I own nothing. May contain Out of Character moments.

After last night's troubling revelations and determined aspirations, Midoriya and Mineta went to bed with heavy hearts yet clear minds. They knew what they needed to do the next day. However, given what was also happening tomorrow, they also knew they needed the energy to survive what Aizawa had in mind.

And knowing him, Mineta guessed it involved waking up early in the morning and painful learning.

"How… How are you two not tired?" Uraraka asked with a yawn, her feet dragging through the dirt.

"We're sort of used to this, early hour training." Mineta answered as he finished his stretches. Even before meditating at dawn with Fenghuang, the shorter boy had been doing early morning Yoga because of Aizawa. As for Midoriya, he knew his partner still followed All Might's old training schedule to maintain his build. While all this seemed tedious, there's a reason why they still adhere to old routines.

If their foundations start weakening, so will the rest of their skills.

"Talk about dedication… I'm honestly jealous. " Tsuyu replied, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to clear the drowsiness. Before anyone could say anything else, Aizawa appeared out of the tree like the ninja he is. And despite being notorious for not being a morning person, he was more awake than ever. Mineta swallowed the lump in his throat; this was usually a bad sign.

"Good morning students. Today, your training begins for real. Ideally, you should be leaving this place strong enough to earn your Provisional Licenses. Our world is growing more chaotic by the minute, so it doesn't hurt to be prepared when it's your turn to debut. So let's start by doing this." Aizawa said before tossing a ball to Bakugou. Taking note, everyone saw that it had black band around its center.

"You want us to do the shitty trials again?" Bakugou asked with a groan.

"It's a question. Just how much have you grown since the beginning of the year? Your old record was 705.2 meters, go ahead and break that." Aizawa said, taunting the human explosive with his eyes. Bakugou didn't say anything as he stepped forward, Mina and Sero cheering him on to break 1 kilometer. He rotated his right shoulder before going through the motions. And like before, it went off like an artillery cannon.

"Go to Hell!"

Mineta blocked the shock wave buffeting him with an arm, his eyes squinting at Bakugou. That felt more powerful than before, so he guessed it was going to be just below 1 kilometer. After a few seconds passed, Aizawa presented his phone's screen to the class. 1A's brows were raised as Bakugou scowled in teeth grinding anger.

709.6 meters.

"You've all grown no doubt, specifically mind and technique. However your physical abilities haven't, which brings us to your training today. You'll be working out your Quirks and raising their upper limit. Just a word of warning though, it'll be so tough that you'll be wishing for death. So do your best to stay alive." Aizawa explained, his signature manic grin appearing on his face. Mineta took a deep breath as his shoulders slumped.

Yeah, here we go…

"Aizawa-sensei, what does this training entail and how will you cover every one of our unique abilities?" Iida asked, raising his hand.

"Mineta, how did learn to do things with your left hand?" Aizawa asked, turning towards the shorter boy. Mineta flinched at suddenly being called on by his former master. But because it was his former master, an answer already began to leave his mouth after but a moment of thought.

"Practice, weeks of practice."

"Exactly. Just as your brain gets smarter through study and your body stronger through exercise, Quirks improve through constant use. That's the first question answered. As for your second question Iida, it's simple…" Aizawa explained before gesturing to a mount of earth. Suddenly the thing sunk through the ground and there, in the wide area provided, was a training ground of various terrains and items.

Caves, mountains, barrels of boiling water, a giant hamster ball, tables full of food… Mineta began to see where the dots were going. And God damn he didn't like it. Truly, this was the suffering their teacher had promised them. But knowing he couldn't get out of this no matter how hard he tried, Mineta simply prayed for strength and courage.

"You'll just be using your Quirks until you pass out or pass your limits." Aizawa finished, his voice laced with danger. A cold wave over took 1A as each member began figuring out what needed to be done. And while some like Bakugou and Todoroki were ready to take it on. Others like Aoyama and, surprisingly, Tokoyami were having second thoughts.

"And to make sure you're right on track, we have others to help you out." Aizawa said gesturing to four figures suddenly jumping in. It was the Wild, Wild Pussycats, complete with all four members, as they struck their team pose. They quickly stood tall before 1A as they began rattling off their area of purpose.

"With my Search Quirk, I can monitor up to 100 people at once! So I can keep eye on your strengths and weaknesses!" Ragdoll said excitedly.

"My Earth Flow will shape the perfect training location just for you!" Pixie-Bob explained as the earth began moving behind her.

