Chapter 66: Endeavor
"Uraraka, a-are you okay!?" Izuku Midoriya ran into the waiting room, his voice filled with concern. "That doctor didn't do anything to you, did she!?"
Uraraka, who was dressed in her black sports bra, was pulled from her thoughts by Midoriya's voice. A surprised smile spread across her face. "I'm fine! Dr. Ryanne is not only gentle and beautiful, but her medical skills are amazing, too! My injuries are all healed." As she spoke, she showed him the tiny injection mark on her arm.
I believe the 'amazing medical skills' part, but there's no way she's 'gentle'... Midoriya, unconvinced, stepped forward and took Uraraka's arm. Seeing the tiny red dot, which was several times smaller than the one on his own arm, he breathed a sigh of relief. I guess Dr. Ryanne uses different-sized needles depending on the person's situation...
It never once occurred to Midoriya that there was another option called "deliberate retaliation."
Uraraka blushed and pulled her hand back from Midoriya's grasp. She feigned a cheerful tone, scratching her head. "Oh well! I really thought that strategy would work, but Bakugo-kun is just too strong. It looks like I'll have to work even harder."
"Uraraka, you..." Midoriya knew Uraraka must be upset about the loss and wanted to say something comforting, but he opened his mouth and no words came out.
Pat, pat, pat... Uraraka laughed and patted Midoriya's shoulder. "Don't you worry about me, Deku-kun! I'm not going to get depressed over one failure. You, on the other hand, you have to fight Todoroki-kun next! You've got to do your best!"
Seeing Uraraka in such high spirits, Midoriya felt a little relieved, but his thoughts quickly turned to the anxiety of his own upcoming match against Todoroki.
After the cavalry battle, Todoroki had told Midoriya everything. He had revealed his family history without reservation: he was the child of the admired Pro Hero, Endeavor, and a woman who had been chosen for a Quirk marriage—a product of artificial ambition.
Shoto Todoroki despised his father, who only had eyes for All Might. He felt that Endeavor had never fulfilled his duties as a father and had never cared for his mother. All he had ever done was train him, forcing him to inherit his will to defeat All Might and become Number One.
"Midoriya," Todoroki had said at the end, "I'm not sure what your relationship is with All Might, but Endeavor is convinced that you're his successor. So I'm going to show him. I'm going to take first place without ever using the Quirk he gave me, and in doing so, I will completely and utterly reject him."
Uraraka thought Midoriya was worried because he was about to face the strongest student in their class. She gave him a thumbs-up, her eyes shining. "Deku-kun, in my opinion, you're not inferior to any other student in our class! Not even Todoroki-kun!"
I came here to comfort Uraraka, Midoriya thought, but I ended up being the one who was comforted...
"The first match of the second round is about to begin. Will the contestants please make their way to the stage..."
"So soon..." Uraraka paused, then smiled and waved. "Go on, Deku-kun! I'll be cheering for you!"
Midoriya nodded and turned to leave the waiting room. The moment he was gone, Uraraka let out a sigh, and all the strength seemed to drain from her body as she collapsed onto the table.
Upset? Of course she was upset. Even knowing the huge gap in their strength, it still hurt to lose. The strength she had just shown in front of Midoriya had all been an act. Right now, she was nowhere near as cheerful as she had seemed. But she had forced herself to smile so as not to add any more pressure on him.
Suddenly, her phone rang.
"Ochaco-chan, you did a great job! Your mother and I are watching you on TV..."
"Dad..." Uraraka's eyes turned red.
As Midoriya was hurrying to the designated area, an old man with a beard of fire suddenly appeared around a corner. He looked down at Midoriya, his eyes devoid of any emotion.
"Endeavor!" Midoriya quickly took two steps back. Running into Endeavor right before his match with Todoroki... this couldn't be a good sign.
"Your Quirk is impressive. You can generate a powerful blast of wind just by flicking your finger. In terms of raw power, it's comparable to All Might's," Endeavor said, pointing at Midoriya.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean. The match is about to start, so I have to go." Midoriya took a step to the side, trying to hurry away.
Endeavor didn't stop him. He just stood there and said, "My son, Shoto, has a duty to surpass All Might. Your match against him should serve as a good test. Please, do try not to make it too unsightly."
"That is all I have to say. I apologize for wasting your time." With that, Endeavor turned to leave.
A duty... Midoriya clenched his fists.
"I am not All Might..."
Endeavor turned his head, a look of surprise on his face. "That is a matter of course."
Midoriya grit his teeth. "That's right! And in the same way, Todoroki-kun is not you!"
Midoriya left. Endeavor remained where he was, remembering what All Might had said to him when they had run into each other at lunchtime.
"A successor...? You certainly have a keen eye. And you still need to ask me for advice on how to raise a child...?" Endeavor suddenly burst out laughing. "Hahaha! All Might, you really are... so damn enviable!"
Leaving the situation outside the ring aside, Todoroki and Midoriya were now standing on the stage.
"Todoroki-kun, I want to ask you a question," Midoriya said just before the match began. "Why don't you use your fire?"
Todoroki's eyes narrowed. "Did that bastard pay you too? If so, then die."
"Uraraka, you're here too?" Toru Hagakure, seeing Uraraka arrive, waved her over excitedly.
Uraraka, her eyes still a little red, sat down next to Hagakure and smiled. "I came to watch Deku-kun and Todoroki-kun's match."
The school had actually assigned a specific area for the students to watch the matches, but Kira hadn't wanted to sit there. The reason was simple: the students from Class 1-B were sitting right next to them, and Neito Monoma was particularly annoying, chattering away like a parrot.
"Well, if it isn't our very own Bakugo, the one who specializes in bullying girls. To get first place, you really are willing to crush a delicate flower, aren't you?"
Bakugo, who had been somewhere else and had just now taken his seat, felt a vein throb on his forehead. "Shut your mouth, you B-class bastard! Haven't you had enough of a beating yet?"
"What a shame, I've already been eliminated," Neito Monoma said, draping himself over the barrier and peeking his head out. He ignored Bakugo's threat and smiled. "If you attack me now, it'll be considered bullying. And I'm especially good at reporting things like that, you know."
This guy is so disgusting... Bakugo was getting annoyed by his trash talk, but he couldn't actually do anything. Neito Monoma had truly mastered the art of "I love it when you're mad at me but can't do anything about it."
Kira spoke up nonchalantly. "You seem to be having a good time. But you know, out of the final eight, only one of you from Class B made it. And she only got there because she was on my team. Doesn't that mean your Class B is a lot worse than ours?"
Neito Monoma's face instantly went pale. No matter how much trash he talked to annoy the students of Class 1-A and get a moment of satisfaction, he couldn't change the fact of Class B's miserable results.
The "last hope of the village," Ibara Shiozaki, had won a difficult victory after Jiro's self-sacrificing attack, but she was now just sitting in her seat, saying nothing, her face tilted up toward the sky in a daze.
Neito Monoma lost all interest. Without waiting for Kendo to attack him from behind, he let go of the barrier and, with the melancholic air of someone who had realized that "studying medicine cannot save the people of Class B," he dragged himself back to his seat.
"MATCH, BEGIN!"
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