the locker room. Overtaken by curiosity, the boy leaned his head to take a closer look at it through the yellow barricade tape.

"The door didn't latch shut. The teachers could not have left it that way, since everyone knows how this door has a lot of problems closing all the way through. It must've been one of the cops from earlier today."

On instinct, Izuku looked over his shoulder to see if Sorahiko was returning. When all he saw was an open track field, he looked back at the door and began pondering.

"If I open the door and go inside the locker room, then that'll be breaking-and-entering. I'm...I'm gonna break the law... If I get caught, that'll be the end of everything..." He gulped. "I'll let all of them down... My mom, Shimura-san, all of my friends... Maybe I should turn back now..."

Izuku turned around on his heel and prepared to leave and not look back, but an unseen force stopped him from moving any further. Instead, the boy was rooted in his place, like a statue, left with only his thoughts.

"Whoa, whoa, what are you doing? Are you really going to turn back after everything that's just happened? After all of that resolve to prove Mineta's innocence?"

"Well, what am I supposed to do? If I do this, I'm gonna be a criminal. Yamikumo wouldn't do something like this."

"Of course not. He has done worse. Remember when he and his friends went behind their teacher's back to go save Ground Zero from the League of Villains? They risked a lot more than just their reputations by doing that."

"That was a completely different situation! A fictional one, at that!"

"Is it? You'll be saving Mineta from a future of humiliation. You of all people should know how horrible being publicly humiliated feels."

"But I don't even know if he's innocent or not! Stealing girls' underwear is definitely something he'd do!"

"That is not what you were thinking a few minutes ago. You knew something was fishy from the start. Why do you think you're here in the first place? ...Why do you think you're talking to yourself like this in the first place?"

"Well, I changed my mind! I'm just overthinking this. And besides, I don't even know what I'm gonna find in that locker room!"

"Well, you never know unless you try. So go on. Do it. Don't let anything hold you back. If you don't act now, Old Man Sorahiko's gonna return and see what you're doing. And don't forget, Hatsume's putting a lot on the line, helping you out. That was her choice, not yours. If you're not gonna do it for Mineta, then do it for her, because there's no turning back for her now. You can't let her efforts be all for nothing, now can you?"

"...Darn it..."

Izuku turned back around and clutched the doorknob. He broke yet another beat of sweat, but otherwise didn't hesitate to push the door open, revealing the small, dark hallway leading into the locker room. Without a second thought, the boy stepped through the cavity in the barricade tape and gained access to the room.

"Okay..." he thought. "Where's the switch...?"

Izuku scanned the poorly lit walls and immediately found the set of switches. He flipped all of them on, illuminating the entire room. Then, he looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was there. Once he confirmed to himself that he was all alone, he closed the door and made sure it was fully shut this time.

Then, he started walking along the rows of lockers, staring at each of them in turn. He stopped at his locker as soon as he saw it, and immediately recalled his conversation with Eijiro earlier today.

"Why're you doing this? Why're you so nice to me now?"

"W-Well..."

"Don't think this'll make me wanna teach you some of my so-called moves. I am not gonna bury the hatchet and give you that reward, Kirishima. It doesn't work that way."

"I...I didn't ask for anything in return, Midoriya..."

"Then tell me why, Kirishima. Why...Why're you being so nice to me?"

"I-It's like wh-what I said back i-in the hospital! T-T-To think the guy who I thought was a-a loser was capable of beating bigger, buffer guys up, it...it's astounding! You've got strength, Midoriya, a lot of it...and it's admirable! It's badass! It's... I-It's manly..."

With Eijiro's words lingering in his mind, Izuku looked towards Minoru's locker and started heading towards it. As soon as he approached it, he noticed the lock was missing from its door. The boy raised a hand towards it, hesitated for a fleeting moment, and then opened it. Not unexpectedly, the locker was completely empty, but he could still imagine the bras and panties that he saw in there.

"Okay..." Izuku thought as he slowly closed the locker. "What's there to think about? Mineta left P.E. for fifteen minutes, and it was apparently to take a bathroom break. That's enough time for him to break into the girls' locker room, find all the lockers belonging to the girls' swimming team, steal their underwear, and bring some of them here. It's as simple as that..."

Then, Izuku's grip on the locker handle tightened, and his green eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"But...why would Mineta hide some of the underwear he stole in his locker...and not all of them? If the cops couldn't find the rest by the end of the school day, then that means, theoretically, Mineta knows of a better place where he could hide them at. A place that only he knows about.

"Why, then? Why would he risk hiding some of the underwear in his locker, when he hid the others in a secret place that even the officers couldn't find? He could've just hidden them all in that secret place. Instead...he wasted a lot more time multitasking between two hiding places. That's an unnecessary amount of time wasted. There's a lot of room for failure. And he should have known Kan-sensei would immediately suspect one of the boys of doing this and order a search of all the lockers, just like he did today.

"Mineta may be a crude, hopeless pervert...but he's also smart. He always scores high on the tests. If this was his work, he would've known better than to put in all of that extra effort for himself. He would've thought this through a lot better than that. Leaving those stolen items in his locker would've been too inconvenient for him..."

"MIDORIYA! YOU GOTTA BELIEVE ME! I DIDN'T DO THIS, I SWEAR! TELL THEM, MIDORIYA! TELL THEM I DIDN'T DO THIS! TELL THEM, PLEASE!"

"Mineta's innocent. He's gotta be. Someone must've framed him...but who...?"

He glanced further down the rows of lockers. He could imagine all of the other boys innocently getting dressed after yet another day of P.E., while any one of them was covertly plotting a way to frame Minoru and get away with the lascivious heist.

"Now you're getting somewhere, Izuku..."

Suddenly, Izuku heard the faint sound of movement somewhere in the room. He felt a gasp become trapped in his chest as he froze, his body as straight and rigid as a wooden board. He remained still for what seemed like an eternity, before finally looking over his shoulder slowly.

There was no one behind him in the lonely hallway.

"Okay... This is so creepy... Should I call out? N-No! What if it's a teacher?! What if it's Kan-sensei?! B-But what would a teacher be doing at a crime scene? Ei-Either way, if I speak and there's another person there, they might recognize me! And they might report me or apprehend me or-or worse! Wh-What if it's the real thief?!"

