Chapter Text
The New Year was creeping dangerously close, and Mina couldn't seem to get out of bed.
It was a weird way to spend most of her first semester. She wasn't like this as a freshman. Freshman Mina Ashido was full of life, vibrant, and fun to be around. The Mina from a year ago would hang with Bakugou and his groupies. She would host sleepovers for the girls of 1. A and train with Ochaco when it was possible. She was cheerful, vibrant, and fun to be around. She hosted killer parties every Friday and still managed to show up for her 8 am lectures each day.
Her room was littered with energy drinks. Specifically, empty pink Monster drinks and wrappers of brownies from the general store. Her laundry basket had overflowed, which was weird since she'd been wearing the same pajamas for two weeks now. Her braids were grown out, and her face was peeling. She was reminded to take better care of herself. Either from her friends or reminders on her phone. Mina had plans of trying to get out of this mess. She didn't intend to live like this until the rest of the semester. However, the days would pass, and she would spend another day in her dorm, and nothing would change.
She would leave her dorm sometimes. It would be for small things like restocking her fridge, using the restroom, etc. She came back one day, groceries in one hand, to find a crying Jirou in the middle of her room.
Jirou heard the horned girl come inside and wept even harder.
Mina's heart dropped.
---
"I can explain," is all Mina managed to say.
Over the summer, she worked at her mother's diner. Two other teens worked there. A girl and a guy, best friends. Being the only other teenagers working there, they grew close. She grew closer with Minato, the guy, than the girl. At first, it started with extra shifts and then closed together. One thing led to another, and they shared a kiss under the dim streetlight by her house. They started dating three days later.
Minato Nakamura was her first love. He wasn't anything special, and there wasn't anything eye-catching or jaw-dropping about him. He wasn't very tidy. His hair was always in a wolf cut. When she wasn't working, she'd spend her summer at his house, running her hands through his hair, then joking about how greasy it was. He wore baggy clothes, which were awkward on his long, skinny frame. Looking back on it now, Mina can't see what she saw in him.
He had a quirk as well. Sticky Fingers allowed him to manipulate his fingers into a sticky string. With proper training, Minato could make a living out of his power. They discussed it, of course, Minato possibly being a hero. He said it wasn't his style, and Mina let it go. Minato wasn't like Mina. He wasn't brave, selfless, or outgoing like Mina was. He was quiet, kept to himself, and stuck on the sidelines. It would be hard to picture him as a Pro.
///
When they had time, Mina spent every waking moment of her summer with him. Sneaking out of her house on hot summer nights to see him, trips to the beach, they had done it all. He was her first kiss, her first date, and even her first time.
"I can't remember the last time I was this happy," Mina admits. The sun is setting on the beach, and the couple laid on a beach towel together. Her back was to his chest, and his face fit perfectly into the croon of her neck.
"Mmm?" He hummed."Is that so?" He had a joking tone in his voice.
Mina pursed her lips."Yes, it is." She sat up and turned away from Minato. She liked pretending to be pissed off because then he would do anything to get Mina to talk again.
He caught the hint and started peppering quick kisses on her skin. Suddenly, her "temper" disappeared as she let her lips curl into a smile. He kissed everywhere but her lips. He always saved them for last.
"You're tickling me stopped." She giggled.
"I'm gonna miss this," She said when he was done. "I'm gonna miss you." She said even quieter.
"I know,"
"Minato!"
"What?"
"I'm trying to be romantic here!" She huffed, and a shade of lilac appeared on her cheeks.
"I know, I know," He chuckled. "But it's all you've told me for the past week. It's kinda overkill, you know?"
"Oh," Her shoulders sank. She pulled her knees up to her chest and went quiet. "I didn't mean to,"
"Fuck, Mina, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out like that," He pleaded. "Hey, are you alright?" He called out to her, but she still stayed quiet.
"Yeah, I'm fine," She yawned. "Just thinking, is all."
He moved to hug his girlfriend, and she folded and hugged him back. Minato gave the best hugs.
"Y'know I love you, right?" He whispered.
