148 Doomed

"Distorted?"

Everyone was confused.

"Sorry, I guess this kind of ambiguous answer won't make you satisfied, so let me explain from the beginning."

"Please." Naomasa nodded.

Before, Kenji Tsuragamae and the Chief Police precinct of Shinjuku didn't believe much in Mineta, but when Mineta started to talk, they couldn't help but listen to him.

"From the moment my friend, Iida's older brother, was attacked by Hero Killer, Stain, I had decided to study this person."

He didn't lie, and this was what he really did, but as for whether he really thought of Iida as his friend or not, he was the only one who knew.

"On the internet, I have learned many things about Stain from his real name Chizome Akaguro, "Quirk," which allows him to immobilize someone by licking his target's blood, and many other things. I guess it is all thanks to you, the police, that I can learn many things about him."

"It's okay." Naomasa nodded with a smile. "We did everything to protect everyone, no matter how small, we would do what we could."

'So, isn't that the reason why you never caught the big boss of the villain?'

If they were more concentrated instead of spreading their forces, then everything would be easier, but he didn't comment on this matter since there was a disadvantage and advantage of his method.

Still, what was important was the Hero Killer, so he talked about this lunatic.

"Have you learned about Stain's past?"

"Stain's past?"

"Yes." He nodded. "To be honest, it is quite easy for me to search his past on the internet since he is fairly famous, and it is also the reason why I have come to the conclusion that this person is distorted."

"Um, can you explain to us in more detail, Mineta-kun?"

"Sure." He knew they didn't learn anything about Stain, so he didn't bother to ask or complain. After all, there were thousands or tens of thousands of crimes or more happening in this country every day, so naturally, some were missed, and they were all human, so no one was perfect.

He told them about Stain's past, which tried to tell everyone that a hero should be pure.

"Pure?"

"Unlike today's hero who receives money and does their everything to gain popularity, the hero in Stain's mind is something that appears in a fairy tale. Someone who doesn't need money. Someone who doesn't need popularity. Someone who wholeheartedly only wants to help people without asking for anything. This is the pure hero on his mind."

"..."

Everyone was speechless.

When a hero becomes a job, it is impossible for one not to receive money.

Pure?

If so, how many people would die when one was waiting for such a hero?

Even All-Might, the symbol of peace, also received a lot of money.

No one could escape from it, and they all needed it.

Even the police also needed the money when they did their justice, so were they wrong?

Realizing this, they realized how distorted Stain was.

"Then, do you understand why he has targeted me?" Mineta asked.

"...sorry."

He sighed and said, "While it is only my guess, it is probably because I am also a popular All-Tuber."

"All-Tuber?" 5x

They were all dumbfounded, but he was silent and showed the news about him and also his channel, which made them dumbfounded by the number of subscribers and his popularity.

"After the Sports Festival, my popularity became even higher, and the number of my subscribers increased even more, especially when the newspapers talked about me. I never confirmed this news, but it seems that Stain thought of me as an impure hero who made this hero society sick. You can see how unreasonable he is, right? I am not even a hero after all."

"...that guy is a lunatic." The chief police of Shinjuku snorted coldly.

Naomasa, Kenji, Ryukyu, and Nejire also thought similarly.

Just because of this, Stain wants to kill Mineta.

They thought that Stain was already crazy, and they knew that this guy must have the death penalty.

Even if Mineta loved money, so what?

Mineta gained all of his money in a legal way, and nothing illegal was found, so everything was okay. He also paid a lot of taxes, which made him a great citizen of this country.

They were all living in modern society, and the importance of money was high.

Mineta was smart for being able to use his popularity to make money, and there was nothing wrong with it. He also wasn't a hero, and he was just a minor, yet, even so, Stain wanted to kill him.

Their expression was clearly seen by him.

He smiled, but his expression quickly changed.

All one could see on his face was confusion, sadness, and doubt.

"Am I wrong? I started this as a hobby, and until now, I have never thought about money. Is it only because of this that I have been targeted by him?"

"No, you're not wrong! Stain is the wrong one! I can assure you of that!" Naomasa said righteously as he patted Mineta's shoulder.

Yes, Mineta wasn't wrong.

Stain was the wrong one!

Everyone in this room thought similarly.

"Thanks." He showed a relieved, restrained smile.

"You don't need to worry. Stain will receive a punishment for what he has done. We, the police, won't let him go!"

"Thank you, I believe in you." He nodded, but then he asked, "What about the villain who has teleported Stain from Hosu City to Shinjuku? That person should be the one who released Nomu on the Hosu City, right?"

When he asked this question, the police showed an awkward expression.

"We still haven't found anything about him. We found nothing."

"I see."

What could he say?

Anyway, their conversation ended shortly after they had finished what they wanted to talk about.

"Okay, we will leave now. You should do your best to rest."

"I will."

They nodded before they excused themselves.

In this case, Mineta was nothing but a victim, and the one who rescued him was Ryukyu.

When the police left, Ryukyu looked at Mineta and asked, "Is this alright, Minoru?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you were the one who defeated Stain, right? Shouldn't the credit fall to you?" This was what made Ryukyu feel awkward.

"What are you talking about? I am not a hero. I don't have a license to use my "Quirk." Even if the situation is critical and my case might be counted as self-defense, I know how severe damage I have caused to Stain. Instead, I want to thank you. After all, you have to cover me from the police."

Ryukyu showed a gentle smile and said, "It's okay. You don't need to worry. You're an intern in my office. Naturally, I have a responsibility to take care of you."

So, would you take care of me tonight?

He wanted to ask that, but it was hard when Nejire was present.

"Okay, you need to rest, right? Come on, Nejire. Don't bother him."

"Ah, um." Nejire sighed since she didn't want to leave, but she didn't really want to tell what was happening between her and Mineta to Ryukyu. "Okay." She stood up and was ready to leave, but Ryukyu moved toward him and whispered, "I will visit you tonight."

As for how Ryukyu was going to visit him, she could say that she was going to visit her boyfriend.

"Thanks."

Once again, he was glad that he had decided to have his internship at Ryukyu's hero office.

As for Stain and the other villains, he didn't think much about his head since, in his eyes, they were nothing but a bug that he could crush anytime.