I do not own these characters or the world, that belongs to our lovely author of MHA, Kohei Horikoshi. Also, cover art was a commission by me from the artist Krumbs. Follow them on if you'd like! They are extremely talented!
A/N: This is the last chapter that is strictly from Mineta's POV and serves mostly as exposition for what happened to him when Bakugo left with him and also as a plot device to move this story into its final stages. Why am I telling you this? Because if folks are inclined to skip this particular chapter because it is strictly Mineta's POV then you might miss some critical plot points, so skip if you'd like but I'd advise at the very least skimming it.
Thirty-Nine
But Plum Blossoms Are Not Cherry Blossoms
Mineta sat at the lunch table leaning against his elbow as he listened to the severely mundane and boring conversation around him. Todoroki was monotone and dull as ever; forever the studious and hard worker and perpetually soft spoken. He was also quite possibly the hottest guy in their class so why on earth did he insist on remaining so boring? Mineta may have preferred the fairer sex but he most definitely could appreciate a fine looking fellow. Ida might as well be both the fun police and their mother with how often he'd admonish certain behaviors he deemed didn't align with 'studious' or 'professional' demeanor. If he wasn't nagging someone, he was yapping about his work study or his brother—boring. And then there was Midoriya, the nerdy nice kid that was always supportive and kind and driven. Nice qualities, but honestly, Mineta didn't care about any of that. He wanted to get to the bottom of whatever else Midoriya had going on because he knew that there was something going on.
That line of thinking made his gaze drift from those sitting close to him and toward Bakugo who was at an entirely different table. Mineta repressed a shudder as he took in the ashen blonde who looked more annoyed than anything else. Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero were all seated at Bakugo's table, likely talking about something more interesting than the boys sitting at his table were droning on about.
As if he knew he was being looked at, crimson eyes suddenly flashed in his direction and narrowed ever so slightly. Mineta was quick to divert his gaze elsewhere. Was that a new haircut on Jiro across the way? Why it certainly could be! New stockings on Uraraka? And over there! A trashcan where Koda was throwing some rubbish away. So many other things to look at and take in! Anything, really, other than the murderous blonde's gaze.
He spared a quick glance back in Bakugo's direction and was instantly relieved to see that the boy was looking elsewhere. Phew, didn't want mister murder threatening bodily injury again. Recalling that unpleasant encounter made his stomch churn with fear induced nausea.
After Bakugo had rudely plucked him off of Asui and ended his little ploy to sus out Uraraka and Midoriya's secret love affair, the fiery blonde had dragged him outside nearby the garbage bins. At first, Mineta had been convinced that this was the moment he'd die, here at the back of the UA dorm by the trash. What a sad ending to his life and still a virgin. Goddammit, he was not going to die a virgin!
"The fuck are you up to? That whole stupid scene felt staged. Spill you little rat," Bakugo had snapped at him as he'd squatted down and stared daggers at the smaller boy. Mineta sat on the ground at the bigger boys' feet, a subservient position that he'd thought might decrease the odds of this encounter ending in premature death. How long could he avoid explosions and death, though? And how did he know that the Pocky game that Mineta had expertly set up and planned for was all a ploy? What he psychic!?
But then Bakugo had surprised him by just talking to him. Well talking in the Bakugo sense in that it involved a lot of eye rolling and angry one liners. He'd demanded to know why Mineta had tried to silence Asui and insisted that Uraraka take a turn. Of course, Mineta couldn't tell him the truth! There was no way that he'd ever confess what the whole Pocky game had actually been about.
So, he'd fabricate a story that he just wanted the game to continue and hearing Asui talk about peer pressuring Uraraka made him fearful that the game would grind to a halt. If the game continued in theory they might let him play and that was the most important part—he needed to be allowed to play too! Mineta was betting that Bakugo would take him at face value considering his licentious nature was widely known.
He was wrong.
"That's bullshit," the blonde had said with a sneer.
"Well it's the truth! I mean yeah, jumping on Asui was probably a little over the top but that just happened to be a happy accident," Mineta had quickly explained, recalling with some fondness as he'd landed on his classmate and clapped his grubby little hand over her mouth. He'd been right in her lap…
"A happy accident?" Bakugo had repeated with a raised eyebrow, his mouth turned down in an irritated frown.
