『Hakari Kotaro』
I stumbled home in a tired haze, a full day of hospital work, heal this guy, heal that guy, it was draining work. Every healing session felt like a workout, but I did indeed feel my healing get slightly more potent as I kept using it.
Abilities seemed like muscles in a way; you need to exercise them to make them stronger. Maybe I could eventually get them to even go up in rarity. Having better healing could only help me.
My scrubs were stuffed in my bag, and I was currently in my regular clothes. Reaching home hadn't really been an ordeal, and unfortunately, my natural curiosity overwhelmed my desire to use some Toganium before rolling my ticket.
Rolling Bronze Ability Gacha with advantage...
[Super Jump]
|Common Ability|
Allows you to jump great distances you would otherwise be unable to. Even a regular person would be able to leap over a building with this. And you are also immune to falling damage as a bonus.
or
[Gills]
|Common Ability|
You have gills. You can breathe underwater but it's inconvenient.
You know what? For Bronze gacha, this ain't bad, I think. Gills would be mighty useful for underwater missions, but Super Jump also gives a lot of mobility. However, I can imitate it by just using Bikaku to augment my legs.
Well, I doubt I'll be going underwater anytime soon, so Super Jump it is; it's good to have a cheaper, less energy-intensive movement ability.
I wanted to use it right now, but I refrained. I didn't want to get in trouble, although you were just as likely to get jailed for using a minor quirk in public as you were for getting jailed for jaywalking, there was no need to chance it.
Stretching, I reached the entrance of the apartment building. And not feeling like going through all those stairs and elevators, I just used Door Crossing to go from the front entrance to the Bathroom.
A shower was a must for me right now. It was less the sweat that bothered me and more the hospital and disinfectant smells that clung to me. I loathed the smell.
I took off my clothes and threw them into the dirty basket while taking a minute to admire my bare body in the mirror.
Compared to how I began, my body looked way better. Some muscle definition and a good body shape. Unfortunately, my healing was unnatural and did not speed up natural healing, so I couldn't abuse it to accelerate my physical conditioning.
As I was stretching and groaning before getting into the shower like an old man, the door to the bathroom, not that much to my surprise, Toga had an odd knack for finding me. But who entered was the thing that surprised me.
"H-huh!? Hakari-kun!? What are you doing here-!?"
The one who entered the bathroom was the ever-familiar pinky, wearing a black camisole and purple dolphin shorts combo, her face was lit up by a blush as her eyes wandered down to my very much exposed lever that I made no attempt to hide. Instead, I elected to raise my eyebrow.
"Because I live here? Duh. Why are you here, Mina?"
I put my hands on my hips and tilted my head as Mina sputtered in confusion. The usually headstrong, cheery, and talkative girl struggled to find words to say due to how naturally I was treating the situation.
"I-I was going to use the toilet! I mean, Himiko-chan invited me over and- why are you still naked!?"
"Because I'm in the bathroom, duh. How am I supposed to take a shower with my clothes on?"
Her face went bright red as even I struggled to maintain my stoic facade. This was hilarious.
"Hmm? Mina-chan, is something wrong? Oh, Hakari-kun, you're home already? You should have said something."
Toga, hearing the commotion, quickly came over to check it out and responded with a lukewarm attitude. Mina looked between the two of us with incredulity.
"Himiko! You said Hakari wasn't going to be home, not that I would have minded him being in the house, but you c-could've said something!"
Toga blinked and tilted her head.
"Eh~? I never said he wouldn't return, though?"
"And Hakari-kun! Why are you still naked!?"
Toga put a hand to her lips and looked Mina dead on.
"It's the bathroom, why wouldn't he be naked?"
Mina's head seemed to be steaming, and I easily could see the shit eating grin Toga was trying to suppress.
"Mina, you know you can just... leave the bathroom and wait for your turn, right? I'll just take a quick shower if you don't mind."
And she blinked, having forgotten that leaving was simply an option that was presented to her, with how overloaded her brain was, or maybe she was just subconsciously trying not to leave to see more.
...Nah, even I wasn't that conceited.
She quickly turned away once her thoughts caught up with her brain.
"Sorry, Hakari-kun, I-I think I should leave, yeah, my mom is waiting for me and all! Yeah!"
She quickly bolted out, which made both Toga and I look at each other, our eyes meeting with an understanding.
"...You planned for this, didn't you?"
I poked Toga in the cheek as she pursed her lips, trying to act innocent.
"Whaa~? No way~. I'll go check on Mina-chan and ask how she liked your cock, see you later, Hakari-kun."
She skipped away while humming a tune, and I let out a fond sigh.
That girl really is something.
⚀—⚁⚂⚃—⚄—•⚅•—⚄—⚃⚂⚁—⚀
『Hakari Kotaro - Tomorrow Morning』
It was morning, and I was disgruntled to have had to come to school early.
Recovery Girl, that old woman got permission from Nezu far too quickly, and promptly used her power over me as her assistant to come to school early to organize the infirmary with her. Which, admittedly, was important work that she taught me how to do, like showing what went where and how to organize them properly. But she definitely took delight in the fact that I had to get up at 6 AM for it.
I'd go to the infirmary to take a nap, but I did not want to deal with the Old Woman Wrath contained within Recovery Girl.
A man can only take so many cane strikes to the head before he starts losing brain cells.
But when I opened the door to the classroom, the sight inside took me out for sure.
Sniff
It was Mineta, the short grape man sniffing a seat, I think... Tsuyu sat there? When he heard the door unlock, he turned towards the sound with eyes widened to the size of saucers. We locked eyes.
I... don't even know what to say. This was just sad, man.
