I own nothing. May contain Out of Character moments.


At some point during their chase, it became a race to 1A's classroom. And due to his longer legs, the human grenade was able to get ahead very easily. This advantage, however, was negated by Mineta's raw determination. He was keeping up despite all the pain returning to his body. Thus, the two remained neck and neck as they entered the final stretch of hallway.

"God damn, would you just quit it? It's still too early for you to beat me!" Bakugou shouted through clenched teeth. Mineta had suspected his nemesis was also in immense pain... Though what this knowledge did for the shorter boy, he couldn't say. But at the very least, they were being tortured together by their own stupidity.

"Well too bad, this is what happens when I've got a spine now." Mineta said, doing his best not to scream in agony.

"Well I'm going to fucking rip it out of you if I don't win. Sub-Zero style."

"Please, as if you're cool enough to do that."

They gritted their teeth as their classroom door opened, causing them both to speed up. The two then saw Midoriya peer out, no doubt wondering what the ruckus was. And upon seeing the two charging towards him, the green haired boy immediately cleared the way. Mineta and Bakugou turned into the classroom simultaneously before hitting the brakes.

"Deku… Who made it first?" Bakugou asked, gasping for breath.

"I don't–" Midoriya began.

"Humor him Midoriya… It's for an experiment…" Mineta interrupted as he rubbed his screaming legs. His partner raised a bandaged finger to protest before stopping to think. And as the gears turned behind his emerald eyes, Midoriya proceeded to point to Bakugou. The shorter boy groaned as the human explosive let out an arrogant laugh. However, before that could go too far, Bakugou began to clutch at his sides.

"… Are you two okay?" Midoriya finally asked.

"I'm just peachy… Can't you fucking tell?" Bakugou grunted as he stumbled to his seat.

"What were you even doing out there? All of us heard stomping and yelling." Uraraka asked.

"Something silly I imagine." Tsuyu replied, watching Mineta slowly walk over to his desk.

"We were doing this hot new sport called Power Limping. It's fun, honestly." Mineta answered with sarcasm as intense as his pain. He didn't know why he was being like this with Tsuyu. But he supposed that was just him coming off the emotional high that came with handling Bakugou. So after sitting down, he put his hands together and looked at the amphibious girl.

"Sorry… A lot has happened since yesterday."

"It's okay Mineta-chan, I understand. Though I am surprised neither of you look like them over there." Tsuyu replied with a hum. She then pointed to Kirishima, Kaminari, Mina, and Satou all grouped up and looking crestfallen. Mineta winced at the sight. All that negative energy radiating off of them was making him forget about his own bodily pain. It was as though their souls had left their bodies, leaving behind a husk to suffer for all eternity.

"They failed too didn't they?" Mineta asked, turning to Midoriya to save his emotions.

"I've been trying to get them to stay optimistic about the exam. Since we don't know how the practical is actually graded, there might be some kind of unexpected twist." He explained. It was here that Kaminari began let out a frustrated scream. This drew everyone's attention before the electric blonde dramatically pointed at Midoriya.

"Don't you get it you walking shrub! We couldn't clear the practical! That's half our grade right down the drain! So we're completely doomed to be stuck in remedial Hell while the rest of you goof off! If you still don't get that, then your brain is sub-monkey!" Kaminari ranted, before returning to his despairing silence. Mineta didn't even know how to respond to that. He wasn't sure if there was anything he could say.

Words, after all, can't change the past.

It was here that the classroom door slid open. Aizawa stepped in as all those who were still standing went to their seats. Their scraggly teacher then wordlessly went to the lectern before finally greeting his class. And from the sound of it, he was ready to rip into every one of them.

"I would say good morning, but I'm sure it's anything but good for some of you. Now, us teachers had to collectively review your performances during the test and graded you accordingly. The good news is that most of you passed, even if it was just barely. The bad news is that the rest failed, even those on a winning pair. For instance… Sero, you failed because Midnight put you to sleep fairly early in the exam." Aizawa said before looking over to the tape shooter.

"I knew it…" He groaned, burying his face into his hands. Aizawa then proceeded to aim his tired gaze at Mineta and Bakugou. The shorter boy skin bristled to those dead eyes but opened his ears. He needed to hear how his test went after they charged All Might.

