Author's Note: Hey everyone, Fire Slash here and welcome to the next chapter of Hajime Hinata, Ultimate Hero. Before the chapter begins I have a few announcements: first off, thanks to all who've shown support for this story. It's thanks to you that I'm able to find the motivation for producing chapters. You're all great. Second, it seems like a lot of people want to see either Hinazumi or a pure harem. Voting is still going on, so if you want to see another pairing, leave a review saying which pair you want to see. Now, review and enjoy :-).

0000

Welcome back to 'Hajime Hinata: Ultimate Hero,' the story about how an average joe like myself managed to become a superhero. Now that I think about it, it seems a lot of superhero origin stories start off with the main character being a loser. It kinda undermines my tale in a way…

Anyways, Izuru had recently forced me through the torture he called 'training.' Yes, because training apparently involves you jumping off large pillars the size of buildings. While the training was unnecessarily hard, it did teach me how to control my abilities. Now, I officially begin my journey as a superhero. Let's just hope I don't mess up right away…

0000

"Dude, no offense, but you look completely fucked up," Souda told Hinata as they and Koizumi walked to school together the next day. As much as Hinata wanted to argue against his friend, the reserve course student knew what the ultimate mechanic said was true. With the last day of training having been rougher than the other two, Hinata was now sporting a brand new, large black eye along with several bruises on his face. If it wasn't for the fact his pants and shirt covered the rest of his body, two larger sets of bruises would have been noticeable on his arms and legs. He also had a bruise on his stomach so large it covered half of the area. But Souda and Koizumi didn't need to know that...

"What can I say, I'm a clumsy oaf."

"Yeah, no. I'm not buying that," Koizumi informed the boy, causing him to gulp. "I'm pretty sure a fall won't do all THAT to you. Trust me, I'm friends with Tsumiki. The poor girl can barely handle running without accidentally falling into a suggestive position. You're nowhere near as clumsy as she is."

"Tsumiki's the nurse, right?" Hinata asked, partially because he was curious but also as an attempt to change the subject. Unfortunately, Koizumi saw right through his plan.

"Yes, she's the nurse, but that's not important. Whatever happened to you looks like the work of someone else."

'Damnit Koizumi,' Hinata mentally cursed. 'It's hard to hide anything from you. But I can't tell you the truth yet. You're not ready for it, no one is. Maybe someday…'

"Uh, so what are you suggesting Koizumi?" Souda asked the female of the group.

"What I'm suggesting is that someone's picking on Hinata," Koizumi announced, causing Hinata to give her a look of confusion. Though it was true the upper year ultimates picked on the reserve course students occasionally, no one has yet to pick on Hinata. After all, he had his friends around him, usually the bullies targeted those who were walking home by themselves. However, the look of confusion on his face soon turned into a small smile. Perhaps he could use Koizumi's accusations to hide the truth behind his injuries. After all, they weren't able to walk home with him yesterday. Apparently one of their classmates spiked the food being served by the ultimate chef, causing their hormones to go crazy. As such, they spent their entire day in the school's infirmary, recovering from the effects of the drug.

"Fine…you got me," Hinata told her. "Some of the upperclassmen in the main program jumped me while I was walking home yesterday. I sadly couldn't get a good look at them since they took me by surprise."

"Damn," Souda said, completely believing the lie. "I forgot how many assholes are in the years above us. Sorry dude."

Hinata waved his friend off, making it seem as if the 'bullying' wasn't a huge problem. "It's fine."

"No it's not!" Koizumi shouted, startling the two boys. "This is the second time the upperclassmen went after someone I care about. A few days ago, they were harassing Sato. I'm so sick of it!"

"Then why not report it to the headmaster?" Souda asked, only for Koizumi to glare at him.

"You don't think I've tried? I've told him about the incident, only for him to blow it off. It's quite obvious that he favors the main course over the reserve course. Just because someone's talented shouldn't mean they should be treated better than everyone else."

"Koizumi, please calm down," Hinata gently told his friend, putting his hand on her shoulder. If it were any other guy, Koizumi would've slapped them in the face, but since this was Hinata, she didn't mind making physical contact with him. She knew he wouldn't try anything. "Getting angry won't solve anything."

