Lightning – My Hero Academia

Chapter 23: The New 1-A

Despite Ako's apprehension, he decided to spend some time in the common area with the other 1-A students tonight. A number of them were gathered around the TV playing video games. Lia Myuki and Yamato Matsui, the guy who had made a comment about Ako earlier, were reportedly the first ones to start playing, and the others gradually started to join in after that.

Ako didn't join in, but he sat on the arm of a nearby couch, watching the rowdy group play while drinking some soda. After a while, one of the students walked up to him. At first, Ako was pretty creeped out by this guy with his lean body and the strange way he carried himself, hunching forward as he approached Ako.

The boy had hair that was half black and half white, giving the illusion of stripes in his hair. His eyes were a slightly darkened shade of red. His skin was pale. Just by his expression, Ako could tell that he wasn't someone who interacted with other people too often.

"Hello there." He greeted him with a strange smile, standing in front of him. Ako nodded and sipped his soda.

"Hey there. Can I help you?"

"I just wanted to congratulate you on your win at the tournament, and for joining our ranks here in the hero course. Your ascent is...inspiring to watch." He said with a smile, offering a handshake. Ako shook his hand.

"Oh thanks, I appreciate it...so, what's your name?" He asked after an awkward pause.

"I'm Hideo...Yamazaki. And I already know your name," Hideo chuckled. "We all do."

"Yeah? Looks like I'm the only one that needs to get caught up." Ako joked dryly. Hideo snickered a little bit.

"I suppose so. Use the seating chart on the board in our classroom. That's how I learned who everyone was," Hideo recommended. "Or talk to Lia and Chikashi. They're always socializing."

"Yeah, I've met them both already." Ako nodded.

"Good. Good."

"Yeah...so what's your quirk?" Ako asked curiously.

"Bones." Hideo answered simply.

"...what?"

"Watch." Hideo lifted his hand. Suddenly, a bone jutted out of his wrist, cleanly piercing through the skin. He took it with his other hand and pulled it out of his arm, much to Ako's horror. The bone had been sharpened at the end, much like a knife.

"Oh god!" Ako exclaimed in shock. Hideo snickered at him again.

"I love seeing people's reactions. It's always really funny. Oh look," Hideo took Ako's hand that was holding the soda can, extending it towards him. "You have a wrist bone that sticks out a little bit. That's always ideal for pulling a bone out of." He said with a smirk.

"Uh...you can't pull other people's bones out, can you?" Ako asked worriedly.

"Perhaps we should test that," Hideo smirked. Ako quickly pulled his hand back. This made Hideo laugh again. "I'm only kidding! I can't take other people's bones. Only my own," He giggled, happy with himself and his joke. He stuck his bone knife back into his wrist, and it sank back underneath his skin.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Ako. I look forward to seeing what you're capable of." Hideo said before turning and walking away. Ako rubbed his wrist awkwardly, not saying anything. He sipped his soda again.

"Looks like you just met Hideo," Cain chuckled, walking over and sitting next to him on the couch. "Did he do the 'pulling your bones out' joke?" He asked.

"Yeah." Ako answered with an uncomfortable chuckle, rubbing his wrist again.

"Haha, he's done that with everybody. That guy's a little weird, but he's also a little prankster. Gotta keep your eye on him." Cain chuckled.

"Yeah, you're telling me...are things usually this laid back here in 1-A?" Ako asked curiously, gesturing towards the others playing video games.

"Depends on the day. Usually everyone's pretty chill though." Cain answered with a shrug.

"Okay students," Mr. Aizawa made his presence known as he walked into the common area. "Curfew is in 15 minutes. Time to put the electronics away and return to your rooms."

"Aww man! One more round?" Erena whined.

Mr. Aizawa didn't answer verbally. He just tilted his head back slightly and glared in the direction of the group. They quickly got to their feet and started putting everything away, "Yes, Mr. Aizawa, sir! Right away!" They quickly agreed.

"Jeez. Everyone's so intimidated by him." Ako commented.

"Yeah, haha, Aizawa's no joke. You better do what he says," Cain said before getting up too. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ako!" He offered a fist bump.

"Yep. See you, dude." Ako fist bumped him before getting up and going to his room.

Once Ako had retreated to his room, he let out a more comfortable breath. It would take him time to get used to all of these new people, all with such different and dynamic personalities. He'd barely gotten to know his last set of classmates in the support class, but this was on a whole other level.

