Vigilantes Beginnings Arc

The Vigilantes Beginnings Arc is the first story arc in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes.

A college freshman named Koichi Haimawari, also known as locally in Naruhata as "Nice Guy" runs into a scenario with some thugs harassing a young teenage idol named Pop☆Step. When suddenly Knuckleduster comes to their aid saving them both from trouble which begins the start of the Naruhata Vigilantes.

Prologue
Heroes are people with Quirks who are authorized to protect society. However, there are certain heroes who protect society independently. These are the vigilantes, who illegally use their quirks to fight villains and protect defenseless people.

The story begins in the city of Naruhata, a few years before Izuku Midoriya met All Might in person.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Nice Man
Koichi Haimawari, a 19 year old college student and a huge fan of All Might, goes to his job at a convenience store. Along the way, an incident occurs in which a huge villain is terrorizing the city while eating a motorcycle. Suddenly, All Might appears and defeats the monster with ease. The public is amazed at All Might's strength. Seeing that everyone is unharmed, All Might takes his leave.

Koichi is in awe of All Might's feat, until he realizes that he is going to be late for his job. Therefore, he decides to use his Quirk, Slide and Glide, to scroll faster. Some of the passersby comment on the suitability of his Quirk although others do not have such favorable comments. However, a police officer stops Koichi and berates him for using his Quirk. Koichi regrets that he was caught by a very stickler policeman who gave him a very long lecture on the prohibition of the public usage of Quirks. After the police officer leaves, Koichi runs towards his next destination and is annoyed that he must follow the rule of unable to use Quirks in public.

When he's about to turn a corner, Koichi crashes into a group of thugs, knocks into Soga Kugizaki, which spills the juice he just bought. Soga, along with his friends Moyuru Tochi and Rapt Tokage, demands Koichi to apologize by getting down and groveling, to which Koichi obeys, causing the thugs to laugh and make fun of him. Soga wants to humiliate him even more and prepares to step on Koichi, but the boy uses his "super move" Kowtow Evasion to slides backwards, surprising Soga. Koichi slides away and escapes, being chased by Soga and his friends until they lose his track.

Koichi sees another group praising a freelance idol, Pop☆Step. Koichi notes that Pop☆Step is taking a big risk in being a freelance idol since she does not have a permit. Despite her songs not being great, the aspect that stands out is her ability to fly which is what attracts some people to become her fans. A police vehicle is passing by, so Koichi warns Pop☆Step, who decides to end her live performance and flies away while Koichi prepares to slide to his place of work.

Koichi finally arrives at his job but the manager is not pleased with him being late and deducts his pay. Customers arrive; however, they are the same group of thugs that Koichi encountered earlier. Soga becomes angry at seeing Koichi again and takes him outside. There, Soga beats Koichi up; Koichi is not able to fight back because Soga uses his Quirk Spike. Koichi ends up getting beaten and humiliated by Soga, Moyuru, and Rapt.

When it all ends and he returns home, Koichi is annoyed that the police don't do anything against guys like Soga and his buddies. Koichi changes into his "suit" which is an All Might-styled jacket with a hood and wears a mouth mask. Koichi decides to deliver justice on his own accord without being bogged down by the law. Koichi starts doing good deeds for the public such as returning dropped items, giving directions, helping people get onto trains, being a cameraman, and recycling. The citizens thank Koichi and refer to him as Nice Guy. Koichi feels overjoyed in helping people as it relieves him of stress and makes him feel warm inside.

With his good deeds done for the day, Koichi begins walking home. Suddenly, a person gives Koichi juice to drink. The person giving him the juice is Pop☆Step. She thanks him for warning her about the police and followed him in order to properly thank him, but mocks him for being weak, to which he defends himself as being poor at dealing with violence. She finds it ironic that he is wearing an All Might hoodie, and she make fun of him for being weak. Annoyed, Koichi explains that he weara the All Might hoodie because it symbolizes his ideal in being useful in his own way.

After they scrutinize each other for their objectives, Pop☆Step begins to leave but bumps into Soga and his friends. The thugs recognize her as the online idol, begin mocking her and even thinking to strip her. Koichi tries to stop them, but Soga's furious glare convinces him to stop insisting. Scared, at first Koichi thinks about leaving Pop to her fate, but seeing her scared face decides to help her without thinking.

Koichi theoretically wonders how he can handle the situation; use his Slide and Glide to trip two of the thugs and take out the leader by tackling him so that Pop☆Step can fly away. Koichi decides to put his plan into motion and slides into Moyuru Tochi, trying to trip the thug but fails. Moyuru throws Koichi to the ground and Soga turns his attention to him, recognizing him as the “annoying guy” from before. Soga attacks Koichi and scratches his face with spikes from his foot. Soga decides to finish off Koichi for annoying him and continue humiliating Pop☆Step.

