I own nothing. May contain Out of Character moments.
But even though he said that… Mineta already found himself stuck on his first hurdle. Not even a few minutes after splitting up from the class, he got himself surrounded by four people. In front of him was someone wearing combat fatigues and a bear pelt. To Mineta's left was a staff wielder who looked liked a wanderer. Behind him was a robed girl with six wings.
And to his right was a wolf girl at least twice Shouji's size.
"That one's certainly going to be a problem… Just got to stick close to her, make sure she can't use that reach." Mineta thought as he readied a few hairballs.
"It seems you're luck has run out UA Hero! For we of Tsujigiri High shall bring you down and claim your head!" The one in the bear pelt shouted with gusto. Mineta just blinked as the name of the school echoed in his head. While he wasn't familiar with all the Hero schools in Japan like Midoriya was… He definitely remembered that one.
Mostly since it was named after the ancient act of crossroad killing and had confused the shorter boy to no end.
"Why is your school named that!?" Mineta asked reflexively. But though his confusion showed through, he had not dropped his guard. In fact, it was the only thing stopping his foes from pouncing right then and there. His opponents began relaxing their stances as they all stared at him. Before long, they were tiredly looking at one another.
"It's complicated… I would appreciate it if you didn't bring it up again… And Taeru? Please stop spouting our school's name whenever you get the chance." The one with six wings replied.
"Our enemy deserves to know who it was that brought him. Don't we at least owe him that much Megumi? Also, the politeness helps to reduce our school's notoriety!" Taeru replied, shaking his pelt covered head.
"Considering how Okami's about to maul him, I think we're about to lose those points." The wanderer said, pointing to behind Mineta. The shorter boy's eyes widened as he immediately rolled back. And not a moment too soon, as the area where he last stood had been pulverized by a big, furry hand. Mineta got back onto his feet before barely slipping past a pincer attack from Megumi and Taeru.
Luckily for him, however, they had entered his new effective range. No longer was he the mid to long range fighter he once was. He could actually do something at this range.
He leaned away from Taeru's punch, sticking one of his hairballs to his arms. And as he pulled back his fist, the shorter boy got pulled up with it, allowing Mineta to scurry and stick to his unprotected back. Mineta immediately grabbed the ears on the pelt and began pulling. And as he had hoped, Mineta found that the head of the pelt was strapped its wearer's head.
"No! Not the pelt! Leave Bearyl alone!" Taeru shouted as he tried to throw Mineta off. Of course, since the shorter boy was experienced in this sort of thing, he was able to stay on no matter what. However, before Mineta could forcibly glue Taeru's hands, he sensed an attack coming from behind. The shorter boy immediately attached another hairball before springing out of the way.
That was when he saw that two of Megumi's six wings smacked into her friend's back with surprising force. But because of the hairballs Mineta left behind, they were now stuck to Taeru's pelt. Not that Mineta could admire his handy work, since the wanderer came in swinging with a staff.
Or rather, the wanderer came in thrusting with his staff. But though the shorter boy could tell he had skill... Mineta knew he was nowhere close to Fenghuang's level yet. For one, the guy began his attack far too early, giving the shorter boy a chance to prepare.
He plucked a hairball from his head and tossed it in the staff's path. Mineta then sidestepped as he drew his baton, the hairball adhering to the end of the staff. And with a sudden push downwards, the shorter boy forced the tip of the staff to stick to the ground. Nomad tried pulling his staff back, but it was already too late. So, before he could back off, Mineta stepped in and struck the side of the wanderer's knee.
The guy winced as his body was forced to take a knee. And at that moment, Mineta followed by striking his jaw. The wanderer fell onto his back, recoiling with pain as a howl ripped through the air. The shorter boy turned to it and found the wolf girl Okami rushing him on all fours. But what startled Mineta most was the renewed fury deep in her lupine eyes.
"Oh Hell…" Mineta thought. His eyes quickly darted around as time slowed, his brain going into overdrive to find an escape. That was when the shorter boy noticed how the wanderer's staff was angled due to his hairball. A brilliant idea had immediately formed, causing Mineta to act on it. Putting away his baton, he grabbed the staff with both hands and steadied himself.
Once the wolf girl pounced towards him, Mineta simply and suddenly raised the pole towards her face.
The staff's other end had struck the wolf girl's snout, twisting it in an unusual way. Okami landed with a whimper, clutching her nose with her hands. Taking advantage of his stunned foe, and to avoid another attack he sensed from behind, Mineta slid between the wolf girl's legs. And as he passed by it, the shorter boy grabbed Okami's tail and stuck it to the ground.
He then immediately made one long Grape Vine by linking two regular ones, dropping one end to the ground once he finished. And once he stood, Mineta leaned away from Okami's swing as she turned around. But before completely falling to the ground, Mineta stuck the other end of his Grape Vine to her arm. Combined with her glued tail, this had left the wolf girl restrained in an awkward way.
And after scrambling to his feet, Mineta threw a hairball at Okami's own when he saw her try and reposition herself. So with a squish, he was able to seal her movement. Though that didn't stop him from being in danger as Taeru, without his pelt, came in with Megumi, with said pelt still attached to two wings, came in to pincer him.
