18 Chapter 17:

Waking up the next day, I was already both bored and dreading it. Was it because of Gigantomachia's appearance? Not entirely.

It was because of the large number of things to be doing today. I have one of my medical exams today on human physiology. I am fully prepared for it and have studied the subject in question extensively, but I, or my clone, in this case, will be bored out of its mind for the 3 hours it will take to complete it.

I also have many appointments booked today from random heroes who were injured and/or maimed in the field and a few civilians caught in the crossfire of villain fights. They initially went to Chiyo for treatment as she's known as the best healer in Japan, but she recommended me to do it instead. Her reason? It was to get me some experience dealing with injuries and make some connections in the hero world. I was all the happier to accept the patients, but Chiyo scheduled them all for today in Hosu city's hospital, so another clone will be made for that.

Additionally, I have a three-day spa trip that Momo's parents scheduled for Momo, Eri, and me to go on. They received them as a gift from a business partner in China who recently branched out into the hospitality business in Japan. I was looking forward to this for the entire week; some R&R was sorely overdue. This is where my actual body is going to be for the day. There's no chance in hell that I was going to send a clone to that. Momo already asked Itsuka to write down notes for her so she doesn't miss anything. What a diligent future wife I have.

Don't get me wrong, though. Gigantomachia's appearance was also waning on my conscience. It was a turning point in Mina and Kirishima's life and ultimately led them to become heroes. I already wholly fucked the timeline anyway, but I would let them experience this situation for themselves, even if I change it a little. Why? I kind of care for these people now and would like them to grow a bit.

They aren't just drawings on a screen for me anymore. They are actual people. Plus, they're my friends. I have zero care in the world for people I don't personally know, like the broccoli boi, aka, the former protagonist, who may or may not be getting that broken quirk.

Do I have any doubts that some weird plot armor would come into play for him to receive OFA somehow even if All Might is healed and has no reason to give it to the suicidal vegetable? Of course, I do. However, in the case it doesn't happen, I would be elated to see the results. This is one of the reasons I haven't looked that far into the future yet. I'd like to experience the changes first hand.

The clones are a godsend, but I also retain all the memories from them, so I'm dreading the information overload I will be experiencing later tonight. Thankfully, I can slow down time and accelerate my thoughts to keep up with the load. But, the new information will be annoying to sift through at a later date for anything important.

I looked down and saw that Eri was still sleeping soundly in her little unicorn onesie her auntie Toga bought her for her fifth birthday. Deciding not to disturb her, I sent a clone to go and run the bath and fetch some clothes so she can be ready for our outing later today.

After my clone finished running the bath, I erased it and gently shook Eri. She woke up, rubbing her small balled up hands into her eyes to wipe out the gunk before looking up at me,

"Mornin' mama..."

Pecking her on the forehead before I replied,

"Good morning, sweetie. We need to go and get cleaned up ready for later today. Can you walk to the bathroom, or are you still a bit tired?"

"Can you carry me, please?"

"Sure thing, sweetie."

Scooping her up into my arms, I made my way to the bathroom. After we both stripped down, with me helping Eri get unzipped, we entered the bathroom. She was still a tiny bit tired. I can't blame her. We woke up two hours earlier than usual because we had to drive a few hours to reach our destination, Kusatsu.

So I cleaned her up while she sat on the stool. She was fighting the urge to fall asleep. My scalp massage made it infinitely harder, to the point where she nodded off for a few seconds before the cold water woke her up when I rinsed her down. Her startled squeak when the cold water hit her was adorable. I couldn't even stifle my chuckles despite how hard I tried.

We sauntered over to the bath. It was giving off a sweet alluring scent. Looking back in my memories, I saw that the clone used a honeycomb bath bomb. Sitting down in the amber liquid, I relaxed at the side of the bath, soaking in the warmth and aromas that the liquid was giving off. Eri shuffled her way over to my lap and plopped herself down on it, presumably so I can keep her upright if she does fall asleep.

She nodded off a few minutes into the bath, I let her nap for a bit before I woke her up, and we went off to the changing room to dry ourselves off. I did most of the drying and dressing for Eri, as she wasn't up to the task of doing it herself. She was dressed in a warm red sweater with a strawberry pattern on the sleeves, matching socks, and black jeans. I was dressed in a similar outfit. The only changes were the sweater was blue, and the fruit on the clothes was blueberries.