As Soga prepares to strike Koichi with his spikes, someone crashes down onto the trash which stops Soga. The person gets up from the trash heap, revealing to be a muscular old man. Soga askes him what is his deal but the old man just punches him in the face, which knocks him down to the ground, surprising Koichi. Moyuru and Rapt are shocked at what transpired and ask for the old man's motivations.

The old man tells the thugs that he is called Knuckleduster and specializes in dealing with hoodlums like them. Then he asks them if they have drugs in their possession demands them to show him their tongues. Rapt tries to tell him that he doesn't know what he's talking about but Knuckleduster knocks him out for not obeying on the spot and sticks his tongue out, checking that it does not have any discoloration. After finishing him, he easily defeats Moyuru and verifies that his tongue is not discolored either.

After checking their tongues, Knuckleduster turns his attention to Koichi and praises him for his bravery, telling him that he can become a real Hero if he works with him. Koichi shows no interest, but Knuckleduster can see through his lies and knows he is someone who cannot abandon people in need like All Might. Koichi admits that his Quirk is not useful and could never pass the Pro Hero Exam. Knuckleduster does not care about whether Koichi has a powerful Quirk or license because they have absolutely nothing to do with justice. Knuckleduster believes that true Heroes take action when something rises up before them. Koichi realizes that Knuckleduster is unlicensed.

Suddenly, a beaten Soga gets up, takes Pop☆Step hostage, and threatens to claw her face off with his spikes. Unable to let him get away with, Koichi charges at the thug and knocks him down, allowing Pop☆Step to escape and Knuckleduster to punch Soga into the wall, which knocks him out. Knuckleduster sees that Soga is not in possession of the drug he is looking for and makes a copy of his ID.

Impressed by Koichi's heroic spirit, Knuckleduster informs Koichi that there are more ways to be a Hero than what the world says; Knuckleduster is a Hero because punishing evildoers is refreshing, decides to adopt Koichi as his disciple. However, Koichi finds Knuckleduster to be dangerous and urns down his offer. After defeating the thugs, Koichi, Pop and Knuckleduster and leaves the place.

Later on, Soga and his friends walk in an alley and are badly injured courtesy of Knuckleduster. Soga is annoyed and angry, promising to kill Koichi and Knuckleduster next time, although Moyuru suggests not to get involved with them. Out of nowhere, a salesman appears before the thugs and offers them "splendid" medicines.

Story Impact

 * Vigilantes are introduced.
 * They are people who voluntarily carry out duties usually done by Pro Heroes without paying attention to the law. Due to regulations and laws, however, vigilantism is illegal.
 * The drug Trigger is introduced.
 * It is revealed that Shota Aizawa did not initially intend on becoming a teacher at U.A. High School. He only became one via a letter of recommendation from Nemuri Kayama.
 * Naomasa Tsukauchi's first encounter with All Might, including how he discovered the latter's weakened form, is shown.

Quirks Introduced

 * Slide and Glide: Koichi's Quirk allows him to slide over plain surfaces by emitting a repelling force from his hands and feet, allowing him to glide just off of said surfaces.
 * Leap: Kazuho's Quirk allows her to leap very high.
 * Queen Bee: Kuin's Quirk allows her to take control of a human host, as well as allow her to keep a massive swarm of worker bees in the human host with her.
 * Spike: Soga's Quirk allows him to sprout spikes from his body.
 * Lizard: This Quirk gives Rapt Tokage a reptilian appearance.
 * Flame: Moyuru's Quirk generates a small flame from the top of his head. He can also exhale powerful flames through his mouth.
 * Glide and Slide: The Three Sturm und Drang Brothers' Quirk allows them to make their feet slide across the ground.
 * Eel: This Quirk allows Teruo to transform into an medium sized Eel.
 * Bat: Bat Villain's Quirk gives him bat features.
 * Suicide Bomb: Nothing is known about the exact functions of this Quirk. However, as its name suggests, this Quirk allows Suicide Bomber to blow himself up.
 * Control Horn: Cow Cowboy's Quirk grants him the ability to mind control cows.
 * Beams From His Eyes: Ichimoku's Quirk gives him the ability to shoot lasers from his eyes at his opponents.
 * Wooden Swords From His Hands: Jube's Quirk allows him to generate wooden swords from his wrists. They are roughly the length of his arms.