Quest

The next four days were good. I trained my physical stats all night, recovering with Mortal Meditation when I got tired, and trained many of my skills in the forest after school. Several of my skills were activated in a very casual sense to train them as well.

Azure Dragon's Dash and Azure Dragon's Scales didn't have much visual tells like my other skills, so I didn't hesitate to use them on a daily basis.

I threw sleep away, and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I got eight extra hours to train because of it. On top of those eight hours, with Mortal Meditation I could cut how much time I needed to recover by more than half, which only assisted my growth more.

Mom teased me for being out all the time, talking about an imaginary girl she thought I was hanging out with.

Ah, my hair was a big talk for my mom and my friends―well, more like acquaintances that I knew well, but that's besides the point. Of course, there wasn't much to do about it either. Most accepted that it just happened out of the blue.

Mom wanted to go to the doctor because of the off chance that something could be wrong, but when I brought up my perspective that all stopped. I said I wasn't bothered, and I showed her that I could create the Pop-Off balls in my hands, so she left it there.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was more to what she was saying, since that's just how she is sometimes.

Ah, besides that, there was one big change. My height, and by result, voice.

Just two weeks ago, I was 3'11", now I'm 5'6". My voice didn't become crazy deep or anything, it just developed a tad bit more. Now, I'd fit into most groups fairly well. The constant exercise certainly hasn't hurt that at all either.

Maybe if I start going after girls, I could nab one or two!

…Nah, I'm not interested.

That's probably the most striking change. I don't… crazy want a girlfriend anymore. Maybe―just maybe―it's because they aren't so out of reach anymore?

No matter the explanation, it's just the reality I have to face. I still feel entirely attracted to girls, think they're hot, and totally want a girlfriend eventually, but… I'm not… infatuated by it anymore.

Maybe that's a good thing, maybe it's not. When I sit in my room, surrounded by posters and figurines of Midnight and Mt. Lady―her grand entrance into the Pro-Hero scene a few months ago was pretty cool―I just feel kind of… weird.

Ah, I found out something new with my ability. I originally was super fearful of my clothes getting too small as I developed, but I learned about my equipment screen.

It basically applied "One-Size-Fits-All" to everything after unequipping an item and reequipping it. I am glad that works out, it's probably gonna save me and my mother a lot of money too.

I hadn't run into anymore problems and thought about going to Hameyama's Bookstore soon, but I decided against it. I'd probably go back soon enough, but I had a pretty firm idea of what a person like Kazuho could do against me.

Yeah, I was a little nervous of walking into the equivalent of a lion's den, so what?

Actually, I had been holding myself back a little bit too, when it comes to training. I wasn't trying to knock over trees or use my abilities too much because I'd seen Midnight―and I couldn't see her level―walking around the area I had fought the boss in. She'd even personally warned me of villain attacks.

So, I hadn't been doing anything but punching and kicking the air in most cases. Today though, I planned to go pretty deep into the forest and then start training with everything I could.

I would've too, if I hadn't opened my front door to see Manami about to knock on it. I looked down―God, she was short. Was I really that short?―to meet her rather intense gaze. There was a long moment before she spoke up.

"Ah… Does a boy with purple hair like yours live here? I wanted to speak with him," Manami's words were direct, and concise―she really seemed serious.

I couldn't match her seriousness though, grinning awkwardly, "Ah, that's… me. I've… changed in the last few days."

Her eyes widened before she blinked several times, looking me up and down. I couldn't tell if it was genuine curiosity or shock, or a mix, but she shook her head anyways.

"Well, could we talk? You…." She looked around and then peaked past me before continuing, "You did heal me, right? And, instantly, at that."

"That was me, yeah. Do you… want to come inside? My mom probably wouldn't mind," I suggested, but Manami shook her head.

"Can we go back to the forest? This topic… can't be brought up around… anyone, really."

If a woman told me this two weeks ago, I would've been absolutely ecstatic. Now though, I was rather worried. I don't think I made it obvious, and I felt rather calm for actively acknowledging that this was a bad idea, but I wasn't against the idea either.

I had my own curiosities too. Why was she out there? What did Kazuho tell her? Why did she want to meet me?

I'm pretty sure that I could win in a fight against her. My physical stats outclassed hers now, and with my skills I'm pretty sure I could run away even if there was a dangerous enemy.

If that's the case….

I nodded before turning, "Hey, I'm gonna go out for a bit! I'll be back!"

There was a moment of silence before I heard my mother reply, "Alright, be safe!"

With that, Manami and I ran towards the forest.

Well, more like I ran. Manami just rode on my back. Granted, I preferred this exercise as long as I got stat points out of it, and I did, so I couldn't complain too much. We kept to the alleyways to avoid detection because I totally was using my Quirk illegally. I'd been doing that a lot recently….

