I own nothing. Warning, may contain Out of Character moments.

Most of the time, Mineta never noticed what he sat on. While he preferred the soft, padded cushion of an armchair or couch, there was something to hard surfaced chairs. There was a sense of antiquity to it and it also changes the mood of the sitter. But right now, the stool he sat on was nothing more than a hotbed of anxiety and discomfort.

All Might, despite smiling his signature smile and sitting with authority upon the couch, looked a bit grim and somewhat uncertain. Midoriya was also pretty much feeling the same as the Symbol of Peace's gaze fell down on them. This tension in the atmosphere only meant one thing, they were about to engage in a terribly secret conversation.

"Could this be about Midoriya and All Might's secret? Am I even ready for something like that?" Mineta thought as All Might prepared the two boys tea. And as the hero set down the terracotta cups before them, his powerful voice rang through them. Even if it did sound a little forced… Perhaps there was no natural way to approach the subject?

"So, are you two excited about the Sports Festival?"

"Y-Yeah! I mean, we're going to be on national TV, so who wouldn't be?" Mineta said, forcing the words out of his throat. He had to suppress the cold sweat from breaking out as he sounded a little too obvious about his feelings over this entire situation. All Might didn't say anything however and simply nodded to the shorter boy before turning to Midoriya.

"Uhhh… Well… I might have some difficulty given my inexperience with my Quirk…"

"That is a given. But that is why we're here, to offer any advice to you before this turning point." All Might said, gesturing to himself and… Mineta?

"Wait, me too?"

"Yes. However, to help Young Midoriya, you need to know certain details pertaining to his abilities." All Might answered.

"All Might, you don't mean…?" Midoriya began before All Might cut him off with a swift answer.

"Yes, it's time for Young Mineta to learn about our secret."

Mineta could feel the sweat on the back of his neck frost over, prickling his skin with the kind sensation that he was too familiar with. All the questions he had since that day they began training for UA came to the front of his brain. Not only that, several other questions began to pop up, with the most important being…

"But, why me? Isn't there someone else that is more trustworthy? Because, depending how big this secret is, I don't want to be that guy who ruins everything by running my mouth."

"Perhaps… But since our meeting on Dagobah Beach, I suspected you have already deduced a few things already. And as afraid as I was that some stranger guessed my secret, Young Midoriya was able ease those fears. He continually vouched for your loyalty and, despite all that has happened since; you still didn't break your silence. So here we are, in this room as confidents." All Might explained. Mineta stared at the Hero before his eyes slowly turned to his partner. Midoriya simply nodded back to him, smiling that friendly smile of his.

This left him speechless. While Mineta knew that Midoriya had complete confidence in him, as proved by recent events… To have All Might, Symbol of Peace and Number One Hero, trust him enough to share what could be his darkest secret with him, it was just too much. What should he do now? Listen? Or decline?

But wouldn't that be running away?

"Of course, if you don't want to know the whole story, you are free to leave. Just know that you already have one foot into this and I fully expect you to keep up the silence." All Might said, upon seeing the indecision upon Mineta's face. While the shorter boy knew he meant well, those words really didn't help the feeling of uncertainty that he felt. On one side, there was the benefit of aiding his partner through his Hero's journey, as Mineta said he would do. But on the other, the likelihood of someone spilling the beans, which he feared, would increase.

Hmmm…

"Mineta-kun, I know that something like this is serious… But it's your choice and we won't trust you any less even if you say no. Just clear your head and ask yourself again, is this what I want?" Midoriya said. Mineta, while he didn't look to his partner, heard his words and all the stray thoughts and emotions began to empty. And within the void that was now his mind, there he saw the two halves of himself. One was dressed in gaudy pimp clothes while the other wore Midoriya's Hero costume.

Some may call these two their personal Angel and Devil. Others may call them Left and Right. Or perhaps Logic and Memes… For Mineta, however, he calls them Heart and Pants. And while they were normally at odds with one another on how to proceed through a problem, they were in agreement this time.

"We listen. If we are to help Midoriya, we need to know the situation he and All Might are in. And I know we can keep this a secret. We have, after all, been able to keep their relationship secret thus far." Heart said.

