TW: this chapter will have some references to gender issues and discrimination and Mineta's personal issues (don't know how else to describe them, sorry u_u), as well as some aspects of Japanese Culture, as well as depression, anxiety and survivor's guilt, as well as remorse and some physical health conditions so please, if this might make someone feel uncomfortable, don't read this and take care of your mental health. Also, there are some spoilers in the End Notes so please, don't read them if you're not to date with the manga.

Edit (02/05/2.022): Sorry if I didn't write the right description, please tell me if I did something wrong so I can edit it, I promise that I would never write someone that might hurt another person u_u

Recommended OST: watch?v=HcgEHrwdSO4&ab_channel=MikiSayakaFan

"GAH!" Screamed Ochaco as she woke up from her last series of visions.

She saw her alternate self's life… How she made a mistake that destroyed her, and how she spent all of her remaining's existence trying to fix it.

How Class 1-A joined together to fund those journeys, to give others a chance to live, to not die either in rubble or by madness… And they succeeded.

Kyoka and Tenya were still alive.

Izuku was still alive.

And… She would make sure to protect that peace as much as she could, so many people's dreams and ideals would not be wasted down into nothingness.

But first… She needed to talk to Nedzu-sensei, as his wisdom will help her sort her thoughts.

"Don't worry, Izuku…" Murmured Ochaco as she fell asleep once more, perhaps to regain more energy. "This time, you and everyone else will get a happy ending…"

Flashback: A few hours before Izuku's awakening."

Some hours later, Ochaco managed to wake up again, only to be surrounded by Tenya, Kyoka and Kouji, whom were very worried about her.

"Ochaco-chan! I'm glad to see you are awake once again!" Said Tenya as he did his classic hand chop motion. "Do you need water, or perhaps something light to eat?"

I didn't hesitate to hug him… He was alive.

Tenya was still with us.

"Thank Kami… You and Kyoka are still here…" Murmured Ochaco while hugging one of her best friends.

"What does that mean, Ochaco?" Asked Kyoka in a worried tone.

"We need to go see Nedzu-san, alongside All Might, Detective Naomasa and the current Yuuei principal…" Answered the round-faced girl while trying to calm herself a bit. "The sooner we go to a safe place to sort this out, our chances to fix everything will increase."

And so, they left Recovery Girl's infirmary before asking for the current principal, whom already was awake and sorting out tons of paperwork.

"Tell them it's a life-or-death situation…" Murmured Ochaco with uncommon seriousness, speaking as someone decades older for some reason.

Nodding, the receptionist brought someone they never thought they would see again, Melissa Shield, that kind hearted girl from I-Island.

"What's wrong, Uraraka-san?" Asked Melissa in a concerned tone. "Dad is coming here to help but, could I get briefed up a bit please?

"I don't feel comfortable talking about this unless it's in a very secured place, any information leak could mean our doom…" Answered Ochaco as David arrived from his office. "Mr. Shield, could you please call Nedzu-sensei, as well as Detective Naomasa and All Might?"

"On it." Said David as he took out his cell phone to make certain calls. "Meanwhile, let's enter the locked room, the safest one in all Yuuei… If we're not safe there, then we won't be safe anywhere else."

Thirty minutes later, once Ochaco's requested people arrived, they closed the room and activated many defense mechanisms, from a steel dome to sound nullifiers.

"What I'm about to tell all of you… Please, don't think I'm crazy, but my future counterpart arrived from a nightmarish timeline, and our actions could either prevent it from happening, or make it even worse…" Said Ochaco as she took a deep breath, before starting her tale.

It began by saying she didn't fully believe in Izuku's innocence at first, but when she heard a voice convincing her of not succumbing to fear, she decided to take Izuku's side no matter what… Because, in the original timeline, things were far, far worse…"

Only Tenya and Kyoka believed in Izuku's innocence.

Izuku was interrogated for three days instead of three hours.

He ended up having a partial mental breakdown and snapping against many of his former friends, as they kept trying to apologize without fully considering his feelings.

All three of them left Yuuei to start anew in Shiketsu, hoping for another chance to have a normal, high school life…

In revenge, Shigaraki and the League attacked Shiketsu, killing Tenya and Kyoka in the process, as well as other innocents…

Izuku lost all of his sanity because of that, and ended up killing everyone in Shigaraki's organization, including Hawks (who was apparently a spy to deliver information in order to defeat the League), before getting killed by him.

