An Angel Becoming a Hero [BNHA X OC]

51 - Story Time with Class A

And then, with nobody else speaking up, there was a voice coming from the back row. "None of you have a clue how to go about this, huh?"

Everyone turned to look at Mineta.

"You need a way to keep a man distracted? Then open the floor to me."

"Better not be some pervy story," said Kyoka with a scowl.

Momo backed her up. "Yes. Nothing vulgar, please."

"Hey. All I'm talking about is a way for a guy to keep his mind off things!"

"Sure, except your mind and mouth have taken up permanent residence in the gutter," I said.

"Yeah, that's right!"

Mineta's expression showed his utter contempt for all the girls currently shouting him down. Meanwhile, Iida stood up and turned towards Mineta, hoping to cut the confrontation short.

"Listen to reason, Mineta! We're inside a bus, so I'll ask that you not force others to listen to these stories of yours!"

"Please, President... I'm a man who knows his audience. There's a time and place for everything, right? And what? Is this suddenly a dictatorship?"

"Of course not! I have the utmost respect for everyone's views and opinions!"

"Then it's not really fair for you to cut me off before I've even started, right?"

"Hrm... I suppose not. Very well. Let's hear what you have to say."

Always striving to be fair and just, Iida had been cowed by Mineta's sophistry, triggering another round of outcries from myself and the other girls. Most of the boys were silent, with a few secretly looking forward to whatever was coming.

"This was back in elementary school. There was this video rental place, and they'd just stopped me from peeking at the R-rated corner for about the hundredth time..." Mineta wore a queer expression as he started his story.

Sero couldn't believe his ears. "You've been like this since elementary?"

"A perv right outta the womb!" cried Mina from the front row.

Mineta snorted. "Ha! You call that perverted? I'm just getting started! Anyhow, I was walking home from the video store, and near the riverbank in my neighborhood, a piece of paper flew past my feet. White, standard size... It wasn't from a dirty mag, so I was gonna just keep on walking, but something told me to check, just in case. So I picked it up and turned it over, and the back was covered in all this writing. Couldn't read most of the kanji since I was so little, right? Still, I could sense it was something special."

"How? What'd you sense, exactly?" asked Mineta's seatmate, Sato.

"What can I say? This piece of paper was just oozing with passion. Anyway, I brought my discovery home, kept it secret, and whipped out a kanji dictionary to help me decode the writing... Debase... Slobber... Impurity... Turned out to be a page from a novel about a young widow who starts selling her body to pay back her dead husband's debts..."

"Not exactly proper reading material for a little kid," said Ojiro with a pained look.

Mineta snorted again. "Don't be dumb. The gates of literature are open to people of all ages, no?"

"Yeah, but that definitely sounds like erotica," said Kyoka, not hiding her disdain from her classmate.

Another snort from Mineta. "I prefer to call it an amorous novel! Listen, porn and steamy lit are as different as can be. Like sun and moon! An electric range and a roaring bonfire! If porn is your basic Turkish bath, then fine literature like this is a hot springs retreat in the mountains! It's the difference between fast-food and a seven-course meal! It's like..."