Chapter 4: Are you against heroes?

He looked outside to see a few police cars arrive alongside the many news vans. It was a good thing he didn't live on a busy street, because it was all but completely blocked at this point.

Right. He should probably deal with the media circus on his lawn before researching a league of villains and their possible ability to give quirks.

Izuku decided he was done running and hiding. He couldn't make himself act as he watched his friend die. Never again.

He refused to freeze up this time. He walked into his room and got changed into a nicer outfit and made his hair a little more presentable.

If he was going to face all of this madness, he wasn't doing it in sweatpants.

Izuku was nervous and scared, but more than that, he was angry. He doubted the anger would ever fade and it was much stronger than any amount of nervousness he could feel.

Anger like this was a new feeling for him. But it seemed like in the face of everything that happened he ran out of room for anything else. All Might would regret the day he let Kachan die. The whole world would.

Izuku took a deep breath and stepped out the front door to face the storm head on.

As he went outside there was an eruption of sound and light as the flash of photos and the noise of many questions came at him from every angle.

He felt his nerves act up. What if he looked like an idiot or made a fool of himself? No. He had to do this. He would avenge his friend and this was the first step.

He walked down his front steps quietly and calmly as he approached the wall of vans and cameras.

Izuku stood in front of them and collected himself once more. There were 6 different news stations there already.

"Ok, I'm willing to answer your questions, but I can't hear anything when you talk all at once. How about this, you each get one question so it's fair. Uh, let's just go left to right."

A man with a buzz cut and very intense eyes stepped forward with a microphone in his hand.

There was a cameraman behind him, so it was safe to assume that he was part of some news channel or something. It made him feel powerful to know the whole nation was watching him.

Sure he was scared, but for the first time in his life he mattered. What he said now would actually make a difference.

"Were you the person to release the files on All Might's weaknesses?"

He guessed that would be where they started, but that guy was way more serious than he needed to be. "Yes, and every single thing I said was true, next question."

A blond woman in a pantsuit stepped forward now, "If you had such sensitive information, why share it with the world? Are you against heroes?"

"That's definitely two questions. If you read the file, you'll know that All Might stood and did nothing while he watched a boy get murdered. The only way I could prove that the man in the crowd was All Might was by revealing his true form. Next question."

This time he got someone who looked much newer on the job and quite nervous "If that's all you wanted to prove, why include information on his weak points and time limit?"

"Because his lies directly caused my friend's death. He knew for a fact he was only able to be a hero for three hours a day, yet he still spent nearly an hour that day doing interviews and talking with reporters. These are all things he could have done without using up his quirk. If he wasn't so determined to lie to the public, Bakugou Katsuki would still be alive. So, while he is willing to let people die in order to keep up his facade of strength, I am not."

This person looked like he's probably a blogger rather than a reporter since he's holding his own camera.

"Why was All Might at your house this morning?"

"He wanted to know if I had released the information. Past that I don't know. As you all saw, he ran away once he realized he was being recorded. Anything more than what we saw on that video is merely speculation. I truly don't know what he would have done if no one intervened. Next question"

That statement caused everyone to feel doubt and concern. Made them wonder if All Might really would have threatened or harmed a child?

Maybe he would have, maybe he wouldn't have, but either way the seeds of doubt had been planted.

That point of view made the man look less like a hero and more like a thug throwing his strength around.

He could already tell this question was going to be trouble, the reporter looked down on him with a condescending look and seemed to have some sort of quirk that made her look a lot like a lion. "Is it true that you're quirkless and wanted to be a hero anyways?"

"Yes. There are plenty of heroes with non-physical quirks that are still very skilled. I probably would have done best in underground heroics, or something like that. I think the world could and should have quirkless heroes. Next question."

He could tell that she wanted to say more, but he turned away from her completely to face the next person.

The last reporter, a shorter woman who seemed to be made of stone, spoke up, "You seemed to refer to desires to be a hero in the past tense. Do you still want to be a hero?"

"Hmm, I think that if All Might really is considered the peak of being a hero, then no. I would never join an industry where that's what is thought of as the best. Now I believe that's all I agreed to, now stop blocking up the road before you cause an accident."

He could tell they all wanted more and disliked how short most of his answers were, but they mostly started to clear out anyways with only a few stragglers left behind.

Izuku had been feeling more confident today. Something about winning against All Might made him feel like he could do anything. He was filled with sorrow and rage, and it made him feel like a new person.

He looked around and found that there were still 2 cop cars on the other side of the road.

"Excuse me, is there something I can help you with? As far as I know I don't think I've broken any laws. It's been a long day and it's not even noon, so I'd really appreciate it if you stopped sitting outside my house unnecessarily."

With no real charges against him and cameras still rolling they chose to leave peacefully.