"Uh, yeah. I wanted the game to continue because if it kept going chances are somebody was going to let me join in so when Asui spoke up, well yeah, I couldn't let that happen. Jumping into her lap and getting to put my hand on her hot little face was the happy accident part," explained the smaller boy.
Bakugo had said nothing and just stared menacingly at him. While he said nothing, his raised eyebrow had knitted together with the other into what could only be described as a deep look of disgust.
"What? You're telling me that you don't think she's hot? Come on Mister explosion murder face, even you've got to admit that that frog is hot as fu—" Mineta was interrupted by Bakugo's fist roughly coming down to land on the top of his head, earning him a healthy sized goose egg bruise.
"It's a miracle and a shame that the girls haven't murdered you yet," Bakugo had hissed as he looked on at Mineta with disgust.
"Ouch! What's the big deal? You wanted me to explain and that's what I did. Not my fault you don't like what I have to say," Mineta had whined as he rubbed the sore spot on his head. Why'd Bakugo have to go and hit him? How was that even fair? But then Bakugo suddenly surprised and frightened him by crouching down to his level and leaning in close.
"You're telling me that that stupid little game wasn't just some creepy perv shit you set up to perv on the girls? That it just happened all on its own and you just wanted it to keep going for the hope that maybe they'd let you play?" Bakugo had looked at him with narrowed, dangerous eyes. "I don't believe that that's all there is to it. Spill the truth or I'm going to explode your head so far from your ass that you'll never be able to find your dick again to jerk off with."
The sheer aura of murder that Bakugo projected had made Mineta break out in a fearful sweat and caused him to audibly gulp. Would he be able to keep up the story he'd spun when threatened with bodily harm?
"I did not set up the game to perv on the girls. I don't need a game to do that, that's like, that's like every day for me man, I swear. Ashido started the game and wouldn't let me play and I really really wanted to play." None of that had been a lie and even Mineta could hear the bald truth in what he'd said…but it also wasn't all of truth. If he told the truth and just side stepped the whole truth, well then, he felt like he might walk out of this altercation alive and might have the added bonus of making Bakugo none the wiser.
Bakugo stared crimson dread at the smaller boy but had remained threateningly silent. Mineta felt like the amount of fear sweat he was producing could possibly break world records. His entire shirt must've been saturated and it wasn't even hot outside.
"Ashido won all the rounds—not surprising she's good with her mouth ha—I mean, no—forget that part—no, no, she won all the rounds and then when Kirishima went and they ended in a draw. I saw that as an opening since she'd not let me play before so I was going to make a move but she volunteered Uraraka, so, so, I thought that if I volunteered Midoriya and he refused that that might be my chance, I could go with Uraraka—because duh, Midoriya would never agree to go, too awkward and shy and not nearly enough of a perv—and since the dynamics of the game had changed since the last round had ended with them kissing, it seemed like the perfect opportunity," Mineta had explained in a panic. While he had been most definitely panicking, he was still straying far away from the underlying purpose of the game. If he continued to step around that fact then he should be okay. Right?
"You trying to play cupid, short stuff? Set the scene for the nerd and cheeks?" Bakugo had asked in an eerily quiet voice as he leaned forward to stare even more intently at Mineta.
Mineta had felt like his face was going to melt off as those disturbing red eyes dug into him. How had he even come to that conclusion? How could mister foul tempered asexual cranky pants—Mineta had barely managed to refrain from shuddering at the word asexual—sniff that out? And why did he care? What was it to him? Unless…Mineta felt all the color drain out of his face as a new thought struck him.
Unless Ashido is right and Bakugo actually has feelings for Uraraka in which case, well then, he'd most definitely care if he saw outside interference with someone he had the hots for getting in the way. Unless it was Midoriya that he had feelings for…but nah, that vibe ain't right. They're like frenemies, but, Uraraka? No, no, Ashido could NOT be right. Unless, unless I'm right about Midoriya and Uraraka and Bakugo is secretly carrying a torch for Uraraka and that's why he's pissed at me for volunteering Midoriya. I guess he could be like trying to wingman for Midoriya? Nah, now that feels unlikely…
Mineta had suddenly taken in the intimidating boy before him with new eyes. Could that really be the case? There was no way, right? Right!? Into Uraraka or into Midoriya? Either one was awful, he was a dick to both of them, hardly a nice dynamic. If Bakugo was into dudes, then Mineta would bet he'd be crushing on someone like Kirishima but that didn't seem plausible either. But…could he really be acting as a wingman? No, no…altruistic Bakugo did not exist in the world Mineta knew.
