I own nothing. May contain Out of Character moments.
"Remember you two, be back inside before curfew." Iida said, tapping the non-existent watch on his wrist.
"We know Iida-kun. And if we're not in by then, good night." Midoriya answered as he adjusted his glove. Their class president nodded before slowly gliding back inside, the door closing behind him on its own. As strange as that was, Mineta knew he shouldn't question it. He had far more pressing matters to attend to after all…
"How you are you feeling? I mean, you were the catcher for the whole game." Mineta asked as he and Midoriya walked away from the dorm. And once the duo reached a good distance, they began stretching out their shoulders and legs.
"I'll be fine, it's nothing some ointment and sleep couldn't fix."
Mineta stopped his stretches for a moment and thought about what Midoriya said. Always, whenever he's hurt, the green haired boy mentioned using this ointment. And, by the next day, the worst of Midoriya's injuries were gone and he went about his day like normal. It was practically Midoriya's version of the Heaven and Earth Temple's high nutrition buns and tea, a boon Mineta missed having.
"You know, I never asked… What is with that ointment you use?" Mineta asked, turning to his friend.
"It's a homemade blend Mom gets from an old apothecary friend in countryside. You saw it before, didn't you?"
Mineta began combing through his memories again, this time reflecting on moments he and his partner went to Inko for first aid. At first, the chubby woman would frantically worry over them. Then she would grab the medical kit from the kitchen cupboard. And that's when Mineta remembered the oddity… The last thing Inko prepared was a bowl of amber gel that came from a mason jar in the fridge.
Was that really the mystic Midoriya Family ointment?
"… I thought that was just honey."
"While there's a type of honey professionals use to treat wounds… What's in that jar is something far more potent. In fact, I'd say my scars would've been a lot smaller if I had some during the lodge attack." Midoriya answered as he looked at his arms. And as Mineta stared at the patches of rough skin, especially on his partner's right arm, the events of this summer came back with unnatural clarity.
The massive hole 1A had dug for treasure…
The fight to get to the Forest Lodge…
The training and cooking 1A and 1B done….
The talk Midoriya and Mineta had with Kouta…
The League of Villain attack…
Their fight at the Hospital…
How did everything so right go so wrong so quickly?
"Hey Midoriya… Do… Do you have any regrets about this summer?" Mineta asked as his gaze fell to the pavement. A dreadful tension strangled the air between the two. And even though he wasn't looking at Midoriya, the shorter boy could tell his partner's gaze fell to the ground as well. Several long moments pass before a barely audible answer came from Midoriya's mouth.
"Too many… When I couldn't save Kacchan at the lodge… When I brought Mom to the brink of despair… When I couldn't help All Might against All for One… And worst of all, when I fought with you… My partner… My friend…"
A gentle breeze blew by as Mineta processed Midoriya's answer. He knew some of those things were ultimately inevitable. Inko was going to worry over her son no matter what. And that cataclysmic fight at Kamino Ward was no place for mortals. But for Midoriya to put Bakugou's capture and their argument on the level of those events… Was he admitting that their broken summer was unavoidable?
Or was there something else to this?
"And since I came home after everything's over, I kept thinking about the cause of it all. And while it's easy to blame the League of Villains, fate, or something else I had no control over… I knew the responsibility was ultimately my own."
"I was too weak as a Hero to save Kacchan or support All Might… I was too weak as a Person to comfort Mom or compromise with you… It was like I was thrown back to those days before I met All Might, before I met you… Back to the days where I was powerless to change anything…" Midoriya continued, his voice paradoxically shaking yet steady.
"So you fell back to what you knew best… The SELF you knew best… The reckless Hero within…" Mineta replied as he dared to look to his partner. And there Midoriya stood, sadly staring into his right hand. Not only that, his shoulders sagged like the weight of the world was upon them. Which made sense, considering the people in Midoriya's life meant the world to him…
In that way, Mineta was the same as Midoriya. He too failed the people that mattered to him…
"It was all I could do to stop myself from mentally shutting down… It's what I've done in the past to reclaim what little control I had over my life… It's what I've done at the hospital to ensure I still had the power to make a difference… But once I start thinking that way, I end up focusing solely on how I feel… So by the time I realized my own selfishness, you were already…" Midoriya replied as he looked up.
