Day 5

It's been some time since I left the Yagi's, awakened my quirk and became a vigilante. I'm learning about myself everyday, and doing what I can to help others. I feel a little guilty that I'm breaking the heroes' rules, but they can't deny my actions are helping.

Izuku put his notebook in his bag as he hid it behind an air conditioning unit. Wearing a black shirt and green shorts, he was going to spend his day walking around town like an average kid. Of course, he couldn't risk being recognized, so he wore a face mask and a cap that let black and green tufts of hair hang over his eyebrows. He blended in quite well with the people. There weren't many on the streets, which is good for someone not wanting to be recognized. He stopped by a playground and looked at the kids playing.

It was... a much-needed moment. He saw children getting along, running around and having fun. 'I wish I had a better memory of this place.' he thought solemnly as he walked away. On one of the lampposts, he found something interesting. A missing person poster with his face on it! Izuku had mixed feelings about this. 'Are they... worried about me? I've been gone for days, and now they choose to care? The school probably told them. I never had a place in that house.' Izuku reached to the paper and tore off the 'Yagi' kanji next to his name.

After that conflicting ordeal, Izuku just wandered aimlessly, enjoying the peace for once. There weren't a lot of heroes or police on patrol. Good. He doesn't have to worry about making a quick escape. He was going about his business like anyone else, until something caught his eye. A girl being followed by two boys. He could tell from her pace that she was trying to lose them, but they just weren't taking the hint. Izuku, having grown accustomed observing situations, watched while hidden from their sights.

He followed the three up until the girl tried to get them away forcefully, but it was in vein. Izuku watched in fascination as the girl shot extendable aux cords from her earlobes, but when they were caught in one of the guy's hands, and both of them laughed, his fascination turned into anger. For a moment, he couldn't hear anything but the familiar mocking voices that still haunt him.

"What a pathetic weakling!"

"Could you be any lamer?"

"What can you even do, huh!?"

"Just a waste of space!"

When he looked back at the girl, he saw her eyes filling with sadness as she was being bullied. In that moment, when he saw her silently stewing in her weakness, he lost control. He didn't plan or think as he burst from his hiding place. His body moved on its own as he was above the jerk holding the girl's ears, and readying a blow with both his hands clasped together.

Thwack!*

The jerk fell to the ground, letting go of the ears, and falling unconscious with a bruise on his neck. "What the-" The other was swiftly dealt away with with a high kick to his chin. He fell down with a thud and had blood dripping out of his mouth. The violent newcomer stood over him and pressed his foot on his shoulder, keeping him pinned. His green eyes were furious, and the light bags underneath them caused him to be more intimidating. He uttered one bone-chilling word.

"Leave."

The little bastard squirmed out from under Izuku's heel and ran away, leaving his friend at the mercy of the green devil. When Izuku turned around, he saw the girl looking stunned and slightly afraid. "Sorry." Izuku said before walking away. "W-Wait!" the girl called out to him. She held out his cap that had fallen off while he was fighting. Izuku was panicked for a moment, but remembered he used a bit of white hair dye on his green highlights. He wouldn't dare desecrate the black hair reminiscent of his late father and grandmother. He took back his hat and put it back on.

"T-Thanks, a lot, f-for what you did." the purple-haired girl said. Izuku looked at her and saw she wasn't meeting his eyes. "No problem. Sorry I went so far. I just have a zero tolerance policy on bullies." he growled slightly at the end. The girl smiled slightly. "That's pretty hero of you." Izuku bristled at her choice of words. "I'm no hero, that's what they all say." he said with his shoulders slouched. The girl was about to say something, but a noise stopped her.

Hissss!*

The sound of a nearby bus taking off. "Dammit! I missed the bus thanks to these idiots!" she angrily clenched her fist. Izuku thought about the times he missed a ride from his parents because they forgot him. He couldn't stand the idea of someone being left behind for no reason. 'Damn... What's wrong with me?' Izuku clenched his teeth. He bent down and motioned to his back. "Um..." "Come on, before the bus gets too far." Not having much of a choice, the girl jumped on the mysterious boy's back and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Whatever you do, don't look down." "Wha-"

Fwoosh!*

She and Izuku burst off into the air, the former hugging her arms, legs and earlobes tightly against the boy. "W-What the heck, man!? A warning would've been nice!" she chided. "Would you have gone through with it if I said we were going to fly?" she stayed silent after that. They followed the bus she missed for a few minutes, until the girl was sure she could walk the rest of the way. When Izuku let her down, she was trembling, and he had to catch her before she fell down.

"F-F-Flying is t-terrifying!" she stuttered. Izuku rubbed the back of his as he set her down on the pavement gently. "It's scary the first time, but you get used to it. Well, bye." As he was about to leave, the girl called out to him. "Hey, what's your name?" Izuku froze. He couldn't tell her his full name for two reasons: missing person posters, and he is no longer part of that family. But he hadn't actually thought about what he would do in this situation. But he had to say something.

