Cubicity

Chapter 34: Catching Up

"Man, I screwed up."

"Yep."

"Things were going so well."

"They were."

Mineta grabbed his head and shook it as he proclaimed, "Ugh, what the hell is wrong with me."

Midoriya could only sigh at the sight of his friend flailing on his bed. He had only minutes ago come upon his neighbor's door, which was slightly open. Izuku then heard Minoru's groans from inside and asked if everything was okay, which led him to his current situation.

"Is there any hope for me?"

Midoriya figured being blunt was the best course of action here and said, "Considering that Ashido-chan was treating you the best out of the girls and you blew it, it's not looking good."

Mineta then grabbed his pillow and drove his head into it. Soon he began to roll around his bed with frustration.

During their match of joint training lesson, Minoru, while saving Mina from an attack, used the feedback to "accidentally" propel him into her breasts. This, of course, was all planned, and Ashido was quite angered by it. Midoriya rarely saw his classmate be this genuinely agitated, besides when needing to study.

"I guess I should apologize."

Izuku put a hand to his forehead as he asked, "You haven't yet?"

Minoru's head hung lower as he said, "No."

"That's the first thing you should have done. Prolonging it will only make it worse to salvage your reputation with her and the others."

Though at this point, it felt a little too late. What goodwill he had established with the girls was all up in smoke. Midoriya felt things were going well, considering everything Mineta had done with Uraraka and Ashido during their planning, and in the final match was in no way perverse in his actions. Until "that" happened.

Trying to make sense of it, Izuku asked, "So why Ashido-chan? Were you afraid of Ida-kun's wrath if it was Uraraka-chan?"

Minoru laid on his back as he responded with, "Convenience. That Twin Impact quirk of Shoda-san looked like a great opportunity to exploit, but you and Uraraka-chan had run off to deal with Monoma-san and Shino-san."

So had Uraraka been there, it would have been open season, Midoriya internally groaned. But then again, this didn't seem beyond Mineta. He did try and grab a peek of Hagakure's underwear in front of her boyfriend during the first day of the second term. It seemed like he genuinely hadn't learned much these past few months besides being more discreet. Which Izuku did suggest Minoru do but as a starting point, which seems he hasn't gone beyond.

Frustrated at the entire situation, Midroiya explained as kindly as he could what was happening. "There isn't much I can suggest to help you Mineta-kun. You were establishing some genuine trust with the girls these last few months and blew it all up for a moment of pleasure. It's up to you to make amends with Ashido-chan and work from there."

"But that's hard," Mineta said with a long drawn-out groan.

Izuku argued, "And keeping your thoughts mostly to yourself these past few months wasn't? Talking to her for a few minutes should be a breeze compared to that."

"And if she doesn't want to talk?"

"Be persistent. She should eventually at least hear what you have to say."

Minoru then seemed to be lost in thought.

Midoriya also figured at the very least he might try and talk to Ashido about it tomorrow, as it would be Thursday, and it would be time for another dance lesson. He hoped bringing it up wouldn't sour her mood enough to affect practice.