I own nothing. Warning, may contain Out of Character moments.
The next year and a half has been difficult but irreplaceable for Midoriya and Mineta. To the former's surprise, the shorter boy stuck with him even after their next, violent encounter with Bakugou Katsuki. And the next one after that. And the next after that…
Sure, the two of them would constantly get the crap kicked out of them, but at least they had each other for support. However, on those days where they weren't targets, it was just filled with pleasant and happy moments at the arcade. Long talks about the technical and aesthetic designs of Hero costumes. And that one hilarious accident involving a passionate artist and an unhealthy number of baguettes.
Tried and tested, Midoriya and Mineta stuck together through thick and thin. Outcasted and against the world, they go on to fight the hopeless odds and be what they were meant to become…
"A Marching Band? I didn't know this school had one." Midoriya commented. The shorter boy smirked and placed down a flyer he had found pinned on the school's bulletin board. It read, 'Be Loud, Be Proud! Come join the new Marching Band and let your sounds roar'!
"Apparently it was put together this year, just got enough members added to the Brass Band and are looking to swell their numbers more. They'll even accept Third Years, as long as you can play an instrument well. So, what do you think? Yay or nay?"
Currently the duo was in the classroom of 3C, with their classmates all talking within their respective cliques. If anything, the only way to survive the generic nature of Orudera Middle was to either bury yourself in friends or studies. And that would lead to different, eccentric groups forming together and coloring the student body with their characteristics. Though for Midoriya and Mineta, that only meant more people to fend off since they were even below other outcasts of the social ladder.
It's been just them since the day they've met, no one else wanted to join their trust circle.
"I don't know…" Midoriya muttered, shyly pondering the prospect.
"But there are so many hot girls in it! Akari's in it and I know you have a thing for her." Mineta argued, whispering that last statement. His friend's face lit up and began covering his head with his arms, a pointless gesture since it did nothing to hide his embarrassment. Though it didn't stop the green haired boy from throwing out a retort to Mineta.
"Can you play an instrument?"
"Well I–"
"A real instrument."
"… Why do you have to kill my buzz like that? A guy like me has but one dream, to bed all the ladies I can possibly manage." Mineta said, voice without an ounce of hesitation as he stood tall. Midoriya just gave a small chuckle to that declaration, shooting down the shorter boy's sense of elation.
"Let's start with getting a date before attempting a harem."
"Hey! They'll be all over me when 'Grape Juice' makes his debut! I can already see it now…" Mineta replied, a bit hopped up on his wildest fantasies. The other students in the class gave the short boy weird looks and mocking giggles, but simply left the two outcasts to go on about their nonsense. Midoriya ignored the unnecessary attention his friend was drawing in, as it happens often enough, and continued the conversation as normal.
"I still think 'Grape Shot' sounds cooler. But weird names do have a certain novelty to it, a few even made it to the Hall of Fame." He said, racking his brain for Heroes with unique names.
"What about you dude? You got yourself a 'cool' or 'wacky' Hero name yet?" Mineta asked. Before Midoriya could even answer, the shorter boy saw him bristle and turn pale. He swallowed and slowly turned around, his eyes meeting the piercing, anger laced gaze of Bakugou Katsuki. And as always, the guy was flanked by his two usual, sleazy looking lackeys.
"Kacchan… Good Morning…" Midoriya greeted, his voice squeaking a bit. The blonde boy ignored him and continued to glare down at Mineta, with the shorter boy feeling the pressure bear down on him.
"W-What do you want man?" Mineta asked, shifting his foot behind him for stability.
"It doesn't matter what God fucking name he chooses, he'll never be a Hero. He'll be the same shitty, Quirkless Deku till the day he dies. Or do I have to waste my time on you bitches again?" Bakugou said, not even bothering to hide the rolling thunder in his voice.
The blonde's two lackeys gave a wide sneer as Mineta could already hear the arrogant laughter rattling around in their heads. Still, as afraid as he was, Midoriya's confidence was on the line and what Mineta lacked in courage, he made up in loyalty. Even with a cracking voice, the shorter boy spoke up against Bakugou.
"A-And I keep t-telling you, Midoriya h-has as much of a chance as y-you or me."
"No, he doesn't rat bitch, quit deluding him or yourself. Deku is weak, he can't beat anyone at anything. How can he be a Hero if he can't even win against those sticks in the Handcrafts club?" Bakugou asked, his voice becoming more guttural by the second. This time, the class around them burst out laughing as Midoriya looked to the ground, seemingly becoming more insignificant as time passes. Mineta couldn't let that stand, so he mustered the bravery to prevent his voice from faltering to the stress.
"He can be a Hero by saving people, helping them however he can."