Their gazes met.
"You were right you know, about everything… My ill tempered courage put Kirishima-kun, Todoroki-kun, Iida-kun, and Yaoyorozu-san in danger… Any real plans I had to get us out safely were ruined by the League… And when an option finally came to me, it only worked because of a series of miracles… I really was flying too close to the sun… But I was too blind to realize my wings were falling apart…" Midoriya said as tears began falling out of his eyes.
Midoriya didn't say anything as he began wiping at his face. But no matter how many times he did so, the tears kept pouring out. Mineta wanted to turn away and give his partner a moment to himself. However, the shorter boy willed himself to keep looking on. And though it was never pleasant to watch Midoriya cry…
Mineta was done running away.
"Even though we got Kacchan and ourselves out in the end… I couldn't get the worst of the 'what if's out of my head… What if one of my friends died because of me? What if we failed to save Kacchan? Worst of all… What if I died before I made amends with you? Imagining Mom's, All Might's, Uraraka-san's, and 1A's tear stained faces hurt… But seeing your broken face in particular broke me… I knew, from that moment on, I had to salvage our friendship…" Midoriya said, gaining enough strength to continue.
"But you didn't know what to say… Not after all that's happened…" Mineta replied as his left hand found his way over his heart. There was a melancholic pain deep within resonating with Midoriya's words. So, despite everything, they were still on the same page.
"You deserved only the best… And though I know this isn't enough to show you how sorry I am, I'll say it anyway… I'm sorry for being a terrible friend… It was my fault things turned out this way…" Midoriya said as he bowed to Mineta. Something about this sight bothered Mineta… So, before he knew it, his body reacted before his mind even had a thought. His left hand moved from his heart to the baseball that sat in his glove.
He then pitched it to Midoriya with every fiber of his being.
And like always, Midoriya caught the thing without fail.
"Mineta-kun?" He muttered as his sight went from the ball to his friend.
"You always do this… Taking the blame for somebody else… And even if you had some part of it, I was also in the wrong… So if you're confessing your sins, then so will I." Mineta answered as he bravely met his partner's gaze. Midoriya immediately wanted to protest, that much was apparent. But after moments of silence, the green haired boy decided to open his ears and heart rather than his mouth.
"After that fight with Muscular, everything I was at that point had crumbled away. Instead of the reliable partner I aimed to be, I turned back into the cowardly idiot from before. If these were the battles we were going to be in as Heroes… Then I wouldn't have minded waiting a few more years before fighting again…"
"Then you talked with Mom about my future at UA… Promised her you'd look after me… And that made that feeling worse…" Midoriya replied as his gaze fell to the ground. Mineta could only nod, even if his partner couldn't see it.
"I didn't want to be the one who brought her son's body home… And I didn't want to live a life without my best friend… So I unconsciously decided to try and keep us, you, out of danger… But when Kirishima and Todoroki said they were going to rescue Bakugou… I knew you were going to go with them. So I prepared everything I could to stop you… I ultimately failed… But not for the reasons I originally thought…" Mineta continued as he looked up to the night sky. And like all the other times he looked, nine stars were shining brighter than the rest.
It made him remember the first time he saw them after the USJ attack. 'For every brilliant light that reaches them, how many thousands were drowned out by the cold void of space?' was what he thought. And now, Mineta finally understood why those lights gave out against the dark… Understood why those lights could never burn as brightly as others…
Understood the lessons Aizawa, Fenghuang, All Might, and Midoriya were trying to impart onto him…
"I failed because I failed to believe… After all that's happened, I lost faith in everything around me… I lost faith in the abilities Aizawa honed… I lost faith in the skills Shifu taught… I lost faith in my own Quirk… I lost faith in your power to make a difference… So of course I couldn't change your mind, you had more purpose than I at that point." Mineta said as his eyes continued staring at those nine stars.
