Izuku had to pause in the middle of putting on his school uniform as the weight of what he'd done last night came crashing down on him. He'd been too tired last night to really process what had happened, but now the panic was back with a vengeance.
He'd punched Eraserhead!
(everyone awkwardly chuckled, still a little on edge from the last chapter)
Eraser had to be so mad at him. He'd just been trying to get Izuku to a hospital but then he'd panicked about what would happen if they figured out who he was, which meant that Mom would figure out what he'd been doing, and she would be so worried and scared and he really didn't want to do that to her, so he had to get away, but if he wanted to get away, he had to make Eraser let go of him, and he really wasn't thinking that clearly, and the first stupid thought he'd had was to punch a hero in the nose! Whatever respect Eraser had for him was gone, not that he could've gained that much considering that Izuku was a quirkless middle schooler who couldn't even aim his slingshot correctly, but that didn't matter because it was gone now and he was never going to get it back.
Aizawa: I'm not that mad...
Ojiro: Gee Midoriya's panicking so much I want to tell him to take a break and breathe but I know he's only thinking it!
Hagakure: He should still take a break and breathe though.
Good work, Deku, his inner Kacchan said, you managed to(#*&@$ things up even worse than you ususally do.
Bakugo: Oh shut up already.
He didn't want to have to face Eraserhead again. Maybe he would die before he had to see him! That would be good. Maybe he would go out tonight and there would be some villain attack, maybe even another trigger villain, and Izuku would just step in instead of getting a hero and then it'd all be over quickly and he wouldn't have to deal with Eraser's anger, or Amplifier's disappointment, or Mom's worry, or Kacchan's...
Everyone: No no no don't die!
Inko: Izuku, no!
Izuku shook his head forcefully; he wasn't supposed to be thinking things like that. Besides, with his luck that probably wouldn't work anyway. Even if everything went well and he died, the fact that he didn't go get a hero for such a big villain would be suspicious, and then what would happen if they realized he'd wanted to... and then they'd look into Kacchan and he wouldn't be able to go to UA and it would all be Izuku's fault!
Thirteen: Why is the only reason he's staying alive the fact that Bakugo might get in trouble if he commits?
Shigaraki: Just be glad he has a reason, at least.
Izuku shook his head again and winced as he realized he had a headache he'd been ignoring. His ribs hurt more than his head did, though. He knew he probably had a little concussion, but it was nothing compared to that time Kacchan had pushed him off the slide on accident and he'd hit his head, so Izuku wasn't that worried. He shrugged off his shirt so he could put some cream on his ribs, tensing as the cold cream hit his skin. After that, he finished getting dressed and grabbed his backpack. He didn't want to be late for school.
Snipe: Vigilantism, passive suicidal ideation, bullies, and school too? How does he even handle all of it...
Katsuki tuned out the extras that surrounded him as he ate his lunch. The old hag had packed the extra-spicy curry today, so he knew it was gonna be good.
"Look guys, it's Deku." One of the extras at another table called out and sure enough, Katsuki looked up to see Deku walking into the cafeteria with his shoulders hunched. The extras sitting at his table looked to see how he'd react, but he just scoffed and turned back to his lunch. Heroes didn't pick on their classmates, no matter how much they deserved it, and he was going to be the best hero!
Mitsuki: He's learning... good...
"What's up, Deku?" The extra with extendable fingers asked. "Still alive?"
A small group of their classmates had surrounded Deku by this point and even some of the extras at Katsuki's table had gotten up to go join the fun. The extras were grinning and laughing like Fingers had just made the funniest joke on earth, but Deku himself was just staring silently at the ground.
"Why so quiet?" Another extra, this one with boulders for hair, asked. "Finally realize that no one cares what you have to say?"
Uraraka(seething): Just shut up already!
Well, that might be true, but it probably wasn't very nice to say. Katsuki knew he was acting like a bit of a hypocrite. It wasn't like anything they were saying to Deku was new. Katsuki himself had always prided himself on being especially creative with his insults, after all, so in comparison, these extra's insults were boring and almost as plain as Deku's face. So it wasn't like the extras were saying anything that Deku hadn't heard before, or anything they hadn't heard Katsuki himself say.
But Katsuki wanted to be like All Might, which meant that he wasn't going to waste his time insulting people anymore! His classmates didn't have any hope of being heroes, though, so it was okay for them to insult Deku, right? Or was that wrong too? What would All Might do if he was here?
All Might: Stop them from bullying him...
Boulders had taken that moment to punch Deku in the ribs, making him gasp in pain. Hmm, either Boulders had gotten stronger or Deku had already had sore ribs. Had some of the other extras given him a beating when Katsuki wasn't looking? Thinking back, Deku had been walking kinda funny all day, like he was sore or something, and goodness knows that the nerd wasn't athletic enough to be sore from exercise.
Monoma: Wait until he finds out he's secretly a vigilante.
"Hey, save some of that air for those who deserve it, nerd!"
Katsuki looked to some of the teachers who were eating at a small table in the corner. They had to know what was happening, it wasn't like those extras were being quiet. So why weren't they doing anything? Why hadn't they ever done anything? Wasn't it their job to keep kids from getting hurt or something?
