Capítulo 7: Weapons!
Izuku had never actually been to a hardware store before. It probably had something to do with growing up without a father, but Mom had always just hired a handyman for anything that need to be fixed around the house and that guy always brought his own materials, so Izuku had never really had any reason to walk inside a store like this before, which was why he was currently standing frozen at the entrance, unsure of where to begin.
Some of the employees were starting to stare at him strangely, probably wondering why a kid in a middle school uniform was staring at their store like it was some kind of labyrinth that was going to eat him alive, so Izuku forced his feet to move and started aimlessly wandering while trying to look discreetly at the signs. It wasn't his fault the store was so big and intimidating!
Alright, he'd had a goal when he'd walked in here, hadn't he? Oh, right, pipe. After the fight with those drugged-up villains last week, he'd decided that he needed to...fine-tune his weapon selection. The dowels had worked great for the first few seconds, but they broke far too easily and just because Mom hadn't realized they were missing from the closet yet didn't mean he could just keep taking them until they were gone. What if Mom wanted to use them for another project!?
So, anyway, pipe hopefully wouldn't break as easily and it shouldn't be that hard to buy, right? But what section was he supposed to...plumbing sounded promising. Plumbing used pipes, didn't it? Izuku fought to not facepalm at his own stupidity, since he didn't need to give the staff any more reasons to question his sanity. Of course plumbing used pipes, he really was as stupid as Kacchan said, wasn't he?
He turned down the aisle and started looking around while desperately trying to pretend he knew what he was doing. Why were there so many pipes? And why were they all so long? He wasn't looking for a quarterstaff, he wanted something he could fit in his pocket! Finally he found some copper pipe that looked short enough to be promising. He picked up a piece and started passing it between his hands. It was light, but felt comfortable enough…
"Is there anything I can help you with?"
Izuku yelped and dropped the pipe, which made a series of loud clanging sounds as it bounced on the floor. Izuku felt his face heat up and turned to the employee who was looking at him apologetically. The kid was around his own age and had yellow hair that was almost as bright as the red apron of his store uniform.
"Sorry about that, dude." The employee said. "We're just supposed to offer help and expertise to the people who come in. Not that I actually have much expertise, I'm just a part-timer, but I could help you find someone who's an expert if you want."
"Um…" Izuku didn't think that any of the employees were experts in vigilantism, "No thanks, I'm j-just browsing."
"If you tell me what your project is, I could probably point you in the right direction." The kid offered.
"It's, um, it's just a hobby…" Izuku glanced down at the copper pipe, which was still sitting forgotten on the floor. It seemed too conspicuous, like it was a physical reminder of how useless he was. He not only didn't know what kind of pipe to buy but he'd also managed to loudly drop one within minutes of arriving at the store. He really was such an idiot, wasn't he?
The employee followed his gaze downward and smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, dude, normally I'd grab that and put it back for you, but," he chuckled awkwardly, "I'm not really supposed to handle any conductive materials."
For the first time, Izuku noticed the black lightning bolt pattern in the employee's hair, "Oh! You have an electricity quirk!"
"Yeah!" The employee smiled brightly. "My name's Kaminari, by the way."
"Nice to meet you!" Izuku leaned down and picked up the pipe, "It's really smart of you to work here with your quirk, I'm sure you're learning all sorts of stuff about circuits and electricity!"
Kaminari's eyes widened, "Whoa, I hadn't even thought of that, dude! I just wanted to save some extra money for high school. I wonder if some of the guys in the electronics section would be willing to teach me."
"I'm sure they would." Izuku smiled. "Good luck!"
"Thanks dude!" Kaminari smiled. "And good luck on your project."
Izuku nodded and watched Kaminari leave before turning back to the pipe in his hands. He looked it over and frowned when he saw some small dents from where he'd dropped it. Copper was probably really good for traditional pipes, but it seemed like it was too soft for what Izuku had in mind. It would be really inconvenient to have to fix dents in his weapons every night.
Which put him back to square one. If copper wasn't going to cut it then what kinds of metal were there. There were a bunch of different plastics and PVC pipes, but those would probably have the same problems with breaking as the dowels did, so he didn't waste much time in that section. Finally, he saw a section with black pipes that said they were made of iron. He picked up a shorter piece and it seemed like it was heavy enough to pack a punch. He almost wanted to drop it to make sure it wouldn't dent, but the embarrassment had been bad enough the first time and that had been an accident!
