Lightning – My Hero Academia
Chapter 9: Try To Be Nice
Ako walked into the common area of the class 1-F dormitory. He carried a plastic bag in his hand with a few packages of refrigerated chicken. As he walked into the kitchen, he found one of his classmates looking through the fridge.
"Hm? Oh hey, Ako. Whatchu got there?" She asked him curiously.
"I stopped by the market and picked up enough chicken for everyone. You're Myoto, right?" He asked her.
"Yeah, Minnie Myoto. I'm surprised you remember me." She said with a faint chuckle.
"You're the one who asks the most questions during lessons." Ako said.
"Right." Minnie said, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment.
"Hey, I didn't say that's a bad thing. Do you have like an admiration for Power Loader?" He asked curiously.
"Little bit! He's very smart! I just wanna learn all I can from him, you know, so I can do my best!" She explained. Ako nodded and smiled a little.
"I should be having your attitude," Ako said with an ironic chuckle. "Hey, could you help me out with something?" He asked.
"Oh?" Minnie's head perked up in surprise. Up until now, Ako had hardly interacted with anyone in his class, so this was very strange.
"Could you go around and see if any of our classmates have any food allergies? Honey, nuts, anything like that?" He requested.
"Hmm? Why?"
"I'm cooking." Ako answered with a faint smile.
"Oh...oh! Well, uh, here, we all have a group chat. I'll send a message out to the others."
"Perfect! Thank you, Minnie." Ako said appreciatively as he got started with cooking. Minnie watched him for a few seconds, humming in thought.
"Hey, you need any help?" She asked...
As other students of class 1-F started coming down to make dinner for themselves, they were pleasantly surprised to be greeted with bowls of chicken and noodles being prepared for them by Ako and Minnie. Gradually, all the students started gathering in the common area for dinner.
"Hey, this is really good! Thanks, Ako!"
"I didn't take you for the chef type!" Another girl in the class laughed.
"Haha, well Minnie helped. This is actually one of my favorite meals, so I hope you like it too!" Ako chuckled.
"Hey, Ako. This is good food...sorry that I called you a prick before. I guess I had you misjudged."
"It's alright, Benji! I was acting like one before. No apology necessary." Ako smiled.
"What made you decide to do this, Ako?" Minnie asked curiously.
"Well...I've been trying to take things one day at a time. The sports festival is tomorrow, and we're all gonna be doing our best. I thought it would be nice to do something nice. I hope it makes up for how I was acting before." He said.
"It's a good start." Minnie said, smiling and nudging his arm with her elbow...
Ako's plan was a success! This display of kindness towards his classmates was greatly appreciated, and before he knew it, he was in the good graces of pretty much his whole class. That was a relief to him; if he got accepted into the hero program, he didn't want to be the kind of guy that others would be happy to get rid of.
Ako spent the rest of his evening chatting with his classmates, speculating about the tournament and what they were going to face. Ako talked about his experiences putting his running boots together, and how he hoped they would support his speed quirk.
Once dinner was over and the students started to disperse again, Ako decided to go out for a nightly walk before curfew. He already knew he wouldn't be able to get to sleep right away, so he might as well try to clear his head before the festival tomorrow.
Ako stuck his hands in his pockets, thinking about the possible tests that tomorrow would bring. He tried to picture himself participating in last year's activities. He always did better by himself; if he ended up being teamed up with other people, it was likely gonna make things more difficult for him.
He needed to be constantly looking for moments where he could stand out. If he could just find chances to steal the spotlight, he'd have the best shot at making it into the hero course. As long as he didn't overexert himself, he'd be fine.
Ako stopped at the sounds of voices not far ahead. He looked up and saw a few other students hanging out just in front of their dorm. He took a few steps closer so he could see what class it was. A knot formed in his chest when he saw it: 1-A.
"Hmm? Is that...? Hey!" One of them waved to Ako. He couldn't see who it was clearly, but the voice sounded familiar. As he made his way into the light where the other students were, he realized who was waving to him.
"Hey! Cain!" Ako recognized with a chuckle. With Cain were three other students: two girls and another guy. Cain greeted Ako with a quick brohug and a pat on the back.
"Good to see ya, buddy! What're you doing out here?" Cain asked curiously.
