It All Depends On Your Definition

Being A Vigilante Means More Homework

Izuku had been almost invisible at school before . . . Well, now he might as well have been a ghost.

He kept his head down, was the last one to arrive and first to leave class, disappeared during lunch into one of numerous stairwells, and no longer even tried to interact with his classmates. 

Though, if someone had even tried to pay attention to him, they'd probably notice the large amount of books he had on him at any given time. He had the max amount of books he'd been able to check out of three different libraries, including his school's. 

These books ranged from topics like engineering, computers, and Hero laws, to Support Gear records and much more. And they were constantly changing. Izuku took pride in that fact that he was both a speedy reader and a quick study. He had taken notes about each book he read, and gone over them all so many times he could rattle them off verbatim. 

Of course, only studying wouldn't cut it. He had to get hands on. 

It hadn't taken much to find a source for material and scrap. Dagobah Municipal Beach Park had been used as a dumping ground for years. In all of that trash was Izuku's ticket to cheap but quality equipment. Especially if he made it himself. 

Plus the lifting of materials would help him build muscle mass, as well as his morning and evening runs. He was focusing more on the equipment and learning he'd need first. Izuku could put more effort into his workout regime once all his basics were covered and he actually had weapons to start learning to use. 

It was a slow process, especially because he was still in school and had to make sure he could get into a decent high school. No U.A., that was not something he wanted to deal with. First, Bakugo would be attending. Second, almost the entire staff was made up of Pro Heroes. Third, Izuku was smart and clever, which means he knows what battles to pick. Going up against the genius that was the U.A. principal? Out of his league for the moment. 

Izuku was not known for his luck. He wasn't going to start pushing it now.

Plus, if he just went to some random high school it'd be even harder to track him down if they somehow got close to him.

By the time he was halfway through the school year, Izuku had made significant progress. He had built his own laptop from the wreckage of a few other ones, building firewall after firewall around all his programs. He had finally figured out his bo staff; it collapsed, came apart in the middle and if he pressed the buttons right next to where his thumbs would rest, an electrical current that was on par to a police taser would release through the ends. His smoke bombs, little flat round discs you press down on in the middle, were working and he only had a few kinks to work out with their flash counterparts. 

He decided that having plates of armor underneath loose clothing would be his best bet for mobility and safety. It'd lead the less intelligent of his foes to underestimate him too, which was a plus. Usually he'd hate to be looked at as weak, but if his future enemies made that mistake . . . Well, he'd take the advantage it offered. 

His room had changed overtime. He had sold off a lot of his All Might merch, saving part of the money for himself and slipping the rest to his mother without her notice. Izuku was waiting to hear back about a lot of the rest of his collection, and his mother never really mentioned it because he had told her, in vague terms, of what All Might had told him that day. 

One thing he had spent his money one was the components for his costume. A black hoodie, large enough to hide his frame and the armor he'd have underneath, but not so much that it'd be an inconvenience, plus black jeans that were much the same. For shoes he'd picked a set of boots that he could reinforce with steel toes and jet-like propulsers on the soles. 

He hid it all in a cubby hole in the back of his closet. Izuku had found the thing years ago when the wallpaper had curled up just enough, now he hid it behind clothes and his boxes of left-over merch.  

Now that most of his equipment was taken care of, Izuku could spend more time training. With and without said equipment. The beach also came in handy for a nice, out of the way spot away from prying eyes. He didn't need questioned on this when he had supposedly given up on being a Hero. 

His mother had talked about maybe joining the police force or becoming a doctor, like All Might had said. The problem with either was that it'd make it harder for him to be a vigilante. A doctor would mean very limited time on the streets, and that's even before he got a job--just the schooling itself would make free time nearly nonexistent. Police work would be much the same on time, not to mention one slip-up and he'd be caught! 

So no, he wouldn't be going down either road. 

Maybe being a social worker could work? Sure, the hours would probably only be slightly better but he'd be helping people in and out of the mask. 

Speaking of a mask, he'd made his own. A full-face one at that, with an air filter, voice modifier, and night vision that could change over to thermal vision. For those pesky fuckers that could change their appearance and shit. 

Izuku had decided at the start that he'd use zip-ties to subdue anyone he caught. Firstly, they were cheap. Second, he didn't have to keep making them. Third, it'd probably piss off whoever he caught to be held down by a piece of plastic. 

His first night as a vigilante came into play a month before school let out. The early Spring, late Winter air was cool and crisp even through his jacket and gloves. 

Izuku kept to the roofs, and was very grateful that he'd started free-running and parkour two weeks into his planning. 

The tool belt clung around his waist held a multitude of things; smoke and flash bombs, zip-ties, small cameras he could stick to a surface and then would send feedback to his laptop, and even basic medical supplies. His staff was split in half, one half strapped to the inside of each forearm. 

His first incident that night would set the precedent.

A woman had been walking home when Izuku saw arms reach out from the side alley and yank her back. The female's quirk was a simple mutation that gave her blue skin and reptilian eyes. Her attacker could ooze a green liquid out of his hands that seemed to be a numbing agent of some kind because the girl thrashed her head and legs but her arms didn't budge. 

Izuku had made his way down quickly but silently, making use of the modification to his boots, taking the left half of his staff in his right hand. With a grunt of effort, he brought the solid piece of metal down just right on the bastard's head. The man slumped to the right, his grip on the woman's wrists slackening. 

A quick zip-tying, and one call to the police from the woman, then Izuku was slipping away. He heard her call out a thanks, and smiled to himself even as his hands shook and the reality of what he was doing sunk in completely.