As he continued thinking, his eardrums didn't pick up any further sounds, which the boy eventually noticed.

"Okay... Maybe's it's just my imagination. Maybe no one's there..."

Still, Izuku walked as fast as he could to the door. After taking one last glance over his shoulder, he pulled the door open with some difficulty. The light hit his face ruthlessly like a blast of energy, and he winced momentarily before finding the switch and shutting off the power. Then, as he moved to close the door behind him, he heard some faint shuffling coming from within the locker room. A shiver went down Izuku's spine and he immediately closed the door, unwilling to address who might've been inside with him.

Next, he looked across his shoulder and saw, to his shock, the faint outline of Sorahiko returning to the track field. With no more time left to lose, Izuku burst into a sprint towards the main school building. He didn't keep an eye on the elderly groundskeeper, but he didn't hear any yelling from him, even as he finally reached the doorway from which he came.

"Phew!" Izuku exclaimed aloud once he sought shelter in the shadows. "That was close!" He panted a couple of times. "A little too close, actually."

"You could say that again," a familiar voice said cheerfully.

"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"

The startled Izuku fell to the ground and was met with the sight of salmon-pink hair and energetic yellow eyes.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Mei cried joyfully. "You sound like a girl when you're scared, Midoriya! And hearing that scream come from that Yamikumo costume makes it seem like you're the real thing! It's sooooo kawaii!"

Izuku gritted his teeth as he stood back up and removed his mask. "What're you still doing here, Hatsume?!" he snapped with exasperation. "I thought Old Man Sorahiko would've had you strung up by now or something!"

"But I'm not, am I?" The female otaku crossed her arms proudly. "And besides, I wanted to know what ya found! So tell me, Superhero-san, what'd ya find?!"

"Nothing, really, but seeing Mineta's locker got me thinking more deeply into this and I've come to a conclusion."

"Oh, really? So whaddaya think?" She leaned her head in with intrigue. "Is Mineta guilty? Or innocent?"

Izuku sighed irritably before replying with slight reluctance, "Innocent."

"Ooooohhhhh! What a twiiiiissssst! What makes you think that?"

"Mineta's a classmate of mine, so I've heard him go on about how he'd be able to sneak a peek or get in a feel or any of that stuff." Izuku shuddered briefly. "So I know for a fact that he'd think out this whole underwear-stealing scheme a lot more thoroughly than what we already know."

Mei blinked with confusion. "Meaning?"

"He wouldn't have left some of the items he stole in his own gym locker. That would've been too risky... No, whoever set him up wanted Kan-sensei to find those items in Mineta's locker. I saw that locker with my own eyes..." Izuku proceeded to remove the rest of his costume. "It was like they were being offered on a silver platter. Their discovery was way, way too convenient."

"Maybe Mineta got too cocky," suggested Mei. Then, she suddenly grimaced and started swatting at the air between her and Izuku. "Ooh, boy! Midoriya, you stink!"

"Well, that's what happens when you wear something like this full-body suit during the day. Anyway, this would've been the first time he did something so risky and criminal. Before then, the worst he could do was try to get close and inhale the scent of a girl's perfume."

"Then maybe that was Mineta's mistake... He decided to do something even bolder than what he'd do before, but it was too bold and it blew up in his face!"

"No, no, I don't think so. If that were true, then the police would've found all the things Mineta stole by now."

"Well-" Mei cut herself off, and her eyes widened as her mind put two and two together. "Ohhhhh... I see..."

"Exactly. There can only be one other explanation, then." Izuku finally finished removing his costume. "Mineta's a patsy."

"But for whom?"

"Well..." Izuku started packing the Yamikumo costume into his backpack. "It has to be someone who knows Mineta's lock combination. Someone who was also absent for a period of time during P.E. Someone who's just as perverted as Mineta, but even more malicious in thought..."

Mei placed a finger on her chin and tried to think. "Hmmmmm... Sorry, nothing's coming to mind."

"It doesn't matter." Izuku zipped up his bag and put it on. "I'm gonna go to Mineta's place and ask him some questions."

"Hold on a moment. You know where Mineta lives?"

"He lives a couple of floors below me." He started walking towards the set of doors. "Plus...after what's happened earlier today, I don't think his apartment will be that hard to miss."

"Ooh, and the plot thickens!" Mei smiled from ear to ear, her cheeks becoming slightly pink with excitement. "I likey! Can I come with?!"

Izuku stopped and looked at her with bewilderment. "Uhhhhh...no?"

"Ah, come oooooon!" She crossed her arms again. "I helped ya deal with Old Man Sorahiko! I can so be of further use to you!"

The boy looked warily at the faraway Sorahiko for a moment before replying, "And I appreciate what you did, but there's nothing else you can do for me today, Hatsume."

"Well, ya never know, Midoriya! And I ain't lounging around at home to find out! So I'm comin' with ya, whether ya like it or not! After all, that's what sidekicks do, am I right?!"

"Yeah, well-" Izuku suddenly reeled over. "S-Si-Sidekicks?!"

"Yep!" Mei saluted with her wide grin still in place. Her unabashedly cheesy appearance gave her a striking resemblance to a character plucked straight out of an anime in that moment. "Mei Hatsume, sidekick extraordinaire, at your service!"

"H-Hey, hey, keep it down!" Izuku exclaimed in a hushed voice, once again casting a wary glance towards Sorahiko. "You wanna catch Old Man Sorahiko's attention and get us strung up or not?!"

She shrugged slyly. "It depends. You wanna bring me along or not?"

"Oh, no..." the green-haired boy thought with building dread. "Every time I'm gonna say her no to her, she's just gonna make things a whole lot worse! If there's one thing in this world Mei Hatsume doesn't have a clue on, it's the word 'no'."

He lowered his head with defeat and sighed. "Fine, Hatsume. You may come."

"Yes!" The otaku raised a clenched fist with triumph. "The Manga & Anime Club is gonna have a field day with this!"

"No!" Izuku buried his face in his palms with disbelief. "You cannot tell anyone what we're doing!"

