Do You Want To Be A Hero? (4) | Searching for "Something"

"Mom! I'm going!" the young man Izuku shouted from the hallway of his home as he was about to depart for another day of school.

His mother peeked out from the living room, still holding on to her phone. "Okay, dear! Stay safe!" she shouted back, then promptly returned to the living room to continue with her business.

"Heh, as busy as usual," he chuckled, seeing his mother's workaholic attitude. Still, he was glad she always found time to cook them breakfast despite being swamped with work. Izuku really respected his mother for being able to juggle work and parenting at the same time.

Then... he finally left his house.

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Casually walking through downtown Musutafu, Izuku was threading the path to his usual school route. Though he was indeed going to school, he didn't take the shortest route. Instead, he liked to take a few detours here and there.

For a reason, of course. While he was indeed going to school, he was also scanning through all the nooks and crannies of the street, looking for 'something.' He routinely checked his smartphone as if trying confirm to that 'something' he was looking for.

Right now though, Izuku was going through the commercial district path toward his high school. A bit of a detour, but he was confident he would reach it with a few minutes to spare.

But then, something else entirely caught his interest.

CRASH! CRASH! BOOM!

Crashing sounds and a few explosions could be heard from the distance ahead of him, coming from the elevated railway in the middle of the commercial district. People around him started to react with surprise and shock, trying to identify the loud sounds.

"What was that?!"

"I don't know, but it's coming from the railway!"

"Is it a villain attack?!" another voice shouted in panic, seemingly aware and familiar with such sounds.

"Look! Over there!" One of the crowds pointed at a specific spot on the railway, and lo and behold, there was someone on the railway...

"Kaiju...?" Izuku muttered quietly upon witnessing a giant monster-like figure. It was on the railway near a commuter station, seemingly rampaging in a state of panic.

"Is that him?!" One of the crowd members asked, "Did he really turn into a monster using his quirk?!"

"He did! He tried to steal a purse and got cornered! And now he used his quirk to turn into that giant monster and start rampaging!" Another chimed in, seemingly having seen the actual criminal act before he turned into a giant.

It seemed that the giant monster was none other than a common villain who had used his quirk to try to make a getaway. Of course, being giant was quite counterproductive for that futile purpose of his.

As all of the crowd and bystanders could see, the giant villain was frantically trying to fend off a 'normal'-size Pro-Hero who was chasing after him... a pro-hero who wore a skin-tight costume with wooden-like limbs...

"Look, it's Kamui Woods!" someone in the crowd pointed out.

"Yeah, that's him! He's trying to stop the villain!" another added excitedly.

"I've seen him in action before; he's amazing!"

"Go, Kamui Woods! Show that villain what you're made of!"

The crowd buzzed with comments and excitement, witnessing the confrontation between a well-known Pro-Hero and a villain.

Izuku himself was also interested in seeing how their confrontation would unfold. While he wasn't quite the avid fan of superheroes he used to be as a kid, it was still something he liked to witness, especially how their quirk mechanisms worked.

But of course, the true reason he liked watching these heroes vs. villains fights was for a specific purpose...

Izuku was searching for a certain "anomaly" from both the villains and even the heroes... and he knew that these people were usually the best spot to find these "anomalies."

His first priority was the giant villain, as he began to analyze the villain's gigantism quirk ability.

"Kaiju transformation? No... that is his natural facial structure. Moreover, his body structure is still retaining 95% human anatomy. So... just basic gigantification transformation, huh..." he deduced quickly from just a simple glance as the giant villain still tried to fend off attacks coming from Kamui Woods's wooden-based assault.

But this giant villain wasn't the "thing" he was looking for, as he confirmed with a small frown that the giant villain didn't have "it."

Then Izuku's eyes went over to Kamui Woods, and he tried to analyze the wood hero.

"Wood manifestation? No... he didn't try to summon any of them from the villain's surroundings. He only manipulated the wood from his own arms. So, mutant-type quirk?" he deduced at first, but then saw that Kamui Woods only manipulated his wooden arm to a certain extent before returning it back to its normal form. "No... it's a temporary transformation-type... and not the 'one' either."

"Hmm? What's this, young man? Are you analyzing the quirks of that hero and villain?" An old man suddenly chimed in to Izuku's mumbling. Izuku looked back at the old man with a slightly sheepish look, realizing that he had been mumbling all this time.

"Ah, sorry about that. Just a bit of a habit of mine."

"A habit, you say? With a habit like that, are you perhaps aiming to be a Pro-Hero, young man?" The old man inquired to Izuku.

"Haha, I'm not that ambitious, sir. I just like seeing quirks in action, that's all."

"Hmm, hmm, I get it, young man." The old man nodded in understanding, "It's quite the sight to see these quirks in action, isn't it?"

"Yeah... I guess you can say that." He muttered at the end, which made the old man slightly confused.

But, both he and the old man returned to witness the confrontation of the hero against the villain, and it seemed that the Pro-Hero Kamui Woods had the upper hand here despite their size difference.

As Kamui Woods stood on the rooftop of the commuter station, he held out his hand, preparing to unleash his signature move.

"Lacquered Chain Prison!" The wood hero shouted as he manipulated his right wooden-like arm, turning it into many wooden tendrils! Those tendrils quickly spread through the giant villain as if trying to bind the villain to submission...!

But... before his wooden prison could be completed, a sudden interruption came in... in the form of a giant flying kick from a giant woman!

"Canyon Cannon!" The giant woman shouted as she had jumped higher over the already high elevated railway, and her giant flying kick connected to the smaller giant villain's head!

The giant villain was instantly knocked out from the larger giant woman's kick and he was pushed off the railway, dropping down onto the asphalt street beneath the railway.

Everyone was surprised and shocked by the sight of the sudden interloper, except for a few hardcore superhero "fans" who had already prepared with their cameras ready to go. Multiple camera shutters rained upon the sight of the giant woman wearing the skin-tight suit.

"My? It seems that I already have fans~," The giant woman's words echoed through the streets of Musutafu as she apprehended the unconscious smaller giant villain "Today's my debut! Pleased to meet you all! You can call me Mount Lady~!"

Her words incited the crowd with cheers and excitement (and of course camera shutters) as they had just witnessed a newcomer Pro-Hero's debut, especially, of course, for the male audience.

Meanwhile, Izuku was staring at the sight of the giant lady's triumphant pose. Not in a leering way, mind you... but something more... intense, as she reminded him of a certain alien giant entity that he was quite fond of...

"Ultraman..." he muttered to himself, as a grin slowly formed on his lips.

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Author Note (and shameless promotion as usual):

Well now, does our protagonist Izuku have a rather particular hobby? We'll have to see in the future~.

As usual~

Check out my

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Of course, since I'm a shameless grifter, please also support me there as well! (Cause I need money to eat and pay bills, hehe...)

And also, check out my current ongoing Original Novel too while you're at it~! See the misadventure of a supervillain's grunt in a world of superhero~!

Stay tuned for more~.