Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Toshinori's Choice
Chapter thirty-nine: The Yaoyorozu-Mineta friendship plan, part four
Once more, Toshinori and Naomasa sat down with Ayumu Tomo, a girl who was saved by Mineta during a riot that by this point was a week back. Ayumu had new info to share to help with the case that the pro heroes were trying to build to bring down Cornucopia's Company, info that Ayumu was able to recall thanks to visiting the Uraraka Mansion and seeing Ryumaru's kanabo where it was put in Mr. Uraraka's home office.
The info Ayumu was able to recall? Seeing Ryumaru talking with a man he identified as his boss, Cornucopia himself.
After getting the interview started, Naomasa had the kanabo that was as Uraraka Mansion brought in; as it turned out, the heroes had to collect it as evidence after all. "To begin, you recognize this weapon, yes?" Naomasa asked.
"Yes I do," Ayumu replied, "I remember seeing that weapon in the possession of someone I had slept with ages ago."
"Can you, on record, describe the person that you saw with this weapon?" Naomasa asked. Ayumu nodded in the affirmative and proceeded to describe the late Ryumaru Okami. "Yes, that matches the description of Ryumaru Okami, a now long deceased affiliate who has been confirmed to have worked for Cornucopia." To Ayumu, Naomasa asked, "Can you describe when you saw Ryumaru with this weapon?"
Nodding once, Ayumu said, "Yes. I saw him carry it with him as he was talking to someone he identified as his boss in the dining area of Ryumaru's apartment. I was asleep on a daybed that was in the living room, or at least pretending to sleep. I didn't want them to know I was awake as I had reason to believe they'd kill me if they knew I was awake. They sounded like they were talking about some rather seedy stuff."
"The person who Ryumaru identified as his boss," Naomasa said, "Did you get a good look at him? If you did, can you describe him for the police sketch artist here in the room with us?" Toshinori then gestured to where a police sketch artist sat in the room, a glowing hand an inch over a pad of artists drawing paper.
Ayumu nodded once, then proceeded to describe the person who she remembered seeing Ryumaru talk to. Given that it was a bit over two years ago, Ayumu had to strain a bit to recall certain details, not helped by the fact that this was back before she started getting clean from her drug addiction. But for reasons that escaped her, the vision on Ryumaru's boss's appearance was getting clearer and clearer in her mind as things went on.
Eventually, after Ayumu was done, the police sketch artist stopped his glowing hand, then showed an image his quirk had drawn on the page of the artists drawing paper book was open to. "Is this what he looks like?" the police sketch artist asked.
Looking at the image for a moment, Ayumu said, "His hair's a deeper and more vibrant shade of purple. Much like the same shade of purple Minoru's purple balls Mohawk is."
"When you say Minoru," Naomasa began, "You mean Minoru Mineta, right?" Ayumu nodded in the affirmative. "The interviewee nodded in the affirmative," Naomasa said aloud for the recording, "Turn recording off." After the recording was turned off, Naomasa said, "Toshi, you think that a relative of Mineta's is behind everything as Cornucopia?"
"Izuku told me a bit about Young Mineta's family history when he shared it," Toshinori said, "His only living male relative is his Uncle Akoji."
"Akoji Mineta," Naomasa said, "I heard of him. He's a very prominent, wealthy, and successful businessman. It'll be tricky to go after him, especially if he really IS Cornucopia and he suspects we know that. He might try to rabbit, or pull connections to weasel his way out of trouble."
Toshinori had a thought cross his mind. "...Then I propose we set a trap to get evidence out of him, as well as a confession."
Later, Toshinori explained the situation to Class 3-A. To say Mineta was devastated to hear that his Uncle Akoji, the man who took him in after his family gave him the boot, might be Cornucopia, would be a bit of an understatement. But he was shown the evidence, backed up by testimony from Ayumu. Mineta, with a bitter scowl on his face that denoted feelings of betrayal, gently shook his head in disbelief.
"...He was always telling me about the virtues of living honestly, about being a good person," Mineta said, "And now I find out he's the last person practicing what he preaches. He took me in when the rest of my family booted me, and now I learn he's most likely a criminal gang lord?"
"The same criminal gang lord that we got had stolen and is now currently living off of Yaoyorozu's family's money," Jiro scowled as she looked accusingly at the short grape haired boy, "So not only are you a damn dirty little pervert, you're also a damn dirty little thief!"
