Lightning – My Hero Academia

The Rebel Arc

Chapter 31: Getting Better

"Hey, Ako! I saw on the news how you and Ryukyu helped fight that girl with the giant dinosaur quirk! That looked insane! You're so lucky!" Cain said to him with a laugh. Ako chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, that came out of nowhere. Ryukyu wasn't exactly a huge fan of how I made a move even though she told me to keep a safe distance, but she said it was the right call afterwards." He said.

"Man, you really hit the ground running! No pun intended." Cain laughed again. Ako scoffed and shook his head at this.

"I'm surprised that Ryukyu would be so calm about you disregarding her orders like that," Chikashi commented. "I pulled that once or twice on my internship, and I got scolded for like an hour both times." He said with a chuckle.

"Well, some people just aren't as strict as others," Erena chimed in. "Me and Lia were with Selkie though, so we were basically crew members on the ship the whole week." She said with a tired sigh.

"But you got some good experiences at least, right?" Ako inquired.

"Oh yeah, yep! I've got some stories to tell ya'll!" She answered with a laugh.

The students were all back from their internships now. Ako was hanging out with a few of them in the dormitory common area while they were all telling each other about how their weeks went. Erena was in the middle of telling them about a funny mishap she and Lia had when someone else caught Ako's eye.

He was making his way towards the front door with Mr. Aizawa and a little girl that Ako had never seen before. He had a plain but familiar looking face and wild green hair. It took a moment, but soon Ako realized that he had seen this guy before.

He was on TV last year.

Ako was also familiar with his reputation; there was a weird aura of mystery surrounding this guy, especially in regards to his quirk, but also due to how much improvement he's demonstrated over the course of one year. He was someone that Ako had been looking into recently.

"Hey, I'll be right back, guys, alright? I need to take care of something." Ako said, getting up and walking towards the back of the common area.

He quickly made his way out the back door of the first floor. He hopped over the railing and quickly ran around to the front side of the building. He waited on the porch for this unannounced visitor to step out the door.

"Bye, Eri! I'll try to come see you soon, okay? I promise!" He said, waving and smiling before closing the door. He turned around to leave. That's when he saw Ako, "Whoa!" He flinched and jumped back.

"Hey. Sorry haha didn't mean to startle you there. You're Midoriya, right? Deku?" Ako asked curiously.

"Yep! That's me...oh hey, you're Tanaka, right? I saw you during the Sports Festival. Your quirk is amazing!" He complimented him.

"Thanks. And just call me Ako," He said with a smile. "Do you go by your last name or your hero name?"

"Everyone just calls me Deku." He answered.

"Well, what do you prefer I call you?" Ako asked.

"Uh...Midoriya." Deku decided.

"Alright. Uh, what are you doing here? If you don't mind me asking. You're in class 2-A, aren't you?" Ako pointed out.

"Mhmm. I was just here to see a friend." He answered with a smile.

"Gotcha gotcha. The little girl, right?"

"Yeah."

"Cool...uh, another question. Well, really, I just have something I'd like to say." Ako changed subjects.

"You do?"

"Yeah. I've heard a lot about you. When I saw you at the Sports Festival last year, you were breaking your fingers every time you used your quirk. It was pretty gnarly, dude." Ako commented with a chuckle.

"Oh yeah, haha. That was a long time ago," Deku chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. "I've come a long way since then."

"Well that's the thing – I know that you have a way better handle on your quirk now. Mr. Aizawa's idly commented on it once or twice. He didn't name any names, but I figured he was talking about you. You've got a lot of power going for you." He said.

"Oh well...thank you...?" Deku responded slowly, unsure of what Ako was getting at.

"It's a compliment," Ako said with a chuckle. "And it's good. But it also means that a lot of people are watching you, as I'm sure you're aware. I for one would really like to see what you're capable of. I know you'd make for some difficult competition." He said with a chuckle, taking a few steps towards Deku.

"Well, that's true. But you're a first year and I'm a second year. I would really recommend you spend some more time with your classmates and listen to Mr. Aizawa first." Deku advised.

"Oh come on man. You've seen how fast I move. I need to go up against someone who can match me. I wanna get pushed to be better," Ako insisted. "I really need to get better." He said again.

"I understand...are you asking me for help? Or are you challenging me to a fight?" Deku asked.

"Maybe a little bit of both? I'm not looking for a rival or anything," Ako chuckled. "Just some advice and maybe a few sparring rounds. That sound reasonable?" He proposed.

"Hmm," Deku hummed, curling up his fingers and bringing a hand up to his mouth. Ako waited patiently while he pondered this over.

"Okay, I'd be happy to help!" Deku agreed with a pleasant smile.

"Really? Great haha thanks man! You're doing me a huge favor! Listen, I don't wanna hold you up, but I'll get with you later and we can talk." Ako said.

"Sure. Here, let me give you my number. I'm usually pretty good at answering when I'm free." Deku offered, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Ako took it and put his name and number in.

"Perfect. Thanks again, Midoriya. I'll see you around." Ako thanked him once again and handed his phone back to him.

"You're welcome! Good luck at 1-A, Tanaka-I mean Ako!" Deku chuckled and waved as he walked away.

"Thanks! And hey, Deku?" Ako called to him.

"Hmm? Yeah?" Deku stopped and turned back around to look at Ako again. Ako folded his arms and chuckled.

"I'm looking forward to wiping the floor with you." He teased and winked at him. Deku scoffed at this and shook his head a little.

"Heh, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Goodnight."

"Night." Ako waved again and went back inside.

Ako was feeling pretty good about himself after managing to get an arrangement like that going. He was never one to pick fights like that, but he felt like he'd done a good job of making it clear that he was doing so in more of a friendly, competitive way.

He sat back down with his friends in the common area. Chikashi looked back at the door when he noticed Ako coming in and sitting down again.

"Whoa wait a second. Ako, weren't you just...?" He asked, pointing towards the back of the building where Ako had gone to before.

"Heheh, yeah. I took a half lap around the building. Gotta slip it in before curfew, you know what I mean?" He joked. Chikashi gave him a weird look but didn't say anything else.

Ako sat back and relaxed, thinking a little more about the conversation he'd just had with Deku. Specifically, he was focusing on when he said that he needed 'to get better'. He wasn't sure where that enthusiasm had come from, but it was true.

Actually, that gave him an idea. He needed to get his own personal training regimen started. He got up from the couch and went to his room. He closed the door and then called his father...