Lightning – My Hero Academia

The Mental Hurdles Arc

Chapter 1: Potential

I was in an upset mood my first day at UA.

I guess I brought it on myself, really. I was the one who arrogantly believed I was just gonna skate by all the entry exams on my physical skills alone. I nailed the hero portion of the entry exams, but the rest of my test scores were...lacking.

And that's why I wasn't going to class 1-A or 1-B this afternoon.

Ako Tanaka sat alone at lunch with furrowed eyebrows and a serious scowl on his face. He glared around at his classmates – other kids that he hardly knew. A handful of the kids he recognized from televised events while others were just as new to the campus as he was.

He shook his head and tore off a piece of his sandwich with his teeth, chewing it vigorously enough that it quickly started to tire his jaw out. He was in arguably the most prestigious school in the world, and yet he had been sidelined because of his attitude.

His dark brown eyes slowly did a scan from left to right across the lunchroom. He took a moment to brush some of his spiky blue hair out of his eyes.

Lunch came to an end. Ako scooped up his things and stuffed them into his bag. He stalked over to his locker and got the supplies he needed. Then he made his way over to his afternoon class under the department of support: class 1-F.

"This is so exciting! I wonder what we're gonna be learning! I'm so pumped up!" The students were all talking to each other. Meanwhile, Ako said nothing as he sat down at his desk.

I shouldn't be here. I should be in the hero course.

"Alright students! Take your seats! It's time to get started." Their teacher said. All the students quickly rushed into their seats. Ako simply opened up his notebook and pulled out his pencil.

"Welcome to your first day in the support class. My name is Mr. Maijima." He introduced himself to the class. He was going to continue, but he was interrupted by an overenthusiastic student.

"Yeah, you're Power Loader!" A girl giggled and clapped her hands.

"Yes yes, settle down now. We've got a big year ahead of us and it all starts now. So I want minimal distractions and maximum focus, you got that?" He instructed.

"Yes, sir! Sorry, sir!" The girl quickly excused herself, slouching a little in her chair.

"Now listen, you're all here in the support class because you have all shown potential to be great innovators. But potential is not going to get you through this course. If you want to survive, I expect you to apply yourselves to every assignment and give it your 100%," Mr. Maijima began.

"A lot of people overlook the support teams in favor of the big heroes out there hogging up the spotlight. But believe me, a lot of pros out there rely on their technicians to keep them going. I'm sure you could name a few of those heroes right now.

"This class is designed to show you how to work with the equipment and materials necessary to fulfill that support role. Quirk or no quirk, there's a lot of possibilities that come with being a creative engineer. And if you pay attention to what I have to teach you, you just might reach that high of a level."

All of the students were silent, waiting for Mr. Maijima to continue. A nervous tension hung in the air; things were starting out very seriously. Mr. Maijima must have sensed it, because his tone lightened up a little as he continued.

"Now I'm not telling you all of this right away to freak you out. I'll happily show you how everything works, I'll answer any questions and make sure you have everything you need," He said reassuringly. "But make no mistake, I won't coddle any of you if you aren't willing to put the work in," He made his stance clear.

"Do you all understand?"

"Yes, sir!" The class answered in response. Mr. Maijima chuckled a little.

"Well, you're more well-behaved than my last batch of students. That's a good sign."

Ako took in a breath, pondering over Mr. Maijima's straightforward introduction. Sure, he had screwed things up and gotten himself stuck here, but he needed to make the most of his circumstances. If he didn't take this seriously, he was going to end up losing his status as a UA student.

He needed to make it to the sports festival.

Mr. Maijima continued to introduce the support course to them, giving them a general idea of what they would be facing. Unlike the teachers Ako was used to, Mr. Maijima was not starting out light. He stated over and over again that they were in for a lot of work that would require a lot of focus.

He found himself getting increasingly worried and self-conscious. How was he going to get through this class with his lackluster creativity? There was nothing straightforward about any of this engineering stuff. Had he been placed here just to guarantee he wouldn't succeed?

That's how it felt.

He and the other students of class 1-F were given a tour of the Development Studio, where a majority of their work would be – the hands-on part of it anyway. Ako looked around the room at the heavy machinery and wasn't even sure where to start.

He knew very little about this stuff. He'd never needed to.

