Lightning – My Hero Academia
Chapter 13: A Brief Breather
"I never realized you could move like that, Ako! I barely even recognized you out there!" Ako's mother said over the phone with a laugh. Ako chuckled a little.
"To be honest, I've never pulled some of those moves before. I was just reacting in the heat of the moment. This school just keeps pushing me to my limits." He chuckled in response.
"Yeah. That's actually something I wanted to bring up. I know that you're really set on the hero course, and I'm pretty sure you're gonna get in after today. I just want you to be careful, okay? Things around the world have been getting worse lately.
"I think it's admirable that you want to help others, but don't forget that you have people that are worried about you too. I want you to be safe more than anything else...maybe that's selfish of me, but I am your mother. It's my number one priority." She said.
Ako nodded in understanding. His mother was looking ahead for him, and she was right. Despite what the UA announcers were saying, a lot of people felt like the next bad thing was always just around the corner. Ako would have to give his all just to be ready for what would come after today.
"I know, mom. Thank you. I will remember that...but first I gotta win this tournament. Just to guarantee my spot, you know?" He said with a chuckle.
"Haha, I'm proud of you, honey. The tournament will be starting soon so I'll let you go. I'm sure your father wants to talk to you." She said. Ako's phone started to vibrate. He looked at it and saw that his father was calling him right at that moment.
"Oh, yeah, right on cue. He's calling me so I'm gonna answer him. Talk to you after the tournament, ma."
"Alright, Ako. Love you. Be safe out there."
"Love you too, mom. Bye," Ako said before quickly hanging up the phone and answering his father's phone call. "Hello?"
"Ako, you're killing it out there! You're the star of the show! I couldn't be prouder, son!" His dad exclaimed loudly over the phone. Ako flinched and held the phone slightly away from his ear.
"Thanks, dad. The stuff you taught me has really come in handy." Ako responded appreciatively.
"Keep it in mind, Ako. The tournament is up next," Akihiro said, his tone switching and becoming more serious. "I know for a fact that you don't know anybody you're going up against. That means you'll have to pay attention and be ready.
"This will probably be quite the uphill battle." He surmised. Ako swallowed and nodded.
"Do you have any recommendations or advice for me going in?" Ako asked.
"Nothing that I haven't already told you! Just do your best!" His father answered cheerfully. Ako managed a smile and nodded.
"Of course. I will. Thanks again, dad."
"You're welcome! Oh hey, I got someone here who wants to talk to you too! Niko! Ako's on the phone!" His father called. Ako's eyes widened and he started to protest.
"Oh no no, dad, that's okay, you don't have to-"
"Hi, Ako!" The cheerful voice of a young girl interrupted him. Ako sighed.
"Hey, Niko."
"I saw you in the first two rounds! You're doing so good! Everybody's talking about you!" She said happily, "You looked really cool out there!"
"Thank you." Ako nodded.
"Does your face still hurt? Getting hit with the dodgeball? I was worried that you'd gotten knocked out but you didn't because you caught it!" She said.
"Mhmm. Yeah, I'm fine. All I have to worry about now is the tournament. I'm gonna have to fight some of my classmates next." Ako said.
"Are you scared? Are you nervous?" Niko asked.
"A little bit, but if I win, I'll get accepted into the hero training course," Ako explained. "So I can't let that stop me." He stated.
"Aww, I wanna go to UA too, so I can be a hero just like you!" Niko said. Ako pressed his lips together. Now he felt bad.
"I...you will one day. I'm sure." He said slowly.
"Yeah!" Niko agreed.
"Alright, sweetie. Ako's gotta get ready for the tournament now. Say 'bye, Ako'." Akihiro said.
"Okay, daddy. Bye, Ako! Good luck!" Niko said into the phone.
"Bye, Niko." Ako said, trying to match her tone but coming up flat.
"Alright, son," His father said after taking the phone again. "I'll let you go. But we're watching you on TV so you better win!"
"I'll do my best. Bye, dad. Love you." Ako said quickly.
"Alright. Love you, son. Bye."
Ako hung up the phone and sighed to himself, shaking his head. That little moment just before Niko came on the phone made him feel guilty. Why did he have to be such a jerk?
Ako stood up and stuck his phone back in his locker. He adjusted his shirt and looked towards the door. He would need to put his feelings aside for now. The tournament was about to start, and he needed to join up with the other 15 competitors at the designated observation deck...
