Chapter 3: Burning
Izuku's everything hurt. How far had he ended up running last night? It couldn't have been more than a few miles, right? He'd come across two more muggings after that first one, so had to run to pick up a hero, then had to run back to the crime...okay, so maybe he'd run quite a bit, but still, he shouldn't be this sore, should he?
"Izuku, you're going to be late for school!"
Izuku groaned and forced himself out of bed. He must be even more out of shape than he'd thought. He'd definitely have to change that if he wanted to keep outrunning heroes. Izuku smiled as he got dressed. He'd saved people last night.
After giving his mom a quick kiss on the cheek, Izuku was out the door and on his way to school. He had to walk carefully to avoid limping, but he'd had more than enough practice with hiding injuries that hiding sore muscles wasn't nearly as difficult as he'd been afraid it would be. Hopefully Kacchan wouldn't want to use Izuku as quirk practice before class, with how sore he was he might not be able to run away fast enough.
Izuku frowned. Would he be able to go out tonight? He needed to be pretty fast to outrun heroes, so if he was too sore, he might get caught. But it had been so...satisfying? Izuku didn't know if it was the rush he liked or if it was as simple as saving people, but either way, he didn't want to wait to get back out there. Stretching helped with soreness, didn't it? He'd have to start stretching every night before he left so he didn't hurt himself. Maybe he should look up warm-ups too?
Izuku was so distracted planning his new nightly routine that he didn't see one of Kacchan's lackey's stick out his foot to trip him until he was already falling. He hit the ground hard and the contents of his backpack scattered all over the hall. The other students simply pretended not to see as they trampled his notes and Izuku felt his eyes start to water.
"Look guys! Deku's clumsy and a crybaby!"
Izuku tried to blink back the tears as he scrambled over the floor, trying to pick up his papers before they were ripped beyond repair. There was a pair of teachers chatting a little further down the hall, but they didn't so much as glance at Izuku even when he cried out as one of the meaner students stepped on his fingers.
"Oh sorry, Deku! I didn't see you there." The kid's smile gave away his insincerity, not that Izuku had been expecting an actual apology anyway. He finished shoving everything back into his bag and stood to get to class, trying to avoid everyone's eyes as he wiped away the tears.
"He's such a useless weaking, why does he even exist?"
Izuku kept his head down and did his best to ignore the whispers as he walked into the classroom and made his way to his seat. Kacchan was still refusing to look at him, which Izuku understood. Kacchan hadn't asked for Izuku to run in to save him, so he must still be mad about that. Izuku should probably apologize, shouldn't he? But knowing Kacchan, that might make the whole thing worse. He should just leave it alone for now, right? If things got worse, he would apologize, but until then maybe Kacchan would just forget about it or chalk the whole thing up to Deku being an idiot.
Though, it was strange that Kacchan hadn't said a single word to him since he'd stopped him on the street after the sludge villain attack. Normally, if their other classmates tried to do something, Kacchan would come along and do it better to prove that he was still the best, so since everyone had decided to be crueler to Izuku...well, he just thought it would make a lot of sense for Kacchan to use this situation to assert his dominance.
So why wasn't he?
Izuku quickly silenced what he was mentally calling his vigilante alarm and rolled out of bed. His soreness had gradually decreased throughout the day, but it hadn't completely gone away, so he'd probably have to pace himself tonight…
Still in his pajamas, Izuku leaned over to touch his toes and grimaced as his legs protested against the stretch. He then moved one foot back so he could stretch his calf better. He'd spent an hour that afternoon just looking up different types of stretches, specifically stretches that were good for people who did a lot of running. He'd never actually realized how important flexibility was to physical activity!
He spent the next half-hour just running through the stretches he'd researched until he was at least marginally less sore and stiff, then got dressed in his vigilante outfit just like he had the night before. This time, however, he grabbed a small green notebook that he'd bought on the way home and stuffed it and a few pens in his back pocket before heading out. He'd have to figure out how to notate the moves that the heroes used if he wanted to study them later, since there wouldn't be time to do his usual detailed drawings in the middle of a fight. Would stick figures be enough?
