Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Two more days had passed since the incident with the masked men and Ryukyu. Izuku had mainly spent these days as Spider-Man, as Gloria had told his mom that FEAST didn't need him right now. As such, he spent every moment he could patrolling. Despite this, he didn't really find any villains to fight, only muggers, car thieves, and purse snatchers. However, he thought this was fine, as he received a ton of thank yous from all sorts of people. There were also no heroes trying to catch him or people calling him out for being a vigilante, which he was more than happy about.

And as this third day started, he found himself being asked to come to FEAST. Apparently, the second FEAST building was complete, and they were now starting to move stuff in. As such, he told them he would just get there by train, which was a total lie. Instead, he swung over as Spider-Man, stopping a mugging in the process. Thankfully, that one distraction was enough to make him get there right on time, making it so no one would question why he got there so fast.

This was followed with a full morning of moving truck after truck of things. Li had hired a moving company for this part, the Urarakas also helping as part of the paycheck. But as Izuku began to help, both companies began asking him to come be a part of their crew. He told them he was quirkless, thinking this would deter them since he found most applications he did online instantly cut him off due to that fact, but this situation was the perfect definition of 'seeing is believing'. All were shocked at his strength, which he saw coming, only for both companies to get into an argument on who should get him. This was followed by Izuku rejecting them both, saying it wasn't what he wanted to do.

As such, the morning passed, Izuku finding himself somewhat tired as he was now eating lunch, which was just a small sandwich. 'Guess I won't be Spider-Man much today. Eh, that's okay. I'm doing good here as well.'

And as he continued to eat, he looked up to see Mr. Uraraka walking up to him. "Hello there Midoriya. How you doing today?"

"I'm okay. Bit tired, but I'm good." Izuku replied, the man raising an eyebrow as he noticed Izuku wasn't stuttering.

"I'm honestly surprised you're not saying you're exhausted. I mean, you're a moving machine out there and you're just a bit tired?" The man chuckled next as he sat down beside the teen, "I know I already said it today, but thank you for helping us out."

Izuku shook his head, "Its nothing. I'm just glad I can help people."

"That's a good quality to have." the man laughed, "You're just like my daughter."

Izuku blinked at him, soon realizing who he meant. He felt his face get slightly hot before looking away, "I-I-I'm nothing like her. I mean...all I can do is this."

The man shook his head before patting Izuku's shoulder, "Don't think like that. You've done more than you think."

"B-b-but-"

He patted his shoulder again, "Don't. Just accept the compliment."

Izuku blinked at him again, his face going full red for a second. "Um...okay."

Mr. Uraraka laughed at this before smacking Izuku's back, the teen slightly flinching, "Good! Now, ready to finish up? We just have about two more loads to bring in."

"Uh...sure." Izuku replied as he ate the last bit of his food. He threw the rest away before following Mr. Uraraka as they began to unload the last few trucks. It ended up taking longer than they thought, afternoon coming and going as they finished the last bit of the second FEAST building.

And when it was done, Mr. Uraraka invited Izuku for supper. The teen tried to say no, saying he shouldn't, but the man then told him if he didn't come along, the other company would try to take him now. As such, he would have Izuku just eat and leave, as he knew Izuku was going to reject him as well. And so, Izuku found himself in a small café nearby, eating a small meal as Izuku found out that Mr. Uraraka liked to talk. A lot. The teen mainly just sat there and nodded or shook his head, barely responding to the man as he kept going and going.

That is, till he told Izuku that his daughter was coming over. Hearing this, Izuku froze up for a second as Mr. Uraraka asked, "What's wrong?"

"Um...uh...er..." Izuku stuttered out, the memory of what his mom told him to do the next time he meets Ochako now flowing through his head. 'I can't just tell him that my mom wants me to be friends with her...or can I? How do I do that?'

Mr. Uraraka watched Izuku fidget in his seat, wondering if steam was going to come out of the teen's ears next as it looked like he was going into brain overdrive. But after a minute, Izuku seemed to calm down, Mr. Uraraka then asking, "You okay? You don't have to tell me what's bothering you if you don't want to." He stated, only to lean down with a slight glare, "Unless its about my daugther being mean or something..."

"What?! No! S-s-she's done nothing like that!" Izuku exclaimed while waving his hands, glancing away for a second before saying, "Um...you see...my m-m-mom asked me t-t-to ask her t-t-to be...my f-f-friend."

"Oh? You're not already friends?" He replied with a raised eyebrow. "I thought for sure you were."

Izuku quickly shook his head, "N-n-no! I-I-I..." He shrunk back into his seat, "I...I...I don't have friends."

The man tilted his head at this, "You don't? Why not?"