"Mhmm," She hummed.
"Good," He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. "I know I'm shit at expressing it, but I don't want you to forget that. "
"So,"
"So?"
"Will you miss me too?" She bit her lip.
He made a face at first but said. "Of course I will, Mina."
That was enough for her.
They stayed on the beach and talked until the sun disappeared beneath the ocean.
"We should get going," He yawned. "Your mom's gonna kill me if I bring you back late again." He offered a hand to his girlfriend. She smiled and took it.
"Mom will be fine." She snickered. "Before we leave, I have something I wanna talk about." Her smile fell.
"Oh, okay," He cleared his throat. "What's up?"
She cleared her throat and looked into his eyes. He's always had an unreadable face. "Before I leave for the U.A. There's something I want us to try..."
---
Two nights before she left, she stayed the night at his house. She told her mom she was staying with a friend from school. Later that night, they slept together.
The first thing she thought of after was that it wasn't all that, or maybe Minato wasn't good in bed. He let her wash up and then announced he was going to bed. She wished him goodnight, and he fell asleep facing away from her.
Ouch.
Then the thoughts started trickling in, that she was disgusting, the regrets, that she wasn't good enough. Minato wasn't a virgin; he told her that night on the beach. She was, at least she was a few minutes ago.
She locked herself in his bathroom, sunk to the floor, and sobbed. It wasn't audible sobs, but still ugly crying. She stayed there for two hours. The entire time she thought to herself, who knew the floor could be so comforting?
She didn't spend the entire night at his. She left around midnight for the comfort of her bed. She walked home, but she didn't mind. The wind whistled softly and provided a comfort that noone else could.
---
He cheated on October 12th. Mina found out in a pretty bad way. One of her friends from home sent a video of her boyfriend making out with another girl at a party. After watching the video again, she realized it was the girl from the diner. She started laughing at first, not quite sure how to process it.
She blocked him soon after and didn't leave her room for a week. She got out of this by saying it was a contagious fever. She went so far as to send pictures of her thermometer to Mr. Aizawa and Recovery Girl. She would have visited herself, but Recovery Girl had multiple life-threatening injuries to attend to after Third-year students came back from a serious mission. Mina was saved.
Her room was a mess, and so was she. Her braids needed to be taken out, and she couldn't remember the last time she showered. She wasn't crying anymore, though. Just silent and cold every time she thought about Minato. She still kept his hoodie. Mina wouldn't throw this out until a month later.
Minato had so many things that Mina could never get back. She was so vulnerable and open with him. Minato was her world, her rock, her favorite person, and just like that, he was gone.
Part of her felt stupid. It was stupid that she thought sex was going to save their relationship. She felt dumb that she couldn't notice the growing rift between them. He would rarely call or leave her on delivered or read for hours. How he would be so active on every other social media. How he would sound annoyed when they did talk. How could she miss something that big?
---
Things seemed to get worse from here on out. Mina was never the brightest student, but she tried her best, and that's what mattered. She started skipping. Hagakure would try and talk her out of it, but every time Hagakure tried, Mina would say this was for her mental health. Now and then, she tried to get her shit together and decided to go back to class. The class seemed to move so fast, though. She was behind on her yearly report, internships, and classwork.
Her teachers had nothing to say about her actions. They trusted Mina would get out of her slump and return to class eventually. It isn't their responsibility to catch students up on the work they miss. You have to take your responsibility for becoming a hero.
Ochaco and the rest of the girls promised to get her up to speed. They all expressed how they missed Mina dearly in the classroom, which was weird since none of them came to check on her except Jirou and Hagakure. Mina showed up to these meetings, in the beginning. She tried doing the work, but there was a feeling of loneliness in her.
She felt like the elephant in the room. It was only natural she did. She did miss weeks upon weeks of school. Everyone was so much closer without her and had their own little inside jokes. It was hard to not feel like a disruption in their routine. She ended up skipping their hangouts as well.