(A/N: Image of unicorn here ←)

Thankfully, the maids did the packing for our little outing later today, so I didn't need to bother with it. Leaving the bathroom in some slippers, we made our way to the kitchen. Eri gave some fatigue-filled greetings to any maids we passed along the way, to which they more than happily returned. Entering the kitchen, I was greeted with the sight of two stacks of pancakes waiting for us.

'I guess the maids notified the chefs of our imminent arrival.'

Setting Eri down on a stool, the smell of food woke her up fully before she started digging in. I joined her soon after, making sure to drizzle some syrup onto both of our stacks. Miraculously, Eri managed to eat the pile of syrup-covered pancakes without making a mess all over her new sweater.

Making sure to grab some travel snacks and three thermoses filled with hot chocolate before we set off to the car. Not forgetting to make the clones that will be doing all my duties for today before doing so. One each for the exam, hospital, and school. After making sure that all my clones had transportation and were fully dressed for their required roles, me and Eri went and picked up Momo before setting off on our long journey.

(Mina POV)

I was walking to school; it was almost time for the summer holidays to start. I can't wait. The sweet scent of spring gradually being replaced by the smell of the local flowers being in full bloom. I was currently in my summer uniform, which I much prefer to the winter one because the feeling of not needing to wear a blazer was freeing.

I began reminiscing about the past week, casting back to last Wednesday when I managed to get everyone from the school friend group to go to karaoke after school. It was super hard because everyone is so busy nowadays.

Itsuka has her job and martial arts training she does in her family's dojo. Toga has a lot of hero training from actual heroes, uuugh I'm so jealous. Kirishima… Well, Kirishima didn't take much convincing. He just accepted straight away. Was he feeling a bit left out of our group? Food for later thought. Then there are the two busiest people. I seriously have no idea how they do it.

Yaomomo was always busy either studying, training or taking care of their child, Eri aka. The best child any auntie could ask for. She spends four days a week under All Might's former sidekick. How cool is that?! Training with someone that worked with All Might is a dream for most people that want to go to a hero school.

Whenever she isn't training, she is studying, not only for school but business and etiquette lessons for if she wants to take over her parent's things. She's one of the most intelligent people I know. I should know, as she helps me study at times. I'm no longer failing science now because of her!

Then there's Sakuya, the big sis/boss of the group. I wonder every day in the shower how she isn't dead from exhaustion yet. She's already basically in UA. She spends a lot of time there and is working under the nurse there. I heard she was on her way to becoming a doctor; we're fourteen! She could also probably beat up All Might in a fight too. She's a complete monster in human skin.

She's already saved and healed so many people already yet stays humble about it. She would only accept compliments from Eri. Eri has the most influential person I know wrapped around her tiny, adorable fingers. That five-year-old is in a position I'm sure many rich people envy.

I'm convinced Sakuya is the smartest person in the world. She explains things so easily and studies so many complicated things that would make my brain overheat. She gave me ways to utilize my quirk that I never knew. An example is that I can change the viscosity of my acid and make glue to trap people. She also suggested a workout routine involving dancing and a martial art called capoeira that I enjoy.

I don't think she's human. Oooh, she might be an alien. I'll ask her later. Aliens are cool, and Sakuya is cool. That's as much of a connection I can make at the minute, but I'm sure there's a link somewhere.

She and Yaomomo are also great parents to little Eri. I wonder if they would adopt me too. It would be a win-win situation. They get to spoil me with everything they want to, and I get to be spoiled by them. I'd feel bad about leaving my parents, though. I'm sure they would understand if I bought it up.

Oh yeah, the karaoke night! We all went into town, and with the help of the more well-off people in the group, we managed to reserve a room for a few hours. I didn't think it would be so expensive when I suggested it, but my wallet couldn't handle the cost.

It was a little awkward when I said I would pay for it only not to have enough money. I wanted to cry in the corner until Sakuya pulled out her magic card and swiped it. I didn't know what the big deal was with the black card. I thought it was just a standard credit card. It turns out I was wrong, and it was a special card for rich people.

We sang, danced and partied until dark. It was amazing! The best singer was Sakuya by far. I remember the blush she had when we all complimented her. I never knew the mature Sakuya could blush. She's typically the person that's making everyone else blush. The worst singer by far was Kirishima, but it was equally enjoyable with the amount of energy he put into it. The best song of the night was the duet that Sakuya and Yaomomo sang. It was magical. It also made me realize how single I was.