"Alright alright! This concludes the last of our sideshow games!" Present Mic announced.
"Let's give a round of applause to all of our students who participated. It looked like you guys were having so much fun down there. If I wasn't stuck in this booth, I probably would've joined ya!" All Might chuckled.
"But now it's time for the main event! While our resident one-man construction crew, Cementoss, builds the arena, let's go over our roster of radical first-years and see what the first matchups will be! Why don't you do the honors, All Might?" Present Mic invited.
"Sure. Okay, let's start with class 1-A," All Might fixed his papers and started reading. "We've got Cain Fa. His quirk allows him to manipulate metal, and he can turn his body into metal too. He reminds me of a student we had last year with a similar ability, but he can move metal that's outside of his body too.
"Next is Lula Lei. Her quirk is paralysis. She can stop any living thing from being able to move for up to 15 minutes. It seems like she took one of her classmates hostage in the first round and had him carry her to the finish. A bit devious, but hey, she made it and held her own in round two, so I can't exactly knock her for it.
"After that is Aya Ayala. She teleports by fixing on a point and blinking, instantly traveling to that location. That's how she was able to avoid being eliminated despite being at the center of the dodgeball royale. She'll definitely be tough to pin down in a one-on-one situation.
"Next up is Tia Inoue. Her quirk is called Starstruck. She can create stars out of her hands and use them to change people's emotions, hypnotize them, or knock them out. She employed a similar strategy to Lula, using other students to advance herself forward. She also stayed hidden during the second round. But her quirk makes close combat dangerous.
"Fizo Sasaki also moved on. He has a mirror quirk. Not copying, but actual mirrors. He can create glass out of his skin and construct weapons or even walls with it. They shatter as easily as real glass, but hey, glass can be dangerous too, you know.
"Next we have Lia Myuki. Her quirk is Icewater. She can use water as an extension of herself, making it fly around or whipping opponents with it. Colder water is easier for her to deal with because she can transform water into ice too. Might not be too much of an advantage though since we're still in warm weather.
"Chikashi Sugawara," All Might said next. Ako paid close attention to what he said next. "His quirk is mimic. He can copy the speed, agility, and fighting style of anyone he sees. Not to be confused with the copy quirk, which allows you to copy a quirk itself, but he can perfectly mirror any movement he sees."
"That's his quirk? No wonder he was able to keep up with me! He was copying my speed!" Ako realized. He gritted his teeth angrily.
"In total, that's 7 students from class 1-A here in the tournament. So let's move on to class 1-B now..."
Ako turned his head and looked at the other students. His eyes fixated on Chikashi, "He used my quirk to get here. I'm gonna make him regret that." Ako thought to himself wrathfully. It made him angry to the point that it was hard to focus on anything else.
Sensing eyes on him, Chikashi turned his head and locked eyes with Ako. He smiled a little at Ako and pointed forward towards the stadium. Ako's eyes widened a little and he looked forward. In his anger, he'd stopped paying attention to what All Might was saying.
"So in total, we have 7 students from class 1-A and 8 students from class 1-B. And of course, there's Ako Tanaka from class 1-F, who put on a strong showing these first two rounds with his speed quirk. It looks like he developed some special boots under Power Loader's guidance – shoes that are able to handle the amount of force he can put out.
"Out of dozens of students, these 16 are the ones that have risen to the top! But not even I could tell you who's gonna come out on top. I guess we'll just have to start the tournament to find out, huh?" All Might said. His rhetorical question was met with thunderous cheering from the audience.
"Alright! Way to read those stat cards, big guy! Let's toss the mic down over to Mt. Lady to explain the rules and get this party a-started!" Present Mic said.
All eyes went down to Mt. Lady as she walked out onto the arena with a microphone in her hand. She smiled and waved at the audience around her as she stood center stage.
"The rules for the tournament this year are the same as always! You win by either K.O.-ing your opponent or knocking them out of the ring. If things get too dicey at any point, I will step in to break things up. All decisions go to me, but don't worry, I'm a fair judge," She said with a giggle.
"Okay! We have 8 first rounds to get through, so let's go ahead and get started! Who will be going head to head first? Direct your attention to the board, where opponents will be randomly chosen!" Mt. Lady said, gesturing up towards the monitor.
Ako and the other students looked up towards the board and held their breaths as they waited to see who would be picked to go first...
