Lightning – My Hero Academia

Chapter 28: Public Image

"Hey, son! Nice of you to call. Just remembered you had a father again, huh?" Akihiro, Ako's father, joked with him when he answered his son's phone call. Ako scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Hey, dad. How're things going?"

"Good! Good. I'm just relaxing a little, taking a day off. Getting bored watching documentaries on TV." He answered with a chuckle.

"Sounds nice. Anything good?" Ako asked.

"Ahh, there's one about All Might, another about different dictators in history, stuff like that. I can send you the names if you're interested." Akihiro offered.

"That sounds interesting actually, sure. Send me both."

"Sure. So! How're things at UA now that you're in the hero course? You still got all of your teeth?" His father asked.

"So far. I'm actually doing an internship this week at the Ryukyu Agency. I'm on my way there now for my first patrol." Ako revealed.

"Ooh! That's exciting! Ryukyu is very beautiful. You should make a good impression with her."

"Dad." Ako rolled his eyes again.

"What? She's still single! It's always good to have a backup plan in case things don't work out, you know?" Akihiro said. Ako laughed at this.

"Oh boy. Anyways, the internship program actually got me wondering: do you have any interns?" He asked curiously.

"Me? No I don't, actually. All of that requires a certain amount of paperwork, and I'm doing my best to keep my identity relatively a secret." His father explained. Ako's eyebrows furrowed a little and he nodded.

"Yeah. I gotcha. Do they require you to put your name in the paperwork?"

"I believe so. I haven't actually looked into it that deeply. Were you thinking about interning with me?"

"I thought about it yeah, but Mr. Aizawa made it pretty clear that we had to choose from the list we were given. I didn't get a chance to ask you about it." Ako explained.

"Oh I see. Sorry, son. You wouldn't have been able to intern with me anyways since I don't have the proper paperwork submitted. But I'll look into it. If I can register without having to reveal my identity then I'll go ahead and do it so you can work with me next time, okay?"

"Yeah, that'd be great! If it's not too much trouble. You don't have to do all that just for me either." Ako said with a chuckle.

"And miss the chance to help you become a pro hero? Forget it! I'm having June pull up the documents right now." Akihiro said with a laugh.

"Haha, alright...thank you dad. I'm at my stop now so I'll have to talk to you later. I'll let you know how it goes today. Love you."

"Love you too, son! Have a good day. And remember to stay focused!"

"I will. Bye." Ako said before hanging up the phone and sliding it back into his pocket...

"You know, I really wish I had listened to him better that day. Seems like I'm always finding new ways to make a fool of myself."

That day, both Ako and Aya were paired with Kansan Hiraoka, a pro hero with spiky yellow hair. He possessed the ability to make portals for his quirk, but only two at a time. He wore casual clothes and a long flowing jacket. Aya was dressed in her full hero gear. Meanwhile, Ako had on workout clothes, his boots, and a track jacket.

"So when it comes to an average day in the life of a pro hero, you're gonna find that more often than not you'll be patrolling the streets of whatever city or district you're registered in. So let me pose this question to you two: what are the benefits to having so many pro heroes patrolling?" Kansan asked.

"It discourages crime, especially during the day. It's hard to commit crimes when there's pro heroes around any given corner." Aya answered.

"Very good. What else?"

"It lets the public see us. It lets them know they're safe." Ako answered.

"Also very true. Pro heroes are public servants first and foremost. Our job is to serve. But to do our jobs well, we want civilians to rely on us and trust in us. Patrols accomplish all of these things. Sometimes it can seem a little mundane, but it is an important part of building up your repertoire." Kansan explained.

"I have a question." Aya said.

"Go ahead and ask it."

"What are the night patrols like?" She asked.

"Good question. Night shifts are, uh, a totally different animal, honestly. Crime activity always goes up at night, but then you have your night owls and party scenes. Nightclubs in particular are the worst. More often than not, you'll find yourself having to deal with health emergencies more than villains lurking in the shadows." Kansan described.

"What's the protocol for that though? If you get into a fight with a criminal in a dark alley or something?" Ako asked curiously.

"Neutralize the threat, take him to the authorities. Call for backup if you need to. Same as during the day. But our patrol routes are mapped out to avoid us getting pinned down like that. In light of recent events, the safety of pro heroes is finally being considered more seriously." Kansan said.

There seemed to be something underneath that comment. Ako pressed it a little further.

"Does all of this still work? With the public image of heroes trending down like it is?" He asked curiously.

"Of course it does. The media always reports on what's controversial or attention-grabbing, and usually that means negative coverage only. But in the field? When it's face to face? That's a totally different story. And besides, regardless of public image, your motivation should be to serve in the interest of the greater good before anything else." Kansan said firmly.

"Yeah. I hate stuff like that. People can be so finicky. That's why you always gotta do what's right. Criticism based on lies always fades off anyways." Aya said to Ako. He nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, that's fair. Just curious. That kinda stuff does have an influence though." Ako said.

"Sometimes," Kansan acknowledged. "But never let it get in the way of you and your job."

As the three of them continued walking down the sidewalk, a few people started to form a crowd as they made their way into a busy area. Out of nowhere, two younger boys approached Ako and stopped him.

"Hey, aren't you Tanaka?" One of them asked.