"With my Telepath, I can advise multiple people at once." Mandalay explained from within Mineta's head.

"And I'll be in charge of all the violent services. So come at me swinging." Tiger said, cracking his neck and knuckles. 1A looked between their teacher and the Pussycats, the apprehension in their system growing. But with a single set of words from their human grenade, they knew it was time to swallow the bitter pill.

"Let's get this over with…"

Mineta walked forward to his designated area, hoping that this won't end with blood loss. And looking over to Midoriya, who needed to train under Tiger, he quickly gave him a shaky thumb's up. The green haired boy returned the gesture, shaking just as much, before beginning his training regime. And so, the shorter boy sat down and began plucking hairballs from his head, stacking them into a neat pile.

Hmmm… Maybe he could make a sculpture or something to make things interesting…

…

Mineta could barely formulate his next thought as he put the next hairball onto the sculpture. Though honestly, the shorter boy lost the image in his mind as the pain began making it hard to concentrate. So the sculpture was looking less like a centaur, and more like a man drowning in a ball pit. He let out a great groan as he added the finishing touches, ignoring the blood dribbling down his face.

And then he collapsed onto it. Despite being a pile of somewhat bloody hair, it still made for a great improvised bed.

"Hey, what's wrong? Your Quirk won't get any stronger if you just lay there" Mandalay asked, her voice echoing from within Mineta's head.

"I just need a minute…" Mineta replied, unsure whether if he thought or physically said that. The pain continued to burn his scalp as he got up from the pile. He reached over to the water bucket next to him and pulled out the wet cloth inside. He wiped away the fresh and dried blood from his head, freeing his skin from the grime.

While that did nothing for his scalp, at least Mineta could maintain appearances. The shorter boy also took a moment to watch his friends and classmates, all suffering just as badly as he was. Bakugou and Todoroki were being boiled alive, Satou and Yaoyorozu looked like they were going to throw up from all the food they were eating, whatever's happening to Tokoyami in that cave right now…

"AAAAGGGGHHHH! DARK SHADOW!"

That bloodcurdling scream overpowered the noise happening all around him. And it served a perfect reminder that Mineta should probably be getting back to his own training. Though before doing so, he quickly looked to where Midoriya was and saw him and a few members of 1B doing extreme aerobic exercises with Tiger.

Yeah, this wasn't going to end well for any of them.

"Call me a demon or whatever you want... But if you all want results, this is the only way to get it given our limited time." Aizawa said as he walked past the shorter boy.

"I don't need to call you a demon… You are one." Mineta muttered as he began making a new sculpture. Maybe he should try something super abstract, something to symbolize the suffering he and his peers were going through. But the moment he turned to begin working, he found Aizawa and Mandalay examining 'Man in Ball Pit' like art critics.

"… The upper half could be more dynamic." Mandalay commented, gesturing to the upper portion of the sculpture.

"And the lower half's a mess; I thought you're better than this." Aizawa added tiredly. His former master's tone was ambiguously somewhere between genuinely encouraging and overtly critical. Mineta's eye twitched as he began piling up the hairballs again, a vindictive resolve welling up in his chest.

"Oh I'll show you a real mess…" Mineta grumbled, working faster and harder than ever before.

…

"Alright, we can stop here for today. Let's head back to the lodge." Aizawa called out before walking away. Mineta stirred from his stupor and got up from the bloody hairball pile known as his next sculpture. It resembled a heart being torn up; the bloodiest of the hairballs was even used to represent the blood. And despite everything, it didn't look too bad.

"Yeah… That'll show him…" Mineta thought as he yawned over to his water bucket. And after a quick wipe, he stumbled after his exhausted classmates. Naturally, Mineta's shuffling feet found its way to Midoriya's side. He couldn't get his voice to work though, neither of them did. So, the two simply settled on basking in the other's supportive presence.

They all walked in relative silence until they were back at the lodge's outdoor dining area. There, two of the Pussycats, Pixie-Bob and Ragdoll, were setting down the last of several ingredients. Carrots, potatoes, onions, beef, rice, and boxes of premixed spices… All the necessary components to make curry rice.

"Yesterday, I said 'today's the last day we're helping you'." Pixie-Bob said.

"So if you want to eat, better get your butts moving and get to cooking! And do make sure you don't do a sloppy job!" Ragdoll added, jittering around with wide smile on her face. While just as attractive as the other Pussycats, that enthusiastically crazed smile was a little much, even for Mineta. It kind of reminded the shorter boy of Hatsume Mei of the Hero Support Department. Who knew maniacs could be so attractive?