As he walked, Izuku thought through the patrol schedules he'd memorized. It was a Thursday night, so who would be out? Well, Rock Lock often worked later during the week so he could take the weekends off, probably to be with his family if what he said in interviews was any indication. Then there was Enigma, but her gigantification quirk might allow her to catch him too quickly, so he should probably try to avoid using her if possible. He might be able to catch Death Arms if the hero decided to stay out later for whatever reason. Mt. Lady probably wouldn't be patrolling at night if her media-mongering debut was any indication, so she wouldn't be any help. Who else?
It was surprising, now that he thought about it, just how few heroes patrolled at night. If he was out walking at two in the afternoon rather than two in the morning, he'd be able to have his pick of at least five or six heroes on any given day, but...well he couldn't get mad at heroes for getting tired. But from what Izuku had seen the night before, there wasn't less crime at night. If anything, there might even be more crime at night, since there weren't as many people out to be witnesses and there weren't as many heroes patrolling the streets. If Izuku were a villain, he'd probably be completely nocturnal for those reasons alone.
Izuku sighed, hopefully Amplifier wouldn't get too annoyed with him if he had to use her again. He'd already used her twice last night and she probably had better things that she usually did during her patrols, so he'd have to try to spread it out as much as possible, at least until he got strong enough to start fighting criminals himself. But Izuku had decided that the running had two purposes. The first was obviously to get heroes to stop crimes in progress, but the second was to build muscle and stamina so he stood a chance when and if he ever felt confident enough to fight.
Not that anyone would care if anything happened to you anyway.
Izuku shook his head. He didn't want to die before he had the chance to save anyone. Besides, he knew that getting a bully to change his targets was temporary at best. If he died too quickly at the start of a fight before the real victim had a chance to get away, then he really wouldn't have done any good. Not to mention that if he died too quickly it might just make the villain more angry and end up making things worse for the person he'd been trying to help. Not that anyone would really be surprised if that happened, he was a useless deku after all.
Izuku caught movement in the corner of his eye and looked through the window of the 24-hour convenience store he sometimes bought snacks at to see someone threatening the cashier with an electricity quirk. Who was the closest hero to here? Rock Lock .
Izuku ignored the burning in his legs as he took off running as fast as he could.
"So, how's the wife?" Amplifier asked. "Getting ready to pop?"
Rock Lock shook his head, "She's not due for another few months. She's already complaining about how big she is though. I just tell her that means there's more of her to love."
"Oh, smooth, Romeo, smooth."
Usually Rock Lock didn't stop to talk to other heroes, but it was a slow night and Amplifier had been chasing down a drunk that had been harassing women where she usually patrolled. He'd helped take him down by immobilizing his clothes, and she'd stuck around after the police had picked him up. Who knows, maybe he'd run into a situation where he could use the extra help.
"Well, there is a reason she fell in love...ow!"
Something hit him on his calf and he looked down to see...a rock? He whipped around to see who threw it and caught sight of what looked to be a kid in a green hoodie and goggles smile at him before running away.
"Let's go!" Amplifier started following the kid, but Rock Lock held her back.
"Why? He's just some hooligan, it's not gonna do any good to run him down."
Amplifier shook her head, "No, I saw the kid yesterday too and when I chased him, he led me straight to two different muggings. Don't worry, we're not gonna try and catch him, but if that kid throws a rock at you, he wants you to chase him."
She started running again and Rock Lock shook his head as he followed. He still wasn't convinced that chasing the kid was productive, but Amplifier had proven to be a decent hero, so he'd trust her for now. And well, it was a slow night, so if nothing else, following this kid was something to do.
Izuku stopped as soon as he realized that Rock Lock and Amplifier weren't following him. Had Amplifier decided he wasn't worth her time anymore? He hadn't been trying to get her, but she'd been talking to Rock Lock and there wasn't any time to go find another hero! Should he try to go find Death Arms? Probably, but by the time he got to Death Arms' patrol route, the robber would be gone. He really was useless wasn't he?
He couldn't even get a hero correctly.
Izuku startled as he heard footsteps behind him and grinned as he saw Rock Lock and Amplifier running toward him. Rock Lock looked skeptical about the whole thing, but that didn't matter right now, what mattered right now was making sure that the convenience store robber got caught.