The remaining Class-1A students started to suffer a series of punishments for their mistakes, including being disowned (in Mina, Rikido, Mashirao and Mezo's case), not being able to make friends outside themselves, being hated by pretty much everyone, from other Yuuei students to the general public…

Inko Midoriya, Toshinori Yagi, Kouta Izumi, Eri Togata, Mei Hatsume and Hitoshi Shinsou's lives were heavily affected by this event, changing their mindsets or personalities into entirely different people… And others, like Melissa, Dr. David Shield, Recovery Girl, Ibara Shiozaki, Nedzu and Detective Naomasa, alongside countless others, ended up suffering a lot for the conflict as well.

Both Eraserhead and Katsuki Bakugou took their own lives, as they couldn't bear the guilt of driving someone else to his death, either in the past or the present.

How society itself reacted to the events of Izuku's death, enforcing stricter laws against villains, as well as All for One's execution, and the true nature of Izuku's quirk… Other villains like Muscular, Moonfish, Overhaul and Stain were also executed during that period as well.

And the way her future counterpart spent almost forty years travelling around the world, finding a way to save Izuku, somewhat helping other people, but failing her main goal, until she found someone in the United Kingdom, entered her mind and told her to trust Izuku… In order to prevent that horrible reality from happening.

"That's what happened…" Murmured Ochaco as she took deep breaths to not break down crying. "Detective Naomasa can confirm it with his quirk."

The Truth Man just stood there, completely paralyzed… And only could speak a single sentence.

"Everything she said is true…"

A broken laugh was suddenly heard in the room, apparently coming from Melissa, who was trying to somewhat keep her composure.

"They all died…" Murmured Melissa until she couldn't take it anymore, falling to her knees and crying her eyes out in the process. "Their… Fu-Future's are also go-gone…"

Meanwhile, Kyoka fell to her knees, somewhat trying to cope with the fact she died in an alternate timeline, just as Tenya couldn't even move, silently shedding tears of sorrow…

Kouji's worst fears came to realize, as he wasn't there to help the others in that timeline… How could he?

How could he abandon innocents when they needed him?

David just approached Toshinori to offer him a blanket as the old Symbol of Peace couldn't stop processing his grief… His son, his child in everything but blood went insane after losing his friends, and died without even trying to process his pain…

Someone should've been there for him, to not let him isolate himself, to take him into a mental health facility or make a plan with his remaining support network… Anything for his child to not end up shattered.

"Well… What can we do?" Asked Naomasa to break the tension, while trying to relax as much as he could. "From what I recall, the information Denki and Tooru gave us ended up pissing off Shigaraki, so he attacked Shiketsu in revenge, am I right?"

"You're right…" Murmured Nedzu as he wiped out a couple of tears from his face.

No more.

He wouldn't let Izuku Midoriya to suffer, nor to his loved ones… Not after everything he has done for Yuuei, or even the world at this point.

"First, we need to avoid attacking the League of Villains for now…" Said the small mammal in a serious tone. "Then, I would like to request a transfer for both Denki Kaminari and Tooru Hagakure, as Yuuei has some rooms which could be used as prison cells, so no information could get leaked from them."

In theory, that should take care of the potential attack to Yuuei as retaliation… At least they had one less thing to worry about.

"Now… I think we must address the punishments for both students and teachers." Added the quirky stoat. "Perhaps we could call everyone into the gymnasium at 15:00 PM? After all, if we want to heal people's wounds from this incident, helping others get atonement or punishment might ground them back to reality."

"Also… Maybe we should inform Hound Dog about this." Suggested David. "All of Izuku's friends including my daughter, but specially Ochaco, need psychological support after this huge information bomb dropped on them…"

Nodding, Nedzu went to make a call, while David and Naomasa kept supporting both All Might and the next generation of heroes…

After all, they would make an excellent circle of trust for Izuku's future as a One for All user.

Minoru Mineta was thinking about how he ended up being such a horrid, monstruous human being.

He didn't have an abusive past, nor was he bullied severely (maybe a few comments about his height, but he didn't care about them), he even had a kind hearted family!

But… After he started middle school, he became a very perverted person, something that cost him his best, and only friend.

Haruto Midorikawa was Minoru's friend for at least seven years, and he used to be almost as perverted as he was… They both liked to watch anime with tons of fanservice, as well as do weird comments about other people's appearances… Until one of them decided to stop.

"What's wrong with both of you?!" Asked Kyoko Toriyama, a classmate of both of them, in a distressed tone. "Don't you realize the damage you're both doing? Thinking of women as nothing but objects instead of living beings with hearts and feelings?! Mark my words, no one would ever want to date someone like any of you! It's not about looks, or money or fame, it's about being a DECENT HUMAN BEING!"

