IZUKU'S POV

I cried after hearing his words. He was right. If I had killed myself, It won't solve anything. It would only prove that everyone was right about me. I can't give up. I won't give up. And I will never give up. I will stand and fight. I wiped the tears with my sleeves and sttood up, staring at the man. He has wild spiky turquoise hair, a short goatee, and yellow eyes with very small eyebrows. His front teeth are sharpened, while his back teeth seem to just be regular molars. He wore a white shirt with a sleeveless red vest over it, blue jeans, leather shoes, and a black bandana tied around his neck.

"Thank you. I think I needed that" I said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" the man shrugged.

Suddenly we heard screams from below which made me jump a little. "I think someone is in danger!" I said.

"It's normal around here. Better get used to it" he said.

"B-But someone could be hurt or get killed!" I protest.

His eyes narrowed. "Listen kid. This is reality. When there's a big danger or a fucking villain running wild through the streets, those shitty heroes like All Might come in and save the day. However, right now is different. Whatever punk that's threatening or hurting some poor luck civilian down there ain't like that. This sort of violence is the type lurks in the shadows of everyday life. These type of thugs, who can't even be called villains even go as far as to kill people"

"What..." I said, remembering the sludge villain that attacked me month ago.

He sighed. "It's not as if all the best heroes like All Might have tons of free time. But right now, no matter how loudly someone cry for help, those shitty flashy heroes ain't gonna come to stop some little back alley fight. That's just the way of life. Like there's just no fucking way he'd come flying all of a-" Before he could finish, I grab his bandana and ran to the door leading into the stairwell. "Wha...?"

"Sorry! I promise to give it back!" I said, tying the bandana over my mouth.

"Hey! Get back here you little shit!" He yelled.

The man's right. I've always watched news of people being murdered at nights in alleys, hell even at daytimes. Who was there to save them at that time? Who else was there to defend them Even with underground heroes patrolling, it's still not enough. "Offering help even when it's not asked for is very heroic..." All Might is right. I know what I am about to do is illegal, but that's not important right now. I may not wear a flashy costume or have a hero license, but I still want to be a hero. Finally reaching the ground level, I rushed to the sound and looked to see two people getting harassed by six thugs.

"...And while I am at it, after we've had our way with this bitch...I'm gonna strip her down naked and expose her to the world!!" Said man who seemed to be the ringleader as he start beating a man before bringing out a Kunai attached to a metal chain while his two friends held down a girl to the wall, trying to strip her down. The others were just laughing at the scene.

I quietly snuck up on a man wielding two metal Tonfas and tapped his shoulder. The man growled as he turned to see me. "Huh? Who the hell-" I didn't give him the chance to finish, I punched the man's forehead, knocking him out. I took the Tonfas as the thugs attention were now focused on me.

"Who the fuck are you supposed be?!" The leader snarled. "Get him boys!"

I haven't used these weapons before but I'm still gonna try to fight them. The weapons are two metal sticks with handles attached a third of the way down the length of the stick, and is about fifteen to twenty inches long I guess. Two thugs charged at me and the first I did was getting down low and hitting their knees, knocking the two off their feet before hitting them on the heads and it was lights out for them. I then tackled the assholes letting a chance for the girl to escape as she leaped out the way. Unfortunately, the thugs were able to hold me down to the ground and the leader then dropped the beat up guy and walked up to me.

"Who do think you are?! All Might?! This is what you get for playing hero, fucker!" He raised his Kunai to strike me. Then all the sudden a loud crash happened to be near us. "Wh-What was that?" We all turned to see what happened, a tall figure on top of a pile of trash.

"Someone fell?!" Said one of the thugs.

"Is he dead?!"

"N...Nope. You lot...you were talking about All Might? He's not coming here. However...I am here!" The figure gets up revealing to be a towering, heavily muscled old man. He wears a wrap around black mask tied over the top of his head and has a large scar running diagonally down his left cheek. He wears a tight fitting dark shirt, jeans, boots and a long green trench coat. On his hands were a pair of dark gloves topped with a pair of brass knuckles.

"What?" The leader said.

The man ignores him and gets up from the trash and brushed himself. "Hmm...I may have had a rough landing, but never fear. Garbage makes a great cushion when in a rush. Also, if you train your neck, the risk of vertebrate or spinal injuries is greatly reduced"

"Huh? What the fuck, old man-" the leader was then cut off when the man punched him square in the face so hard that send him crashing into a nearby wall, leaving me and the two thugs surprised by this. Then they started backing away from the man.

