Day two of school was swimming along at a decent pace. We knocked out all the general education courses before lunch. I found the classes to be pretty simple, it was mostly about refamiliarizing myself with the material I had already learned. That said, I would still have to study, this was UA and they didn't settle for anything other than Plus Ultra. I imagine I would be a little bit higher than ninth the second time around. Especially now that I had real focus, I had mostly just done what I had considered to be enough the first time. I had been naturally intelligent enough to stay in the middle of the class with minimal effort and had felt comfortable staying there. Now I needed my classmates to respect me and take me seriously. There would be no coasting, top five should be sufficient to get me taken seriously without upsetting things too much. Studying would be important and if I could be part of certain study groups, I could influence the way events happen and how my friends react to them.

That raised another question though. Did I have the right to "Influence" my friends? Influence was just another word to manipulate, and I was no great pillar of morality or heroism. Whos to say my attempts to manipulate my friends into making better choices wouldn't result in worse decisions, or change them from the heroes they were going to be? For example, if I called off the USJ attack by warning the school, my friends wouldn't have the opportunity to fight villains and learn early on not to hesitate? It was this lesson that had allowed us to outshine all of our other classmates at the sports festival. This in turn got my friend's vital work experiences which gave people much-needed skills for the future. Uraraka had gotten to work with Gunhead and become a master of close combat. She then had taught the rest of us, without her lessons, many of us would have died earlier in the first timeline. This meant that Eri and I might never have made it to that last day. But what if the opposite occurred, what if by not calling it off, the smallest things I had changed by not being pervy meant my classmates would be more relaxed, and one of them was caught off guard by a villain and slain? If it hadn't been for Tsu, Midorya and I would never have made it through the water zone, wed have died that day. By doing nothing I could just as easily kill my friends as if I did something.

Damnit I was a hero, all this angst was befitting a teenager, I should just be confident in making my decisions. As a hero, you made a decision and you went with it, you couldn't second guess yourself, people were relying on you, and to show indecision could get people killed. That's not to mean that you just did whatever you decided to do no matter what, you had to be able to accept new information on the fly, and if a friend or co-worker came up with an idea that worked better you went with it to save more lives. Life was about balance and adjusting to new situations and crafting a solution to the problem. While you could just shatter every problem with explosions until they stopped being problems, the Bakugo solution was not advocated for everyone.

Lunch-Rush's food was divine though, all this anxiety and crippling insecurity were okay as long as I got to enjoy food this tasty again. I did have to wonder though, how much of my anxiety was teenage hormones and how much was ingrained behavior? Was I this indecisive because of my memories of how things had turned out or was this just angst? Would Midoriya or Bakugo or Todoroki be having this problem? Or would they have smashed in, defeated the league of villains, and been kicking it in school as if they had never left? Oh, he could picture it now, the entire League, beaten black and blue, just deposited at the gates of Tartarus with a simple piece of paper taped to them saying sorry for the mess. Or maybe they would be covered in dust and burns and be shouting to each other over ringing ears with a note saying you're welcome taped to them? Or they would be frozen together as a giant block of ice with no note whatsoever! It should have been literally anyone else. They all could have done this better. I missed my friends. I could spot everyone kinda sitting apart or in groups of two or three. Not all of the clicks had formed yet, and they would fluctuate over the next year as people settled into the friend groups they would truly treasure. It would be a while before he would be joining anyone for lunch, even the most accommodating of teenagers didn't want to hang out with the short creepy ugly guy. At least this time my creepiness was due to my stares and blanking out in thought. I think I was still making people uncomfortable though, which I definitely didn't mean to do. Still, I had a better chance of not having lunch mostly alone or sometimes with Denki over the next two years then I did before. It's okay, today's heroic class would be an opportunity to at least try to make a connection with Momo, Sato, and Koji.

"I AM HERE! COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!" Uh, that was kinda dorky, kinda funny, and you know what it was so on-brand it just worked. You could tell my fellow classmates were all geeking out about All Might being here. He was the number one hero and had been for all of our childhood. No one in this course was here because they didn't like Heroes, even Bakugo had a shine in his eyes upon seeing All Might. There probably were only a few people in this school who wouldn't geek out at seeing All Might, and most of those still liked him at least. All Might was the Symbol of Peace, and after his death, we certainly hadn't had any. That was why Midoriya had become our Symbol of Hope. Hope that the war would end, that we would survive, that we could one day be free again.

