"You can't be a hero, Copycat." A black haired boy spat on the bruised body of a boy with Brown hair. "Heroes are supposed to be strong and your just the exact opposite. Using other people's power doesn't make you a hero, loser." The boy then left the brown haired boy to go to class.

'I hate my life.' the brown haired boy wiped the spit off of his face. 'I hate Katsu...' The bastard always beat him up every day. Every day without fail. And he couldn't copy his quirk because he was a mutant type. But the bastard was right about one thing. He couldn't be a hero.

'Don't let him win. Prove him wrong.'The brown haired boy knew that if he wanted to prove Katsu wrong he'd need to find a way to be a hero without his quirk. Nobody would willingly lend him their power. 'Your skinny as can be Tamaki... You need to gain some muscle first.' But how? 'I'll find a way. Just to spite that bastard. Or my name isn't Tamaki Nobuyuki.'

Sighing, Tamaki stood up and wiped whatever dust he had on him off. 'Classes start soon.' He could be late if he didn't start heading to class now. He could theoretically just skip class today and go find ways to build some muscle now. Nobody would care. His dad was absent most of the time anyways.

But then he'd miss out on knowledge that he'd need for the UA entrance exams. 'To hell I go I suppose.' Tamaki began walking to Mathematics class. He would hopefully be able to reach class in time. 'I hate my quirk...'

If Tamaki was born with either of the quirks of his parents he might have been able to do something. But he was given a quirk like his grandfathers. Unfortunately unlike him Tamaki couldn't copy mutant quirks. 'I'd have been able to kick that bastard's ass so many times by now.' Then he could show the bastard that he could indeed save people!

Unfortunately, he was stuck having to touch people with emitter and transformation quirks to get a quirk. And most of the time he couldn't even get in close. In the real world nobody was gonna be stupid enough to let you touch them unless they knew what they were doing. Hell even here in school. When someone had wanted to take their fury out on him for dreaming of being a hero they'd never get in close.

Fuck middle school, man.

'Keep going, Tamaki. Don't let them get to you. You will find a way to succeed. You always have and you always will.' Tamaki chanted mentally over and over again until he reached his classroom. He looked on his desk and sighed when he saw some red spider lilies on it. Along with some girls who particularly hated him laughing. 'I don't know why I ever liked any of you.' Some of these people said they'd be heroes one day.

Assholes probably wouldn't make it through the entrance exams of any hero school if there was a mental factor to it.

'I will be the only one to make it into UA and then I'm gonna laugh at all of them and cry at the same time. I will make sure people like me don't get bullied anymore.' Copy quirks were exceedingly rare. But the stigma around them was not. 'I'll prove that even with a copy quirk I can still be a hero. And I'll do it all without one.'

But that would be difficult. Quirkless heroes were unheard of. Mainly due to the quirkless being more bullied than copy quirk users or complex mutants.

Tamaki sat down at his desk and sighed as Mr. Makoto began a lecture on algebra. 'Maybe one day my quirk can be useful.' Maybe just one day someone would need his help and a quirk nearby would be useful that he could use.

'Jokes on them. I like Spider lilies.' Tamaki internally smiled as he carefully placed the spider lilies in his bag. He then looked up and sighed as they were about to move onto a new subject. 'Oh joy.' Tamaki took out his notebook and pencil.

Suddenly someone kicked the door open and walked in. He had a formal suit and a mask with a skull on it. 'I'm sorry to intrude." The man had a revolver. He shot and the bullet his Mr. Makoto. His Parts of his brain were now outside of his head and on the window and floor. "But I'm going to need a few hostages."

An aura of death washed over the room. Tamaki felt his heart rate speed up considerably as he dropped to the floor. "Now get down or die."

Tamaki wasn't really expecting his day to go like this.

He expected getting beat up and his hate for Katsu to grow considerably again. He expected to not have a fun time in math class. He also expected wanting to go home early. But Tamaki couldn't guess that he'd be hiding behind a few desks with one of the people he hated most. Kaina Kuriarare.