Cementoss: That's how it's supposed to work but those people shouldn't even be teachers.
Nezu: And they won't be when we get back.
What would All Might do if he were one of them? He'd probably tell those kids off for being unheroic. But the teachers weren't doing that. Katsuki watched them as the extras kept insulting Deku and one of them even glanced over and chuckled before turning back to his lunch. That... well it was normal, but it didn't seem right. Why wasn't anyone doing anything?
Why wasn't he doing anything?
The thought made Katsuki stop. Was he supposed to step in? All Might probably would, but that brought him back to the whole hypocrisy thing. What gave him the right to step in and protect Deku when just a month ago, he was one of the ones... well, maybe attacking him wasn't the right way to phrase it, but still. Even if he were to step in, Deku probably wouldn't trust him at all, and all the useless extras might think that Katsuki was admitting that Deku was better than him, or that he was weak...
Kirishima: He's learning at least... change takes time...
Mirko: Doesn't stop me from wanting to kick reason in his head.
The curry turned to sawdust in his mouth, spicy sawdust, but still flavorless as Deku silently picked the remains of his lunch off the floor and threw them away after one of the extras had knocked it out of his hands. He didn't really know how to describe what he was feeling, he just knew he didn't like it. He was the best, he'd always been the best, and if there was anything the best wasn't, it was a coward, so this annoying feeling couldn't be fear.
Could it?
A few people: It is...
Izuku walked through the hardware store much more confidently this time, now that he actually knew what he was looking for and how to find it. He should have just picked his pipes up when he left last night's fight, but even though the concussion hadn't been that bad, both it and the pain from being thrown into a wall had made it difficult to focus on anything besides getting away so Eraser wouldn't tell Mom about his vigilantism.
Which meant that the pipes had been left to rot among all the other garbage in that alley and Izuku needed to replace them. He couldn't bring himself to regret giving them to Eraser though. If he'd kept using his capture weapon, there was a good chance he would have gotten hurt, so the pipes were obviously the better option. Not that Eraser's capture weapon was bad! It was actually really cool and worked against a lot of villains so that he didn't hurt them any more than he had to and...
Oh, right, Izuku was here to get pipes.
Midoriya: I really need to stop forgetting what I'm doing.
He should probably buy a few backups to keep in his closet too, just in case he ever lost them again. Yeah, that'd be a good idea. And zip-ties. It wasn't a big problem when he helped heroes, but Izuku had been having problems restraining the small-time villains he was able to take down on his own. Most of the time he was able to find some kind of rope or cloth to tie them up with, but it would be nice to not have to worry about that anymore.
Mic: He's getting better at least.
Izuku was extremely proud of himself when he managed to get to the checkout stand with only the items on his list, unlike last time when he'd ended up with a lot of other stuff too. To his surprise, his casier was the kid with the electricity quirk he'd talked to last time. What was his name again? Oh, right, Kaminari!
Kaminari: Oh, it's me again.
"Hey dude!" Kaminari smiled as Izuku put his basket down on the counter, "Nice to see you back here!"
"T-thanks." Izuku said. "Um, how is your electricity training coming? Were any of the electricians willing to teach you?"
Kaminari nodded eagerly, "One of them actually offered to make a temporary apprentice! I'm learning all about the basics and how circuits work and stuff. I didn't even realize that my quirk might not be effective against a flying villain, isn't that insane?"
Mina: That's not how it works in Pokemon.
Tsunotori: Life isn't Pokemon game.
Compress: Perhaps we should get someone with a flying quirk on the team.
Dabi: Especially since Kurogiri's been arrested. The aerial advantage can't hurt.
Shigaraki: I'll ask Giran when we get back.
Izuku nodded. That was one of the main limitations of electric heroes; they couldn't actually electrocute something that wasn't grounded. But the way that he talked about villains specifically, "Are you going to be a hero?"
Kaminari: Yup!
Mineta: And you're going to be a great one.
Kaminari shrugged and smiled, "That's the hope. My quirk is flashy enough for it, so it's just a question of if I'm actually smart enough to get in. Cash or card?"
Izuku smiled encouragingly as he handed over a handful of cash, "You can do it!"
Kaminari put the pipes and zipties in a plastic bag, "Thanks, dude! I'm sure gonna try! Hey, what are you making anyway? You were buying pipes last time."
Momo: Yeah, he's not making anything...
Joke: He's secretly a vigilante who takes out villains using street trash.
Izuku didn't know how to respond to that, so he just shrugged.
Kaminari laughed, "Alright, keep your secrets dude. Good luck with whatever it is though."
Izuku nodded, "And good luck with your apprenticeship! See you later!"
Izuku had never really been lucky, in fact he'd been mostly the opposite, but he was grateful for Kaminari's words anyway. He'd run into Eraserhead eventually, and then he'd need all the luck he could get.
Aizawa: He doesn't think I'll punish him or something does he?
Hound Dog: After what we've seen him endure it makes an unfortunate amount of sense.
Thirteen: Hey the next chapter's booting up.