She hadn't hung out with Bakugou and his squad since October, and even then, it wasn't a hangout. Mina was going to take food to refill her mini-fridge. The friend group was all downstairs, watching a show on Netflix. They caught up for a while and told her they wanted her to come back to class. They laughed at some old times and went their separate ways. She can't quite remember the last time she wrestled with Midoriya and Ochaco either. Though, she wasn't to say anything about this. The entire time they would flirt aimlessly with each other. Mina doesn't like third-wheeling.
---
Oddly enough, Mina wasn't too sad about Minato. She finally threw away his hoodie. There were no more pictures of him on her phone. With Minato out of her mind, she still couldn't find the energy to leave the dorms.
"It's not like I can just start going to classes after not going for months," Mina sighed as she took a bite of an apple." Besides, Kyoka, it's the end of the semester. All you guys have are exams left."
Kyoka sat on the other side of Mina's bed. She hadn't visited since the start of term. Mina wouldn't let her, she always had some bullshit. The earjacked girl happened to slip into Mina's room when she wasn't there, and that's when she realized how bad it was for her friend.
"God, Mina," Kyoka sobbed. "I wish I fucking knew," She sobbed. "I wish you could have told me or told the truth or something!"
"I know, and I'm sorry-"
"Why didn't you tell me any of this? Did you feel like you couldn't talk to me? Did I do something to make you-"
"Kyoka," Mina started. "I didn't want to burden you," Her voice grew small.
Kyoka held her head in her hands, muttering curses to herself under her breath. The crying had stopped, she was sniffling now.
"Mina," She sighed. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. Let me try this again." She paused and then spoke.
"You aren't a burden. You never were one, Mina."
Mina managed a smile. "Thank you, but it's time for me to get my life together."
"What do you mean?" Jirou tilted her head to the side when she asked the question. Mina rustled around for a paper on her bed. When she found it, she passed it to Jirou. Jirou read it hesitantly but was at a loss for words.
"I'm at risk of being kicked out of the hero's course," Mina whispered. "I met with my teachers a couple of days ago. My mom was there as well."
"That look on her face when she entered the room," Mina paused and shook her head. "I hated it. She seemed so disappointed in me."
"Mina," Kyoka started.
"I never meant for this to get worse, but I started and just didn't know how to stop. I'm scared of going back, y'know." Tears started to prickle from Mina's eyes. Jirou wiped them away and hugged her pink friend tightly.
"I get what you mean," Kyoka frowned. "It'll be okay, Mina." She pulled back to get a look at her.
"Thank you," Mina sniffled while wiping some tears.
"They talked it over and said if I can pass the next semester and retake this one, they'll consider letting me in the third-year course,"
"That's good!" Jirou smiled. "They're giving you a second chance!"
"Yeah, but none of it's certain," Mina huffed. "I gotta work my ass off for this too, and I'm not too excited about that."
"Mina, you are one of my closest friends. You are coming with me to the third-year hero course, whether you like it or not." Kyoka scolded her.
"Enough about school though, what are you doing for winter break?" Kyoka let out a yawn and fell back on Mina's bed. Mina fell back as well.
"I don't wanna go home. I can't face my mother or Minato," She pursed her lips into a thin line. "I'm going to have to one day."
"Will you be ready when that day comes?" Kyoka hummed and turned over to her friend. Mina's hair had gotten so long that it covered a bit of her face.
"I'll have to be," Mina yawned. "I think I'll just try and stay here over break. I'll ask Mr. Aizawa if they'll let me. Say, I'm doing training for next semester or some shit."
"He still cares for you, y'know." Kyoka frowned. "I bet he will." Kyoka sat up suddenly and started to fix her hair.
"It's been fun, Mina. I have to go study for exams, and then I have a date with Denki to get to. I think he's taking me to some restaurant."
"I would have never imagined you would date Kaminari," Mina giggled. "You seemed to hate him last year."
"Believe me, neither did I," Kyoka mumbled under her breath. "Are you coming to his New Year's Party?"
"Don't push it," Mina scoffed. "Don't you have a date to get to? Come on, don't be late!"
