I own nothing. Warning, may contain Out of Character moments.

Mineta blinked as he stared at the ceiling of his loaned room. It was quite nice for something inside a Hero Agency/ Martial Arts Center. The floor was tatami, the futon roll in the room was clean, and there was a small desk with an outlet for his devices. The walls were literally paper thin though. And there were no locks to his or any of the other resident rooms.

And oh how much the shorter boy wanted to 'relieve' himself. After the bombshell of a revelation yesterday, he needed to de-stress. But with one avenue cut off, Mineta tried to settle it with dreams of humiliating Bakugou.

However, since the Stain mission still loomed on the horizon called reality, that tactic failed abysmally. And while he said he'd sleep on any questions he had… Mineta found himself lying awake on an ever growing pile of them.

"6:34…" Mineta muttered as he stared at the digital clock on the desk. Perhaps he should just get up, seeing that it was impossible to get any rest. So with a sigh, the shorter boy got up and stretched his body with a yawn.

The shorter boy rolled up his bed and began doing some stretches. After that, he dragged himself to the shower room with all his bathroom necessities. And while freshening up, Mineta felt the desire to go back to bed growing. But because he had responsibilities, he had to tough it out.

"Oh great… I'm becoming more like him by the second…" Mineta groaned as he wandered back to his room. He threw on his UA jersey, seeing that he was going to do some intense training, and went off to the break room that was on his floor. Inside, there were a few tables and a small kitchen with all the necessary appliances. But taking another step inside, he saw one of the tables had a still hot steamed bun with a mug of warm tea next to it.

Mineta raised an eyebrow and looked out in the hallway. There was no other activity and no one else was moving around. After a few minutes of waiting, he decided to just investigate the thing. He soon found that there was a note on that table.

"Good morning my pupil. I've taken the liberty to prepare you some breakfast to ready you for today. So do enjoy the high nutrition pork bun and fine chrysanthemum tea. Come to the Taiji Hall in the basement once you're finished. Don't forget your baton. From Shifu…" Mineta read. He looked at the breakfast. Then back at the note. Then at the breakfast again. With a shrug, he took the bun and took a bite out of it.

"… This is pretty good."

It didn't take long for Mineta to finish the bun and tea. But despite the small amount of food that was offered, he felt quite full. So with that, Mineta washed his dishes and went back to his room for the baton. And now, it was time to train. He stepped out of the elevator and slid open the door to the basement hall.

Only for him to see Fenghuang fighting a burly man with blonde hair and beard. Mineta froze as the Heroine was deftly defending herself with just a stick. However, due to the man's sword and shield, she couldn't get a good hit in. The man swung his sword, which she blocked with her stick. He then tried to shove her with the shield. But she stopped it before it could even move.

Fenghuang then shoved the shield down, exposing the man's face. She then angled her stick to cause his sword to slide off. And with that freed weapon, the Heroine swung down on his head. The man, however, was fast and got his sword back up to guard himself. Fenghuang then punched up with the hand that held down the shield. It struck him square in the nose.

The man wasn't fazed though. And he proceeded to land a front kick on Fenghuang's gut, pushing her back. Mineta didn't know when he began moving, but he had already plucked a ball from his head. And before the man could put his foot back down, the shorter boy pitched it. The hair ball landed first, then came the foot.

Both Fenghuang and the man froze. They then turned to the other person in the room.

"Oh, good morning my young pupil. I see even mornings have no effects on your abilities." The heroine said as she relaxed her form. It didn't even seem like that kick even affected her.

"Who's this!? And why are you fighting him!?" Mineta asked, pointing at the burly man who was examining the object that stuck him to the floor.

"Meet Soren the North, one of my Eight Masters and head instructor for Authentic Viking Combat. We were just having our morning spar." Fenghuang answered, turning to the man.

"Good morning, you must be the student from UA. It's a pleasure." The man greeted, his Japanese sounding quite natural despite being an obvious foreigner. Mineta had to take a step back, feeling the unnatural air about this whole situation. Then Fenghuang's other words were finally registered in the shorter boy's mind.

"You call that sparring!? You looked like you were trying to kill each other!"

"Among the Eight Masters and Shifu, we always go full contact to ensure our skill never dulls. And if you're worried about your teacher, don't. She can outlast the rest of us. Now, could you please remove this?" Soren explained before raising his foot slightly. Mineta, feeling pressured by the man's stare, quickly went over and began the removal process.