"Um...people like me don't get to have friends." Izuku muttered out.

The man opened his mouth at this, only to close it. He wanted to say that was wrong, but as he stared at Izuku, he could tell that wouldn't help. Instead, he let out a sigh as he thought up something else to say, "Well...maybe its time to change that. You're a good kid, and you deserve it. I can tell."

Izuku blinked at this, only to glance away as he muttered out, "Thank you."

The man shined a big grin at this, "You're welcome."

As he said that, a ding rang out in the café, signifying a new customer. A second later, a certain brown-haired girl walked up to them, "Hey dad!"

"Ochako!" Mr. Uraraka replied as the two hugged before she turned to wave at Izuku.

"Hey Midoriya! How you doing?"

"F-f-fine. How are you?"

"Oh, I'm doing good." She waved a hand at this, only for her face to switch from a grin to a determined glare, "I'm super pumped for tomorrow!"

Izuku was taken back by her expression as he asked, "Oh? Why?"

"Cuz the UA sports festival is tomorrow!" she then pumped her fists, "I wanna go for the gold!"

Izuku flinched for a second, only to say, "Oh. Well, I hope you do well. I know me and the group at FEAST will be rooting for you."

She slightly blushed at that, "Thank you. And could you tell Gloria and the others I said thank you as well?"

"S-s-sure."

Mr. Uraraka chuckled at the two before standing up, "Ochako, let me go and get you something to eat. What would you like?"

"Eh, just get me a sandwich. You know what I like."

"Got it. I'll be right back." He said as the man left the two alone at the table.

Seeing this, the girl turned and grinned at Izuku, "So, why are you and dad eating here? He's not one to do something like this."

"Oh...uh..." Izuku looked away at this, "We're here b-b-because his company and the moving company both want to hire me, and he's helping me get away from them."

Uraraka blinked at this before giggling, "Well, that does make sense when it comes to him." She leaned back in the chair, "So, how you been? Anything new?"

Izuku shook his head, "Not really. Just...volunteering and trying to get through classes."

Uraraka nodded back, the girl noticing that he was stuttering a bit less as she replied, "Same. Classes have been pretty brutal. Aizawa-sensei is really rough."

"Aizawa-sensei? Who's that?"

"Oh, he's our homeroom teacher. He's..." Uraraka came to a stop for a second as she put a finger to her chin, "Uh...well, I think he's a pro hero. I actually don't know who he is as a hero really. I just know him as our teacher."

Izuku blinked at this, "So he's not a public hero?" Uraraka shook her head, "Oh...uh, is he an underground hero?"

"I...guess?"

"What's his quirk?"

"Um...I don't know the name. All I know is that he can make it so someone can't use their quirk."

Izuku's eyes lit up at that, "That's Eraserhead! Wait...your teacher is Eraserhead?! That's amazing!"

"Who?" Uraraka asked, surprised at how little Izuku was stuttering.

"Eraserhead! He's one of the best underground heroes in the country. He's infamous for the amount of villain takedowns, though there's not much on him." Izuku's eyes turned into stars at this, "He's known for his unique scarf weapon and goggles. That's so cool that you get to learn from him!"

"Yeah...that's him." Uraraka slowly said, trying to respond as she saw Izuku get more and more excited. She had never seen him be this active. It was like looking at someone entirely different, full of passion and fire.

"That's so cool! I never imagined UA would have underground heroes as their teachers. I thought they would just use spotlight heroes or maybe sidekicks. Guess UA has even crazier standards than I thought. Maybe..." Izuku ranted as his voice got lower, muttering as he put a finger to his mouth. But as he did this, he glanced up back up and saw a look of pure surprise on Uraraka's face, the look on her face making him shrink back into his seat, "Oh...s-s-sorry. I-I-I didn't m-m-mean to act l-l-like that. I'm so s-s-sorry, you probably think I'm creepy now or-"

"Wait!" She yelped, waving her hands, "I don't think you're creepy!"

"No, you do now." Izuku muttered as he looked away, "I'm just a worthless, creepy-"

"Now hang on! All you did is surprise me." She said, only to see the boy flinch, now looking like he was trying to shrink into his seat, "Please, I didn't mean anything like that. I'm sorry if I froze up there and-"

"No! No, its okay. I know you think I'm some creepy-"

"Stop that!" Uraraka yelled, making Izuku hop in his seat. He glanced back up to see the girl glaring at him, only for her to add, "Stop putting yourself down!"

"Wha...but..." Izuku stuttered out, only to close his mouth as he stared at her glare. However, this wasn't the glare he had seen so many times before. It wasn't the teacher who thought he was worthless. It wasn't the bully, who saw him as easy pickings. And it wasn't Katsuki, who saw him as nothing but a punching bag, something that existed only for him to torment.