"…You're right," Koizumi said with a small nod. "I'm just upset that those bullies are allowed to pick on others without suffering any consequences."

"Eh, they'll get theirs someday," Souda said, putting his hand on Koizumi's other shoulder.

Without looking at him, Koizumi immediately made it clear how much the gesture bothered her. "Don't touch me."

"Right," Souda stated before quickly removing his hand. "But you know what they say, what goes around comes around."

"That's the spirit," Hinata said as the three of them continued their walk to school.

0000

"Do you think Hinata's really alright?" Koizumi asked Souda as the two made their way to their classroom, having split away from Hinata a few minutes ago. Souda gave her an affirmative nod.

"If anyone's going to be fine, it's Hinata. He's a tough cookie."

"I know, but you do know him not having a talent truly bothers him. Being the target of bullying for the thing that bothers him the most might make him feel worse about himself."

"I guess, but he did say he was fine," Souda responded as the two arrived at their classroom. Opening the door, the two friends took their seats before continuing their conversation, not paying attention to what the rest of their classmates were doing.

"Who knows, he could just be lying. He's pretty good at that."

"Is something wrong big sis?" A childish voice asked the photographer, causing the two friends to turn their attention to a short blond girl sitting next to Koizumi. The girl had two, long, banana shaped ponytails and was currently wearing an orange orange kimono. A green obi sash completed the outfit. "Is someone bothering you? Is it Souda?"

"Why do you always have to blame everything on me?" Souda whimpered. Koizumi only shook her head.

"No Saionji, Souda's actually behaving today," Koizumi informed the girl. "I'm fine, nothing's bothering me."

"That's not what Ibuki thinks!" Another girl explained, having listened to their conversation. She had pale skin and green eyes. In addition, she had long multi-coloured hair which consisted of the colors black, pink, blue and white. On the top on her head, some of her hair was tied up to look like two horns. Lastly, she had several piercings on her ears and face. "Something's definitely bothering Koizumi. C'mon, you can tell Ibuki so I can turn that frown upside down!"

"Geez, you're still as enthusiastic as always Mioda," Souda told the newcomer, despite the fact she wasn't paying attention to him. "Oh, that reminds me, has Sonia entered the classroom yet?"

"You don't even try to hide your perverted fantasies anymore," Saionji mocked the mechanic, giving him a sly glance.

"Ugh, Ibuki's getting goosebumps, and not the good kind," the musician exclaimed as she shuddered.

"Oh come on! I'm not perverted! Koizumi can vouch for me."

"While you're not nearly as bad as Hanamura, you're still the second biggest perv in this class," Koizumi told him, causing the mechanic to groan in response.

"As for your princess, she's in another castle!" Mioda informed him, giggling at her own joke. "Nah, she's really in the back of the room, talking to Tanaka."

Turning his head to where Mioda was pointing, Souda saw she was right, the blonde princess was currently speaking with a scarfed boy who appeared to be part of some sort of cult. "Again?! Why the hell does she even hang out with that guy? Almost ninety percent of what he says is gibberish."

"Perhaps it's because he doesn't stalk her like you do," Koizumi responded.

"I don't stal-"

"Ouch, you managed to get beat by the class weirdo. You must be so embarrassed right now…" Saionji cut him off just to mock the poor boy's misfortune. A few seconds later, the door flung open as a purple haired girl wearing a nurse's outfit flew into the classroom.

"I-I'm sorry I'm late again! I was-" the girl began rambling about why she was late, until she slipped over what appeared to be nothing. To make matters worse, the girl fell into a rather lewd pose, her books being the only thing covering her private areas. "P-please don't look at me!"

"And why not? This is certainly a…thrilling experience," a short boy dressed as a chef stated, only to receive a glare from Koizumi in response.

"Hanamura, shut up," Koizumi said before making her way to the fallen girl. Helping her up, the photographer gave her a sympathetic smile. "Are you okay Tsumiki?"

"Y-yes," the nurse stated before whimpering. "I-I'm sorry for being so clumsy!"

"Tch, next time watch where you're going," a 'baby faced' short boy wearing a tuxedo told the nurse. He was currently sitting in the back of the class, next to a red eyed girl with two grey hair styled into two braids. The girl wore small glasses and had a bamboo sword on her back, giving her a rather intimidating presence. However, the other boy didn't seem to mind her company, also appearing to be a dangerous individual despite the appearance of his face and his height. "Maybe then we can prevent future accidents from happening."

