Heroes, Vigilantes, and Villains

Chapter twenty-one

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Izuku POV

I was scrolling through different articles on my phone in the time before dinner when a frantic knock came at the front door. Mom called my name, telling me to go and get it as she had her hands full with whatever new recipe it was that she was trying today, but I was already up and heading there on my own. Only one person ever came here and he wasn't really the frantic type, not unless he had some news.

No sooner than the door was open was a mound of purple swarming past my vision and an envelope shoved into my face. I closed the door before giving my full attention to the practically vibrating teen. The way that Hitoshi was right now was the most anxiousness and excitement that I had ever seen on the other teen, while mildly annoying, it was nice to see him act like a child for once.

"It's here," the other boy said, shaking the envelope in his hand once more. This time when he did that, I finally looked at it and saw that it was a letter from UA.

"Have you opened it yet?" I asked, already knowing what the answer most likely was.

The teen only shook his head no. I sighed tiredly and waved the boy towards my room, shaking my head as the teen followed behind me like a lost puppy, only deterring to say hello to my mother as we went.

The quirked teen and I sat down on my bed. That being one of the only safe spots to sit in the room as most of the others either had some kind of part on it, a blueprint, or some type of book for school or fun.

"Your room is a mess," the other boy observed, taking refuge at the foot of my bed which only had one textbook on it "I like it."

I pointed at the envelope, redirecting the boy's attention and waited patiently for him to open it. The other teen shot me a pointed look for my impatience but obediently tore the envelope open.

My eyebrow twitched as a small disk fell out of the envelope instead of a letter of any kind, though upon better examination one could be seen still stuck in the envelope. I was about to ask whether or not he was sure that this was actually a UA letter and not a trick when a small holographic image appeared between us. A small image of someone that I never wanted to see again.

"THIS IS A PROJECTION!!" the hologram screamed as a small All Might appeared between us, looking as I always remembered him to be, well other than when he turned scrawny that one time. I felt my body recoil at the sight, but the other teen was too sucked in to notice my sudden flinch.

Stating the obvious are we?

The hero announced that he would be teaching at UA for the year, something that made me immensely grateful that I had given up on going there because I wouldn't have been able to stomach seeing the hero in person once more.

The Japanese hero went through and started detailing how Hito had done on the written exam, something that I politely pretended not to listen to. I tuned back in when they started going over the practical exam portion. The other boy had managed to do well enough in the villain points department to get him into the general studies course.

"But we weren't just watching for villian based points," ther hero continued, obviously burying the lead on purpose. "Rescue points were also a factor here! Another fundamental way for UA to evaluate you!

"THIS IS YOUR HERO ACADEMIA!!"

Hitoshi's face light up in a way that I didn't know that it could as a small smile split across his lips. I lunged forward and pushed down my own discomfort to pull the boy into a short hug.

"You did it," I told him, pulling away from the other teen but staying close to him.

"I-I did it!" Hito exclaimed, holding onto the disk as if he were to put it down it would disappear and take his acceptance with it.

We stayed together like that for the rest of the afternoon as Hitoshi stayed for dinner and we made congratulatory cookies before sending the boy home.

—-

Aizawa POV

I scanned the streets slowly, looking for a flash of green among them. The night time crime rate always went down near the start of the school year since more heroes were around the area for pre planning, not that I thought that the child vigilante knew this as I did. Sure enough it wasn't an hour before I saw the flash of a dark green hoodie that I was looking for.

Dashing after the boy, I was impressed with how quickly the vigilante realized that he was being tailed and lured me to a position that was better for Icarus than the one that we were in. I was honestly proud of the boy for doing this with a split second decision, though the vigilante has always been adept at his chosen profession, he's just gotten better at it over the past ten or so months.

I swear if any of these children that I am about to get are even half as good as Icarus then it might just be a year that I actually have students for once.

"Eraser," the boy said, stopping in the middle of one of the roofs in the city.

The boy turned to me slowly, his eyes hidden behind the goggles that he always tended to wear. Though his movements were slow, there was something almost wild in the way that he did so. He looked like someone that was ready to fight or run at the drop of a hat, not that I didn't deserve that stance after what happened the last time that we met.

"Icarus," I greeted, taking a cautious step towards the small boy that only made him shift backwards the same amount.

"What do you want Eraser?" The kid asked, shoving his hands into his hoodie pocket.

"UA high school," I told the boy bluntly.

"...What" the vigilante took a step backwards, moving into a more defensive stance.

"UA high. There's a spot for you there you just have to come in with me now and you can be in the hero course," I explained, "become a proper hero."

I knew that the vigilante would resist being taken in even if the end result of ending up in UA would be some kind of balm to the situation, but I wasn't expecting the total shutdown that I got from the boy.

"No." He decided, his voice as stern as steel. "This-this is not happening. No."

He backed up as he spoke, a crazed tone slipping into his voice as he did. The way that the teen was speaking, despite the way that it was faintly veiled by the teen's usual monotone, I could still hear the undertone of anxiety slipping in. The child sounded like he was on the cusp of an anxiety attack that only got worse as I tried to get closer to the teen.

When Icarus ran I let him.

—-

Izuku POV

This can't be happening

No.

No, no, no. No!

Two weeks ago I would have thought about taking the hero up on his offer, but I couldn't now. Not after the week from Hell that I faced just last week. Not after finding out what I did. I'd finally accepted that I couldn't be a hero and here the underground hero was throwing out hope where there was none to give.

Someone like me that is born from poison wouldn't survive in the light and would be much too deadly for a true night. A vigilante is the best that I could hope to achieve.

In the end I just ran until my thoughts blurred into pain.