"N-no, I just figured that if anyone was going to outright refuse it'd be him because he's always so blushy around girls especially Uraraka," Mineta finally managed to reply, his voice stuttering and lacking any real conviction, though it was a logical enough response, but logic apparently didn't matter when faced with Bakugo the human lie detector.
Bakugo had leaned forward just a hair closer to Mineta, his nose nearly touching the smaller boys'. " I don't believe you." The words were quiet and said calmly which made Mineta nearly pee his pants in sheer terror. Bakugo never spoke calmly or quietly, he was definitely about to murder him, wasn't he?
"Wh-what? Why?" He'd bumbled out and tried his best to look innocent and not at all like a man about to face the gallows noose.
"There's something you aren't telling me, something I don't like, something fucking rotten. You know, I don't like secrets…in fact I hate them," Bakugo had practically growled the last word and violently yanked up on the collar of Mineta's shirt, pulling him up into the air so that he was held only by Bakugo's fist. "What are you keeping a fucking secret you little shit?"
Little legs dangling in the air, his shirt collar becoming uncomfortably tight around his throat, Mineta had struggled against the ashen blonde. "I swear Bakugo I'm not keeping any secrets! I just really really wanted to play the game! Midoriya seemed like an easy target since he's so awkward all the time and jumping on Asui was out of line yeah, but it allowed me to sit in her lap and try to keep the game going since her discouraging Ashido or Uraraka might've stopped it and I just really, really wanted to play!" Mineta had practically been sobbing as he blabbered on, still somehow managing to keep spinning the same story he'd started with despite literally being on the precipice of death.
Bakugo said nothing, instead just tightened his grip on the little lecher's shirt and leaned his face even closer to Mineta, his eyes like two drops of blood about to explode in a fiery eruption. This is it. This is how I die, Mineta had thought to himself in despair.
He'd slapped his hands together and did his best to lower his head into a bow, Mineta had cried, "I swear Bakugo that there's nothing else! I'm not keeping secrets! I swear!" He'd actually cried then, tears streaming down his face in rivers.
There had been a huff of disgust and suddenly the choke hold on his collar was released and he'd felt himself dropped onto the ground. He landed with a thud and blinked in bewilderment. He wasn't dead? Bakugo had chosen to spare him? Mineta looked up at the now standing Bakugo and had stared, relieved but also tense that the foul tempered boy had chosen to not murder him.
"I can't say I believe you, because I don't, but whatever, I'm not going to waste my time beating the shit out of you when you're already blubbering like a whale. It'd be like beating up a stupid baby," Bakugo had paused briefly to look back toward their dorm before shooting a warning glare at the still shell shocked Mineta. "But I think you're up to something and I'll be watching you, pipsqueak." With one last foul look at Mineta, Bakugo had turned and started to walk away.
Mineta could only sit on the ground, still shocked that he'd not been murdered. Also, that he'd managed to maintain his story despite the very real threat of bodily harm. Mineta had begun to get up and dust himself when Bakugo's voice made him stop mid motion.
"If you're trying to play matchmaker or whatever between those two, don't. Leave them alone. Whatever might be going on there…it isn't any of your business." Bakugo hadn't faced Mineta but had stopped and tilted his head back in Mineta's direction. His voice was soft but there was a clear underlying tone of threat that was unmistakable.
"I promise I'm not playing matchmaker," Mineta had said quietly. Bakugo simply snorted and then continued walking. Mineta watched him walk away and wondered why he would say that. There was the clear undertone of threat in his voice but why? Why did Bakugo even care if Mineta was in fact trying to play cupid? Could Ashido be right? Or could it be what he'd thought earlier, that Bakugo had secret feelings for Uraraka who actually had feelings for Midoriya? Or even more unlikely, was Bakugo just being altruistic in his own way and trying to protect them from outside interference? Could…could he really be playing secret wingman?!
Now it was Mineta's turn to snort. What a ridiculous notion. Whatever the real reason behind his warning, it was clear that he would have to proceed very carefully if he wanted to sus out the truth of Midoriya and Uraraka and he'd most definitely have to have a chat with his partner in crime. Though he almost feared doing that considering her little display with Kirishima.