Then we got our gear and made our way to the locker room. Looking at my outfit made me feel nostalgic, but also kinda silly. That stupid design made me look like a baby in a diaper. It had been a night of drinking when Denki had finally pointed it out to me. I was stuck with it for this year, but dear god did it need some changes. I really was envious of most of my friends, they had such iconic looks. Whether it was Iidas jet-powered Knight costume or Bakugos killer grenades on his wrists. They rocked it. Even the tamer looking individuals like Sato, Shoji, or Mashiro still struck a heroic look. And then there was Toru, who fought naked. God, why did I have to think about that. It shouldn't make me uncomfortable, nudity shouldn't be sexualized. People didn't sexualize babies while they were nude, nobody sexualized males when they were shirtless as long as they weren't attractive. I mean some women were very inappropriate about men especially if they had abs. But regardless, nobody should sexualize anything, that stuff should be between two people who want that kind of relationship. Toru hadn't lived long enough for me to really be comfortable with it though. I was still a little perv though better at dealing with it up to that mission. She had been the crucial piece in an operation meant to shut down the League before they could launch a major assault. It had meant to destroy their Numo producing facilities. Toru had gone in to shut down their automated defenses so we could overwhelm the defenders. She had signaled us her success and we had a major victory. But we had failed to get the piece of shit who was behind making them, he and all the major players had been warped out. While we stalled the League for about two years, Toru was never seen again. Midorya had felt responsible after that operation, and he never smiled as bright. I don't think any of us had. Toru hadn't been our first loss, but she was the first we lost due to our own plans. We should have figured out another way. Shoji disappeared a few weeks later. While we didn't know for sure what had lured Shoji out that night, it was almost certainly related. Their relationship had been very quiet, and the fact they had known to use that weakness had spread uncertainty throughout the class. That had set us on the back foot and gave the League time to regroup. Shojis disappearance had given us vital information about the spy however, this time no one would die for us to find her.

"Uraraka and Midoriya will be Team A." That was the same as last time. I definitely remembered Midoriya vs Bakugo and how amazing that fight had been. Even the first time I had been blown away by how insane they were. "Todoroki and Shoji will be Team B." Was that the same too? I couldn't remember, just that Todoroki had frozen his whole building during his battle which had been anti-climatic but an insane move to pull off. "Mineta and Yaoyorozo are Team C." That was definitely the same, I had spent the whole time ogling her and had barely done anything to assist. She had come up with the strategy and we had just managed to time it out. I would be far more helpful this time, but I was starting to get the feeling of a stone hitting my stomach. "Bakugo and Iida Team D." Oh my god. Were things destined? Surely there was no way All Might could have possibly shaken that box up and had the exact same teams get picked. It just wasn't possible. Or was it that what I had changed had no effect on this moment? "Team G, Kaminari and Jiro." That was who we had fought. Holy shit. Maybe the teams called against each other would be different. It could still be random right? There was no such thing as fate right? Damnit.

"Team A is the heroes and Team D is the villains!" I mean what were the fucking odds? I mean 20 students, getting paired down is a 190 possible outcomes. Then its ten teams paired down again would make 45 possible combinations. Shit, I needed a calculator if I was going to go that far, suffice to say it was a one in million chance that everything would play out exactly the same in a truly random universe. Surely if we considered the butterfly effect real it was extremely unlikely for things to play out the same all over again. Of course, this was school, and All Might was just picking names from a box, my friends seemed to be acting mostly the same, and it wasn't like my perverted comments had been that big a distraction the first time around. Maybe being silent was almost the exact same effect on the group as being an annoyance. It wasn't like I had bothered All Might at all, and my classmates had asked the same questions I think. Damn it I wish I had paid more attention or had a better memory. And there was Bakugo surprising Midoriya and Uraraka all over again. God those two did not know the meaning of restraint. At this stage their relationship really wasn't healthy, but jeez did they push each other. The next few minutes were tense, watching Bakugo blow apart the building and Midoriya pulling off last-minute dodges and just always being half a step ahead of him. I think at 15 these boys could have given me a run for my money as a pro hero. It was just insane.