"Why'd you do that?!"

"Out of freaking nowhere?!"

The man introduced himself as he tighten his fist, showing off his brass knuckles. "Who am I? And what do I do? Shall I answer both? I am Knuckleduster. And I'm a cleaner who specializes in scums like you!!" He starts walking towards them. "I have a question for you. Are any of you bastards in possession of drugs? Specifically, a new dangerous type. Show me your tongues now!"

The thug tried to fight Knuckleduster but was easily knocked out by him. Knuckleduster then lifted checked his tongue. "Hmm, no discoloration. Not you" he then threw the thug aside to the ground and turned to the last thug. "Next is...you"

"Eek!" The other thug let go off me and tries to run, only to receive a punch from another person, knocking him out.

"Watch where you're going, asshole!" Said the turquoise haired man from earlier. He then turns to me as his eyes narrowed. "What the hell were thinking, idiot?! Trying to get yourself killed again?!" He walked towards me and took back his bandana from my face.

"Sorry" I said as I get up. "I just wanted to help...I didn't think...my body just moved on its own"

"Not him either...so, as I thought, this is time consuming alone" Knuckleduster said as he was checking the other thug before turning to us. "Hey, you two. Come here for a minute. The same goes for you over there, young lad"

The man whom I was trying to rescue freaked out, he was holding his stomach and trying to run from us. He's a slim man with short brown hair and large, round brown eyes. He wears anAll Might golden age hoodie, black pants, a medical mask underneath his chin and white gloves.

"Y-You misunderstand. I-I don't know anything about any drugs" he said in fear.

"Quit acting like a wimp! Hey, aren't you that cockroach guy that picks up garbage?" The turquoise haired man said.

"Cockroach? Garbage?" I said out loud.

"C-Cockroach guy?! I'm gentle man!" The hoodie guy said annoyed.

I noticed Knuckleduster was staring at three of us a before he shrugged it off. "I've been watching you three. It was promising. Gotta admit, when I heard about Naruhata's newest hero, I wasn't expecting find two more. Thought you green hair kid could use more work"

We stared at him in shock, making the Knuckleduster laugh. "We all just met today" I said.

"So? You three have potential" he said. "Help me with my work. I'll turn you into a real hero"

"Eh..." I said.

"Why the fuck would I want to be hero, old geezer?!" The turquoise haired man said.

"U-Um...I'm afraid I'm not interested so I'll be going now" the hoodie guy said awkwardly as he began to walk away.

"Liar" Knuckleduster said, making him stop. "You're an All Might fan that voluntarily help others and you can't abandon them in need. There's no way someone like that has no interest in hero work" he turn to me. "And you didn't hesitate and fought against these guys, thinking of the civilian's wellbeing. That's the kind of hero this city needs"

I blush at what he said. "Well, no, you see my quirk is pretty useless. I was expelled from a hero school on the first day because of it" the hoodie guy said.

My eyes narrowed. "Which hero school?" I asked coldly.

The man was surprised by my sudden change of expression and replied. "U.A"

"Motherfuckers!" The turquoise haired man cursed.

The hoodie guy turns to look over at me. "W-What?"

I sigh. "You see, I also went to U.A, got into the hero course"

He raises an eyebrow. "That's cool..."

"And I got expelled on my first day which is today...all because I don't have a quirk"

The hoodie guy was shocked, before his expression turned somber. "Eraserhead got you too, huh?"

"Hmph, does that matter?" Knuckleduster said.

I turn to face him. "Does what matter?"

"A powerful quirk and a hero license, have nothing to do with true justice. When somethings you should do rises before you, will you take action? Or not?! The answer is simple for those with the soul of a hero!!"

I stare at him in awe, my eyes widen. "Wait...so basically, this old man is unlicensed. In other words...a vigilante. That means, I can still..."

A sinister grin formed its way onto Knuckleduster's face. "There's more hero work worth doing than what the world says. Let me teach you kids what it takes to do hero work, and how great it feels to strike down some villains!"

I thought of everything in my life that has happened in my life up to this point. I may have been expelled from UA, but that doesn't mean it's the end. I would still achieve my dream. I want to be a hero, the greatest hero at that. The hero that will prove quirkless are not useless. And I'd only be doing it in an illegal way.

"I refuse your offer"

"I'm not interested"

"I ACCEPT!" Knuckleduster looks at me as I got on my knees. "Please make me...A HERO!" At my words, Knuckleduster's grin widen more.