MHA: Living as Mineta is hard

Right after he came back from school, Mineta observed many heroes on the street. He also came and asked them what they usually did as a hero.

They also answered his question happily and told him their duty was to help and protect everyone.

Frankly, Mineta wanted to ask how their salaries were and whether there was insurance when they were hurt or something. After all, once they were hurt, their career might end, and they couldn't become a hero anymore.

He wondered whether such a thought had ever crossed their minds.

Still, instead of fighting a villain, he was afraid of poverty, so he wanted to consider his future properly.

"My job is generally to save people from danger. Oh, right! I also work as a firefighter since I can control water."

Mineta wasn't sure of the name of this hero, but he didn't care anyway since he just wanted to ask about his experience.

"Do you have to work every day?"

"Not really." The hero shook his head. "Still, I worked every day at first, but later, I took one or two days a week."

"When you work, do you work 24 hours?

"Haha, of course not. We're heroes, but we're also human. We're different from All Might."

"........."

Mineta felt this hero was really realistic. However, he was glad the hero didn't have to work 24 hours a day. Yet during a crisis or on certain occasions, standing by for 24 hours was necessary.

They also mostly stayed in their office, known as a "Hero Agency," instead of their homes.

The two talked for a while before the hero continued his work on patrol.

However, suddenly the hero stopped since he forgot to tell Mineta something. "If you decide to become a hero, you should be prepared since this work is dangerous." he looked around and pulled parts of his costumes.

Mineta thought this hero was a pervert, but his eyes widened when he saw a caterpillar-like scar on his side. "That is...?"

"I got it from fighting a villain." The hero answered sheepishly.

"Do you still continue to become a hero even after getting that scar? You might get a worse scar in the future, you know?" Mineta asked with doubt. He could tell from the scar that this hero might die from that injury.

"Of course." The hero answered with a bright smile without hesitation.

"Ah, hero, good work!"

"Hello, thank you for your hard work!"

"Yes, thank you." The hero replied to the people who greeted him with a smile. He then looked at Mineta and said, "I am happy with this job, and I don't think I will stop anytime. This has always been my dream since childhood, and even if I am hurt, I am fine as long as I can save more people. You might not understand it now, but in the future, you might understand how I feel if you become a hero. See you later, boy." He patted Mineta's ball-like hair before he continued his patrol.

Mineta didn't say anything and thought that a hero was quite stupid since instead of their lives, they cared more about the lives of the other people. However, he wasn't surprised since what people sought was pretty simple, and that was an acknowledgment from someone or many people.

Being a hero made them able to be acknowledged by many people, giving them motivation, which made them work even harder.

He sighed and thought that even if they were a hero, they were also people, so their acts were easy to guess. However, this made him hesitant to become a hero since becoming a hero could affect his state of mind to almost a brainwashing level. After all, it was definitely impossible for him to sacrifice his life for others.

Still, he must admit those people who dared to jump forward without hesitation to become a hero were brave, or they might be an idiot since they had never thought much.

After that talk, he went to his room and surfed the internet, trying to understand the hero better.

For the past few days, he had been studying and trying to understand the situation in this world better.

If Ibara didn't ask him to become a hero, he might not take an interest in it.

"All Might."

It was the first thing that came out when he searched for a hero on the internet.

"All Might" was undoubtedly the number one hero in this country, if not the world. His popularity was so immense that he was known everywhere. Still, what surprised him was the amount of merchandise under this hero was so much that it made him speechless.

"Toys, posters, action figures, comics, movies, etc..."

He folded his arms and realized that being a hero was more lucrative than he had thought. Still, instead of heroes, he felt they had become celebrities.

Somehow, he felt it might not be weird if there were some idealists out there who put contempt on today's heroes.

Still, it had nothing to do with him since he wasn't a hero.

By then, he continued to search for information about a hero, such as a law, income, insurance, etc. He kept looking at the screen until his eyes were attracted to one of the top female heroes.

He was stunned before he looked at other female heroes such as Mountain Lady, Midnight, Ryukyu, Ms. Joke, Uwabami, Cow Lady, and many others.

"........."

He was in silence, and only the noise from his steady breathing and clock could be heard.

"It seems I need to become a hero."

He made up his mind now.

---

In the class, Mineta was studying, but then his two friends approached him.

"Are you not going to visit Shiozaki-san today?"

"Yeah, did you have a fight?"

"Have you failed?"

".........."

Mineta stared at the two speechlessly and said, "What do you know? When you try to approach someone, you shouldn't contact that person on the third day."

"Why?" 2x

Kota and Tanaka were confused. After all, if they liked someone, shouldn't they go after that person every day?

Also, what's wrong with the third day?

"If you do this, that person will become curious and wonder what you are doing since they think you will come. However, you don't come, which makes her wonder what you are doing. If you can make the person you like become curious about you, it is only a time before you make her fall for you. Everything starts from curiosity."

Mineta explained with a sigh while staring at the window, feeling lonely since no one understood his worry.

"............"

They blinked their eyes and kowtowed toward him.

"Mineta-sensei, please teach us!" 2x

"............." Mineta.

---

On the morning of the next day, Ibara went to water the flowers as usual. However, her eyes didn't look at the flowers. Instead, she tried to search for a figure.

"Good morning, Shiozaki-san."

Ibara turned and saw Mineta was there. "Good morning, Mineta-san." When she saw his gentle smile, she also smiled.

"Sorry I couldn't help you yesterday since I had something to do."

"It's okay." Ibara sighed in relief before she said, "I thought that it was because of me that you didn't come."

"Because of you?" Mineta was confused.

"Because I invited you to become a hero, I thought I had made you uncomfortable." Ibara bowed her head and apologized. "Sorry!"

"No, no, you don't need to apologize. Also, you don't need to bow your head." Mineta tried to stop Ibara from bowing her head, feeling speechless, and he must admit that this girl was simple. "Instead, I have to thank you."

"Thank me?" Ibara looked at Mineta in doubt.

"Because of you, I have found what I want to do after I have graduated from middle school." Mineta smiled and said, "So from now on, let's work hard together to become a student of the "U.A. High School," Shiozaki-san."

Ibara looked at Mineta in a daze before she smiled and said, "Yes, Mineta-san."

"By the way, can we exchange our contact info? I want to ask you about the U.A. High School."

"Sure."

The two exchanged their contacts easily.

Mineta sighed in relief after phase one had been cleared out.

'Work hard, Mineta!'

He cheered himself up and thought that it was only the beginning of his story.