After that, she told them that if they did one more comment, either to her or any girl of the class, she would report them to the police, so it was up of them.

"Man, she really exaggerated quite a bit, don't you think?" Asked Minoru in a somewhat scared tone.

"No… I think she's right, Minoru." Replied Haruto in a sad tone. "Maybe that's the reason no one wants to be friends with us, we've both acted like messed up perverts…"

While both Minoru and Haruto stopped doing uncomfortable comments towards their classmates, in private the smaller friend still liked to watch series with fanservice or play games with such content, while the other wanted to leave behind those bad habits in favor of better ones.

Four months before middle school ended, Haruto wanted to talk to his best friend in a small park, so they could have some privacy.

"Minoru…" Murmured Haruto in a worried tone. "As someone who cares about you, please, you need to stop… Today you're objectifying women with your comments, but tomorrow, you might cross a line you won't be able to come back from… It may take time but, we can change for good together, and stop being so selfish and inconsiderate of other people's feelings."

But he didn't listen… Instead, he kept those hobbies privately, and took Haruto's words as nothing more than fear of punishment, rather than something serious. He didn't even try to hide the evidence from his friend at all.

Eventually, a few months later, and after at least four more chances, Haruto told him he didn't want to be friends anymore, but as a token of kindness for their years together as best friends he told him directly instead of via ghosting.

"If you ever change, feel free to text me, okay?" Said Haruto before saying goodbye to Minoru in their last day of middle school. "I promise I will be there for you, but first... You need to have a wake-up call, don't you think?"

Minoru had to bite his tongue to not insult Haruto from A to Z, as he went home to enjoy his last vacations before turning into a hero.

Who needed that traitor? In the future, he would have everything!

Fame!

Money!

Prestige!

Lots of new, better friends, maybe even a girlfriend!

…

Haruto ended up being right.

While in Yuuei, he started to cross out lines he didn't before, focused on various incidents…

The event with Tsuyu in the U.S.J. attack.

The cheerleader prank in the Sports Festival, as well as disrespecting Momo's boundaries while in the race event…

Digging the hole to stalk the girls, as well as saying obscene comments about their bodies…

How he tried to jump into the girls Onsen.

As well as other incidents he didn't want to think about…

He wasn't a hero.

He never was.

In truth… He was nothing but a disgusting, perverted human being whom only cared about himself, not giving two thoughts about someone else… As he betrayed the only friends, he had here in Yuuei.

Denki and Izuku.

Denki was the closest friend he made after losing Haruto, and someone who seemingly shared some of his hobbies too! But, a few weeks later, he ended up joining the Bakusquad.

It's not like he betrayed him or tossed him away, as he still talked to him as much as he could, even inviting him to talk every once in a while, with the Bakusquad, but deep inside he ended up being quite jealous…

Why couldn't he find a friend that always had him as his main priority? Not as a secondary afterthought of sorts?

And then, it was Izuku Midoriya… One of the kindest people he had ever met, yet he didn't understand how his own safety didn't seem to matter to him.

After all, no one is that nice, as people always wanted something in return, even if it was a small "thank you".

Yet, he accepted his friendship, and tried to support him anytime he could, as well as saving both him and Tsuyu back in the U.S.J… They wouldn't have made it without him out there.

However, once Aizawa-sensei accused Izuku of being a traitor, his inner dark side resurfaced once more.

While he didn't use physical or verbal abuse towards him and his supporters, he didn't do anything at all.

He ignored Izuku and Denki's suffering, as he didn't want to think his only "friends" were either criminals, or people who supported them, so he kept to himself, occasionally sending a glare or two before moving on with his daily routine, as he didn't have anyone else aside from his family.

Yet, deep inside, he wanted to help them and join their side, just as he somewhat regretted not supporting nor respecting Haruto's wishes… But he didn't.

He still had his fanservice heavy anime and manga, his visual novels and videogames with similar content, as well as various magazines and his family… He didn't need anyone, nor anything else.

Three weeks later, after All Might confirmed Izuku's innocence, as well as Denki and Tooru's traitor status… He finally realized how monstrous he truly was.

After all, he didn't have anyone that wanted to support him through this moment.

He was on his own… Just as he chose to be.

Once he got into his room, he wanted to watch one of his favorite anime series or play one of his "unique" videogames… But ended up doing nothing at all, as guilt consumed him.

He didn't deserve to be here…

Instead, he deserved to be in jail or prison.

