Chapter Text
He silently studies the rows of chairs filled with friends, family and the occasional civilian in front of him. His hands are shaking even after years of public speaking experience and his mind is racing uncontrollably.
He isn't prepared enough for this.
With trembling hands, he tries to get a grasp on his emotions. He has done this before. Everything is okay.
"Midoriya Izuku alias X isn't just some ruthless vigilante. He's a hero."
Approving nods and mutters are sent his way.
"He's the true symbol of peace for the overlooked and abused. And yes, some people might disagree with me on this but nobody can deny the amount of people he saved with his work and words."
—
Midoriya Izuku had always been dedicated.
After all, standing to his childhood dreams even after years of cruel abuse and ridiculing from his peers, teachers, neighbors, and even his own family takes a lot of dedication.
And maybe pettiness. He had a lot of that too. Dedication and pettiness have kept him alive though.
It was the only reason he didn't take Kacchan's advice or jump after All Might brutally rejected him and left him on a random rooftop without a way to get down. He had to bang on the roof access door for half an hour until someone finally noticed his despair. Not to mention that it was pouring. His clothes were soaked and he was close to hypothermia. He had been lucky not to get sick.
A week later all of his leftover All Might merch had been donated to a charity center. After what had happened, could you really blame him?
It's also why he never stopped fighting for everyone in need; not because of All Might. It was all him. Even if he sometimes forgot to fight for his own happiness, it never mattered to him. He was going to help people and that's what heroes do, right?
He'll find purpose in providing help. Purpose meant happiness.
And of course, he wasn't one to break promises either. His life was filled with broken promises and fake friendship. He wouldn't allow himself to do that to anyone else under any circumstance.
So, when Izuku witnessed another one of his classmates getting ruthlessly beaten up and discriminated against, he had promised himself revenge. Not for his own abuse, he needed to help the weaker.
Akashi had been in the hospital for a month. He broke two of his bones and had bruises on the entirety of his body. He deserved to get revenge. They all deserved someone to fight for them too.
Not violent revenge though.
No.
That would be way too easy and admittingly he was weak himself and without a quirk to back him up there wasn't much damage he could do. Especially not with his lack of athletic abilities and non-existent fighting skills. Being severely malnourished probably didn't help his case either.
Violence wasn't the only way leading to revenge though.
There are many ways to avenge someone; violence, blackmail, psychological torture and sometimes even empty threats could do the job. He had numerous options and the brains to make them work.
If his plans would end up helping him too, he certainly wouldn't complain but that was never his goal. Others needed saving more than he did. He'd be fine, like always.
Still, he even managed to be an outcast of the outcasts and nobody would want to be associated with nor saved by someone like him; a quirkless deku but he'd always been good at keeping secrets. It was one of those skills he wasn't exactly proud of but unsurprisingly it helped him get by.
He never imagined he'd start a whole career on a single promise of petty revenge and secrets though but like he said; he certainly wouldn't complain.
Becoming X was the best decision of his life.
You're probably asking yourself now how he did it. After all, Izuku wasn't mind-stunningly talented in any way. But the answer was fairly simple to him, a lot simpler than anyone would have expected; hack into the security footage of your school and all their records and destroy their lives. Turns out free online hacking classes were surprisingly resourceful.
Destroy their lives as in publishing everything on the internet or the option he personally preferred; give it to your favorite detective and hero duo and let them do it for you. He enjoyed watching the bullies getting arrested. It was only a few years in juvenile detention but he was happy.
They wouldn't hurt anyone anymore; nor him.
Truthfully, he wasn't planning on doing anything further than that but how could he save only a few when there were so many more people that needed saving? Children like him and common citizens trying to live in peace. He couldn't unsee all the sadness and desperation around him anymore.
He had a lot of work to do and he was not about to back down again.
—
It had been 4 months since then and his life had taken a turn for the better. He found comfort in the anonymity of X. He still went after bullies and schools which only observed and never bothered to step in; never his own. His list of targets had grown a ton in the last few months though.
He began collecting data from the news and police instead of merely reporting crimes he stumbled upon in broad daylight. Recently, he also started to work with informants in exchange for leaving them alone. Which he did if they didn't step too far out of line.
Every night for months he jumped between street cameras, tracing his targets steps and habits. His targets for the most part were small local villains which the police failed to capture. It's mostly just hours and hours of no action and a lot of boredom but he loved it.
Like right now. He was tracking Lioness, a lowlife villain who apparently earned their money by transporting weapons and drugs across the city and sometimes even across borders. Therefore the clock was ticking if he wanted to get her arrested this time. 'C'mon. Where are you?'
And as X he finally was someone important; someone worthy of living. He had found friends and maybe even family in his involuntary 'partners'. Eraser and Tsukauchi genuinely valued his input and always made sure to ask him how he was doing. He had to get used to their concern at first. It'd been a while since someone had dared to ask him how he felt.
