I own nothing. May contain Out of Character moments.


"Okay, that's everything…" Mineta said with a yawn. He flipped through several pages of his notebook, noting down all the effort he put into decoding the riddles. No stone was unturned. He used every cipher found to this point and he even dug up an old blacklight to find any hidden text. Now, they could begin their dig in earnest.

Currently it was the beginning of summer break. And despite their very eventful first term, Mineta, his classmates, and the rest of UA were released from academia in a rather mundane way. Principal Nezu simply gave a motivating speech to the student body before letting them go. But while the Hero classes had their forest lodge to attend to…

They too had a bit of down time before then.

So, with that time, Mineta was going to finish this treasure hunt and close this chapter in their youth.

The shorter boy reached for his phone and opened the Class 1A group chat. And based on the information from the magazine, he was going to need every last one of their help. Here's to hope that this treasure is actually real and not some convoluted trick…

"Guys, if you're free, could you come to 258-1048 at Musutafu North Residential? There's something I really need your help with. And make sure you come in clothes you're not afraid of getting dirty. Also, if you have a shovel of some kind, please bring it."

And not even two seconds after he posted his text, Mina and Hagakure responded to it. Were they just… Waiting for Mineta?

Mina: Is it time!?

Hagakure: I've been waiting for this! :]

Iida: Calm down you two; you'll exhaust yourself before we even start. I'll be bringing along other supplies in case we run into various issues. If that itself isn't a problem.

Midoriya: It's not, thank you Iida-kun.

Yaoyorozu: I'll do the same. Who knows when we'll need the extra Food, drinks, shovels, etc."

Bakugou: Okay, the fuck's going on here?

Bakugou: Why does the rat have people eating out of his hand?

Kaminari: King Blasty finally signed on it's a Christmas miracle

Uraraka: I'm with Bakugou for once...

Uraraka: What's happening?

Kirishima: I'm not sure, but it sounds really interesting.

Mineta: I'll explain when we're at the place I've mentioned.

Tsuyu: It's a long story.

Midoriya: A really long story…

Uraraka: … I like stories.

Bakugou: Damn it; don't just leap without fucking looking

Bakugou: And do you expect me to do shit for you?

Bakugou: It's a thousand years too early for me to be your bitch.

Mineta: No, I don't. But since you got curious enough to jump in chat

Mineta: I think you will.

Mineta: Bakagou.

Midoriya: Mineta-kun!

Bakugou: Fuck. You.

Bakugou: I'm out.

Bakugou: Enjoy the rat's shit.

Jirou: Damn, didn't expect that today.

Jirou: Anyway, I'm already on my way. See you guys there.

So with that, Mineta quickly got up and began changing into some old clothes. He then got the magazine, his notebook, and his backpack together before scrounging around his home. If he remembered correctly, his Dad bought an E-tool to study for one of his characters. Normally, it'd be squirreled away somewhere in the spare room... But after 15 minutes of dedicated searching, the shorter boy turned up with nothing.

And that's when he heard a thump coming from his Dad's room.

"He's using it…" Mineta thought as went to his dad's room. Opening the door, he could see his Dad working hard at his desk, no doubt drawing up the conclusion to his current series. His pen was moving at speeds beyond Mineta's comprehension, like he was possessed by the Gods of Art. Inspiration must've struck him and that usually meant…

Mineta looked over to the dart board set up on the closest wall, the E-tool embedding its center. He let out a quiet sigh as he dragged over a chair to the wall. Mineta climbed up and dislodged the mini shovel from the board. And upon climbing down, he turned to his Dad and saw that he still working relentlessly.

"Hey Dad, I'm borrowing your shovel." Mineta said. He could've just left, seeing that his Dad was usually too absorbed to notice anything in this state. But simply doing things without letting anyone know usually caused a lot of problems. The situation between Iida and Stain was a testament to that…

"Remember to clean it when you're done. I might need it later." He said, still completely absorbed in his work. Mineta gave a nod, despite him not seeing the gesture, and left the room. From there, he put on some old boots before heading out. Mineta didn't know how long he was going to away for or when his dad might need the E tool again…

But he'll let future Mineta deal with that since present Mineta has business to attend to.

The trip to Musutafu Northern Residential wasn't anything of note. But as Mineta neared his destination, he noted that he was getting closer to the nearest commercial district. And as he saw the stores appear around him, Mineta wondered how many of his classmates would actually come. Kaminari, Midoriya, Iida, and the girls would definitely be there since they know what's going on. And Bakugou too, since the shorter boy had called him out on his curiosity. Pulling his pin.

