Izuku walked to class gently rubbing at his still tender injuries. Thankfully none of them were visible so he wouldn't have to answer any incriminating questions. He slipped into his seat next to Shinsou and greeted him. Shinsou greeted him back. The two sat in silence while Izuku worked on his notebook until Shinsou spoke up. "Hey Midoriya?"

Izuku looked up from his work. "Yeah Shinsou?"

"Before we head to lunch could I talk to you? Privately?" He asked nonchalantly.

Izuku was confused but agreed anyway. "S-sure no problem."

Class passed quickly and soon lunch was upon them. Izuku packed up his things as Shinsou waited for him. Shinsou led them to an empty corridor and leaned against one wall, motioning for Izuku to take the other. "So what did you want to talk about Shinsou?" Izuku asked nervously.

"Have you seen the news recently?" Shinsou asked, fishing his phone out of his pocket and scrolling through it.

"Uh what news? There's been a lot recently." Izuku asked. He had a feeling he knew exactly what news Shinsou was talking about and did not like where this conversation seemed to be heading.

"The news about the USJ. About how class 1-a was attacked by villains. Though you probably heard about that from Bakugou." Shinsou drawled on.

"Y-yeah he told me about it when he got home. I can't believe villains managed to get onto the campus." Izuku attempted to steer the conversation in a different direction.

Shinsou nodded. "I also have seen some news sites reporting that a couple of vigilantes were there. Everyone's wondering how they knew what was going on and how they got there. Some people are speculating they're working with the villains." Shinsou looked up at him. "You seem better today. I assume you're over whatever caused you to be sent home that day?"

"A-ah yeah I'm-" Izuku felt his mind go blank.

Shinsou sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't like to use my quirk like this. Especially since I consider you a friend but based on how you've gushed about my quirk before I don't think you'll mind." Shinsou looked guiltily at him. "Let's just get this over with quickly. You're the vigilante Rabbit aren't you?"

Izuku could feel himself nod his head and internally panicked. Shinsou nodded like he was expecting the answer. "That's what I thought. Flick yourself in the head."

Izuku did so and felt himself regain control. "S-shinsou?" was all he could manage.

Shinsou pushed off the wall and started walking towards the lunch room. "We should go get some lunch so we have time to eat."

Izuku nervously followed behind him. They grabbed lunch in silence and went to sit down at their usual table with Katsuki and Hatsume.

"Where have you two been? I've been stuck with crazy over here by myself." Annoyance was clear on Katsuki's face though it softened slightly when he saw Izuku's nervous expression. "What the fuck happened with you?"

Izuku failed to come up with an answer quickly so Shinsou spoke up for him. "We had a chat about the recent news is all."

Katsuki's eyes narrowed. "Oh yeah? Care to let me in on just what you were discussing eyebags?"

"We were talking about how those vigilantes, Rabbit and Wolf, showed up at the USJ. Well at least Rabbit was confirmed to be there by some of the students. No one actually saw Wolf." Shinsou held Katsuki's gaze. "Can't be in two places at once right?"

Katsuki leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "What the fuck do you want?"

Shinsou copied his actions. "I want in."

Izuku choked on the food he had just started eating. Hatsume rubbed his back to help. "You want what?" he asked incredulously.

"I want in. I want to join your little vigilante group." Shinsou answered simply.

"But why? You could turn us into the heroes or the police or something. But you want to risk losing your chance at becoming a hero to join us?" Izuku asked, still trying to process Shinsou's request.

Shinsou sighed. "All my life I've been told I have a villain's quirk and that I could never be a hero. I never really had friends before because everyone was scared I'd use my quirk on them. I want to prove them wrong. I admit I rely a lot on my quirk so this would be a way for me to learn to be less reliant on it."

Izuku and Katsuki looked at each other. They seemed to have a quick silent conversation before Katsuki smirked. "Alright then if that's what you want fine. But you do things our way. Be prepared to go through training hell. We have a lot to catch you up on after all."

Shinsou looked nervous for a moment before schooling his expression into a more confident one. "So be it."