I sighed happily, basking in the strong sunshine, stretching my arms above me, wondering If Kirishima would be waiting for her at the traffic lights like he always does. He'd been a little down recently, frowning a little whenever he thought we weren't looking. I didn't know how to go about the possibly sensitive subject without just being blunt and direct, which would probably make it worse.

'I should probably wait until Sakuya or Yaomomo bring it up. They're much better at approaching sensitive subjects. Itsuka could be a great choice to do it too.'

Ugh, now I'm a little sad. Frowning to myself at me bringing my mood down before slapping my cheeks.

"C'mon, Mina, It's all going to be okay. The others will sort this out, and if they don't, you do it."

Putting on a slightly forced smile after realizing that she was just putting her own happiness over worrying about her friend's wellbeing.

'Oh well, I'd probably cheer up after meeting up with him.'

She walked around the street corner, where the lights were, and they met for the past eighteen months and froze.

Up ahead, there was an enormous hooded figure. Two of her classmates, Takeda-chan and Yamada-chan, were trembling in front of him, speechless. I could hear the low rumble of the guy's voice, asking for something. Taking in the terrified eyes of her classmates, the threatening aura of the giant, and the sheer eeriness the scene was giving off.

My stomach coiled uneasily. Acid began secreting out of my pores instinctively. I was frozen in fear. All the instincts I was training with Sakuya were screaming that the man was dangerous and approaching him would warrant death.

Suddenly, he put his hand on the building wall where the girls were standing in front of, the wall crunched under his hands. Rubble falling from the finger holes he made, scattering around the shaky schoolgirls. I moved a little closer as the giant bent over a bit, irritation coloring his body language. Then she heard his imposing tone clearer,

"I won't ask again, little girls. Where. Is. Springer's. Hero. Agency?"

Before I knew it, I was moving, running to the location. The words spoken were irrelevant in her mind because the tone clearly indicated that If the shell-shocked girls didn't answer, they would definitely die.

My instincts were still screaming at her to run away, to save herself, to flee. I couldn't do that. The girls were still stuck like deers in the headlights, rooted where they stood with wide eyes. I knew that without a doubt that unless somebody did something, anybody did something, they would lose the ability to move ever again. The hand on the wall tightened again, presumably out of frustration, and I was screaming in my head,

'Faster, Mina, faster please, you have to go faster!'

I dived in front of the girls, my arms outstretched to attract the attention of the giant, and hurried out the first things that came to mind,

"Springer's hero office is three streets across. If you take this right turn, then go left!"

The world froze, the girl's eyes widening as I stared straight at the monster in front of her, my legs shaking like leaves in the wind, ready to crumble at any time. Standing in front of this man is like facing death itself, an immovable force of nature ready to take me down with a breath. After a second, the suffocating pressure in the air diffused, the mountain of a man in front of her taking his hand from the wall before he said,

"Thank you, little girl. I'll be on my way."

As he was making his way to leave, I saw that the man froze on the spot, my heart pounding on my ribcage, wondering if he was going to turn around and found out I was lying. Luckily, it never happened as the giant shrank down and turned into a middle-aged man before a silver blur lept into action, planting the man's face into the concrete street below him with a kick to the head.

It was Sakuya!

My legs finally gave out. I was weeping uncontrollably on the pavement as the girls I just helped followed suit. I barely managed to hear what Sakuya was saying on the phone,

"Yes, Naomasa. I have just detained a certain individual that you would just love to question. I will text you the details of said person later. Get a squad car down to 73 Taranaki street to collect him and put the hero Springer on high alert as the target seemed to want him."

My tear-filled eyes could barely make out Sakuya's figure making its way over to me. She knelt down to me, pulled me into a hug, and whispered gently into my ear,

"You did extraordinarily well, Mina. I'm proud of you. I'm sure that the other two are very thankful for your heroic actions-"

"" T-T-Thank you, Mina-chan!""

"See?"

I could barely offer a nod in response. The situation at hand was all too stressful for me. I just wanted to go to school and maybe help Kirishima out, not nearly die to a villain. I kept gripping the back of Sakuya's shirt, digging myself into her chest, crying my eyes out into it. Noticing that I was crying tears that were a little on the corrosive side, I pulled back,

"I-I'm sorry about your shirt," wiping the tears out my eyes before continuing, "Thank you for saving me, Sakuya."