Uraraka shook her head before slumping down in her seat, "Sorry about that. I had a long day and you surprised me." She reached out a hand at this, "Could we please start over?"

"H-h-huh?"

"Could we please start over?" She repeated, her face changing into a pleading expression, "I'm sorry I reacted that way. I didn't know. Could we please start over?"

Izuku blinked at her, only to ask, "Wha...what do you mean? D-d-don't you think I'm a freak now?"

"Why would I think that?"

"Um...cuz I....you know...just did that." He replied as he squirmed in the chair.

Uraraka shook her head again, "I would never think that." She then reached out her hand and placed it on his shoulder. The gesture made Izuku's face go bright red, steam about to come out of him before his face settled down. He slowly looked at her face, now seeing nothing but kindness on it. "So, can we start over?"

"Uh...okay." Izuku muttered out, "S-s-sorry about that."

"Its fine. Now, what were we talking about?"

Izuku bit his lip at this, "Um...something about your teacher?"

"Oh yeah." Uraraka leaned back in her seat, "Yeah...he's a real slave driver."

"He's that bad?"

She waved her hand at this, "Not bad, just...I don't know. He constantly threatens to expel us for the tiniest of things. That and all he does is lecture about everything we do wrong...or hero ethics. It's like he doesn't want us to learn sometimes."

"Oh. Why do you say that?"

"Well, he lies about everything. He says its helps us 'figure things out on our own' or something like that. Tsu says the whole him 'pushing us to better by not telling us everything' is really just him withholding information to make things harder for no reason...and I agree with her. He also loves punishing us. Especially if you're at the bottom of the class. You have to be in the top three or he'll constantly tell you that you're not learning fast enough."

"Wow..." Izuku gulped, surprised at the sudden ranting and the now giant frown on her face.

"Yup. And he barely teaches anyways. He'd rather take a nap in class!"

"That sounds awful." Izuku muttered out, "I'm sorry."

"Eh, its fine. At least all the other teachers are nicer. None of them threaten us with expulsion, but actually try to help us be better students."

But as she began to talk about the other teachers, they went in one ear and out the other for Izuku. Instead, his mind went over everything else she had said, 'So even UA has mean teachers. And that means that they would treat someone like me even worse, even if I'm no longer quirkless. Figures. Guess there really isn't a good teacher for someone like me.'

"Yeah..." Uraraka added, only to see the big frown on Izuku's face, making her almost flinch before asking, "But enough about me. Anything else new with you?"

"Um...no." Izuku muttered out, his mind now kicking him, 'Now's the time to ask her to be your friend! Just do it!' He stared directly at her, his mouth opening for a second, only to close, 'Say it! Say it already!' Then his mouth opened again. Uraraka blinked at him, seeing he was trying to say something. As such, she stayed quiet as he slowly began to speak, "Uh...c-c-could I ask you a f-f-favor, Uraraka?"

"Sure. What is it?"

Izuku felt his whole body heat up at this, his form vibrating in the seat as he tried to form words, "W-w-would y-y-you be...my f-f-friend?"

Hearing this, Uraraka instantly shined a huge grin, "Sure!"

Izuku's brain almost fried at that, his eyes going wide as he said, "Y-y-you mean it?"

"Yup." She nodded back before presenting a hand to him, "I would love to be your friend!"

He stared at the hand for a second before shaking it, "T-t-thank you."

"About time!" yelled a third voice, making them both turn to see Mr. Uraraka. "I've been waiting on you two for forever now!"

Izuku went fully red again as he let go Ochako's hand and shrunk back into his seat. As he did this, Ochako blinked at her father, "What do you mean?"

Mr. Uraraka let out a cackle as he sat down and gave his daughter her food before pointing at Izuku, "Oh, just that this kiddo here told me he wanted to be friends with you but was scared of asking."

Ochako glanced back at Izuku, seeing him squirm in his seat. There was look of pure fear in his eyes, as if he expected Ochako to just reject him after hearing that. The sight made her heart clench up, sadness welling up in her as she saw the teen look away. 'Tsu really was right about him.' She thought, 'I wonder who did this to him? It couldn't have just been some normal bullying...'

She began to eat at this, watching Izuku slowly calm down. It was here that Mr. Uraraka began his usual talking stride, asking his daughter a bunch of questions. The girl answered most while watching Izuku, seeing him slowly calm down in his seat. And as she gulped down the last bit of her sandwich, she saw that Izuku was able to fully talk to her father, the sight making her smile, only for her dad to say, "Looks like its time to pack up and go home." He turned to Izuku, "Say, you need a ride?"

"No." Izuku shook his head, "I'll be fine."

