I want to preface this by saying that if you prefer Deku and how the original My Hero Academia story is written, you're completely entitled to your opinion but since I'm doing my own personal rewrite based on how "I" think the story should have gone in my personal opinion, don't be mad when it doesn't agree with what you want and what you like. The main character is gonna be a blend of Izuku along with Koichi Haimawari from the amazing side manga Vigilantes which if you haven't read, you should, along with some extra traits that I just think are essential to the protagonist I wished to have seen. With that being said I still do appreciate critiques and opinions so leave them down in the comments just try to be respectful. I hope y'all enjoy!
A young boy looking to be around seven-years-old with spiky blonde hair and red eyes stood against another child along with two of his lackeys that had been behind him. This child had brown hair and brown eyes. He was defending a child around their age from the tiny bully. Tiny explosions popped from the blonde boy's hands as the brown-haired boy created rings of energy on his own in defense.
"Get out of my way, Creepy-Crawler! That kid said Endeavor is better than All Might so I have to teach him a lesson!" The blonde boy shouted, doing what he could to make himself look intimidating.
"I can't do that, Kacchan! It's not nice to bully people because they have different opinions than you!" Responded the brown-haired boy who had been called Creepy-Crawler by the blonde boy.
"Says who!? I don't think you'll be able to stop me! Especially not with that lame crawling quirk! Who are you to play the hero!?"
Bakugo said this and all of the classmates around the two began to laugh. He then attacked the Crawler and began beating him up along with the two classmates of his that stood with him. Eventually, the kid Bakugo had been bullying joined in on the thrashing and left laughing at the boy.
This had been a normal society in this society. People with powerful quirks trampled all over those with weaker abilities. After all, a society filled with power is governed by who's the most powerful of them all. These boys were Katsuki Bakugou; the blond boy and Koichi Haimawari; the brown-haired boy. Boys who had been friends since diapers were ripped apart by the dichotomy of the society created when "quirks" came into the picture.
You see, quirks all started one day in China when a baby was born that glowed. From that day on, slowly but surely, more and more children were born with supernatural traits and abilities. At first, as expected, the world was brought into chaos. The numbers of death and destruction were innumerable. People called Villains, who used their quirks for evil and their own selfish gain were born in this super-powered society. In response, many picked up the mantle of vigilante. Vigilantes were people who used their quirks to help people and stop evil-doers.
However, society would need to regain control somehow or another and so, the hero associations were born. Now, in order to use one's quirk for doing good, one would need to work to obtain a license and thus become an official hero. Unfortunately, this did not stop injustices from occurring. Now, there were just organized ways of dealing with them. This however, didn't apply to things as simple as the playground, a place where dreams often went to die for young children.
After about 10 minutes, Koichi got off the floor and after making sure no one was looking, activated his quirk and began sliding down the street. He wasn't very fast, only being able to move as fast as a slow bicycle, and he could only do this while maintaining contacts with at least three parts of his body, which were his hands and feet, but he still moved. This was Slide and Glide; Koichi's worthless miserable quirk.
As he slid home, Koichi did whatever he could to help those around him. He'd help old ladies across the street, chase runaway dogs, and pick up litter. No matter who put the boy down, doing good was simply what was in his heart and soul. He got home and opened the door where he saw his Mom and Dad waiting frantically.
"Where were you Mister!? I was so worried about you!" She then noticed the black eye that he had and immediately ran up to him rubbing his eye. "Who did this to you!?"
"I want answers right away young man!" His father continued.
"I'm sorry guys, I was out practicing my quirk again and I went a little too fast and flew into a wall. I decided to quit after that and lost track of time helping some people," Koichi responded convincingly.
Koichi often had to tell this lie. He didn't like to lie to his parents, but the one time he had told Bakugou, he was made to regret it deeply with an epic public beatdown. But at least it was half true as he did spend a majority of his time helping the people of his neighborhood.
"I'm tired of you going out and coming back looking all beaten up. The next time you come home with a black eye you're gonna be in trouble," Koichi's father told him.
"Okay, I understand," Koichi said sadly, before going upstairs.
"And Koichi, one more thing!" His father said while the boy walked off.
"Yes, dad?" Koichi asked.
"Earlier I set up a meeting with that Karate school nearby! If you're going to keep training you need some proper guidance," The man said, sensing the smile it had brought to the boy's face.
Koichi immediately slid down the stairs using his quirk and crashed into a wall, but he didn't care. He zipped straight to his father and hugged him.
"Thanks so much, Dad! I promise you won't regret it! I'm gonna be so cool! Martial Arts Hero: Small Might! Or Karate Hero: Might Jr!"
"Listen, some karate class isn't gonna magically make you a hero," the boy's mother interrupted. "And I hadn't heard about this class until just now," his mother whispered to his father. Who was still hugging his son.
"Alright, listen Son. I left your dinner in the microwave. Heat it up, eat, take a bath, and get ready for bed. Karate starts tomorrow at ten o'clock and you need to be well-rested."
"Yes sir," Koichi replied before zipping to the kitchen and doing as his father instructed.
"Alright now, before you get mad-" Mr. Haimawari said before being interrupted.
"Karate class!? Really!? The boy already somehow thinks he can be a hero and you put him in karate class!? Are you trying to have him get himself killed!?" Koichi's mother said.
"Trying to have him get himself killed!? Of course not, he's my only child! All I want is for him to have confidence in himself and for him to be able to defend himself! All you do is try to dash the boy's dreams! Let's not forget how you-" Mr. Haimawari was cut off once more.
"Don't! You! Dare! I only did that so that he could be safe! With your logic, we should just let him go fight monsters so he could get some experience and so that we don't dash his precious dreams! I'm sorry I value his life over his dreams!"
"That boy is gonna be a hero whether we help him or not! He's our son, he deserves someone who's gonna back him no matter what! Whether he had All Might's quirk, or no quirk, who are we to get in the way of his dreams if he's willing to work hard for them!? We should be pushing him to be the best he can be so that he doesn't get killed by that monster he has no experience of going against!"
"You know what!? If you're gonna push him to try to achieve a dream that's impossible by all means, do what you want! All I know is that when he gets to those hero school gates and no one wants to let him in, I'm not gonna be the one he's angry with!"
Twelve Years Later
Koichi ran as fast as his legs could carry him. It was the first day of his Senior Year for highschool and it was something he simply couldn't be late for. He eventually got prepared to get on all fours when a large man who looked like a shark barreled into the scene running frantically. He knocked down a light tower that almost fell on a group of people when suddenly, a muscular man, with white hair dashed into the fray and caught it before setting it down.
"Whoa it's Death Arms!" A man at the scene said.
"Hey, what's going on that this guy used his quirk in an area like this?" Koichi asked a man who was standing in the crowd.
"You know how it goes. The amateur nabbed a ladies bag, didn't realize there was a hero there, and after being cornered he freaked out," the man explained.
"What a shame," a woman said.
"Yeah, if I had some crazy strong quirk like that I'd be an awesome hero!" Another man said.
Koichi began to get closer to the situation in order to view it more closely. He took out his Notebook and jotted down the various heroes' quirks who appeared at the scene along with the villain's, while drawing next to them, with shocking speed and precision. Then Koichi saw a man covered in wood and wearing a navy jumpsuit swinging from beams and traffic light poles to engage the villain, causing girls around the young man age to squeal.
"That's Kamui Woods! He's new but he's already making it big as a hero! With a quirk as powerful as his and with the appeal he has, he's definitely gonna make it big as a hero!" Koichi said out loud, to no one in particular.
A man noticed this and said "Hey kid, you know you're stuff. You're one of those fanboys!" Earning a laugh.
Kamui Woods effortlessly maneuvered around the villain and frustrated him by hitting him with small amounts of wood and dodging his attacks with over the top acrobatics.
"Assault, robbery, and using one's quirk illegally during rush hour! You are truly a dastardly villain!" Kamui Woods explained. He then prepared an attack shouting, "Preemptive Binding Lacquered Chain Prison!"
"It's a really long name for a super move but it's really cool so I give him a pass!" Koichi said.
Before the villain could be ensnared, a feminine voice shouted "Canyon Cannon!" Before a gigantic kick hit the villain and blasted him across the train station, surprising the surrounding viewers, with the rather large posterior they came face to face with. Koichi immediately began drawing in his notebook as a trickle of blood came down his nose. "I'm Mt. Lady and this "bum" won't be causing you anymore trouble," she said with a wink.
"She's definitely got the looks and the power to make it to the top, but she'll have a hard time getting places without breaking things so that might hold her back a bit," Koichi said.
"So, you're over there taking notes in that book? Do you want to be a hero?" The man asked.
"Of course I do!" Koichi responded before running off, realizing he was now truly at the risk of being late to school.
The man laughed as Koichi zipped off as fast as he possibly could. The years had been kind to Koichi, physically, as he now stood at five foot eleven, had a decent build, and was decently good looking. His hair was brown and fluffy and he still had the same hazel eyes as his youth. However, his quirk was a very different story. It had not gotten any faster since its childhood, and in fact seemed to only have gotten slower as he grew. He had been building his body ever since that first day of karate class, but completely neglected his quirk. He studied but didn't do very well in his classes but at least maintained high enough grades to pass. He tried his best in everything he did, but he was having a really hard time believing he was gonna get into any hero school, let alone U.A.
Koichi made it to class right before the bell rang, where he found all of his peers goofing off. Or, almost all of them. Sitting in the middle of the class was none other than Koichi's childhood nightmare; Katsuki Bakugou. Bakugou stood at an impressive six foot one and was even better built than Koichi. His arms were littered with scars from training and battle alike. He sat carefree, with his feet on the table and a smug smirk on his face. The years were kind to Bakugou in all ways. He had always been the strongest wherever he was and he had a training regiment that made sure of that. He had been lifting weights since before he even realized his quirk and became even more serious once he did get his quirk. He had also never neglected his studies, always getting top scores in his classes. Koichi didn't like Bakugou. Not even a little bit. But he knew to give credit where it was due, and Bakugou had truly been the hardest worker he had ever met.
"Creepy-Crawler! Why are you in my class again!?" Bakugou shouted, much to Koichi's chagrin.
"I don't know. It's just how we were scheduled I guess. And I told you to stop calling me that," Koichi said dismissively.
"What are you gonna do about it, Creepy-Crawler? Last time I checked you're still zero to my twenty-three," Bakugou responded, creating a small explosion in his hand.
Koichi just sighed and found a seat next to a boy who seemed to be made of rocks. After a few minutes, a teacher walked into the classroom holding a large stack of papers.
"Listen, I'm not gonna have any ruckus in here. My name is Sensei Kamo and I'm gonna be your homeroom instructor for this year. What I have here are some four-paged Career Aptitude Tests. You're gonna take these tests so we can better track what kind of path is right for you guys." The man's face then shifted into a large grin as he threw all the papers into the air. "Who are these admins kidding!? It's obvious you all want to be heroes!"
The class all went into a frenzy, activating their quirks and cheering. All except for Koichi and Bakugo, who sat in place. That was until Bakugou, who got annoyed, got out of his seat to make a declaration.
"Pipe down! Now listen up because I've got some advice that might save your lives! You might as well give out all of these losers those placement tests anyway! The best they'll ever hope for is being the sidekick to some loser D-Lister! The special treatment should be reserved for those who've actually got a chance at being a big shot! I'm shooting for U.A high and I'll be the first from Aldera High to get in."
The class immediately silenced themselves upon Bakugou's demoralizing speech. Any other student would have been made fun of or simply ignored, but Bakugou was no ordinary student. They all knew that Bakugou was probably right and that if they tried to verbally disagree with him, they'd probably be beaten within an inch of their lives.
"Yes, class. Even though your quirks are impressive, they should not be used in schools. And Bakugou, you certainly do have the scores to get into U.A, but you could use a bit of modesty. I see that Haimawari's also admitted an application U.A!" Even though the class had been petrified by Bakugou, upon hearing Koichi's name being mentioned in the same vein as the most prestigious hero college on Earth, they couldn't help but burst out laughing. Even the teacher began to laugh as Bakugou's facial expression changed from one of smugness to one of utter murderous intent.
Bakugou stood silent for the rest of the class as he refused to take his eyes off Koichi, even for a second. Koichi on the other hand could only sweat profusely. He hated to admit it but despite all the training he had done and all the times he had attempted to stand up to the bully, Bakugou had still deeply frightened him. As the school day came to a close, Koichi did his best to get out of the class as quickly as possible, but was immediately pinned to a wall, leading to the rest of the classroom's inhabitants immediately vacating the premises.
"So, U.A, huh?" Bakugou, asked.
"Yeah, I applied to a few schools and U.A happened to be one of the ones I was trying to get into," Koichi squeaked out, despite having a hard time breathing.
"Now, why would you want to embarrass yourself by trying to get into a place like that? You're not all that strong, you're a shit for brains, and your quirk is just as worthless as you are. It's almost like you're trying to insult me. I would hope you know not to insult people who you have no chance against." Bakugou growled, while Koichi did his best to try to shake Bakugou's grasp but to no avail.
"Yeah, yeah I get it! I'll retract my application!"
"That's perfect! Besides, we wouldn't want someone like you dirtying the sacred name of U.A by being on its campus, would we?" Bakugou asked rhetorically.
He let Koichi go and began walking away cackling. Koichi's eyes were filled with tears as he pulled himself together. He had been shaking and couldn't even think straight. After Bakugou left he began walking home with his cheeks stained from the tears. While walking down the street, he looked down an alley and saw three guys surrounding one girl. They all looked to be bigger than Koichi and he could tell that at least two of them had directly physically dangerous quirks. One of them had a fire burning on top of his head, another had spikes coming from his knuckles, and the last seemed to be some sort of lizard-human hybrid.
"This is none of my business. Besides, they might just all be friends playing around or something." The girl had big poofy pink hair and was wearing a provocative looking jumpsuit with a domino mask. Koichi noticed a tear running down the girl's cheek and immediately activated his quirk, throwing himself into the large guy first, forgetting about control completely.
He knocked the guy over and landed in a pile of trash. He got up and quickly jumped at the lizard guy, hitting him with a left uppercut that sent him flying. He ran at the guy with the spikes, but immediately got his shoulder impaled by a spike, before taking a punch to the face that knocked him to his knee.
"Would you look at that boys!? We got a hero wannabe!" The spiked man said with a sinister grin on his face.
The two others got up and Koichi groaned. The spiked man then kicked Koichi in the face and knocked him over. The two others then got up and they all began surrounding Koichi and kicking him in his chest and back.
After about thirty seconds, a man with a bandana covering the top portion of his eyes,a trenchcoat, a black T-Shirt, some combat pants, a pair of combat boots, and a pair of knuckle dusters landed behind the trio.
"Alright kid, I'll give you about 80% for your effort," the man said to the barely conscious Koichi, breaking up the scuffle.
"Who the hell are you?" the lizard guy asked as he moved from Koichi.
"I'm the Janitor of the Fist: Knuckle Duster!" the man known as Knuckle Duster said.
"So you're a hero?" The spiked man asked.
"Nah! Heroes are the ones who swoop in and stop all the big stuff that will make the front page on a Newspaper! I'm the guy who takes care of the stuff that might get a small column. But, before I take you losers down, tell me one thing. Are any of you on drugs?"
The largest man ran at Knuckle Duster bellowing, but was swiftly rendered incapacitated with one quick punch. The other two ran at the man but were easily dealt with, just as quickly. Knuckle Duster walked to their unconscious bodies and opened their mouths to reveal their tongues but found nothing.
"Damn! That was a waste!" The man said, before looking at Koichi, "I need a hand."
"Don't worry! I haven't touched any drugs!"
"Not what I was referring to. I'm guessing you wanna be a hero kid? You've got some promise and I need help with this stuff. You can become my student in exchange for helping me and I'll turn you into a real hero."
"Nah, I'm good! I'm not really interested!"
"Don't lie to me. Not every kid would go help some innocent girl in a situation where they're so outgunned and outnumbered. Of course you want to be a hero!"
"Yeah, I guess. But my quirk is kinda useless, so it's not like I'd ever be able to become a hero anyway," Koichi responded.
"Why not? Quirks, fame, coolness, none of it matters when the time comes for you to be a true hero. All that matters is the ability to act when the time comes!"
Just then, the man with the spiked quirk got up and wrapped his arm around the girl's neck and pointed his spiked hands at the girl's face.
"You might as well quit. I won't punch any slower hostage or not." Knuckle Duster said.
"Hostage!? No, I'm ripping this girl's face off!"
Just then, time seemed to slow. Koichi's quirk felt more powerful than ever and he got into a running position and blasted straight into the man, punching him in the face sending him flying back.
"Yep, just as I thought! Come on, kid. From today on, I'm gonna teach you about how to serve justice and about how fun it is to kick a villain's ass!" Knuckle Duster said as Koichi simply huffed in both pain and exhaustion as he got prepared for a hell of an adventure.
Chapter 1 End