After talking to Tsuyu, and deciding to leave Yuuei (and probably get incarcerated to pay for his crimes), Minoru somewhat managed to calm down… Until he heard about Izuku's suicide attempt.

…

Once, in his childhood, back when his soul wasn't tainted at all, he watched a series about forgiveness, which said that… Sometimes, we can cross certain boundaries, and have a small chance of being forgiven (or giving it to others).

But… There are also lines, that once crossed, means no chance at all of getting redemption…

Haruto's words once again came back to his mind… He, alongside with his classmates and teachers, destroyed someone both physically and psychologically.

Heh… At least now he was 100% sure of his decision.

He wouldn't put a foot near Yuuei, or any hero school for that matter again (after apologizing to those he harmed, of course).

Would his actions have mattered?

Had he supported Izuku and Denki, as well as the rest, at the very least their situation would've been a bit more bearable?

That question would torture him until he was called to an assembly by Yuuei's new principal, David Shield, alongside everyone else…

Well… Thankfully, he would have to pay for his sins.

That was something to look forward to.

While Minoru was self-reflecting in his room, Mashirao Ojiro, Yuuga Aoyama and Rikido Satou were in Rikido's room eating some sweet foods, somewhat trying to cope with the consequences of their actions.

Rikido's life wasn't that bad, but thanks to his quirk he still had to face some discrimination… For example, once, before discovering his quirk, his blood sugar levels were about 260 mg/mmol, twice as over for a normal person.

Thankfully, his doctor told him he wasn't in danger, as his quirk increased tolerance against sugar up to three times, so, it was impossible for him to get diabetes at all… Which meant he could eat as much sweet foods as he wanted to, with little to no drawback!

Well, except that he slowly got overweight, and back when he was 11, he weighted like 170 pounds, a hundred more than his healthy weight, so his parents had to put him in a strict workout regime to burn off those pounds.

Surprisingly, his sugar boosted workout burned a lot of calories, so in less than six months he returned to his normal weight, but he ended up developing low self-esteem thanks to people mocking his appearance and looks.

While he could connect with people as acquaintances or casual friends, he never really had a close friendship, as well as never calling some a "best friend". To make up for it, he learned as much as he could about cooking, as well as working out to become a hero, eventually developing his current physique.

Still, he wanted to fit into Yuuei as best as he could, managing to befriend people like Eijirou, Hanta, Kouji and Momo, and got along with the rest of the class as classmates. Yet, when the traitor conflict started, he didn't want to lose friendships so… He let Kouji's friendship go, his closest friendship, in order to save the other three.

Truly, he was quite a selfish person… Even now, instead of being there for his remaining friends, he stood alongside the "Outcast-Squad", those whom weren't close to anyone, or those they were close to ended up being traitors, or part of Izuku's supporters.

Among them, Yuuga Aoyama, was the closest person of being a real outcast in their class, at least compared to other people.

Yuuga wasn't really close towards his classmates, except Mina (whom she did make fun of him), and Izuku (whom he had a small friendship before the incident happened), the reason being that he was a late bloomer.

His quirk arrived back when was eight years old instead of four or five, meaning that he endured four years of bullying for being "quirkless", despite being told by doctors that he would get a quirk eventually, since his pinky fingers only had a single toe joint.

Insults, comments behind his back and the occasional shoulder bump were Yuuga's daily reality, until one day he shot a laser from his navel, finally unlocking his quirk.

To his surprise… Everything stopped.

The same people who insulted him the last week were treating him like nothing happened, the comments behind his back were that he thankfully gained a quirk, and people ceased to be cruel at all.

Yet… He couldn't trust them at all. If not having a quirk was enough for them to hate him, what other reason could they find in the future?

Maybe that he was at least 12.5% French?

Or his hobbies about fashion styles, as well as knitting?

No, he had to protect himself! He had to avoid giving others ammunition to tear him apart!

As such, Yuuga refused to trust or befriend anyone from his class, after all, why would he trust the same people who hurt him just a few days before getting his quirk?

…

For years, Yuuga had to survive by his own, only having his family's support (including some distant relatives from France), so he tended to expect the worst from people, in order to not get betrayed, nor disappointed. After all, if you had no one by your side, no one could betray you, right?

As such, both elementary and middle schools passed quite fast, but a few months before joining Yuuei, he realized something…

He was fifteen years old, and didn't have a single friend, someone he could trust with a secret, or share a hobby… Realizing he wasted over eleven years of possible connections with others really affected his mental health.

