This is kinda the last one before the whole competition event (I think) so it's more toned down and... relaxing? I don't know.

Wonderland Tea Party: Hah, glad it's not too annoying or boring! And, yeah, kinda true there... Hope it pays off then xD

Andrew: Ah, it is, but he's managing. Doing his best and all. And yeah, it involves words, but I wouldn't say charisma xD

Also, for those unaware or who don't read the By your side story, I am not a fan of Mineta and it shows. Sorry to any fans, but just... no.
Read, review and enjoy~

Chapter 4 Helping

He was exhausted that day, but the smell of pancakes as he entered the house seemed to revive him instantly.

"Welcome home!" Hizashi called, stepping into the hall wearing his yellow apron with headphones painted on them. Shinso bought him that a few years ago as a birthday present and Mic has had it since then. His hair was tied in a long ponytail and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up. Despite clearly cooking, he looked cleaner than either of the insomniacs.

"Congratulations on finishing your combat training!" the two high-fived and bumped fists as Shota rolled his eyes with a smile and made his way into the kitchen.

"Dad says it's not really finished, but good enough. Thanks for the tips though!" Hitoshi said with a grin as he sat down in his usual spot. He had tried ignoring the pancakes but his eyes kept slipping to the counter.

"Haha, well, that's cause for celebration anyway! And I made your favorite!" Yamada proudly spun around, holding a plate of pancakes.

"Honestly, you have too much time on your hands sometimes," Aizawa sighed but smile none the less as Shinso seemed to want to devour the food.

"Someone has to, right? You're usually busy with work," Yamada shrugged and took a seat, but not before grabbing a serving of food for himself and Shota.

"Well, we can finally put that time to good use – he needs a costume," Eraserhead said with a grin as the kid was almost choking on a bite too big.

"Ah, a hero costume! I remember when we were young and we had to pick our own ones! I recall you just wanted to be in your pajamas."

The snort from Shinso and the choking sound from Aizawa sent Yamada into a laughing fit as the two tried to catch their breaths and not fall off their chairs or use it as weapon.

Quirk training was different from combat, and Shinso wasn't sure which one was worse. He only had one person to practice on and that was his own father. They had to first test the upper limits of Hitoshi's Quirk; how strong the impact has to be to break it, is there was a distance limit, how much focus Hitoshi himself needs to maintain…

During those times, especially when he was using his Quirk, Shinso felt sick. He didn't like it the first time he willingly used his Quirk on his father, and he hated it now. It was the reason this training was working so badly – he wasn't able to properly focus and concentrate. But he never said that he felt something whispering in his ear as he used his power, that it told him to be stronger and better and telling him he's in control now.

Today was the start of the last week of training they had and Hitoshi aimed to make the most of it. He's made a lot of progress, but with only one person to train with, it was hard to tell just how much. He'll just have trust his father.

He just released his Quirk as he started panting and doubled over on his knees, head low. His body felt a bit numb, but nothing he couldn't deal with. The headache was pounding in his head, and while it wasn't unusual, it was worse than normal.

"We're done for today," Shota said and Hitoshi looked up in surprise.

"But I can still do more!" he insisted, swallowing to catch his breath.

Aizawa simply walked over and wiped his finger under his nose and across his lips. As he brought the fingers up, the kid saw blood trailing off them. He instinctively reached up himself and felt the warm liquid drip down and could teste it in his mouth.

"You're at your limit – don't push it too hard." He never knew he could actually bleed from overuse, but his father explained it that, much like his Erasure Quirk, Brainwashing can leave physical effects on the user. He's only bled twice in all the time of training before; the first was an accident because he was pushing himself too much and the second was a test to see his limits. This time, he wasn't even really aware of it.

"We still have a week… I guess it's about time we really see what you're capable of right now," Shota gave a small grin as he handed his son a towel. "Be ready for company tomorrow."

He was walking today, unfortunately. His father was called away on hero duty and his uncle was at his podcast, doing a special for his fans- listeners as he insisted. He wasn't going to complain – it gave him some time and fresh air to cool off.
As he was getting his things and getting ready to leave, he heard some shouting to the left of the school. He tried to ignore it, his headache still beating around, but he forced himself to check it out. There shouldn't even be that many people at school anymore.

