Lightning – My Hero Academia

Chapter 33: A Hero's Start

Ako got a knock on his door. He got up and answered it. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see both Chikashi and Hideo waiting for him on the other side. Hideo was grinning excitedly and holding a briefcase in his hand.

"Hey. What's going on, guys?" Ako asked, rubbing some of the sleepiness out of his eyes.

"Your hero uniform just came in, dude!" Chikashi said, gesturing to the suitcase that Hideo was holding. Hideo held it up and nodded.

"No way! It did?!"

"It just arrived. Mr. Aizawa asked me to come and get you so you could come get it, but I offered to bring it to you. Chikashi came to." Hideo explained.

"Thank you for saving me the trouble," Ako said with a little chuckle, reaching out and taking the briefcase. He brought it into his room and placed it on top of his bed. "I can't believe it's finally here. I've been waiting and waiting for way too long!" He said with a laugh.

"Now you won't have to do anymore hero training in sweatpants." Chikashi joked.

"Haha, right? Oh man...I'm nervous." He admitted with a chuckle.

"Open it up so we can see!" Hideo said excitedly.

"You're gonna see it at hero training anyways! Let me look through it and make sure the specs are right before I show it off!" Ako requested, going back to them.

"Aww, boo! You're gonna show it to us though, right?" Hideo requested.

"Later!" Ako waved them off and closed the door.

"You're welcome!" Chikashi called through the door after Ako closed it.

"I already said thank you!" Ako called back.

"He did say thank you already." Hideo said to Chikashi.

"Shut up, Hideo." Chikashi chuckled.

Ako flicked the lights on in his bedroom before nervously approaching the case. After waiting for what felt like forever, he'd finally received his hero costume. However, he wasn't ignorant to how significant of a moment this was for him.

He recognized that by receiving this hero uniform - by wearing it during his training and when out in public, he was accepting the responsibility that comes with being a pro hero. The standards that he needed to uphold were going to be weighing on his shoulders even more now.

Aside from that, he just really hoped that they'd gotten his specifications and measurements right.

With a nervous breath and shaky hands, Ako reached forward and opened up the briefcase. He lifted the top up and leaned back a little to take in the sight of his hero costume for the first time. He reached down and lifted it up, his eyes scanning it from top to bottom.

The material and the colors were all correct. However, he hadn't taken into account the fact that his hair was a darker shade of blue than the color of the suit. That was a minor oversight on his part though; it still looked great.

Everything he asked for was here: the goggles, the mask, and the reinforced gloves. He held up his goggles and looked them over. Almost right away, he thought of something that he wanted to add to them. He hadn't thought of it until now, but maybe there was a way he could make the adjustment himself.

Putting on the full costume for the first time was more of an awkward experience than he thought. Because of how tight it was, it took him a while to squeeze into it. Once he'd finally gotten it on comfortably, he put on his boots, his gloves, his mask, and lastly his goggles.

Staring at himself in the mirror, he barely recognized himself. Compared to the baggy, casual clothes he preferred to wear, something so tight and flamboyant was a huge change. Plus, his entire body from the nose down was covered up by his gear.

Ako reached up and ruffled his hair with his hands. It stuck up wildly in different directions. A few stray locks of hair drooped down over his eyes, bumping against the protective frames of his goggles. He brushed his finger across the right side of the goggles.

He needed to make one adjustment before he let anyone see his new look...

"Heyyy look who it is! I haven't seen you in awhile, speedy!" Mei Hatsume giggled, waving to Ako as he walked into the Development Studio. Ako smiled when he saw her.

"Hey, Hatsume. How've you been?" He asked, going up to the table where she was working.

"I've been great! I've been putting together so many new babies! Did you come to test out a few like you promised? Hmm?" She asked, reminding him with a teasing smile and a little shake of her head.

"Heheh, sorry not today. I actually have a little something that I need to work on. It should only take me a little bit thought, I think."

"Oh yeah? Whatcha working on today, hero boy?"

"Heheh, these goggles. I want to add a configuration that'll let me switch between these protective lens and tinted lens, like sunglasses." He explained.

"Ooh, my goggles do that! See?" She put her goggles on and twisted a little notch on the side. Protective frames came down into place in front of her eyes.

"Oh wow, yeah, that's exactly what I'm looking for! Think you can help me put it together real quick?" He requested.

"Hmm, I don't know. I am kinda busy with this little guy right here," She said, tapping her fingers on the unfinished project sitting on the table in front of her. "It's just so hard finding free time when I have to stress test all my babies by myself." She teased him further, drawing out her sentences as she leaned on the table.

"Haha alright alright, message received. I promise I'll stop by soon." He agreed.

"Great! Here, let me show you how I did it with my goggles. We can get this done in less than an hour!"

"Thanks, Hatsume! You're the best!" Ako said appreciatively...

Ako didn't say anything about his hero costume to anyone else in his class...not yet anyway. There was one more person that he wanted to see first before he unveiled his new look to the world.

The sky darkened, the sun set and the moon rose over the city. That's when Ako put on his full costume, goggles and all, and snuck out of his dorm. It was a good way to test the dexterity of his new suit. Thankfully, it held up perfectly for his quick jog home.

If he had been able, he would've stopped to pick up flowers or something. However, he could only bring himself as he walked up to his front door and rang the doorbell. After a minute or two, his mother answered the door. Her eyes widened and she gasped in surprise.

"Ako? Son, is that you?"

"Hey, mom," He smiled, stepping inside and giving her a hug. "Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you. But I just got my hero costume today! I wanted you to be the first person to see it." He said with a chuckle.

"Oh my goodness! Yes, hold on, let me see." She said excitedly. She closed the door and locked it then turned to look at him.

Ako's hero costume consisted of a bold blue jumpsuit/body suit with white highlights and black trimmed stripes running all along the seams. His boots, which she had seen before, were now painted black to match the rest of the outfit. Along with the body suit, he had on matching gloves with reinforced padding across the knuckles. He wore a large metal mask with a built in breather. Finally, he had on the goggles, which had gray frames.

"Oh wow, Ako! You look like a real superhero now!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah! Check this out, they put padding in the gloves so I don't hurt my hands in fights. They're almost like boxing gloves. And watch this!" Ako reached up and twisted a little notch on the side of his goggles. The frames of his goggles switched to sunglasses.

"Oh that is so cool!" His mother laughed.

"Right? A friend of mine helped me put this together," Ako giggled and grinned, switching the frames back to normal. "What do you think?" He asked.

"I love it. It really fits you. Although it is a little tight. You should probably wear like a cup or something." She suggested. Ako scoffed at this.

"There's padding built in there too, mom." He said, rolling his eyes.

"There's padding there too? Oh wow, they really thought of everything." She said. Ako laughed at this comment.

"Anyways, I wanted you to be the first person to see my new look. My hero name is gonna be Lightning."

"Good choice, son. I'm really proud of you," She smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek. "Big things are in store for you, honey. Just don't slack on your studies!" She added.

"I won't, promise. Anyways, I'm gonna get home now and get some sleep. I'll call you tomorrow night, alright? Promise."

"Okay, honey. Be careful getting back, okay?"

"I will! Love you!" Ako said, waving to her before opening the door.

"Love you too! Oh, can you check the mail real quick before you go?!" She remembered suddenly.

"Ahhh alright." Ako laughed, running to the mailbox and pulling out a few bills. He ran back to the door and handed them to her.

"Thank you, son. Okay, byeee." She said again.

"Byeee." Ako chuckled and left, running right back to UA before anyone realized he was gone...