I took us far deeper into the forest than before, and after a few minutes of consistent Dashing, I sat Manami down.

"So, what is this?" I asked Manami, causing her to pull out her phone and set it on the ground. Her phone flipped outwards, and a hologram appeared above it. It was a bar graph that was titled "Society's Views on an Individual's Power Based on Quirks."

On the left were the Quirkless, with a measly number of ten, next to them were the Low-Rankers with 100, then the Mid-Rankers with 500, and lastly, the High-Rankers with 1,000. I could understand what she was trying to say.

If that wasn't her Quirk, I'm pretty sure she was using her 93 Intelligence extremely well. Even in a world like ours, I hadn't ever seen technology from this, and certainly not from individual over an organization. I tried to push those thoughts aside as she began talking.

"Society doesn't help people without Quirks, and it barely helps people with low-powered Quirks. For example: My Quirk 'Love' allows me to give a massive power boost to the person I love…." Manami almost seemed embarrassed to share her Quirk, but she shook it off and continued. "However, that's not a very… expansive Quirk."

I nodded, agreeing with her. It was overly specific, and if she fell out of love or was heartbroken, she'd be generally useless as far as Quirks went. Judging by her height and general build, there'd probably never been much chance for her to make up for that detriment with other physical skills.

"Like most kids, I wanted to be a hero too, but… I was told time and time again I wouldn't be able to. Eventually, I stopped wishing for a growth spurt and just… stopped caring," Manami was smiling awkwardly, but I could still tell this was important to her. I didn't speak.

"But I… found someone who I look up to a lot and wanted to give them something, as a fan. After doing some research on weird energy signals, I wanted to check this area out. Rather than a physical gift, I could give them location to check out. That's what I'd thought… then I got attacked," Manami clenched her fists, taking in a breath through her nose and letting it out through her mouth after a moment.

"When I realized I couldn't be a hero, I became hopeless because I felt powerless. Like everything in the world was bearing down on me and nothing actually wanted me to succeed. While facing my doom, I felt that again. I felt that sickening powerlessness…!" Her awkward smile was entirely gone. This was clearly a mix of passion, anger, and other indescribable emotions.

"I thought I would've died. If you didn't save me―which I am glad you saved me―what would've happened to me? I didn't try to fight, because I thought I was powerless," Manami shook her head. "But I only began thinking I was powerless because I was told that. I was told that by my teacher, friends, parents, crushes, and anyone who really… meant anything to me. And where were they told that?"

"By… society," I finished, getting a vague idea of what Manami was talking about.

"Yes, by society. And maybe I'm wrong, but I think you were told something similar," Manami probably saw my shifting facial expression, so she continued. "I could be 100% incorrect, but your Quirk seems rather varied. I saw you create purple balls out of thin air, use a bat like a pro, and you even apparently can eat books to learn their abilities momentarily."

I was on edge as Manami spoke.

"From the research I've done, someone with a Quirk like that normally shouldn't go walking around into dangerous forests without things to actively make them better i.e., books. So, I've concluded you could've awakened a latent Quirk within yourself," Manami finished, and suddenly, the incredible nature of her 93 Intelligence really dawned on me.

I could lie but… no, I knew why I wouldn't.

"Yeah, I awakened to a new Quirk a little over two weeks ago. And yeah… becoming a hero hasn't been an easy journey," I chuckled, remembering how I felt when my own abilities were doubted by classmates on a daily basis. "But why do you bring it up?"

Manami looked down to her hands before whispering something to herself that I didn't catch.

"Huh? What'd you say?" I asked, leaning down to hear her better.

She looked up to me, her face serious, "I want to change society."

One moment passed, two moments passed, then three moments passed.

"Isn't… 'society' a bit too large?" I asked, hoping that she understood where I was coming from. Judging by her instantaneous laughter, I assume she knew how crazy it sounded.

"Yeah, I guess it is a bit too large. Fine, I'll be more specific. I want to change Musutafu for the people who aren't strong."

This still sounded positively insane, but I was started to get where she was coming from now.

"Can I assume you wouldn't come to me if you didn't have any idea of how?" I asked, causing her to seemingly jokingly scoff.

"Teh, of course not. Now, what's the way people get information fastest around here?"

My face paled.

"The… The Ultraphone Tower?" I tried recomposing myself, causing Manami to smile and nod.

"Yeah. The alternatives are the newspaper, the news, and the internet, but none of those are anywhere near as striking as the Ultraphone Tower. And trust me, something as important as this needs to strike people somewhere deep where they'd once felt… safe."