"Kuzuryuu, please stop bothering her," Koizumi requested, though her tone made it known that she wasn't asking him to do so, but she was commanding him instead. The boy was about to respond, but a quick look from the girl next to him made him stop, the stare telling him that arguing against the photographer would be a waste of time.

"Whatever."

"Geez Koizumi, what went up your butt?" A tan girl with a big chest asked the redhead. "Ya seem to be in a bad mood today."

"You do seem stressed," a large, muscular man with green hair loudly said, having followed the tan girl.

"Ibuki has to agree with Owari and Nidai," Mioda said with a nod. "Normally Koizumi isn't this grumpy in the morning."

"Why does everyone think that I'm upset?" Koizumi asked her classmates.

"…Perhaps it's because you seem more agitated than usual," a girl with pink hair bluntly said as she looked down at the handheld device she was currently playing with.

"Not helping Nanami…"

"She is right though," a heavy boy with light brown hair told her. "You're usually a bit more calm."

"You know what Mitarai, fine! A friend of mine in the reserve course got jumped yesterday by some of our seniors, happy?" Koizumi asked the entire class.

"Is this friend that boyfriend you keep talking about? Hinata's his name, right?" Mioda asked, giving the girl a smirk, causing Koizumi's face to become red.

"H-he's not my boyfriend!" The girl exclaimed. "How many times do I have to tell you guys that? Can't a girl just be friends with a guy?"

"I know, I know. It's just soo much fun to tease you. Ibuki is sorry for your friend though."

"Just be glad Komaeda didn't hear that Hinata was attacked," Souda told Koizumi. "The boy seems to hate the reserve course for some reason."

"The kid's psycho," Owari added. "By the way, where is he?"

"I think that loser said that he was sick or something," Saionji responded. "Good riddance."

"U-um, does your friend need medical attention?" Tsumiki asked. "I-I'm more than willing to help the injured."

Souda shook his head, answering for his female friend. "Nah, he's fine, just has a few big bruises. Nothing to be worried about. He's probably been through worse."

"Oh, I almost forgot! Ibuki's hosting a party this Saturday," the musician said, changing the subject. "All of you are invited. Ibuki's made sure to invite everyone from each grade and even our homeroom teacher, miss Yukizome.

"And she actually agreed to go?" Souda asked in disbelief.

"Yep! As such, you all have to come or I'll be a sad woman."

"I guess I have no choice," Koizumi sighed. "After all, there's got to be someone to keep all of you in check."

0000

'Hmm… how should I hide my identity?' Hinata asked himself as he doodled in his notebook. He should be paying attention to the lesson being taught in math class, but the reserve course student knew he could easily learn the entire lesson in a few minutes. After all, he now had the ability to process anything in a short amount of time, meaning he could learn the material later. As such, Hinata decided to use this time to design his superhero costume. If he was truly going to become a vigilante, he needed to hide his identity seeing as if he fought crime without doing so, he could easily be tracked down by not only his enemies, but by the police as wel since vigilantism was illegal in Japan. 'Well, gloves might be a good thing to have. I don't want anyone tracking me using my fingerprints.'

"What the hell happened to you?" A female voice asked the boy. However, Hinata didn't hear her, being too focused on his notebook to notice his surroundings.

'A mask would be nice, but nothing too flashy. Oh, how about I wear a sweater and sweatpants as well? I'm not rich, so I can't make a costume from scratch. I guess until I'm able to afford something else, I'll just go with that. I have a crap ton of sweats at home. I'll just wear my black ones, for camouflage and all…"

"Hey asshole, it's common decency to respond to someone when they're talking to you," the girl said again, poking Hinata in the arm with a pencil to get his attention. However, much to her surprise, the pencil's point snapped off when it touched his skin. Managing to somehow hear the snapping noise from the writing utensil, Hinata turned to face her, noticing the girl speaking to him had long blonde hair and light skin. Her eyes had a olive green color to them and on her cheeks were what appeared to be permanent blush marks, giving her a 'baby face.' Despite this, the girl appeared to be rather dangerous, having an aura of confidence surrounding her.