"Stay away you creep!" he recognized the voice – it was Yukino Kair. She must have stayed at the library, studying for the English test tomorrow.

"C'mon, just a little smooch!" that voice was familiar, but not one he's heard much of.

"Damn you, you little shit! Let me out of these sticky balls and I'll make you regret asking us for help!" and that was Zoey Zedd, sounding as angry as ever. But if she was trapped somehow… That made Shinso quicken his pace as he almost ran to the scene.

"I thought we were friends!" Hitoshi turned the corner and saw his classmates stuck to the wall with purple balls, as a short boy stood in front of them.

"Hey!" Shinso yelled and got the trio's attention. As soon as the other boy turned around, he recognized him – Minoru Mineta from the Hero Course.

"Shinso!" Yukino smiled with relief, but there was worry in her eyes as well.

"The hell are you doing here this late?" Zoey of course couldn't care less.

"…" Mineta stayed silent, but his eyes were wide.

"What are you doing?" Hitoshi asked, narrowing his eyes. His fists were already clenched and he was ready for a surprise attack.

"This pervert wanted to have some fun!" Zedd hissed and he could see her skin turning purple in her poison. But it'd only work if she had physically contact with another person.

"We agreed to help him since he asked nice enough…" Kair sounded guilty, but angry none the less.

"H-Hey now-!" Minoru started, but was cut off by the other boy.

"Stop," at his order, the Hero Course student froze. Shinso looked tense and focused as he bit his lip. It was a bit too fast for him to be using an advance version of his Quirk so soon, but he'd manage.

"Release my friends." The pervert moved automatically and picked off his sticky balls from the walls and even the girls. All the while, Hitoshi chewed on his lip as the pain in his head increased. For a second there, the world even blurred a bit.

"Now," he grunted and put a hand under his nose, feeling the blood slowly dripping. "Go home and never bother these girls again."

As Mineta wordlessly left, Shinso leaned on a wall to catch himself and released his control. He was panting and the world was spinning, but before he lost his balance and fell down, he felt strong pairs of arms hold him up.

"That was so cool Shinso!" Zoey smiled, but the relief in her eyes couldn't be missed.

"Thanks a lot!" Yukino smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

"Anytime," he managed weakly, giving his own small smile.

"We should get you to Recovery Girl – I'm sure she's still working.

"Oh, um, no, you don't have to-,"

"You can't walk, you're bleeding and you looked more exhausted than usual. You're going to her."

Hitoshi didn't have the energy to fight them, so he settled for letting out a humorless chuckle. He hasn't been at Recovery Girl's place since his father was in there after the USJ attack. This time, seems like their roles were reversed though.

Chiyo wasn't happen when they brought in Shinso, and she actually shooed out the girls after assuring he's going to be fine. Still, she was as kind as always as she checked him over.

"Quirk overuse…" she muttered shaking her head. "Like father like son I guess…"

"He… doesn't know yet, does he?" Hitoshi asked, a bit fearfully even. He really didn't want to get his ear chewed off by his father. Maybe his uncle, since Mic usually brought some sweets or something along.

"No, he's working, so I didn't call him. Called your homeroom teacher though – she's still at school and should arrive soon," Shuzenji said casually as the kid let out a breath of relief.

"I should ask what happened, given the situation and the hour, but…" she turned her back to him, a kind smile on her face. "Heroes will be heroes."

"Shinso?" Lyla Zin called as she almost ran into the infirmary room, a look of worry and panic on her face.

"Hey," he said causally, the exhaustion clinging to him. Recovery Girl gave him something for the headache, but it made him all the more tired. Maybe a bit dizzy even.

"Thank goodness, I was worried!" she said, letting out a breath of relief. "What were you doing?" her tone changed quickly though, as she put her hands on her hips.

"…Helping?" he tired, wincing under her tone. She was hardly, if ever, really mad, but seems like this was one of those times.

"Helping? Who? With what? And why did it include your Quirk?" Lyla clearly wasn't going to let it pass. But her worry was clear and understandable.

"Umm… It's… a long story," he settled on and heard the teacher sigh. He really wasn't sure what to say, if anything at all.