"Z-Zu. My name is Zu." he answered. The purple-haired girl wanted to ask if that was a nickname or something, but she held off. She picked up the slight panic in his heart when she asked, and decided to let him be. "May I ask what your name is?" "Kyoka."

...

Izuku went back to jumping above the rooftops feeling slightly lighter. 'She was a nice girl. Can't imagine why she would be a bully target. Hopefully, I knocked some sense into them.' As he was hopping from roof to roof, something in the distance caught his eye. Smoke. He immediately went to scope out the situation.

A few minutes earlier

"So Deku really ran away? And he's been gone for almost a week?" Katsuki asked. "Yeah, and I'm starting to worry. What if he runs into that green fire vigilante? He could get killed!" Katsuki tightened his fist. 'Damn you Deku, making us all worry about your weak ass! How selfish can you be to pull a stunt like this!? Quit pouting and show your face already!' Katsuki crushed his soda can in an explosion and tossed it aside. "If the nerd dies, I'll kill him!" The two of them didn't notice immediately, but a mass of disgusting sludge was piling up behind them.

"Well, well, aren't you a powerful skin puppet!?"

Present

Izuku made it to a shopping district and hid behind an air conditioning unit on the roof. He saw fires blazing out of control, but Backdraft was taking care of them. Kamui woods was doing what he could to save the civilians caught in the crossfire, but the flames were hindering his effectiveness. Mt Lady had arrived but the pass was too narrow for her, and she was already on watch for property damage. Death Arms' attacks on the villain did nothing. "Monster! How dare you take a child hostage!" he yelled. Izuku looked toward the villain causing this. 'The slime bastard that almost killed me! Wasn't All Might hunting him down!? And he has a kid hostage!?'

Boom! Bow! Blast!*

Izuku's ears twitched at the sound of explosions. 'No...' He heard the captive shouting profanities to be released. "You picked the wrong guy to mess with! I'm gonna send you back to whatever sewer you crawled out you living shit! Get the fuck off me!!" That rough voice. 'Oh, you gotta be kidding me... Bakugo!' Izuku was debating on whether or not to get involved. The heroes aren't doing anything, and he has a small grudge against the slime villain. But then again, Bakugo's an asshole, the heroes would probably try to arrest him on the spot, and Bakugo's an asshole.

Izuku looked back towards the crowd and saw a familiar head of green and black hair. "Please, no..." His twin sister, Izumi looked to be planning something. All of a sudden, she flew above the flames and the crowd, and tried to pull Bakugo out with telekinesis. "I'll save you, Kacchan!" she yelled as she landed a few feet away from him. "You idiot!" Izuku whispered to himself. Izumi landed on a stray bit of sludge that the villain could control. The idiot was bound in sludge from her legs, and it was steadily climbing up her body. "God, this is disgusting!" she whined. "I fucking know!" Katsuki yelled. The sludge villain was finding this hilarious. "Hahaha! Hold on, girlie! Once I've taken over your friend, I'll be sure to have some fun with you!"

In the crowd, a blonde man was cursing himself for not being able to do anything. He'd been losing sleep looking for his missing son, and doing hero work, so his body couldn't handle another task. The heroes were feeling completely useless as now two children were at the mercy of the villain, and they could do nothing to help. A green-haired onlooker was beating his head against the air-conditioning unit out of sheer frustration. 'Heroes aren't even trying, two idiots in trouble, and I'm probably the only one who can do something. Damn my good nature!'

Izuku stood on the edge of the roof and raised his hand towards the flames. He was hit with another emotional presence. Every flame tells a story, and these ones generated by Bakugo's quirk told him how terrified he was. Izuku took one last look at his bully, and saw a look of horror on the boy. His decision was made the moment he saw those red eyes begging to be saved. 'My personal feelings don't matter! He's a person in trouble, and I'm going to save him!'

Izuku raised both his hands. Suddenly, the orange flames blocking the heroes roared up, before burning cold with no smoke. They were confused, until they took on a green hue. The flames then moved towards the villain and into his mouth. 'What the... fuck is this?' Katsuki thought, starting to lose consciousness. Izumi looked in wonder as the green fires forced their way into the villain. 'Time for a taste of your own medicine!' Once most of the flames were consumed into the sludge, Izuku made both his hands into fists. The living slime exploded in a powerful burst of green flames, and Bakugo was sent tumbling into Izumi. The both of them were safe.

The crowd was watching in awe. "What just happened?" "Green flames!? Whose quirk was that?" "Why is it so cold all of a sudden?" As the police and paramedics were arriving, the blonde man had some thoughts. 'Green flames that don't burn. The vigilante! And he just saved my daughter! Where is he!?' He was already jumping away into the sunset. Despite having saved two lives, he didn't feel too great. 'Bakugo, Yagi. Please don't make me regret what I did for you.'

Later

Katsuki and Izumi were sitting quietly in Toshinori's car as he drove them home. "I saw the fight you put up, Katsuki. You held your ground well, even the pros were impressed by your fighting spirit." Bakugo just huffed, not feeling like being praised for once. "And Izumi, you showed incredible spirit rushing into harms way like that. But you need to learn to analyze your situation and make the best decision." Izumi nodded. 'Analyze, huh? Izuku was so much better at that.'