Ako put his headphones on and relaxed on his bed until the curfew had passed. Once all lights were off, he took a moment to step out onto the balcony. He looked to his right towards some of the other dorm buildings. From here, he couldn't tell which ones belonged to which class.

Ako went back into his room and put on his trusty boots. He then turned back towards the open balcony door and ran out onto the balcony, propping his foot up on the railing and jumping off at a quick speed. He flew through the air before landing behind the building.

Ako flailed his arms and legs a little bit before landing on his feet. He landed on the walkway behind the dorms, allowing for an almost smooth landing. He slid a little and stumbled, falling onto his side. He grunted irritably and quickly got to his feet, brushing himself off.

He made his way back around to the front of the building and started walking away from it. He stayed hidden underneath the trees between each dorm building. Finally he made his way around to the one he wanted. He came up in front of the dorm and cast his eyes on the sign in front, which was barely being lit by the lamps in front of the building.

2-A.

Ako knew all about last year's class 1-A. He'd seen them on TV during the sports festival. Watching it, he always figured he'd be able to handle himself once it was his turn. Despite everything, he never expected to win, but he did, and he could only wonder how that would affect him moving forward.

But aside from that, there were a few students in class 2-A that he was interested in getting to meet. He wanted to learn from them; perhaps even test his skills against them. If he was being honest, it was hard for him to find anyone who could compete with him, and he knew that he'd find some steeper challenges here.

"It would probably be overdramatic to just walk up and challenge someone, wouldn't it? Still, that's kinda what I wanna do..."

Ako stuck his hands back in his pockets and made his way back to the 1-A dormitory. His interest in some of the 2-A students would have to wait. First, he would need to establish himself in 1-A and figure out where he actually stood in comparison to everyone else.

As Ako started to approach the 1-A building through the trees, he heard an unfamiliar noise: the sound of an animal growling lowly. Ako's eyes widened, and he got into a defensive stance as he made his way through the trees.

Suddenly, a huge cat came up in front of Ako, pushing him onto his back on the ground. He grunted in surprise, his eyes widening as he realized what was happening. However, before he could call out for help, a human hand went over his mouth. The cat turned into a girl with wild hair.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" She questioned him in a gravely voice. Ako tried to answer, but her hand was still over his mouth. She rolled her eyes and took her hand away.

"Who are you?!" Ako asked right away.

"Oh, so you don't recognize me, do you? Speedy boy? I'm one of the people you eliminated in the sports festival. I'm still not happy about that, by the way." She said. Ako exhaled, partially in irritation that someone else didn't like him, and partially in relief that he wasn't about to be mauled by an actual animal.

"What's your name?" Ako asked. The girl huffed irritably.

"Yui Okamoto." She introduced herself. She got off of him and offered her hand to help him up. He took it and she pulled him to his feet.

"Whoa! You're strong."

"And you're fast. What the hell are you doing out here past curfew, Ako?" Yui asked again, "Aizawa's gonna be pissed if he catches you out here." She added.

"And what about you? Do you get a special pass?" Ako asked.

"Nah, I just don't get caught," She answered with a chuckle. "But nighttime is the best time for me to work on my night vision, so I could probably make some kind of excuse if I ever did get caught." She shrugged.

"You have a cat quirk?" Ako asked.

"Lionness," She quickly corrected him, tapping her finger on his collar bone. "I'm a prowler, a hunter, and I'm the one who should have made it to the tournament!" She said.

"Alright alright. Sorry. It is what is, alright? It was nothing personal." Ako quickly said, raising his hands up.

"Yeah I know, but I'm still mad about it!" Yui said.

"Okay...?" Ako responded awkwardly, unsure what he was supposed to do or say.

"You should go back inside before anyone realizes that you're missing. I have more training to do, so I need you to get out of my area." Yui said, gesturing for him to leave.

"Alright. Sure. Night. Nice to meet you, I guess." Ako said, quickly turning and walking away. Yui paused for a moment before calling to him again.

"Hey, speedy boy."

"Yeah?" Ako turned back towards her.

"Nice work smacking Chikashi on the head like that. Couldn't have done it better myself." She said with a chuckle.

"Oh, uh...thanks." Ako chuckled awkwardly before hurrying off.

"Why is everyone here so weird?" He thought to himself...