But that was beside the point. Iida quickly rallied Class 1A into action, reasoning that this too is part of their training. Mineta was far past caring if that was the case, no thanks to Aizawa and Fenghuang conditioning him with every training session. The shorter boy simply picked up a potato peeler, sat down on the ground, and began peeling.

"What an exhausting day… But I feel like we made some serious progress." Midoriya commented, sitting down next to his friend.

"Maybe… It's hard to tell when I'm just turning my hairballs into weird gallery pieces." Mineta replied as he continued to peel potatoes.

"Well I think they look lovely. And it's great that you could work on two separate things at the same time." Tsuyu replied before she and the other girls went in. They were no doubt going to change into something more comfortable and out of their sweaty, grimy jerseys. Mineta reflected on the amphibious girl's words as a proud smile spread across his face. He then took on his current task with renewed fervor.

"Glad to see that you still got some life left in you, Mineta-kun. You collapsed into your hair a few times today." Midoriya commented with a small grin.

"When I've got friends who appreciates me… I can do anything." Mineta replied before throwing the peeled potato in his hand. The skinned spud sailed through the air silently before plopping into a pot of water a few meters away. The act would've been impressive had it not splashed all over someone. And that someone was Bakugou…

"Hey imp fuck! What did I say about throwing shit at me!?" Bakugou shouted, pointing a kitchen knife at the shorter boy. Mineta froze as his very presence shrunk more than usual. Sure, he might've overcome his fear of Bakugou after their End of Term exam… But him with a knife was an entirely different story. Mineta's hand still went for his baton though, feeling the memories of his training through it.

"Sorry Kacchan, we'll be more careful." Midoriya apologized, quickly getting up to bring the pot to them. Bakugou gave the green haired boy a glare. His eyes were continuously narrowing as though he was weighing his responses. That was when Bakugou's knife slowly returned to the onion on the cutting board.

"Make sure of that Deku..."

Midoriya nodded nervously, eyeing the knife, before heading back to Mineta.

"Dude, I'm so sorry about that. You should've just let me clean up my own mess." Mineta said, bowing to his partner.

"It's fine, it's fine. I'm just glad at how mellow Kacchan's been recently. UA's really changed him for the better." Midoriya replied before looking back at his childhood friend.

"Fuck you onions! Fuck you and your fucking tear gas! ARGH!"

"... His language could us some work though. Hey, what do you want to do after this Mineta-kun?" Midoriya asked, turning back to Mineta. The shorter boy stopped peeling for a moment to think about it. His mind immediately went to the one thing they were going to do yesterday but couldn't. And as that thought solidified, a confident grin appeared on his face. One that he knows Midoriya was familiar with.

"Catch? Hmmm… I'm still a little sore from Tiger's training… But I think we should be fine if we keep it light." Midoriya answered as though he read his friend's mind.

"Now we're talking. But first, we've got some spuds to shave." Mineta replied before continued the peeling. Only this time, the shorter boy was doing it with an even greater fervor than before. Midoriya smirked to that and began matching his friend's speed. One way or another, they were going to play ball.

And fortunately enough, that time came soon enough. Fifteen minutes was all that was needed for the potatoes to be peeled, diced, and added to the pot. Granted, Midoriya and Mineta did receive help from Tsuyu and Uraraka when they and the other girls came back from changing. It honestly became a real party as they had all sorts of conversations.

With this casual atmosphere, anyone hardly believed they've been suffering just moments earlier.

"Okay, now that the curry's simmering… Your ball." Mineta said, tossing a baseball to Midoriya. The two had changed out into their casual wear and retrieved their baseball gear. Also, Mineta decided that this was the time to break out the Heaven and Earth Temple shirt. Perhaps this would help him power through the rest of today.

"Are you two really doing this? You're not tired at all?" Jirou asked as she and several others began watching the duo toss the ball from one to the other.

"Oh no, we're exhausted. But this is our way of relaxing." Midoriya answered, tossing the ball back to Mineta. The trajectory was easy and the speed was still slow. And while what his partner said was true, Mineta knew this was going to escalate at some point. It was only a matter of sooner or later.

The calm back and forth continued for a few minutes. That was until Mineta unconsciously threw it a little harder than before. The trajectory was still quite predictable, so naturally Midoriya still received it easily. A hum escaped the green haired boy's throat as he threw the ball back, a little faster than Mineta had. It was still easy to catch, but Mineta's brows began furrowing as a challenging smirk appeared on his face.

It was here that he threw out a slider. When the ball launched off of Mineta's fingers, it flew quickly before sinking towards his right. Midoriya darted over, mitt outstretched as the ball landed with a smack. A determined glint appeared in his eyes as Midoriya threw it back. This time, it sailed a few steps to Mineta's right. But the shorter boy had already begun moving, seeing through his friend's plan.

The ball entered his mitt and stopped, the force of it firing Mineta's nerves. Now that's a good throw.

"Can't disappoint now." Mineta thought, rolling his shoulder before pitching a two seam fastball. It flew fast and straight until it began breaking to the left at the last moment. For the uninitiated, this was difficult to catch. For Midoriya? His glove might as well be magnetized to the ball, for it was already in its path.

The green haired boy smiled. He then took the ball out of his glove and hurled it back towards the ground. However, because they've played this game countless times before, Mineta's body knew when and where the ball was going to be and how to get it. The shorter boy dashed forward, diving with his mitt outstretched as the baseball safely landed in it.

Mineta then rolled back onto his feet, throwing back as best as he could despite his position. And, like always, Midoriya snatched it out of the air, readying to return it to his friend.

"What part of this relaxing!?" Kaminari shouted, practically sitting at the edge of his seat. Neither Mineta nor Midoriya answered the electric blonde. Not because they didn't have a response for that, but because they couldn't look away even for a second. The duo duck, dived, and dashed about, intercepting faster and more complicated balls. In the process, bewildering 1A as more and more came to watch.

Even 1B began gathering to watch this strange spectacle.

"Is that all? Even I'm capable of playing catch at this level. I'm going to check on the curry." Monoma boasted before walking off. None of his classmates paid him any attention. They were too busy darting their eyes back and forth between the two players.

"How are they even doing this? They're moving even before the ball's thrown. They can't possibly know where it's going to end up." Mina said, wiping the sweat off her forehead.

"Yet the evidence has proven contrary. It seems the bond between Midoriya and Mineta runs deeper than we initially thought. Truly they are brothers in all but name." Tokoyami commented, eyes widening as Midoriya slid into a particularly difficult screwball.

"That's so manly… Hey Bakugo, maybe we should try something like this." Kirishima said as he looked to the explosive blonde. He just waved him off as he continued to check the pots of curry and rice. If anything, he was the only one to make sure 1A's dinner didn't burn while everyone was playing around.

Mineta readied a four seam fastball to the right as Midoriya prepared to run to meet it. But the moment it left the shorter boy's fingers, one of his partner's legs gave out. And so, there they were. Midoriya was kneeling on the ground while the ball rested at the tree line behind him. Mineta was about to check on his partner, only for Midoriya to flash a tired but fulfilled smile at him.

"That's a point to you Mineta-kun… Good game…"

A round of applause went around as Mineta happily nodded to him. He then fell right onto his back. All the sweat and pain coating his small body finally registered in his mind. Everything was on fire. And there was no doubt that he and his partner was going to feel this next morning. Worse still was the fact that tomorrow would be another day of Hellish training.

Not that any of it would make him regret this.

"Do you two need to go to the infirmary?" Uraraka asked as she picked Midoriya up, a faint blush appearing on her face. Midoriya weakly shook his head, being unable to speak until his breath catches. Mineta then felt Shouji pick him up. The two then set them next to one another on one of the benches. It was here that Iida and Yaoyorozu began taping ice chunks, courtesy of Todoroki and Sero, to their bodies.

"You… Don't have to…" Mineta managed to say.

"It's alright. Both of you performed something exemplary. So it only makes sense that we go the distance as well." Iida answered.

"For now, just rest. Dinner will be ready soon." Yaoyorozu added before helping the two get a drink of water. Midoriya nodded in thanks as Mineta barely got his arm up for a thumb's up. Soon, however, the exhaustion began pulling the two into a deep sleep. And neither of them tried to fight it, seeing how desperately their bodies needed it. Midoriya went under first, a light snore escaping his lips. Then it was Mineta's turn, unconsciously resting his head on his partner's arm.

His eyelids finally closing…

But not before catching a glimpse of a young child picking up their baseball in the distance.

And that has been Chapter 68!

Not much to say this week except Mineta and Midoriya over did it. But next time, we'll be diving even deeper into Kouta's mindset as our duo continues to make headway into his situation. So with all that said...

Until Next Time. T1.