Lightning – My Hero Academia

Chapter 44: In A Box

"Alright, you're all dismissed. Miss Okamoto, please stay after class for a few minutes." Mr. Aizawa instructed. At his word, all of the students got up from their seats and eagerly filed out of the classroom; all except Yui Okamoto, who set her bag down in her seat and sat on the edge of her desk.

"Is there something wrong, Mr. Aizawa?" Yui asked, folding her arms in front of her.

"You tell me," Mr. Aizawa set down the papers in his hand and made his way around his desk. "I'm sure you remember a warning that I gave several weeks ago about being out after curfew, sneaking around at night?" He brought up.

"...I kinda recall." Yui answered him.

"I've already spoken to the other members of the school board. You're quite lucky – you're not in any real trouble." Mr. Aizawa informed her.

"I'm not? I-I mean-!" Yui stopped herself, but she had already unintentionally admitted her guilt.

"Now that I know it was you, my question, Miss Okamoto, is why were you sneaking out and prowling around the campus in the first place?" He asked, lacing his fingers together and sitting on the edge of his desk.

"I...have been struggling t-to keep my wild side in check. I need more practice to harness it to the full. I train every night to work on my focus. It's the only way." Yui explained, looking down and shaking her head a little.

"I see. Why did you fail to mention this before?"

"Because...it's my quirk, my burden, my responsibility." She stated, biting her lip and letting out a forceful exhale.

"That's not how things work here, Miss Okamoto. We're here to help you, but only if you allow us to do so." Mr. Aizawa said.

"How?"

"I'll speak with the board again and we'll figure something out. But for now, you need to follow the rules exactly as they have been set out for you until an exception can be made." He stated. Yui folded her arms and huffed at this.

"Fine. I can do that." She agreed.

"Good. You're dismissed." Mr. Aizawa signaled that she was free to go.

Yui grabbed her bag, slung one of the straps around her shoulder, and walked quietly out of the classroom. She grumbled a little to herself as she made her way down the hall and out onto the campus. As she approached the class 1-A dormitory, she noticed Ako talking to some of the other students outside.

"Ako! Come!" Yui called to him. Ako, who was listening to the conversation, turned towards her and saw her standing by the gate.

"Um...I'll be right back, guys," Ako said to the group before making his way over to her. "What's up, Yui? You okay? You look a little..." Ako observed the expression on her face.

"I just spoke with Mr. Aizawa. He asked me about how I was sneaking out. I didn't tell him about you." She told him. Ako's eyes widened a little.

"I-I see. Um, what did he say?"

"That...I need to work some things out for now, Ako. We won't be training anymore." She said, shaking her head again.

"Okay. Is there anything I can do for you?" He asked, leaning in a little closer to look at her.

"For now, let's just continue as we were. I'll get the rest on my own." Yui said, clearly looking frustrated. Finally, she made eye contact with him. He nodded slowly.

"Sure. Okay. Well, I'm here for you." He said. Yui nodded.

"Thanks for all the help." She said, giving him a hug. Ako flinched a little in surprise before returning the hug and patting her on the back.

"Anytime." He replied.

Yui let him go and went inside the dorm, passing by the other students that Ako was talking to. Ako stuck his hands in his pockets and watched her go inside, choosing to linger by the gate. Among those in the group was Lula; she went over to talk to Ako after seeing Yui go inside.

"What was that about?" Lula asked in concern.

"Uh, well...it's complicated." Ako said awkwardly.

"Did you two break up?" She asked him.

"Tch, no. You have to be dating to break up." Ako pointed out with a little sideways smile. He turned and started to go for a walk through the campus. To his surprise, Lula fell in step next to him.

"Hey, come on. Tell me what's up." She insisted.

"Well...Yui got in some trouble with Mr. Aizawa. She's got some stuff to figure out, sooo for now we're not gonna be doing as much training together." He summarized.

"Oh. Huh. That wasn't that complicated."

"Heh, well that's the simplified version anyway." Ako said.

"Yeah. I hope she'll be alright. She looked pretty upset." Lula said.

"Yeah. I'll have to check on her after she's calmed down a bit." He commented.

"I think I'll do the same. So much for the training, huh?" She added.

"Well, we can still do that when Mr. Aizawa gives us free time. I think Yui's upset because she wants to get better and feels like she's stuck in a box, you know? I feel for her, I really do." Ako explained his thinking.

"That sounds frustrating. But I mean, we all have our limitations." Lula pointed out.

"Yeah, but limitations aren't really a good thing, are they? I know I want to be the best that I can be." Ako said, speaking a little more passionately than he intended to. Lula picked up on this right away.

"Is that why you two were training together so intensely? You both feel like you're stuck in a box?" She asked him.

"I've been stuck in a box since I got here." Ako muttered, mostly to himself. Lula looked at him and put a hand on his arm.

"What do you mean?" She asked in a softer voice. Ako glanced at her.

"It's nothing. I guess I've just been a little frustrated as well." He admitted.

"Hey, no need to rush things, speedy. We've got 3 whole years to get as far as we can here at UA. And you know what? When we get out there and become the next top pro heroes, we're still gonna have to be training and improving to push past our limits.

"The way that I see it, the only we get up to the top is by taking it one step at a time. I mean, some of our quirks are pretty lame in comparison to yours, but we still get by." She commented.

"Heh, well, you guys are smarter than me. I'm built more for running headfirst into my problems." Ako said, rolling his eyes and looking to the side.

"Well hey, there's nothing wrong with asking for help. I'm always around," She offered. "And I could give you some pointers for sure."

"Oh yea? Like what?" Ako asked, chuckling as he stopped to turn and look at her. She stopped too and gave him a playful smile.

"Well, for one, maybe let's not run headfirst into our problems without thinking it through a little first?" She suggested humorously.

"Fair. What else?"

"Hmm...you used to be in the support class, right?"

"Yeah."

"You should keep at that. A hero handyman is a super good skill to have. I know I couldn't do that." She said, indirectly complimenting him.

"I do tinker with my gear a little from time to time. Don't tell anyone though." Ako chuckled.

"Heheh, your secret's safe with me, speedy." She giggled.

"Anything else?" He asked.

"Nope. Just that you need to relax. Take a moment to stop and just breathe." She said, poking him on the cheek quickly.

Ako tried to open his mouth, but no words came out. He was unable to speak. He was unable to move. Lula smirked a little and started to walk away. She took a few steps before turning to look back at him and smiling.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Tanaka. You've got a lot more going for you than you give yourself credit for. We all make mistakes. You just gotta learn from them." She said before tapping her fingers together, releasing Ako from her paralysis.

Ako, now back in control of his body, took in a few surprised breaths. He rotated his shoulders and stretched his arms out, watching her walk back to the dormitory. Ako cleared his throat and turned around, resuming his walk with his hands in his pockets.

Ako took a moment to loosen his tie and snuck one more glance at her before she disappeared around the corner...