Thinking about that confrontation even now, days after it had occurred sent a shiver down his spine. How unpleasant that had been! Why had Bakugo even butted his way into what clearly didn't involve him? And why in the hell did he even care if Mineta was 'playing cupid' as he had put it? It was frightening how close he'd been to discovering what Mineta was actually up to. Of course, Mineta wasn't actually playing Cupid and in all honesty, he'd been relatively relieved that that had been what Bakugo had accused him of because if he'd accused him of what was actually going on, well Mineta wouldn't have been able to wiggle his way out of that unpleasant altercation.
As it was, Mineta would have to proceed with greater caution. While he'd escaped certain death at Bakugo's hands, he knew that he was now on the blonde boy's radar. Not a place he wanted to be, but that meant that any future 'set ups' that he orchestrated would have to be on a much smaller scale and couldn't be carried out if Bakugo was in the vicinity.
If only Ashido hadn't ended her turn in a draw with stupid Kirishima! Why had she done that? Her doing that had thrown everything else into chaos. While he'd quietly filed away the fact that Ashido and Kirishima had ended their turn with a kiss—something he had spent a bit of time analyzing in his mind—he was still annoyed that she hadn't won the round and coerced Uraraka into going next and then intentionally thrown the round. He was going to have to have a serious talk with her at some point.
"Mineta! You've been very quiet. Aren't you looking forward to your work studies with Mount Lady this weekend?" Asked an annoyingly cheerful Ida.
The question surprised Mineta and he blinked in confusion at his classmate before he could process a response. "Uh, sure."
"Mineta are you not feeling good? You seem kind of down," observed the always sensitive and concerned Midoriya.
"Midoriya is right. Normally you are much more boisterous during our lunch hour. Is something the matter?" Todoroki asked with a raised eyebrow.
Great, all three of them are looking at me now, Mineta thought as he resisted the urge to sigh. "Nope, I'm all good," he paused as he heard his own words lack any real feeling or conviction. They were not going to believe him if that was all he said. Thinking fast, he said, "Just bummed that Midnight and her sweet skintight suit aren't teaching today." Yeah, that's right. Very me, very believable.
"Recovery Girl is teaching today if I recall correctly. I think she's going to go a bit more into the menstrual cycle and the application of condoms," Todoroki rattled off in a no-nonsense tone.
"Todoroki is correct! According to the sexual health and education syllabus that is what we'll be going over today. I should think a test or quiz would be on the horizon considering it has been a while since we last had one," agreed Ida.
So boring. If only Miss Midnight was here to teach about putting condoms on. I bet she would've demonstrated that with her mouth if I'd asked nicely. Oh, that would've been a sight to see, Mineta thought to himself with a faraway look and lecherous smile.
"Judging by that smile on your face I'd say you are probably having inappropriate thoughts," Todoroki observed, leaned forward slightly and staring at the pint-sized boy. His different colored eyes staring at him with a look of curiosity.
"Yeah? So? You telling me that even you wouldn't have blushed if Midnight was the one teaching us to put on rubbers? Or if she chose to demonstrate putting one on with her mou—" Midoriya who was sitting beside Mineta, suddenly fidgeted as if his pants were full of fire ants, let out an awkward 'yip' and clapped a hand over Mineta's mouth.
"Mineta!" Midoriya said with flushed red cheeks and nervous eyes.
"How very crass Mineta!" Scolded Ida.
"Demonstrating condom application with the use of her mouth wouldn't be very educational if her goal was to teach us the proper way to put one on. I think I'd just find it inappropriate," was Todoroki's cool and logical response.
Mineta shoved Midoriya's hand away from his mouth and shot an annoyed glance at him. "Rude! Like I want your gross hentai tentacle hands on my face. Keep 'em to yourself man!"
Though Mineta wasn't sure it was possible to blush a deeper shade of red, Midoriya somehow managed to defy that expectation and turned an even deeper scarlet. "Sorry! I, well, I just, I really didn't think you should finish your sentence. It seemed, it, it seemed kind of disrespectful"
"I agree with Midoriya," Todoroki added and leaned back in his seat. His face was still mostly impassive but Mineta thought he could see just a touch of judgement in his gaze.
"As do I!" Agreed Ida.