He chose two identical pieces that were thick enough for him to hold comfortably and around 30 cm long. They'd take some getting used to, but the store didn't sell anything shorter than that in the iron, so they'd have to do. He put his pipes in his basket and started wandering toward a sign that said tools . He probably wouldn't buy anything from there, but it wouldn't hurt to look right?
Maybe they'd have a larger box cutter or something similar? The one he had was functional, but it hadn't been long enough to do any meaningful damage to that tentacle villain, so it'd be good to have something with a longer blade as a back-up. Looking at the box cutters, though, Izuku realized that they didn't really have a lot of variety when it came to blade length. It seemed like most of the differences between different models were just the width and the handle, which wasn't something that Izuku cared about.
Displayed right next to the box cutters, though, were a few utility knives. Izuku hesitated before looking at them. Was he really ready to carry a knife? That seemed...more serious somehow. Like he was actually planning on hurting someone rather than just taking along a weapon in case of emergencies. But was a knife really all that different than a box cutter? They were both sharp and could do some damage, and the utility knife would be really useful…
He gave in and got a generic looking knife that was able to fold into its own handle so he wouldn't accidentally cut himself. It's not like he had to use it, right? It was just good to have. Between the knife and the pipes, though, Izuku was starting to get concerned about how he was going to carry everything. Sure, he had his hoodie pocket, but he'd already dropped his soup can three times while running and it had only been a week! Things just started to fall out from all the bouncing that running involved, so he should probably find a better solution.
He wandered around the tool aisle a little longer before he saw a section labeled tool aprons . Some looked like actual aprons, like the kind Kaminari had been wearing, but others were more like utility belts. They had loops that were probably meant for hammers, but Izuku could easily modify them to hold his pipes, and some pockets that would probably be perfect for his knife and can. He chose one made out of a dark green canvas-like material that would match well with the rest of his vigilante outfit and added it to his basket. It was a little pricey, but he hadn't bought any hero merch since...well, the point was that he had a little extra allowance saved up, so he could afford it.
Izuku made his way toward the checkout section, but stopped when one of the displays on the end of the aisles caught his attention. Slingshots. Well, it would be nice to have something capable of long range attacks…
He gave into temptation and read the packaging.
Slingshots, a fun, effective tool perfect for hunting and survival! Simply put your preferred ammunition (we recommend steel shot, marbles, or even smooth rocks) in the leather pouch and fire!
There were some packages of steel shot in the same display, which basically looked like metal marbles, but Izuku didn't grab any. Firing metal at someone sounded really serious, like firing a bullet, and he really wasn't a serious vigilante. Besides, other people were probably a lot better at slingshots than he was, and if they were planning on using them for hunting or survival then they needed the professional ammunition much more than he did.
The cashier gave Izuku a weird look as he checked out, but he wasn't really paying attention. He should buy some marbles on the way home. They'd be perfect for his slingshot, plus, they'd solve a problem he'd been having finding rocks. Normally there was enough rubble from past hero fights that Izuku didn't have any trouble finding stuff to throw to get heroes' attention, but there had been a few times when it had taken a minute or two to find something to throw and the heroes had almost been too late. If he had marbles to throw, he wouldn't have to waste any time finding rocks! He wouldn't use his slingshot on the heroes, that'd be rude, but throwing them would work fine.
He chose a bigger toy store downtown, hoping they'd have a bigger variety of marbles. Thankfully, he didn't get nearly as many odd looks here, but it did feel weird to be here without making a bee-line for the hero collectables aisle. It took him a few minutes to find the marbles, but when he did, he was glad he'd come here rather than a smaller store.
There were a lot of marbles that were sold in small net bags that had ten or so normal marbles and a larger one, but what made Izuku grin was the large dispensers that sold marbles in bulk. He grabbed one of the canvas bags and looked at the different colors. Whoever was in charge of naming marble colors should help students come up with their hero names, because they were obviously having way too much fun with their job if the crazy names like tsunami or wild tiger were any indication. Izuku finally settled on a color called enchanted forest , which was a swirling mix of dark green and black, because it matched his vigilante outfit, and he bought about two pounds worth of marbles. Hopefully that would be enough to last him at least a couple of weeks, and there were a few pockets on his new tool belt that would be perfect for them!
