I own nothing. May contain Out of Character moments.


Ever since Aoyama had startled Midoriya and Mineta, with both his bizarre behavior and deep personal philosophy, he had become good friends with them. And his addition to their friend group had a noticeable effect on the duo's mood. For one, their Quirks stopped malfunctioning and returned to a more functional level.

It was still nowhere near the level it was at before, but Mineta will take what they could get.

And two, all the night terrors, brief hallucinations, and self-destructive behavior were reduced. Again, it was all still more than Mineta would like… But at least he and Midoriya could have a few nights of peaceful, deep sleep and days where they aren't stunned by visions of things that aren't there. So all in all, things were working out.

However, neither of them has yet to find an answer to their lack of inner peace... No matter how many times they've trained or meditated, a shadow still blocked their path forward. And like some monster, it would throw Midoriya and Mineta back and glare at them with empty, yet vindictive, eyes. So, for now, they had to continue living with this shadow looming over them…

"It's time for the Culture Festival." Aizawa announced unceremoniously as he emerged from his sleep sack.

But when you've got an announcement like that, it was hard for Mineta to stay focused on his inner demons.

1A exploded into excitement, some were even throwing out suggestions. But with a quick glare from Aizawa and his Quirk, the class settled down into energetic silence. Though there were a few who had good questions, like Kirishima, so the Erasure Hero allowed him to speak his piece. It was, however, both surprising and worrying to hear him act so seriously.

"Is this really okay? Acting so carefree with everything that's going on?" He asked.

"A reasonable opinion… But you are forgetting that UA is more than just the Hero Department. Where we shine brightest during the Sports Festival, the Culture Festival is where the Support, General Studies, and Business Departments get to stand out. And considering that a lot has happened because of the Hero Department, those three are even more excited as this is an opportunity to unwind from all the stress. Even being limited to within the school community hasn't put a damper in their spirits." Aizawa explained.

When he heard 'General Studies', Mineta immediately thought about Shinso. He has seen him occasionally in the hallways, but has never actually directly spoken to him again. The shorter boy didn't know if he actually went to Aizawa with his suggestion. But Mineta liked to imagine that the guy did, he was desperate enough to challenge 1A for a position after all. Though that wasn't the point right now…

Right now, Mineta found himself nodding at his old master's reasoning. The Hero department, despite all the preventions in place, has drawn in all sorts of trouble. The USJ attack, the Forest Lodge attack, Bakugou's kidnapping… There were a lot of spotlights on the Heroes-in-Training, both good and bad. So it makes sense that UA would try to aim some of that towards their other students.

Help them get out of shadows of the Hero department.

"But while they are the focus, every class still has to present something. So right now, we'll be deciding what the class will be showcasing. Iida, Yaoyorozu, if you will…"Aizawa said as he stepped aside and went back into his sleep sack. And as quickly as the order was given, the class representatives stood up from their seats and walked up to the podium.

"Then without further ado, let's begin the discussion! Yaoyorozu-kun and I will do our best to ensure your every suggestion is considered. First, we'll make a list of our options. Raise your hand and tell us your idea." Iida said as he readied a clipboard and pen. Mineta's ears were then blown out by the cacophony of noise that 1A had become. All sorts of ideas began bouncing around that Iida and Yaoyorozu, impressively, wrote down.

"Mineta-kun, I don't think I've heard an idea from you!" Iida shouted, still furiously scribbling something down. The shorter boy had to immediately bite his tongue before the answer that his pants came up with escaped his throat. He then, through a swollen tongue, said the more sensible 'artist studio'. It was all about drawing portraits of whatever guests that came in. And maybe have a few people around the Festival to paint scenery before selling it. A perfectly sensible, albeit a little boring, suggestion…

By the end of this, however, there was just about something from everyone in 1A.

"Hmmm… I will take the liberty of removing any suggestions that are impossible to implement." Yaoyorozu said after a moment of thought. She then crossed out Tokoyami's Festival of Darkness, Aoyama's My Sparkling Show, and Bakugou's Deathmatch. Then, through the class's disapproval, Iida's Local History Reasearch Project and Yaoyorozu's Study Party was also crossed out.

"Then how about we combine the food stuff together?" Uraraka suggested, her voice fighting through the growing noise.