"Hm?" She looked at him with a great curiosity that rivaled a cat's. "Why not? They're gonna wanna hear all about this!" She made a dramatic pose. "Mei Hatsume and Izuku Midoriya, world-class superheroes and detectives, investigating the case of the missing underwear! ...Okay, I admit it needs a little more flair than that, but-"

"The point of a superhero's secret identity is that it's kept a secret, Hatsume," Izuku interrupted. Then, he quickly added, with a rather strong emphasis, "At all costs."

"Ohhhhhh! Trying to protect your loved ones, I see! A classic American comic book trope!" Mei smiled once again. "Very well, then! You can count on me to be your trusted secret-keeper!"

"I'd rather trust Iida to keep a secret for me," Izuku thought glumly.

Nevertheless, he beckoned her to follow him. "Come on. We don't have a moment left to lose." He grabbed the doorknob and opened the glass door. "Who knows when Mineta will go to bed, now that's he's cooped up at home?"

"Knowing him, though," Mei suggested innocently as she joined his side, "he'll probably be up all night jerking off."

Izuku pursed his lips nervously. "You're probably right..."

"As always!"

The two teenagers walked down the hallway, with Izuku's pace in a slight and overwhelmed clamber while Mei had a tiny skip in her step. As they neared the exit, a thought suddenly popped into Izuku's head.

"Hey, Hatsume?" he asked, interrupting yet another one of her rants.

"Yep?" she replied cheekily.

"W-Was that you in the locker room with me?"

"The locker room?" Mei blinked once. "You mean the boys' locker room?"

He averted his gaze with embarrassment. "I guess not..."

"I didn't know you were into some kinky stuff, Midoriya." But Mei's lips curled into her sliest grin yet. "Buuuuuut, as your loyal sidekick, I'm ready and able to do anything you ask, no matter how M-rated it might be-"

Flustered beyond belief, Izuku tensed up and squeaked, "H-Ho-How'd you even d-di-distract Old Man S-Sorahiko in t-th-the first pl-pl-place?!"

To his absolute dismay, the otaku winked teasingly. "A girl never reveals her secrets, Midoriya!"

"Ohhhhh... This was such a bad idea..."

"There it is. Mineta's place."

"Wow. Those vandals sure were pretty quick."

Izuku and Mei approached the apartment door, which had a number of graffiti of differing colors scrawled all across it and its walls. The sole front window was closed despite the cooling air, and its ugly curtains of pale-blue and mustard-yellow were drawn, giving the apartment a depressingly empty appearance, even though the lights were clearly on inside. Izuku pursed his lips at the sight, and he couldn't help but wonder how the Mineta family was holding up inside.

Finally, he sighed and rang the doorbell. A minute passed, but no one answered. Mei promptly turned around and started to walk away, which Izuku noticed.

"Whoa, whoa!" he exclaimed. "Where are you going, Hatsume?"

"Well, clearly they're not gonna answer," the otaku replied. "I say we try and get in through the back window-"

"I've already broken into a place that was marked a crime scene, Hatsume. I'm not committing another crime just to get the bottom of the original one."

"Well, whaddaya suggest we do now, Yamikumo?"

Izuku rang the doorbell again. "We keep trying to get in the right way." Then, he glared at Mei again. "And don't call me that."

She looked at him curiously. "Call you what?"

"Yamikumo."

"Heh. Says the guy who dressed up in a Yamikumo cosplay-"

"So no one would recognize me."

"Tough break, Midoriya. People would've recognized you anyway."

He looked at her with shock. "R-Really?"

"Uh-huh! Kaminari told everyone what your costume looked like. The man wouldn't shut up 'bout it! The description of it has spread around the whole school faster than you would say 'Plus Ultra'!"

"It doesn't matter. Besides..." He gazed at the door forlornly. "I'm not worthy of the Hero name..."

"Oh, come on! Just because you forced your way into that locker room after-hours doesn't exactly mean you committed a crime! Sure, that's what the law says, but screw the law! You did it for a good reason!"

"But I didn't exactly find anything that would've helped Mineta's case. It was all for nothing."

"At least it got you thinkin'..." All of a sudden, Mei's yellow eyes lit up. "And if you didn't even find anything, that means you didn't displace anything there! No one's gonna know you were even there!"

"...It's not just that, though..."

Izuku sighed heavily, which amplified Mei's boundless curiosity. She leaned her head in slightly and asked with a naughty smirk, "What else did you do?"

The alleyway flashed across Izuku's mind as he rang the doorbell for a third time. "Nothing..." Then, the boy knocked on the door thrice as gently as possible. "Mineta! It's Midoriya! Listen, I just wanna talk! Look, I'm not here to harass you or anything! So please, would you open the door?"

The curtains to the window suddenly drew back, revealing a woman shorter and fatter than Izuku's mother. Her dreadful appearance, almost akin to a goblin, was so terrifying that it nearly startled both teenagers. She had purple hair as curly as Minoru's, but the scowl was very much unlike the perverted boy, bringing unpleasant wrinkles to every corner of the woman's face.

"Go away!" she shrieked in a voice so high-pitched that it sounded like there was no glass pane between her and the two teens. "I know why you're here and I've had enough of it! It's bad enough that I realized I've raised a horrible devil as a son for sixteen years, but-"

"Mineta-san!" cried Izuku. "O-Or Mineta-sama, o-or wh-wh-whatever you wish to be called-"

"All I wish is for you brats to leave my home, leave me in peace! And for the gods to cleanse my boy whole-"

"Look, miss, I have every reason to believe your son's innocent! If you would just give me a chance to talk with him-"

"You're nothing but lying filth, the both of ya! Now leave my sight! Or I will smack you out of town with this broom!" The woman raised an old, faded broom of straw. "This broom has seen a lot, been through a lot! It's survived Hiroshima and Nagasaki and-"

"Alright, alright!" Izuku interrupted, sensing an insanity-laced rant from the woman. "We'll leave, we'll leave!"

The woman scowled at him with distrust, but after a few seconds, she withdrew, allowing the ugly curtains to settle back in place. With that, Izuku started walking back the way he came, with Mei following him shortly after.

"Wow, no wonder Mineta's got a pretty low opinion of girls," the otaku remarked.

"You could say that again..." replied Izuku absentmindedly.