Mr. Uraraka nodded back before getting up, the two teens slowly following. And as they walked out of the building, Ochako turned to Izuku, "Um...sorry about all that earlier."

"Oh, its fine. It was all my-"

"It wasn't your fault." She interrupted, "Don't apologize." She gave him a deadpan glare, making him flinch before she tapped his chest, "If we're gonna be friends, you gotta stop apologizing, okay?"

"Um...okay." He squeaked out.

"Good." She shined a big grin at this, only to snap her fingers, "Oh, right! Could I have your number?"

"H-h-huh?!" Izuku yelped.

"So we can keep in touch. I bet some more of my classmates would like to meet you at some point."

Izuku felt his brain stop again, only to slowly mutter out, "Sure."

A few minutes of stuttering later, he gave his number and she asked him to make sure to cheer her on at the festival. Mr. Uraraka asked Izuku if he was willing to work with him again as well, which he quickly said no. And as he walked off, the father and daughter stared at the sight before Mr. Uraraka said, "Poor kid. I really wish I could help him more."

"Yeah...me too." Ochako added, only to feel her dad pat her on the back, making her glance up at him and see a big grin.

"We'll just keep trying to help him out, eh?"

Ochako shined a giant smile at this, nodding, "Uh-huh!"

And as she said that, Izuku zipped into a nearby alleyway, quickly switching into Spider-Man as he crawled up a building, "That was so exhausting." He whispered to himself as he got onto the roof and fully changed, "I still can't believe that happened." He fired a webline at this before leaping off, 'Did that really happen? I don't believe it...' He put a hand to his face and rubbed it down as he started swinging, 'I'm such a mess. Maybe some web-swinging will help me.'

Turned out, web swinging was what he needed. He zipped through the city, flying past buildings with ease. As he did this, he pulled out the police scanner, waiting for anything as he kept swinging around. "Aaaahhh." He sighed to himself, "This feels so good."

He then did a wide swing around a tall building, wind pushing into him as he took the turn. He closed his eyes for a second, letting himself feel the air swirling past him. Even though he hadn't been Spider-Man for even a month, he knew this was his favorite part. This feeling of freedom as he swung past buildings with ease.

And as he did this, his phone began to vibrate, the teen pulling out the phone. He saw it was his mom, soon clicking it as she landed on a rooftop, "Hey mom. What's up?"

"Hey there. I was just calling to see how you were doing."

"Oh, I'm fine." Izuku replied as he sat down on the side of the roof, "I just...needed to go swinging for a bit."

"I figured." Inko chuckled.

Izuku blinked at this as he heard those words, his mom's tone slightly different than usual. As such, his mind went ahead and asked a question, "What do you mean?"

Inko let out a long sigh at this, Izuku knowing she was shaking her head as she replied, "Izuku, you know that I've been hesitant over the...vigilantism." He could hear a drop in her tone for a second before continuing, "But ever since you started being a vigilante, you've been happy. I've never seen you this happy. You put on that costume with the biggest grin on your face, one that well...I hate to say it, but I haven't seen you look like that for years."

As he heard this, he could hear slight tears begin to form in his mother's eyes. He then felt his own, realizing what she meant. Those years of quirklessness, the torment, the misery, the explosions...and the burns he had to hide every day when he came home. Hearing this, he muttered out, "I'm sorry."

Inko sounded surprised at this, "What? Why are you apologizing?"

"I'm...I'm sorry that this is what makes me happy." He replied, biting his lip at this.

"Oh Izuku. You shouldn't apologize for your happiness." Inko responded, "I...I know I didn't like this at first and I'm still adjusting, but...I just want to say...I'm proud of you."

Izuku blinked at this, feeling his eyes water. He slowly said his next words, "Thanks mom. I...I needed that."

"I know." Inko replied, "Mister Li told me you had problems with the construction companies and...I know you've had a hard time interacting with others, and I'm proud that you're trying."

Izuku sniffed at this, "Yeah...its uh...its different. But I'm glad I'm doing it. I'm...so happy that I can do this."

"I know." Inko chuckled, "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Well, I'll leave you alone and let you get back to your vigilanting."

"Thanks."

The call ended a second later, Izuku letting out a happy sigh. He laid back at this, putting away his phone as he did a small stretch. "I'm getting there...I can feel it." He stood back up, cricking his neck as he fired a web line, "Let's go find something to do."

Izuku wasn't sure how many hours passed as he swung around. If he was honest, he found the web swinging the best part of his life as a vigilante. The freedom it gave him, the ability to just go anywhere with ease. And the speed. He loved the speed, the agility, that feeling of going fast. What would take an hour for a car would take mere minutes for him, and he loved every second of it. It felt amazing.