Hatsume spoke up in the lull in the conversation. "And I can work with Midoriya to make you three a bunch of super cute babies and you can field test them for me!"

Katsuki threw his hands up in exasperation. "Why the fuck not. We have a whole team now I fucking guess." Katsuki grumbled and crossed his arms.

That night...

Idiot Vigilante Club

KingExplosionMurder: Who the fuck changed the name of the chat

AllMightFanBoy: It wasn't me

InventorExtraordinaire: Nope

What'sSleep?: Guilty

KingExplosionMurder: Why

What'sSleep?: Why not

InventorExtraordinaire: Based on what midoriya did the other day the name does seem fitting

AllMightFanBoy: I- you're not wrong

KingExplosionMurder: Why do we all have to dragged down by deku's dumb ass

What'sSleep?: "We have a whole fucking team now I guess" You said yourself we're a team. We're only as smart as our dumbest member

KingExplosionMurder: Fuck this I'm retiring

AllMightFanboy: I feel attacked right now

KingExplosionMurder: Maybe because you are being attacked

KingExplosionMurder: Anyway eyebags meet us at the location we sent in 10 minutes or we're leaving your ass

AllMightFanBoy: Kacchan! Don't worry Shinsou we won't leave without you

KingExplosionMurder: I will

InventorExtraordinaire: Make sure to check that the coms work once you're out there

AllMightFanBoy: Will do!

What'sSleep?: omw

It took Shinsou around 20 minutes to find the duo. When he finally managed to drag himself onto the roof he flopped down and attempted to catch his breath.

Katsuki and Izuku walked over to him. "This is fucking sad. You're not gonna get anywhere with us if you're winded from climbing up one building." Katsuki taunted.

Shinsou glared half heartedly at Katsuki from his position on the ground. "I bet you weren't much better when you first started."

Katsuki scoffed. "I was fucking amazing. Deku was about as bad as you."

Izuku shook his head behind Katsuki's back and brought a hand to his ear. "Testing, 1 2 3. Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear Rabbit!" Hatsume's voice chirped through the communicator.

Izuku went over and helped Shinsou off the ground. He handed him a purple hoodie and a mask with a voice changer in it. "Here put these on. They're simple but they work to hide your identity. Oh! And speaking of identities, have you decided on a name yet?"

Shinsou slipped on the given gear. "Yeah I thought about it and settled on Sphinx."

Izuku smiled. "That's a great name."

Katsuki groaned. "We're actually sticking with the whole animal theme? I only did it as a joke."

Izuku sighed. "Yet you never tried to change your name Wolf."

"No point in changing it if people knew it already." Katsuki shot back. "You're the one who started it by deciding to call yourself Rabbit."

"We should just get to Sphinx's training. We only have a little bit of time before the sports festival and me and him need to give it our all there." Izuku said walking over to the edge of the building.

That first night was something Hitoshi would recall as probably the best and worst night of his life. On one hand he was sore, exhausted, and feeling completely inadequate. On the other hand he felt a kind of freedom as he attempted to keep up with the two far more experienced vigilantes all night. Here no one knew who he or what his quirk was. People would only judge him based on his actions and if Katsuki could get people to like him Hitoshi was certain he'd have no trouble. Katsuki was a strict teacher but Hitoshi could respect how well the method worked on him. If he ever had questions about something he could always ask Izuku anyway.

For the first week of working together Hitoshi wasn't allowed to engage with any villains they came across. Izuku and Katsuki would take care of it and he would watch and try to learn. Hatsume occasionally would chirp in his ear about how well her gear was working or some other observation.

During that first week they had an encounter that Histoshi would soon learn is a regular one for the duo. Hitoshi being completely exhausted from jumping around rooftops for a couple hours had requested a break. The two led him to a rooftop they said was their usual break spot. Hitoshi lay on the ground trying to catch his breath, something he'd been doing quite often during that week, while Izuku handed him a water bottle.

"You're improving a lot Sphinx! Me and Wolf have been doing this a while so don't feel bad about still not being able to keep up." Izuku said, trying to encourage him.

