Midoriya sat on his bed with an exhausted huff. He buried his face in his hands. It had taken him nearly an hour for him to get his mom to stop fussing over him. She'd seen the incident on T.V. and immediately started to worry when she saw her son and his childhood friend struggling in the fight.
Eyes peaking through his fingers and immediately bright yellow, blue, yellow, and red overwhelmed his vision. All Might figurines, posters, clothing, and even blankets cluttered his room and he felt a painful tug at his heart.
"If you want to help others, then you could also become a police officer- or a nurse."
It hurt him the more he thought about it, and the more he looked at the memorabilia the more he thought about it. It shouldn't hurt, it was only advice. But it hurt anyway.
It hurt and it hurt and he couldn't stop staring at the plastic faces of All Might.
Making his way to his desk, he carefully picked up an old figurine next to his laptop. It was of All Might, of course, in the classic pose. Two fists on his hips and his (previously believed to be) never-ending smile shining white.
It was mildly expensive, and Midoriya had bought it himself with his allowance. Limited edition, apparently.
"If you want to help others, then you could also become a police officer- or a nurse."
The words bounced around his head tauntingly, and in a fit of rage, Midoriya threw the fragile figure hard at the wall.
The snap! was loud and echoed in his mind. Luckily he hadn't damaged the wall, but the previously well-kept figure lay torn in half in front of him.
Where had all of this rage come from? He hadn't lost self-control like this before that day. His eyes finally snapped away from the figurine as he heard a soft, cautious knock on the door.
"Izuku, honey, are you alright? I heard something," His mother's concerned voice came out muffled behind the wood.
"Uh- yeah, mom! My shirt... Fell." He stuttered out, mentally cursing himself. Shirt? Really?
There was a slight pause, "Your shirt?" His mom asked, probably thinking the same thing.
"I was in it...?" Midoriya responded. His mother's small chuckle made him sigh in relief. "Izu, you're silly. Alright, I was just making sure you were okay- you are okay right?"
"Yeah, of course, mom."
"Alright, dinner will be ready soon!"
Midoriya waited with bated breath until he couldn't hear her footsteps anymore. He sighed, picking up the two halves of the figurine and tossing them in the small trash can in the corner of his room.
With a quick glance around the room, the quote still hurled itself at his skull each time he saw All Might's face. He'd have to redecorate.
Later, after a quick dinner, Izuku was scrolling through his Tumblr dashboard, averting his eyes to the many, many All Might posts. He'd have to unfollow some accounts. And change his profile. And change his account name.
And his entire internet presence.
It was like looking at an old photo of yourself with a bad haircut.
Who let him be so obsessed? He supposed it had been a good thing, at least, before actually meeting All Might. Chewing absentmindedly on his pen, Midoriya stopped on a long post that caught his eye with the title.
ᶠᵒʳᵗᵘⁿᵉ⁻ᶠᵃᵛᵒʳˢ⁻ᵗʰᵉ⁻ˢᵗ⁰⁰ᵖᶦᵈ
𝑨𝑴𝑬𝑹𝑰𝑪𝑨 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑰𝑻❜𝑺 𝑽𝑰𝑮𝑰𝑳𝑨𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑺
In America we handle justice and heroes and villains like every other country, but we don't have a lot of vigilantes. When we do they don't get a whoolllee lot of recognition and usually dont last very long, sadly. ANywaYS- I got one recently in my area!
Vigilantes? Midoriya had heard of them, for sure, but they don't get nearly as much coverage as heroes, especially since their very being is illegal. Bringing his eyes back to the screen, Midoriya continued reading.
I know youre prob like 'i rlly dont care' but dont scroll I promise ill try to make it worth it! So I actually got jumped the other day (dont worry, im fine) and the vigilante showed up! I thought they were a hero at first, but after they saved me and I asked if they were a new hero, they said somethin like "The amount of times im mistakened for a hero is amusing" and then I realized what they were! The point of the story is no heroes showed up to save me, but this d00d did, even tho they dont even get pAId for it which is kool, kool person 10/10, anyways imma get serious now.
Midoriya blinked and thanked every god ever worshiped that the original poster was getting serious. Much more bad grammar and he probably would've stopped reading.
Listen. I love heroes, they do their job and they save people. The problem with heroes is that they care too much about media. Remember that viral video of a hero dropping a little girl because he let go to sign autographs? Remember how that little girl broke her ankle on top of her many burns she had received earlier?
Midoriya cringed at the memory. He definitely remembered. He'd seen the video the first day it was released and remembered how much rightful hate that hero ended up getting for it. If he recalled correctly, the hero ended up going into early retirement because it was leaked that he'd done a number of other things, like cheat on his partner and message underaged fans, if you know what I mean.
Heroes really weren't usually all they were made out to be.
Yeah well, I did some digging, and found that a lot of heroes have dirt swept under the rug. Even a few big names. Anyways, the point is, Vigilantes like the one who saved me (I'd put their name but they never gave me one) don't seem to have that. The few vigilantes who ended up caught in the media's attention seem honest and up front with their morals and actions. One from a few years ago was ambushed by a reporter. He'd been known to run from reporters before, but he stayed this time because "You seem desperate and I've got time", which is hilarious, by the way.
Anyways, when asked about his moral compass, the man blatantly said; "It's a grey area for me. I'm not going to say I'm the beacon of right, because I'm not. I am here to try and get rid of the criminals the law doesn't see, and to be a hero in the traditional sense. I'm here to save people and I don't get paid for it, it doesn't pay my bills and it doesn't help me, but it helps others. It's always so hard to tell if a law-certified hero is in it for the money, the fame, or to actually help. I'm neither sides friend. Neither of them like me, but despite that, I am an ally to the heroes."
It took me a while to understand what he meant. Vigilantes are hated by both sides, and that's a well-known fact. But why? I mean, sure, they're breaking quirk laws, but why does that seem to catch the police's attention before harmful criminals do? Why are these vigilantes their first priority?
Sorry, I'm ranting. I just think vigilantes can be just as good, if not better, than Heroes (depending on the vigilante, I suppose). Let me know what ya'll think <3
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Midoriya paused and stared at the post in slight shock. He'd never given much thought to Vigilantes, especially not in comparison with heroes. He guessed he'd been taught growing up that no matter what, they were still criminals.
'I just think vigilantes can be just as good, if not better, than Heroes (depending on the vigilante, I suppose).'
Izuku stared at that part in particular for a few minutes. Better than heroes? All his life, nobody had dared to say such a thing about anything. Nothing is above heroes in this society. But now, as he stared at the post, he wondered if maybe they'd been wrong to teach him that.
"There's no rules on being a vigilante, though, anyone cane be one, so how do you even accurately judge their motives as a whole" Midoriya muttered, trying to reason with himself, but his mind snagged on his own words.
"There are no requirements for being a vigilante." He whispered to himself, eyes wide.
"If I can't be a hero without a quirk..." Midoriya began to mutter without realizing it.
His eyes widened as he drew a conclusion.
If he can't be a hero because of the societal requirements, what's stopping him from being a vigilante?
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