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Minoru considered that part of his life a pruning. And oftentimes, pruning's job was to clear out the rot that may have made its way there.
In his eyes, to prune a rotting branch was to save that tree from certain death. And that one case was the start of that pruning, of that he was certain.
It was, after all, a story in which he looked back fondly as he lay on the hospital bed.
At the age of 31, Mineta Minoru was dying. But not for the reason you might think.
It was hard to avoid the thoughts, early on. The images still played in his head, their actions ruining his innocence over and over again.
He was to act civil at all times, never letting up. And yet, behind closed doors, the rules left them, as if they never set them up in the first place.
The elite were messed up, and Mineta was no exception to this statement.
Soon enough, it all fell apart. His mind was filled with all those thoughts, echoing, consuming his mind. His conduct slipped through his fingertips, and he could only smile when it happened.
His heart felt only when he saw it happen, and so he desperately grasped at it, screaming for more, and more, and more, because it was the only thing he could feel.
U.A. was a given, but a part of him didn't expect to pass. That part also called him the scum of the earth, and he couldn't argue. He was.
And boy did he relish in it. Even when people mistreated him, even when Kaminari used to chat with him but eventually found friends with Bakugou of all heroes, he didn't care.
After all, what was life if not the hidden pleasures? He did pass, he did do well, but...
"I think you could do better without the stupid pining, brat. You're no fox, you're a bug trying to be one."
After that, he never went back to Mount Lady, his view of her scarred beyond return.
His life went on. He moved into the dorms.
He didn't feel anything when they refused to see his room. He deserved it anyway.
Somewhere along the lines, he had begun to think. Hey, maybe what they did was wrong. Maybe I can find pleasure elsewhere.
Maybe there was a place he could find pleasure in that could make him a better person.
But he shooed that thought away. No way, he couldn't believe it. There was always something enjoyable about that part of humanity.
"Mino-chan! You know, your name reminds me of the Minotaur from Greek myths!"
"Eh? Nande, Hiryuu-nee?"
A sad smile, a pat on the head....
Follow your parents' footsteps, be the elite.
But then... that case happened. He met Yumeiro Kokoro, the kindest person he had come to known, even with Midoriya put on the list. He learnt of Rikidou Satou being a detective with a specialty towards food. He worked with Rikidou and Aoyama Yuga to prove Kokoro innocent.
He remembered the looks they had given him. The looks of surprise and confusion as he ran off to find the proof that the teacher had done it as justice for a student wronged by Hiruma Akira, and once again when the turmeric stain was found on the teacher's white shirt.
And Mino- Mineta felt pleasure. For once, he felt proud of himself, for having helped.
When they got back to the dorms, he remembered the thing that had cemented the path he was walking on, had been before the drug's side effects finally caught up to him.
"N-Na, Rikidou, do you have a book about poisons and all that?"
He looked over, eyes widening at the question. "A-Ah, I do. Why?"
"Can I borrow it? I-I promise I won't do anything gross to it! I just want to read!" The face he had made after hearing the question made him panic.
A raised eyebrow, but he shrugged. "Sure. Wait for me outside my room, then."
The book about poison was just the start. He had read a few books about detectives when he was younger, with... with Hiryuu-san, before she was fired from his household, and after having a taste of the detective work, he was enraptured. It was almost as if his urges had never existed, and now he was reading book after book after book-
The way they looked at him, shock, disgust, confusion...
Was he truly just a pervert to them? Was he truly... just as despicable as the Villains?
His second year was filled with these questions, and watching Aoyama and Rikidou work together made him feel left out.
(But why had he followed his parents in the first place? Was it not out of a fear of being alone? With his only support system gone, the only ones left to cling onto were...)
The war in the outside world may have ended, but a new one had emerged within him.
And he had to keep fighting, keep moving in spite of the ways people looked at him. Some considered him okay, like Midoriya, but the rest...
He got it. He was trash.
But can one not grow beyond that? Plus ultra and all, right?
Or...
Or is it that he isn't meant to grow past that?
He didn't know how to address this, so he pushed it away. Thought, perhaps naïvely, that he could avoid it for the rest of his life.
He couldn't.
Kaori Hiryuu was dead, and he was the one to blame.
Her body haunted his dreams in the jail cell he was put in. In spite of Kokoro having been suspected twice, he knew that he was innocent.
Here? Mineta wasn't sure. He was trash, and who would help him?
He was, after all, nothing but a-
"You're not that person! Y-You keep caring for me even when I don't deserve it! F-For someone who claims to be a villain, you're strangely complacent about sitting in a jail cell! I-I know Himura would have broken out with his Quirk any day!"
