Lightning – My Hero Academia

Chapter 17: Intentions

"My my, such intensity from you two in your match. You both really oughta be more mindful of yourselves when fighting! It's never good to expend yourself beyond your limits like that, especially for a trivial competition.

"Now I've healed your wounds, dear, but I highly suggest that you show a little more restraint in your next round. I don't need to see you coming back in here after you just got out." Recovery Girl scolded Ako before sending him on his way.

Ako stepped out of the nurse's office into one of the hallways inside of the arena. Thanks to Recovery Girl's quirk, the injuries he had sustained (cuts, scrapes, bruises, and a cracked rib) had all been completely healed up. He self-consciously rubbed his left side, feeling his ribs.

The hallways were empty except for him. No one had come to see him, not even from his class. From the looks of it, no one had come to see Eiichi either. Perhaps that was because Eiichi was still unconscious, or maybe that was just because the other fights were still going on.

Ako stuck his hands in his pockets and made his way down the hall to a rest area where he could sit and relax. He opened up the door and found two other students inside chatting: Chikashi Sugawara and another guy that he didn't recognize.

"Hm? Oh, Ako! Hey! Congratulations on your win! Come and sit with us." Chikashi invited him with a smile. Ako eyed him as he came inside and sat at the table.

"Thanks. I'm guessing you won your round too?" Ako asked Chikashi.

"Yep! It was a toughie for sure, but I'm feeling pretty good about my chances going into the semifinals. I guess we'll see." Chikashi said with a smile.

"Yeah, for sure." Ako agreed.

"Mhmm. Oh! Ako, this is my friend Fizo, Fizo Sasaki. He's also in class 1-A." Chikashi introduced him.

Fizo Sasaki smiled cordially at Ako. He had dirty blonde hair that had been very carefully styled, swept towards the left side of his face. He seemed nice enough, but he definitely gave Ako 'pretty boy' vibes.

"Nice to meet you, speedball. You've got an impressive handle on that quirk of yours. Is it hard keeping track of everything when you're moving that fast?" Fizo asked curiously.

"I mean...a little yeah. But I can still see pretty well. It just gets blurry – sorta like tunnel vision." Ako described.

"Oh, I see. That's pretty cool man. I'm a little jealous. The fastest heroes usually get the most credit." Fizo said with a laugh.

"Haha yeah. And how about that Eiichi guy? Pretty wild quirk, huh? You really powered through! I was impressed! I don't know if I could've taken on that many guys at once." Chikashi said with a laugh.

Ako gave Chikashi a strange look. Why was he being so nice all of a sudden? Was he still messing with him? Or was he just being casual since they weren't fighting?

"So we're the only ones left?" Ako asked curiously. Both Chikashi and Fizo nodded in response.

"Yep. We're just waiting on the last round now. Aya's going up against one of the girls from 1-B." Fizo answered.

"Oh, I see. I guess that means that Lula got eliminated." Ako thought out loud.

"Yeah she did, unfortunately." Chikashi said with a nod.

"You know Lula, Ako?" Fizo asked.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, we've talked once or twice in the halls and stuff." Ako answered.

"Interesting." Fizo chuckled and nodded.

"You must be really gunning for a spot in the hero courses, huh? That's why you're trying as hard as you are, right?" Chikashi inquired. Ako looked at him and nodded.

"Yes." He answered simply.

There was a quiet tension in the room. Fizo wasn't really sure what to say. He could already sense this growing tension between Ako and Chikashi; there was a clear rivalry forming here. In Fizo's opinion, Ako didn't seem like the kind of guy that you would want on your bad side.

From outside, they could hear the audience erupt in applause again. They all looked up curiously. It was only about a minute before the door opened and Aya Ayala walked into the room.

"Hey, boys. Ya'll just chillin' in here?" She asked with a chuckle as she sat down with them at the table.

"Yep! Did you lose yet, Aya?" Fizo asked jokingly.

"Haha, so funny, Fizo. I won, obviously." She said, making fun of Fizo's tone.

"Congratulations, Aya." Chikashi said with a chuckle.

"Thank you, Chikashi, congratulations to you too. And to you, Ako. Great showing against 1-B! Not gonna lie, I was worried about you, but you pulled out the win in the end." Aya said, smiling at Ako and bumping his arm.

"Heheh, thanks, Aya." Ako said, looking up at her and returning the smile.

"So wait, the second set of rounds are over?" Fizo asked.

"Yeah." Aya nodded.

"Then we should probably get out there so we can find out who we're gonna be fighting!" Fizo pointed out.