"I'm no fan of the vigilante that saved you, but once he's captured, I'd like to have a word with him." Toshi said. They dropped Katsuki off first. "Later, Uncle Toshi." the blonde waved over his shoulder. Izumi and Toshi were in the car with a tense silence. "Dad, do you think the vigilante might have seen Izuku?" Toshinori gripped his steering wheel. "It's possible. At least he doesn't seem to be the type to act without reason. But it's still against the law. We'll find Izuku, and this outlaw."

The following evening

Wearing a dark green hoodie, metal respirator, black pants and red sneakers, Izuku was alight with viridiscent flames. Standing on the ledge of a tall building, he saw a car driving at high speeds, ignoring the traffic lights and stop signs. 'Looks like it'll be another late night.' He put on his lower face armor and hoodie, and followed the car.

Meanwhile

"Outta the way, shitheads!" the driver yelled as he nearly ran over some pedestrians. "You sure we got everything from that hardware store?" he asked his partner. "Oh yeah, the big man's gonna be thrilled! With this, he'll be able to- what the fuck!?" he was interrupted by a green light landing on the hood of their car. "Oh shit, it's him!" They swerved from side to side, trying to shake off their vehicle, but he wouldn't budge. With a flaming fist, he punched a hole in the windshield and grabbed the steering wheel.

The car turned so hard that it flipped over on its side and crashed into a brick wall. The Vigilante jumped off before the crash and watched the criminals try to climb out. They were bleeding from the head and probably had concussions, but they still had a bag of stolen loot. "Who taught you how to drive?" he asked tauntingly. The thugs saw a living fire in the shape of a person standing in front of their totalled and smoking car. "You bastard!" they yelled as they picked up firearms and shot at the boy. The bullets went right through the fire, and hit the car multiple times. They were too rattled to realize that they weren't shooting at a person, but a cold heat mirage. But it was too late when a bullet pierced the engine.

Kabooom!*

The car exploded in a burst of flames as the two criminals were blown away by the blast. They landed on the street, unable to get back up. The sound of clapping approached them as the world began to fade away. "Thank you. I couldn't produce the heat necessary to explode your car, so I appreciate you shooting at it enough to do the job for me." He looked down at them with cold, unfeeling eyes. "You... bas...tard..." When they lost consciousness, Izuku looked into their bag.

Metal plating and steel pipes. It looked like material for an armored accessory. The pipes suggested it was for someone not in good health. 'If criminals were hauling this, it's probably going to some crime boss. Not tonight.' He picked up one of the criminals' phone and used emergency call. He didn't speak, the sound of roaring flames would alert them. Before Izuku left, he noticed something interesting. Malleable black metal plates. He looked at his bright red shoes. "I think I've earned myself a gear upgrade." he said before flying off, leaving lingering green flames in his wake.

Soon after he left, police arrived with the number 32 hero in tow, Teleki. "What the bloody hell happened here!?" Teleki noticed the green flames burning cold near the unconscious thugs and grimaced. "He happened..." Her attention was grabbed by a thug regaining consciousness. "Wha... where is that guy? I'll kill him..." he said weakly. He was pulled in by Teleki's telekinetic grasp. "What happened here? What were you taking? Where is the vigilante?" she asked rapidly while the cops were trying to calm her down. The criminal was hardly intimidated. After experiencing his bone-chilling heat, a heroine hardly phased him.

"Listen, hero... Between that monster and my boss, you're the least of my worries... If you're after that little bastard, you better be prepared for a cold day in hell! That guy's a pint-sized devil!"

Inko knew he wouldn't be able to milk anymore information from the fear-riddled thief. He didn't even seem too upset about going to jail, although he was certainly salty. It was better than having to give a disappointing to his boss, and potentially having to run into the Green Devil again. Inko grit her teeth. Another witness too fearful of the vigilante to give any useful information. Sooner or later, she'll find this menace who thinks he can do whatever he wants.

Meanwhile

Izuku clutched his chest. 'Strange. What's this burning sensation?' He ignored it as he looked over the malleable black metal plates he took. 'My shoes are too bright for the whole, dark hero thing I'm going for. These should help with that, and give me better protection and harder hits.' He molded the plates to fit snugly around his shoes, only leaving the red laces exposed. He looked back toward the smoke of where his little skirmish had attracted the authorities attention. 'Maybe I was a little too flashy this time. Oh well.'

Elsewhere

A shadowed figure was watching the news of the newly named Green Devil striking again with Teleki on the scene. "My, I wasn't expecting you to make such a splash, child. I hope you enjoy the gift I left you, it was a good use of those street urchins. The components I need arrived the other day, I'm just thankful you didn't intercept that one. It's a shame Teleki wasn't able to catch up to you fast enough. Poor dear has been working herself ragged, taking her guilt out on criminals instead of herself."

The figure grinned darkly. "I can't wait for your family reunion. I'll be watching."