Lunch break had arrived, and the rooftop of the school had once again become the unofficial meeting spot for Mineta and his friends.
Mineta, Toru, Nejire, and Himiko were sitting together, enjoying the quiet atmosphere away from the noisy classrooms. There was only one problem.
None of them had any lunch. That was because they were waiting for someone. And that someone was Mei Hatsume.
The girls had barely finished wondering when she would arrive before a familiar mechanical buzzing echoed above them.
Mineta looked upward just in time to see Mei descending toward the rooftop with her jetpack, several packed lunch boxes secured in her arms.
The moment Mei landed, Nejire's eyes practically sparkled. "Party time!" Mei and Nejire cheered simultaneously.
Without wasting another second, the two immediately placed a hand on each other's shoulders and began dancing around in a circle while celebrating their arrival.
"Party time! Party time!"
"Food! Food! Beautiful food!"
Mineta stared at them with a completely blank expression. 'How did lunch somehow turn into a festival?'
Meanwhile, Toru quickly rushed forward and snatched the lunch boxes out of their hands before the enthusiastic dancing could send everything flying off the rooftop.
"Careful there!" Toru warned while carefully balancing the boxes. "And also, is it really okay for Mei to sneak into the school like this?"
Mineta couldn't help laughing as he watched Mei casually remove her jetpack. "It's fine. The school probably won't notice."
Toru tilted her invisible head toward him. "Probably?"
"Probably," Mineta repeated with a grin.
'That is definitely not a reassuring answer.'
Once everyone settled down, the lunch boxes were opened, revealing an assortment of delicious-looking food. The smell alone was enough to make everyone's stomachs growl.
Himiko immediately picked up a piece of pork with her chopsticks and took a bite. Her eyes widened. "Mmmmmm! This is so delicious!"
She happily continued eating while the others dug into their own meals.
Mei explained between bites that getting the food hadn't exactly been easy. "I had to stand in line forever because the hotel was completely packed," she said. "Apparently the chef there is really famous. His name was Soma or something."
"Soma?" Mineta repeated, pausing for a moment. 'That name sounds suspiciously familiar.'
Before he could think about it any further, another bite of food disappeared into his mouth.
The conversation quickly became chaotic as everyone started eating and talking at the same time.
Himiko praised the pork again, Toru commented on the different dishes, Nejire enthusiastically asked Mei about where she had bought everything, and Mei happily explained the food while occasionally talking about completely unrelated inventions.
For several minutes, everything was peaceful. Then the conversation shifted toward a rather important subject.
Nejire had suddenly developed a pouty expression. Her cheeks were slightly puffed out as she stuffed another mouthful of rice into them.
Mineta noticed immediately. "What's wrong, Nejire?" Nejire swallowed her rice and sighed dramatically.
"Because of all the theory studying, I'm not getting any time to train my Quirk for the U.A. entrance exam!" she complained. "And I can't even think of good ways to train my Quirk!"
Mineta understood the problem immediately. The U.A. entrance exam wasn't simply about knowing things from textbooks. They would need to demonstrate what they could actually do, especially during the practical portion.
Nejire had an incredibly powerful Quirk, but figuring out how to train it effectively was another matter entirely.
Mineta bit into a piece of tempura while listening.
Then Himiko muttered, "I'll have to think about training too."
"Now that I've decided I want to become a hero, I have to prepare for the entrance exam too. But my Quirk isn't really suited for combat, and the entrance exam is a combat-type exam."
Her expression became slightly gloomy as Toru immediately slumped as well. "Mine won't help much either."
Mineta looked between the three girls.
Nejire was struggling to find ways to train her Quirk.
Himiko had a Quirk that wasn't naturally suited to fighting robots.
Toru's invisibility had obvious limitations when it came to directly destroying targets.
And then there was Mei, who suddenly raised her hand. "I have an idea!"
Everyone looked at her.
"Can I make some babies for them to use in the exam?"
Toru tilted her head. "What kind of babies?"
"Support babies! Like guns and stuff!" Mineta immediately shook his head.
"No. U.A. doesn't allow support items to be used during the entrance exam unless the item is necessary for the applicant's Quirk."
Mei's expression immediately collapsed. Her shoulders slumped. "No babies for exam..."
She looked genuinely devastated.
Mineta stared at the four gloomy faces sitting around him.
Nejire was pouting.
Himiko was looking thoughtful.
Toru had practically melted onto the rooftop.
And Mei was mourning the death of her imaginary support-item babies.
Mineta sighed. 'Seriously... How did I become responsible for all of this?' He placed his chopsticks down and looked at them.
"Fine. I'll help you." Four heads immediately snapped toward him.
Mineta continued, "I'll help you guys come up with ways to train for the entrance exam. And I'll also give Mei some ideas for more babies."
Mei's eyes instantly lit up. "Really?!"
Nejire leaned forward excitedly. "You're going to help us train?"
Himiko's gloomy expression disappeared. "Really?!"
Even Toru suddenly looked much more energetic. "You'll help me too?"
Mineta nodded. "All of you." The four girls stared at him expectantly as Mineta rubbed the back of his head. "Although I'll have to make a call first."
He picked up his lunch box and placed it beside him before standing up. Then he walked a short distance away from the others, taking out his phone.
Behind him, the four girls continued eating while occasionally glancing in his direction.
Mineta scrolled through his contacts. His finger stopped on one particular number.
He pressed it. The screen displayed the caller ID. Yu Oneesan.
Mineta stared at the name for a moment. 'Let's see if she's willing to help us out.' He raised the phone to his ear and waited for the call to connect.