Hitoshi only nodded as he sat up so he could drink from the bottle he'd been given. He nearly spit out water when his hood was suddenly yanked over his head.

"You two picking up strays now?" A tired voice asked that Hitoshi recognized right away. He looked past Izuku, who had been the one to throw his hood up, and saw Eraserhead crouching on the roof looking very unimpressed.

Katsuki scoffed. "Not by choice."

Izuku rolled his eyes and whispered to Hitoshi. "Keep your hood up. We don't usually use the voice changers around him but we always keep our hoods up."

Hitoshi nodded as he tried to keep his expression impassive.

Eraser looked at him. "So what do I call you? Can't say I agree with another one of you showing up but I'd at least like to know your name."

Hitoshi swallowed. "S-sphinx. That's what I go by."

Eraser nodded. "How'd you get pulled into this kid?"

Hitoshi shrugged. "Just kinda happened." he answered cryptically.

Eraser sighed. "Can't say I was expecting a more clear answer. I assume you go to UA as well?"

Hitoshi remained silent, unsure of whether he should answer or not. Thankfully Katsuki spoke up for him. "Yeah that's how we met him. We don't exactly have much of a social life outside of school cause of this whole thing."

The rest of their break was filled with small talk, mostly between Eraser and Izuku. As the three vigilantes got up to leave Eraser called out to them. "At some point after the sports festival I want to talk to you about the league. I know you know something and it would be useful to hear what information you have." Izuku and Katsuki nodded. "And Sphinx?"

Hitoshi nearly tripped in surprise at the attention. "Yeah?"

"Try and keep out of trouble. If you're going to do this at least be smart about it. Listen to those two. In general they're good at about being logical." With that he left the three alone on the rooftop. Hitoshi went home that night feeling like he'd made an excellent decision.

The rest of the first week was spent trying to catch Hitoshi up on what Izuku and Katsuki had been learning for years. He wasn't perfect but he was improving. On the first night of the second week things changed.

"Alright listen up. Now we start the real training. You're going to take what we've taught you over the past week and apply it to fighting villains. Me and Rabbit will make sure things don't get out of hand. So do your fucking best got it?" Katsuki asked, giving Hitoshi a challenging look.

He shot one right back. "Let's do this."

It didn't take long for them to come across a would be criminal. "Ok Sphinx. You're gonna go down there and take them out. Me and Wolf will wait up here and intervene if things start going south, ok?" Izuku explained.

Hitoshi nodded. "Got it." he double checked his support gear to make sure it was all on and ready.

"Remember our most important rule, no quirks!" Katsuki yelled after him as Hitoshi pounced on the mugger.

The victim took the moment of surprise to run off and Hitoshi could see Izuku dash off in the same direction from the corner of his eye. As soon as the moment of surprise was over the mugger threw him off and he collided with the wall with a decent amount of force. He recovered quickly though and fell into a fighting stance. Hitoshi pushed a button on his palms and he felt the sturdy framework of the strength enhancing support item move over his hands and arms. He remembered yesterday Hatsume telling him while it wouldn't increase his strength to be on par with a normal strength enhancing quirk he would be stronger than an average person, so his punches would have some more force behind them.

He didn't charge the villain immediately. Something that had been drilled into him over the past week was that he shouldn't charge recklessly in until he knew his opponent's quirk. He didn't have to wait long as the mugger grew impatient and threw a trash can lid at Hitoshi. It wasn't very fast so he had no trouble dodging out of the way. "Some sort of telekinesis then?" Hitoshi thought. He was sure Izuku would have this guy's quirk figured out in no time. In a couple fights last week Izuku had hung back and gone through how he deduced an opponent's quirk. Hitoshi had managed to retain some of it but it would take him a long time to get as good as Izuku was.

Hitoshi rushed in fast; it seemed to take a bit of concentration in order to use his quirk so Hitoshi figured if he overwhelmed the mugger quickly he wouldn't have to worry about it. This seemed to hold true as nothing was sent his way before he could land a solid hit to the mugger's gut. In an attempt to take them out before they could recover Hitoshi rushed forward again, capture tape in hand. As he rushed forward he failed to notice that the mugger had lifted his hand towards one of the dumpsters in the alley they were fighting in. Before Hitoshi could touch the mugger again he was stuck in place. He glanced down to see a pool of metal around his feet that was solidifying.