"Don't worry about the shirt. I can always fix that, look."

She was right; the damaged shirt and bra were repairing themselves in no time at all,

"Plus, I never saved you. You were the person that did the saving here Mina, you not only stalled for time and saved your fellow classmates. You also didn't give the villain what they wanted and gave him directions to the police station. If I wasn't here, you might have possibly saved that hero's life with your quick thinking too."

I couldn't believe it. I did save them, didn't I? The two girls, who were still crying their eyes out into my back, were saved because of me.

I truly began thinking about what being a hero meant. I originally wanted to be a hero because it looked cool. That's why all kids want to be a hero. Now, I have a feeling of what It meant to truly be a hero. The act of ignoring my instincts, the fear of death, and pushing on for the good of others.

The act of self-sacrifice.

It was a hard pill to swallow that being a hero would mean that I would face those feelings head-on and possibly in greater measures than just now. It was terrifying. I couldn't have asked for a bigger wake-up call; literally, that damn villain was huge!

Could I possibly do that every day in the future? Possibly.

Would I want to? No.

But, if I didn't? Who would?

I have done it once, and If it meant that people like Takeda and Yamada-chan were safe, I would happily do it again. I just have to train harder! To not only be a hero that I could be proud of but a hero that my friends and the people would happily call upon in times of need.

Soon I could hear the sirens in the background. Hearing them, I relaxed more than previously. The villain was still on the ground, presumably frozen in time. Thankfully, Sakuya did most of the talking for us. I was probably going to break down if I think about that moment for any second longer. I texted Kirishima in hopes that he was alright. After a moment to make sure her message was sent, she took the girls by the hands and pulled them along towards the school, tears still drying on her face.

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A little across the way, Kirishima stood with his head bowed, his black hair shading his eyes as he stared at the ground in disbelief.

What was that? He was so pathetic. How could he ever be a hero? How could he ever call himself manly if this was how he dealt with danger? How could he ever look at his friends, let alone the two girls that were almost crushed, in the eyes if he couldn't even move when he was scared?

How could he seriously go home to his mother and tell him he wanted to be a hero if he wouldn't even help his own friend out when they're in danger?

He'd just stood and watched, watched, as one of his best friends in the whole world faced down a huge monster of a villain and did nothing as the giant threatened two of his classmates, and only now, minutes after everything was done, were his legs beginning to thaw where they were rooted. Collapsing to his knees, he began hyperventilating as it sunk in that he almost witnessed his friend turn into meat paste on the pavement.

Mina didn't even hesitate to throw herself in front of the villain, and Sakuya even performed a takedown as soon as it was far enough away from the girls. He was sure that Toga, Kendo, and Yaoyorozu would have done the same thing as them. Hell, Eri might have at least done something too.

His phone pinged. He didn't notice it. He was too busy replaying the scene in his mind of Mina fearlessly staring down the villain in front of her.

The tremors that ran through him wouldn't stop. His breathing became more and more ragged as his chest heaved. The thought of possibly losing somebody close to him was all too fresh in his mind. He already lost his own dad. He wouldn't know what would have happened to him if he lost one of his best friends too.

The fear, shame, and self-loathing he felt right now were burning him up like a funeral pyre. His stomach was churning rapidly as the thoughts of 'what if' ran through his mind. He slowly stood up, legs shaking, as he started stumbling his way home, desperately trying to calm himself down as he did so.

He didn't look back. He couldn't.

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"Hey Mina, I'm not feeling great, so I'm not gonna be in school today. If we get homework, could you get a sheet for me?"

Mina read his answer with slight worry, but she figured that he wouldn't have been able to text back if he had been in any actual trouble.

She made her way straight to Komoe-sensei when she got into the school with Takeda and Yamada and told her everything that happened and why they were late. She was in a daze as she described the events. Noticing her behavior, Komoe-sensei sent her to the nurse's office to double-check everything was alright.

By the time she had gotten to class, the girls had already informed everyone in class about her and Sakuya's heroic deeds. The moment she opened the door, she was mobbed by her classmates.

"Ashido! Did you really face down a huge villain?"

"Whoa, Mina-san, you're practically a hero already!"

"Your quirk is super cool and flashy! You're gonna do great at UA!"

"Yeah, if anyone's a shoo-in, it's gotta be you six!"