"So, whaddaya say, Midoriya?" She smiled at him enthusiastically. "Through the back window?"

Izuku sighed and stopped in his tracks. After a moment of consideration, he removed his backpack, set it on the ground, and zipped it open, revealing the Yamikumo costume with its musky scent and stained appearance.

"Through the back window..." The green-haired boy sighed again as he pulled out the costume. "I gotta come up with an explanation for my mom about this..."

The Sun was already setting in the horizon by the time Izuku and Mei approached the tree planted behind the apartment complex. Both teens looked up at the rows of windows and closely examined their position to the tree.

"There!" Mei cried, pointing towards one particular window on the second floor. "That's gotta be Mineta's apartment!"

"How do you know that?" Izuku asked, all the while scratching his clothed neck.

"Because who else would use those ugly curtains for their room?"

"...Good point."

"And it's just next to the tippity-top of that tree! It's perfect! All you have to do is climb up there, knock on the window, and hope he answers and not that Hutt of a mother!"

"W-Wait, me?!" He looked at her incredulously. "What'll you do?"

"Well, I'm gonna keep a lookout as a good sidekick! And besides, just because Mineta's innocent, doesn't mean he'll keep his cool as soon as he sees a hot girl like me."

Mei did a pose that was meant to be seductive, but she clearly had no conception of seduction and the pose looked more laughable than anything else. Regardless, Izuku looked away from it. Realizing she had a point, the boy simply narrowed his eyes with determination and approached the base of the tree. Looking up, he saw that the nearest branch was still an entire foot out of his reach.

"Hey, Hatsume," he said. "D'you think you can boost me up?"

"Anything for you, Yamikumo!" Mei exclaimed. She saluted briefly before running up to her partner and crouching a little, all the while holding out her hands like a stirrup.

Izuku quickly sighed before placing his foot on her hands. "Pl-Please don't call me that..."

"Says the guy dressed up in a Yamikumo cosplay." Mei adjusted her legs. "Alright, I-I'm ready."

Izuku blinked with shock. He could've sworn he saw a glimmer of apprehension pass through the girl's eyes. He removed his foot from her hands and stared at her with concern.

"H-Hey," he said, "are you sure you can do this? If you can't, I can boost you up-"

The confidence returned to Mei's face. "Nuh-uh! I ain't talking to the pervert accused of stealing a bunch of underwear! It will damage my reputation!"

"What reputation...?" Izuku thought.

Then, he nodded reluctantly. "Alright, then. Get ready, Hatsume."

The boy placed his foot on her hands again, and this time, Hatsume willed all the strength she had into her arms. At the same time, Izuku willed all the energy he thought he never had into the foot still touching the ground, propelling it from the dry soil. The green-haired boy felt himself lift a few inches off the ground and he immediately stretched his arms out, reaching for the branch in his sights.

His left hand missed.

"Oh, crap! Oh, crap! I'm gonna fall on top of Hatsume! Please! Reach!"

His right hand found its target. Pain started traveling through his right arm almost immediately, and Izuku remembered at that moment that his arms were still in casts. With a loud, pained moan, he closed his eyes, wrapped both of his legs around the tree trunk, and curled the rest of his arm around the branch, leveraging himself.

He opened his eyes and was greeted with severe blurriness. His mask felt wet.

"You doing alright there, Midoriya?!" Mei called.

Though she was only a short distance down, her voice seemed to barely reach Izuku's ears, as if she was calling from a greater distance. Trying to endure the immense pain to his arms, Izuku sniffled and shakily used his forearm to wipe the residue of tears from his mask.

Then, he replied, "Y-Yeah... I'm...I'm fine..."

"Alright! You go get 'im, Superhero-san!"

Izuku bit his lower lip, then he crawled up the trunk and managed to mount the tree branch. Once the pain subsided to a mere prickling sensation, he started shaking the branch with all the remaining strength he could muster into his arm. As soon as he assured himself that the branch wouldn't break under his weight, Izuku stood up on his two feet and uneasily shuffled further towards the end of said branch. The curtains of pale-blue and mustard-yellow were within his sights.

"You got this, Midoriya!" Mei called suddenly, eliciting a terrified squeak from Izuku, who nearly lost his balance.

"Hatsume!" the green-haired boy snapped as he tried to regain his footing. "D-D-Don't sc-sc-scream like th-th-that!"

"Oh! Sorry!"

Izuku growled with irritation as soon as he regained his balance. Then, he slowly tiptoed to the end of the branch, which was just a couple of inches away from Minoru's window. As he did, he could feel the old, thick branch start to buckle.

"Okay, Izuku," he thought. "Stay calm. Just stay calm. You've got this." He stopped and took a deep breath. "You've got this..."

He was about to continue when Minoru's window suddenly slid open, revealing the curly-haired, grape-like class pervert himself.

"Alright, Midoriya. whatever your game is, I don't have the time for it."

Izuku squeaked and nearly fell off the branch again, but he regained his footing. His mind started racing, and out of pure instinct, he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"Midoriya?" he asked innocently, though his voice was clearly shaky. "I don't know who this Midoriya is! I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone else-"

"Oh, drop the act, Midoriya," Minoru interrupted with exasperation. "I know it's you. Everyone knows what your costume looks like."

"Oh, yeah... I forgot..."

"So, if you'd please, Midoriya, just get it over with." The smaller boy's shoulders slumped slightly with defeat. "I've given up at this point."

"G-Ge-Get what over with...?" asked Izuku.

"Calling me a pervert, a deviant, a loser, I dunno, maybe throw in an egg or two. Or probably a brick while you're at it. I don't care. I've been shouted at with every insult in the book within the past couple of hours. Namely from one particular person. It's not gonna affect me anymore-"

"N-No!"

Izuku stopped prematurely and checked if anyone else was watching from their apartment windows. Then, he crouched a little and held on to the branch with one hand.

"Look," he whispered, "I believe you-"

"Oh, save it, Midoriya," Minoru interrupted again in an irritated voice. "Your ruse isn't gonna work on me. So just skip the ass-kissing and gimme everything ya got-"

"I'm not gonna call you anything, Mineta, or throw an egg at you. I'm hear to tell you that I believed you when you said you didn't steal all those underwear."