"JIRO!" Yaoyorozu snapped, getting everyone to look at her. Catching her breath, Yaoyorozu who clearly looked at her limit said, "First off, Mineta hasn't acted like he did on our first day at UA in years. Second off, he's NOT a thief, only his uncle potentially. And if his uncle does turn out to have been the one to have stolen my family's money, then Mineta himself can't be blamed as he had no idea of it until just now."
Shrugging, Dark Shadow said, "I get that Mineta's good now, but why has it been repeated so much over the last few days?"
"Some people can be stubborn so it bore repeating," Tokoyami remarked.
Holding his hands up in a gesture of getting folks to settle down, Izuku said, "Let's settle this after we deal with Mineta's uncle potentially being Cornucopia." Turning to look at Toshinori, Izuku said, "So how will the heroes go after Mineta's uncle?"
"In order to have the proof we need to apprehend him, we're gonna need to set up a sting operation where he admits he's Cornucopia," Toshinori said, "Get what he says on secret recording. And I have an idea on how to do so, assuming that the Urarakas are willing to let their only son do a bit of work for the pro heroes."
Tsuyu and Ochaco both perked up. "You want Samidare to help kero?" Tsuyu asked.
...
The next day, Akoji was in his office at his office building when a secretary came in. "Mr. Mineta sir, your nephew is here to see you," the secretary said, "He's leading a group consisting of some friends from school and one kid who wants to ask you some questions about you work for an assignment from school."
"Ah, Minoru is helping kids learn about the world of business," Akoji said as he got up and followed the secretary out. They eventually arrived in the main lobby on the ground floor. Akoji saw Mineta who looked nervous, along with Izuku, Bakugo, Todoroki, Shinso, Tokoyami, Tenya, and Samidare who stood near Tokoyami.
"So these are your friends, ehh Minoru?" Akoji asked, "Also, why are you so nervous?"
"Grape Head here is just freaking out because he's got a girlfriend now," Bakugo explained, "The short stack never thought it'd happen."
"Yeah, my new girl's got me nervous," Mineta said.
Giving off a good natured laugh, Akoji said, "There's no need to fret, my boy! I bet any girl would love to be with you! They're probably jealous of the girl you have in your life now, I bet!" Looking to Samidare, Akoji said, "And you must be the boy who I was told wants to ask me some business related questions for a school assignment."
Nodding once, Samidare walked up to Akoji and held a hand out for a handshake, which Akoji, to be friendly, accepted. "It's nice to meet you," Samidare said as he held Akoji's hand while shaking hands with him, "Akoji Mineta."
Arching a wry eyebrow, Akoji asked, "How come you know my name?"
"I told him," Mineta said, "He needed it for his assignment."
Nodding once, Akoji replied, "Fair enough." Turning to look at Samidare again, Akoji said, "So what's the first thing you wanna as-"
"Akoji Mineta will give straight, truthful answers to all questions posed to him," Samidare said. As Akoji looked confused, Samidare said, "Yes or no, are you the gang lord known as Cornucopia?"
"Yes," Akoji said, only to instantly look alarmed as he did NOT want to admit that. But he felt some manner of influence on him forcing him to tell the truth without trying to hide things. "What... how was I made to-" Akoji said, but he got cut off when the boys who had surrounded him proceeded to tackle him to the ground.
All aside from Shinso, who too out a walkie talkie. "Did you and the others get that, Aizawa-sensei?" Shinso said into the walkie talkie.
"Damn straight we did," Aizawa's voice replied, moments before a number of pro heroes rushed in to take over keeping Akoji, who had just confessed to being Cornucopia, detained.
Samidare released the rule he placed on Akoji via New Order, then Shinso was able to apply some brainwashing to keep Akoji mollified. A few moments later, police came by to officially arrest Akoji on suspicion of him being Cornucopia.
As Akoji was loaded into the back of a police van, Izuku and the other guys looked to Mineta. "We're surprised you so willingly acted to bring your uncle in," Izuku said.
"Just because he didn't practiced what he preached about living honestly and being a good person doesn't mean I shouldn't," Mineta remarked, "I intend to both preach those ideas AND practice them. I wanna be someone that I can be proud of."
"If it helps, Mineta," Aizawa said, "I'm proud of you. Those aren't words that I openly say often, but you've gone above and beyond to deserve hearing it." The other guys agreed, and with things settled, they were allowed to return to UA campus, as the heroes had things from here. Things were going to be tough for Mineta, at least he expected it to be, but he was going to deal with it, he would take the challenges as they came.
Because he's aiming to be a cool hero that people would respect.