And then it was over, Midoriya being escorted to the nurses' office. Momo gave her perfectly accurate analysis and then Todoroki, Shoji, Hagakure, and Ojiro were stepping out to their building. It was over in seconds once the go was given. Todoroki really didn't waste any effort, instantly defeating Hagakure and Ojiro in a single move. What was I doing here, what could I possibly do to save the world when these three powerhouses had failed. Damnit the angst, I just couldn't get out of it. I really really hoped this was a hormone thing. Actually I didn't know what was worse, if this was a biological effect I would grow out of or trauma I would have to heal from. Either one was an obstacle I could not afford. Suddenly it was Momo and I's turn. A good defense against a great offense. We would have to be clever, but it wouldn't be impossible. Thankfully, neither of them had the strength to escape once I trapped them with my grapes but at this stage, I could only really make about a hundred before the effects started to become too much for me. They both were excellent dodgers, and Jiro would hear me before I could get an ambush off. It was prep time. "Hello Mineta-San, let's do out best!" Yaoyarozo cut through the silence between us with that opening line. Thankfully starting off the conversation.

"Hello Yaoyarozo-San, let's do this! Plus Ultra!" I pumped my hand in the air feeling kinda excited about the simple competition with no stakes. It would be an opportunity to cut loose and release some of this tension. "So let's discuss strategy! My quirk is called Pop-off, the grapes on my head have a powerful adhesive substance that can stick to anything instantly. I secret a chemical that dissolves the adhesive so they don't stick to me. How long they last varies, but they'll definitely last the entire exercise. Unfortunately, there is a limit on how many I can produce before I start to suffer negative effects. They are pulled from my fat reserves and if I make too many of them I cant replace them and my head starts bleeding, much further than that, and I'll pass out. I can make about a hundred of them before I need to refuel." Yaoyarozo listened intensely to what I was saying before nodding and adding her own information.

"That will be very helpful for restraining our opponents and is similar to my own quirk. It is called creation and I can make anything that I have memorized the composition of. I too am restrained in how much I can make by my fat reserves, though I do not start bleeding before I start showing signs of weakness. I think between the two of us we can funnel the Heros to where we want them to go and ambush them." I nodded, this had been the strategy we had used last time which had worked out okay, though the ambush hadn't gone very well since Jiro had known where we were.

"I have information about our enemies and their quirks, Kaminari can emit electricity through touch or by channeling it outward, but he has no ability to aim it unless he's touching his target. Jiro can use her ear jacks to listen in on conversations through solid walls and she can also plug them into speakers in her boots or on her arms to amplify the sounds of her heartbeat. While it is a cool use of her quirk, the speakers are a support item and can be broken reducing her offensive ability." Yaoyarozo smiled and seemed grateful for the information.

"Okay we can neutralize their ability to listen in on us very easily, all we have to do is drown it out with this!" She created a medium-sized speaker popping out from her stomach, setting it down she quickly plugged her phone in and set it to a loud but not intolerable level. A very lovely sounding classical song began blasting through the room, it was familiar but I did not recognize it. "VIVALDI. The Four Seasons, Concerto No. 2 "Summer": III. Presto, it is one of my favorites." Her voice crackled in over my headset, I doubt I'd have been able to hear the quiet way she spoke if not for the quality of our equipment. UA did not skimp. There was no way they were gonna hear us coming this time. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me would you prefer to listen to something else?"

