Lightning – My Hero Academia

Chapter 8: Hand To Hand

"I have to admit, mom, I'm nervous about the sports festival," Ako admitted as they talked through video chat. He sat at his desk in his dorm, she sat at the dinner table in the kitchen. "Last year's was so electric. There's gonna be high expectations, and I'm kind of intimidated by that." He continued, rubbing his thumbs together.

"I'm incredibly nervous for you too, hun. I don't wanna see you get hurt out there, but I know it could be a possibility..." His mother said, her lip tugging to one side. Ako nodded in agreement.

"Yeah...but it's all part of becoming a pro hero after all, right?" He said, trying to lighten the mood up.

"Of course, son. Whatever happens out there, I know you'll make me proud. Just do your best. And please be careful?" She requested. Ako smiled gently.

"I promise. Love you, mom."

"Love you too, son. I assume you're going to sleep now?" She asked. Ako shook his head.

"Actually, I'm heading out to meet with dad." He informed her.

"At this late of an hour?" She asked with a surprised expression, drawing attention to how it was dark out. "What makes you think you can just decide that without saying anything?" She asked, her tone shifting to anger.

"I'm sorry, it was sort of last minute. I won't be long. I just asked him to help me with some last minute training before the festival." Ako explained. His mother let out an unhappy sigh.

"Fine, I'll allow it this time, but don't even think about trying this again. And turn the location on your phone when you leave!"

"Sure thing, mom, sure thing. I'll be heading out soon. Just gotta change!" Ako said.

"Alright. Be careful. You know how risky your father's work can be." She warned.

"I will be. Love you, mom. Talk to you soon." He said before ending the call.

"Could've handled that better...way better." Ako thought to himself as he threw on a hoodie and gym pants.

He paused for a moment, eyeing his custom boots. He debated on whether or not to take them with him. He wanted them to be intact for the festival...but then again he was training, and he'd be wearing the shoes for the festival, so he might as well.

He scooped them up and put them on. Then he was out the door.

Ako jogged over to an old warehouse near the center of the city: his dad's hideout. He kept his hoodie up as he approached it, and looked around cautiously before going inside. When he came in, a young woman with flowing blonde hair came to greet him. Her hair was brushed to cover her left eye.

"Hi there!" She greeted him pleasantly, "You must be Hunter's son! Ako, right?" She asked.

"Uh," Ako took the hoodie off and greeted her politely with a handshake. "That's me. And you are?"

"I'm June! It's a pleasure to meet you. I work on your father's tech." She introduced herself. Ako immediately recognized his father saying something about her before.

"Right! He mentioned you once. You...went to UA also, didn't you?" He asked.

"Yep! Graduated just last year! And now I'm here working with The Hunter! It's very exciting! Say, I heard you just started your first year there, right?" She asked.

"Yes. The sports festival is in two days, and I'll be participating. That's why I'm here." He explained to her.

"Ooh how exciting! Good luck! I'll try and catch it on TV! I'll be looking for you!" She said with a laugh. Ako blushed a little.

"Thanks," He said with an awkward smile. "Where is dad at?"

"Oh, he's over there through that door waiting for you. Have fun training! Oh, and if you need any advice, tips, or tech support, you can reach out to me!" She said, waving to him as he made his way to the doors.

"Well, I could've used that about two weeks ago," Ako muttered mostly to himself. "But I'll keep that in mind! Thank you, June!" He waved back and then went through the doors.

Ako stepped into a large open warehouse hangar filled with machinery and different obstacle course setups. His father was in full costume practicing some acrobatics by swinging from bars suspended above the ground. Ako stuck his hands in his pockets as he approached.

"So this is your new setup, dad? It's...really cool." He said.

Hunter, hearing someone speaking to him, swung around on the bar and propped himself on top of it in a crouched position. When he saw that it was his son, he jumped down to the ground and gave him a hug.

"Ahh hey son! Glad you could make it! What do you think of my little training facility?" His father asked, gesturing behind him to his equipment.

"It's cool. Better than that ninja gym back home." Ako joked.

"Yeah!" Hunter laughed, "I've considered renting it out to that kind of fitness crowd, but I'd rather my hideout stay a secret anyway. But this place is always open to you, son." He said.

"Thank you for agreeing to train me. I...would've asked sooner, but I was preoccupied with a school project." Ako explained, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's alright! I'm happy to give you a little crash course, the best I can do for now. And we can continue a regimen afterwards, if you'd like." He offered.

"We can try." Ako agreed. His father often made comments like that, but they didn't always pan out.

"Great. Hey, you met my assistant, June, when you came in, right?"

