Zero - A Vigilante Deku Story

Chapter 1 - Who I am? I'd like to know that myself.

POV Zero

His lungs were burning, yet he didn't slow down. Zero ran through the narrow alleys and backyards in the poorer part of Musutafu, but his pursuer stayed close to him. The echo of footsteps between the tall houses was too loud for his sensitive ears.

Zero tried to activate his quirk, but to no avail. Eraserhead still had him in his sights. Bloody hell! He had just been about to neatly tie up a drug dealer for the police and leave his signature, when the underground hero jumped off the roof. Eraserhead was one of the few people who could sneak up on Zero unnoticed.

A flapping sound could be heard above him. Zero looked up into the black night sky and spotted a shadow obscuring the stars. So the bird brain was there too. Was he insulting himself by thinking that way about the winged number 3 hero?

No time to think about it. He had to get out of Eraser's sight. As soon as he could use his quirk, the heroes would no longer be able to find him. At the risk of provoking a dogfight with Hawks, Zero loosened his wings, which he had been pulling close to his back to run faster. He sprinted a little faster through the alley and jumped off the ground as soon as it opened up into a wider street. At the same time, he flapped his powerful wings vigorously and quickly gained height.

Hawks was heading towards him, but the vigilante dived underneath him. "Give it up already, Zero!"

Let me think for a moment ... No!

In response, he gave the winged hero the middle finger.

As if he would willingly let the heroes catch him and lock him away. Ridiculous! He flew a wide arc and disappeared behind one of the houses. All the while, he tried to use his quirk, which he finally succeeded in doing. Zero flew to a nearby roof and landed there. He had to catch his breath to make the flight back home without falling out of the sky like a lead-fed duck.

He sat on the roof and peered into the alleyways below. No sign of Eraser. Very good! So far, apart from the chase, the night had been quiet. Zero had spent most of the time jumping over the rooftops and looking for trouble.

That night, the vigilante had only stopped two teenagers from robbing a conbini and arrested a puny drug dealer. That was all. Where were the villains and criminals when you had time for them?

Yes, Zero should be happy that hardly anyone got hurt - after all, he was only doing this to help others - but when his body rested, so did his mind. And that was the problem.

The constant brooding that accompanied the existential crisis he had been struggling with for as long as he could remember was exhausting. The source of his crisis was to be found in his memories, of which he lacked too many.

Flapping wings could be heard and were rapidly approaching. Zero ducked behind a ventilation shaft, though he kept his quirk activated. He pulled his own wings close to his body. He watched Hawks fly past him at a distance of about fifty meters. Luckily, Zero's feathers weren't a bright signal color like the hero's who had just missed him. Instead, they were dark green like his hair. Depending on how the light fell on them - or at night - they looked black. So hopefully he wouldn't stand out even if he didn't use his quirk.

His nose tingled. He pulled the black medical mask which you could get at every corner off his face and rubbed the back of his hand under his nose. It was moist and warm - another nosebleed. Damn it!

This was the third night in a row he'd seen the winged hero. Why was the man who was the figurehead of the Heroes Commission and was usually in the spotlight suddenly nocturnal? Was the Commission planning something or was he on a special mission?

Whatever it was, Zero had to stay away from him. Hawks was fast and might be able to catch him. Even if he was here for another reason, he certainly wouldn't hesitate to arrest one of the country's most wanted vigilantes if he had the opportunity. Especially since he had directly joined his pursuit by the underground hero.