In order to fix that, he changed his personality into someone very confident, happy and cheerful, as well as showing his inner light, hoping it would be enough to make some friends and connections…

It wasn't.

He managed to get along a bit with his newer classmates, and Mina tended to prank him quite a bit, but they weren't anything more than casual friends at most… Until he met Izuku Midoriya.

And both, were kind of similar, in many senses. Poor control of their quirks, self-esteem issues (though he masked his insecurities via fake pride), and bad social skills…

Still, Izuku managed to connect with many people, such as Ochaco, Tenya, Tsuyu and Shoto, as well as people from other courses like Mei and Hitoshi, so he was a bit envious about his luck… As well as the fact he wanted to be his friend, and maybe belong in his group.

The broccoli haired teen accepted his friendship, and it was slowly growing… Perhaps they could become close friends in a few months! Finally, he made his first friendship!

And then, a month after that, the traitor situation happened… And Yuuga, having a huge amount of self-preservation, distanced himself from Izuku after that.

He did the exact same thing his old classmates did towards him, judging someone for a rumor, for something he couldn't control… And once he realized his actions contributed in nearly destroying someone else…

Honestly, he had never been suicidal… Maybe a bit depressed, yes, but he still valued his own life, had a nice family, and some personal dreams and ambitions he wanted to fulfill.

How could he have fallen so low?

Meanwhile, perhaps the most broken person in the room, was Mashirao, whom became an outcast in just a couple of days, after losing everything he had.

Tooru, whom he thought was his best friend, not only manipulated everything to destroy Izuku, but also ended up being guilty… Plus, maybe she never cared about him at all, so he was just another tool, as well as a mean to fulfill an end.

Denki, another close friend of his ended up being guilty as well, but he at least tried to support Izuku's group, maybe to partially ease his consciousness, but it meant another lose to him…

Also, his friendship with Kyoka was affected as well, since she was Izuku's ally, so they distanced from one another…

His only remaining friend was Momo, but she was quite distressed so, he couldn't ask for her support…

Thankfully, both Yuuga and Rikido were very supportive, so perhaps he could count them as friends too.

Unlike both of them, he had some friends from middle school, but he didn't want them to know about this… If he betrayed people without evidence, he certainly could abandon others for similar reasons, so it was quite risky.

…

And so, the hours slowly passed, until a voice broke their self-pitying trance.

"Attention to all Class 1-A students, please report immediately to the common room, punishment for the traitor incident is about to be delivered." Spoke Dr. David Shield in a neutral tone. "Failure to assist means immediate expulsion. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill."

"I think we should go guys…" Suggested Rikido in a sad tone, as he helped both Yuuga and Mashirao to get up.

Somehow, knowing they would get punished gave them a small amount of peace, as their actions would have consequences… If not of those, the guilt would've teared their souls apart until there was nothing left.

When they arrived, their remaining classmates were already there, including Mina, Eijirou, Hanta, Tsuyu, Shoto, Momo, Fumikage, Mezo and Minoru, as well as the teachers, like Present Mic, Midnight, Thirteen, Snipe, Cementoss, Ectoplasm and Lunch Rush…

"Thank you for your arrival." Said Detective Naomasa as he walked into the room, alongside Nedzu-sensei, All Might, Melissa, Ochaco, Tenya, Kouji and Kyoka. "As you all know, your actions in the past weeks, nearly caused someone to die… Thus, it cannot go unpunished. Once we call your names, please step ahead, so we can deliver the proper punishment…"

Retribution had begun.

Hello, the author here! :D

Sorry for the late update :'v We're very close to finishing the second arc!

Writing Mineta's backstory was quite difficult, as the story needed to find a way to give him some redeeming qualities, but in the end, losing almost everything he had was enough punishment to awaken his mind u_u The stories for Rikido and Mashirao were quite similar.

In canon, Yuuga ended up being the traitor, so his backstory was retconned as a late bloomer, which would explain many things about his character :D

Here's the next chapters content:

13: Kuurasu 1-A no Omoi II

14-18: Arc III.

19: Epilogue.

20: A trailer for Twilight Hero: Yamikumo.

Also, there's another side story named Kyou Kara Omoide, which explains some of Izuku's origins (the rest will appear in Arc III).

Once again, thanks for all the support, hope all of you have a great day! :D

PD: an old friend of mine also makes awesome stories and art, check out his Tumblr account, named: fparkerartista. Any support would be greatly appreciated! :D

Credits to Fencer29 in Fanfiction for his idea about being more careful towards Shigaraki's attack.