Chapter Text
Akira Inazuma sat up in the darkness, feeling the cold sweat dripping down from between her shoulder blades to the small of her back. One. Two. Three. A breath in, a breath out. The same nightmare had been haunting her reality since the day she had watched a villain cause her mother’s last breath. It had only been a few months, but to Inazuma it felt like a lifetime. She’d been living on her own ever since. With no close family nearby and her last year of junior high coming to an end it just made sense to kick it on her own until she graduated highschool.
Glancing over at her alarm she saw that it was a little after five in the morning. Oh well, thought Inazuma, she had to get up soon anyways. Climbing out of her bed she stretched until she felt she would pass out. She really needed to figure something out for her sore muscles. Inazuma pulled on some track shorts and an oversized sweater to go on a quick run before her morning workout. Gazing in the mirror she only saw how far she needed to go before she would ever be anything close to a pro hero. Her horns had gotten longer since her mother’s death, only looking more sinister as they spiraled upwards. Or maybe it was just how tired she was that made her look a little on edge. That was probably it.
Inazuma shook herself back to reality. The entrance exam to U.A. High was a month away and she didn’t have time to waste. Getting stronger is the main objective right now and she couldn’t afford to lose muscle. Inazuma’s quirk is called Conduit; She stores electricity within the muscle fibers in her body and releases the electricity whenever she chooses to. The more muscle she has the more electricity she can store without it being harmful to others. If anyone were to touch Inazuma when she had condensed the electricity in any part of her body, they would feel the lovely equivalent of being struck by lightning.
Stumbling down her old apartment stairs Inazuma wondered if she would ever be ready for U.A. She forced herself to lose the thought, transitioning into a slow jog to keep her preoccupied. She needed to focus on the now; focusing on the ‘what-ifs’ weren’t going to get her anywhere. The morning air had a brisk chill to it and Inazuma was only wishing that she had worn sweats. Being cold is miserable, especially when the two large silver horns attached to your head didn’t seem to come with any insulation against the wind-chill. She started increasing the pace of her jog to warm up, feeling the light trembling through her body each time a foot hit the ground.
Each step Inazuma took as she walked into school that morning made her feel as if she had been hit by a truck. It has been the same routine for months now: Nightmares, run, lift, eat, study, and repeat. Grumbling to herself under her breath that she wished she had taken the time to stretch this morning, Inazuma bumped into Ochako Uraraka.
“Akira!” blurted Ochako, “I didn’t notice you there, I’m always so clumsy.”
After looking up at the fine lines wrinkling around Uraraka’s eyes Inazuma finally came back into focus. “Oh no Ochako that was completely my fault.” Akira felt her already pink cheeks getting darker and more rouged. She really needed to watch where she was going. What kind of hero would ever be as uncoordinated as she was. Inazuma fixed her smile and turned to Uraraka as she heard her start to talk about the U.A. entrance exam.
“I’m so nervous for the entrance exam, I know it’s a month away but it’s still stressing me out”, Ochako’s words seemed to tremble along with the rest of her body. “U.A. is my one chance to find a way to help my parents have a better life.”
“It’ll be fine Ochako.” Akira tried to convey warmth as she took her best friend’s hands. Truth be told the upcoming entrance exams made her so nervous it felt like she was in a state of constant nausea. “This will all be over before we know it. We’ve been putting in the work and we’ll see the results. Trust me, we’ve got this!” Uraraka smiled at her friend. This tiny girl wouldn’t let anything get in her way, and that made Ochako look up to her that much more.
The rest of the school day passed by in a blur. Akira was beginning to loathe the repetitiveness of each day. She was just getting to the point where each day was a continuation of the last. Training was too much of the same thing, so she decided to switch it up and start combat training. Her favorite weapon of choice so far had to be two steel rods, each about the length of her forearm. Hoping that training with these would somehow give her an advantage in close range combat, Akira wielded them every day after school until the morning of the entrance exam. The blunt force of the rod helped to keep an attacker at bay as well as working as an electricity conductor, almost working like a stun gun.
Day after day passed and the entrance exam drew closer. Akira woke up the morning of to go on a run and warm up her muscles. Today would not be the day that she didn’t put in as much effort as she could have. After a few miles of slow jogging she looked down at her watch and shuddered at her view of the time. She needed to hurry so she could make it to the train station on time. Kicking her pace into gear, Inazuma ran home and showered. She brushed her long, black, gray streaked hair and watched as it started to return to its curly state. Akira blow dried it as straight as she could, then wound it up into her signature hairstyle; two braids that circled around the base of her horns, creating two not so little buns. She pulled on her school uniform and packed her athletic wear into her gym bag. With U.A., it was probably best to overpack for the exam. Giving a last longing look at her two treasured weapons as she walked out the door, Akira set off for the train station. Today was the day where she could finally control her own future.