This time, though, the six winged girl's body was on fire. Mineta turned the other way and faced Taeru instead, grabbing a few hairballs off his head. He then ran at the guy, dodging his kicks and fists when Mineta stepped in his range. With his arms away from his body, the shorter boy threw all but one of his hairballs onto his body before slidding beneath Taeru. And with the last one, he tossed it in the path of his slide.
With one simple movement of his body, Mineta was able to position himself for a launch. And with a simple push into the hairball, the shorter boy shot himself at his foe. This tackle had caused Taeru to stumble towards the flaming Megumi. So to avoid setting her ally ablaze, she put herself out. However, that didn't stop his body from crashing, and sticking, to hers.
And just for good measure, Mineta threw hairballs on the ground around them to further seal their limited movements.
"Now… That leaves him…" The shorter boy thought as he turned to the wanderer. The guy finally recovered from his earlier blows. But without a weapon or backup, Mineta knew he was help–
"No! I can't think like that! If I do, I'll end up being the prey." Mineta thought, shaking his head.
"You're good, as expcted of UA. But I'm not going down without a fight." The wanderer said, raising his fists. Both of them held the balls that meant to tag the targets on their boys. Mineta, for a moment, wanted to indulge in this dude's silent request for an upfront fight. However… As soon as the guy raised his foot, Mineta's rat-like nature and pragmatic reflexes took hold.
And he ended the fight by throwing a hairball where the wanderer's next step was.
With a squish, the wanderer looked down at his foot. Then at Mineta. Then back down at his foot… The guy then tried to throw his examination balls at the shorter boy. But, like anything thrown at him, Mineta simply caught it out of the air and pitched it back, tagging the wanderer's targets one after the other.
"… As much as I don't want to admit it, you've bested me. Come, my last target is yours." He said, turning to his side to expose the target on his shoulder.
"Raidou! Don't you dare give this rat the win!" Okami shouted as she continued to struggle against her bindings. Oh great, Mineta's likeness was spreading to other schools…
"This 'rat' bested the four of us. So it's best if we give up gracefully and not shame ourselves anymore than we did today. Plus, if I'm correct about who his teachers were, then no amount of struggling now would do us any good." Raidou explained. The wolf girl tried to bring up an argument, but could only growl in defeat. Mineta turned back to the guy and readied one of the exam balls.
With a nod of acknowledgement, Mineta made the pitch and struck Raidou's last target.
"Kazama Raidou has been eliminated."
"Now, is anyone else going to–" Mineta began before another yell interrupted him.
"Hey! It's one of UA's Heroes!"
And right then and there, Mineta felt at least nine pairs of eyes lock onto his back. The shorter boy, understanding his odds, did the one and only sensible thing in this situation. Run as though his life depended on it. Because with the amount of Quirks being fired his way, that might actually be the case.
"Where do I go!? Where do I go!?" Mineta thought as his eyes looked all around him. That was when he spotted something just a few meters ahead of him. It was a fox hole in the corner of a small mound, one that he could comfortably go down. But while there was a possibility it could to collapse…
"It's better than staying out here!" Mineta shouted as he dove for it, sensing a particularly big attack from coming from behind. And like an actual fox or similar woodland creature, Mineta slipped into the hole with remarkable ease. The entrance behind him collapsed with a jolt as the shorter boy slid further down into the dark.
…
"I'm not dead… Am I?" Mineta thought as he began feeling all around him. No, he was still in a tunnel. So, with nothing better to do, he began crawling. And while he had a chance to rest, Mineta began thinking about his friends. How were they handling this crazy free-for-all? What sort of Quirks did they run into? On a scale of 1 to 10, how hot were some of the–
Mineta took a deep breath, stopping only to cough since the air was pretty wasn't the time to be thinking about girls! The shorter boy had a job to do! Mineta quickly settled on a goal to distract the pants side of his brain and hastened his speed. He was not about to be trapped down here because of his lust.
And so, he crawled on in relative peace…
But the moment that some light appeared at the end of the tunnel, Mineta never channeled his inner rodent faster than he did now. The shorter boy furiously scurried towards it, flowing through the tunnel like water. He hadn't been down here long, but he wasn't about to let this opportunity go. He was going to free himself of this earthly prison and not deal with terrors associated with it.
"I live!" Mineta shouted as he burst out of the earth. And the first thing he did was smell that air, practically drinking it like booze. He didn't care if he never had alcohol, the comparision was appropriate.
"M-Mineta!?"
The shorter boy cut his celebratory mood short as he began assessing the situation. Looking down at him were Mina, Ojiro, and Hagakure. And all around them, as Mineta came to expect, was the crazed battle royal that was the Provisional License exam. However, despite the intensity of the chaos, Mineta's classmates weren't part of the fray. How were they avoiding–?
"Hey! Live targets over here!"
Oh. They were hiding. And Mineta just blew their cover.