"Oh shoot!" Chikashi exclaimed.

All four of them got up from their chairs and hurried out the door. As they all poured out, they bumped into one of the teachers. The three class 1-A students all exclaimed in surprise and shouted at the same time, "Sorry, Mr. Aizawa!"

"The semifinals are starting soon. Now's not the time for you all to be relaxing. They're about to announce the matchups, so you should hurry." Mr. Aizawa said.

"Yes, Mr. Aizawa, sir! Sorry!" All three of them quickly bowed respectfully and hurried out. Ako looked back in surprise and started to hurry after the others.

"Mr. Tanaka." Mr. Aizawa spoke up, signaling for Ako to hang back for a moment. Ako stopped and turned back around.

"Yes, sir?" He addressed Mr. Aizawa respectfully. Ako knew that he was the homeroom teacher for one of the hero courses, so there was a chance that he could become Ako's homeroom teacher after this. Mr. Aizawa let out a short, tired sigh before addressing Ako.

"It's not logical to lose your cool in a fight like that. I've seen it before; that attitude will only make you out to be a target, and then you'll fall further behind. You don't want that to happen, do you?" Mr. Aizawa asked. Ako swallowed and shook his head.

"No, sir."

"Then if I were you, I would put some restraint on that intensity you were showing during your last fight. Understood?" Mr. Aizawa asked, eyeing Ako.

"Understood, sir!" Ako said, quickly bowing in respect before turning around.

"Tanaka." Mr. Aizawa called to him again. Ako turned around once again.

"Yes, sir?"

"Good luck in the tournament." He said with a neutral expression.

"Y-Yes, thank you, Mr. Aizawa! I appreciate it!" Ako stuttered before turning around and hurrying off to catch up with the others.

Ako swallowed nervously. He'd gotten swept up in the adrenaline rush of these battles and had forgotten that the teachers were all still observing him very closely. To get into the hero course, he would need to present himself as if he were already in the hero course...

A model student. A perfect candidate. A future hero.

Ako caught up with the other students, who were all standing by the large doorway leading back out into the arena. He joined them in peeking their heads out to see who would be announced next.

"Ladies and gentlemen! It's time to get these semifinals started! Who's ready?!" Present Mic announced in a high pitched voice. The audience cheered and clapped.

"Before we get started, I wanted to quickly give a hand to all the students who participated this year. As a school, we're lucky to have so many driven students. And a special congratulations to our four finalists for making it this far!" All Might quickly interjected.

"Alright! Thanks for the righteous shout out, All Might! Now let's run that randomizer and see who's next up to bat!" Present Mic said.

All eyes went back up to the monitor. The four pictures of Ako, Chikashi, Fizo, and Aya were all cycled through on opposite sides of the screen. The four students all briefly glanced at each other, realizing that any one of them could be pitted against the other.

"And the first semifinal round is...Chikashi Sugawara versus Aya Ayala!" Present Mic announced.

"Whew! Alright, I'm down for that!" Aya said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"You think you got a shot at taking me, Aya?" Chikashi asked with a chuckle.

"I've got a better chance against you than the speeding bullet over here." Aya joked, pointing at Ako.

"She's right." Ako agreed with a shrug.

"Guess that means it's you and me after this." Fizo said to Ako.

"Yeah, guess so." Ako said with a nod.

"Good luck, Fizo. You're gonna need it." Chikashi said with a smile.

"I've got a few tricks up my sleeve, don't you worry. You just worry about getting past my girl, Aya, first." Fizo responded with a laugh, squeezing Aya's arms briefly.

"Thanks for the support, big guy. Well, let's dance, shall we?" Aya said, smiling sideways at Chikashi before walking out towards the stage. Chikashi chuckled and shrugged at the other guys.

"I guess I'll see one of you in the finals." He said before turning and following Aya out.

"Cocky as always," Fizo commented with a chuckle. "Well, let's go grab our seats so we can watch." Fizo invited Ako to walk with him.

"Oh yeah, right. Sure," Ako nodded, turning and walking with Fizo. "So who do you think is gonna win?" He asked Fizo curiously.

"Don't know," Fizo answered with a shrug. "Aya's a slippery one, that's for sure. But Chikashi's smart, like really smart. I'd say it could go either way." He explained his thinking.

Ako hummed to himself. He would be rooting for Aya, but there was a part of him that wanted to go against Chikashi, just to pay him back for how he took advantage of his quirk. He would just have to wait and see how things played out for Chikashi in this round...