Izuku took off and hoped that they weren't too late. Situations like robberies could often take a turn for the worse extremely quickly. His breath was starting to get painful as he pushed himself even harder. They couldn't be too late, they couldn't!
Izuku didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he turned the corner to see the robber leaving the store. Was the cashier okay? Izuku didn't know what he would do if he wasn't. Wait, how would the heroes know that the guy was a villain?
Izuku didn't stop running, but leaned down and scooped up an empty soda can that someone had tossed on the sidewalk. He only hesitated a moment before he lobbed the can as hard as he could at the villain's head. Hopefully this wouldn't be the idiot move that killed him. Imagine what the kids at school would say.
Did you hear that Deku killed himself by throwing a soda can? Seriously, what a lame way to go, but what else did we expect from someone so worthless?
The villain turned around in rage, then saw the heroes behind him and Izuku almost cried with relief when the villain decided to activate his electricity quirk and charged. Now the heroes wouldn't have any doubt on who they were supposed to attack!
Izuku dodged behind a parked car and used the car's rubber tire to shield him from the attack. He poked his head out and Izuku smiled as he saw that Rock Lock and Amplifier had engaged the villain. Now what? Oh, yeah! The cashier!
Izuku flung open the door and ran to the counter. The guy wasn't standing at the counter like he should be, so where was he? Had he gone to a back room to recover from the stress or was he…
"Help!"
The voice was soft and laced with pain, but a dead person couldn't talk, so that meant the cashier was alive! Izuku nearly panicked when he ran around the counter and saw the man lying on the ground, electrical burns covering most of his face and arms. Izuku was familiar with burns and those looked like they hurt. A lot.
He forced himself to calm down, but wasn't able to force a smile onto his face, "Sir, do you have a phone?"
"O-on the counter…"
Izuku hurried and dialed the police, "Yes, hello? There's a guy here with electrical burns, at least second or third degree. Yes, it was a villain attack, somebody robbed the convenience store on Randamu street. Yeah, we're still here, hurry!"
Izuku put the phone down and knelt beside the cashier, "Are you ok? Oh wait, obviously you're not okay, you just got robbed and you're hurt and…"
"How did you," the man rasped, "know about the robbery?"
"Oh, I, um, brought the heroes. They're fighting the guy outside. Oh, those burns look bad, let's get...ok, yeah."
Izuku stood and found the burn cream and bandages. It only took a few seconds, as he already knew exactly where they were kept because he bought them so frequently. Maybe he'd have to thank Kacchan when this was all over? No, Kacchan would probably just find that annoying.
Izuku shook his head. He needed to focus. He grabbed a rag that was underneath the counter and ran over to the soda fountain to wet it with cold water, then started dabbing the wet washcloth on the burns, being extra careful not to rub so he didn't do any more damage to the skin.
"Ice?" the man asked as Izuku set to work. "It's so hot, wouldn't ice be better?"
Izuku shook his head, "No, ice can shock your system or make the area so numb you can't tell if further damage is being done. Don't worry, once we get the burn cream on, it'll hurt a little less. And I"m sure the paramedics will be able to give you something for pain when they get here."
The man nodded and closed his eyes and Izuku started to apply the cream. He was just wrapping the burns when the door opened and he heard Amplifier's voice.
"Kid? Are you in here? Is everyone ok? I could've sworn I saw him come in here..."
"I'm here, Amplifier." Izuku yelled. "The cashier got burned by that guy's quirk."
Amplifier walked around the counter and stopped when she saw Izuku treating the man's wounds, "Wow kid, you look like you know what you're doing."
Izuku shrugged, "I've had a lot of practice." He finished tying off the final bandage and stood. "I'd better leave this to you guys. I already called the ambulance, so they should be here any minute. You should probably stay with him until they get here though, I've heard electrical burns can be tricky."
Amplifier nodded and knelt beside the man as Izuku hurried toward where he thought the back entrance was. Just because he wasn't technically a vigilante didn't mean it was a good idea to stick around until the cops came, especially since the heroes were a lot more qualified to deal with the situation than he was anyway. At this point, Izuku would just get in the way.
"Kid." Izuku turned back to see Amplifier staring at him, "Thanks."
Izuku gave her a bright smile before he turned and left.
Now to find someone else to save.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone