Lightning – My Hero Academia

Chapter 24: Where To Begin

No moment made reality set in for Ako more than when he found himself standing in the school hallway looking up at the 1-A sign posted above the classroom door. He recognized that now that he'd been granted the privilege of walking in through this door, a certain expectation would always be placed upon him.

Now it was up to him to prove that he deserved to be here.

Ako took in a deep breath to calm his nerves before walking inside. A handful of the students were in the room already, including Cain, who came over to greet Ako as soon as he saw him.

"Hey, look who it is!" He said with a laugh, giving Ako a quick bro-hug, which he returned.

"Hey, Cain. Good to finally be here."

"Finally, right?" Cain smiled, "C'mere! Let me introduce you to a few of my friends! Ako, this is Koko White, Takara Takata, and I think you already know Zachary. Zachary Russo, all the way from Italy!" He introduced them.

More people for Ako to try and remember:

He'd definitely never seen Koko White before. She was very pretty, standing out easily with her dark skin and curly hair. She didn't say anything to greet him. She just gave him a quick wave before sitting on top of her desk.

Takara Takata was tall – the tallest of the girls in class 1-A. She had ribbon like reddish-pink hair and bright blue eyes. She simply smiled and nodded towards him as Cain said her name.

Cain was right: Ako had seen Zachary Russo before. They'd briefly gone up against each other during the sports festival. He had dark eyes and white hair drooping down over his eyes. Folded against his back were two large white wings like those of a dove.

He was quite literally angelic in appearance. Ako could only imagine how popular he was with the ladies, since it was hard to deny how attractive he was.

"I almost had you at the sports festival," Zachary brought up. "If you'd been any slower, you wouldn't be standing here."

"Or maybe you're just slow," Takara said with a chuckle before offering a high five to Ako. "Congratulations on your win, speedy! You got one heck of a flashy quirk!" She complimented him. Ako chuckled and high-fived her.

"Thanks. I'm just glad it ended up being enough for me to pull through in the end." He expressed.

"I'm curious, Ako," Koko spoke up. "Speeds like yours would definitely take a damaging toll on the average human body. Your body must have adjusted to it over the years, right?" She asked.

"Uhuh. I have to keep my body in good physical shape so I stay skinny and flexible enough to handle it. I'm sure there's more to it, but I've never really asked." Ako explained.

"Well your flexibility is more than welcome here in class 1-A!" Takara said with a laugh.

"Ugh," Zachary rolled his eyes. "Well, you did get here fair and square. We'll see if you can keep up."

"Alright, everyone!" Chikashi called to the class as he came in. "Aizawa's on his way! Take your seats!" He said. All of the students quickly sat down at their desks.

Ako looked around in confusion, not seeing a desk assigned for him. Finally, he found one solitary desk in the very back of the classroom. He hurried to it and threw himself into the seat just as Mr. Aizawa came skulking in through the door.

"Good morning, class." He greeted them.

"Good morning, Mr. Aizawa!" The class responded in unison.

"Before we get started on today's schedule, we have an announcement to address first. Mr. Tanaka," Aizawa called to him, looking towards the back of the classroom. "Have you finished the sketch design of your costume as you were instructed?" He asked.

"U-Uh yes, sir! I have it here in my folder!" Ako answered.

"Bring it to me." Aizawa gestured for him to come up.

The class waited in silence as Ako fumbled to quickly get his sketch out of his folder. He yanked it out and folded it in half as he walked up to the front of the classroom. He handed the paper to Mr. Aizawa, who took it and immediately set it down.

"Oh, while you're up here, why don't you turn around and briefly introduce yourself to the class?" He said.

"Right," Ako said with a nervous nod before turning around. "My name is Ako Tanaka! Hello, it's an honor to be here!" He said.

"Wow, so formal." He heard someone comment. Ako quickly retreated back to his desk and sat down.

"Thank you, Mr. Tanaka. Now, onto the next item on today's schedule. Now that the sports festival is over, it's time for all of you to buckle down. This next assignment is an important one." He said. The class all went quiet with nervous expectation.