Ojiro quickly plucked Mineta from his hole and they all began running. But it wasn't long before all four of them were forced to fight for their lives. Combined with the number of attacks and bodies flying all around, Mineta was having quite the time just staying close to his friends. How did it come to this? Weren't these schools going after UA first?
"What's gotten into them!? They're attacking everyone and anyone!" Mineta shouted as he deflected a wrench thrown his way with his baton.
"There are only ten spots left! So everyone wants to be one of those ten!" Ojiro shouted, tail slapping an enemy away.
"TEN!? Then what are we waiting for!?" Mineta shouted, dodging his attacker before he was blasted away by another person.
"Then do you have a plan? Because we've got nothing good at the moment. We also don't know if any of our friends are out here. So we've got to be careful too!" Mina shouted, melting a series of exam balls that came her way.
"Yeah! Put that big cheat brain into work and cheat our way out!" Hagakure shouted.
"I got that the first time!" Mineta screamed as he, Ojiro, Mina, and Hagakure regrouped. The shorter boy's eyes began darting around, trying to figure out which way would be the best way to get through this. However, planning step one proved to be unnaturally difficult even for Mineta.
For one, there were too many unknown and random variables. Whether it was Quirks or how people will react to them, Mineta couldn't see where their enemies will end up. That meant any path forward could be instantly cut off by a random fight between several people.
And two, their fellow classmates in 1A were still scattered about. Without any knowledge of where they are or what they're doing, Mineta would risk their chances of passing. Sure, he would pass if he did so… But that would make the shorter boy more of a dick than Bakugou. And that sort of thing was off the table.
"There's too much going on! We'll be cut off by whatever chaos stumbles into us! So unless everyone stops fighting for one second, we won't be going anywhere!" Mineta shouted as he readied himself for the next wave.
"Maaaaan… Just give us a break!" Mina groaned. Suddenly, a familiar bright beam was fired into the sky not too far from them. And just as suddenly, everyone in the area stopped fighting as they all stared at this sudden beacon of brilliance. Mineta quickly snapped out of the shock and examined the area now that it was calmer.
And he saw Aoyama and Iida where the beam was, mostly since the former was powering it.
Then he spotted Tokoyami, Satou, and Kouda nearby, all three hurrying to regroup with their classmates.
"Now's our chance! Go!" Mineta shouted as his group began running towards the light.
"Nice one Aoyama!" Mina cheered. Then, just like the beam, a massive flock of birds began to swarm the field. With this, Mineta put away the baton and began carefully lobbing hairballs behind every non-UA Hero he could see. And though he could feel his scalp starting to bleed, the shorter boy kept throwing. This was Class 1A's big break after all, so it was time to pull out all the stops.
In the middle of the flock, shadowy arms extended out and startled more than a few people. And that was the beginning of the chain reaction as those people then stumbled into Mineta's hairballs. Following that, Ojiro, Mina, and Satou began to swiftly push them down into more hairballs. With that, they began to clean house as each and everyone began to claim targets.
Mineta stopped to focus as he drew one of his exam balls. And through his eyes, things slowed as he went through his pitching forms. While this didn't seem all that efficient, considering that he stood in the eye of a hurricane… The shorter boy knew he was covered as he heard the familiar shout of a living shadow behind him. The ball was fired out of his hand.
It went past Hagakure and Ojiro, who tagged their final targets…
It flew over Mina's shoulder as the pink girl claimed her second foe…
It sailed between Satou, Kouda, Aoyama, and Iida as they overcame four other opponents…
And struck a Hero-in-Training's third target before someone else could tag it.
"You've passed, Mineta Minoru, please proceed to the anteroom." Mineta's targets said before they all lit up green. The shorter boy blinked as he looked to each one of his friends, noticing that each one of them also had green targets. They did it… They actually made it…
"Nice throw, even if it was entirely unnecessary." Tokoyami commented as he stepped to Mineta's side.
"It was a pretty risky move… But sometimes, you've just got to go above and beyond to add your own personal touch to things. You know, like how our school teaches us to do it." Mineta replied with a confident smirk.
"You have a point. If something is worth doing, it is worth going Plus Ultra for. Still, I'm glad we all overcame this carnage. Here's hoping our comrades have done the same." Tokoyami replied with a satisfied nod. Mineta returned the nod as a wide grin spread across his face.
Knowing them, they were already waiting, ready to welcome them with open arms.
And that has been Chapter 90!
Happy Holidays to my readers from around the world, I hope your end of the year has been nice and quiet. It's hard to believe that 2021 is almost at an end. And while the pandemic is still present, I believe we are almost out of it. So continue to stay strong people, just how Mineta is staying strong against the odds in this chapter.
Speaking of which... Have I set up this battle well? In previous chapters, where he was training with Aizawa and Ectoplasm, Mineta was learning how to deal with multiple opponents. But was that enough to set up for his successes here? I'll wait for your thoughts in whatever reviews you leave.
That is all I have for this update. Stay tuned as we take a moment to breathe and regroup with our delightful students of 1A. So with that said...
Happy Holidays and I will see you 2022.
Until Next Time. T1.