As such, he made quick time to try multiple prefectures around Musutafu, though he hadn't really tried this till today. And now, he was at the end of the day and was currently sitting at the Yamanashi prefecture. He had stopped multiple muggings along the way, along with stopping a jewelry store robbery that ended up happening while he was swinging by. And as he decided to come to a stop, he hopped onto a rooftop. He took out a protein bar and pulled out his notebook, staring at the contents.

'Hmmm...so, I think this is as far as I can go today.' He thought as he checked his web shooters, only seeing four cartridges left, in other words, two for each shooter. 'I made really good distance. I've never gone out this far and yet it felt like it took no time at all. Maybe I should figure out how fast I can go.'

He then finished the bar and pulled out his phone, 'Its getting late. I better get home, especially if I want to watch the UA sports festival tomorrow. But first...' He let out a low yawn at this before pulling out a pencil and began to write into the notebook, doing a few calculations, 'Okay...so, I think my average web slinging speed is this, and this is the distance I went...'

As he did this, a door on the building across the street opened. There, a small man walked out, letting out a yawn as he began walking down the front steps. The cane in his hand tapped the stairs, the man's eyes glancing around. As he did this, he began to waddle down the street, his eyes wandering before it saw something in the corner of his eyes. He glanced up and saw a dark green figure sitting on a rooftop.

He raised an eyebrow at this, scratching his chin as he stared the person. 'Who is that?' he thought before he saw the figure stand up and start doing some stretches. The sight made him shine a small grin before walking into the alleyway below the rooftop of the figure.

Izuku just stood there as he kept doing stretches before refilling his web cartridges. 'Time to go home.' Izuku thought before pointing his wrist at another rooftop-

Danger!

Izuku went wide-eyed at this, his body instantly turning invisible. And as he vanished, he glanced back at the rooftop before leaping to the next building over. But as he did this, he suddenly saw what looked like a giant yellow bullet coming for him. He quickly leapt to the side, dodging the thing as he hit the roof's floor, rolling for a second. He glanced down for a second, seeing he was still invisible, only for his spider sense to blare again. Izuku looked back up to see the yellow figure zip over to him again, Izuku firing a web to the other roof and yanking himself over there.

'What the heck is that?!' he thought as he landed on the roof and kept hopping back. As this happened, he tried to aim his wrist at the yellow bullet, but it just zipped around, seemingly changing random directions mid-air. His spider sense rang out again, feeling it coming from his right. The vigilante didn't turn right at this, instead ducking down to all fours just as the yellow figure flew over him. Spider sense then rang out in the back, making push everything he had into his hands and feet, the teen then leaping upward into a backflip, going straight over the yellow bullet as it tried to hit him in the back.

And as he began to land, he fired a line of webbing, which hit its mark as the yellow figure suddenly came to a stop. Izuku then landed, only to go slightly wide-eyed at the sight before him. It was small old bearded man with a long yellow cape and a black mask over his eyes. A hero. Izuku had recorded hundreds of heroes over the years, he had stacks of hero analysis books to prove it, but he didn't recognize this one. Granted, he didn't look too much into the older ones, but that's because he found them all early on. Despite this, he had never seen the person in front of him.

"Who are you?" He whispered as his invisibility disappeared, the teen keeping himself in a defensive stance as the old man looked down at his feet, seeing the webbing that now covered them.

"Not bad." the elderly man said as he stared at the webbing before looking back up at Izuku, "I was wondering what you were doing around here, but I didn't think you would have that kind of instincts. That turning invisible stuff is a nice trick, but you're too loud." He then jerked his feet, ripping the webbing off in a single motion. "You're also a little young to be prancing around as a would be hero. I can tell just by looking at ya."

"Uh...well...um..." Izuku muttered out, only for his spider sense to blare again. The old man vanished, Izuku flinching at the sudden disappearance. He felt his sense tell him the left this time, Izuku quickly turning and putting his arms up to guard himself. A split-second later, two feet slammed into him, almost pushing him off his feet. He felt the blow like it was a bag of bricks hitting him, making the teen clench before trying to throw a punch back. But the old man was already gone, spider sense blaring at his back now.

Izuku quickly spun around and thrust a leg upward, only to see the old man appear for a split second, his form changing directions right as the foot was about to hit him. Izuku's spider sense yelled at him again, Izuku spinning as he threw a punch at the air behind himself. As he did this, he felt the fist hit something, only to also feel a foot slam into the teen's face.