"Pretty cool quirk huh? Metal manipulation. Allows me to control metal. It's harder with larger amounts but it works." The mugger said smugly.

Damnit. Hitoshi had guessed his quirk wrong. It would be so simple to brainwash him right now. Hitoshi immediately threw that thought away. He swore he could feel the disapproving rage from Katsuki like he'd somehow known the thought had crossed his mind. The whole point of this training was to be less reliant on his quirk. If that was gonna happen he needed to be able to solve problems without the use of his quirk. The villain seemed to be talkative now that he thought he had the upper hand. Maybe Hitoshi could use that.

"Damn yeah it is a pretty cool quirk I guess. Won't help you against mine though." Hitoshi said, forcing his voice to sound calm and unbothered.

"Oh yeah? And just what is your quirk?" The villain sneered.

Hitoshi forced his posture to be as calm as possible. "I call it countdown. After I make contact with a person they have about five minutes till they become completely paralyzed. Though the amount of time it takes can be shortened if the victim uses their quirk or otherwise exerts themselves." Hitoshi explained.

The villain looked concerned. "O-oh yeah?" The air of confidence was gone.

Hitoshi nodded. "By my calculation you'll be down any minute. You definitely sped up the clock. Won't be a problem for the police to pick you up if you can't move. Shame I'm the only one who can undo it though."

The villain's smile dropped completely. "Let's make a deal yeah? I let you out, you reverse your quirk and we both walk away like nothing happened ok?"

Hitoshi pretended to think it over. "Alright. Seems fair."

The villain removed the metal from around his feet and he took a moment to stretch. "Now reverse your quirk." He demanded.

Now it was Hitoshi's turn to smirk even though the villain wouldn't be able to see it. "Oh? About my quirk? I was lying." he said as he punched the villain in the face and knocked them out. He made sure to tie him up with capture tape before turning to look up to where he thought Katsuki was. He didn't see him on the roof but was surprised to see him standing next to the villain when Hitoshi looked back down. "How did you?" he started.

"Been doing this a hell of a lot longer Sphinx. I know how to move quietly." Katsuki said as he inspected Hitoshi's handiwork.

"Oh it looks like my baby worked like a charm! Tell me everything Sphinx!" Hatsume said excitedly through the communicator.

Katsuki winced and replied for Hitoshi. "Not now Owl. He can give you a report later when we're not still out in the fucking field."

"Mmmm fine, but I want details!" Hatsume relented.

"Not a bad job. I mean you took fucking forever to do it but no one else got hurt and you're not too banged up. Can't believe that idiot actually believed that lie about your quirk. Not a terrible strategy when the enemy doesn't know your quirk though." Katsuki half praised half lectured.

Izuku returned then and his eyes lit up at the sight of the captured villain. "Nice work Sphinx! Sorry I had to run off like that. I wanted to make sure the lady was ok. She was a bit shaken up but otherwise fine. I also called the police so they should be here soon." Izuku rambled.

"We should get going then." Katsuki said as he started climbing back up the building he'd previously been on.

Hitoshi spent the rest of the night on a high. Not even the thought of having to return home after all this could sour his mood.

That last week before the sports festival was split between school during the day and vigilante work at night. A lot of Izuku and Shinsou's free time during the day was spent in the support lab with Hatsume. They had learned that as long as they got it approved they were allowed to bring support items into the festival.

They were all working down to the wire and barely managed to get everything tested and approved before the festival. They all decided to take off the night before the festival to make sure they were all well rested.

When the day of the festival arrived the team all met up before they would have to go their separate ways. Izuku and Shinsou would not throw away their shot of getting into the hero course. They were both prepared to give it their all today.

As Katsuki was walking off he called back to Izuku. "I better see you in the finals nerd!"

Izuku smiled. "You'll see me don't worry!"

Now to do everything he could to keep that promise.