"Yeah, you won the sports festival! That fight was so awesome!" The other exclaimed, extending his fist out. Ako chuckled in surprise.

"Thanks."

"Really? Tanaka's here? Oh wow, yeah!" Another gentleman in a suit approached him, "I just wanna say, kid, you were really something at the sports festival. You've got a bright future ahead of you with that quirk!" He said, shaking Ako's hand.

"Oh wow. Thank you." Ako said appreciatively.

"No way! Hey, Tanaka, can we get a picture with you?" Two girls asked, running over to him.

"A picture? I mean...heheh, I don't see a problem with that." Ako said with a chuckle, scooting in between them for a selfie.

"Haha, looks like Ako's got a fanbase. Lucky him." Aya commented with a giggle as she and Kansan watched this scene unfold.

"That is one of the more glamorous aspects of being a pro hero after all. Normally I would be irritated by this and break it up, but this might be good actually. This'll be a good test for young Tanaka." Kansan said with an intrigued hum.

"What do you mean?" Aya asked.

Kansan didn't answer. His attention had already been diverted elsewhere. Aya followed his gaze, turning around and looking across the street. At first, she didn't see anything, but then her eyes quickly fell on a shady individual walking in a hurry on the other side of the street.

Aya's eyes narrowed and followed him. She watched him look around briefly before snatching a lady's purse and running around the corner. As he turned the corner, he shoulder-checked another woman and took her purse as well.

"Gotcha."

Aya teleported to the other side of the street. She pulled out both of her nightsticks and ran around the corner, chasing after the purse snatcher, "Hey! I saw that! You stop right there!" She yelled ahead.

"Huh? Oh you gotta be kidding me." The thief grunted.

"What?" Ako lifted his head after hearing Aya yelling. She couldn't see much; just that she was chasing someone. "Uh oh. Hey, excuse me! Let me through!" Ako tried to push through the crowd so he could back her up.

The thief turned towards the wall. Aya's eyes widened in surprise as he started running up the side of the wall, "He's got some kinda sticky quirk!" She realized. This caught her off-guard, but she was determined to stop him from getting away.

Using her teleportation quirk, she transported herself onto the top of the wall, where she was hanging from the roof directly above the thief. She looked down and let go, landing on the thief's chest and knocking him off the wall. Then she teleported again to land on the ground.

The thief shouted in pain and cried out as he fell. Before he could hit the ground, a portal appeared underneath him. He fell through it and came out of another portal that appeared on the wall. It spit the thief out and he landed awkwardly on the sidewalk, where he was quickly apprehended by Kansan.

"Gutsy move, Ayala. Could've cost you." Kansan commented.

"Yes, sir." She acknowledged.

Ako had managed to get through the crowd by then, but by the time he had sped across the street, the situation had already been dealt with. He walked up next to Aya, who stood up again and slid her nightsticks back into their holsters.

"Hey, speedy. Nice of you to join us." She teased him lightly.

"Mr. Tanaka. You're the fastest person here, yet you were the last one to show up." Kansan commented.

"Yeah, sorry, there was-"

"Once the authorities arrive, we will discuss what just happened." Kansan interrupted him.

Ako went silent, feeling guilty. They returned the stolen purses to their owners and waited in silence for the police to arrive. A cop car soon came and picked up the thief. Once the car drove off, the three of them continued their patrol. That's when Kansan launched the discussion about what went right and what went wrong.

"So. Let's start with the obvious. Aya, you showed good hustle and great reaction time on that purse snatcher." He began.

"Thank you, sir." Aya smiled.

"However, that move you pulled on the roof was risky. I know that you managed the landing well, but you could've seriously hurt the thief. Had I not intervened, there was no guarantee that he would've landed safely." Kansan continued.

"Right...sorry, I was trying to act quickly. I didn't think about that before I did it." She apologized.

"You have to be calculated in every move you make. I'm sure you've heard the term 'excessive force' used before. You don't want that charge, trust me. It's a pain in the butt. But that comes with practice. As you learn the limits of your quirk, you'll figure out safer ways to handle that. But overall, you did well."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." Aya nodded, thinking this over.

"Now as for you, Tanaka..." Kansan started. However, Ako spoke up first.

"I apologize for that, sir. I was distracted by those people that were asking about the sports festival. I saw what happened pretty quickly, but I couldn't get past them. But that's not an excuse." Ako said regretfully.

"Hold on now, let me speak. You are right, and I'm glad that you recognize that. What happened back there wasn't unforgivable, it was just more of a rookie mistake really. But I allowed it to happen to teach you a very specific lesson.

"Remember earlier we were talking about public image? This is the flip-side of that. A lot of people get into pro-hero work for the fame and the accolades, the excitement of getting into higher ranks, getting rich and all that. And we all know that does happen.

"But like I said, never let public image get in the way of you and your work. Now that doesn't mean you can't speak to fans, sign autographs and take pictures; all that's fine, but when you're needed, you have to be ready at the drop of a hat.

"Does that make sense?" Kansan asked. Ako nodded, his gaze drifting downward.

"Yes, sir. It won't happen again." He said.

"It's okay, Ako. You'll get the next one." Aya said reassuringly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, but I should've gotten this one." Ako thought to himself...