The police were able to get official confessions out of Akoji, the main one being that he really IS Cornucopia. They were also able to get it out of him that he is indeed behind the vanishing of the Yaoyorozu fortune a few years ago. A girl known by the alias Queen, who was the member of Akoji's Apocalyptic Four that represented pestilence (the girl was known by the alias Queen the Plague), was a tech wiz that was comparable to the currently incarcerated La Brava.
It was Queen's techno hacking skills that let Akoji slip the Yaoyorozu fortune out from under the noses of everyone and add it to his already notable nest egg. Unfortunately, Queen was among those killed in a skirmish against Dabi's Crew a few years ago, vanquished by Felgrand. As such, Queen was not able to be questioned.
The police and pro heroes would have to dig into what all tech and data Akoji had the hard way; they even cut a deal with La Brava to help them with the effort. Eventually however, there was enough gathered on Akoji to not only put him away, but do so for life. This, however, combined with how all of Akoji's assets were seized, ended up leading to something that the pro hero teachers at UA who helped with matters had overlooked.
Minoru Mineta was now homeless.
A deal was made with Mineta that allowed him to remain a ward of Nezu's until he graduated from UA. Additionally, although Mineta no longer had a home to go back to, he wasn't totally destitute. He actually had a debit card, provided by his now incarcerated uncle some time ago, that let Mineta access a very well stocked account. When Mineta checked, there was over thirty million yen in the account, making it clear the authorities had no idea about that money.
...
"You're giving it to me?"
The whole of Class 3-A was present in the main area on the ground floor of their dorm building one morning when the lot of them, aside from Mineta and Yaoyorozu, saw it as Mineta tried offering his debit card to Yaoyorozu. "I have reason to believe that my uncle funded this account with some of the money he stole from your folks," Mineta explained to Yaoyorozu, "That being said, this ought to go to you."
"This is pretty big of you, Mineta," Kirishima said, "Hell, it'd be pretty big of anyone. It's manly as all get out is what it is."
Scowling, Jiro said, "Oh, alright, I'm convinced now that the little imp's cleaned up his act." Hagakure likewise voiced how she was now convinced of Mineta being good now.
Gesturing to Mineta, Yaoyorozu said, "You at least have some other money, don't you? This gesture won't leave you destitute, will it?"
"Any money I have access to right now came from my uncle," Mineta said, "Meaning for all I know, it was all stolen from you and your folks. Besides, I'm going to be getting some sort of allowance system from Principle Nezu, so I won't be completely broke." Mineta then walked up to Yaoyorozu to hand her the debit card.
However, to everyone's surprise, Yaoyorozu gently pushed it back. "Keep it," Yaoyorozu said, "For now at least. My mom and I are still under investigation by authorities looking to collect the money my dad had. If they get it that the money here came from that pool, it'll be taken and none of us will be able to make use of it."
Gesturing to Yaoyorozu, Mina said, "But the authorities got it that Mineta's uncle stole all of your family's fortune."
"If that card can access a small pool of it, then it means they can't recover ALL of the assets they want to seize on the count of the insider trading my dad and his company had done," Yaoyorozu said, "So for the time being, I say we keep word of this fortune a secret. Besides, my mom is doing well as a member of a servant staff working for a wealthy family."
Popping out of Tokoyami and hanging next to him, Dark Shadow said, "Yaomomo's mommy works for the Urarakas. Fumi and I saw it with our own eyes!"
As the others in class reacted in surprise, Ochaco said, "Yeah, yeah, it's true Yaoyorozu's mom works for me and Tsuyu's family as a maid. She'll be helping with training Ayumu when she finishes her treatment at rehab."
"She offered to do some repair work on Samidare's cloak this one time kero," Tsuyu said, "But he told her the damage that she said she wanted to fix is a deliberate part of the cloak's design."
Looking to Yaoyorozu, Mineta said, "You told me to keep it for now. That means you would like it back eventually."
"It would be nice to have a little extra money," Yaoyorozu said, "But I wouldn't want it if you being screwed over is the cost. Besides." With a knowing hint of amusement in her expression, Yaoyorozu went on, "You might need a pool of funds to draw from after Ayumu is cleared and released from rehab, you'll be needing to be able to treat her right." Mineta blushed a bit out of embarrassment, drawing a bit of laughter out of Yaoyorozu.