"Sorry, Kuzuryuu was it?" Hinata asked, not immediately recalling his classmate's name due to the fact she transferred to his class a day ago. The only reason he even remembered her name was due to her reputation. Kuzuryuu Natsumi was part of the Yakuza, the biggest and most dangerous gang in Japan. Not only that, her family ran the gang, with her brother, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu literally attending Hopes Peak Academy as the 'ultimate Yakuza.' As such, she was someone to avoid when provoked. "I was attacked while heading home."

"Geez, if I didn't know better, it looks like they had some weapons," Kuzuryuu said, giving him a sly expression. "Those bruises must be a bitch to have."

"Yeah, they do suck," Hinata responded. Thankfully he had increased healing, otherwise his injuries would've taken a long time to heal. Speaking of which, about a quarter of the bruises on his face, arms, and legs were fully healed while the others were now smaller in size. "Because of them, it took me a while to even move my arm without it hurting. It's easily the worst feeling I've ever experienced."

"Psh! Doesn't sound like too much of a problem. I remember getting a broken arm after fighting some idiot and his posse. Now that hurts, especially when you accidentally lay in it."

"Hinata and Kuzuryuu! Please pay attention!" The teacher shouted, ending their conversation. As Kuzuryuu began flipping the teacher the bird, Hinata went back to doodling in his notebook, thinking of ways to improve his costume and how badly he needed drawing lessons. One simple thought the boy was having could easily sum up his artistic skills:

'Damn, I've seen corpses on TV that look better than this…'

0000

"So you're really going for the superhero route?" Izuru asked Hinata telepathically once the boy arrived home, his bruises having fully healed as the day went by. Going up to his room, Hinata began digging around his closet, hoping that he still owned the clothes he was looking for.

"Yes I am," Hinata responded before pulling out a black sweater from the back of the closet. "One down! Now where are those pants."

"And for what reason? You have no real motivation to play hero."

"Shows what you know. You're the one who gave me these gifts, so I'm going to use them. I'm doing this out of the good of my heart."

"Really?" Izuru flatly stated, bored. "You're going for a cliché reason like that? That's almost as predictable and boring as the whole 'my family and/or friends are dead' stick. It doesn't matter though. We both know you're lying."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The only reason you're playing hero is because you want to contribute to society someway. Even then, that's only to prove that you're as capable of those 'ultimates' you fangirl over so much."

"That's not-"

"Remember, I've been watching you for a while," Izuru calmly told the reserve course student. "And all the abilities I've given you are a fraction of my true power, meaning you can't lie to me. Not to mention you're easily readable..."

"God Damnit," Hinata growled, getting increasingly frustrated with the deity. "Fine, it's true, I'm doing this to show the world what Hajime Hinata can do. But what I said before isn't wrong, I do want to help people."

"Then you might want to suit up," Izuru said. "You're pants are in the bin to the right and you a black scarf in your attic that you can make into a mask. All you have to do eyeholes into it and you're good to go."

"Okay, I know you said you've been watching me for a while, but why the hell do you know where my stuff are? I'm pretty sure I haven't touched those things since middle school."

"I have my ways."

0000

"…What the hell am I doing?" Hinata asked himself. Managing to sneak out of his house without alerting his parents, Hinata was on top of a ten story building located in a neighborhood ten minutes away from the one he resided in, scanning the neighborhood for trouble. Getting onto the building was easier than it looks, seeing as the boy could leap higher than most people. As such, he managed to pull down the latter connected to the building's fire escape, using the safety equipment to climb to the top of the structure. "…Why did I think this was a good idea? I'm no hero…"

"What happened to 'you're the one who gave me these gifts, so I'm going to use them?'" Izuru asked Hinata.

"Well, that was before I realized how little I actually thought this through." It was true that Hinata was now having some doubts. After all, he was still human. He could die out there. Though he had powers, it only took a minor slip up to end his career. "I might as well go back."

Thankfully for this story, reality had a strange way of functioning. One moment you're about to climb down a building, the next moment you hear something that stops you from proceeding.

"Somebody help me!" A woman shouted, causing Hinata's head to whip to the general direction of the voice. Looking down an alleyway, he saw a woman being held at gun point.

