Origins Oneshots (And more!)

Mino Mori

Series: My Hero Origins

Ships: None intentional but you can read it as a ship if you choose 

Warnings: None

Mino glanced down at his phone, checking the time for the third time in the past minute. It hadn't changed, of course, all it did was Cause him to squint at the sudden light in the surrounding darkness. He'd done it so many times at this point that his eyes were beginning to adjust.

The time read 3:40 and he was starting to think he should just go home, after all Kol was meant to have shown up forty minutes ago. It was the first time the boy had contacted him in a year; they hadn't spoken since Mino dropped out of school after he'd realized he didn't have a very bright future as a hero with his quirk. He remembered hearing from Kane that apparently Kol was dead but that clearly wasn't the case.

Three days ago, Mino had logged back into Cyberpunk Genesis for the first time in a while and he almost immediately got a message from a user he played with quite often, Randis.

Or in other words, Kol Becker. The message had told him to meet up around the back of the mall at 3:00, Friday. Only, Hollowgrim didn't have a mall on the map so Mino took the hint and was now standing at a patch of trees around the back of the mall in town, wrapped up in a heavy jacket and scarf as it was pretty cold outside.

And yet, Kol still wasn't here and it was coming up to four in the morning. His parents weren't home that night so he was fine to be out there but it was also making him nervous as he'd never been out this late before. He was only sixteen and not exactly trained to defend himself if anyone wanted to rob him, but his wallet and house keys were tucked away in his inventory. For his own comfort he opened it up again and slipped his phone in there as well. Kol was probably dead and whoever had hacked into his account was probably some asshole trying to pull a prank. Mino wasn't sure why it was even directed at him considering he and Kol had never even been particularly close.

The dark haired boy let out a soft sigh and shook his head, turning away from the mall to start heading back the way he came. There were leaves crunching under his feet that masked the soft sound of footsteps on the concrete nearby. He only realized that somebody else was there when he felt a hand grab onto his shoulder with an iron grip. The sudden touch scared the shit out of him and he spun around, bringing a leg up on instinct to boot the stranger in the stomach. He didn't get the chance to though, as whoever the hooded figure was grabbed onto his leg and shoved him down onto his back, planting a foot in his chest to stop him from going anywhere.

"Wait-! Look man, I don't have any money on me uh.. I don't even have a phone on me, you can check my pockets-"

"Mino, shut up, jesus."

Kol Becker reached up to pull down the hood of his dark jacket, taking his foot off of the shorter boy's chest to reach down and help him up. His hair had gotten longer and he seemed a little taller, definitely a lot stronger than when they last saw each other. Mino accepted the help and pulled his hand away as soon as he was on his feet, patting himself down to make sure nothing from the ground had stuck to him. He turned back to look up at the other boy and took a small step back to put some distance between them. Of course he was glad to see that his old friend was alive and well, but after all he'd heard about the boy since he dropped out he wanted to be wary.

Kol of course took notice of this and raised a brow, crossing his arms with a little grin stretching across his face. "What? Do I smell bad or something? I could have sworn I took a shower.. "

In truth he knew why Mino was being wary, but his obviously false confusion and his light hearted tone got a soft chuckle out of the other and seemed to relax him. Mino shook his head a little and stuffed his hands into his jacket pocket, shivering a little. It was quite cold outside and his breath was freezing in the air.

"Scared the crap out of me Kol, did you have to knock me over like that?"

"Did you have to try boot me in the stomach? I think knocking you over was pretty fair."

Mino thought it was a pretty reasonable reaction to being grabbed like that but he let it go, just rolling his eyes a little. There were many questions burning into his mind but he had a feeling they would all be answered in due time. There was one big one though, and judging by the way Kol was eyeing him Mino figured the boy was waiting for him to ask before he continued. Letting out a soft sigh, he relented.

"Alright Kol, what did you want? I know you didn't drag me all the way out here just to say hi."

Kol's little grin grew when the question was asked and he motioned for Mino to follow him, turning on his heel as he walked through the trees. The shorter, curious, followed after him and kept his hands in his jacket pocket to keep warm. He kept silent as they walked to let Kol talk, which after a moment he began to.

"I can explain more when we're in a more private setting but ah.. I kind of need you Mino, you know your inventory quirk?" Kol paused for a moment to wait for a reply, only continuing when Mino let out a little hum in response. "I think it'd be useful for something I'm planning. You can say no, of course, and I'll just bring you home.. We'd be gone for a few days and I've got a cover story for you if you need one."

Kol stopped when they reached a road with a motorbike propped up against a tree on the side of it, two helmets resting on top. Mino seemed a little put off though, pulling both hands out of his pockets to raise them a little and step back. "Wait wait hold up, what? Like.. Right now? Kol my parents are coming back tomorrow, I can't just go missing."

The taller paused and turned around, both helmets in his hands now. He had a hard to read expression, it went from confusion to a flash of anger and then to a little, awkward smile. He had been hoping that Mino would just come along with him but if the other really didn't want to then he wouldn't force him. Still, though, he approached Mino and held out a helmet for him.

"Look, ah... I can't tell you exactly what I need just yet but I can say that you'd be helping people. Saving people- And you don't need some stupid school and license to do that. I'll think of something to cover your tracks with your parents, but please Mino. I need you."

Mino was silent for a moment, slowly taking the helmet and staring down at it in his hands for a moment. The opportunity to help people, to save people, even with a quirk like his. A storage quirk.. He had given up on that dream but here was Kol Becker trying to convince him he didn't have to just yet.

Besides, what else did he have to do? His life was pretty boring.

He let out a groan and lifted the helmet to place it up onto his head, muttering something about his parents before he looked back at Kol. The boy stood there silently, waiting to hear Mino's answer.

"Fine. Let's do this."

An even bigger grin stretched across his face and he nodded, putting on his own helmet and pulling his bike away from the tree. Mino had never actually been on one before.

"Alright, sit behind me and hold on." Kol called back to him once he was sat down. Mino made a face before he went over and hopped up on it behind the other anyways, awkwardly wrapping his arms around Kol's midsection. It was pretty obvious that he was feeling awkward but Kol didn't really have an issue with it. At least, he didn't until Mino spoke up again.

"This is kinda weird man."

"It's only weird because you just made it weird, jesus.. "

Without another word, they took off down the road.