"Both of you had the most contentious review by far. Our debate for your grades lasted a while before we finally reached a verdict. And despite everything, you both still failed. Your opponent might've been All Might, but neither of you were being smart about him." Aizawa said. Despite knowing his inevitable fate, the truth still hit Mineta pretty hard. He was going to miss out on the forest lodge with Midoriya and their classmates.

"Yes sir…" Mineta said as he sank into the back of his chair. He wasn't going to argue or complain. This was the consequence of his need to prove himself to Bakugou. It balanced out the growth he underwent and respect he earned.

"It's just remedial lessons, we'll live." Bakugou replied, his tone saying 'do your worst'. Aizawa simply narrowed his eyes on the Human explosive before turning back to the class. Kaminari, Kirishima, Mina, Satou, and Sero waited with downcast eyes for Aizawa to consign them to their academic doom. But, for just a moment, Mineta saw a sneaky glint in his former master's eye.

Wait…

"Now, since a third of the class failed, I have no choice but to… Bring everyone to the forest lodge!" Aizawa said before going into a sudden shout. 1A stared in sheer surprise as Kaminari, Mina, Kirishima, Satou, and Sero began to rejoice. Bakugou, on the other hand, was indifferent to the news, possibly knowing that nothing about the situation had changed. And then there was Mineta, who was just allowing the gears in his head to turn.

Then he remembered what Principal Nezu said before the practical began.

"This was just to force us out of our comfort zones, wasn't it?" Mineta asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Then when you said you'd crush us…" Ojiro began, recognizing where the shorter boy was going.

"It was to gauge how well you do under intense pressure. During those times, the true extent of your abilities and personalities come to light. And seeing how you rise above or fall victim to the chaos will determine how we'll train you at the forest lodge. That place, after all, is nothing more than a boot camp for Heroes-in-Training. So it's the students who failed who need it most." Aizawa explained before he flashed his shit-eating grin.

"Consider it a logical ruse!"

Mineta let out a groan, ignoring the positive feelings going around. He was getting real sick and tired of all this cryptic nonsense. It also made him wonder about why Aizawa's trickery is more annoying than Fenghuang's. Both of them give lessons that have some hidden meaning behind them… And yet Mineta was more accepting of Fenghuang's wisdom.

Maybe it's because Aizawa reveals the ruse with a mischievous attitude. Almost like he's a cat playing a prank on its owner.

But before Mineta could go further down the rabbit hole of cryptic mentors, he felt a hand place itself on his shoulder. Snapping out of his thoughts, he finally noticed that Midoriya had turned to face him. And on his face was this gentle smile of relief.

"Isn't this great? I honestly wouldn't have enjoyed the trip without everyone there. So I'm glad things worked out somehow." He said. Mineta thought about that. And as his mind processed his partner's words, he never thought about the other side. How would their classmates feel about going on a trip without everyone there? It would be no doubt sad since 1A was becoming such a tightly knitted group. In fact, Mineta was certain things would go awry the moment one of them went missing.

That's how much they've grown on each other.

"You and me both partner… Aizawa's methods still drive me up the wall though. I don't know if it's his attitude or something. But I prefer Shifu over him…" Mineta replied with a grumble.

"However, know that I wasn't completely lying. Those who failed are still doing remedial lessons. Worse still is the fact that they'll be harder than the ones you would've gotten here. So prepare yourselves. If that's everything, I'll be handing out the lodge guides. From there, we'll be holding class like normal. Understood?" Aizawa said, draining the pep of those who failed but still celebrated.

"Yes Sir!" 1A answered before receiving their lodge guides.

From there, nothing else of note occurred. Their general classes resumed with an introduction to next term's topics. During lunch, Mineta and Bakugou went back to Recovery Girl with Midoriya in tow. And in the afternoon, they held a more relaxed session of PE and Hero Fundementals. Even the weather cleared up a bit, reflecting the brighter attitude of 1A compared to this morning.

It really was just your typical, regular, ordinary, UA day.

But all of that stopped, however, the moment it was time to go home.