"Yeah, right."

"I'm not trying to bait you into a vulnerable state, Mineta. I believe you."

"Heh heh, yeah, you believe the class pervert who tapes mirrors to his shoes so he can sneak quick peeks up girls' skirts. You think I'm deaf to all of the whispering that breaks out whenever I pass by? Oh, look! It's that Mineta pervert! Better cross your legs! Keep your distance! Don't talk to him! Stay away from him! He's a freak! He has no sense of respecting one's privacy! He can't keep his hands to himself!"

Izuku frowned disapprovingly. "They are right, though. You have no respect at all towards women."

"Yeah, well...you can't help it when you're a guy like me..."

"No." Izuku came at full attention, and he edged a little closer. "You're wrong, Mineta. You can help it. You just gotta look beyond physical appearances...and concerns about getting l-la-laid...and think more about doing the right thing-"

"Too late. I'm too deep into my habits." Minoru sighed and laid his head against the windowsill. "I bet everyone at school is saying I got what I deserved."

"Yep. They have."

Minoru sighed again. "I bet you think I got what I deserved."

Izuku opened his mouth, but then he closed it. After a couple of seconds, he replied, "Yeah, yeah, I do. I really do. You're a pervert, Mineta. A horrible, twisted, sick pervert." His grip on the branch tightened. "You intimidate and terrify innocent people just to satisfy your...s-s-se-sexual urges. The fact that it took the school that long to expel you just baffles me."

The purple-haired boy sneered slightly at him. "You call me a pervert, but you're just lying with your breath." He scanned Izuku's costumed form from head to toe. "Look at you, Midoriya. You're like me. We're rejects of society and we can't do a thing about it because we're wired a lil' different. Because of that, we retreat to lives of solitude, filled with nothing but books and computer screens. We allow the things we're preoccupied with to dominate our lives and our minds. You have your manga, I have my porn..." A guileful twinkle suddenly passed through Minoru's eye. "But I bet you look at porn just as much. Sometimes, manga and porn can be one and the same-"

"I'm not like you, Mineta," Izuku interrupted angrily. "Unlike you, I have female friends."

"Pfft. Yeah, right. I'm your classmate. I know all about how everyone else views you as a weirdo-"

"Well, that's changed. I've got girls like Uraraka and Yaoyorozu and Kodai and Kendo who understand me and care about me. And NOT in the way that you think, Mineta! Whenever I'm around them, I don't even think about getting my hands under their skirts. And because of my respect, they returned it to me in kind. They've let me in, Mineta, manga-reading hobbies and all. They've accepted me. Them, and guys like Iida and Todoroki. I was once a loser, someone who everyone else didn't want to hang out with because they thought I would be an extra, a burden to society. But now, I've changed, all because of mutual acceptance and kindness...and I think you can change too, Mineta..."

Minoru stared for a moment, then he scoffed. "What're you talking about? Didn't you just call me a horrible, twisted, sick pervert?"

"Yes, and I meant every word of it, Mineta. But I also meant it when I said you could change. And I also meant it when I said I believed you."

"Why would you believe me?" Minoru looked away. "Everyone knows I did it... Heh. Hell, I probably did do it and I'm just in denial about it-"

"If you really did do this," interrupted Izuku, "then don't you think the police would've found the rest of the stolen items? Like you said, everyone knows you did it. If you did do it, then the cat's already out of the bag, and there'd be no use in hiding the rest of the stash any longer."

"Like I said, I'm probably just in denial over being caught with my hand inside the cookie jar. Or better yet, I blocked the memory of where I hid the other bras and panties from my mind. You know that can happen, right Midoriya? It's called a coping mechanism. I cannot accept the reality of the situation, so I hid all the relevant information away. That way, I can maintain the facade of innocence."

"If you're aware you're just using this coping mechanism, then can't you just try and recover those memories?"

"Psychology's complicated, Midoriya. Try taking a look at yourself in the mirror, right now, and you'll see what I'm talking about."

Izuku's heart fell. "...So...that's it, then? You're just...gonna take responsibility for what happened...?"

"Well, it all makes sense. What else can I do, Midoriya? I might as well." Minoru looked at Izuku and blinked upon seeing his bewildered green eyes shimmering through the mask. "Wow. You do believe I'm innocent." He let out a single, hollow chuckle. "And to think you were the one who turned me in."

Izuku promptly removed his mask, revealing his thick, unruly mat of green hair. He stared determinedly at Minoru.

"Mineta," he said, "I will find out who did this to you. I promise you that."

"Midoriya," Minoru replied with defeat, "give it up. You're just overthinking this whole thing. Just imagine the headline for tomorrow. 'Class Pervert Expelled for Stealing Girls' Underwear'. Don't ya think it's got a better catch than 'Class Pervert Framed by Conspiracy in Girls' Underwear-Stealing Scheme'?"

Izuku stared at his former classmate, who stared back with a glum, defeated visage. After a minute of hard, unbearable silence, the green-haired boy put his mask back on and stared edging away from Minoru's window.

"You're right..." he replied.

"Midoriya," called Minoru, "you've got one hell of a guilt complex. I'd normally be pretty pissed at you for this sort of flip-flopping, but I can see you have your own mental problems. Maybe you should come to terms with them. At least I'm on my way in doing so."

Izuku didn't bother to respond or protest anymore. Instead, he reached the trunk, wrapped his arms and legs around it, and started climbing his way back down. He could hear Minoru sigh and close the window when he was midway down.

"Wow..." Mei remarked as soon as Izuku reached the ground. "That was one hell of a talk."

Izuku didn't face her. "You heard everything...?"

"Hellooooooo. Mineta was only on the second floor of that apartment, not the twenty-second." Her yellow eyes started to gleam with unbridled enthusiasm. "Sooooo...what do we do next?"

"There is no next." Izuku turned around and slowly removed his mask, revealing shimmering green eyes. "Mineta's right, Hatsume. I'm...I'm just overthinking this..."

"Oh, come on, don'tcha give up on me! I know you know Mineta's innocent!"

"But I didn't find anything that would clear him of guilt." The boy looked down at the dry grass with defeat. "Plus, Mineta is convinced he did it. ...This manga's writing itself..."