"Blaugh!" he yelped as he was knocked back, just barely able to keep his balance as the old man spun in the air before landing, his feet grinding into the rooftop. Air blasted out of his feet a second later, Izuku's spider sense screaming at this as he quickly aimed both wrists where the old man, firing two web lines. However, the elder zipped around both, appearing over Izuku as he was about to do an axe kick down on the vigilante. Seeing this, he fired a third line, yanking himself away just in time. And as the old man hit the roof, dirt flew everywhere around him as Izuku kept yanking on the webbing. He zipped over to another rooftop, only to cut into a sprint.

'I gotta get out of here!' he thought as he leapt off the roof and fired a web line. He went invisible at this, quickly trying to zip down the street. But as he did this, the old man turned and stared at the street, seeing thin lines of webbing coming out of something he couldn't see.

"Guess my old eyes haven't failed me yet." He chuckled as he hopped off the building and began blasting through the air. Within seconds, he was right behind the invisible figure.

Danger!

'Oh, come on!' Izuku mentally yelled as he glanced back and saw the yellow bullet coming for him again. He quickly fired a web line to the right, yanking himself away as the old man zipped past him. But as he did this, he saw the elderly man just spin around mid-air and fire himself right at Izuku. Seeing this, he fired a web line to the left, yanking himself again as he barely dodged the old man. But as he did this a second time, the elder just spun around and rocketed again, this time slamming both fists into Izuku's stomach.

"Augh!" He yelped as he was knocked out his web swing, the teen plummeting into a nearby alleyway. His invisibility cut off instantly as he hit the ground, his form rolling down the alley. A second later, the old man landed as Izuku tried to scramble back up.

"Give up kid. You're not escaping me." the old man commented as he watched Izuku get back into a crouching offensive stance, one hand on the ground while the other was in a motion to fire a batch of webbing. The two then stared each other down at this, the old man just presenting two balled up fists as Izuku stared at him.

Izuku wasn't sure how long time passed at this, his breath hitched as he stared at the elderly hero before him. And after a bit, he slowly got out of that stance, slightly standing up as he took a deep breath and asked, "Who are you? And why are you after me?"

The old man shined a small grin at this, "Well, to be honest, I don't really got a reason to be after ya. You just seemed like a good warm up for me."

"Huh?!" Izuku yelped, "Warm up?!"

"Yup." The man laughed before pointing at Izuku, "So, wanna tell me why someone like you is dressed up like that? I know you're no hero, so I could just capture you here and send you off to the station."

Izuku blinked at this, quickly realizing that the old man was right. The teen was definitely sure he couldn't escape this guy no matter how much he tried. As such, he took a deep breath as he answered, "Uh...well, its um...cuz I'm a vigilante."

The elder raised an eyebrow at this, "A vigilante? At your age?"

"Yeah." Izuku slowly nodded.

The old man just hummed at this, scratching his beard for a second, "Huh. Interesting. You're definitely too young to be a vigilante, but you're also too skilled to not get in a hero school..." He tilted his head for a second, "Let me guess: You're unlucky, ain't ya?"

Izuku flinched at this, eyes fully wide as he heard those words. No one had ever said that. All the heroes he met just kept asking why he wasn't a hero. No one actually got the answer, at least, now that Izuku thought about it. It was kind of the answer as to why he wasn't at a hero school. However, his silence was enough.

"I'm guessing I'm right." The old man laughed before pointing at him again, "Well, let me answer your earlier question. The name's Gran Torino. Who are you?"

"Um...Spider-Man." Izuku slowly replied, only to see Gran suddenly pull a cane out of nowhere.

"Not a bad name. Nice to meet ya Spider-Man." He spun around and gestured to the teen, "Follow me for a second." Izuku blinked at him, Gran glancing back at him as he added, "What? You wanna try and run away again? If you want to, go ahead. I won't follow ya."

"Wha...but..." Izuku tried to say, only to shake his head, "But what about trying to capture me and...you know, attacking me and all that?!"

"Eh, you're just a kid. I can tell you mean no harm." Gran responded while waving a hand, "You coming or not?"

"Um...well, what are we gonna do?"

Gran glared at him at this, "You ask too many questions. You coming or not?!"

The old man's tone raised at this, making Izuku flinch as he slowly replied, "Uh...okay. Sorry."

Izuku wasn't sure what was happening right now. One minute he was dodging what looked like a yellow flying bullet, now he was sitting at a table in a broken down building, eating a piece of taiyaki. He had never liked the dessert that much, but this one tasted pretty good. He was still in costume, the only thing removed was the bottom part of his mask showing just his mouth, letting him eat the treat. Gran had told him he could take it off, but Izuku told him he didn't think he should.

Seeing this, Gran ate two taiyakis before asking, "So, how long ya been a vigilante?"

"Uh...a little over two weeks." he replied as he finished his taiyaki.