"Shit! I should call the cops," Hinata whispered to himself as he began thinking of a way to alert the authorities, only to remember why he was outside.

"Am I really going to do this?" Hinata asked himself. The time it would take for him to call for safety, the more likely the woman was going to get hurt or killed. He was her only hope.

"Well, balls. Here I go." Swiftly and quietly climbing down the building he was on, Hinata knew that tonight, he wasn't just a normal high school student with the uniqueness of a pidgin. No, instead he was someone else, someone willing to save a life by risking his. Tonight, he was…um, who was he exactly?

"Might want to work on that later," Izuru said.

"Shut up."

0000

"Listen lady, I'm getting really impatient right now," the robber said, waving his gun around threatening. In terms of size, this man was huge, being six and a half inches tall. The man also had bulging muscles, giving even Nidai a run for his money. Lastly, like all smart robbers, he had a ski mask on, covering his face. "I'm going to count to three and unless you want a bullet inside your head, I'd suggest giving me that bag. One. Two."

As the whole exchange went down, Hinata was at the edge of the alleyway, attempting to come up with a way to alert the man of his presence. Though it seemed like a terrible idea, Hinata was hoping to distract the man from the girl. Sadly, once the man began counting down, Hinata immediately blurted the first thing that came to mind.

"Stop right there, criminal scum!" The boy shouted before cringing at his poor choice of words and how stupid his voice sounded. He had tried to deepen his voice to make himself unrecognizable, only for it to sound as if someone was having a seizure. He could even hear Izuru groaning in pain. Thankfully, he plan worked, the man immediately turning his attention towards the hero.

"Well shit!" The man exclaimed before pointing his gun at Hinata, making the boy realize how much easier a sneak attack would have been. "I guess I'm going to have to kill two people tonight. I don't want any witnesses, now do I? That would be a bad idea."

Unknown to the criminal, Hinata was carefully analyzing him. Time seemed to slow down as the boy took in his surroundings. There wasn't anything he could use to defend himself but his fists, and the man was ready to fire the gun at any moment. However, his form seemed to be sloppy, meaning all Hinata had to do was move out of the way before the trigger could be pulled. This seemed easy enough, seeing as Hinata knew he could move much faster than the man. He was strong, but lacked dexterity. Either way, Hinata was extremely nervous. Being held at gun point was never something to be welcomed.

"Try it and see what happens," the boy told him, attempting to bait the man so he could shoot at him first. Thankfully the man fell for it and smiled as he prepared to pull the trigger.

"With pleasure," the man fired the gun with a cocky smile. However, the smile soon dropped once he saw Hinata move out of the bullet's way with supernatural speed. He tried to shoot him again, only for the boy to duck below the spot he aimed, unharmed. The man looked down at his weapon, prepared to fire a third bullet, only to let out a high pitched scream when he looked up from his gun. Right in front of him was Hinata who was preparing to land a powerful punch on the criminal. He attempted to dodge, but he couldn't even react in time as the fist slammed into the man's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying towards the wall. Now on his knees, he was hoping to grab his gun so he could kill the boy, but collapsed after seeing Hinata holding the weapon himself.

"You dropped this," Hinata said as he tossed the gun to his side, using the same gruff voice as before. He was really going to have to work on that…

"What are you?" The man asked Hinata as he approached the man. "You…you aren't natural."

Grabbing onto the man's shirt, Hinata brought his face towards the man's before giving him a smile. "I am a warrior of hope, sent to protect the innocent people in this world from the minions of despair."

Landing a vicious head butt on the frightened man, Hinata backed away from the criminal's body before turning his attention towards the woman he saved, who was looking at him with both fear and admiration in her face.

"Are you okay miss?"

"Y-yeah." The woman replied, relaxing upon realizing Hinata wasn't going to hurt her.

"Good. He should be knocked out for a few hours. I'd recommend giving the police a call so that he isn't able to hurt anyone else." With that, Hinata began to climb the fire escape again, but stopped when the girl asked him a question.

"Wait! Who are you?"

A lot of things were running through the boy's head as he attempted to make up a cover name. As such, for the second time today, he blurted out the first thing which came to mind.

"I am…Izuru," the boy said, getting the following response in return. And no, it wasn't the woman who did so.

"…Fuck you Hinata."