But they didn't know about his quirk status. They would never if he could help it.
His work was way too important to let it be ruined by quirkism. He had stopped dreaming about someone accepting him ages ago. Wishful thinking made you vulnerable and he seriously couldn't afford that. Especially not in his current profession.
He sighed softly.
Lioness had been walking for more than ten minutes and it had gotten hard to focus through his sleep deprived state. Thankfully, switching between cameras had become muscle memory to him and he never missed a beat.
'Oh my god! Finally!'
Lioness just came to a halt in front of an abandoned warehouse, seemingly waiting for someone; probably one of her clients. If he was patient enough, he'd be able to get both of them at once. He already had enough information on Lioness to lock her away for good. Waiting a bit longer won't be the end of the world.
Two months in he had also started working out and cleaning the Dagobah beach. Currently his work might be solely behind the screen but it was still dangerous and he wasn't naive. If someone managed to locate him, he would need to defend himself in some way.
Good thing his system was basically impossible to be traced. Someone like Nedzu would be able to do it but that'd be very unlikely.
'Maybe I could look up martial arts studios later but relying on just one fighting style won't do me any good. If I-'
Before he could finish his train of thoughts, movement on his laptop screen caught his eyes. A hooded figure was approaching his target slowly. Their walk was off. It was like they were recently injured or maybe a drawback of their quirk?
Izuku quickly pulled up the police database and searched for villains with mutation quirk focusing on their legs. 897 matches. And with practiced ease he narrowed down the search until there was only one name left.
Penni.
He was a drug dealer with a quite impressive criminal record. Assault, attempted murder, another assault, you get the message. He was a real scumbag. Definitely the kind of thug Lioness would make business with.
Time for his partners.
Group Chat
Get em, Eraser
Sunday, 3:34 a.m
X-Chaos has entered the chat.
X-Chaos: Guess who I just found!! :)
Sleepless has entered the chat.
Sleepless: Get it over with and go to sleep X
Sleepless: U need it
Lie-Detector has entered the chat.
Lie-Detector: Both of you do.
X-Chaos: Awwww u two are no fun! Cheer up grumpy old men
X-Chaos: [attached location] [attached case files]
X-Chaos: Lioness and Penni go get em Eraser
Sleepless: I'm guessing u still won't tell us how?
X-Chaos: I'm a magical unicorn obv
Sleepless: Sigh.
Sleepless has left the chat.
Lie-Detector: Go to sleep X.
X-Chaos: I think I'll pass dad
Lie-Detector: … just sleep for once.
X-Chaos: Byebyeeee got more people to terrorize!
X-Chaos has left the chat.
Lie-Detector: Why am I even trying ?!
Lie-Detector has left the chat.
Izuku did go to sleep but it wasn't because of Tsukauchi. He made his own decisions. Well, except when he passes out from exhaustion.
—
"So, what do you think?" Shota eyed Naomasa from his place on the couch.
"About what?"
"X. You think he's gonna end up becoming a villain?"
Shota didn't think so but he was still a vigilante and he'd seen it happen a dozen times before. He didn't want to fight X but he would if it was necessary.
It had happened with his last vigilante case. She had snapped after the loss of her partner and one of his closest friends turned into his most terrifying enemy. She'd killed over fifty innocent people until she died at the attempt to arrest her. He had killed her.
It all came with the job. If he wanted it to or not.
He stopped his memories from overwhelming him once again. Now wasn't the time to mourn.
He wasn't sure if there would ever be a right time.
"Honestly I don't know. I know that we're friends but he's barely revealed anything about himself but seems to know everything about us."
"He just knows everything. If I didn't know it any better I'd say he was Nedzu."
They were both working on the paperwork of Lioness and Penni's arrests. `Zashi hated it when he brought work home and he enjoyed these late nights with his friend. Although he'd never admit it. It had become routine.
"If they ever meet, we're doomed."
Now that'd be a terrifying image; Nedzu and X. He shuddered inside. He would've consulted with Nedzu already if it wasn't for the wreckage they'd cause together. They could never meet.
"You think X got an intelligence quirk?"
"He must have. How else would he know all this?"
"I don't know. You're probably right."
They let the conversation die, both lost in thoughts. Shota wasn't sure if they'll ever get to know who X is. From what he could tell, he was strangely private. He seemed almost scared to reveal something about himself as if he expected constant judgment.
He sighed and hurryingly scribbled down the last few things and headed towards the door.
"Well, I'll be going home now. `Zashi is probably getting restless again."
"You're lucky to have him."
"Yeah, I am. Don't overwork yourself."
"Can't promise anything. Get some sleep."
They smiled at each other in silent farewell.