"But still… That doesn't give me the right to use Fenghuang's lessons, Aizawa-sensei's words, Mom's promise, or even our first meeting against you…" Midoriya replied. The shorter boy could then feel his partner's regretful gaze on him. So, Mineta looked away from the sky and faced Midoriya once more.
"The thing is, I don't have that right either… Not when I failed to live up to their meaning…
"Shifu's lessons were meant to help me better myself, to transform the iron within into steel… But when the fire grew too hot, I retreated to coddle and shelter myself instead of forging ahead." Mineta said as he removed his baton from his pocket. The shorter boy then extended it before tossing it to the ground with a clatter.
"Aizawa's words were more than just about having a reliable partner in battle… It was about having a friend who believes in you even when there's no hope. But I didn't believe… I couldn't believe…" Mineta continued as he unlaced the baseball glove on his right hand. The thing then silently fell to the ground, betraying the roar that dwelled within his words.
"As for your Mom's promise… I broke it the moment I ran out of that room… If I was so dead set on protecting you, I would've went with you no matter how dangerous things got… Like how Iida or Yaomomo did… But no, I took the coward's way out…"
"Finally… That fateful day at the park… Where our friendship and promise to be the greatest Hero duo began… I betrayed the very thing I admired you for. You were Quirkless and yet you still stepped in against someone stronger than you. Because for you, it's never about showing how strong you were. It was about doing the right thing and being there for people who had no one." Mineta continued.
But before Midoriya could reply with an argument, the shorter boy interrupted him with more words from his heart. After everything his partner has admitted to, Mineta needed to respond in kind. And maybe refute one of the things Midoriya blames himself for…
"Maybe it is selfish, ignoring others to keep your ideals… But if those ideals protect people from others or themselves, then why not be selfish? It's who you are Midoriya. And who am I to stop you? Other people need you like I did back then… So I have to stop acting like I'm the only one who should matter to you…" Mineta said as he began wiping at the tears forming in his eyes.
"You said I deserved the best… But I could say the same about you. A true friend would've supported you at that moment… A true friend should've supported you… But I ran away instead… And for that, I'm truly sorry…"
But before Mineta could bow, his body reacted. His right hand extended out and caught something. Mineta blinked away the tears and turned to find a baseball sitting in his palm. The shorter boy then looked up to see the finishing motions of Midoriya's throw. And when he saw the face of his partner, Mineta could see the calm that shined within.
"If that's how you feel… Then I guess we really are partners. Even if we're both responsible for something, we end up blaming ourselves more than anything…" Midoriya said as he held his glove out. Mineta took a moment to stare at the glove. He then stared at the discarded baton and glove laying upon the ground. Finally, the shorter boy stared at the ball that sat in his hand…
That's when a brilliant idea appeared in his head.
"Yeah… We even came to the same conclusion… Two peas in a pod we are…" Mineta replied with a small smile. He then threw the ball back to Midoriya, who caught it easily. And as the green haired boy began processing his words, Mineta pocketed his baton before tightening the glove around his right hand again.
"… You could say we're birds of a feather with how alike we think." Midoriya added. And once Mineta stood at the ready, the green haired boy threw the ball to him. He also had this knowing smirk on his face, causing Mineta's own smile to widen. Midoriya got the message…
"Maybe 1A calling us brothers wasn't too far off, seeing how we're cut from the same cloth." Mineta replied as he caught and returned the ball. But the moment Midoriya received it; he immediately threw it back as he spoke.
"And casted from the same mold."
And so, Mineta and Midoriya continued their strange rally. But unlike their other games where they played in mostly focused silence… This time, they had to say a phrase or idiom related to 'pairs', 'similarities', or 'equal opposites' before making the throw. So it wasn't long before the blood in both their bodies and their brains began flowing.
