Chapter 53: Tears of Failure

"The Match Begins!"

After the referee's announcement, Yaoyorozu Momo immediately created a shield on her right hand for defense, because she knew that Tokoyami Fumikage's Dark Shadow had a very short activation time and could burst out of his body in an instant. Yaoyorozu Momo's plan was indeed correct, as Tokoyami Fumikage's attack came right when she had just created the shield.

However, after barely blocking the first attack and before she could create a weapon, Tokoyami Fumikage's attacks kept coming one after another. Watching this scene, Renault shook his head helplessly.

The outcome was already decided.

Seeing Renault shaking his head, the schoolmates nearby asked for the reason.

Asui Tsuyu asked, "Renault-kun, do you think Yaoyorozu will lose?"

"Definitely. The pace of the match has fallen into Tokoyami's hands," Renault said confidently, watching Yaoyorozu Momo struggling to resist Tokoyami Fumikage's attacks and constantly retreating.

Just half a minute later, Tokoyami Fumikage stopped his attacks and let Yaoyorozu Momo see an opportunity to create a long-stick weapon. Unfortunately, Midnight on the sideline immediately announced, "Yaoyorozu is out of bounds, Tokoyami wins the match!"

"What?" Yaoyorozu Momo lowered her head as soon as she heard the announcement, realizing that one of her feet had stepped beyond the boundary of the competition venue. She finally understood that Tokoyami Fumikage's series of attacks had been to force her out of the arena.

"I... didn't even realize it..."

"An overwhelming victory! Without a doubt, an overwhelming victory! Could Tokoyami's Dark Shadow be the strongest Quirk?" Listening to Present Mic's excited explanation, Yaoyorozu Momo looked at Tokoyami Fumikage politely bowing to her and leaving the field, feeling unable to accept reality. It wasn't until Midnight came over to remind her that she lowered her head and hurriedly left the stadium.

It seems that this blow was too much for Yaoyorozu Momo to handle.

Renault looked at the two players on the next field, Kirishima Eijiro, and Class B's Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu. After the two Quirks collided, they stood up and left the audience area.

After entering the player area in the arena, Renault first went to the two restrooms, one of which was empty and the other seemed to have Midoriya Izuku and Uraraka Ochaco inside talking, so he didn't disturb them and began to search elsewhere.

Finally, a few minutes later, Renault found Yaoyorozu Momo standing alone in a corner of an empty corridor, leaning against the wall with her head down and silent.

"Why are you here alone?"

When Yaoyorozu Momo heard Renault's voice, her body trembled. She looked up and saw Renault walking towards her, handing her a bottle of juice.

"Thank you..."

Taking the drink, Yaoyorozu Momo didn't open it, just holding it in her hand.

Seeing her like this, Renault could only lean against the wall next to her and ask, "Feeling down? Because you lost?"

"..."

Since the other party still didn't speak, Renault continued to speak, "In my opinion, you were already in a situation where you were bound to lose, and now it seems to be just as I expected."

"?"

Yaoyorozu Momo didn't speak, but at this moment, she had already raised her head and was frowning as she looked at Renault.

"What's wrong, don't believe me?" Seeing Yaoyorozu Momo's unhappy expression, Renault smiled and asked, "Then let me ask you, how many times have you experienced actual combat? Or how many opponents like Tokoyami have you faced?"

"..."

"You can't answer, It seems that my guess was right. Although your Quirk is excellent, and you could even say that you have a natural talent for it, you're still just a theorist for now."

"What do you mean?"

"It's simple. I think that when you faced Tokoyami earlier, your plan was to defend against the first wave of attacks while creating weapons for a counterattack, right?"

Seeing Yaoyorozu Momo nod, Renault continued, "But you didn't anticipate that Tokoyami's attacks would be continuous and almost impossible to defend against. You panicked for a moment, which caused you to not react quickly enough and be pushed out of the arena. I said from the beginning that this was an inevitable outcome because you are only a theorist. Even when you faced villains during the U.S.J. incident, you still had Jiro Kyoka on your side, which was much easier compared to facing Tokoyami alone."

"Am I really that bad?"

"Other than your Quirk, other aspects are indeed very bad." Renault evaluated bluntly.

"Are you trying to comfort me with those words?"

"What, you can't even point out your own problem?" Renault tilted his head and continued, "Although you're a recommended student, what I want to say is that you are going to become a Pro Hero in the future, but your gap with Todoroki Shoto is even bigger than Tokoyami's. You may not be very clear about what kind of environment he grew up in, but what I can say is that it was definitely more difficult and terrifying than you can imagine. And in terms of practical and combat experience, you definitely failed."

"That's really merciless," Yaoyorozu Momo said.

"Even more merciless is yet to come," Renault sneered and said, "And I have to tell you that this is just a competition. If it is a real Pro Hero situation, you will face even more unpredictable emergencies. If you still perform like this at that time, you may not just lose a competition."

Yaoyorozu Momo understood what Renault meant, and she also knew that being a Pro Hero was a high-risk occupation, especially for a Pro Hero who graduated from U.A.

"So...what should I do?"

"Turn all the plans and knowledge you've absorbed in the past into instinct. Whether it's fighting or on-site rescue, the situation is constantly changing, and there's no time for you to think of countermeasures or solutions. You need to put your ideas into action in an instant, instead of like today, falling into a complete disadvantage by being slow for a beat," Renault sighed, "Well, I don't know if you can take it in after all that I've said."

"Thank you," Yaoyorozu Momo said, lowering her head. "It seems that what you said was somewhat helpful, but...I still feel very frustrated. This is the first time I have experienced such a painful failure."

As Renault looked at the dejected Yaoyorozu Momo, he was about to say something comforting when she grabbed his sleeve with her right hand. Suddenly, she was standing in front of him and hugging him tightly.

"Umm..." Renault didn't know what to do with his hands as he felt Yaoyorozu Momo's body tremble slightly in his embrace. In the end, his hands slowly came to rest on her back.

Well, it's okay to cry.