"Soba doesn't go well with sweets." Todoroki replied, sounding strangely offended.

"Then we should do a haunted house after all!" Hagakure shouted as the noise continued to increase.

"To think we'd have this much difficulty choosing something…" Midoriya said as he turned around to face Mineta. The shorter boy simply shrugged and gestured to Satou, Mina, Kaminari, Jirou, before pointing to himself.

"When you've got this much culture in a single class, of course things would get problematic."

"I'm pretty sure that's the start to a joke somewhere. A chef, a dancer, an author, a musician, and an artist walk into a bar." Midoriya began with a small laugh. But before he could continue, the intercom sounded the bell. Homeroom was over and 1A has yet to decide on what they should be doing for the Festival. So, as Aizawa left the room, he gave them all a very mundane, yet very real, threat.

"If you all haven't figured out what to do by tomorrow morning… I'll make it a public lecture."

The chill that filled the room could easily make one think Todoroki was unleashing his cold half. And honestly? No one would blame him. Aizawa's lectures were bad enough already, since his monotonous voice can put a raging bull to sleep. But to subject 1A to that sort of thing publically was basically like a public humiliation of ancient times.

They've got to figure things out before that happens!

But other than that, the day's classes went by uneventfully. Lessons were taught, notes were taken, and debates over what 1A's Festival idea were had. Honestly, by 3rd period, Mineta was getting a little sick of all the arguing. Truth be told, the shorter boy honestly didn't care which of their suggestions got picked. He just wanted to hang out with them like normal. And the more time they all spent arguing about it, the less time they've got to do so.

"Here's hoping they'll figure things out by the time we get back…" Mineta thought as he wrote down more notes. Currently, he, Midoriya, Kirishima, Uraraka, Tsuyu, and Tokoyami were sitting in the study room with Aizawa teaching up front. Since they had taken part in an internship, they all had to make up for any lost time meant for schooling.

However, tonight's lesson was starting to drag on for far too long. Well… At least to Mineta it felt like things were dragging on. When the shorter boy subtly looked to his friends, he saw that they were still motivated and focused. Even Kirihshima was sharper than Mineta was right now. But when Mineta laid eyes on Midoriya, he could tell something was wrong.

The green haired boy was clearly fighting all the signs of tiredness. He'd stop his hand from rubbing his eyes. His lips would part slightly as if to yawn, but it soon close shortly afterwards. He was even doing some subtle stretches to keep his body moving. Sometimes, Midoriya would close his eyes to blink, only to force them open a few seconds later.

Was he and Mineta simply having an off day?

Mineta pondered on that before letting out a full, but silent, yawn the moment Aizawa turned to the board. But when the shorter boy opened and refocused his eyes, he saw something behind him in the slightly reflective whiteboard. The shorter boy eye's snapped open and his palms hit the desk. And had Mineta paid any attention, he'd notice that Midoriya did the same as well.

"Mineta, Midoriya, are you okay?" Aizawa asked, his voice was oddly calming right now.

"…Yeah, we're fine." Midoriya said as he let out a sigh of relief.

"I think… I think we just need a minute… We've been at this for a while." Mineta added, rubbing his eyes.

"That we have." Tokoyami added with a nod. Kirishima, Uraraka, and Tsuyu quickly nodded in agreement, their eyes full of concern for the two.

"Then let's take a break… I've also got some good news I've been meaning to share. As you know, Eri has been awake for some time. And for the first time, she requested something. She wants to see you both." Aizawa replied, changing the topic to something more uplifting. And uplifting it was as those who were part of the Hassaikai Raid felt 10 times more relieved.

This did leave Tokoyami out of the loop, though that was going to be inevitable for anyone in 1A that heard about Eri. Maybe they should introduce Eri to everyone once she gets out of the hospital… Mineta sure she would love to have more friends.

"S-She wants to see us?" Midoriya asked, still a bit startled by what occurred earlier.

"Yes. You, Mineta, and Togata have been on her mind recently, so she wanted to see you all as soon as possible. So on Sunday, would you like to visit her?" Aizawa replied, his own smile subtly forming.

Mineta and Midoriya never said 'yes' faster.


And that has been Chapter 111!

Quite busy, so I don't have much time to talk.

So with all that said...

Until Next Time. T1.