"Let's hope that won't blow up in my face…" Mineta thought with a groan. His ears then picked up something in the distance. And focusing his gaze ahead of him, the shorter boy saw a small group of people standing around. Mineta quickened his pace as the features of the group became apparent. Kaminari, Iida, the girls of 1A, and Kirishima were all standing there as Midoriya was talking to them about something.

"… That's everything so far. Mineta-kun should have more details if you're interested." Midoriya said as Mineta got into listening range.

"Details on what exactly?" Mineta asked as he joined the group.

"Ah, you're finally here. I was explaining our findings to Uraraka-san and Kirishima-kun. I wasn't sure if there was anything else, so I was going to direct them to you." Midoriya answered, facing his friend. Mineta frowned as he slowly nodded to his partner. He indeed found something since the girls' joining the other day… And hoped everyone would still be onboard once he revealed what it was.

"Let's get inside first… The nitty-gritty's going to be pretty gritty…" Mineta replied with a weak smile. Midoriya raised an eyebrow to that, unsure what to make of his friend's sudden dispassion. Luckily for him, someone was willing to voice their concerns.

"We're digging a big hole aren't we…?" Hagakure asked, her arms falling to her sides.

"Come on, we're digging up treasure! What's a little sweat on your brow got on that?" Uraraka said, practically exploding with anticipation. Mineta actually had to lean back a little due to the intensity of her declaration. But regardless, he honestly felt the same way the gravity defying girl did. Any amount of blood, sweat, and tears spent on a task would surely pay dividends in some way.

Otherwise they'd end up with a lot of tears and, in Mineta's case, without any blood.

"Then let's get started right away. I'm certain the others will arrive as we are working." Yaoyorozu said, taking out a key. She then proceeded to walk to the gate of the walled off lot they were standing in front of and unlocked it. The group quickly walked inside, with Mineta quickly surveying the area. It was completely vacant save for the random patches of grass and weeds on the ground. But as the shorter boy studied the patches, he started to notice something odd.

Mineta quickly took out his notebook and began to wander around the lot. He roughly sketched out every patch of grass, doing his best to capture its shape and position. While he was no expert, the shorter boy found the grass growing in strange ways. For one, some of the patches look like arrows. And two, the height of the grass on some patches matched another somewhere else on the lot. Mineta scratched at his head with his pencil, before drawing lines between the patches.

Though that did leave a mess of intersections they'll now have to dig up. Unless…

"Hey Jirou, could you–?" Mineta began.

"Sorry, not picking anything up down there." Jirou replied as her jacks left the dirt.

"Oh… Then Yaoyorozu, could you–?" Mineta began, turning to their class vice president.

"I'm not detecting anything either…" Yaoyorozu said as she continued to walk around with a metal detector. The color on Mineta's face drained as a new despair soon took its place. If neither of those two could pick up anything, two conclusions could be made. The first was that the treasure was surrounded in some kind of shielding to prevent detection. The second was far more likely in Mineta's mind… There simply was no treasure and all of this was a massive waste of time.

Mineta stiffly turned to his classmates and flashed this nervous smile at them. "So… Uhhh… Who's up to get down and diry?"

He was only met with silence as the gate to the lot opened. Looking over, the shorter boy could see a several more of their 1A compatriots coming in. And upon seeing the awkward tension in the air, they were visibly thinking about leaving. Mineta looked between Kaminari, Midoriya, and Iida for any sort of answer. But each one of them could only nervously shrug as their only option to proceed was wholly impractical.

Who would spend a day of their short Summer break digging a hole with no guarantee of a reward?

"Okay… I'm going to be real with you… Nothing in the magazine gave me any more clues as to where it was or how deep. So there might be a chance we find nothing after hours of digging… If you don't want to suffer that, then this is your last chance to go." Mineta said; sweat rolling down the back of his neck. Class 1A first looked at each other, then at the classmates who just joined them, and finally back at Mineta. This, unfortunately, just made the shorter boy sweat even more.

But before Mineta could assume the worst, Midoriya and Kaminari stepped forward.

"Well I, for one, am not going to leave a brother high and dry." Kaminari replied with a smile.

"Agreed. It doesn't feel right to just leave you here to toil in the dirt." Midoriya added with a nod. Mineta let out a sigh of relief that he won't be alone in this madness. He then nervously looked over to the rest of their classmates, waiting for their response.