"Man, I'm glad I'm going… But there's a whole lot of stuff I've got to get." Kaminari said as he flipped through the lodge guide. Mineta nodded to that. If they were heading deep into the woods, then they needed some serious essentials. Like bug repellent, good footwear, maybe a basic survival kit, night vision goggles, a hand drill set, lock pi–

"Wait, scratch those last three things. Those are for more… Dubious activities…" Mineta thought, shaking his head. He's going to have to mediate; otherwise Pants will start taking over. He looked to his classmates as they all discussed the things they needed. Then there was Midoriya, who was ominously muttering into his notebook like he was casting a hex. The shorter boy took a peek and saw the massive list his partner had composed.

And seeing how no one else was even attempting to approach him, Mineta took up the case.

"Hey, uh, Midoriya? You're not planning to bring all of that, are you?" Mineta asked, doing his best to read the list. But as he jumped between lines, he was starting to find stranger and strange things on it. From a pint of honey to some mixture of grounded eggshells, orange rinds, and dehydrated moss, Midoriya had it all.

"… Before our fight with Ectoplasm-sensei yesterday… Tokoyami-kun shared ghost stories about forests with me… I forgot all about it until lunch rolled around, where he reminded me… And now I'm worried we might get haunted or something…" Midoriya said tiredly. Mineta reflected on that and did remember seeing his harrowing expression. He thought his partner was just tired from Recovery Girl's Quirk. But nope, it was just their gothic bird boy instilling fear into others.

"Midoriya, stop worrying about this and just focus on something reasonable." Mineta said, snatching the notebook from beneath Midoriya's pencil. The green haired boy panicked a little, no doubt fretting over whatever stray mark the action made. But now that his mind was off the macabre topic, Midoriya's mind opened back up.

"… We could use some new gloves and baseballs. The ones we have are getting pretty worn out." He finally said, pointing at Mineta.

"Now that's something I can get behind." The shorter boy said, tossing the notebook back to his partner. It was here that Hagakure began to flag everyone in 1A. And again, for someone who was invisible, she was very effective at getting attention.

"If everyone needs something, then why don't we all go shopping together? Since we're free tomorrow and all our exams are over, we could head over to the Kiyashi-Ward mall!" She said as she excitedly bounced around.

"Oh, that's a great idea! It'll be the first time we've done something fun as a class." Uraraka said with a cheer.

"I'll pass. Like I could stand going shopping…" Bakugou commented as he walked out of the classroom. Kirishima could only sigh before noticing Todoroki was about to leave as well.

"Oh Todoroki, will we see you tomorrow?" He asked.

"Sorry, but I'll be busy. I visit the hospital on my free days." Todoroki answered bluntly. The word 'hospital' hung in the air, draining some of the positivity from the room. Class 1A never really dug too deep into Todoroki's family situation. All they knew was that something serious broke out between the father, mother, and son…

So for Todoroki to reveal a detail like that... It was surprising to say the least. However, some managed to bounce back rather quickly from that.

"Oh don't worry about it dude. There's always next time." Kirishima said with a toothy grin. Todoroki simply nodded to his red haired classmate before leaving the classroom. Everyone soon went back to their cheery conversations. But it was still a little unnerving how abrupt it all was.

"We've got to find a way for us to talk about this. It's just weird how things stop whenever his family drama comes up." Mineta commented, throwing on his backpack.

"I know, but it's not that simple. Todoroki-kun still keeps the worst of the details close to his chest and we just have to trust him to eventually open up. Though given his progress with us, I'd say he's recovering nicely." Midoriya replied as he put his notebook away. Midoriya soon put on his backpack and the two boys were about to leave with Iida and Uraraka…

That was until All Might stepped through the door with gusto.

"I AM HERE! With a message… Young Midoriya, Young Mineta, I need to speak with you two for a bit. Is that okay?" He shouted before returning to a normal volume. All eyes went to the two as Mineta and Midoriya looked at one another. This was a familiar scene. However, that still didn't eliminate the tension that rose in both of them. If the Symbol of Peace came to them directly, it meant only one thing…

It was time for the egg.


And that has been chapter 60!

I really don't have anything to say about this chapter, so I'll just jump straight to the next chapter preview. Next time, we'll be delving into more of One for All's past... And though it's something we all know, revisiting the past could lead to new perspectives about the present. One for All is, after all, a very unique power. So with all that said...

Until Next Time. T1.