"Which is surprising, considering the kind of person we are. But go ahead and listen to Mr. Muscle. No skin off our bones if one of them screws it up instead. Besides, it's nice to have the biggest meat shield on campus rely on us." Pants added.

So with that, Mineta came back to reality and faced All Might once more. "Okay, I'll try to not let it slip." He said.

"Excellent. And worry not, I have no doubt you'll be able to uphold your end without issue. Now then…" All Might replied as his skin began to emit a hazy looking steam. The shorter boy raised an eyebrow before his eyes peeled back as the Number One Hero went up in a puff of smoke. And what replaced him was equally startling…

In All Might's place was the bony man who help with Midoriya's training. He was wearing the same suit that All Might had on moments ago. And as Mineta began processing the sight in front of him, the more questions he had that he wanted to ask.

"All Might? Is that you?" Mineta asked slowly.

"It is…" He said with a slight cough.

"Uhhh… How did you do that? And why do you look like a monster movie extra?"

All Might simply chuckled to that last question before leaning in with a serious expression on his face. Mineta quieted down as the Hero went into what his condition was and briefly told how he got it. And as the shorter boy listened, the color of his skin began to lighten until he was indistinguishable from paper. All those suspicions he had about All Might's health and Midoriya becoming his successor was confirmed.

And yes, while this did allow Midoriya a path to becoming the Number One Hero… Mineta had a feeling that the trials ahead of his partner will rival that of the great Heracles. Because whoever crippled All Might like this will, one day, turn his power and resources against Midoriya. And when that happened, Mineta knew that his partner was going to need all the help he could get.

"And that is how we got to where we are… Quite the predicament, isn't it?" All Might said, finishing his explanation. Mineta didn't move as one hand still covered his mouth, his stomach churning over this. To think the truth was this dire… But at the very least, there was still a fighting chance now that One for All has its newest user. Speaking of which…

"Well at least your super Quirk is Midoriya's hands now. And I can't think of a better person to use it." Mineta said with a light laugh, which loosened some of the tension in the atmosphere. All Might nodded happily to that before the two turned to Midoriya, who was staring at his hand.

"I'm still having trouble with it though… I just can't seem to find a good middle ground between no power and broken bones…" He said. And as anyone who knew him, the green haired boy began to mumble about various factors that came up whenever he used it. At one point, he mentioned how, during the USJ attack, he punched the strange creature Nomu with all his might and didn't break anything.

While that was strange, there wasn't any definitive proof of what may have caused that. All Midoriya knew was that he was using it directly on a person and that Tsuyu was in danger. It was quite a mystery…

"Hmmm… That is still progress though. Perhaps your body has grown accustomed to One for All and your subconscious has affected it." All Might suggested.

"That's great and all, but until Midoriya can do that consistently, he's still going to have a bad time. Hey, I know you make weird analogies and mnemonics for important things. What's the one for OfA?" Mineta said before looking over to his partner.

"It's, uh, an egg in the microwave. You know, if the wattage is set too high, the whole thing would explode. So if you replace wattage with One for All and egg with me, you get… Somewhat destroyed fingers and arms?" Midoriya answered. Mineta's brows furrowed as he stared at Midoriya, his face hanging as though he was silently asking 'why'. This tipped the green haired boy off that his friend saw an immediate flaw in his method.

"I'm open to any criticism…"

"Midoriya… You're one of the smartest people I know and I'm sorry for saying this… But that's by far the dumbest analogy you've made. You never put eggs in the microwave. No matter how low the wattage is, it will explode at one point or another." Mineta said.

"Then how about Young Midoriya adjusts it so that nothing happens to it?" All Might suggested.

"Then that will just defeat the point of a microwave, cooking whatever's inside. But you can't do that without the egg exploding."

"I think I'm starting to see the problem now… The egg will always explode; it's only a matter of time before it does. Maybe that's why I always end up injured…" Midoriya said, entering a deep state of contemplation. As the green haired boy did so, Mineta got up to stretch and began to think about microwave cooking. It was a nice convenience to have for sure, but no replacement for actual cooking implements. If anything, it really says something about one's cooking ability if they only relied on the microwave. But that's not the problem right now.

"And it's also a bad way to cook eggs. Even if it didn't explode, some parts of it would be more cooked than others. Personally, if I wanted hardboiled eggs, I steam then." Mineta said.