"Then why can't he be a damn Police man? A fucking Fire Fighter? An honest to God Doctor? Why the Hell does Deku have to be a Hero? He doesn't have the one thing that's required!" Bakugou argued, his voice now sounding like the snarl of a wolf. Midoriya started to reach out to Mineta, an attempt to break up the escalating argument. But the shorter boy was feeling the adrenaline, his zeal and fury reaching its peak. The words came out of his mouth before he could even let his brain register it.
"Oh yeah!? Maybe you're just too scared to admit that Midoriya's a far better Hero than you will ever be!"
Mineta didn't know what just happened next… A blur of motion and he was flat on his butt, behind and to the right of Midoriya. Bakugou's fist was right in Midoriya's gut, with the blonde's face projecting the image of bloody war. And judging from the position of his arm, Mineta's face would be in its path had he remained standing there.
The explosive boy wordlessly pulled his fist back, letting the green haired boy crumple onto the ground to writhe in pain. He then stepped over him and snatched the notebook that rested on Midoriya's desk, the latest in his collection of self made Hero notes. Bakugou looked at Mineta, eyes full of contempt as he lightly tossed Midoriya's book in the air and caught it repeatedly.
"You seem to think Deku has potential… This is what I think of it." He said. Bakugou then quickly grabbed the book and pressed an open hand against it, detonating it with his Quirk. Once the smoke cleared, the campos book was severely burned with some portions of it already crumbling off. The blonde boy threw it to the ground in front of Mineta and went to sit down at his own desk.
"Alright class, settle… What's that smell?" The teacher said, entering the room. Someone jumped to a response before Mineta could say anything.
"Midoriya tried to smoke something." Someone lied gleefully. The short boy clenched his teeth, temples throbbing with anger over these classmates of theirs. Hasn't Midoriya been through enough this morning?
Fortunately, the teacher wasn't buying it… Unfortunately, Midoriya was going along with the slanderous remark, even going so far as to start coughing as he got up from the floor.
"I'm sorry sir… I was too eager to try something… I bought online…"
The teacher looked at him sternly, as though he was trying to fish up any more answers. But sighed in defeat when Midoriya ultimately didn't budge on the matter. "I see… Go stand the hall until first period. Don't do it again."
Midoriya simply shook his head and shuffled out of the room, the rest of the class snickering at him the entire time. This wasn't the first time something like this happened… Being the kind of person he was, Midoriya would always shoulder the blame for any problem, regardless of who's fault it really was. Teachers know he's lying to save the true culprit trouble but attempts to get the truth is met by a stubbornly insistent Midoriya. This ends up wasting a lot of class time, so Teachers would just give up and accept things at face value just to save the effort.
And this in turn just gave everyone else more ammunition to put the poor boy down.
"Mineta, get off the floor." The Teacher said. The shorter boy nodded and grabbed Midoriya's burnt book before going to sit at his desk. Things might have calmed down as the day went on, with the cruel teasing dropping as Midoriya avoided any more confrontations and Mineta taking care not to get goaded into one.
But it was really, really hard… And Mineta was surprised that his teeth haven't shattered yet due to the amount of pressure he puts on them. Every day, he continuously defied others to defend Midoriya's dreams from becoming lost in despair. But no matter how many weights he removes from him, Mineta can't hold back the amount of misery the world keeps lumping onto Midoriya's back. So, it left the shorter boy wondering…
Just when will life change for his friend?
And that has been Chapter 2! If the last chapter didn't tip you off, I put Mineta in the same middle school as Midoriya and Bakugou. But after that I kept everything else mostly the same, though I think I've made the classmates more antagonizing to counter against Mineta's friendship. It's not the greatest thing to do, but looking through the early chapters, it gave me the sense that Midoriya was alone against the world. And I still wanted to capture that feeling for this story.
"What a sadistic bastard you are... And here I thought, I was the Queen of Punishment."
Anything for me to tell an interesting story... Anyway, the reason I wanted to post this chapter was because I saw some arguments on Mineta's potential and it made me sad. So to purge those inner demons, I went back to do more 'The Saint and The Sinner' instead of the schedule I've set for myself.
"Granted, that schedule you made is like, super outdated."
Yeah, but now I'm somewhat back on track. For those following my 'Heroic Inheritors' story, you should see an update to it soon. But other than that... I don't have much to say this time around, so I wish you all luck with whatever you're doing.
"This guy has to take some Final's soon, so wish this nerd luck too."
That would be most appreciated. And remember to leave behind your questions, comments, and concerns, it'll help make this story much more enjoyable for everyone. So with that said...
Until Next Time. T1.
"Ciao Ciao."
