I own nothing. Warning, may contain Out of Character moments.
Mineta took heavy breaths, lying upon the ground again. After lunch, he and Fenghuang modified the 12 point offense to suit his height. Now, against a standing person, his targets were the hips, knees, shins, pelvis, and, if he's feeling particularly evil, the groin. They also practiced his six point defense against a standing attacker. He learned something particularly important just then.
His stature was advantageous to him. An enemy's defense is near pointless if they can't reach the places he's striking. Their offense will be weakened too, due to both overextension and limited attack angles.
Not that it seemed to bother his teacher, who was easily able to intercept his strikes and get past his guard.
"17:06… We've been training for quite a while, let's change gears and take a break." Fenghuang said, checking the time.
"Already on it…" Mineta replied, still lying on the ground.
"Oh, when I say that, I meant we're going to do some patrols. It's the perfect time to cool down. I'll be waiting by the entrance." She said as she left. The shorter boy let out a groan as he struggled to get up. How could he forget he was interning under a Hero? Of course they needed to go patrolling. Mineta slowly dragged himself up and began to shuffle to the elevator. In all honesty, if he couldn't sleep after all this, he needs to get some advice from Aizawa.
Going back to his room, Mineta opened his costume case and stared at the various pieces. This will be his first public outing in it and he wasn't looking forward to it. He really should've gotten the adjustments to the pants while he still could. But alas, it was too late to complain about it. Once everything was in place, he took the baton he was training with, collapsed it, and stuck it to the hip of his big bowl pants.
"Well, at least this works." Mineta thought, repeatedly removing and placing the baton on his hip. He proceeded to walk to the entrance, doing his best to not drag his feet. And upon arriving, the shorter boy saw Fenghuang talking to a shimmering form next to her. It sort of reminded Mineta of how conversations went with Hagakure. The Heroine's eye caught him and she turned to face him, the shimmering form completely disappearing.
That wasn't spooky at all.
"What was that?" Mineta asked, gesturing to the space where the form was.
"Another of the Eight Masters, Gekkou Ryusuke, and the Celestial Hero Eclipse. He teaches Post-Quirk Ninjutsu here, though he really doesn't like to be around people." Fenghuang explained, adjusting the red feather cloak she was wearing. Mineta raised an eyebrow to that for a moment. If he didn't like people, why was he a teacher? Even the anti-social Aizawa liked to stand in front of his students and lecture them to death.
"Don't worry about that, you'll understand soon. Now, are you ready Grape Shot?" Fenghuang asked, tapping a slightly decorated, black/white staff on the ground. Mineta nodded, followed as his teacher opened the door.
Inuito city, bathed in the orange glow of a setting sun, was like Musutafu in a lot of ways. However, there seems to be a greater variety of stores that cater to tastes from all over the world. For one thing, he passed a building that claims to make traditional Spanish food. And there was another store that had artisan goods imported from China. It was honestly so curious that Mineta wanted to explore and see what he could find.
"Have you ever thought about the world?" Fenghuang asked suddenly.
"No?"
"Then let's take this chance to talk about it. Look around us, what do you see?"
Mineta looked around him again and made the same observation as earlier. It was just your standard, modern concrete jungle with people going about their business. There were students hanging out with friends, business people commuting to their next location, police officers making their patrols, parents with their children, and housewives doing some last minute shopping. But there was nothing out of the ordinary going on.
"Uhhh… Is this a trick question?" Mineta asked, still not seeing where this was going.
"It was merely rhetorical my young pupil." Fenghuang said with a light chuckle.
"We may not know about it because it was beyond our lifetimes, but the world is in constant motion. A barren rock became filled with life over millions of years. Then that once untamed wilderness became civilization in thousands. What are now buildings were once mighty trees. What were mighty trees were once titanic rocks."
"And… Where are you going with this?" Mineta asked, more confused than ever. His teacher simply smiled and gestured for him to follow. So he did. And eventually, after passing a few streets, they came to an intersection. There, Fenghuang was crouching before a utility pole. Mineta looked over her shoulder and found a small flower bud sprouting from the concrete. It was drooping a little, meaning it wasn't getting enough of something.
