oh look, Sgt has another new story, shocking I know. but I am in the process of updating a few other stories and this one's been sitting in my saved folder for months now, edited by my friend BrightLunastar. I hope you enjoy!

It was a cool night, with only a gentle breeze to bring a chill into unprotected limbs.

But he didn't have to worry about that. The Kevlar vest and the hoodie he wore under it kept him fairly warm, even if the wind kept pulling the tape off and making his hood fall back. Twin tags of green fabric flapped off the hoodie's back as he jumped from building to building, the bow in his hand coming up every now and again to fire off a zip line arrow so he could swing across larger gaps.

A scream had him diving down into an alley, arrows nocked and flying before his boots even hit the ground, taser arrows latching into two thugs trying to mug a high school girl. They collapsed as he slid past, plucking his arrows out of their backs.

"Evening," he greeted the stunned girl as he restrained them, "nice night for a walk, eh?"

"Uh…yeah." She said, mystified.

"I thought so, too, oooh! Is that Georgino's? They make the best sub sandwiches."

The girl looked down at the bag of meatball subs she had gotten for her and her friends. "Uh, yeah, I'm partial to the Philly cheesesteak."

"Teriyaki chicken man, myself," he chuckled, straightening up. He cocked his head and flashed her a grin. "Welp, cops are coming so I gotta jet!" He fired off another zip line and was flying towards the nearest roof before she could say anything, losing him in the dark.

And it was a good thing she did; otherwise she would've seen him slam into the side of the wall before scrambling up to the roof.

"So uncool," the thirteen year old groaned as he took off, getting well away from the scene before he began celebrating, "I did it! I took down thugs! I can do this!" He cheered before his foot slid on a pipe he had been trying to use as a foothold, making him crash into an alleyway. Groaning as he picked himself out of the bunch of trash can that broke his fall, "Maybe…" he climbed his way to the roof.

WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

It started with a bow.

It was old, the wood polished by the many hands that it had passed through over the years. Only the string and leather on the grip were new. The only eye-catching things for the piece of forgotten clutter inside a thrift shop.

And for some reason at age 8, Izuku bought it for 500 yen, along with the sheath of arrows with it; he had gone straight to Takoba Beach, tirelessly working with the bow until he could semi-accurately shoot the thing; his forearm raw from the many times the string had slammed into it, his fingers split from the punishment of working the string, the pain threatening to send him into a crying fit.

But he stood proud, tears streaming down his cheeks as he stared at the metal door with five arrows stuck in a loose bunch, a few others strewn about.

That was the first day Izuku Midoriya truly believed he could be a hero without a quirk.

It was also the first day he argued with his mother. Things escalated quickly when he showed up injured, clinging to a bow and proclaiming he would be a hero.

She had been beside herself in worry when he hadn't shown up at the same time he usually did, and that had turned into full blown panic when he showed up hurt. They were arguing because a bow truly was dangerous! And how could he be a hero if he didn't have a quirk?

Mother and son argued back and forth: Izuku was confident he'd be able to pass the exam with the bow, and his mother just needed to believe in him, but Inko didn't want her son to get hurt.

By the end of the night both were crying while hugging each other, Inko promising to support her son while Izuku tearfully promised to be safe about his training.

And he was, for about five years.

He joined (formed) the school's archery club, and - being the only one in the club - quickly became Captain of the team. He trained for hours every day with school bows, and even won a few tournaments he signed up for. He claimed he did it with the help of his PE Coach (who usually slept through his practices and tournaments), and a few students who only half-heartedly joined so Izuku could meet the legal requirements for the club, as well as tournaments (they missed all their shots and left early every tournament; Izuku took gold every time).

Bakugo had stopped harassing him as a result of these tournaments, thinking Izuku had finally given up his irrational dream of being a hero. Unbeknownst to the blond bomber, Izuku was doing extra training after school, cleaning Takoba Beach for strength training, enrolling in a MMA gym for more martial skills…

…And prowling online tech forums for help with his arrows.

He knew he couldn't be a hero with just the pointed arrows he could get at the stores, so he posed questions on the forums about further weaponizing the arrows.

He didn't get much traffic at first. Instead, half-interested comments like "maybe make a taser?" and "why would you want to do this anyways?" dominated the post.

Then he got bombarded by questions from MightyTech0001, who not only enthusiastically gave him blue prints, supply lists and ideas for his arrows, but also whole heartedly supported the idea of a quirkless hero.

He enthusiastically and quickly ran into another problem: having the money to pay for the supplies. He made the gut wrenching decision of selling his All-Might Collection, just a figurine or two to make his first batch of arrows; but in the coming years he'd find all but the most treasured of his collection being sold off to fill the demand for his tech.

By the time he was twelve, he had a handful of trophies and awards in archery. His arrows were nearly perfect after almost five years of testing and proofing. He had even cleaned up Takoba Beach completely, leaving him pristine white sands to train in.

But it never felt like enough. Having the tools, the training, and the drive to be a hero, but still being three years out from UA meant he had to wait, patiently.

Stagnating.

He wanted to do more, BE more.

But how?

The answer came when he accidentally stopped a robbery on his way home from a tournament. He was lost in thought in the rhythm of his steps, his bow in hand as he fiddled with its string, worried it was frayed from the abuse he put it through.

"Let me go!"

Izuku's eyes immediately shot up, staring down a nearby alleyway where a man was trying to wrestle a bag from a blonde haired girl.

He didn't think, he just moved; hands moving on instinct faster than most could perceive.

Three arrows were all he needed, none of them were his special ones, but the sharp points easily caught the seams of the man's clothes, pinning him to the wall before the girl's backpack came slamming down on the top of his head.

"Phew! That was close! Thank…you…" The girl trailed off as she turned around to thank her savior, only to find the alley deserted. "Hello?!"

Izuku, meanwhile, was already at his apartment, mentally freaking out as he charged into his room and closed the door, locking it.

Oh my God, I just defeated a villain! I acted like a vigilante! I could get arrested! He thought in a blind panic, close to tears. His life was over, there's no way UA would let something like this slide!

He spent the better part of the weekend terrified the police were about to bust into his room to arrest him. But Monday came and nothing was said, no one came, and the mugger he'd captured had only gotten a small column in the paper, barely a footnote.

Once the fear of being arrested was gone, excitement took its place; he defeated a villain, he'd taken him out easily, with barely any injury to himself and others.

His rational mind told him this should be one and done, to not go out and try and take out more villains.

But his rational mind wasn't in charge right now, and as Izuku swung through the alleys, clumsily rolling and diving between rooftops, he couldn't be bothered to even try to listen to it.

He jumped over a street just as a nearby convenience store got its front door blown off its hinges by running villains, the trio unhinged laughing while dragging a register and ATM alongside them.

Izuku once again didn't think. He just darted down into the street, taser arrows slamming into the backs of the smaller two, electrocuting them and sending them tumbling across the street as their momentum continued.

The third was hit, but the arrow bounced off thick, hide-like skin.

"DONNY! FLETCH!" the man roared out in anger, whirling to stare at Izuku, who was blinking in surprise that the man wasn't down.

"...I'm sorry…" he said in a small voice.

"I'll tear you apart, brat!" The behemoth roared as he charged down the street at the newly dubbed vigilante, who rolled out of the way and loosed several more taser arrows, each one bouncing off the man's skin. "I can tank blows from All-Might!" He swung his fist and caught Izuku in the chest, sending him crashing into the store. "Your little needles won't do shit!"

Izuku groaned as he rolled over, looking up at the cashier who was hiding behind the counter. "You got sprite?" He asked with a weak smile, which promptly disappeared when he felt a giant hand grab his ankle. "Oh man-" Izuku groaned out before he was pulled from the debris and sent flying across the street again, this time tumbling to his feet and firing another arrow, this one caught by the villain.

"I told you, this shit don't-" he was cut off as purple gas started spewing from the end, hitting him directly in the face and causing him to cough. "What the…fuuuuuuuuuck…" The man's words were replaced with wheezing as he fell to his knees, then to his face, passed out.

"I got more than tasers, you know," Izuku sassed, limping a bit as he once again retrieved the arrows, secured the villains, and hobbled off before the cops could get there.

This time he climbed a fire escape and settled onto the building's roof, wincing as he carefully unzipped the Kevlar vest and jacket to take a look at the nasty bruise starting to form on his stomach. "That's gnarly," he sighed, peeking over the edge where Death Arms and Backdraft were helping police secure the villains and talking with the cashier.

"Y-yeah, the guy who did this just came streaking out of the sky!" the cashier explained loud enough for Izuku to hear, "took 'em out before they knew he was there, bigger guy gave him some trouble but he knocked him out with some gas!"

"His quirk was knock-out gas?" Death Arms asked.

"No! He was using trick arrows! He was a dead shot with that thing!"

Izuku preened at the praise, slowly zipping up his uniform and standing. "Making a name for myself," he whispered proudly.

And then-

"-yeah I got a video of him! He looks like a bunny rabbit!"

"BUNNY RABBIT?!"

The angry exclamation had everyone below him look up, making him freeze as flashlights illuminated his body and several cameras came up to record him.

"Aaaaah…I…prefer more of a Midwestern hare," he finished with a sheepish chuckle, "gottagobye!" Before Death Arms or Backdraft could do anything, Izuku was running away, quickly disappearing from view. "Oh man that was close," he sighed, "might be enough for tonight-"

"HELP!"

"Or not!" Izuku sighed as he dropped into the next alley.

By the end of the night, he'd stopped five muggings, two robberies, and an assault in progress that he didn't even have to reveal himself for; a single boxing glove arrow and the guy was out for the count.

Now he was quietly entering his room, his gear stowed away on the roof just in case.

As he quietly padded into the bathroom to take a shower, he couldn't help but smile. He'd been a hero tonight. No license, no fuss.

And he couldn't wait to do it again.

WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

School came around once again two days later, and both nights he took to the streets, taking different routes and paths through the city just in case a hero decided to get on his trail early.

Luckily he didn't run into any other heroes, and he was able to stop more crime than he had the first night. His new found confidence was making him bold in confronting villains.

But now it was time for school, and Izuku was surprised to find a lot of people whispering and talking about him.

Well, sort of him.

"Did you hear about the new vigilante?"

"Yeah dude's been taking down criminals like crazy! That video where he took down the South Street gang-"

"-completely crazy right!?"

"They got a good look at him after that, didn't they?"

"Yeah, he just called their attention, made a joke about his appearance, then took off!"

"His appearance?'

"Yeah, he's got these bunny ears."

Izuku immediately felt depressed.

"They're not bunny ears, " he muttered to himself as he entered class. Chatter was still aimed at the 'new vigilante' until the teacher came in, and from there it was a boring day until lunch.

When he was called into the principal's office.

Where two officers were waiting.

"Izuku Midoriya?" The lead officer questioned gruffly.

"Y-yes sir," Izuku stuttered, immediately terrified, did they find me that quickly!?.

"Easy, son, you're not in trouble. We just wanted to come by and ask some questions about your competitors."

"C-competitors?" Izuku asked in confusion.

"You are the Izuku Midoriya who won the regional archery competition, yes?" The other officer asked.

"Y-yes sir," He confirmed with a nod.

"Then you know about the other top shooters in your division?"

"In passing?"

"Do you know who would be skillful enough to be a vigilante?"

A few moments passed before Izuku cocked his head to the side. "Excuse me?" he asked timidly.

"Do you know of any of your peers who would be a vigilante?" The officer asked again, as the other pulled out a newspaper, handing it over to Izuku, who froze seeing a picture of him standing on the roof, lights illuminating everything save for his domino mask covered eyes hidden under the cowl of his hood, "they're calling him the Jade Rabbit." He continued, missing Izuku's wince at the name. "His aim is precise, and the arrows he uses are all specialized. We think he may have an accuracy quirk, but the one thing we do know is that he's young. Your age group at the most; and seeing as there's only a finite amount of archers in Japan, we figured you'd be the best person to get some insider knowledge."

Izuku swallowed nervously. "I'm cleared as a suspect?" he asked innocently, doing his best not to give himself away.

"Heh, right, a quirkless kid being a vigilante. You're talented, but not that talented." The officer scoffed, making Izuku deflate a bit.

"Well, as far as I know, none of my competitors want to be heroes," Izuku said, handing the paper back. "Y-Yakimura-Senpai made a comment about being a hero once, but he wasn't very serious when he said it…and kind of stupid, probably wouldn't be able to make those kinds of arrows."

"Hmm…well, thank you for your help son," the officer said, shaking his hand, "you keep winning those competitions, quirkless or not, you're really doing Shizouka proud."

"T-thank you, sir," Izuku stuttered out with a beaming smile, which immediately fell as soon as he was around the corner.

Good but not that good… quirkless or not… doing Shizouka proud.

"Hmph, quirkless or not…" he muttered, glaring out the window, "even when they're praising me, they're still dismissive." His smile returned a bit. "But they won't look at me as a suspect, not seriously anyways…I can do this!"

Two weeks later.

"I can't do this," Izuku groaned, laying on his rooftop, his costume smoking a bit from his run in with a carjacker who had a blowtorch quirk.

That had been annoying.

He groaned as he forced himself to sit up. "How haven't I thought about this before? He was fast enough to dodge my taser arrows, apparently the knock out gas is flammable, gonna have to fix that, and he torched my boxing glove arrows! Why do I only have those three arrows?" He let out a frustrated groan as he fell back. "I forgot to account for all types of quirks!" He sat back up, this time with a notebook, furiously scribbling in its pages.

"I need to work on fire extinguisher arrows. It should just be the same principle as the gas arrows, but we need to think about other trick arrows that will help provide some variety to a fight. Can't be a one trick pony, after all, and this would definitely be the time to develop some new things before I stagnate. If we can figure out a proper deployment system, the possibilities are endless! Capture nets that I can electrify if need be, bolo arrows that blast apart to tangle up someone's feet, I could even add certain arrows that I don't NEED to fire to use! Like an acetylene torch one for if I get captured!"

"Sounds like a lot of work!"

Izuku will forever swear he didn't let out a shrill scream before whirling around, an arrow aimed at a blonde girl at least a year older than him. She was smiling brightly, completely unafraid of the arrow aimed at her chest, only fiddling with the box under her arm so it was in the arrow's way.

"W-who are you!?" He demanded to know, wincing when his voice broke at the end.

"Don't worry! I'm a friend!" She chirped, holding the box out, "I figured you'd need more gear and it really wasn't that hard to find out who you were, Midoriya."

Izuku wilted a bit. He was caught. Ne was gonna get arrested for vigilantism and he'd never get to UA-

-wait.

"Did you say you have gear for me?" Izuku questioned, finally easing up on his bow.

She nodded happily, setting the box down in front of him, "after I saw your fight with the brick guy, I figured you'd need a wider variety of arrows, so I got right to work on it!"

Izuku cautiously opened the box, surprised to find several new arrows.

"Bolas and net arrows are a good idea, but I figured the fire extinguisher was basic. I also added some heavier arrows for rock quirks and a rebound arrow so you can shoot around corners. It would take some practice to get this right-"

"Hold on, hold on, wait, stop. Who are you?" He almost demanded to know, still on edge as to who this girl was.

She laughed.

"Oh right! You probably don't have your phone." She struck an exaggerated pose, hands on her hips. "Fear not! For your engineering and gadget making needs are now in good hands! For I am MightyTech0001! Otherwise known as Melissa Shield! And I'm gonna be your woman behind the computer!"