Chapter 9: Living in this world is hard
In this society where a "Quirk" appeared, many crimes happen every day.
Mineta even heard that at least 100 crimes, such as fights or stealing, happen in Shibuya every day.
Enoshima was a popular spot for a trip, and along with the weekend, the traffic was quite heavy.
In other words, it was simply a perfect place for someone to steal something.
As for why they committed a crime, he was too lazy to answer since there were too many reasons.
Still, even if the woman screamed, no one thought to help her since they knew a hero would save her and catch the robber.
In a society where a hero existed, no one would ever think to do anything, and they would only wait for a hero to save them. It might sound cold since there was no warmth between people in society, yet in front of people who dared to use their "Quirk" without any restraints, the normal people decided not to get involved and even stepped away so they wouldn't get involved.
Bystander effect.
Mineta knew this situation well.
A hero would come, so the robber would be caught, so they didn't do anything and decided not to get involved.
Then what if the hero failed?
After all, a hero was just a human, and they could make a mistake.
If that happened, then the victims could only blame their luck.
Mineta also didn't want to get involved. He knew his actions might sound cold, but he had his reasons. It hadn't been a while since he became Mineta, and he didn't want to cause trouble, yet it was different with Ibara since he could see she was ready to take action.
Ibara was someone who aspired to become a hero, and she couldn't let this robber escape!
However, she was stopped by Mineta hurriedly.
"Wait, Shiozaki-san!"
"Mineta-san? What's wrong?"
Ibara was in a hurry since the robber was about to escape.
"I will handle this. Wait here."
Mineta didn't wait for Ibara's answer and quietly walked to the crowd to stop the robber. He also used his power and increased his speed.
Ibara was surprised at how fast Mineta was, but at the same time, she also sighed in relief since after staying with him so long, she knew how suitable his ability was for this type of situation. Still, she realized something.
'Isn't his speed too fast?'
After a moment, Ibara couldn't see Mineta's figure anymore.
Mineta was short, so when he entered the crowd, it would be hard for someone to see his figure. His speed was also naturally fast, especially after he got a "Speed Augmentation" ability previously, which increased his speed even more.
Mineta quickly appeared near the robber, a few meters away. He could see that the robber didn't seem to notice his figure, but it was good, so he didn't give him a chance for the robber to see him and threw out a ball-like thing on his hair on the foot of the robber.
The ball hit the robber and stuck him to the ground.
"What—?!"
The robber didn't know what had happened, but he couldn't move so abruptly, yet he was right in the middle of running, so when this happened, he fell to the ground directly!
"It hurts!"
His face hit the ground directly and caused his nose to bleed.
Mineta moved to the side and took the bag naturally before he threw it back at the woman. His accuracy was naturally high. If he became a basketball player, he could become a regular by becoming a Shooting Guard, getting points one after another from a distance.
It might sound outrageous, but it might be his natural talent might since out of ten balls, he would only miss one ball.
"Eh?"
The woman was dumbfounded when the bag suddenly dropped into her hands.
Mineta didn't come out and returned to Ibara quietly. He also erased his trace and dissolved his ball-like thing, which was stuck on the feet of the robber, so no one would realize it was him who did all of this.
"Wow, Mineta-san, that's amazing!"
Ibara was amazed by Mineta's feat.
However, Mineta didn't show happiness. Instead, his mood was terrible.
"...What's wrong, Mineta-san?" Ibara was startled since it was her first time seeing him in this expression.
"Shiozaki-san, do you realize what you're doing is wrong?" Mineta couldn't help but reprimand Ibara.
"Wrong? What do you mean?" Ibara was confused. After all, she just wanted to help someone.
Why was she wrong?
Mineta didn't say much and gave his phone to Ibara, showing the article that he wanted to show her.
"Hmm?"
Ibara was confused, but she still took his phone.
The screen showed an article about Danjuro Tobita.
This was an unfamiliar name.
No, it might be forgotten by many people.
However, what was written in this article gave Ibara a shock.
Danjuro Tobita was a student in the hero course. In the future, right after he graduated, he would become a hero, a profession adored by many people, yet a single mistake destroyed his future.
So what did he do wrong?
He did nothing wrong, and he just wanted to help people.
However, his actions caused a lot of trouble to many people, damaging the building, disturbing a hero, and causing a problem, the injury to the victim. In the end, his parents had to pay a heavy fine, and he was kicked out of school.
Even worse, his family was also affected, and they had to move since their neighbors often talked badly about them.
In other words, they died socially because of this matter.
His future was destroyed, and everything started because of a single act of kindness.
Right after he became Mineta, he researched a lot of things in this world, and he knew how troublesome the law was in this country. He didn't want to get hurt or cause trouble to his parents, after all, so he needed to get the necessary information in order to live well in this world.
Yet he must admit living in this world was hard.
A hero aside, the life of an ordinary civilian was tough.
Well, it wasn't much different from his previous world since the life of a middle-class family had always been challenging.
Only the rich had the privilege.
Similar to how the world in his previous life worked before.
Still, his life in this world was just a middle-class family.
Well, his family was slightly better than that of a middle-class family, but it was hard to say they could be called rich people in this country. On the other hand, Ibara's family condition was worse than his family's. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't that good, either.
If what had happened to Danjuro Tobita happened to Ibara, Mineta couldn't even cry. He wanted to make her his girlfriend, so how could she allow her to experience this painful experience?
Mineta held Ibara's hand and asked, "Do you understand why I am angry?"
"I..."
Ibara couldn't say a single word, and the words that were about to come out of her mouth stuck. Her face was pale, and she was scared since she knew a single mistake would ruin her future.
No, she could also ruin her family!