"Not if we do something about it!" Mei wrapped an arm over Izuku's shoulders. "Come on, Superhero-san! We've still got a whole bunch of other angles to consider! Let's investigate, let's investigate!"

But the despondent Izuku shrugged off the otaku's arm and started walking away from the her. "No, Hatsume. I'm done playing this game." Toshinori Yagi's words returned to his mind. "It's time for you and me to accept reality."

"Oh, come ooooon, Midoriya! Where's that fighting spirit?! Where's that Yamikumo determination?! You just had it in ya a few minutes ago and I know it's still in ya!" Mei started punching the air enthusiastically. "Come on, Midoriya, we can get those Villains! Let's keep on fighting! Hya! Hya!"

...

"No, Hatsume."

All of the energy drained from the girl's face, and she watched as her schoolmate continued walking away. Izuku did not see it, but there was an actual look of concern and compassion on Mei's face.

Then-

"Okay, fine!" Mei called, the enthusiasm returning. "If you, the Hero, can't accept the facts of this situation, then it is my duty as the Sidekick to continue where ya left off! It's alright, Midoriya!" She saluted cheekily. "You can count on me!"

Izuku stopped and turned around. "No, Hatsu-"

He stopped when he saw Mei prancing off. He wanted to go after her, but he knew it was useless to stop her. Instead, the boy started to remove his Yamikumo costume.

"This was so stupid..." he thought. "Why in the world did I have to drag Hatsume into this?! She's just gonna embarrass herself..."

Izuku opened his eyes...and found himself back in the alley.

"Oh, no..." he thought. "What am I doing back here? How'd I get here?!"

He looked around, expecting to see a large stream of pedestrians flowing right behind him. Instead, he saw nothing but the blackest of darkness. He faced the alley again and saw the only source of light was faint but extremely white, shining from the other end between the two dark walls.

Now, that he thought about it, the alley seemed strangely long...and narrow...

"Hello?!" he called. "Is anyone there?! Can anyone hear me?!"

"Yeah, we can hear ya," a rough male voice replied from a short distance.

"Oh, thank goodness! Where are you, sir?!"

"Right behind ya, kid."

Izuku looked behind him again with a terrified gasp. At first, the boy saw only the darkness...until a pair of large, sinewy arms reached out from the pool of pitch-black and started grasping at him.

Izuku screamed and stared running, but with every step he took, he felt like he was going nowhere. The light at the end of the alleyway was still shining at him, taunting him, mocking him. With gritted teeth, Izuku tried to go much faster, but he didn't make as much progress as before.

He looked behind him again and saw the hands nearing even closer. As they did, he could see a red glint, small and faint but growing even brighter as the hands neared.

Izuku's heart started hammering hard against his sternum at this point, threatening to break through it and burst out of his chest. He could feel the sweat pouring down his face like dribbling water, but he refused to give up and kept running, even though the boy was going absolutely nowhere.

Then, the hands latched on his shoulders, drawing out a horrified scream from him.

"Relax, kid," the voice said, and it was louder this time. "I'll take real good care of ya."

"LET ME GO!" Izuku shrieked as he started resisting.

"Not until ya pay me back for what ya did to me, Bunny Boy."

Izuku's eyes widened with fear, and he looked over his shoulder once again. Emerging from the shadows was a head with short, spiky blond hair and a malevolent smirk. He had one good eye, while Izuku realized what the red glint from earlier was.

Blood, pouring down from the man's injured, shut left eye, streaking across half of his face.

"You!" Izuku cried with recognition.

"Yes, me," the muscular man replied with a sinister chuckle. "Now just relax. It'll all be over soon."

He wrapped one of his arms around Izuku's neck and started squeezing, the tightness growing slowly minute by minute. Izuku gagged in no time and started struggling, but it was useless. The muscular man wrapped his other arm around the boy's arms and torso, restricting his movements. Izuku closed his eyes in terror.

"Sorry, Bunny Boy. As much as I like a guy who can fight back...I can't let ya have an advantage like before. It ain't gonna work that way anymore."

"No! Ack!"

"Struggle all ya want. But I'm gonna pay you back for what ya did to me. It'll be nice and simple. Just accept it and it'll be more painless."

"H-Help!"

"Calling for help won't do ya any good. As you can see, no one gives a damn."

Izuku opened his eyes and saw that the light had subsided. All of them were simply standing there: Ochako, Tenya, Mei, Yui, Momo, Shoto, Tsuyu, Itsuka, Mezo, Rikido, Himiko, Hiryu, and Kinoko. They were doing nothing to help him.

"See?" the muscular man continued tauntingly. "They couldn't give two shits about you. You're such a failure to them. A freak."

"No..." Izuku whispered with his last breath. He desperately wanted the man to be proven wrong, that any one of them would spring to action and save him...

But no one did that. Instead, they stood as still as statues, regarding him with a shared expression of indifference. Even Shoto looked extremely callous in his usual stoicism. Their eyes were hollow as they stared sharply, coldly.

With that, Izuku prepared to close his eyes and allow death to take him-

"NO!"

He heard grunts and bodies being pushed aside, followed by the sound of running. Izuku opened his eyes and-

"Huh?"

Izuku was back on his bed. At first, he could only see darkness, and it was as pitch-black as the pit of shadows from his nightmare. He could faintly make out the outline of a slender, feminine form, frozen in mid-sprint. Then, once his green eyes adjusted to the absence of light, the outline slowly faded away into nothingness and was replaced by the dark, dark blue hue that was cast across his bedroom ceiling.

"A dream..." Izuku thought. "It was all just...a bad dream... That's...That's all it was..."

He sat up on his bed and looked towards the nearby window. The first traces of twilight were peering through the gaps in his drawn blinds.

"It's almost daytime," he said to himself.

"I'm off to school, Mom!"

Izuku stumbled towards the door while simultaneously putting on his other shoe. He was about to open the front door of the apartment when he heard his mother's voice address him, softly and timidly.

"Izuku, sweetie?"

He looked over his shoulder and saw her entering the hallway, fiddling with her flower-patterned apron. A sense of déjà vu swept Izuku's senses for a moment, but he quickly dismissed it.

