Lightning – My Hero Academia
Chapter 4: Getting Motivated
Ako was absorbed in his own world. He had his headphones on, listening to music that was intended to motivate him and keep him moving. He balled his fists and shook his arms out before increasing the speed on the treadmill, looking to get himself worked up for his workout.
When quirks became so commonplace in the world, gyms had to adjust to now compensate for superhuman abilities. It was costly and expensive – it forced a number of locations out of business. The ones that made the investment, however, were the ones that were able to stay alive up until now.
However, Ako didn't have superhuman strength, so that equipment didn't interest him. He stuck to the regular workout equipment. Building his body up allowed him to further the limits of his quirk.
Once he had been on the treadmill for 10 minutes, he got off and started making his way to the machines designed to work the upper body. He stretched his arms out a little more as he made his way over to the handheld weights.
As he reached for a pair of 20's to start off, he noticed that someone was standing near him, talking to him. Ako lifted his eyes up and saw a tall, skinny guy with long gray hair tied back in a ponytail. Ako paused his music and slid the headphones off.
"Sorry?" Ako said, indicating that he hadn't heard what the guy had said.
"I said you're that guy from the entrance exams, right? Your name started with a T." He asked.
"Tanaka. Ako Tanaka."
"Right! Nice to see you again. We were in the same pool of students. My name's Cain. Cain Fa." He introduced himself, offering a handshake.
Ako didn't say anything, but held up one of the weights to show that his hands were full.
"Oops, my bad. Didn't expect to run into you here. Mind if I work out with you for a little bit?" Cain requested. Ako shrugged.
"Sure, I guess. Are you doing arms?"
"Yep! Let me just grab mine." He said, going to the end of the rack and grabbing a pair of 50's. As Cain's hands wrapped around the handles, they turned a dark, metallic gray. Ako's eyes widened in surprise as he watched Cain walk over carrying the heavy weights.
"Whoa. What is that?" He asked.
"My quirk is metal. I can turn my body into it, and bend or manipulate it when I get my hands on it." Cain explained simply.
"That's pretty impressive," Ako said as they walked over to a workout bench. "I'm sure that must've come in handy against those robots." He commented.
"It sure did! Not as much as yours though! Hogging up all the points like that." He said with a laugh. Ako pursed his lips and swallowed.
"Yeah, well...it didn't do me much good. My written tests were too low for me to get into the hero course." He admitted. Cain hissed at this.
"Yeesh, ouch. Sorry to hear that! That's really... I thought for sure you would've gotten in after your performance that day!" He said. Ako's eyes went down to the side.
"...anyways, I'm in the support class. Did you get into the hero course?" He asked.
"Yep! Class 1-A!" Cain said with a happy smile. Ako put on a polite smile and nodded.
"Congratulations. I didn't see how you did, but I'm sure you earned it."
"Hey, thanks man. I'm sure you'll get your way in there too. Your quirk is too good not to be in there." Cain complimented him.
"Yeah, I know..." Ako said in response.
So Cain continued to be Ako's workout partner. As they went through their reps, Ako asked him questions about the hero course and what it was like. The more he learned, the more upset he would become that he hadn't gotten in there from the start.
"They're really teaching us how to push ourselves to the limits! We're running drills, we did a physical evaluation, we've gone through crazy training scenarios; we even got our hero costumes already!" Cain described delightfully.
"Wow, that's...incredible." Ako said, trying to picture it all in his mind and imagine what it would've been like had he been there.
He'd likely have ascended to a higher level already.
"You're gonna love it when you get in, Tanaka! You'll probably breeze through everything, if you're as good as you looked when I saw you." Cain said confidently.
"I most certainly am, I assure you." Ako said with a nod, drinking out of his water bottle.
"You got a phone, bud?" Cain asked curiously. Ako nodded in response.
"Yeah, of course."
"Well let me get your number!" Cain said with a chuckle, holding his hand out.
"For what?" Ako asked, placing his phone in Cain's hand anyway.
"Whattaya mean for what? So we can link up! Especially once you transfer into the hero program! We'll have to celebrate, you know!" Cain pointed out. This answer pulled at Ako's heartstrings.
"Why...what makes you so sure that I'll get in?" Ako asked after Cain put his number in and gave the phone back to him. Cain chuckled.
"It's pretty obvious, dude. That's what you want, isn't it?" He asked.
"Of course." Ako nodded.
"Well you got the stuff for it. I can tell. I'm like a pretty good judge of character," Cain said with a chuckle. "And I saw you out there. The school would be a fool not to put you in at some point! They'd have to have like some kinda personal vendetta against you." He commented.
"Well..." Ako paused, unsure how to respond to that. His mind went back to Mr. Maijima's words; he wasn't sure now whether they were indicative of the school being on his side or against him. He decided to address a different concern of his.
"I didn't exactly make a good first impression by not taking the written test seriously. Even after acing the practical test, I..." Ako sighed, unsure what else to say.
"Hey, man. You know what one of the best things about UA is? They keep giving you chances!" Cain laughed. "Don't overthink it. You just gotta prove to them that you deserve to be in the hero class." He said, putting a hand on Ako's shoulder.
It felt random, but the encouragement he was receiving from this guy in Class 1-A was really touching to Ako. He decided that when he made it into the hero course, he was going to formulate a friendship with Cain.
"Thank you, Cain. I guess I really needed to hear that." Ako said with a genuine smile.
"Haha, don't mention it! I look forward to seeing you! I sure wouldn't wanna get pitted up against you though, so do me a favor and avoid that, please?" He joked.
"Haha, alright." Ako played along.
"Anyways, I'm gonna go hit the more hardcore weights! I'll see you around!" He said with a wave.
"Sure," Ako waved back. "Nice meeting you!"
"You too, Tanaka!"
Ako took in a breath and watched Cain for a few more moments before turning away. In a strange way, he had developed his first real friendship at UA, even if it wasn't on school grounds.
His mind had been so focused on the hero program and what it would mean for his future that he hadn't given any consideration to the people he would meet or what he would encounter along the way.
"I really need to start slowing down and taking things one at a time." He thought to himself. If Cain was right about anything, it was that he still needed to prove that he deserved to be in the hero course.
Ako turned his head towards the workout machines on the other side of the room. He put his headphones back on and shook his arms out as he made his way to one.
"Time to get to work." He said to himself...