The Ultraphone tower was one of the two towers that really represented hope, peace, and prosperity in Japan. The other one was the Might Tower, where All Might operated. The big problem with stealing from such a location was that it was―

"That's… pretty villainous," I noted, but Manami shrugged in response.

"The system's been pretty villainous to us. This may unsettle a lot of people, but even more than that, it'll give people hope. Once it may've been the hope that All Might gave people, but… they also need to give themselves hope. That's the only way the world will survive without All Might," Manami's expression became grim. My heart began thumping in my chest at her words.

"What… What do you mean?"

Ideas cropped up in my head, but I didn't wish to acknowledge them. Critical thinking was honestly not the problem, but I wanted to be wrong. I had to be wrong.

"It's not public knowledge yet, it may not even come out for the next few… years? I only found out with some hacking and surprisingly extensive research. All Might… All Might has been doing less and less hero work for the last 5 years. Chances are… he'll retire from his position sooner rather than later. And… and no matter what people wish to say, we've come to rely on All Might far too much."

I was shocked.

For about 5 seconds.

The shock factor left just as quickly as it arrived. I knew All Might would have to retire one day, but I never actually expected it to be so soon. It made sense though, he'd aged five entire years and was still going strong, but well, no one could do hero work forever.

You either died or you left while you were ahead. That's the harsh reality of heroes who constantly put themselves on the front line.

Now, things weren't just doom and gloom either. As All Might came up to center stage, the number of casualties per year for heroes dropped to under 3%. That's an absolutely astonishing situation, especially since the number was above 20% before All Might came around.

The issue still existed though.

All Might was the Symbol of Peace. People leaned on him like he was the only pillar in the entire world, and he proved that he could take it. But….

"He's only a man, not some sort of immortal god or heaven-sent gift. One day, he probably wants to settle down too. Fighting for not only your life, but the lives of the people around you must be several levels beyond just 'stressful.'"

Manami looked at me, blinking. "Is the ability to not freak out also a side-effect of your new Quirk?"

That actually forced me to think it over, "I… dunno. I never really gave it much thought. But eh, it's alright. The problem doesn't lie with me, but with… well… everyone else? If All Might has to retire anytime soon, well, I don't really know how the world would go on without him."

"Yeah, that's also where I'm coming from. I want to give the 'lesser' folk a chance too. Not just hope that they'll get saved but hope that they can save others too. Give them hope that… they won't need to be saved," Manami nodded softly, causing me to let out a groan. As I groaned, I could see a smile of happiness grow on Manami's face.

"Okay, fine, I'll listen! That doesn't suddenly mean you're any less crazy though. But before I listen to your crazy request, can I ask, why me?" There was one question that refused to go away, no matter how hard I wished for it to, so I simply asked it.

"I won't lie, one of the reasons is simple necessity. I needed someone who wasn't afraid to break the law, and seeing that you saved me to do it, that was checked off. Most people would call this straight up villainous and would try and have me arrested for it. Second, I needed someone who could understand. This was by far the hardest part. Someone that can relate to being called useless but be strong enough to possibly do this. Then, I needed someone who could possibly learn how to use the Ultraphone. The girl in the Hameyama Bookstore―Kazuho, I think―told me that you 'absorbed' a book then were able to use a different Quirk on me," Manami took a moment to organize her thoughts.

She continued, "Nobody really knows how to use the Ultraphone. Most people don't even know what it looks like. But… if we could find a manual for it, we could do it. But the very last reason is by far the most important. It's because… it's because I think you'll agree."

That was certainly surprising.

"I can't say I know you, because I don't know the first thing about you. I don't even know your name."

"It's Minoru Mineta," I interrupted, causing Manami to laugh.

"I'm Manami Aiba," She replied before continuing. "Still, you were willing to throw yourself in harm's way for… someone you didn't even know. Now trust me, I'm in no way shocked by your sense of self-preservation, but what you did wasn't short of incredible. So, I'm asking you to do something more than just save a life, or a few lives. I want you to shake the very foundation of our society. Minoru Mineta, will you help me?"

I closed my eyes as I rubbed my temples. This simply wasn't smart, I knew that. So why wasn't I just saying no?

The dinging sound drew my attention to a notification.

[New Quest Created!]

Shaking the Foundation!

By using the Ultraphone, spread your message to the world.

[Time Limit: One Month]

[Completion Reward: 750,000 EXP, Increased closeness with Quirkless, Increased closeness with Low-Powered Individuals, Increased closeness with Manami, Increased closeness with ???.]

[Failure Penalty: Decreased closeness with Manami, Imprisonment, or Death*.]

*Depending on the time of failure.

Will you accept this quest?

[Yes/No]

That's… that's a lot of experience points. Like, a lot.

But uh, that doesn't change that one of the penalties is death. That's… odd.