Mineta rolled his eyes and picked up his tray and began moving away from the table. "Okay buzzkill betties, I'm leaving. Got some business to attend to in the bathroom."
"I uh, we, weren't trying to make you feel bad Mineta. You can still finish your lunch!" Midoriya called after the swiftly exiting Mineta.
"Too late dudes," Mineta shot back as he bussed his tray and left the cafeteria.
Mineta trudged his way down the hall toward his favorite toilet, the handicap stall. At the very least his classmates could talk about interesting things or dirty things. Why talk about boring stuff like work studies when you could talk about boobies? Or when you could talk about how far you'd gotten with a girl…
Maybe I should just give up on my vigil to find out what Midoriya and Uraraka have going on. It'll probably come out eventually and then maybe he'd be more willing to talk about how far he's gotten with her. Nah, knowing Midoriya he'd clam up and get tongue tied and red faced just being asked that. Maybe I should abandon my plans to watch them and move to my partner in crime and Kirishima. Hmm…come to think of it they sometimes seem pretty chummy and she allowed Kirishima to end their round in a draw, maybe I've been too focused on Midoriya and Uraraka and missed what's right in front of me…
Mineta was so deeply lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize that Nejire Hado was on a collision course with him. Though even if he had realized it, there was a strong possibility that he would've done nothing to correct it because Hado was hot.
"Oof!" Yelped Mineta as he ran into the taller upperclassman's legs and was knocked onto his rear.
"Whoa!" Exclaimed a very surprised Hado as she stumbled and nearly fell but was snagged by a girl who was walking next to her. "Oh wow! Good catch Yuyu!"
Mineta looked up from his position on the floor and for a moment just stared in awe at the tall, shapely girl in front of him. Her legs were practically up against his face and if he leaned forward just a bit he'd probably get to see up her skirt…
"Guess we didn't see him. Sorry my guy!" Came a voice that was unfamiliar to Mineta and made him pause in his lecherous intentions to look up Hado's skirt. He looked to the side of Hado to identify the voice and took in a slightly shorter, ginger haired girl with a boyish haircut. She certainly wasn't the kind of looker that Hado was but hey, that haircut looked good on her and briefly made Mineta imagine extremely inappropriate and dirty situations involving the two girls.
"Hey hey! I recognize him! He's from class 1-A. He's in the same class as Uravity!" Hado said excitedly and bent at the waist to get a closer look at him.
"Uh, yeah, hey. Mineta's the name though they call me Grape Juice since that's my hero name and I'm uh, well, I'm a pretty big deal in class 1-A," Mineta said with a confident smile as he cooly slicked a hand back over his hair.
"Pfft," snorted the short haired girl.
"I'm not sure I've heard Uravity mention you. But I remember you from when Lemillion and Suneater and I presented to your class. That was a fun time! I think you were a little naughty then," Hado said thoughtfully, her hand moving to her chin in thought.
Mineta let out an exaggerated laugh that was meant to sound suave but just sounded awkward. "Yeah, I'm often naughty."
The ginger burst out laughing and clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. Hado simply blinked at him.
"Uh kinda rude," Mineta said with a frown as he crossed his arms defensively.
"You're kind of a funny guy, aren't you?" Asked Hado with a head tilt.
Deflated and now just wanting to get to the bathroom, Mineta shrugged. "Sometimes sure, but I think I'll be going." He started to rise to his feet when he caught sight of a paper on the floor next to him that he was fairly certain hadn't been there when he'd run into the upperclassmen. He picked it up as he stood up and took in rich colors of pink, plum, and red as well as lots of little drawn flowers covering the paper. There were a series of dates for the upcoming week on Saturday and Sunday along with the words Ume Matsuri. Mineta looked at the paper in confusion, not fully grasping what he was looking at and gingerly held it out to the still bent over Hado.
"Uh, I think you dropped this," he said doubtfully and held the paper out to her.
"Oh! I sure did! Thank you!" She exclaimed as she rose to her full height and reached out to take the colorful flyer from him but suddenly stopped. Her eyes widened and a brilliant smile broke out over her face. "Hey hey! I have a great idea! Why don't you keep that and share it with your class! That way you guys can enjoy the plum blossoms at the Ume Matsuri. I bet there are a lot of your friends that could have a lot of fun there!"
