Chapter Text
Izuku, after that fateful doctor's visit, decides to conduct some research of his own. After all, Kacchan's not his friend anymore (evident by the scrapes on his palms and knees from getting pushed down) and he has no one else to play with. And then he stumbles across a hidden gem.
" Mom!" He shouts, jumping out of his chair, running into the kitchen. He grabs onto her shirt tail, bouncing in excitement. She's surprised, smiling reflexively down at him.
" Yes? What is it, Izuku?" It had been days since he'd been this excited about anything.
" There's a quirkless hero!"
" Really? That's- That's great, Izuku!" She beamed down at him, and he began to chatter, like he used to do about All Might. He hadn't talked about him, since, well, since they found out.
" Yeah! His name is Knuckleduster, and he's super strong, and he only takes on small villains cuz no one else will, but that doesn't mean he's weak! He says that since no one else will he has to do it, and that more heroes should help out locally, and, and, and!" He was practically hyperventilating her was so happy.
" Slow down, Izuku. Now sit down, it's time for supper, and afterwards you can tell me all about him, okay?"
He smiled at her, happiness shining in his eyes, and the tight knot of worry in her chest loosened a little. Izuku would be okay.
-
Izuku has notebooks lining his bookshelves, layered in between second hand textbooks and hero magazines. He hunched over his desk, humming as he redrew his diagram on the difference between Cementoss and Snatch's quirks. Cementoss would certainly be harder to fight in an urban environment, but maybe if he was drawn out of the city? maybe against Sweet Siren, or someone like Desutegoro. Hmm, he'd have to think about it.
He spun in his chair, kicking lightly off his desk to get to the bookshelf. Maybe. . .oh, here it was.
" Todoroki, Todoroki, ah, Todoroki!" He found the right page in his Quirk Family Index. Pretty obvious weaknesses in the Hellflame quirk (after all, a garden hose or a bucket of water was not hard to come by), but brute force made up for a lot. After all, there was a reason Endeavor was so muscular, and it wasn't for his image. Of course, he was nothing compared to All Might.
Next up, Gran Torino versus the Iida quirk. Jet was more versatile than Engine, but strength wise Ingenium would win every time.
There was a knock at his door. " Izuku? There's someone on the phone for you."
" Thanks, Mom. I'll be right there." He said in return, getting to his feet. He'd told them to call his cellphone, but they never did.
His mom smiled at him as he walked past, sitting on the couch folding laundry. He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek, making her giggle slightly.
" I'm making curry for supper."
" Awesome! Thanks, mom." He grinned, a new skip in his step. Mom really was the best cook.
He picked up the house phone, leaning against the wall.
" Moshi moshi! How can I help you?"
" Vlad King." The low, distorted voice said.
" Ah, alright. I'll meet you at the same place tomorrow. Goodbye."
He hung up before the voice could respond. He shivered, how creepy.
" Izuku, who was it?"
" My study group. We're going to meet up at the park tomorrow."
" Okay. You should invite them over sometime, Izuku!"
He shrugged as he walked back to his room, his phone pinging in his hand." Maybe. None of them are very social, though."
Don't get him wrong, he hated lying to his mom. But he didn't want to drag her into this anyway. And how was he going to explain himself anyway? 'Hey, mom, I may or may not be selling battle guides to villains and heroes alike?'
Talk about awkward.
No, it was better his mom not know. At least until he was more secure in his position.
He closed his bedroom door with his foot, tapping away at his phone screen. Vlad King. A tricky one, for sure, but there was enough footage of them online that Izuku could predict his movements almost down to the second. Oh well, sucks to be him. If he was lucky, than there would be a hero nearby to help him out. If not, well, than Izuku would just have to add a tally to his 'Defeats' list in his profile notebook.
After all, he was never wrong on stuff like this.