I kind of wanted to be shocked or terrified, but it just wasn't happening. But death? I understand that villains have been accidentally killed by heroes, or when a villain may do something that endangers a civilian's life that heroes may have to take drastic measures but… this was odd. I kept it in mind.

On top of that, three quarters of a million EXP points was cool and all, but that also means the mission was probably impossibly difficult. This would be dangerous, so―

"Who would go with us?"

Manami's face lit up before I continued.

"And how would we steal something that's so… important? Now, we don't have to worry about getting back in one piece as long as I could heal us, but there's definitely more to this than just that. If it's just us, there's no chance in hell of that happening," Even if I agreed, there was no way in blue fire hell I was doing this alone.

"That was also another reason why I was in this forest. According to my extensive research on the odd energy patterns, alongside the signs of odd blue fire sightings, someone―or something―is deep in the forest but is smart enough to avoid detection when heroes have tried to check it out before. Maybe it's stupid, but I see that as an opportunity. An opportunity to gain a treasured ally," Manami told me, letting out a sigh as she finished. "I don't really know about that anymore though. Not after running into those Quirk-formed skeletons."

Hmmm….

"Anyone else?"

"Yeah, the person I look up to. He goes by Gentle, and I think I can convince him to join us, but it can only happen… after our mission begins," Manami sheepishly laughed as I turned my head to the side.

"Why?"

"He... wants to be remembered within history, and if we've done something certainly memorable, he'll join us. Otherwise, I can't really guarantee anything," Manami explained, receiving a nod from me.

"So, our only option is to check out those blue flames?"

Manami nodded, sheepishly. After a moment, she spoke up, "If all goes well, there won't be any fights though. Remember, villains have tried to destroy the tower before, but it never worked. But stealing the Ultraphone? That's never happened. We have the opportunity to take advantage of things."

"Okay, but what about my face? If that gets out, my life would be ruined regardless," I asked, causing Manami to nod.

"True, but with your Quirk, that wouldn't be a problem, would it? Get a few books over disguises or doing make-up and―theoretically―there'd be no issues, right?"

Damn, she'd thought this through.

"I…." I was stuck. I wanted to help, I really did but….

This was going against what I'd wanted for so many years. This was straight up villainous, no matter how it was cut up. Maybe it leaned more towards the vigilante side if things went well, but what if―

"What happens if I run into a Pro-Hero?"

Manami grimaced.

"If our plan goes well, you won't. And if you do, Gentle will handle it. He's powerful, and even if he comes into the plan half of the way into it, his help will be valuable," Manami took a deep breath in before sighing. "But you won't. Not if everything works out properly."

Was I just trying to make up problems, or was I seriously worried?

I knew I'd get EXP out of it, but what else besides that? Were some levels―yes, I knew it would be a lot of levels, but still―really worth risking my life? I'd level up as time progressed, and my physical stats were getting rather close to approaching twenty on a few weeks of very consistent exercise. All-in-all, I could totally dip out of this and not lose a whole lot so… why was I still considering it?

"This doesn't work if we just get arrested. We won't help anybody by doing that, and if I thought this could work, maybe, but… this isn't just a flimsy thing. This could change our lives, and the lives of a lot of people. I don't… I don't think…." I tried to organize my thoughts, but Manami spoke up before I could.

"Yeah, I never considered it possible, not until you brought me back from the grasp of death. I can't say anything so specific, but I think your Quirk is far more powerful than you've been giving it credit for. Your speed, healing abilities, use of that bat, purple balls, and deduction abilities. I think you don't just momentarily get the abilities of the books you absorb, but permanently do," Manami deduced, and I must've failed to hide the surprise that I felt, bringing a small smile to her face.

"Hey, I may be tiny, but I've lived through a lot of years to get where I am today. But, if that is your Quirk, you need books to get stronger. And I think that's a fair trade. After all, I want to leave you as prepared as humanly possible. I have a book, just for you," Manami slowly began pulling me in, even though I tried my hardest to resist.

It's just a skill book, I lied to myself. I don't need it!

This was absolutely the part of the story where I should've turned back. It would be honest to God foolish to push any farther. Manami was asking for a mad-man, and I was brought up better than to just be a mad-man. Manami wouldn't force me into this. She'd let me leave but….

"Ah, sorry, not book, books, plural," Manami waved her hand as if it were nothing, and I bet she could see the gears in my brain start chugging faster than ever, trying to make up excuses on why I shouldn't join her.

She met my eyes seriously.

"You want to help; I can see it. Even if I had nothing for you, you'd want to help. That's why, you'll help me, right?" Manami held her hand out to me in a handshake.

Damn, if those books didn't interest me so much.

And if she wasn't so correct.

I shook her hand.