Look, I was not about to condemn him for his perversions, because frankly, I was worse, and I wasn't that much of a hypocrite, but stooping to the point of sniffing seats was just a pitiable level of pathetic.
Words struggled to find their place in my mouth as Mineta got up defensively and pointed at me accusingly.
"Hey, what's up with that look!? You can't judge me, what the hell am I supposed to do when you are hogging all the pretty girls to yourself!?"
I stood quietly for a moment, thinking about what to do.
If it were Ida, he would probably berate Mineta, and Momo would scold him.
Hmm, maybe I could save Momo some trouble in dealing with him. My experience from novice [Leadership] and [Charisma], as well as my own life experiences, gave me some ideas as to how to deal with Mineta.
I sighed and held up a hand, beckoning him over.
"Come over here, let's talk."
He froze up.
"...Do I get a say in this?"
"Sure you do, I wouldn't recommend trying to avoid this, though."
⚀—⚁⚂⚃—⚄—•⚅•—⚄—⚃⚂⚁—⚀
"What's your favorite drink?"
I cut through the nervous silence between us as we stood in front of a vending machine in the hallway outside the classroom.
"G-grape soda, I guess?" Fitting.
I inserted my money and pushed some numbers and got two drinks, mine Diet Coke and a grape juice for Mineta, before handing him the can.
"Thanks?"
An awkward moment passed where we both took a sip of our drinks; the act decreased the tension, but not by much. After gulping down, I asked my question.
"So... why sniff seats?"
Mineta, who looked like he was expecting any other question than that, looked startled before looking offended in a defensive gesture.
"What would you understand, huh? You are handsome, you ranked first in the entire school, and you're good with girls! How could you understand the plight of someone who is not tall, strong, or handsome, huh!? You damn Riajuu!"
His frustration was apparent from his deep breaths while I took another calm sip from my drink. I didn't exactly feel too offended by his actions.
Unlike, say, Homeless Bum Aizawa, he was not actively working against me, just complaining about how handsome and awesome I am from his perspective. While it did annoy me, it just made me pity him.
"So that's why? Because you are desperate?"
"Yes I'm desparate dammit! I'm so goddamn jealous! Even after I managed to enter UA, none of the girls even glanced at me! Why do you get all the girls!? Why couldn't I be like you!? It's not fair!"
I took another sip, thinking of what to say.
"Look, Mineta, buddy. I'm not about to be the pot that calls the kettle black. But you are going to get nowhere with that attitude."
He looked scornful.
"Yeah? How would you know!? Guys like you have everything you want! You have a cool quirk and your grades are even better than mine-!"
In response, I grabbed the hem of my shirt and lifted it up, he was about to say something before he saw the scars that filled my waist and torso. I let the hem go back and cover my abdomen again.
"W-what the-"
"I wouldn't say that. I know a bit about being at the bottom, so, mind hearing me out? I wasn't always a ladies' man, nor was I always strong."
Mineta swallowed whatever words he was about to say and nodded.
"As I said, how you're going, you won't get anything you want. You already lost the respect of the female presence in the class. Tell me Mineta, why did you join the Hero Course? I'd like to hear it."
He hesitated before speaking.
"B-because I wanted to get recognized by girls, girls love heroes because they are so cool. So I thought if I became a hero, I'd be a cool ladies' man too. Like you."
So an inferiority complex. Yeah, half of the lower rung of the Yakuza could relate. He is precisely the kind of kid that would be lured into that lifestyle.
Maybe that's why I felt pity for him.
Let me borrow some of his own words.
"But, did you consider that they are heroes because they are cool? It's not like scoring first place or becoming a hero automatically makes you cool. Becoming a hero without building yourself up is setting yourself up for failure. Anyone can be a hero, but not everyone can be a good hero."
That seemed to have taken the wind out of Mineta's sails as his shoulders slumped.
"But... but then what should I do...?"
I patted him on the shoulder.
"First up, chin up and square your shoulders. You should aim to become like someone you think is cool(like Allmight) instead of just pursuing the same goals as them and thinking that's enough. Stop perving on your classmates, sniffing seats is just not worth killing your reputation. Especially with your classmates, you are going to be seeing them for the foreseeable future. They may not like you now, but the bridge ain't completely burnt just yet. Oh, and I will beat you if you do that to my girlfriends."
He clenched his fists and nodded as if he swallowed a bitter pill.
"Alright, I'll try to stop. But what can I do right now?"
I gave him a look.
"That's step one at least. Try your best to be someone you would think is cool. At least that's how I see it. Think about who you want to be, think about how you want girls to see you, think about if it's worth sniffing seats to sacrifice who you could be. I can't help you any more than that."
He stared up at the ceiling.
"Someone who I think is cool, huh...? Thanks Hakari-kun."
He seems to have come to a conclusion, that's good. I gave him a thumbs up and started walking away.
"Yep, good luck, Mineta."
Hopefully, he won't keep being a headache from now on.
Feat Achieved! Become Mineta Minoru's Role Model
+1x Silver Trait Gacha Ticket
...I uh... don't think picking me as a role model is a good idea.
But... good for him?
Still not sparing if he tries to make any moves on the girls though.
A/N: Super Jump is essential for any Superhero, it's among the better abilities of common rank. And poor old innocent Mina got a glimpse of Hakari's slot lever, it was very fun writing Toga and Hakari sharing their braincell intentionally. What did you guys think about the Mina scene? I'd like to know.
Did you guys expect Mineta to get beaten to a pulp? Well, it ain't happening! I am so fed up with stories always taking the boring way out with Mineta and condemning him like Satan for being a creep while trying to redeem fucking Dabi of all people. So yeah, Mineta gets a kinda redemption. Did you guys like his scene with Hakari and how Hakari handled the whole thing? I'd love to know.
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