Latest Update:COMPLETE
Summary: After his dream is finally crushed, Izuku isn't quite sure there's anything left for him to live for, but...he can't exactly kill himself either, not without hurting the people he cares the most about. So, when he realizes that the quirkless can't technically be vigilantes, it seems like the best of both worlds. He'll be able to save people even without being a hero and, if he happens to die while he's at it...well, like Kacchan said, maybe he'd be born with a quirk in the next life.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23529571/chapters/56433163
Word count:272k
Chapters:120
Chapter 1: Technicalities
Toshinori glanced down at the boy as rain fell down all around them. Yes, the boy definitely had a heroic spirit, but just being near the power of one of Toshinori's full-strength punches was enough to practically knock him out. If he were to have that power inside him...his body wouldn't be able to handle it, he'd break! Giving a weak body so much power would be irresponsible, no matter how strong his spirit was. Besides, Toshinori's power was running out, he needed a strong successor. The boy would be able to find other ways to help people.
//
"You're just a quirkless failure that wouldn't even cut it as a rent-a-cop Deku!" Kacchan screamed. "You didn't help me! You did nothing! I don't owe you anything! You got that?"
Izuku nodded fearfully as Kacchan stalked off. He was right, Izuku really hadn't done anything except get in the way. But at least he'd tried. It had been...weirdly exhilarating, that one moment of risking his life for someone else before giving up on his dreams forever.
If you wanna be a hero so bad, take a swan dive off the roof and pray you'll be born with a quirk in the next life.
Izuku shook his head. No, Kacchan was just being mean, Izuku didn't actually want to die, right? That's not why he'd run in to stop that villain. The rush was just because he'd deluded himself into thinking he was helping Kacchan. And there were plenty of other ways to help people, just like All Might had said. He could become a policeman!
You wouldn't even cut it as a rent-a-cop .
No, it would probably be best to do some research when he got home. There had to be other people out there that realized they couldn't be heroes, right? Maybe he could do some digging online and find out what careers they went into?
He walked into the apartment and was immediately almost knocked off his feet as his mom ran to hug him, "Oh, Izuku, baby! I was so worried! What were you thinking?"
"I guess I wasn't." Izuku chuckled. "Sorry, Mom."
After finally convincing his crying mother that he was, in fact, alive and well, he took a shower and then sat down with his laptop to look into alternate careers. The question now was what to type into the search engine.
What to do when you can't be a hero.
The search algorithm must be designed to search for any word in the entered phrase because the top results were all interview clips from various pro-heroes giving the anyone can be a hero speech. Lies. Halfway down the page, however, Izuku finally saw a result that looked halfway-like what he was actually searching for.
He clicked on the link and it took him to a thread on one of the hero forums. A user a few years ago had asked, "I just took the exams for several different hero courses and didn't get in. Being a hero was all I ever wanted to do, so what should I do now that it isn't an option."
Well, Izuku hadn't quite gotten to the point of actually taking the UA entrance exam, but the rest applied pretty well. He scrolled through the various answers. A lot of them just offered condolences and told the asker to talk to the career counselor at their school. Izuku didn't think that'd help him much though, considering that when he'd met with his school counselor last year, the woman had told him to consider being a garbage man. Not that that wasn't a completely valid career, but he knew she only suggested it because he was quirkless.
Izuku wanted a job where he could actually help people. Hmmm, a few people suggested being a doctor, but Izuku didn't think he was smart enough for that. His classmates were always telling him that he was a stupid deku, after all. Policeman might be a good option, but then again, Kaachan was probably right. If he didn't have what it took to be a hero, why would he have what it took to be a cop? He was just about to close the browser and go to bed when a comment with a large thread caught his eye.
Well, if you didn't get into the hero course, you can always be a vigilante.
Most of the replies to that were exactly what Izuku suspected they'd be, basically bullying the commentator for suggesting something so obviously illegal. Izuku shouldn't even be thinking about this, he was in enough trouble for running into the situation earlier but...wait? Wasn't that vigilantism too? They probably let him off easily because he's a kid and it was obviously the first time he'd done something like that. But that thrill of almost dying to save someone else…
Izuku opened another tab. It wouldn't hurt to do some more research on vigilantes, right? The more he learned, the more he'd understand that this was a completely stupid idea that he absolutely should not do . It was obviously stupidly dangerous and had a very good chance of killing him!
Right?
There wasn't a whole lot of information on particular vigilantes, at least not as much as there was on the legal heroes. Heroism was often based on fame, but apparently most vigilantes didn't get very popular. But popularity wasn't very important to Izuku, he didn't really need to be popular to be happy. Fame was for people like Kacchan who deserved it.
Then, around midnight, Izuku read a research paper about a group a few years ago called the Nuruhata Vigilantes. It was by a college student who apparently hadn't gone on to do any more serious research, but it did give a decent overview of vigilantism in general and how illegal heroes were seen by the general population.
According to the Japanese government, Vigilantism is defined as using one's quirk in an unauthorized act of heroism. The vigilantes of Nuruhata definitely fit the bill, but do people see them as evil, like the government proclaims or as good….
Izuku read the first sentence a total of five times before looking up the actual law. At least according to the government, quirkless people couldn't technically be vigilantes...wait, he couldn't be a vigilante!
Izuku didn't end up getting any sleep that night, since by the time he'd finished reading all the various laws on self defense and quirk usage, the sun was already rising. He should still probably find some way to conceal his identity, since he didn't want to make his mother worry, but...well, there was no law preventing him from risking his life to help people.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23529571/chapters/56433163