"Oh? You got good instincts if you've only been doing this for two weeks. Especially at your age." Gran chuckled before taking out a glass of water and sipped it.

"Um...thanks."

Gran raised an eyebrow at this, "Not used to taking compliments?" Izuku slightly flinched at this, making the old man shake his head, "Thought so. I can tell just by looking at ya."

"Oh...s-s-sorry." Izuku muttered out.

"Don't apologize. Its fine." Gran grumbled as he took out a third taiyaki. "So, I'm guessing you hear this a lot, but why are you a vigilante?"

Izuku blinked under his mask, knowing this was coming, and let out a sigh, "I um...I failed to be a hero."

"No you didn't." Gran instantly responded, making Izuku almost flinch. The elderly man glared at him, his eyes slightly squinting, "Did you forget what I said earlier? You're unlucky, aren't ya? Let me guess...something random happened to you in the hero exams and you got rejected?"

"Uh...." Izuku muttered out, twiddling his fingers under the table as he just stared at the old man. 'Who is this guy?! I don't remember him from any of my hero research, and yet he seemed more skilled than any hero I've seen. He figured me out instantly, and I'm sure he could beat me without trying!'

Gran let out a snort at this, the reaction alone confirming his theory. He hopped out of his chair as he finished his third taiyaki, waddling around the table. "So, you're a vigilante. And judging by how you were dodging me up there, you've already got some experience under your belt. But yer also a kid, which means its way too early for you to be doing something like this."

Izuku could feel a shiver slowly go down his spine, "Um...does that mean you're gonna try and arrest me or something?"

"Bah, I ain't doing anything like that." Gran spat, "For one, I'm retired. And two, I can tell that if you really tried, you could get away, though it would be tough for you and a hassle for me. Also, you look like you need help."

"Help?"

"Yeah." Gran walked up and poked him with his cane, "I know it just by looking at you. You're young, got no confidence and you acted desperate in every move you made out there. That tells me you're inexperienced, in over your head, but you're also a quick thinker. You tried to counter everything I did, and when you realized you couldn't, you took the right option and tried to flee. The only problem was that I can fly, making it hard for you to escape."

Izuku wanted to say he was stunned, his mind blown by hearing the old man easily figure everything out about him. However, his brain went to the one thing he adored most: quirks. "How did you do that? Is that your quirk? It looked like some kind of air shooting quirk that comes out of your feet!"

Gran smirked at this, unflinching at Izuku's reaction, "Not bad kid. That's my quirk, Jet. It basically lets me shoot air out of my feet." He pointed his cane at the teen, "But that's not the point. Point is, you need to training kid. If you keep hopping into stuff, you'll get killed."

Izuku stared at the old man for a minute, his mind going over those words before responding, "But...didn't you hear me? I didn't make it into hero school! I failed!"

"And that means you can't train?"

"Uh...yeah. I can't legally use my quirk. That's why I'm a vigilante!"

"Bah." Gran spat again, "Those laws don't matter. If you need to train, train. School doesn't matter."

"B-b-but it does!" Izuku almost yelled, "I failed to get into hero school! I can't pursue my dream of being a hero anymore!" He looked away at this, "I just....I just wanted to help people."

Gran glared at him at this, making Izuku bite his lip. The old man let out a long sigh, "You're just like that buffoon. Think you can just go and save the world like its nothing." He tapped his cane on the floor, "Wish he'd picked you. You're perfect."

Izuku glanced back at him. "Huh? Picked me?"

"Eh, don't worry about it." Gran waved his hand, "So, you want to be a hero. Is that all?"

"Yeah...that's all."

"Yeah, you're just like him." Gran grumbled before poking Izuku with his cane, "Listen here squirt, if you keep doing the vigilante stuff, you'll go way in over your head at some point." He then jabbed the cane up at Izuku's face, "But, I can tell you're not gonna quit. If that's the case, don't go jumping into everything you can get yourself into. If you do, you'll start something that you can't escape."

Izuku leaned back at this, "I'll start something I can't escape?"

"Yup." Gran let out a low grumble at this, "And when you go down that rabbit hole, you'll never get out of it. You'll keep going in over your head and it won't stop." Izuku just stared at him at this, unable to respond as his brain started to process what he just heard, only for Gran to add, "So don't do it. And train your quirk while you're at it. It shows that you barely understand it."

"Um...okay." Izuku squeaked out, the teen staring at the elderly man as he spun around. He then took a deep breath before asking, "Uh...Mister Torino?" The old man glanced back at him, "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Cuz you need help kid." Gran turned around at this, showing a firm glare, "I can tell you're lost, and you got potential to be something great. That and I'm bored. I got nothing to do these days."

"But didn't you say I was a warm up?"