The comments and compliments kept on coming. She would be lying if she said she hated the attention. Still scared, she was still a performer in her heart and knew how to work with a crowd to hide her nervousness from her dance lessons. She thanked everyone and tried to push it off onto Sakuya, who was currently absent.

Itsuka and Toga came to her rescue and pulled her out of the crowd. Thankfully, the great onee-sama's held a high enough authority in the school to where they can make others back off. They dragged her outside and began asking her what it really felt like, not the story she made up for the class.

She broke down once again, retelling the story about how scared she was and that Sakuya 'saved' her. They both began comforting the crying Kirby spin-off, reassuring her that she did a wonderful job and it's alright to be scared about something like that.

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Elsewhere, Sakuya was currently in the park with an anxious Kirishima as they sat on a bench. He was spilling out his insecurities and self-doubts, constantly hating himself throughout the entire conversation while Sakuya was right next to him sipping on some choccy milk.

"... and that's why I can't be you girl's friend anymore. I don't want to drag you guys down!"

I had enough of this pity party. I knew he wasn't here to be gently talked to or have soft-spoken words said to him. I slapped the back of his head,

"You're a fucking idiot, you know?"

"Huh?! Why?"

"I couldn't care less if you didn't dive right into the hands of that villain. To be honest, I'm surprised Mina did."

"B-But, I'm a coward! She ran in without any hesitation and stared him down fearlessly. Hell, you knocked him out!"

"You think Mina wasn't scared during that entire confrontation?"

"Of course she wasn't!"

I slapped him across the back of his head again,

"She was terrified, you idiot! She was trembling and was ready to collapse on the floor at a moment's notice. She was secreting acid, which she only does when scared, like crazy. It was slowly melting through her clothes, not that she noticed."

"But what about you? You weren't! You ran in and demolished the villain. It was like I was watching All Might himself. All you were missing was the 'I AM HERE!' and I would have easily mistaken you two."

"Gee, thanks, Kirishima. Glad to know I look like a buff, bodybuilder with banana-shaped hair who wears spandex."

He seemed to get flustered under the misunderstanding,

"Y-You know what I mean!"

"Yeah, I do. It's just fun messing with you. At least you weren't all depressed like earlier when flustered. But to answer your question, was I scared? Not really."

"See?"

"I wasn't scared because I can safely rewind any of my mistakes. My quirk is the ultimate crutch for me. I can probably come back from death If I wanted to. Plus, that villain was a scary opponent to have. I just got lucky with what quirk I was born with."

"You act like you know that giant monster man personally."

"That's because I do. He's an S-rank villain called Gigantomachia, the mountain destroyer."

"That's one hell of a title..."

Taking one long sip, Sakuya let the reality of the situation sink in.

The villain that he and Mina were scared of was an S-rank villain. It's not like they give out S-rank to just anybody. It means they are a threat that could cause city-wide destruction before they would be able to take them down, usually requiring a top 10 hero to do so. Sure, they have other criteria to hit S-rank, but this is the main promoted point the commission shows.

That's not even mentioning the villain's epithet of Mountain Destroyer. It doesn't take much to figure out what this particular villain was capable of.

"See? It's only natural to be scared of such a person. He can literally destroy mountains with a swing of his fists."

"Yeah, I can see that. But, I still should have acted."

"There's no reason to dwell on the past and what you should have done, Kirishima. All you can do now is improve and make sure that in the future, you DO act, and you do move forward. It's alright to be scared of things. Most heroes are."

He began mumbling under his now steady breath about how she wasn't scared etc.

"Kirishima, what kind of hero do you want to be?"

He brightened up at my question,

"A manly hero that does everything to save everyone!"

"I know just the hero that could be a role model for you. His name is Crimson Riot, and you even have similar quirks. It's just that his quirk only hardens his hair."

"You think so? I thought he was pretty cool in elementary school, you know?"

"Oh? So you do know him, that's good. I recommend looking up some of his interviews. There's a few in there that would probably hit home for you, especially the one about chivalry."

She stood up, tossing her choccy milk into the nearby trash can, and walked away. Not before patting him on the shoulder and leaving a few parting words for the teen,

"You want to become a manly hero? Do it. Evolve into the you that you can be proud of. Overcome your past weakness and leap past it. You're aiming for UA, right? The go plus ultra Kirishima, I believe in you..."