Mineta just stared at her, not really following what she was talking about. In theory he knew about plum blossom viewing at the associated festivals, but honestly, he'd never actually been to one. In fact, did flowers even really bloom that much in February? He was much more familiar with cherry blossom viewing and had in fact been to several festivals associated with them…mostly because Sakura season brought out all the babes, but plum blossoms? Did lots of people actually go out and stand around in the cold to look at some wilty plum flowers? Didn't sound like a fun time to him.
"Um, thanks?" Mineta said dubiously.
"Come on Nejire, this kid isn't going to appreciate flowers," chided the ginger who'd managed to stop laughing.
"Well that may be but if Grape Juice here shares it with the rest of class 1-A others might really enjoy it. Not enough people get to see how pretty the plum blossoms are and it's such a shame because they're as pretty as cherry blossoms," the periwinkle haired girl said in defense.
Mineta looked between the two girls and the flyer in his hand and was about to shrug when an idea suddenly hit him. This flyer boasted an ongoing Ume Matsuri which would mean shop and food vendors, prissy flower viewing, festival games, kimono's and more! It was a perfect setting for somebody to go on a romantic festival date. Not for him of course, but for a certain green haired freckled boy and auburn rosy cheeked girl. This was a perfect recipe for just them and a way for him to surreptitiously follow them in the background and watch what they did.
Pulling the flyer close to his chest he looked up at the older girls with a smile. "What a great idea that is! I'm totally going to share it with the class! Thank you!" It was much more over the top than it needed to be but he didn't care, he was holding liquid gold in his hands.
"See Yuyu?" Hado boasted with a smile.
"Whatever, let's get back to lunch," the shorter girl said with a shrug and tugged on Hado's arm to pull her along.
"Share it with your class and enjoy the flowers!" Hado called back to him as she was tugged away from him.
He gave a haphazard wave at the two girls and then hurried toward his favorite place, the handicap bathroom. Lunch would be over in just a short time and then everyone would start shuffling in from lunch and right past his office in the toilet. If he kept the door to the bathroom open to a crack, he could see who passed the bathroom and if he timed it just right and as long as Deku wasn't in close proximity to Bakugo, he could plant this flyer right in Midoriya's lap. All he had to do was time things just right and hope that Midoriya didn't have Bakugo hot on his heels or within earshot.
Fifteen minutes later, Mineta had his face practically pressed into the barely there crack to the handicap toilet as he peeped out into the hall. He'd seen a wave class 1-B with some of the girls from class 1-A mixed amongst them and then a few outliers like Koda, Shoji, and Aoyama. There'd been a lull after that where he'd only spotted Asui and Uraraka walking together toward their class and then nothing.
Minutes passed and Mineta felt himself start to sweat with anxiety. He'd not seen Bakugo or Midoriya yet which was problematic. They needed to not be within close proximity of each other for him to successfully plant the idea of plum blossom viewing in Deku. If Bakugo was close by, well, then Mineta would have to improvise some other situation when he could pass the flyer and the idea of a date off on his unsuspecting classmate. That might prove difficult however, since he was probably constantly on Bakugo's radar now.
There was the soft sound of voices and Mineta caught the tall figure of Ida and Todoroki walking down the hall. He pressed his face even closer to the gap in the door and spotted Midoriya just a little way behind the other boys. There was no sign of Bakugo but Mineta couldn't make out all that much behind Midoriya, but this was probably going to be his best chance. He had to take it.
Just as Todoroki and Ida passed the doorway and Midoriya followed slightly behind them, Mineta briefly noted that he was looking at his phone and typing a message, he burst out of the door and practically slammed himself into Deku who gave a surprised yelp. Mineta barely registered Ida or Todoroki or the fact that they'd stopped to turn around in search of the commotion. He also had underestimated his momentum and had inadvertently knocked both himself and Midoriya onto the ground.
While the fall had surprised he managed to adjust to it quickly. The same couldn't be said for Midoriya though, judging by the look on confusion on the taller boy's face and the fact that he remained crumpled on the ground longer than Mineta did. Mineta, who had landed prone, was quick to adjust and move to all fours before he whipped around and looked pointedly at the clearly still confused Midoriya.
"Whoa man, sorry! Didn't see you there and just kinda slammed into you!" he said with a forced casual tone as he stood up. "Need a hand up?"