While he was doing so, Fenghuang began flipping through some notes. "Okay… We have a little time before I begin your training in earnest… Do you have any questions?" She asked. Mineta opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Why was he hesitating? After losing sleep over it, he should be spitting them out like a rapper. Something about the subject was holding him back.

"… I'll begin preparing my hall. Work hard young man." Soren said as his foot was freed. He bowed to Fenghuang before quickly leaving the scene. Mineta knew things were becoming awkward, so he reasoned that's why the man left. Though that really didn't help matters, since the air was still tense.

"Are you troubled by what I said yesterday?" The Heroine calmly asked as she turned to Mineta. Something within the shorter boy just snapped. All the stress of yesterday caught up to him. And he did the first thing he always does when he encountered something he didn't like. Complain.

"You think? Here I am, literally after cleaning people's shit, learning how to take on the Hero Killer. Of course I'm troubled! You're throwing me straight into the fire!"

Fenghuang didn't answer back immediately, which reminded Mineta of Aizawa. That thought paralyzed him. This led to his body readying itself for a harsh lesson. Maybe that was a good thing, since he may have become overconfident from his performance at the Sports Festival.

"I'm sorry."

Mineta's eyes snapped to his teacher. He finally saw the downcast eyes on her normally gentle face. A pain went through his heart, regret that he got angry like that. And while some of it was justified… There could've been a greater reason behind it. A reason she was beginning to share, driving the pain deeper into the shorter boy.

"After Eraserhead and I finished talking, I received a call from the Association. Due to my particular skill set, I was chosen to help find and capture the Hero Killer. At first, I wanted to decline. Because you needed to shadow me, I'd be forced to bring you along for this very dangerous mission. Your very life could be on the line, and it would be my fault should the worst come to pass. But after some deep meditation, I had a harsh revelation." Fenghuang began. She regained her resolve, flame in her eye, as she stood unflinching and proud before Mineta.

"You are a Hero. It is a road full of ordeals great, small, and all too often unexpected. To coddle and shelter you from difficulty will only stunt your growth. So I must place you into the fire and forge you into steel…. All to ready you for the battles to come." She finished.

Those words hammered Mineta's heart. The weight of them great and profound. And the next thought that came wasn't what could happen… But the things that already did.

That attack from the League of Villains on the USJ.

The day Midoriya bravely charged that sludge Villain.

Having Bakugou set his sights on him for the very first time…

While all those situations worked out in the end, Mineta was useless throughout most of it. He didn't do anything, even when someone else could. He was weak and pathetic. When everything fell apart, he just went back to being the cowardly rat he's always been. And when the bombs stopped falling, Midoriya would pick him back up only for the cycle to repeat.

That doesn't sound like the partner to the future Number One Hero. That sounded like dead weight that people waited on. Mineta can't keep being that, not to Midoriya or anyone else. Not anymore.

The shorter boy collapsed onto his knees and prostrated himself before Fenghuang. "Please, teach me your ways Sensei!"

"Raise your head my young pupil; I fully intend to do just that. And please call me Shifu." The Heroine replied. Mineta raised his head, tears on the verge of leaking out of his eyes. He nodded and bowed again.

"Thank you, Fenghuang Shifu!"

She returned the bow before gesturing for him to stand on his feet, which Mineta did. Fenghuang picked up the stick she was using and entered a basic stance. There was nothing extreme about it. The stick was held straight up, her open left hand was positioned close to her chest, and her right foot was placed forward. She then performed some semi-restrained strikes on the air in front of her.

Two to the temples, two to the elbows/ribs, a thrust to the gut, two thrusts to each side of the chest, two to the knees, two thrusts to the eyes, and one straight to the head. Through the entirety of those motions, Fenghuang was simply only stepping forward and back with her left foot. But while it was an entirely simple demonstration, there was real force behind each attack.

The Heroine returned to her initial stance before relaxing.

"What you saw was the 12 offensive strikes with control from Balintawak, one of many Eskirma systems from the Philippines. It was developed when some members of another system, Doce Pares, felt like it was losing its combat effectiveness. So, as a result, Balintawak focuses on practical and effective moves." She explained.

"Eskirma? Then shouldn't you be using two sticks?" Mineta asked.