"Yes, Mom?" he asked, his voice indifferent.

Inko merely stared at him, her eyes, as green as his, shimmering with concern. Her stare was so intense that Izuku just couldn't turn away from it. He could see the bags under her eyes, and began to glumly think about the strain of the two jobs she was juggling with.

Eventually, she asked, "Are you alright, honey?"

Izuku stared back at her for a moment before replying, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"I know you're lying, Izuku." Her voice brought a chill down Izuku's spine, but he allowed her to continue. "Sweetie, are your friends making fun of you?"

"Wh-Wh-What?! N-No, Mom! I love my friends! They're so cool! E-E-Especially U-U-Uraraka..."

Inko stared at her son and only child for a long moment, intensely reading his expression for anything, even the slightest twitch, that would betray the truthful facade he was trying to convey. But she didn't see anything on his face that would indicate otherwise.

"Okay, I believe you." She crossed her arms with concern. "Then tell me, what's bothering you?"

"Mom knows I'm bothered by something," Izuku thought. "She's one heck of a mind-reader."

"You have to tell me, sweetie. I know how tough this past couple of weeks have been for you, and I..." She bit her lower lip for a brief moment. "I can't bear seeing you get eaten up by whatever demons you have. The last time I believed you when you said you were alright, you were beaten up by those criminals. So...I am not gonna let you outta here until you tell me what's bothering you, young man."

Izuku's shoulders slumped with defeat. "I can't lie to her. Not this time. She already blames herself for what happened to me last week..."

"R-Re-Remember my classmate...?" he asked. "The one who got expelled yesterday...?"

"Oh, yeah! I actually just read it in the newspaper."

"Just imagine the headline for tomorrow. 'Class Pervert Expelled for Stealing Girls' Underwear'. Don't ya think it's got a better catch than 'Class Pervert Framed by Conspiracy in Girls' Underwear-Stealing Scheme'?"

Izuku's expression softened, which Inko noticed. "Izuku, sweetie," she said, "was that boy...your friend...?"

"Wh-What?!" Izuku started waving his hands frantically. "N-N-No, Mom! Wh-Wh-What makes you th-th-think that?!"

"Why else would you be so bothered by his expulsion?"

"I...I was the one who turned him in..."

Inko's eyes widened. "You what?"

"I turned him in. I...I overheard him talking about going into the girls' locker room while everyone was out for P.E. When I heard...things were taken from that same room, I just put two and two together, and...I told the teacher. I'm...I'm the reason that boy got expelled, Mom. And now his life is miserable because of me..."

Realizing what he meant, Inko took a couple of steps forward in consolation. "That boy, he did a very bad thing, sweetie. You did the right thing by turning him in."

"But...they still didn't find all of the things that were taken." The boy averted his gaze. "That... That makes me think he might've been the wrong guy..."

"Honey, that's for the police to handle, not you. You did your part, and now you gotta trust the police to do theirs."

Izuku suddenly scoffed. "If trust were nickels for the police to take, then they'd probably do their jobs a whole lot more effectively in this town..."

"Izuku, I know things aren't as good around here as they once were, but you still have to trust the police. We should be grateful they were responsive enough to arrest that Mineta boy. You know, Izuku, it's people like that boy that make me so relieved sometimes that I have a son like you instead of a daughter."

He looked at his mother with bewilderment. "H-Huh?"

"I know, I know, that's a pretty cruel thing of me to say. But you know men this day and age can be quite distrustful and disrespectful towards women... And...I would never live with myself if I knew I produced a girl and brought her into this toxic culture of ours..."

Izuku looked down at the floor solemnly, the memories of the girl in the alleyway returning to him. Then, he immediately remembered his nightmare, the muscular man...and his triumphant smirk...

"Mom...?" he asked.

Inko's attention was piqued. "Yes, sweetie?"

"It would not be your fault, no matter what happens or what you say. No one deserves to be treated like trash. It doesn't matter what the gender is. The only ones at fault are the people who treat other people that way. They're... They're just feeling miserable with themselves and are just projecting their frustration onto others."

"Well...I suppose..." Then, Inko smiled. "No, you're right. I'm sorry about that, sweetie."

"It's alright, Mom." He readjusted the straps of his backpack. "Okay, I gotta go. I can't be late-"

"Izuku, sweetie!" Inko called beseechingly. "O-One last thing!"

He looked at his mother once again. "Yeah, Mom?"

That was when he noticed her fond smile, completely devoid of exhaustion. It was the first time he had seen her with so much energy and vibrancy flowing through her face, not since...

"I'm so, so glad that you're my son. You're not a pervert like many men nowadays." Her smile widened even more. "You read people by the size of their character, not by the size of their cups."

Izuku blinked. "Wh-What...?"

The middle-aged woman's face abruptly turned as florid as the flowers that she would keep next to the kitchen sink. She started sputtering and waving her hands frantically in the air.

"Oh, my! What am I saying?! That was so embarrassing of me! I promise, Izuku sweetie, I'll forget everything that I just said! I'll purge it from my mind! Just forget that I said that! Just know that I love you and cherish you and am very, very proud of the person you've become and-"

She was cut off when Izuku opened up the front door, allowing the sunlight to pour into the hallway. It was a sunny day outside, and the atmosphere was just as ordinary and peaceful as yesterday and the day before.

"I love you too, Mom," he replied with a gentle smile. "I'll see you later."

He stepped out and closed the door behind him. However, instead of departing, he remained still, adjusting the focus of his hearing to the inside of his apartment. He could hear Inko squealing with delight at the approval she received before prancing back into the kitchen. Izuku smiled to himself and started to leave.

"I'm so, so glad that you're my son. You're not a pervert like many men nowadays. You read people by the size of their character, not by the size of their cups."

"What a very funny thing to say," he thought. "Reading people by the size of their cups. What was Mom thinking...?"

"You read people by the size of their character, not by the size of their cups."

Izuku stopped at the foot of the staircase. "The size of their cups... Wait..."

"It's a double-D."

"Wait a minute..."

"Read the tag."

"...No way."

Izuku's green eyes became so enlarged that they were almost the size of saucers. With a mouth that was hanging open, the boy started running down the stairs. He ran so fast that he was skipping every other step and was dangerously close to suffering a fatal fall.