For the first time since he'd met All Might, Izuku walked home smiling.
Capítulo 8: Looking Ahead
Izuku kept an eye on the clock and put all his books away five minutes before school ended. He saw some of the other students shooting him looks as the seconds ticked away and swallowed thickly. Hopefully he really had been getting faster since becoming a vigilante because he wasn't looking forward to what would happen to him if he didn't manage to get away in time.
The bell was like the gun at the beginning of a race and Izuku was out of the room before most of his classmates had even grabbed their bags. From there, it was just rushing to his locker, then out the door. The only one who could even hope to catch up to him at this point would be Kacchan, but Izuku hoped that his luck would hold and Kacchan would just go home like he'd been doing for the last few weeks. He didn't know why Kacchan seemed to be taking it easy on him, but maybe he'd finally realized that Izuku didn't have any hope of being better than him! Maybe if Izuku kept his head down, then Kacchan wouldn't see him as a threat and he'd keep leaving him alone! It was almost too much to hope for.
Mom was at work when he got home, so he sent her a quick text saying that he was going to go watch hero fights as he got changed, then grabbed his slingshot and a few dozen marbles and walked out the door. He needed to get used to his new weapon, considering he'd never actually used a slingshot before, and it might just be his poor self-esteem talking, but somehow he didn't think that the middle of a fight was the best time to practice his aim. Hence why he was going to do some target practice.
His first thought was to go to a park, but he didn't want to risk running into any of his classmates. They tried to destroy his things on the best of days, but if they were to see him practicing with a weapon...well, Izuku didn't want to have to go back to the hardware store so soon. Besides, it was probably better to practice someplace secluded anyway because if people saw him practicing with a slingshot and then Viridian started using a slingshot shortly after, then that might be suspicious enough to lead the police to his doorstep and he'd rather not make Mom worry.
So, parks were out. He could go to the woods where he used to play with Kacchan, but he didn't really know if Kacchan still hung out there after school and he'd really rather stay off his radar right now, so he couldn't go to the woods. That, of course, left the beach.
Dagobah beach definitely wasn't as pretty as it had been a few decades ago, but that wasn't really the beach's fault, just like it wasn't Izuku's fault that he was useless. It was just kinda a fact of life. Izuku had been introduced to it a few years ago when he'd tagged along with Kacchan and his friends for an afternoon and they'd walked by it.
Hey, that's where you should live, Deku! You'd feel right at home with all the other trash.
He'd kinda been right. Yeah, the beach didn't smell the best since the weird fishy smell of the ocean mixed with the rotting piles of garbage, but the ventilation was okay, so it only took a few minutes for Izuku to stop noticing the smell, but it was secluded and peaceful. There wasn't anyone here to beat him up or tell him to kill himself, it was just him and all the other useless garbage that people had thrown away. It was nice.
Izuku dug through the piles before he found a piece of sheet metal that wasn't too rusted and set it up against an old washing machine, then stood a few meters back and got out his slingshot. It took him a few tries to figure out how to pinch the marble through the pouch so that he didn't drop it, but soon enough he'd lined up his shot and aimed for the dead center of his makeshift target.
Izuku took a deep breath and let go. Now, if he was right, the marble should make a sound when it hit the target and...well, either his target didn't actually make a sound or he'd missed. Of those two possibilities, Izuku had to admit that the latter was much more likely. He looked in the sand under the target, but couldn't see the marble, so his aim was obviously a bit off. He searched for a full two or three minutes before giving up and searching for a tarp to put behind his target instead. He didn't want the trash piles to eat all his marbles before he even had the chance to practice!
Eventually, Izuku found a tarp that didn't have too many holes in it and draped it between his target and the washing machine, then put down another tarp on the sand underneath it. Okay, now as long as he managed to shoot in the general area of the target, he shouldn't lose his marbles. Not that he hadn't obviously lost his marbles a long time ago, considering he'd chosen to become a vigilante, so...dumb joke, he really should stop trying to be funny.