"Balitawak focuses on the single stick, leaving the open hand to freely do anything. Punch, block, redirect, disarm, and even use another weapon. It's this versatility that allows the old masters to compete against Eskrimadors of different systems. Now, let's have you learn the fundamentals. Observe my movements." Fenghuang explained.

The Heroine began to go through the 12 strikes again. And as she went through each blow, Mineta watched how her body moved. But while half of his mind had other ideas, he was able to block them out. Each attack was driven with the turn of the body and footwork, not just the arm. She was also keeping her wrist perpendicular with the stick. Her footing was firm, only moving when she needed to strike.

In all honesty, it was more like watching a boxer than an Eskrima fighter.

"Now you try." Fenghuang said, gesturing to the shorter boy. Mineta extended his baton and gotten into form. He replicated what he saw, feeling the movements for himself. And because he learned pitching; he was able to incorporate the turn of his body into the strikes easily. He finished the twelfth strike and returned to his starting stance.

"Good, you've got the body movement. Again." She instructed. Mineta repeated the movements, this time a little faster. The Heroine nodded as she took the stance once Mineta finished.

"Excellent, one more time." She said. Both Fenghuang and Mineta performed the twelve strikes simultaneously. And though the Heroine movements were snappier and cleaner, Mineta was somewhat close to matching it. It was odd though. Despite how simple these strikes were, there was something entrancing about it.

"You learn fast. Now to perform that with full force, simply allow the attack carry through without stopping. There are also additional movements for strikes five and twelve, but we can learn that later. Right now, I need to show you two simple defensive forms. This is the first, follow me." Fenghuang said, returning to basic form. Mineta watched as she raised her stick up and to the right, angling it slightly to the left.

She then moved the stick, without changing its angle, to her bottom left.

She raised it to the top left, changing the stick's angle to the right.

She then moved the stick to her bottom right, keeping the angle.

She then returned the stick to a perpendicular angle as she moved it to her left side.

And finally, maintaining the angle, she moved the stick to her right side.

Throughout those six motions, Mineta noticed that her left hand was behind the stick. It wasn't touching, but it was hanging around as though waiting for something.

"And that's it, the six point defense." Fenghuang said as she returned to her initial stance. The shorter boy stared at the Heroine. There was no way a defense was that simple.

"Was that really it Shifu?" Mineta asked, scratching at his head.

"If that's your question, then take a swing at me."

Oh no, here comes the physical explanation. Mineta cautiously stepped forward and he swung at her hip, left side. Fenghuang snapped her stick to position two and met the attack. The shorter boy, swung at the opposite side, only to meet his teacher's stick. This went on for a while before she showed why an open left hand was important.

Upon meeting a left side strike, Fenghuang grabbed the far end of Mineta's baton with her left. Then she shifted her stick to be under his. She pushed up and the shorter boy found himself devoid of a weapon. Mineta stared at the stick that was centimeters from his face before she relented. Fenghuang then gestured for him to retrieve his baton.

Mineta bowed before doing just that. And next time he turned back to his Shifu, he found her on her knees but in the stance. Mineta walked over and stared at the Heroine. What was she doing?

"Before we can modify things to suit your height, we must master the basics. So if you will, do the 12 strikes on me as I show you how to defend against it." Fenghuang said. As much as Mineta didn't like having people patronize him for his height… There was nothing he could do about it. This was too important for things like that.

He nodded and performed the first strike. Fenghuang turned her body, meeting his attack with her stick. She also kept her left hand close, but not touching, to the far half of the baton. Before Mineta moved into strike two, her stick hand punched forward with a snap. The shorter boy met it with his left hand and caught it. But with flick of her wrist, the far half of Funghuang's stick swung out and tapped the side of Mineta's neck.

"Remember to cover the weapon with your own. If that was a blade, your artery would've been cut." She explained, entering the stance again.

"Yes, Shifu." Mineta said as he performed the twelve strikes. From there, he experienced how his teacher blocked, moved, and countered each attack. And upon the second try, Mineta was starting to feel the depth of this martial art. Eventually, Fenghuang began attacking. And just as he observed, he began blocking and countering just as his teacher did.

Certain nuances became noticeable as Mineta continued defending. When blocking a strike, he had to turn his body towards the strike. It provided more stability than using just the arm. Next was how his teacher was pulling the stick back the moment it was blocked. It must be to prevent the opponent from controlling or disarming her weapon, like what happened with Mineta earlier.

