Lost Cause// A Vigilante Midoriya AU

That Time When Things Went To Dust

It's the first day back at U.A. for the students.

For Izuku, it's another day to keep the peace... between two arguing customers. He hasn't missed a day of work since the USJ, in fear of losing his job. Mr. Zennuku hasn't shown any signs of approval... but Izuku will take what he can get. Can't complain when you're a vigilante with heroes and villains on your tail. Probably for the best, in any case. He's finishing his last shift when Mr. Zennuku approaches him.

"Hey, kid," he says, causing Izuku to turn his head in recognition.

He hands Izuku a small wad of cash; his paycheck. Izuku looks in astonishment... it was never that big before. "Mr. Zennuku..." Izuku begins, "Why...?" "It's an ex gratia payment, kid," Mr. Zennuku explains, "You may have slipped up in the past, but you've worked your ass off ever since. So you deserve a reward." Izuku's hands are shaky as he takes the money; he bows before putting it in his pocket.

"That's not all," Mr. Zennuku continues, "I'm giving you a break; three weeks."
Izuku looks at Mr. Zennuku like he's an alien. The old man chuckles. "Relax, kid, I can handle myself. Besides, I noticed the bags under your eyes." Izuku flinches at that. "You need this time to recover. Don't try to convince me otherwise." Reluctantly, Izuku nods in understanding. Mr. Zennuku gives a small hum, before heading behind the counter. He pulls out a small plastic bag. "One last thing," he tells Izuku, gesturing to the bag.

Izuku opens it... there's a few notebooks, pencils, and a hand sharpener.

Izuku's entire body is shaking. He hasn't been this close to tears since his middle school days. He looks up to Mr. Zennuku in disbelief. The cashier shrugs with a smile. "I've heard you muble about wanting to write stuff down," he explained, "'Least I could do, really." Izuku blinked, his tears cascading down his face like a waterfall. He gave Mr. Zenneku a watery wide smile, before going into a 90 degree bow.

"THANK YOU SO MUCH!" Izuku exclaimed. "...no big deal," Mr. Zenneku replied.

...A Few Days Later...

The first few days of Izuku's break were... refreshingly mundane.

After telling them the news, it was near immediately decided that Izuku would have to stay on the beach for a while, no exceptions. Chiryuka and Kiniku could handle the vigilante stuff, while Himiko and Dabi could keep Izuku in check at the beach. Izuku was against the idea 110%, but eventually conceded, granted his apparent house arrest wasn't permanent. It didn't help that they had a big katsudon dinner to celebrate the news, to Izuku's delight and dismay.

He wouldn't admit it, but the days off were so... relaxing .

After breakfast, when Chiryuka wasn't on patrol, she'd be teaching Izuku and Himiko basic lessons, whether that'd be hacking a computer or learning a different language (Izuku and Himiko became fluent in Japanese (obviously), English, Spanish, German, and they had just started picking up Chinese). Kiniku decided to give Izuku a break on workout sessions, but Izuku was more than happy to do them by himself, without anyone's knowledge of course. Then came the notebooks...

Even if Izuku was rusty, it didn't show.

He could be watching TV or surfing the internet, or have his friends demonstrate their quirks in front of him, but when Izuku got started analyzing a quirk, he ripped through it. He had an entire section dedicated to strengths, weaknesses, and applications for practical use, self defense, or hero work. The fact that his pencil sketches were basically masterpieces didn't help either. He had filled two notebooks by the time his mandatory off period was over: one filled with heroes and other interesting individuals (a few villains, too), and another filled with vigilantes. Not just Izuku's group, either.