'I'm tempted to just run...' Dive out the window. Maybe come back with a crowbar... Maim didn't seem like the type of person to kill a bunch of kids unless needed. Hell he might even like that one broke free just so they could get a hero on the scene for him try to kill. He seemed really keen on a hero arriving. Preferably with lots of money.

'But I wouldn't feel right leaving them all behind. For as much as I hate them I could never call myself an aspiring hero if I left them...' But he was doing nothing in the first place. 'I don't want to die.' He didn't want to die yet he was still here. Tamaki hated being a human sometimes. Emotions were just so weird. It didn't help that his heart rate was sped up immensely due to fear.

Tamaki wondered when a hero would arrive. They had to be here soon right? There was no way that a hero wouldn't respond to this... But its been 20 minutes. 'Someone should do something.' Maybe he could try and convince Kaina to do something. Her quirk was a telekinetic one. A relatively weak one though. She could only pick up 15 pounds worth of wood.

That actually wouldn't be useful here since there wasn't much wood around. Copying it wouldn't do much for him either. 'Think Tamaki. What can you do?' Tamaki felt like he should be cowering in fear. Guns were really rare in Japan and there wasn't anything most people could do against them. But... He might have something.

'For once your quirk may be useful Tamaki.' Tamaki looked over the desk and saw Maim look around. Not at him specifically though. He didn't seem to be very worried thankfully. That was good. Tamaki knew he could use this to his advantage.

Tamaki was terrified. His hands were shaking and he was sweating. His heart rate was definitely not healthy either. But someone needed to do something. If the heroes didn't make it in time then Maim could do something that Tamaki didn't want to think about.

But for Tamaki to be the person to do something he needed someone's power. He needed Jin's power. Jin had a density manipulation quirk. But he can only make other things denser and back to how they were. But Tamaki's copy would allow him to go Intangible. He then could use that to disarm the attacker.

And for that to happen Tamaki needed to interact with Kaina.

"Kuriarare." Tamaki whispered. "I have an idea on how we can beat this guy?" Tamaki watched the girl's head snap to him. She looked terrified. "I know that you hate me but this isn't the time for petty hatred." Tamaki knew the chances of Kaina agreeing with him were low but Kaina was one of the more "reasonable" people that hated him.

"I hate you a lot, Nobuyuki. Your a copycat and thats all you'll ever be." Kaina gulped. "But I don't wanna die. You were always a planner. What do we do." They were barely whispering. They couldn't be heard by Maim or they'd likely die. Tamaki grinned.

Sometimes life truly surprised him. Tamaki took out a wooden flute from his bag. For once it'd come in handy for something other than entertainment. He then grabbed a piece of paper and wrote something on it. "I need some of Shinohara's DNA. Do you think you can carry this note to him? We'll have to hope he'll agree." Kaina's quirk could detect if the weight of what she was carrying got even a bit lighter. Perfect for this circumstance.

Kaina nodded shakily... "You intend to attack him head-on, don't you? You never were a runner..." Tamaki saw Kaina's skin pale a bit. "You have only five minutes if this works..." If he couldn't beat Maim in five minutes he was dead.

"I'm basically the only one with a chance. I just hope his quirk isn't strong..." Tamaki watched as Kaina began to levitate his flute with the note inside. It began to roll toward where the two knew where Jin was.

"I just hope this works..." Kaina began focusing. "He took the note... " Okay good news so far. "He put something in it. I'm taking it back now." Kaina closed her eyes and sat in a meditative pose. "It's here..."

The Flute floated into Tamaki's hand and he saw a hair inside. 'I'm going to need to clean this after today.' Tamaki grabbed the hair and felt the quirk factor inside be copied by his own. The familiar feeling of another's power flowing inside of him always felt weird. "Thanks... If this doesn't work and I die then you won't need to worry about telling anyone."

