Mineta One Shots

The Girl In The Mushroom Circle (Kinoko/Mineta)

Rating: Gen
Pairing: Komori Kinoko & Mineta Minoru
Prompt: Kinoko/Mineta supernatural, redemption, child
Tags: fantasy au, no quirks au, kid au, Mineta is a little shit, Fae & fairies, beware of the Fae

Summary:

Two children meet in the forest, nothing is what it seems.

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A small boy ran through the forest, hands out in front of him to push away branches and shrubs. He occasionally slipped and skidded, knees and shins scratched bloody by thorns that tore his hand sewn pants. His mother would surely be furious when he returned home, but for now he had nothing on his mind but escape.

He let out a giggle of unbridled joy as he launched himself over a rotting log, hearing the yelling behind him fade into the chatter of the forest.

He rarely ventured this far, sticking to the village and fields where he could be supervised by the adults. However, this was an adventure! It was also a tactical retreat from some very angry young women.

He was no older than six, armed with nothing but his satchel of cool rocks and the piece of clothing he'd stolen from an unwatched clothing line. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to do with it, probably bury it, but he liked it when they chased after him.

He was small for his age, wearing handmade clothes that hung off his skinny body. The kanji for his village was sewn into the collar of his shirt, something his mother had always done. His hair was purple as ripe plums and tied up in balls by his mother. He had always said his hair was untamable and best kept at bay with this method. He was barefoot, feet dirty and accustomed to the hard ground.

The boy became less careful as he darted around trees, laughing to himself.

It was because of this that he tripped, crashing into the soil with a yelp.

He laid in the dirt, trying to get the world to stop spinning when he heard a voice.

"Lentinula edodes, pleurotus ostreatus, pleurotus eryngii..." A soft high pitch voice floated by, coming from ahead. "Something is missing."

The boy quietly picked himself up and creeped forward, not even daring to breathe as he peeked through the bushes.

There was a perfectly circular clearing, and in that clearing, there was a girl. She was young like him, with tiny hands and a round face.
The forest was dim around them, only a few streaks of light managing to get through the canopy. To her back was the largest tree the boy had ever seen, the entire forest in its shadow! The forest floor around the girl was covered in mushrooms of different shapes and sizes. She gently spoke to them, pointing at the different mushrooms as she talked.

"Grifola frondosa, flammulina velutipes... Ah! Cantharellus cibarius!" She sat before a cluster of bright yellow mushrooms and began to scoop away soil with care.

The boy watched the girl for a minute, most enraptured and unnerved by her.

She wore a red dress with white circles on it, and had on a funny hat that looked like a mushroom top. Maybe she lived out here?

He inched closer, trying to get a better look.

The girl stopped, abandoning her digging and standing up to face the woods.

"I know you're out there." Her voice was soft, but a shiver ran down the boy's spine.

She was very pretty, hair cut short to her shoulders and one eye visible through a gap in her bangs. Her eyes were strange, warm brown with pupils like Xs, eyes staring right at him.