"Just going on a walk. I didn't even realize I'd walked out this far."
"Aren't you gonna introduce us to your friend, Cain?" One of the girls teased.
"Oh, yeah! Ako, these are my friends: this is Aya Ayala, Tia Inoue, and this crazy devil here is Fizo Sasaki!" Cain introduced the three of them to Ako. As he stated their names one by one, Ako took a brief moment to look them all over.
Aya Ayala: dark and spiky long hair that fell behind her curvy body. She was very attractive to Ako. She reminded him a lot of the hero Midnight. If he didn't know any better, he would've guessed that they were related somehow.
Tia Inoue: almost as tall as Cain and just as thin. Her hair was colored pink and green and blue. She had it brushed sideways over one eye. She managed a polite but timid smile at him.
The other guy, Fizo Sasaki, was similar in size and stature to Ako. Maybe it was just the light, but his dirty blonde hair didn't seem to have much color in it. He carried himself in a very comfortable manner, leaning back slightly with his chest puffed out.
"It's nice to meet all of you. I'm Ako Tanaka." Ako said with a polite smile.
"You too. I don't recognize you from anywhere. Which class are you in?" Aya asked.
"Class 1-F, support class." He answered.
"Oh yeah? You must be the smart, techy type then, huh?" Fizo asked with a chuckle.
"Uhh...trying to be." Ako answered with a breathy chuckle.
"1-F? But...your skills are so good. I figured you'd be...you know, in class 1-B?" Tia said in a soft voice, tapping her fingers together.
"Yeah. It's a long story. But I'm hoping to change that after the sports festival." Ako commented.
"Oh yeah? I guess we'll see. Maybe you'll end up bunking with us." Aya said with a giggle, smiling at him.
"That'd be cool." Ako chuckled.
"Well you'll need more than Tia's praise to get there. Think you got what it takes?" Fizo playfully challenged, leaning forward and grinning.
"I guess we'll find out tomorrow." Ako answered with a chuckle.
Before the conversation could continue, the front door to the dormitory opened. Another guy, one with white hair, opened the front door and looked at the group with a neutral expression.
"Ah, it's Chikashi here to reel us in." Fizo said with a chuckle and a sigh.
"We just hit curfew, guys. Time to wrap it up. We got a big day tomorrow." Chikashi said, resting a hand on the door frame.
"Yeah, that's true," Aya said with a yawn. "Guess we should try to get a good night's sleep."
"Yes, sir, class rep, sir." Fizo said in a joking manner, saluting towards Chikashi. Chikashi smiled a little.
"Someone's gotta make sure you stay in line, Fizo, you clown." He chuckled. Fizo scoffed.
"Yeah. Well, see ya tomorrow, maybe, Ako. Nice meeting you." Fizo said.
"Hmm? Ako?" Chikashi's eyes looked past the others to Ako. He must not have seen him there before.
"You know him too?" Cain asked.
"Not formally...I saw him at the entrance exams," Chikashi said. He came down the steps and made his way over to the group. "He's quite a talent. I thought that he would end up being one of our classmates. But he's not even in 1-B, as it turns out.
"So I have to wonder, Ako, where did they end up putting you?" Chikashi asked, curiously turning his head.
"I'm...in class 1-F, the support class." Ako answered.
"Mmm, not what I would've expected. You must be smart then." Chikashi commented with a chuckle. Ako's eyes started to narrow on him. Was he mocking him?
"Hey, um, Chikashi? Didn't you say we should head inside now?" Tia spoke up, noticing the growing tension. It was making her uncomfortable.
"Yeah. Big day ahead of us. We want to put on a good showing for our class tomorrow. Right, Ako?" Chikashi asked slowly. Ako's eyes narrowed on Chikashi even more as he glared back at him.
"I couldn't agree more." Ako said in reply.
"Goodnight, Ako. See you tomorrow." Cain said, waving to him as the four class 1-A students started to make their way back into the dorm.
"See you tomorrow...all of you." Ako said, fixing his eyes on Chikashi again. Chikashi simply chuckled and smiled at him once more before turning around and entering the dorm last. He locked the door behind him.
"I'm gonna show that guy." Ako thought to himself angrily as he turned around and walked back to his dorm...
End of the Mental Hurdles Arc