Midoriya blinked several times as if to center himself and then slowly rose up, using Mineta's outstretched hand as a form of support. "Yeah, you really ran into me hard. I did not see you coming at all!"
"Are you alright Midoriya? That looked like a nasty fall," came the unwelcome voice of Todoroki just a short way down the hall. Mineta refrained from hissing in annoyance. He did not need either Todoroki or Ida interjecting themselves into this conversation. Time was still ticking on by and with each passing minute Mineta was acutely aware of the fact that he'd still not seen Bakugo. He was also painfully aware that the sound of more voices was becoming vaguely audible, meaning more people headed their way.
"Oh, I'm okay, but are you alright Minet—" Mineta didn't let him finished and thrust the flyer at him.
"I found this flyer and thought it'd be such a good idea to share with you and everybody else. There's an Ume Matsuri like all next week. We could totally go. Might be nice to not just focus on school and work studies and have some fun," Mineta babbled quickly.
"A plum blossom festival? I guess it is the season for that. I'd totally forgotten," Midoriya said thoughtfully and gently took the flyer from Mineta. He looked over it carefully.
"I don't think we'd be able to go considering our work studies take so much of our time and all the remaining time is dedicated to schoolwork," Todoroki said softly. Always a buzzkill, thought Mineta as he bit his lip to keep a snarky remark to himself.
"Todoroki might be right, though attending a festival would be a good form of entertainment and flower viewing can be quite soothing!" Added Ida.
The voices down the hall were now clearly audible which made Mineta's stomach drop with anxiety. He had to wrap this up fast! He was almost certain that one of the voices he could hear was the deeper, abrasive tones of Bakugo's voice.
"I'm sure if you just asked Endeavor or whoever, if you could have the night off to go to a festival that they'd let you. It's not like you've missed any other time. Plus, it's a traditional festival and like yeah, culture and stuff," encouraged Mineta, desperately trying to keep his voice from rising with panic. He was almost certain that if he looked carefully down the hall, he would see the spiky ends of Bakugo's hair visible amongst a group of students that were making their way toward them.
"Seeking clearance from the number one would be the best option to get approval to go, Midoriya. If others are interested, I'm sure that they could do the same," said Ida.
"I could ask him, though I'd hate to miss out on learning anything. I've learned so much from him already but there's still so much more to learn!"
"One night off isn't going to be that big of a loss because, because, well, think! Like the plum blossoms only bloom but once a year haha! And, and well, you know the food and stuff you can buy would be great, you could get a gift for your mom, or girlfriend—er that is if you had one—but it would make a great setting for like a romantic date if you know, you like had a girlfriend of something." Mineta felt like he was practically shouting and was certain his face must be dotted with visible sweat as if he'd just finished vigorous exercise.
"A date?" Repeated Midoriya with a nervous glance up from the flyer and at Mineta.
"Mineta has an excellent point. If one were to have a romantic partner going to a plum blossom festival would be a very romantic setting for a date." For once, one of the things coming out of Ida's mouth wasn't a deterrent or scolding; what a relief!
"There'd probably be less people than with Sakura season too," Shoto added.
Mineta shot a panicky glance down the hall and nearly pissed his pants when he clearly saw Bakugo's cranky face. That meant he was definitely within earshot and if Mineta could see him well then, Bakugo certainly could see him.
"Well it's up to you! Share it with the class! Mount Lady probably won't let me off the leash to go or maybe she'll drag me along with her and make me carry her stuff or something, but anyway, better get to class!" He was shouting now and at speeds not ever witnessed from him before, he turned on his heel and practically flew down the hall and toward the classroom.
As he entered the classroom he breathed a sigh of relief. He was probably in the clear, hopefully. Bakugo might not have been paying attention and even if he had, well Mineta had suggested that Midoriya share it with the class not just that he go alone or with one other person. Regardless, he'd laid the groundwork and now he'd have to keep his ear to the ground to make sure if Midoriya or Uraraka, or ideally, both decided to go, he'd be able to tag along in the shadows.
He'd also have to fill in Ashido at some point which might also allow him to sus out a bit more of whatever was going on with her and Kirishima. Because if there was something going on with them, then he felt fairly certain that Ashido would want to go to the festival simply to be around her potential paramour.
"Haha, it's all coming together," he whispered to himself, a devious little smile on his face.