"Excellent, now we'll begin randomizing it. I'll attack first, are you ready?" Fenghuang asked.

"I was born ready Shifu!"

…

Mineta laid on the ground, muscles screaming in agony. Despite the simplicity of Balintawak Eskirma, performing the movements at speed really tires one out. And it wasn't just the 12 strikes, both with control and with force, and the 6 point defense he finished learning. He also learned the grouping system, which trained his head movement and left hand utility. It was fairly complex compared to the 12, but the shorter boy managed to get it.

"Are you alright?" Fenghuang asked, looking down on him. Despite being on her knees for a few hours on a hardwood floor, she could walk around like nothing happened. The only thing that showed she put in effort was the sweat on her brow. That Soren guy was right; she could outlast them all…

"I… I just… Need a break…" Mineta said between his panting.

"Then I'll call someone to get us lunch. You're doing great; I've never seen someone learn so fast." She said as pulled out a phone.

"Well… I'm going on the Stain hunt… I've got to be ready…"

Fenghuang hummed to that, tapping the side of her chin. The shorter boy raised a brow as he looked over to see his teacher thinking. There were gears turning in her head and Mineta has no idea what prompted it. However, before he could mull on it any further, a wistful smile began to show on Fenghuang's face.

"I think it's more than that. You're afraid of failing the people closest to you." She said.

Mineta sat straight up, eyes snapping to his teacher. How did she figure that out? The Heroine let out a light chuckle as she faced her pupil. In her eyes were many stories that Mineta couldn't imagine. But he could see the emotions lurking behind them. Happiness, sadness, anger, peace, hope, despair… It was all there.

"You experience many things as a Hero and a Teacher. Your eyes will see thousands of scenes just as your ears will hear just as many tales. Your drive reminds me of one person I know. He was pretty unassuming but had a big dream. He wanted to be a writer in spite of his friends' and family's advice. But it was rough, things kept getting in his way and he slowly lost the faith of those around him." She explained in a gentle but hushed tone.

"… What happened to him?"

"He talked to people, got serious about his work, and pushed on through. Now, he's a bestselling author with a worldwide fan base. Once you have the mentality, you'll have the power to reach your horizon. It'll take time, but you will find the place where you belong." She answered with a smile. Those words echoed within the shorter boy, something about it calling to his very being.

Mineta thought about where he belonged. For so long, it had been on the outside with Midoriya. But now, he also had Iida, Uraraka, Tsuyu, Kaminari, and the Class of 1A. Work was hard as Aizawa and All Might push them to their limits… But there was nothing else he wanted to do. Mineta wanted to be there.

And as he said before, he no longer wanted to be dead weight.

The aching around his body disappeared as Mineta found the strength to stand. With his feet firmly on the ground and eyes burning with determination, he entered the stance and began practicing again. Fenghuang nodded, resuming her instruction until lunch came.

One cannot stem the drive to advance forward after all.

And that has been Chapter 40.

First, I must give credit to Guru Jeff Chung of NYC Knife Training - Neo Tribe Kali. He was the one who showed me the basics of Balintawak Eskrima and gave me the training so I could mirror Mineta's training. And while I only had Mineta learn the basics just as I have... Sometimes, fundamentals can be more than enough.

"Fear the man who practiced 1 kick 10,000 times and all that."

I'm still doing my best to practice all the moves Guru Jeff showed me despite the current situation. But while certain forms had been forgotten, I have mostly remembered all the strikes and their targets. This will come in handy when I need Mineta to play... Dirty...

"Oh absolutely. All bets are off when something happens."

But becoming physically stronger is not everything I have in mind for Mineta. I'll be covering some of the more mental aspects of his development... By beating you, my dear readers, with pretentious philosophical ramblings.

"Way to prime them for tedium..."

Trust me, it's necessary for this story. But I digress... How is everyone doing? Things haven't gotten any easier out in the world, but I do hope you're finding small victories whenever you can. As for me, I've been swallowed by the hell that is Persona 4 and all the fan fiction associated with it. Here's hoping that I don't get swallowed up in procrastination and somehow keep up my updates and quality. So please, let me know how I'm doing.

"Reviews are gold, if you haven't figured that out."

Anyhow, that is all I have for this update.

"Next time, pretentious ramblings!"

So with that said...

Until Next Time. T1.