"Eh, I didn't really plan anything for the rest of today. So I've got nothing better to do." Jirou said with a shrug.

"I think it's the same with everyone else. The break just begun and with the trip coming soon, none of us has any real plans." Yaoyorozu replied, contemplatively resting her hand on her cheek.

"I had to cancel a date… So I REALLY hope this isn't for nothing." Hagakure commented, her shoulders slumping. Mineta felt the guilt really stab him for the first time since the start of this hunt. He knew that, by requesting the rest of 1A's help, he'd be disrupting their lives in some way. And while his luck held up for most of them… Mineta knew his luck would've run out at some point.

"Oh, bummer… But hey, look on the bright side. If things go sideways, I'm sure Mineta wouldn't mind repaying us by becoming our minion. I've always wanted a gopher." Mina replied with a grin, hanging an arm around the invisible girl. The emotions rolling within the shorter boy immediately jumped to the opposite side of the spectrum after hearing that. Seriously? Was she really bringing that up?

"Okay, first of all, I am somehow going to repay you guys if this doesn't work out. Second… Stop calling people minions just because they work for someone. You're not my minion and I'm not your boss. No one here is anyone's minion. We're all here of our own free will, digging a hole for God knows what, in hopes today won't end in tears and blood." Mineta ranted, barely taking any breathes between. And as the shorter boy panted, glaring daggers at the pink haired girl…

Mina simply allowed a smug grin to spread across her lips.

"Sure thing Boss."

Mineta let out a groan of frustration as Class 1A let out a laugh. But soon enough, Midoriya quickly looked over the sketch Mineta made of the lot and made an educated guess. He, and those already in the know, began to dig at two specific points. The first where the arrow shaped patches lined up. And the second where patches with matching heights lined up.

This left Mineta the opportunity to explain to the uninitiated the strange story that led them all here. And while there would no doubt be many questions from them… Mineta has honestly given up on caring at this point. I mean, they were on the cusp of possible treasure! Any other matter would be wholly irrelevant at this point. And if not…

Well…

He'll figure something out.

"Damn that's crazy. Who would've thought this all started because of lost porn." Kirishima commented with an amused grin.

"It goes to show that, sometimes, nothing is what it seems to be. What could be a stroke of good fortune could actually be a disaster in waiting. What could be a disaster might actually be an opportunity for something greater. It is why we must keep an open mind and have a strong heart… So that the bewildering maze we call life can never keep us from our full potential…" Tokoyami replied as he stared off into the distance.

"O-Okay…? So you on board or what?" Mineta asked.

"Well we're already here, so we might as well help. And like the others, we've grown curious over this mystery." Shouji replied. And with a nod from everyone else, they all set out to work. It still surprised Mineta how on board his classmates were. There was no guarantee they would find anything, yet here they were. Having a friend who's up to something and being bored is one hell of a combination…

"Got to pull my share of the weight… I've already got to a massive debt to pay, can't add more to my tab." Mineta thought as he unfolded his E-Tool.

And so began 1A's quest to unearth the answers to the mysteries of the magazines. With their numbers and overall fitness, they've surprisingly made good headway into the earth. In just three hours, they've made a hole about the size of their classroom two meters deep. And it certainly wasn't boring either as the air was filled with all kinds of chatter.

"You know, I'm surprised you're here with us Todoroki. You're usually at the hospital on your free days." Hagakure commented, looking over at their dual colored classmate. Mineta and a few others looked up from their digging and began paying a bit more attention to that conversation. Todoroki finished drinking some water before answering in a strangely cordial tone.

"Mother said I don't always have to visit her whenever I'm free. That I should also take the time to 'hang out' with you guys and build some lasting bonds. So here I am." He said before resuming his digging.

"Awww, that's so cute!" Mina cooed.

"Although, it kind of sucks that your first day out with us involves digging a hole. Bet you weren't expecting this." Kaminari commented, leaning against his shovel.

"Eh. As long as it's not a mass grave, I'm good with it." Todoroki answered with a shrug.

"Don't say that… But we have been digging for a while. Are you sure you don't know how deep this is?" Uraraka said with a groan before facing Mineta. The shorter boy just nodded in defeat, knowing he couldn't escape the truth. That seemed to have clued her and, by extension, everyone else on the problem.