Huh? When had he-
A few books lent, Yumeiro seemed happy at the prospect of reading hero comics. He had some to spare.
A touch on the shoulder, he turned to see a bright smile.
A hug, tears falling down Yumeiro's cheeks. A man who had done a wrong thing, and was convicted of many other crimes just for that black mark on his records, and yet he fought on to become a hero.
Those eyes... The beautiful eyes, he came to realise.
He...
The shock settling in, the remembering... it all slapped him back to reality.
LIke a wrecking ball shattering rotten foundations, it finally...
"Because you were stuck in a maze, forced to perform for the king and queen. But one day, the minotaur will escape, and find hope somewhere."
Mine- Minoru saw Kokoro.
For the first time, things made sense.
At the age of 18, on his birthday, on the day Hiryuu-nee left when he was 9, he made his stand, as Hiryuu-nee had always wanted.
"YOU WOULD FORCE ME TO WATCH YOU DO ALL THOSE THINGS! YOU HAD FUN BUT I SUFFERED! YOU MADE ME LIVE LIKE YOU! BUT I DON'T WANT TO ANYMORE! MINETA HIMESAWA, YOU KILLED KAORI HIRYUU, AND THE SPLOTCHES OF WHITE ON YOUR DRESS PROVE IT!"
The funeral... he knew that Hiryuu-nee was half Japanese, but watching the way her family sob at the dead body... he wanted to leave. He should have left.
And yet, it was a little girl, her daughter, that had invited him in. Him, who had caused her so much turmoil. Him, who had disappointed her. Him, who had indirectly killed her.
The tears didn't end that day. A lock had shattered in his mind.
He... was free.
He was finally... free.
It was what led him to walk up to Aizawa-sensei the night after they finally solved Satou's parents' deaths, putting an end to the mastermind who had been lurking all this time, in front of everyone, class 2A and 2B, soon to be 3A and 3B.
"Sensei?"
"Minoru?" He paused. He had asked to no longer be called Mineta, so he was respecting that. He appreciated it.
A deep breath. The room had gone silent.
"I... want to pull out of the Hero course, and go into the General Course instead."
The way everyone's mouth had gone slack was something he still laughed about to this day, although he had to admit it was very ill-timed back then.
But it was Kokoro who had come up to him, smiling a bit.
"I... I'll respect that decision."
And when the kiss came in, he fully blanked out, so hey, he got retribution for the laughter.
A hand touched his, and their rings made contact as Kokoro asked, "Whatcha thinking about?"
"Oh, you know, about the things I need to pass onto Tsukauchi-chan," he teased, and Kokoro let out a laugh. It's music to his ears, all the time.
"You need to let up on the workload for her, Noru," Satou joked. "You're really dying, you know? Making her do all that as your last wish is kinda mean."
"Hey, she's eager, so why not?" he shrugged, even when it hurt. He used his other hand to swipe back his curly purple hair as he added, "Plus... the money can go elsewhere. Momo-chan and Itsuki are finally about to go into high school, and... I'll miss them for sure."
"I'll miss, all of you." His eyes watered. "It was... fun getting to know all of you, especially you, Koko..."
"You're-" Light blue eyes looked to the screen. His heart rate was slowing. "Crap, Mino, your heart rate-"
He shook his head, forcing himself up as he said, "I had a good life. It's about time..."
Yuga frowned. "Mon ami..."
"I chose to take the pill. You gave it to me, and I made my choice. I'm... happy you did. Thank you, Yuga," he said with a small smile.
"You want to give this to me?" Minoru repeated.
"You mentioned it, petit ami," he reminded him. "About how your Quirk was something holding you back."
"I mean, yeah, but this is..."
"Take it. Tsukauchi-sensei gave it to me, but I'm... happy with this." He gestured towards his support belt.
"The last remaining quirk-erasing drug... Who knew that the mastermind had that prepared," Kokoro remarked, all eight eyes trained on the pill now in Yuga's hand.
"There are side-effects, mind you, but it works just as Mirio-senpai's had," Satou added. "At least, based on what they told me."
"But it's your choice, Minoru, mon ami."
....
"This gets rid of my Quirk right?" Minoru asked, taking the drug and looking at it.
"Mmhm."
"Then it's settled."
He put it into his mouth. Swallowed it.
It was part of him, sure.
But as the balls fell to the ground, and curly purple hair made way, he looked at Kokoro and smiled.
His Quirk was a reminder of the past.
He chose to embrace who he truly is, with this one step.
Not the grape hero, but now a detective.
His eyes fluttered. "Thank you... for everything.... Satou... Yuga... Koko..."
A smile...
Mi- no, at the age of 31, Yumeiro Minoru died with a smile on his face.