"Yeah. She seems nice. She's that really good engineer you were talking about, right?" Ako recalled.

"Yes! She's quite the talent. And she's single too." Hunter added with a chuckle, throwing a hint at his son.

"Ugh, dad..."

"Haha, just saying! And she's from America! Might be interesting," He said with a smile and a shrug. "Anyways, she can probably give you some tips too. She aced all three years there."

"Great. Get me her number, actually. I'll keep her in mind. But for now, I'd like to get to training."

"Of course, of course! You told your mother you were going out this time, right?" Hunter asked with a laugh.

"Yes."

"Great. You know how it is. I don't wanna have to hear about it later," He commented. "Anyways! We can work a little on your mobility with your speed quirk, but I'm not really worried about that. I know how capable you are already.

"What I wanna focus on is your fighting ability. When you reach the 1-on-1 tournament semifinals, you'll need to be able to fight without your quirk and adapt quickly. Between those two things, you'll have a solid foundation. You might even win the dang thing!" Hunter laughed.

"I still remember the stuff I learned from MMA and boxing, dad. I think I'm in pretty good shape. I know how to throw a punch." Ako said. He spoke lightheartedly, but he was making it clear that he felt like he didn't need more combat training.

"But can you take a punch?" His father asked, "Let's find out." He said, stepping towards an open space and getting into a fighting stance.

"What do you mean?"

"I want you to come at me, son. Fight like you're fighting at the festival." He instructed. Ako swallowed and balled his fists, getting into a boxing stance.

Ako took in a nervous breath before making the first move. He shuffled forward on his toes and threw a right hook. Hunter ducked underneath it and threw a punch back. Ako hopped back quickly and then threw a kick. Hunter caught his leg and pushed him, causing him to fall on his side.

"Oh come on, Ako. That's not gonna cut it and you know it!"

"Ah, but-"

"I told you to come at me like you're fighting at the festival! This old man can still take a few hits! So come on!" Hunter urged. Ako nodded and got up again.

"Alright. You asked for it, dad."

Ako advanced much faster this time, throwing a flurry of quick jabs with both hands. Hunter took cautious steps backwards before spinning to Ako's side and sweeping his legs out. Ako grunted as he landed on his chest. He pushed himself into a spin and got to his feet.

He turned around and jumped up, throwing a kick at Hunter's head. Hunter ducked under it and threw several kicks with his right foot. Ako tried to catch them like his dad did earlier, but that just resulted in him hurting his hand. He yelped in surprise and hopped back once.

"You see? You rely too much on your speed. If someone at the festival can keep up with you, you could be in trouble. You need to understand the basics of fighting!" Hunter said before throwing several punches, all of which Ako successfully blocked.

Ako huffed and threw a fast and hard left jab into his father's chest. This caused him to slide back a few feet. Hunter coughed and composed himself, "Better! Much better! Now keep it going!" He said approvingly before continuing the fight.

It was exhausting. It was grueling. It stung quite a few times. Getting punched in the jaw by my dad wasn't how I wanted to be spending my night, but as it turned out, he was exactly right about what I needed. He bested me more times than I was able to get a hit on him.

It was only about an hour or maybe an hour and a half before he had to cut our training off. A call came in and he was needed, so he had to go. But it was an invaluable training session. It was definitely what I needed.

"Nice meeting you again, Ako! Hope to see you around again soon!" June waved to him as he started to walk towards the exit door.

"Yeah, we'll see...Dad gave me your number. I hope you don't mind if I occasionally hit you up for advice on school." He said.

"Oh that's not a problem! I'm not super great at responding, fair warning, but I'll get to it when I see a text, okay?" She said with a smile.

"Great. Thank you." He said with a nod and a polite smile.

"No problem! Oh, by the way! I like those shoes." She pointed them out. Ako glanced down at his custom shoes.

"Oh! Thank you. I, heh, made them myself." He said with a prideful little chuckle.

"You're in the support class, right?"

"Yes." He answered with a quick nod.

"What was your grade with those?" She asked with a smug smile.

"An A minus." He answered.

"Heyyy, nice work! How do they hold up with that quirk of yours?" She asked curiously.

"Well they're the only shoes I've ever had that didn't rip apart when I ran at full speed, so I'd say pretty great. I actually, ha, during my presentation for the class I jumped out of a window to show how well they worked."

"Get outta town! And you landed it?" June laughed.

"Nailed it." Ako laughed too.

"You're crazy, kid," She giggled and shook her head. "See you soon, Ako!"

"See you soon." Ako said in reply before leaving the warehouse...