"… I'm going to start planning some reinforcements. As we go deeper, the dirt on top might start falling in. So it's better be safe than sorry." Uraraka said as she began making her way out of the hole. That was when a despaired and desperate cry ripped through the air. It honestly chilled Mineta as 1A looked over to the source of that harrowing noise…

Only to see Aoyama curled up in a corner of their dirt hole, looking all worn and ragged.

"A-Aoyama-kun?" Midoriya said nervously as he approached the faux Frenchman. Aoyama, in a surprising burst of speed, lunged at the green haired boy and grasped at his collar. This time it was Midoriya who let out a piercing scream of horror.

"Say it isn't so Monsieur Midoriya! Any more of this torment and my limbs will cease to exist!" Aoyama cried as he hung off of Midoriya like a zombie.

"Dude, you're overreacting." Kaminari said as Shouji began removing Aoyama from their classmate.

"I don't blame him for freaking out. Not all of us are built for this kind of labor." Hagakure commented as she stretched out her dusty arms.

"You know you guys could take breaks right? I'm not forcing you to dig until we hit something. Put down your shovels and go get a soda or something." Mineta said as he jabbed his E-Tool into the earth. 1A began nodding to that as they all put down their tools. And as each one began removing themselves from the pit they've dug, Mineta surveyed his surroundings. Despite it all being just dirt, he felt a degree of pride well from within his chest.

They did this. This was THEIR hole.

"I guess there are worse ways to spend a summer day." Mineta thought before making his climb. But the moment he peeked his face above the surface, a boot promptly kicked back down. The shorter boy shielded the back of his head just before hitting the dirt, softening the damage. He then quickly got back onto his feet to give whoever did that what for. And Mineta had a good idea who it was…

"What the Hell Bakugou!?"

"That's for calling me Bakagou! Just be glad I've decided not to put you six feet under!" Bakugou shouted as he jumped down into the hole. The human grenade then walked over to a random spot and began digging with an absolute fury. Mineta simply raised an eyebrow to this, mostly since this was somewhat uncharacteristic of Bakugou. But given how he was here in the first place, Mineta chalked it up to curiosity.

With some of that hidden gold Bakugou kept incredibly close to his heart sprinkled in. The bastard couldn't leave them to toil away in this nonsense.

"You better not be thinking sentimental shit about me!" Bakugou shouted, shoveling a chunk of dirt at Mineta. The shorter boy quickly scrambled away, middle fingers aimed at Bakugou the whole way. Never mind, there was absolutely no gold in his heart.

"You okay Mineta-kun?" Midoriya asked as he looked down on him. Mineta shrugged as he began making his climb out of the hole a second time. This time though, Midoriya offered a hand and pulled Mineta out the rest of the way. With a bow of thanks, Mineta wandered over to the rest of 1A who were beginning to have lunch.

"Alright, at the rate we're going, we'll get to 6 meters by the time the sun goes down. It gets dangerous when you're that deep, the walls could collapse and bury us while we're down there. So we need to start shoring up the walls before we go any further." Uraraka said before taking sip of tea. Mineta winced at the possibility of him and his friends being crushed by a few hundred pounds of earth. And this really made him think twice about getting them involved in this.

Not only does this treasure have a chance of not existing, it could also get them killed. Great.

Or at least that was until a strange sound echoed around them.

"Hey fuckers, I hit something!" Bakugou shouted. 1A didn't even blink as they all rushed down into their hole to Bakugou. He was standing in his own hole, shoulder deep and twice as wide, and he was poking something with the tip of his shovel. How he dug so much in so little time, Mineta couldn't say…

But Mineta immediately ran over to his E-Tool and came down, digging up the surrounding area to get a better look. This was followed by Kaminari, Midoriya, and Iida, all of them digging away to get more room on their find.

The others began to do the same, slowly widening the Bakugou's hole until they could a reasonable amount of space to inspect the thing. However, as 1A did so, they managed to hit four other things, all making the same strange sound as the first. Mineta could hardly believe it, there really was something down here after all. This only drove the Hero class into a further frenzy, digging out the objects to finally get their answers once and for all.

And it has only been an hour since then. Right now, five black boxes of almost equal sizes now sat upon the grass.

"Well, that was certainly worth the effort." Yaoyorozu said, wiping the sweat off her brow.

"I wouldn't say so yet. We need to know what's in it first." Todoroki replied, shaking his head. Mineta began feeling around these oddly smooth boxes, noting how the material felt. It was neither soft nor hard and it didn't feel anywhere close to natural. Why on earth it was designed like this, Mineta would never know. But he did find a 3 by 3 grid on one face, a keypad of some sort.

