2 The truth

Mineta's room was a sea, a sea of lost pages. Each one fully scrawled, they had everything he felt like was denied to him.

They deserve death. He would always repeat to himself, his dreams had ceased to exist, they were all nightmare fulfillments, through every night he would see them suffering in the dark place.

He would humiliate them, show how wrong they were by doing whatever he wished with them, he enjoyed that, that anger empowered him, their cries, their tears were like the nectar he searched for so long, the drink capable of relieving all pain.

But after so much time, he couldn't keep up doing that, it didn't help to change anything, his heart was just being filled with hatred again and again.

'So you're finally going to get out of this? Well, you sure took your time, almost an entire year doing this, if only you listened to me sooner.'

"What if... What if..." Mineta asked. "What if I was reincarnated as Izuku instead, life would have been so easier, I would have been the one receiving one for all, I would be the one who would have Ochaco for me, if I was at least taller if I was at least more handsome..." His eyes were locked towards the computer screen where All Might's most popular video played again and again.

His shadow shook his head. 'You're doing it again, get over it. One "if" was already enough, if you keep adding more and more to it, you'll never overcome this.'

However Mineta didn't listen, he just kept staring at the screen... What if he was just like All Might, a hero everyone looks up to, wouldn't the girls like him? Wouldn't the boys start respecting him? What if he was so strong and capable that all villains trembled just from hearing his name, wouldn't he be popular then?

'You're yourself, Mineta, you can't be others.' His shadow rested its hand on his shoulder. 'Don't reduce your own existence to fit yourself into other views and opinions, Mineta can be just as great as All Might, you don't have to become All Might to become popular, just accept yourself, let go of all those feelings. They aren't the truth, you're just lying to yourself.'

But once again Mineta didn't listen to his shadow, he just sat there under the blanket, his head lowering more and more as he thought of what if he was someone else, of how good it would be.

...

"Mineta-Sama, your grandson doesn't seem too well, I know it's not my place to question, but sir... It has been months already since he went to school, he only does his homework and tests from distance, no matter what I say, he seems so... destroyed... this is not how a child should live..." Yuriko sighed as she described everything that happened over the years.

On the other end of the line, an old man in a white coat frowned ... He listened to everything the caregiver he hired said and after speaking a few words he hung up the call.

"Minoru-Chan..." Sighing his expression turned sour as he took the photo that was on top of his table, the begs under his eyes seemed to shake as he thought of the past and how hard it had been to overcome those feelings.

He still couldn't believe that his daughter and son in law died like that, they were pro heroes, they did so much for the city, and yet, no one remembers them. It felt so cheap, so ungrateful, and painful.

He couldn't look at his own grandson in the eyes, the work became his refuge, where he could put all those memories, feelings, and everything else aside, and focus on what he studied to do, he could focus on saving his patients' lives.

But even after so many years, nothing changed, it didn't become easier, the nightmares were just as bad as they were in the beginning.

Even if he couldn't get over those feelings, he couldn't let his grandson alone anymore, the kid needs him now more than ever. However, he still could see his mistakes, as far as his soul and heart knew, he was a failure both as a parent and as a relative.

...

A few days later, Mineta's residence.

Mineta's grandfather, Mineta Terumoto visited him for the first time since he became four years old. It was a weird meeting, they were both sitting in the living room, each on a sofa opposite to each other.

"Minoru-Chan... It has been a while."

"A while... I would say that it has been more than that." Minoru sarcastically remarked, he couldn't understand what this old man was doing there.

"You're right, I wasn't here when you needed me..." Terumoto lowered his head, the weight of his guilty consciousness pressing down his back. "But, I want to correct my mistakes, I want to make up for my wrong decisions from the past."

Minoru grinned and a small laugh escaped his mouth. Bastard, liar, traitor, he wanted to say all of this, but what difference would it make, instead, he just stood up and went to his bedroom, he didn't spare even a glance, he didn't care about what this old man had to say, the damage was already done.

'Are you going to try and flee reality once again? You know how that ended up for both of us last time.' His shadow walked beside him. 'I bet that depression was what made us die in the first place, back then you refused to listen to me, you kept saying I was nothing but your imagination, you kept saying that I was trying to make it worse for you.

'But have you ever tried to listen to me? We are one and the same, I'm trying to help you, but if you don't listen, how are you going to fix those issues?'

"Then what am I supposed to do? Look at me, I'm pathetic, weak, ugly, small, hopeless, etc. There are no redeemable qualities about me, there is nothing I can do to change this harsh reality, I'll always be a loser, I'll never have a girlfriend, and people will always say bad things about me."

'You're wrong Mineta, WE are intelligent, WE don't even have to study, WE were never bounded by the prison of time, WE are free to do as we please, WE can break through those barriers if WE work together.'

His shadow stopped in front of him and extended his hand towards him, 'Grab it, let me know you're in with me, let me know you accept yourself and me, let me know we can both work together to change this cursed existence, I'll show you a whole new world and what lies beyond the white door, together, everything we faced earlier will just be a mere thing of the past.'

As Mineta looked at his shadow with a blank expression on his face, he suddenly felt like he was hallucinating, why is he getting brighter? Why I can suddenly see his features so much clearer than in the past... Should I do this?

His shadow smiled, he seemed happy as looked at Mineta in the eyes. 'Mineta, if a hero is what you want to be if popularity is what you want, just accept yourself, myself, accept who we are, and our future will be limitless.'

Yes, it sounded really good, perhaps he should do that, the memories haunting his previous life was a constant reminder of how things ended up for him, and his shadow wasn't wrong, he was indeed a Mineta both now and previously, they shared so much in common that he always hated this character, it was always because he felt like someone was making a joke about him somehow.

He didn't know what would happen with Mineta after season 1 of the anime, but he knew what happened to himself, during his final minutes of life, he had given up, but perhaps, things would have changed if he had heard his other self, his shadow, perhaps his mother and the doctor were wrong about him, he wasn't a product of his imagination, he was more like his personal guardian angel.

"Very well..." Mineta sighed and extended his hand and grabbed the hand of his shadow. "Together then."

'Together.'