But he didn't care. All he had in his mind was one thought, which was fueling him with newfound energy.

"Mineta's innocent, and I can prove it!"

"Whaddaya want, Midoriya?"

Nemuri Kayama looked up at Izuku, her face completely etched with boredom and moroseness. As she regarded him, he couldn't help but take a quick scan of her body from head to toe. He had never approached her in person before, even if she was his history teacher. Now, it was pretty clear why she was the talk of all the boys in the school. In stark contrast to her physical appearance, though, her exhausted and noncommittal expression was enough to turn even someone like Minoru Mineta off.

Quickly restoring his gaze before Kayama got suspicious, Izuku asked, "Y-You're the adviser for the Manga & Anime Club, right?"

"The Manga & Anime Club?" Kayama arched an eyebrow as she struggled to remember. "Oh, right. Hatsume's club." She glanced at the stack of papers before her. "Why do you ask?"

"D-Do you know when and where the club meets?"

"How should I know?"

Izuku blinked thrice. "You're their adviser..."

"Yeah, but only in name..." Kayama yawned as she flipped through the pages of one paper. "Hatsume's the one who calls all the shots in her club. You wanna know more, go ask her."

"Okay... And where would I find her...?"

Kayama's gaze didn't break away from the paper whatsoever as she replied, "I dunno." She flipped through another page with indifference. "But you can't miss her. Brace yourself when you find her, though. She's quite a character."

"Yeah, I know..." Izuku thought. Then, he turned around and said, "Thank you, Kayama-sensei."

Kayama issued a bored, nonchalant huff in response, but Izuku knew better than to expect more from her. So, he simply left the classroom and walked down the hallway. There were already students present, eating lunch and chatting happily with one another, but he didn't bother to listen in on their conversations.

"Okay..." he thought. "If I were Hatsume, where would I go...?"

A couple of minutes passed, and he found himself back in the school cafeteria, which was currently packed with students from the usual circles. He stared at the table where he found Mei and her club before, only to find it surprisingly empty.

"Huh, that's weird... She usually hangs around here with her club. I wonder where she could've..."

"If you, the Hero, can't accept the facts of this situation, then it is my duty as the Sidekick to continue where ya left off! It's alright, Midoriya! You can count on me!"

"She didn't..."

A/N: And it looks like Izuku may have cracked the case after some initial self-doubt! So the real question is, who did he peg as the real culprit? Will he be able to prove it and restore Mineta's reputation? (Or at least whatever's left.) Find out in the next chapter!

Anyway, I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter! I think I may have stumbled a little during the beginning but then things got interesting when I got to the conversation between Izuku and Mineta. Now, this may be an unpopular opinion, but I actually like Mineta and his character. Sure, his perverted nature can be annoying and quite contradictory, given he wants to be a Hero and all, but I see it as more hilarious than anything given how much of a wannabe he is. Plus, people seem to forget the fact that he actually is pretty smart; he's listed behind Momo in terms of intelligence stats. His horny instincts just happen to be stronger to the point where it weighs him down.

So yeah, I think Mineta doesn't get a lot of love from the fans, even if his more well-known behavior makes this standing a little deserved. Therefore, it was quite fun developing him a little here and having him come to terms with the fact that he is too perverted for his own good. I can't wait to see where I take his character next when the real-life superhero stuff actually comes rolling around! :D

Now then, I'd like to thank the following for reviewing the previous chapter:

-Haro654: No, it's not Kaminari, actually. I'll just say, right now, that NO ONE from both of the Hero classes in the main universe is the thief in this AU. That should narrow down the list of suspects.

-Mazongian:

1) Oh. Sorry about the parallels my story was helping to set up. But I'm glad to know things are turning around here.

2) Like I mentioned above, no one from the Hero courses in the main universe is going to commit a serious criminal act in this AU. So it's not going to be Mineta, or any other Hero-in-training with a notable perverted nature, for that matter.

-YukiNikki:

1) I was actually aware of that when I wrote the previous chapter, and of course I addressed it here in this chapter. The whole costume recognition dilemma is actually meant to segue into something Deku-related that we all know and love.

2) Yeah, it will be a bit of a long road to recovery between Izuku and Katsuki and his friends, one full of drama, actually.

3) HOORAY FOR HATSUME! :D Seriously though, I absolutely ENJOY writing her character, even in an AU setting like this. Conveying her energy and otaku-like enthusiasm literally gives me a boost of my own enthusiasm.

4) Oh, you'll see how Izuku and Mina will end up together. ;)

-MarvelNinja10:

1) Nope, it's definitely not Monoma. If the character in question is a Hero-in-training in the main universe, then the thief is not him or her. So that criteria rules out Tokoyami as well.

2) It's warm and sunny down at good ole Cali. It's nothing particularly special at the moment. And I do hope I didn't jinx myself by saying that. XP

-SilentReader97:

1) No, I have not, nor have I even heard of it. But I looked it up when I saw your review, and I must say, I now see why you brought it up. Perhaps I'll give it a look-see when I have the time, to give me some further inspiration for this fic.

2) Yes, the girl who was abused in the alleyway is DEFINITELY going to be relevant to the story.

3) No, it's neither Monoma nor Tokoyami. Rest assured, my dear reader, your favorite is safe and sound. :)

-Tasia'sENDLESSDreams:

1) You're so welcome! It's a signature of mine, so expect further responses to your reviews. :)

2) Oh, it will be an interesting dynamic between the two, especially given Mina is more popularly paired with Eijiro than Izuku himself, from what I've seen of fan-made works.

3) Well, after stumbling a couple of times, Izuku has now found his resolve and a good reason to continue with his quest to prove Mineta's innocence! And trust me, you're in for a stunning conclusion to that mini-arc in the next chapter!

4) I checked your fic out a little when I saw your review. I must say, I'm not really well-versed in music and the arts, so I'm not sure what kind of constructive feedback I have for you that would help you out. I only choose to review fics that I have read if I have an idea on what to say, but that can only be possible if I have a good grip and understanding of the premise. Not that your fic is confusing to me or anything; it's just the subject matter is a little out of my comprehension bubble. Sorry.

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!