"Guys, is there a grid on the other boxes?" Mineta asked. Midoriya closely examined one of them and nodded, before Kaminari, Iida, and Mina gave him similar answers.

"Okay, now put in this code, 467329581."

The tension in the air began to wind as the five began putting in the code on the grid. With each number, the shorter boy could hear 1A getting more and more restless. Even Bakugou was showing an immense amount of interest in the contents of the boxes. And with the last number punched in, all the boxes made a loud mechanical sound.

The top of the box was slightly open…

"Alright, moment of–" Mineta began.

"Just open it! The suspense is killing me!" Hagakure shouted as she clung to Ojiro. Mineta, startled by the invisible girl, threw the top off and looked inside. There were five canvases, all of them with paint on them. The shorter boy raised an eyebrow as he looked in the other boxes; their contents were exactly the same. Mina even removed one; it was a rather abstract piece that Mineta feels a sense of indulgence and confinement from.

It was as though a demon was tempting him.

"You know, I had hope for you. That maybe you were finally worthy of other people's time. But here we are, standing in a fucking hole, covered in dirt. And for what I ask? Paintings… You dragged us out here, spent one of our few days of summer, for paintings that we know shit about. I'm disappointed in you." Bakugou ranted, facing Mineta. He was oddly calm about this, but Mineta sensed the rage that bubbled within him.

Perhaps if it wasn't for their recent understanding, this pit would've become Mineta's unmarked grave.

"Kacchan please, be reasonable." Midoriya said, approaching the human grenade.

"Listen here you nerd. I'm sure you know that this shit here may as well be shit. Because unless it's from a dead artist, it's worth less than the dirt we dug." Bakugou replied, his signature glare finally coming out.

"And maybe this stuff IS from a dead artist. Or a famous one even. We just have to get someone to look at it." Kirishima interjected hopefully. Now Bakugou was back to usual self, one step away from blowing everything to kingdom come. Mineta braced himself as he was no doubt first on that last.

"And where in the Hell do we find someone like that!?"

Yaoyorozu let out a cough, disrupting the chaos that was starting to unfold. And as 1A stared at her with bated breath, she simply took out her phone and opened her contacts list.

"One of my uncles is an art collector and appraiser; he might be able to determine the value of our mysterious paintings. And while I might be a bit upset if these turn out to be not so valuable, I think you're going a little far with your anger, Bakugou-san." She said.

"And here I thought you two idiots became buddy-buddy after the finals." Jirou commented with a smirk.

"It was a fucking understanding, don't get ahead of yourself punk girl."

"And give me hope…" Mineta grumbled.

"Well whatever the case, we'll leave the appraisal to Yaoyorozu-kun. For now, let's get home and prepare for our excursion to the forest lodge." Iida said as he began picking up stray shovels. Bakugou still glared at Mineta like a predator on the prowl, silently threatening to maul him when given the chance. Mina cheerfully patted Bakugou's back, causing the human grenade to snap to her.

"Oh cheer up; at least you came in near the end of it and not the beginning. Besides, if all this is for nothing, I'm sure Mineta would pay us back somehow. Maybe he could be our minion for a few weeks?" Mina commented with a sly grin. The Bakugou blankly stared at her for a few moments, the gears in his head turning. And when they finished, his lips were pulled into a smirk that was borderline sadistic.

"I can get behind that."

Mineta's blood ran cold as he saw the two began cackling like mad. And not even the comforting hand of Midoriya could quell the grim thoughts that passed through his head. If Bakugou, Mina, and who knows how many else were planning to force him into indentured servitude, Mineta could only say one thing to that.

"I'm in danger…"


And that has been Chapter 64.

So, we've reached the second to last phase of the treasure hunt. While some might say that finding the treasure would be the end of it, the appraisal stage is just as important. That's where you find out just how much the haul is worth and if it was worth the time and effort spent on it. And hopefully for Mineta's sake, it'll be worth it.

Otherwise... He'll have to change from a rat to a gopher.

I don't have much news except that I took a cold shower for the first time on Thursday. The hot water boiler in my basement began leaking and I had to deal with the mess it made. I'm just lucky I was able to stop the water before it got close to anything important. So as a future note for myself and anyone reading this... Know where water valves are so you could shut things down before it floods everything.

Anyhow, next week, we begin our journey to the Forest Lodge. So stay tuned...

Until Next Time. T1.

P.S. I don't know how to text, so have 1A texting in full sentences instead.