Strong

"Eh?"

Was that it?

This was the question on everyone's mind since this match was too fast!

Even Shinso frowned when he saw all of this. He had been defeated by Midoriya, but Midoriya was defeated so easily by Mineta? If so, where was his face?

'Am I weak? Or is he just strong?'

Shinso wasn't sure, but one thing was for sure, he knew that Midoriya wasn't weak, so the only explanation was Mineta was extremely strong.

Everyone had always thought this would be a battle of the century where Mineta and Midoriya would use their everything to defeat each other, yet the fact? There was no comparison between them, and Midoriya was defeated so easily by Mineta.

"Is that it? Shouldn't that freckle boy have a strong "Quirk"?" Monoma was confused, but then he looked at Ibara and asked, "Shiozaki, that sticky substance is your boyfriend's "Quirk," right? Is that substance strong?" It was impossible for him to ask Mineta, so he decided to ask his girlfriend. Still, he felt that it was good that Mineta had Ibara as a girlfriend. That way, he could gain a lot of information to take down Class 1-A!

'Hahaha, by then, Class 1-B will be number one!'

Monoma suddenly laughed, which caused everyone to step away from him since his laugh was just too disturbing."

"Spooky."

"Mm."

However, one thing was for sure. They were all looking at Ibara, curious about Mineta's "Quirk."

Ibara thought for a moment and said, "It's a story from half a year ago when I went on a date with him."

"Why did you suddenly mention your date?" Monoma was dissatisfied. He didn't want to hear about their date but only wanted to hear how powerful Mineta was.

Yet Ibara was silent and only stared at Monoma with a menacing gaze.

While it was faint, Monoma could see the thorns on Ibara's vines became sharper for some reason.

"Um... please continue your story."

Monoma wondered why all the girls in his class were so violent. He suddenly felt that it was good that Mineta could get them since, for him, they were all impossible.

"I told him I found a good cliff with beautiful scenery and flowers, so we decided to visit that place together, but..."

"But...?"

Ibara's story attracted everyone.

"There was a sudden earthquake. It was small, but the cliff was torn in half."

"!?"

"HUUUHHH?!"

They were all dumbfounded and opened their eyes wide. They were all looking at her in disbelief and gawking at her story.

This country was prone to earthquakes. It wouldn't be wrong to say that every day there might be an earthquake in this country, but it was only a small scale, and everyone had gotten used to it. However, the cases of Ibara and Mineta were different since the cliff they were about to visit was torn by the earthquake.

"And then? Then?"

"Are you two alright?"

"Is the hero around?"

"There's no hero. There are only the two of us. Fortunately, we're alright."

Everyone sighed in relief when they heard Ibara's answer.

"But that's not what I want to say." Ibara looked at Midoriya, who was wrapped in Mineta's substance, and said, "When the cliff is about to tear, Mineta used his substance to stick the cliff."

"...." Everyone.

"...really?"

"Yes." Ibara nodded. "If you don't believe me, you can come to Kamakura to see the cliff. Even now, it is still stuck together and stable. Even if many people stand there, it won't budge, and you won't be able to tell that it is being stuck together by him."

"...." Everyone.

Hearing that story, they were all looking at Midoriya.

If Mineta's substance could stick to the torn cliff, then how could Midoriya escape from it?

"Midoriya-boy..." All-Might watched Midoriya in distress, wondering whether Midoriya could only lose, but inwardly, he still hoped for a miracle to happen. He hoped that Midoriya would be able to wake up to the power of the One-For-All and tear that sticky substance away from his body before reversing the situation where Midoriya had the upper hand and won, but could he?

---

Midoriya was in despair.

'Move! Move! Move!'

He tried to move his entire body and even used the power of One-For-All without a limit, ignoring the fact that his body might be destroyed, and ruined. Yet no matter how he struggled, it could do nothing. It felt like Mineta's substance was able to absorb all the impact and shock coming from his power!

The reality shook him, and he kept thinking about what to do.

Unfortunately, Mineta didn't give him time. He walked toward Midoriya and picked him up like he had picked something up on the street.

Midoriya wanted to say something, but his mouth was quickly covered by a substance.

Mineta was too lazy to talk to Midoriya. He was sure that Midoriya would ask why he became a hero or something similar. To be honest, the reason why one became a hero wasn't that important. The only important thing was whether one could stick to this job until the end or not when they met a crisis that might endanger themselves.

Mineta had heard Midoriya became a hero because he wanted to become a cool hero.

'Cool hero...'

He wanted to laugh at Midoriya's dream. After all, Midoriya was still naive. On the other hand, everyone was more mature, and they became a hero because of the economy. He was also the same, but if he answered that, his reason to become a hero would feel impure compared to Midoriya, right?

So he decided to shut Midoriya's mouth.

After all, even if one had an admirable reason, pure reason, or other reason, they would all lose to him.

Midoriya wanted to fight back, trying to fight since he didn't want to lose like this!

Midoriya didn't want to lose this way!

Losing without being able to do anything. Losing without being able to show anything. Losing without announcing the existence of the next symbol of peace.

'No, I don't want to lose!'

His spirit blazed, and suddenly he saw several silhouette figures around him. They seemed there, trying to support him, but it was too late.

"Goodbye, Midoriya. Next time when you stand here, you should learn how to control your "Quirk" since when you're hurt, you'll also hurt your parents. Also, don't pass the next event in such a dishonest way next time."

When those words fell, everything disappeared.

Midoriya suddenly thought about his mother's crying face whenever she saw him hurt. He also thought about how uncomfortable his previous victory was, but in that moment of blankness, he felt his body touch a hard surface, and he lay on the ground, but he wasn't on the ground of the stage. Instead, he was already outside the stage, losing and defeated.

"Midnight-sensei, the announcement."

"The-The winner is Mineta Minoru!"

However, this time, there was no clap or shout. They all looked at him in a daze since, in their mind, there was only one word to describe him.

Strong.

He was strong.

Midoriya suddenly saw all the substance on his body dissolve, and he was freed from Mineta's body substance, but at this moment, he lowered his head since this loss was the worst loss that he had encountered after he became the inheritor of All-For-One.

"Midoriya-boy..."

All-Might clenched his fist as if Midoriya's loss was his loss, but even so, his gaze toward Mineta changed since he realized Mineta would become a strong competitor to become the next symbol of peace.