"Change is the nature of the world. And change needs time to bear fruit. Like this flower, it cannot be forced to bloom with grand actions or pretty words. One must first understand where its roots are. Then they must gently but diligently nurture and guide it. And finally, have the patience to see through its growth. Failure in any of these and nothing will happen… Or, in the worst case scenario, it will regress and perhaps die." She answered. The Heroine then pulled out a small vial from her hip pouch.
And upon uncorking it, she poured it onto the drooping flower bud. Mineta stared at it as his teacher put the vial away.
"Nothing's happening." Mineta blurted out. He then felt his brain kick itself out of the rut it was in. Shifu just finished explaining why that's the case. And if the shorter boy realized he seen this before, he wouldn't have asked. Prime example of his teacher's wisdom, the months spent training before UA. Nothing happened at first. But by the end something did.
"Sorry Shifu, it just came out." He apologized, bowing his head slightly.
"As long as you understand... But let us continue." Fenghuang said as she stood up. Mineta nodded and followed. They took a right turn and found themselves among a crowd of high school students. Was there some event going on? Or was this just a mass migration home?
"Now change can be inspired by people. Let's call them gardeners and stick to the flower metaphor. There are three types of gardeners, pugnacious, perspicacious, and punctilious." She began. Mineta's brows furrowed, were those even real words? Fenghuang then subtly pointed at a meek guy holding hands with a little kid.
"A pugnacious gardener will aggressively seek what is wrong in their garden. They ceaselessly move flowers to better suit its environment. Or zealously crusade against weeds that trespass. But while constant activity is good, they do things rashly and without understanding the entire picture." She explained. Mineta raised an eyebrow to that, why use them as an example?
But as his brain processed it, he slowly began to see it. That kid could see the flower bud from earlier and want to grow it in better conditions. So the guy will then remove it to try just that. However, it will die without its roots and the water his Shifu just poured. Mineta nodded and Fenghuang then pointed at some city municipal workers fixing a power box.
"Punctilious gardeners work towards the image of a perfect garden. Nothing is out of place. There is safety in that, consistency and familiarity. But it also leads to stagnation and inflexibility." She explained. Mineta was beginning to have a feel for his teacher's logic. The city will rip out that flower bud because it could cause a hazard. Somehow. It's a stretch, but if one thinks bigger, it starts making sense.
Why else Villains and anarchists are currently fighting against society? They want more.
"And what about the perspicacious gardener, my young pupil?" Fenghuang asked as she faced Mineta.
"They wait and see. If it's good, they keep tending it. If it's bad, they have to stop it." He answered with a nod.
"What are the problems?"
"It takes time, resources, and faith to know."
"Exactly, you learn fast. But let me ask you this now, which should a good Hero be?" Fenghuang asked, stopping. Mineta stopped as well, the street now clearing up from people. There were a few stragglers here and there. But with the sun almost down, people were definitely on their way home. The shorter boy, chest puffed up, was about to give a definite answer. That was until his brain stopped him. Was his answer… The correct one?
"NOW that is a trick question my young pupil. A good Hero should be all three." Fenghuang said with a laugh. Mineta cupped his chin with a hand, the gears of his brain grinding. And then it hit him, with Midoriya and All Might coming to mind. They were pugnacious, seeking to work on something right away. They were punctilious, sticking to ingrained methods. And they were perspicacious, switching tactics once a better alternative was presented.
Two of those three things relate to the 'egg in the microwave', Mineta doesn't know why.
"There you go. As Heroes, we must inspire change in a flexible manner. We need to know when to seek, hold back, and watch for the tell tale signs. See with your eyes and listen with your ears. Hone those senses and you will soon feel the movements of the world around you." Fenghuang said, gesturing to all around her.
"I will Shifu."
"Very good, let's continue patrolling."
And that has been Chapter 41.
This was a bit sudden... But what good is learning under a wise Kung Fu Master unless there's cryptic philosophy being shoved into your ears.
"And yes, cryptic words. They make any mentor figure 79% wiser and 200% more pretentious!"
Well, hopefully not too pretentious... Anyway, I don't have much news for you. So I'm going to start thinking about the next chapter. Next time, I'll be delving into a dark subject that Mineta needs to come to terms with. Character is what you are in the dark after all...
"I've got no jokes for this. It'll be heavy."
So wish me luck as I attempt to not pull a writing no-no and do things tastefully. With all that said...
Until Next Time. T1.