I'll Be My Own Kind Of Hero

Chapter 1

"If you want to help people become a police officer or something. They get crap because the heroes capture most of the villains, but it's a fine profession. It's not bad to have dreams young man. Just make sure they're obtainable, realistic. Understand?"

All Might, in a skeletal and tired form had told Izuku this as the man walked away and to the door leading off the building's roof. This had been perhaps five, possibly even eight minutes ago, Izuku didn't quite remember exactly but it was in that range. He wasn't focused on exactly how long ago that was though, not anymore at least.

He'd heard and seen the explosion from the Tatooin Shopping District from the roof's top, and although he debated even going to see what was going on since every hero journal he'd filled was pretty much useless now if he couldn't become a hero like All Might said, he decided to go anyways. Filling those journals was his main hobby other than forum surfing, and honestly Izuku was too attached to those journals to let them go so easily. Perhaps they'd come in handy still, even if it was to just get him out of the house often.

When he arrived Izuku wasn't very surprised to find a crowd already there, watching what looked like the shopping district going up in flames. Faulty wiring perhaps? No, he'd heard and seen the explosion, so maybe a gas leak? Could be someone's quirk as well. Izuku would never get a solid answer at the back of this crowd though, everyone was just too tall at the front for him to see well. So he passed out excuse mes and sorrys as he nudged towards the front.

If only curiosity wasn't so tantalizing, then maybe Izuku wouldn't have felt his heart go cold when he saw not only that slime villain that probably escaped thanks specifically to him, but Kacchan, getting suffocated.

The heroes couldn't do much. They only had one person taking care of the fires which was definitely not enough to quench the bursting flames, even with the water hero's steady and thick stream. They had the wrong heroes taking care of keeping people back and the wrong heroes trying(and failing) to secure Bakugou.

He couldn't just stand back, not with the look in Kaachan's eyes.

So Izuku did the most logical thing in that moment; dash out from the crowd and to the slime villain, shrugging off his tacky yellow backpack and unzipping it as he threw it towards the villain. Some of its contents nailed them in the eye as Izuku had hoped, stunning them and giving Kaachan the gap of time he needed to breathe.

"Hey kid! The hell do you think you're doing!?"

That was the bulkiest hero out of the six, the only one to have tried punching the villain then immediately giving up without trying anything else.

"More than you apparently!" Was Izuku's immediate reply as he clawed at the slime to make holes for Bakugou to breathe through if necessary. "You're Death Arms right? Instead of just standing back grab a board or something to section Kaachan away from most the slime!"

"That's actually a pretty good idea kid-" Death Arms had replied as he went to grab a large enough board that wasn't burning.

"Deku what the hell are you doing here?!"

Ah, well Izuku should have expected Kaachan to say something aggressive at some point, may as well have been now.

"Trying to keep you from dying! You were about to suffocate before I threw my bag in his eye!"

"I don't need your help, shitty Deku!"

"Context begs to differ but go off, long as you aren't suffocating any time soon-"

"Kid watch out!" Oh it was Death Arms, did he find a board?-

Izuku didn't get to turn and find out because then there was a cloud of dust obscuring his vision. Guess the time the villain was stunned has run out, Izuku thought, fallen to the ground and covering his face. He certainly hadn't expected All Might's deep voice, though maybe he should have.

All Might was pushing his buff form, Izuku knew this, knew that the hero had already gone over his time limit for the day. But that wasn't stopping All Might from intervening. The number one hero stopped the slime villains incoming attack from harming Izuku, arm wrapped up in the slime.

"holy shit," Izuku muttered.

"I really am pathetic aren't I?" All Might said, though Izuku could only look up and stare trying not to pass out.

"I told you what it takes to make a great champion, but now I see I wasn't following my own ideals!"

All Might broke from the villain's slime grip before grabbing Kaachan from within the slime villain. Izuku may have already seen All Might cough blood in his skeletal form, but seeing the number one hero spray blood while continuing to talk is still mildly traumatizing.

"Pro heroes! We're always risking our lives! That's the true test of a hero!"

"oh god he's pulling his fist back let's hope Kaachan's shirt is strong," Izuku thought to himself in the flurry of screaming internally.

"Detroit! SMASH!!"

And then Izuku, along with Bakugou, was waving in the windy blast of a Detroit Smash, thankfully not flying away due to All Might's grip. The slime villain was blown away quite literally, it's malleable body flying and spraying throughout the shopping district's street.

After that it was a flurry of officers and a few heroes gathering slime villain bits. Bakugou was quiet, which was unusual on its own, but he had managed to get the press off his tail fairly quick thanks to police interference.

"This child has just been through a traumatic experience and still needs to take a statement. As a representative of the police department, I must ask that you refrain from any interviews until further introspection. That is unless anyone would like to spend their weekend dealing with being reprimanded with legal action."

The press quickly shuffled away from Bakugou after that.

Izuku wasn't as lucky. The police department gave the same speech to the press about him being interviewed, but Izuku was also scolded by the heroes. Perhaps not as harshly as he could have been though, after all, Death Arms did tell him that, "While it was incredibly stupid to run in like that, I can't fault you on your quick thinking."

It left him with a little pride, being just a little praised, even if it was followed after being called stupid. Well he's had plenty of backhanded compliments before, certainly wasn't the harshest and it was true.

After giving the department his statement, Izuku quickly made his way home. He was glad not to have been stopped by All Might, who had been too busy with the press. Izuku didn't believe he could handle being berated by his idol and number one hero. The least Izuku could do after all of this as he walked home, was to take what All Might said to heart. Izuku had always wanted to help others, people that had gotten the short-end of the stick. He'd always believed the way to do that best was to be a hero, even if he was quirkless. He had a natural drive to help. But, perhaps All Might was right. Officers may not have the most spotlight, with being over-shadowed by heroes and all, but they were still vital. It was about time for Izuku to grow up and face reality.

This was just the push that he needed.