The rest of the school day was kind of a blur after that. Despite everything Mr. Maijima had said about needing to be prepared right away, he didn't actually have any work to start us off with. We just had a syllabus to read and a textbook to start glancing over.

I didn't get to know any of my classmates that day. I didn't really stick around for anything. Once class was over, we were taken to our dorm rooms. Once I had finished unpacking, I was out the door. I remember taking the long way home that day, kicking rocks around and mulling over how I was gonna succeed.

I was pessimistic about my chances.

"Welcome home, Ako! Food's almost ready!" Ako's mother greeted him from across the house. Ako removed his shoes at the door and set his backpack down by the steps. Then he went into the kitchen where his mother was finishing up dinner.

"Hey, mom. What's for dinner?" Ako asked curiously as he greeted his mother with a side hug.

"Chicken and noodles, your favorite!" She answered with a smile. Ako nodded and managed a smile as he looked down at the food on his plate.

"It looks great. Let me just take my school stuff off so I don't stain it." Ako said, walking over to the stairs again. His mother spoke as he removed his blazer, tie, and button-up shirt.

"Are you sure you couldn't ask the school to give you one extra uniform set? I just don't like the idea of you only getting one day to get your clothes clean." His mother expressed her concerns about his uniform again.

"I'm pretty sure I'd have to pay extra. Besides, I don't have to wait until Sunday. I can get it clean during the week." Ako pointed out as he walked back to the kitchen.

"When will you find the time with all your studies?"

"I'll make the time. They have washing machines at the dorm anyway." He answered with a shrug.

His mother didn't respond verbally. She just gave him a look. Ako scoffed and shook his head. He took a sip of his water and began to eat, not saying anything else. His mother ate slowly, watching her son for a little while.

Ako didn't realize how visibly upset he looked, but he figured it must've been apparent when his mother spoke up again.

"Oh, honey. I'm sorry the written exams didn't go the way you wanted. But you'll get another chance." She said, doing her best to reassure him. Ako glanced up at her and finished chewing and swallowing the food in his mouth before replying.

"You're disappointed, I know you are. So is Dad. I blew my chance at a good first impression." Ako sighed, looking away with a dejected expression.

"Well, lucky for you, UA offers plenty of chances to correct your course." His mother tried to point out the bright side. Ako scoffed at this.

"Yeah, because right now I'm clearly in the wrong course."

"You're in the support department, right? You didn't like it?" She asked.

"It's all tech engineer stuff, Mom! I'm not cut out for that!" Ako responded immediately, raising his voice and dropping his fork on his plate. It was like he was waiting for the chance to say that. It came out much more forcefully than he intended.

"Honey...I hate to break it to you, but these are the consequences of your actions." His mom started to say. Ako was quick to raise his hand up and cut her off.

"Yeah I know, I know."

"But you are still in UA. Make the most of where you are and work your way up. You can still make this happen, Ako." His mother said, trying to be encouraging to him. Ako scarfed down the rest of his food.

"I'll do my best...I'm gonna go get my stuff ready for tomorrow...and go on a run tonight." He decided.

"Okay honey. Just be careful. And don't stay out too late. You have school." She reminded him, smiling softly at him. Ako managed a little smile as he looked down.

"Yes, mother...sorry. For raising my voice." He said before getting up and taking his dishes to the sink to rinse them off.

"It's okay, baby. You're frustrated. But just keep moving forward."

"I will...I'm sorry for not taking this seriously. I was being stupid. It won't happen again." He promised her. He started to make his way to the door, but his mother said one more thing to him as he was leaving the kitchen.

"You're a bright, talented kid, Ako. You don't even need to try that hard. Just a little." She said. Ako nodded wordlessly and scooped up his belongings, taking them back to campus.

He walked into his new room silently. He set his school clothes down neatly on his bed and dropped his backpack by the foot of his bed frame. He closed his door gently and sat down on the side of his bed with a sigh.

I took my mother's words to heart that night. She was right. Not taking my schooling seriously is what got me put in class 1-F instead of 1-A. I needed to rectify that mistake and fast. If it weren't for my quirk, I wouldn't have gotten in at all honestly.

If I was going to survive at UA, I would need to get the rest of me up to standard. And that started with surviving the opening gauntlet that was Mr. Maijima's support class.