'Okay make everything but your feet intangible so you don't fall through the floor.' Jin's power was one that Tamaki was familiar with. Jin was one of the two people who let him copy his quirk. Not out of any belief in him but mainly to see how he'd fair against someone with the opposite quirk.

"Don't die..." Kaina whispered. "I don't wanna see another person die today. Even if it's you..."

Tamaki smiled. 'Well I'll take it.' "I won't die." Tamaki stood up.

It was time he did something good with his life.

Calmly, Tamaki walked to the middle of the room to see Maim sitting on Mr. Makoto's desk. Twirlling his pistol. "I see you have decided to stand up to me. Or are you trying to run? Which will it be? Maim lazily aimed at Tamaki.

'This is it...' Tamaki took a step toward Maim. "I intend to beat you." Tamaki watched a bullet leave the pistol of Maim then. It passed through him and went through the wall. 'I'm glad nobodies behind me.' "Your bullets won't do anything to me."

"It appears not." Maim pocketed the pistol. "Oh well. I can still sense the fear in your heart. I wonder if this'll work." Maim raised his pointer finger into the air and black energy began to pool around it. "Since your about to die, let me tell you a bit about my quirk. I'm powered by your fear. It makes me stronger."

'...I need to get his gun.' Tamaki made his whole body intangible and dived at Maim jumping through him before making it tangible again and pinching Maim in the back of the head. He then grabbed it. 'Maybe not...' Oh wait Maim was reaching for it. Tamaki grabbed the pistol and threw it out the window. 'Is that a police officer?' Tamaki thought he saw someone.

"You little shit..." The black energy around Maim's finger began swirling around his entire body. And around Tamaki... It felt Evil. "I didn't expect needing to let loose like this." The energy pooling around Maim turned into an ethereal looking arm and it tried to grab Tamaki who turned everything put his hands intangable. Said hands began jabbing at Maim's eyes. "I'll kill you infront of everyone here and laugh as they cower in fear."

'I shouldn't have thrown that pistol out the window...' That was actually quite stupid. He should have thrown it to Hiro who had expert aim as a quirk. With everything. That probably meant guns as well. 'I'll need to knock him out somehow...' Tamaki began choking at Maim who began attacking Tamaki's hands.

He swiftly let go of Maim who attempted to kick Tamaki before realizing he couldn't. "You are strong child. But I am beyond strength. I am fear itself. You cannot beat fear child." Maim's voice distorted into something more demonic at the end as the energy from before pooled around Maim. "This is where you die Child."

The pressure in the room grew immensely. It was almost choking Tamaki... No. it was.

'Well fuck...' Tamaki tried to move closer to maim. But he couldn't... His legs just wouldn't move toward him...

Tamaki decided to do the only thing he could do. He jumped out the window.

He saw the pistol that he through out the window. 'I have a singular minute left...' Tamaki looked back into the classroom and saw Maim walking toward his classmates. He looked pissed... 'I have one shot.' He looked back and saw a bunch of police who were now running toward him. He still saw no heroes... 'They won't be enough. I have to stop Maim now.'

Tamaki then looked back into the classroom. He felt his finger lock onto the trigger of the gun... 'This is the extent of my gun knowledge...' He could kill Maim... But... He had to save his classmates. Whatever happens, happens now.

Tamaki pulled the trigger.

Today used to be a good day for Naomasa.

It was a slow day. A wonderfully slow day. The heroes were taking care of most of the crimes before they could be called in and nothing too serious he had to investigate today. Naomasa really thought today would be one of those rare days he could go home, relax, and maybe watch a game of baseball.

Unfortunately that went up in smoke when a villain called Maim called in an attack on a class in a school near Musutafu. Most heroes at this point were either doing something else or were unable to be there. So the police had to go in.

THey were planning to raid the place and surround the villain. Ensure that he couldn't get away and hopefully make the man come peacefully. They sent in someone to see if the man had anyone else with him or if there was anyone who had escaped the classroom.