The shorter boy, despite still feeling a little tired from today's baseball game, could feel his spirit returning to him. The weakening flame that had dwelled within his heart had finally reignited as he remembered his purpose. And looking to Midoriya, Mineta could tell a similar resolve had returned to him as well. A resolve he had to reciprocate with the newest pitch in his arsenal.
"Yin and Yang!" Mineta shouted as he went through the forms. The ball was launched from his fingertips and sailed through the air. But before it could reach Midoriya, it sharply broke diagonally downwards and to the right. However, despite it being the second time seeing the Scythe, the green haired boy eyes and glove remained locked onto the ball.
He dove for it, catching it before going into a roll. And once Midoriya stopped tumbling, he hurled it back to Mineta at top speed. These words leaving his throat as he did so… Just as his arm glowed for the briefest of moments…
"Saint and Sinner!"
Mineta dashed to where his partner threw the ball. But when he caught it, the power was much greater than the shorter boy had anticipated. As a result, he was knocked back a foot or two and landed flat on his back. What Mineta didn't do, however, was let go of the ball. He also didn't really have the energy to get up…
"Mineta-kun!" Midoriya called out as he ran to his partner's side.
"This is it for me… Another point to you… Partner…" Mineta said with a smile. At first, Midoriya didn't know what to say or do. But as the seconds passed, the green haired boy returned the smile.
"We're now tied again, back to even ground."
"As it should be… But we'll settle that another day… Let's head back inside… We've got a long day tomorrow…" Mineta said as he slowly but surely got up from the ground. But before the two began walking back in earnest, the shorter boy felt two sets of eyes on them, both coming from the dorm.
His eyes subtly went to the first and found Bakugou looking out the 4th floor hallway window. The explosive blonde was just staring at them with a neutral glare, as if he was trying to figure something out. Bakugou then just turned and began walking away, no doubt going back to his room. Mineta didn't know what his nemesis was doing… But it was no doubt curious.
Mineta then turned his attention to the other set of eyes… And found Uraraka, who was floating around in the common area, staring at them through the side of the shades. But as the shorter boy focused on the details, he found the gravity defying girl's line of sight was specifically on Midoriya.
…
Oh right… There was THAT to take care of. And now that Mineta and Midoriya mended their friendship…
"Hey, looks like we had an audience…" Mineta said, pointing towards Uraraka. Midoriya turned towards that direction and paused for what seemed to be the longest while. The shorter boy had to suppress whatever laughter were in his lungs as he saw both Midoriya and Uraraka's face light up like the stars above him. Midoriya swiftly turned away while Uraraka pressed her fingers together and fell out of sight.
"Mineta-kun… Why?" Midoriya muttered as he buried his face in his baseball glove.
"I was just helping my best friend out. Because no matter if it's Heroics, Life, or Love, I'll always have your back." Mineta said as he held out his fist towards Midoriya. The air changed around the green haired boy as he removed the glove from his face. He then looked towards his friend and saw the gesture waiting to be completed.
So, with a smile forming on both their faces, Midoriya bumped his fist against Mineta's.
"And I'll have yours, partner."
And that has been Chapter 88.
The hardest thing about writing an argument between friends comes in two parts, How do I start it and How do I resolve it. All of this began at the hospital where 1A, that part was easy when it came to the Mineta and Midoriya's argument. The resolution is by far more difficult. First, I had to find a place to put that apology. Then, I had to actually write it. But here we are, the apology before the Provisional License Exam. And my question is... How did I do? I will await your comments with baited breathe...
I don't have any other news to tell you so... Next time, we get into the exam by meeting a few colorful characters from other Hero Schools. So with that said...
Until Next Time. T1.
*Edit: After reading some of the initial comments, there is something I remembered that I need to discuss with you all. Due to the ever growing length that is this story, I'm going to have to divide The Saint and The Sinner into multiple parts. This chapter will mark the end of Part 1 and I will be starting another for Part II. That is unless you don't think that is a good idea and it's better to consolidate it all into one story. I will be awaiting your response.