"It's not a test, is it?" A girl muttered under her breath.

"Not this time," Aizawa answered. "You all need to come up with code names." He revealed.

"Code names?" Chikashi repeated.

"Yes. You see, last year class 1-A was permitted to participate in a week long internship program with various hero agencies. For the most part, it went very well, so we've decided to make it a new part of the regular curriculum going forward. So you'll all be interning this week." Aizawa explained.

"Interning? Awesome! We'll get to work up close and personal with the pros!" Lula exclaimed excitedly.

"I know a few pro heroes I'd like to work with." Fizo joked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tia asked suspiciously.

"Settle down, everyone. Other than Tanaka, you all should have your hero costumes already. You'll be wearing them for a majority of your time at these agencies. While you're out there, you will be not only reflecting UA, but the agency as well. I expect you all to be on your best behavior.

"Now then, next comes the matter of what agencies you will be choosing. Some of you were sent offers by various agencies. You will all be provided with lists: those of you with offers can choose from those, while those who received no offers will be given a more general list.

"Pay close attention; each of these agencies have a different location and specialty. Your choice will no doubt influence what kind of hero you end up becoming, so it's definitely worth a careful look over." Aizawa recommended before assigning Chikashi to pass out everyone's sheets.

"Mr. Aizawa, will it say on the form whether or not we received offers or not?" Another girl, Erena Ogawa, raised her hand and asked her question at the same time.

"Some lists are thicker than others. I think you'll be able to tell." Aizawa answered with a shrug.

"Ooh! I wonder who got the most offers!" A girl that Ako didn't recognize brought up with a snicker. From his seat, all he could see was that she had light brown hair.

"Come on now, Midori," Koko started to scold her. "It's not about the number of offers. And besides, it would be unprofessional to disclose that sort of information."

"If you really want to know, Tanaka and Sugawara had the highest amount of offers." Aizawa stated simply. Shocked by how suddenly and plainly this was stated, Koko choked on her words.

"Ako and Chikashi, huh? That's no surprise," Cain said with a chuckle. "They did get first and second place after all. And they put on a hell of a good show." He reasoned. Chikashi said nothing in response; he just gave Ako a smile and a nod as he handed him his list of offers.

A small stack of papers was set down on Ako's desk. He looked down on it with wide eyes. He lifted the top piece of paper up. There were a dozen agencies on either side of the paper! It would take him forever to go through all of these!

"You have until the end of the week to decide on which agency you'll intern with. I recommend picking 3 to 5 agencies just in case there aren't enough slots available for your top choice." Aizawa recommended.

"Oh man, it's gonna take me forever to settle on a choice." Hideo grunted.

"What about the code names? You said that earlier!" Yui shouted.

"Oh yeah, right. That's what you'll be doing during class today. I'll pass things over and let him go over that part with you." Aizawa said before pulling out a sleeping bag and slumping up against the wall.

"Alright! Sounds like that's my entrance cue," Present Mic laughed and burst in through the door. "Can you dig it, boys and girls? Present Mic is in the house! Let me hear ya, 1-A!" He grinned, putting his hand up to his ear.

The class said nothing in response.

"Keepin' it lowkey, I feel that! Alright, it's code name time, baby! Here's your disclaimer, folks! Picking a name is mega important! You might not get the chance to change it later, ya know! Plus, you gotta start building up that brand o' yours! You want something recognizable and awesome!" Present Mic explained.

"Man, he's much more hype than usual." Zachary noticed.

"Really? He's like this all the time." Koko pointed out.

"Well yeah, I meant like in comparison to the other classes he teaches." Zachary clarified.

"Cut the chatter and let's get those hero names on a silver platter! Grab a whiteboard! Today's forecast calls for some serious brainstorming!" Present Mic said as he pumped his fist.

"Oh shoot...I forgot about coming up with a hero name!" Ako realized...

To Be Continued...