A minute or so later one of the children jumped out the window and grabbed a pistol. Naomasa didn't know how it got there at first. But when interrogating the child, Tamaki Nobuyuki, it was discovered that he planned to fight Maim until someone showed up. He managed to get the upper hand briefly before the man used his quirk. The pistol was thrown out the window someitme before that.

Naturally with the child being out of options and afraid for not just his life but his classmates, He uses the weapon and opens fire on Maim. Luckily Nobuyuki only hit the man's leg. That gave time for the polive to enter and arrest the man.

Unluckily he had to arrest the child for the use of a firearm. Now, since it was technically in self defense and in defense of others, Nobuyuki would be let off the hook. But still. It was a very traumatic experience for Nobuyuki.

For all the kids actually. Not only did they see their teacher be shot but they had to have a classmate try and help them only for it to look like he abandoned them and then he shoots their attacker who then begins to bleed heavily on the ground. And for Nobuyuki, he had to be the one to shoot since there was no hero for them. Nobody there to help when there should have been someone there sooner.

Naomasa just hoped the school would get them all therapy. God knows they all needed it.

Currently, though, Naomasa had to look after Nobuyuki until the appropriate paperwork for his release could be done. Now. Naomasa has dealt with kids and young teenagers before. But it was always hard to begin to talk to them when they were closed off.

But someone had too. Be it his parent who was taking a long time to show up or one of his friends who should probably be here... Honestly Naomasa didn't like that he was literally the only person here after two hours.

"I could have killed him..." Suddenly Nobuyuki spoke up. "In the moment I was ready too... I was ready to take the life of another." Nobuyuki looked down at his hands. "I want to be a hero but can I really be one when I was so easily pushed to take a life?" He looked disgusted.

'Ooh boy...' Naomasa wished Toshinori was here. he was better at this stuff than he was. "You did what you thought as right. Nobody was there that could have beaten him without lethal force. You shooting him disrupted his hold on his quirk enough for him to be arrested." Naomasa then saw that Nobuyuki still looked disgusted. "Heroes have to take the lives of others sometimes." Nobuyuki looked up. "There are villains that were so bad that they needed to be put down. There were also villains that needed to be put down for the sake of others."

"But Maim wasn't one of those villains." Nobuyuki retorted. "He isn't a mass murderer like Muscular or Moonfish."

"But he could have been." Naomasa locked eyes with Nobuyuki. "He also could have fallen under the latter category. You did something that saved the most lives, Nobuyuki. You can be a hero." That seemed to stun Nobuyuki. Naomasa could guess he either hadn't heard those words much before or ever.

A small smile appeared on Nobuyuki's face. "Really? Can I really be a hero? I don't exactly have a quirk that's good for being a hero." Naomasa knew that was a lie. He read the file on Nobuyuki and his quirk could be really useful against certain villains.

Naomasa nodded. "The quirk doesn't make the hero." Naomasa's thoughts drifted to Toshinori. "You don't need to have a strong quirk or a quirk useful for any situation to be a hero. You just have to be a hero who can make everyone feel safe. A hero that can save the people. Not beat the bad guy."

For as strong as Toshinori was, the reason he was such a good hero was because of the comfort he brought whenever he was on the scene. Even if a part of it was his strength, Tsukauchi's words still stood.

A small tear fell down Nobuyuki's face. "You know, you're the first person to ever say something like that to me..." That was just sad..."Thank you, detective."

Tsukauchi smiled at the brown haired boy. Making a note mentally to see if he could try and get the kid released sooner so he could just go home, "Your welcome. I think you'll make an amazing hero one day."

Ngl I love Tsukauchi. The dude's just overworked and trying to make the best out of his job. He's the goat. Anyways I hope you liked the chapter. This is just the first one... I'm not sure where the fic will go in the future as I'm not planning anything at the moment. I'm just seeing where my muse takes me with this one.

I'm excited to see what happens next. Will it be the UA entrance exams? Maybe Tamaki's reputation in school going up or down? Maybe Tamaki will make a friend? Who knows! I don't!

- Stalk/Tobi