"Seems I struck a nerve," Jirou mumbled. "The offer still stands, Mina. Everyone would love to see you there." Kyoka gave her friend an apologetic smile before leaving the room.
///
Aizawa understood where she came from, sparingly. He couldn't let her stay on campus. He said they close dormitories down during breaks for cleaning and other things. Mina was about to leave her office when he asked if he wanted to stay with her and Present Mic for the holidays. Having nowhere else to go but home, she said yes.
He lived in a decent size apartment. When they got there, Aizawa decided to answer her questions.
"Before you ask, no, Hizashi and I are not together like you and your friends speculate," He huffed while trying to find his key. "We are just longtime friends and roommates." With the twist of the key, the door swung open. He lived in an average space, with nothing to write home about. She could see some cat toys in the corner, as well as a sleeping bag on the floor.
"Ignore the mess," He grunted." Your room, Ashido, is on the right at the end of the hallway. Hizashi and I are right across from you on the left. I will start giving you work tomorrow. You can talk about training with Hizashi when he comes home. Any questions?"
She shook her head. "No, Mr. Aizawa,"
"Good," He went over to the sleeping bag in the middle of the living room floor and began to wiggle himself in it.
"I just wanted to say thank you for letting me stay with you and Mr. Yamada. My parents probably don't want to see me right now and-"
"It's alright, Ashido," He cut through. "You can make it up to me and Present Mic by pulling your weight in the second semester.
She nodded. "Of course, Mr. Aizawa," She hurried off to her bedroom soon after.
///
The work they assigned her was brutal. The packets were massive.
Aizawa would grade each one harshly and then give her a new one to complete. In the afternoons, Present Mic would take her to a gym nearby. In the months Mina had barely left her room, she lost a bit of her physique. Present Mic and Mr. Aizawa agreed to have quirk training on school grounds, so they left her with physical workouts. Mina didn't mind too much, though. She missed working out, specifically running.
It was all she had. It allowed her to be her most vulnerable without anyone to judge her. It was just her, her feet, and the road in front of her.
She closed her eyes and let the wind fly through her braids. She didn't want to stop, she was going to go as far as her feet could take her. Far away hopefully, so she wouldn't have to come back.
///
Her times had slowed significantly since she last ran, but she didn't let it bother her too much. She would get them up soon enough.
After a day of schoolwork in her room and working out, she'd come home to a home-cooked meal. It was usually a curry with rice made by Mr. Aizawa. Meals with her two teachers were awkward at first, but she eventually warmed up to the pair.
"Mr. Aizawa," She said one day. "I have a question."
"About the packets?" He asked. Mr. Aizawa was petting one of the cats on his lap.
"No, it's about something else," She sighed. "I just." She stopped herself, trying to figure out how to phrase this.
"Why did you allow me to stay here?" She started. She moved to sit on the chair across from him. "You and Mr. Yamada could have left me to go home. My parents still want me to be home for the holidays and-"
"But is that what you want, Ashido?" He interjected. The cat lept off his lap, and he turned to face his student.
She went silent for a moment. "No," She mumbled.
"Things have been hard on you this year. Multiple people could see that. We all wish we could have been there for you," He stood up from his chair and walked across the kitchen.
"Apple juice or Orange?" He asked, facing the fridge.
"Orange,"
"Will do," He grabbed the carton and closed the fridge. "Sometimes, I think, if the other teachers and I made an effort to help you out, you wouldn't be in this academic situation." He finished pouring the juice into the two glasses and offered her one.
"Thanks," She managed.
"Your class and I have been through a lot together," He started. His thumbs fidgeted on the cup."
"I would do the same for each and every one of them," He sighed. "I want to see you all graduate. Even you, Mina."
"If that means helping you get a headstart on the second semester helping you get back into shape, and allowing you to stay with me over the break. Then I'll do it." He said blatantly.
Mina smiled at her teacher's words. "Thank you, Mr. Aizawa."
"I won't let you or Present Mic down!" I swear!" She managed one of her signature smiles for her homeroom teacher.
He smiled warmly back at his student, and the two spiraled into a pleasant conversation for the rest of the morning.