As everything settled down, an agreement was reached between Yaoyorozu and Mineta that he'll give her monthly payments of a set amount until she gets two-thirds of what is currently in the account. Mineta is allowed to keep the rest to cover necessary expenses, so that he has at least a little bit of a safety net. Mineta agreed, and shook hands with Yaoyorozu on it. That handshake, by the way, wasn't just an affirmation of a deal being sealed.
It was a symbol of a friendship officially being established.
(TWENTY YEARS LATER)
Things had been a wild ride for Izuku and his peers ever since they had graduated from UA and became officially licenced pro heroes. At the current time, Izuku sat as the number one hero on the Hero Billboards Chart JP. He had achieved the very same spot that his step-dad Toshinori had held so long ago. And much like what his step-dad had done, Izuku intended to be a Symbol of Peace for the people of Japan to rally behind and look to for support.
Izuku had also married Ochaco, and together they had a son that they named Fuyuki. Similarly, Tsuyu and Fumikage got married and had a son they named after Tsuyu's brother Samidare. Fumikage and the girls became pro heroes same as Izuku and the rest of their class, but the girls stepped down from active duty to help Ochaco's parents with running their business, continuing to keep the Uraraka name as the richest in Japan.
The rest of Izuku's graduating Class A from UA is doing well, as is the graduating Class B from their same year. In fact, members of the Class A and Class B of Izuku's year currently made up all of the Top Ten heroes on the Hero Billboard Charts JP. Mina wondered why neither Satsuki or Samidare, despite having graduated from UA's hero course and having pro hero licences, were in the Top Ten, to which Fumikage explained they also stepped down from active duty to help Ochaco and Tsuyu.
Over the years, Mineta eventually finished paying Yaoyorozu the agreed upon sum, and said money was used by Yaoyorozu and her now husband, Yosetsu from Class B, to help with upkeep at their home. Mineta still had some of the money he started with, and it was contributed to by both the small allowance he got from Nezu until he graduated and Mineta's earnings once he became a pro hero. Either way, no parties were wanting for scratch.
Mineta also ended up marrying Ayumu, who bore his daughter who was named Ichigo, mostly because her quirk which she had at birth was a strawberry version of Mineta's quirk. Mineta made sure to keep Ichigo from becoming a girl version of what Mineta himself had been a long time ago, before he cleaned up his act. Mineta was also rather worried that boys may end up trying to perv on his little strawberry angel. A father's prerogative.
Everything else was at peace, there were no struggles. Older pro heroes retired from active duty, leaving things in the hands of Izuku's generation of pro heroes. This allowed those retired older heroes to focus more on their passion projects, such as Fat Gum continuing to make sure not a single mouth in Japan went hungry. A goal Ochaco also helped with, although she made sure to not let it lead her back to tipping the scales.
Speaking of Ochaco, her pro hero mentor, Ryukyu, also retired from active duty, and even ended up marrying Fat Gum. Ryukyu still worked, but now as a full time staff member of a school set up specifically to assist with and teach kids who are on the autism spectrum. The only pro hero from Ryukyu's heyday that's still active is Mirko, although the Rabbit Hero has voiced an interesting in officially retiring soon due to feeling she can't keep up with the heroes of Izuku's generation.
Izuku, as he looked around at his office at his agency, couldn't help but feel like this was all a dream, that he'll wake up any moment. But it was real. All of his life was real. He had done so much, got to experience so much, befriended so many people. Izuku Midoriya felt himself to be truly blessed to have lived the life he's living right now, and he would attribute a lot of the success he knows to his step-dad Toshinori, who did what he could for Izuku to make sure he grew up well. Toshinori made a choice to be a good of a father as he could to Izuku over the years, and it paid off in spades.
Izuku owed a lot to Toshinori's choice.
THE END
Author's notes;
This chapter covers the downfall of Cornucopia's Company, and the downfall of Cornucopia himself, who turned out to be Mineta's uncle. Then as everyone was celebrating the defeat of the last major villainous threat, Mineta without any prompting tried to make an ultimate gesture of goodwill to Yaoyorozu, but she kindly declined the gesture, instead suggesting to Mineta to make the offer in small amounts overtime, so as to prevent suspicion from being aroused.
Then there's a flash forward to Izuku and his peers being successful adult, some with kids, and Izuku is the number one hero in the country. And Izuku as he contemplates everything feels as if a lot of what everyone is enjoying is due to Toshinori making the right choice. And that's where I'm going to end things. Sorry if the end chapter is a tad short, but I feel this story's gone on for a long enough period of time. Part of why I got up all of the remaining chapters all at once.
...But just because this story's ending doesn't mean another one isn't around the corner. Take care.