"Honestly…" Zin shook her head and took a seat on a nearby chair. Recovery Girl was back in her own place, working on some paperwork it seems.

"Um, Miss Zin?" Shinso said a bit awkwardly, mentally smacking himself for starting off like that. But he need to tell her, assuming she didn't know already.

"I don't know if Aizawa had said anything, but I'm going to try for transfer and-," before he could fumble over his own words, Lyla put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I already know, Hitoshi. He told me, we discussed it all… And we promised we'd wait until you were ready to talk about it," she was completely calm and her voice calmed him as well.

"…I just don't know how to tell the others. We all feel the same, but I'm the only one getting this chance? It… doesn't feel that fair…"

"Hitoshi," she said and he looked up at her as she smiled. "You are getting this opportunity because you showed promise. And while yes, all of you wish to be in the Hero Course, it's simply not how it works. But," she paused and patted his head gently. "I'm sure the whole class is going to support you in this. After all, you're the star of the General Studies and if you can make it, so can they. You'll be the Hero for all General Studies students now and to come, I'm sure of it," she said and leaned closer, giving a small kiss to his forehead as the kid tried to suppress the incoming sobs. Damn, the medicine made him weaker than he thought.

He's had very few people outside his family stay things like that to him, and after years of being treated as a villain, it always made him so happy. Especially given what his teacher said he might become – a Hero to the General Studies. It sounded so ridiculous, but he couldn't ask for a better legacy.

Later that day, when it was already dark, Hizashi came to pick him up since he wasn't allowed to leave on his own. Worried, surprised and slightly impressed, Yamada only lightly probed the boy as to what happened. Hitoshi said what he did before – he was helping. Mic clearly didn't buy it, but he respected the boy's insistence on not saying.

"Please, don't tell dad okay?" Shinso asked, almost begged as they stepped inside the house.

"Tell me what?" Shota stepped into the hall, a frown on his face and arms folded across his chest. His hair was tied in a bun and wore a simple black shirt with pants. Must have been home for a while now.

"Busted," the two thought, but Yamada casually managed to laugh a moment later.

"Well, I was taking Toshi here out since he's been doing so well," Mic shrugged, not even flinching at the narrowed eyes his friend was giving.

"And you didn't tell me anything?" Aizawa kept looking from one person to the other and kid was nearly cracking.

"Well, you were off and we didn't feel like bothering you," Hizashi treaded dangerous waters but he still slung an arm around Eraserhead. "Sorry 'bout that!"

Shota didn't look too convinced, but he sighed and closed his eyes none the less. He put his hand on Hizashi's face and pushed the man off his shoulder before heading into the kitchen and muttered something under his breath, but neither of them heard him. Instead, they let out silent breathes of relief with Hitoshi giving a grateful nod of thanks and Mic simply winking back.

When he finally made it to his room, Shinso plopped down on his bed and let out a satisfied sigh. He was exhausted, but it felt good. This kind of exhaustion showed him he was doing his best and giving his all and that it will work out in the end. But he thought back to what his father said a while ago, about this whole 'transfer' thing.

"Depending on how you do in this event, you'll either replace or simply transfer to a class. Right now you're set up to get into A-1 but that can still change, so do your best, okay?"

Before today, he was aiming at the simple transfer, but since he's met Mineta, he wondered what he could to do about him. Could he really risk the replacement option though? What if it's not Mineta he'd replace, but someone else entirely?

He pondered on that for a while, even changing into his sleeping clothes, when he decided to wait and see what happens. He won't settle on either just yet, but will keep them in mind for when the competition starts.

And cut! Yeah, this is kinda the last of the 'days of training' thing, so the story will probably pick up now. Also, if anyone is curios about that something Shinso keeps feeling when he uses his Quirk, I made a short post/idea/story on my blog (Shadow-is-upon-us) titled Hitoshi vs Shinso and you can check it out if you fancy. Might kinda spoil something that comes later and that I'm using in the story but well, it's there if anyone's curios =P
ANYWAY! Thanks a lot for reading and I do hope you enjoyed! Do review and tell me what you thought! I love hearing from my readers!
Till next time~