"I heard about that. It's a really nice way to hard-boil eggs because of how evenly they cook." All Might commented as he prepared more tea, seeing that this might take a while.

"That's what happens when you surround them in steam. It doesn't matter how many you put in there, all that hot, moist air will flow all around them without problem."

"Eggs… Steam… Evenly… Flow all around…" Midoriya mumbled over and over again. His eyes shot open as he instantly went to his feet. The stool he was sitting on fell over to the sudden movement with a clatter. All Might and Mineta jumped as their eyes went to him, seeing Midoriya taking a stance as though he was readying to fight.

"That's it! I need to steam the egg!" Midoriya shouted. All Might put a single finger to his lips, instantly silencing Midoriya. However, the green haired boy was still in a battle stance as though he wanted to demonstrate something. Mineta simply gestured for him to continue, but didn't say a word since this was meant to be kept under wraps.

"Since I've got One for All, I've only been putting all the power into one part of my body. But that only causes that one part to become overcooked while the rest of me is unaffected. So what if I spread it all around my body?" Midoriya explained quietly as a faint light bean to emit from his skin. Both All Might and Mineta began to feel the shift in the air, the force dwelling within Midoriya pushing it around.

"My boy, it looks like you found your next step. How are you feeling?" All Might asked, seeing how his successor is in an intense state of focus.

"I… Can't really move… Just maintaining five percent throughout my body is… Taking all the concentration I have…" Midoriya said through his teeth. But the moment he stopped talking, the light faded from his body and the air went still. The green haired boy hunched over and began to take a few deep breaths.

"Well, at least you've got something to work towards." Mineta said with a nod.

"Indeed… With this, you'll be a step closer to succeeding me. Because my time is running out, I need you to do well and announce to the world who you are… The next Symbol of Peace." All Might said, his weight of his words hitting Mineta and Midoriya. The shorter boy could only purse his lips as that was no easy challenge to complete. But for him to entrust Midoriya with that mantle… It told the level of trust and faith All Might had in him.

The Hero then looked over at Mineta, causing the boy to flinch. However, he could see the brilliant blue eyes and it filled him with resolve.

"Young Mineta, I will also need you to do your best to support him. Though you might be at risk of being stuck in Young Midoriya's shadow, every great Hero still needs a partner to cover their back. No one is wholly invincible, as I have proved." All Might said, his head slightly bowed.

Mineta couldn't even think, let alone say something to this. Here he was, being entrusted with protecting not only his darkest secret but his greatest hope. But after a few seconds, his lips were being pulled into a wide, confident smile.

"Who do you take me for? Of course I got his back, I always will. So don't worry All Might, we'll take care of it."

"I'm counting on you two." All Might said. And despite his face being thin and sunken, his famous smile was still the same. Mineta nodded and turned to Midoriya, who was looking to him as well. The shorter boy held his hand out and his partner readily took it, a firm shake between them.

"Let's keep doing our best Mineta-kun."

"For us and for All Might."

And that was Chapter 19. Today marks the first divergence from Canon I have willingly made. Small as it maybe, Midoriya discovering the Full Cowl will allow him to work out its various kinks and quirks sooner. However, I feel like I could've wrote this chapter a little better as some aspects seem a little redundant, given events of past chapters involving Mineta.

"I mean, if you're a rat and you know you're a rat, wouldn't you depreciate yourself?"

Also, my bro didn't think going down this path was a good idea. He said something about the One for All Legacy being Midoriya's story and it wasn't something for Mineta to learn until later. But since I committed to it last chapter, I had to come up with a great excuse to continue down this line of thought. This chapter is the result of that excuse.

"But now, the threads of fate has changed! We'll be seeing a new future from this point on!"

Perhaps, but I still need certain events to play out. Those moments are integral to certain characters and I don't want to mess around with it too much. That is, unless I have an idea that my writing skill can execute. We'll have to see...

"Unless it's stupid beyond belief. Then it's a guarantee that he'll try to write it."

You know it. Any way, that is all I have for this update. Tune in next time for the Sports Festival opening ceremony and obstacle race.

"Where 'talk shit' gets real and why cockroaches are tough sons of bitches."

So with that said...

Until Next Time. T1.