Lightning – My Hero Academia
Chapter 32: Extracurricular Studies
"Hi, Ako! It's nice to see you again!" June greeted Ako as she let him into his father's hideout. He nodded and smiled politely at her as he entered the building.
"Thanks. Where's my dad at?" He asked.
"In the training area as usual. You know your way there?" She asked.
"Yep. Thanks!" Ako said, waving briefly before starting to make his way to the back.
"Hey, Ako!" June called to him. He stopped and turned back towards her.
"Yep?"
"Don't you have school tomorrow?" She asked, sounding genuinely unsure.
"Uhh yeah." He answered slowly. June raised an eyebrow and wagged her finger at him.
"Don't you be doing stuff you're not supposed to dude, got it?"
"Heheh, yes ma'am." Ako chuckled, doing a quick salute before going back into the training room. He could hear June scoff and giggle a little.
In the training room, Ako went in to find his dad practicing his usual acrobatics. Ako walked up to the bars, sticking his hands in his coat pockets and watching his dad flip from bar to bar. After a little bit, Akihiro noticed his son there watching him.
"Oh!" He quickly stopped himself, spinning onto the top of the bar he was holding onto and getting in a perched position. "I have to keep reminding myself that it only takes you a couple minutes to get here from UA." He said with a laugh.
"Ha, sorry. I was gonna say something but I was just observing. I didn't want to interrupt." Ako said.
"Nah, it's fine! You called and I told you to come, didn't I?" He pointed out, hopping down and gracefully landing on the floor, "Everything okay, son?" He asked.
"Yeah! Everything's all good. I was just hoping I could get a more structured training thing started. That's what I wanted to talk with you about." Ako explained simply.
"Oh, I see. You wanna learn some more moves from your old man, huh?" He asked with a chuckle.
"Yeah, if that's not too much trouble. I know that you have your patrols too." Ako said.
"Yeah. I actually just filed the paperwork. I'm clear to start my first daytime district patrols next week! That'll be interesting. Of course, I'm still planning on sticking mostly to nighttime, but a daytime appearance or two wouldn't hurt." Akihiro informed him.
"I see. They let you do that without having to release your secret identity?"
"Believe it or not, they actually did! It was complicated, but eventually I got an agreement that if my name stays confidential then I'd be alright putting my information down in the registration paperwork. That was my main worry, but with that taken care of, now I don't have to bend the rules as much!" He explained, laughing afterwards.
"Well that's great! I'm sure the police will appreciate having you on." Ako said.
"Yep, that's how it goes. And hey, speaking of bending the rules, what are you doing out here on a school night? Did you get permission to be out here? Hmm?" Akihiro asked, raising his eyebrow at Ako.
"Uhh...kinda...?" Ako answered slowly. His father wasn't convinced in the slightest.
"UA has a very strict curfew policy, you know - not to mention an accredited, rigorous training program. You sure you want to start working with me on the side? Wouldn't that be exhausting for you: training all afternoon there and then coming here to train more?" His father pointed out.
"It's not gonna be every day, dad. Just like 2 or 3 times a week. I want to learn everything I can. Last time I was here, you pointed out that I'm too reliant on my quirk. I want to learn how to fix that." Ako said. Akihiro nodded in understanding.
"Yeah, I getcha. Alright, son. I'll train you, but you'll have to follow along with what I say when we're training. It's not gonna be easy." His father warned him.
"Whatever helps me improve. Thanks, dad." Ako said appreciatively with a quick nod.
"You know I'm always happy to help. But I do have one condition." Akihiro brought up, lifting his finger.
"What?"
"You need to visit your mother every once in awhile too. She says that you haven't been answering her messages." He pointed out.
"Oh...yeah, heheh, I, uh..." Ako stuttered as he tried to come up with an excuse. "Sorry, I've been really busy and tired lately with the internship this past week." He said.
"Uhuh, yeah, whatever," Akihiro teased him with a laugh. "But if you're gonna be sneaking out, at least pay her a visit soon. Deal?"
"Deal," Ako nodded and cleared his throat. "So, uh, got anything for me today by any chance?" He asked.
"Haha, I'll have to think about it. Unless you wanna try getting up on the bars and doing some gymnastics with me." Akihiro offered, already knowing what his son's answer would be.
"Haha no that's your department. I don't wanna injure myself again." Ako joked.
"Well you know, you were just a kid back then. I'm sure it would go better if you tried now." His father insisted a little bit.
"Yeah, but it's not within my skill set." He shook his head.
"Well, we might have to fix that later on. But for now, go ahead and get warmed up. We'll get into some hand to hand first. You need to get better at throwing proper punches." His father commented.
"What're you talking about? I'm great at throwing punches." Ako argued.
"You punch like you're trying to break someone's jaw all the time."
"Yeah. Isn't that the point?" Ako questioned.
"Maybe, but with good form, you can land those hits without hurting your hand more than necessary. That's what we'll start with today."
"Yeah, alright. Sure." Ako nodded, beginning to loosen up his wrists.
"By the way, I saw you in a news article the other day. Nice job on helping take down that dinosaur." Akihiro smiled and gave him a thumbs up.
"Oh heheh thanks! It was pretty scary." Ako admitted.
"I bet! You sure don't see that every day! I saw a video; you looked like you turned yourself into a human bullet. That's what June said anyway." His father said with a laugh.
"Oh wow," Ako chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it kinda felt like that."
"Aaand working with Ryukyu too! Very nice, very nice. Haha were you just trying to impress her?" He teased Ako.
"Oh boy. No, daaad." Ako shook his head and laughed, dragging out his answer to emphasize how cringe his father's question was to him.
"Haha, hey, remember the backup plan in case the hero thing doesn't work out." His father reminded him of his previous joke. Ako groaned and laughed.
"Sure, dad, I'll keep it in mind. Speaking of the hero thing, my costume is supposed to come in soon!" Ako informed him.
"Really? What's taking 'em so long?" His father asked with a laugh.
"Haha, I don't know. But when it comes in I'll be sure to take pictures." Ako promised.
"Great! Sounds good. Alright, let's get started." His father said...