He still didn't hit the target on his next shot, but the tarp worked well and caught the marble so he could reuse it. His arms were starting to get sore by the time he finally heard the tell-tale metallic ding as he hit the target for the first time and Izuku couldn't help himself as he whooped in excitement and started jumping around, startling a few seagulls that had been trying to find something to eat among the garbage. He flushed with embarrassment before he realized that no one would be annoyed at him for yelling because no one was around, and then he smiled. He'd done it! He'd actually hit the target!
By the time the sun was setting, Izuku was able to reliably hit his target and the sheet metal was covered in small dents. He was down a few marbles from when his shots had gone wildly off course, but overall, Izuku thought that the afternoon had been a success. He felt all warm and happy, and if he didn't know any better, he'd almost say that he was proud .
If this was how Kacchan felt every time someone told him how awesome he was, then Izuku could see the appeal.
Katsuki didn't know how he was supposed to feel.
He really shouldn't pity Deku. And he definitely shouldn't feel guilty for how he treated him. The quirkless fucker deserved it for being so weak, right? So then why did Katsuki feel like he was going to throw up every time one of those extras at school told him to jump off a roof? He'd told Deku to jump off a roof! It should be any different if someone else was saying it!
But...was Deku really as weak as all that? When all those heroes had been sitting on their asses, Deku had been the only one to run forward to try and save him. Did that mean that Deku was strong? Or did it mean that Katsuki was weak? Was he even weaker than Deku if he had to rely on a quirkless weaking like that to save him?
No! He had to be strong! He had a quirk that let him make fucking exposions! He was going to be the number one hero and there was no way Deku or any of those other useless extras were going to stand in his way!
He was going to be even better than All Might, but would All Might treat Deku like he had? But, all his teachers knew that he was going to be a hero, and they would have told him if he wasn't acting like a hero, right? They were always going on about how Katsuki had what it took, and heroes were better than everyone else, so he was better than Deku right?
So why did he feel so bad? At first he'd just thought that sludge must have just been making him nauseous or something because there was no logical reason for him to feel this way. He was strong, he obviously wasn't doing anything wrong!
But...what if he was?
Katsuki threw off the covers and went to his computer. He obviously wasn't going to be getting any sleep anytime soon, he might as well do something productive. He found himself looking up how to be a hero. There were obviously the articles that he'd read a million times before about how to apply to hero schools, what it took to get a license and all that crap, but that wasn't what Katsuki was really looking for. He frowned before typing something else into the search bar.
How is a hero supposed to act?
He clicked on a video of All Might and rushed to put the headphones in so that he wouldn't wake up his dad. The hag slept like a rock, so he wasn't worried about her. The interview was a few years old, and All Might grinned as he sat across from the host, the couch sagging under the weight of his massive muscles. The host looked like a baby in comparison, but it was always possible they were smaller than normal because of their quirk.
"So All Might, I know that a lot of kids dream of being a hero like you." The host began.
"As well they should!" All Might laughed. "It's a difficult career, and it's definitely not for everyone, but if you have what it takes, it is extremely rewarding!"
"Exactly! And we all know how physically grueling heroism can be, but what about emotionally? All Might, what do you think it takes to be a hero at heart, even for those that will never get a license?"
"Hmm, that's a good question." All Might paused for a moment as if he was thinking. "I think a hero is someone who gives others hope. They lift others up at every opportunity and encourage them to be better! The people we heroes defend will almost always be weaker than we are, if this wasn't the case then everyone would defend themselves and heroes wouldn't be the essential career they are today, but it is our responsibility to make sure they find their inner strength and become the best people they can be."
"What about heroes like Endeavor, who have been known to look down on their fans?"
"I can't speak for every hero, of course, but I personally wouldn't have gotten to the number one spot if I spent my time and energy insulting my fans." Katsuki froze as All Might turned to look at the camera and it felt like he was staring right into his soul. "A hero isn't someone who insults others. A hero is kind and comforts people in the midst of disasters. My mentor once taught me that if a person is in need of saving, that means they are going through the worst day of their lives. If you insult them rather than saving them with a smile, are you really, truly saving them? Or are you making the worst day of their lives even worse? That's why I believe a hero should always strive to be kind, make others happy, and give them hope. That is what truly makes a hero!"
The interviewer laughed and moved onto the next question as the studio audience applauded the nation's symbol of peace and Katsuki was left to stare at his reflection in the screen as it went dark as the next video in the playlist loaded.
Crap.
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