"You are." Gran chuckled, "An old student of mine is about to bring his student to me, and I know its gonna be a pain. At least, I think he's found one. Anyways, I needed some exercise, and you gave me some. Granted, I was hoping for more, but you're smart, so it didn't last as long as I hoped."

"Oh..." Izuku muttered out. "So uh...I was just here to help your boredom?"

"Call it what you want." Gran laughed, "So, you wanna stick around or do you got somewhere to be?"

"Um...well..." Izuku pulled out his phone, seeing how much time had passed. "I gotta go." He hopped off the chair and said, "Uh...thank you Mister Torino. You gave me a lot of think about."

"Eh, I didn't do anything." He spun around and began to walk away, "See ya around, Spider-Man."

Izuku stared at the vanishing figure, his mind trying to go over everything that had just happened. In truth, he wasn't sure if it had just happened. It was like a train just slammed into him, and then sat him down for a lecture, reminding him why being a vigilante wasn't the best idea. It was as if when he had started to figure things out, something new came in to give him another perspective.

But he didn't feel discouraged. Usually when it came to heroes, he was too embarrassed around them, or they tried to capture him. It was frustrating, as he knew that it was his fault he was so jittery, but he also knew he couldn't help it. He had spent all his life being bullied, told to not talk to anyone because he was quirkless. The quirkless weren't allowed to have anything according to society. And even when people encouraged him, he couldn't help but think it was just pity.

However, Gran just lectured him and told him what he should do. But that was it, nothing else. It was blunt and to the point, no lies or deception. There was no softness either, but it showed caring in a certain way, like a trainer. And as Izuku left the building, he didn't think. He just fired a web line and started swinging away, soon landing on a train as he rode it to go home.

And as he laid back on the train's roof, he thought about Gran's words again, 'Go in over my head...does he mean I'll take on some villain I'm not ready for? Or is it something else?' He stared up at the stars above, letting out a small sigh, 'I hope I haven't already started what he was talking about.'

The bottom of a bottle slammed into a wooden table as a certain chalk-colored man walked into a garage. Inside was several animal-headed thugs, all turning and straightening up at the sight of the man. Seeing this, one of them squeaked out, "H-h-hey boss."

"Stop squirming." Tombstone growled as he made his way to a large motorcycle, wiping his lips with a swipe his hand before sitting down on a stool beside it. His eyes scanned it over, clicking his tongue before looking back at the still shivering thugs, "How are we on the shipment? I want a good joyride after we get it sent."

"Its uh...its almost done boss." another thug muttered out, "The boys almost have it ready, but um...uh..."

"What?!" Tombstone growled, his form slowly rising from the stool.

"Well..." the thug did a long gulp, "W-w-we got a challenge from the Inner Demons, boss."

Tombstone stared at him as he fully stood, a snort coming out his nostrils before walking up to the thug, "A challenge? What do they want?"

"Um..." the thug gulped again, "They uh...they want to fight us boss."

Tombstone leaned down in front of the thug's face, "And when did this happen?" The thug looked like he was about to shrink into the floor, only for Tombstone to add, "Stop being scared. I'm not gonna hurt you over this." He then grabbed the thug's jacket and pulled him up to his face, "Now...what did you say?"

The thug's lips quivered as he replied, "Uh...we said you weren't here to give a response."

The villain stared straight into the thug's eyes, the thug thinking he was staring at death itself, only for Tombstone to let him go, the thug falling to the floor a second later, "Good. Gimme the phone they called."

Another ran over with the device, the villain taking it with a jerk of the arm. He saw the most recent number and shined a small frown. And as he raised a finger over the phone, one of the thugs spoke up, "Um...boss?" Tombstone turned to him, "W-w-what are you gonna tell 'em?"

"What do you think?" Tombstone instantly responded, "They want to be our competition. That means we're gonna fight 'em...and kill 'em." He tapped the phone at this as he added, "Get the cycles ready, boys. We're gonna run these punks out of town and show the rest why we own this place." He put the phone up to his ear, "We just gotta make sure it happens nearby."

"Why's that boss?"

Tombstone let out a low growl as the phone started to ring, "Cuz we're not the only ones causing an uproar right now."

Meanwhile...

A long pulpy tongue slithered down a now blood-stained blade, a quirk activating the instant the tongue touched the red liquid. A second later, a scream followed as the blade went straight into a hero's heart. And standing above that now dead hero was a man. He had a torn mask over his eyes, black unruly hair and a long scarf.

"Fake." was all he said before walking away, putting his blade back into its sheath. "They're all fakes."

He then pulled out a phone, which showed a picture of a city map. Sniffing for a second, he whispered out his next words, "Hosu...you're next."