"No thank you this works fine, before we get to work can I ask you to make me something?" It didn't take long between momo and myself to barricade down the area. Neither of our opponents had the strength to break down barricades or shatter walls, so it was fairly simple to lock down the room to reduce the number of entries to one. We quickly repeated this to the surrounding rooms and began to funnel them towards a room in the center. We had just finished when our prep-time ended. Hiding behind pillars we waited. With no way of knowing exactly where we were, just the rough floor, they would have to take it cautiously to our location, which was just working in our favor as it burned uptime. With about five minutes left, the door almost silently crept open, removing one of my grapes, I looked to Yayaorozo. She nodded at me and I began my attack. I threw myself out from behind my pillar away from Yaoraroza and started launching the grapes towards them. They leaped further into the room, their attention diverted to me. They were too quick for me, running further into the room trying to utilize the pillars as cover from my attack. I kept the pressure up and smiled as they got closer to Yaoyarozo's position. This is where we hit the first snag, Yaoyarozo successfully got the drop on the quickly sweeping their feet from out from underneath them with her metal staff. Laughing I quickly darted forward to secure them to the ground with my Grapes. Yayarozo stood over them both with her staff hovering over them, Denki used this moment to grab the staff with his arm, I saw as the volts swept up the poles right into Momo who now couldn't let go as the electricity locked her muscles down. Jiro quickly rolled away to get up while I threw grapes toward her forcing her back. I threw that attached to Denki's jacket, locking him to the ground. I tackled Yaoyarozo forcing her to let go of the staff. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jiros jacks heading to her arms. I quickly pulled Yaoyarzo with me, pulling her behind a pillar. It did no good, the sound waves slammed into us painfully piercing my body as I dropped to my knees. This time it was Yaoyarozo who came to my rescue. She quickly forced earplugs into my hands that I clumsily forced into my ears. It lessened the pain and the sound but didn't get rid of the newly created ringing in my ears and I could sware I could still feel the vibrations in my bones. Luckily, she didn't yet have speakers that were practically concussive bombs. I could feel a wet sensation moving down my head and towards my back. I was running low, this next move needed to end this. I looked at Yaoyarozo who nodded and darted out the opposite side of the pillar from me. Jiro turned to track her and I charged from the other side. Charging to her low to the ground, I closed the distance before she could redirect her speakers towards me. I grabbed her, using a simple throw Uraraka had taught me tossing her over my hip and forcing her to the ground. Acting quickly I used her momentary surprise to lock her down with the last few of my grapes. We had done it, no time out this time! SUCK ON THAT FATE! I pulled my earplugs out of my ears and turned around to look to Momo!

"YES WE DID IT!" Yaoyarozo cheered, but we had counted our chickens before they hatched. Denki minus his jacket darted toward her grabbing her shoulders as Yaoyarozo let out a loud screech before collapsing. Denki wrapped her with the capture tape before looking back towards me. It was officially a 1v1 with my best friend now. I hadn't kept track of how long this fight had taken, it had felt like twenty minutes, but fights had a way of stretching out, it might have only been a minute for all I knew.

"Well dude, I guess it's just you and me." Denki laughed, straightening up. This was bad, I definitely was on my last legs, any of one of my grapes could be my last, lightheadedness filling my brain with an off feeling that was making it hard to think. Denki stepped closer to me. I needed to stay close to Jiro, otherwise, Denki would just fill the room with electricity, and anytime chance we had left would be gone. I also couldn't afford to let him touch me, or touch him either as he surely was keeping it active after the last surprise hit we had gotten on him.

"Yeah, this is a real stalemate huh?" Reaching for my head, I had to take a risk, I pulled off two more grapes and felt a shock go through my body. Yep, these were probably the last two I was going to manage.

"Well, this could be interesting, but I've noticed something I think you missed. You're on the wrong side of the room!" Kaminari Turned around darting for the door to the Nuclear weapon. Panic spread through me, I couldn't let Yaoyaroza down after coming this far! I ran forward tossing one of the grapes towards the door trying to lock the door closed. With the world kinda spinning in an odd way, I couldn't focus to get the accuracy I needed. I missed slightly, not hitting where I needed to keep the door shut. Kaminari pulled open the door and I saw what may be my last opportunity to hit him while he was locked down. I slammed the grape into the underside of his boot as he tried to stride into the room. Denki spun around slamming into my head with his elbow. The electricity flowed through my already foggy brain and I dropped like a rock. "Crap not this again!" Through fading vision, I saw Denki quickly untie his shoe and free his leg as he rushed to the bomb. Damnit I failed, at least I knew things were changeable at least. The thought comforted me as darkness overtook my vision.

"VILLIANS WIN" Fuck.