Villain to Hero: Naruko Motomiya

Chapter 6: Try To Catch Up, Motomiya

"Go, go, go! Keep on running!" Aozora yelled at Motomiya.

Motomiya had been running laps around the P.E. field for about an hour now. The sweltering heat of the sun beamed down on his exhausted, sweaty body that ached from his feet to his stomach. He thought that he was a good runner and could run for a decent amount of time, but this? This felt like torture. With the intense heat and exhaustion, his tired legs gave out, and he fell to the dusty ground.

Aozora walked over to where his student collapsed and crouched down. He pulled out his phone and put it in front of Motomiya's face. "Fifty-five minutes and twenty-two seconds. Good job! Even if you were basically walking for half of it, you still kept moving!"

Motomiya let out an incomprehensible murmer as a response.

"What was that?" Aozora asked him, unable to make out the words.

"No... energy," He repeated, the words just barely making it out of his mouth.

Aozora reached out his hand to Motomiya. "How about we go over the laws and restrictions that heroes have to follow," He suggested, even though it was more of an instruction.

He grabbed ahold of the hand and pulled himself up, the muscles in his legs aching and the soles of his feet in pain. With each step he took, it felt like agony.

~

He dropped into his seat and let his head fall back for just a moment. It seemed like ages since the last time he had sat down and rested, but in reality, it had only been a couple of hours. As soon as he heard Aozora clear his throat, he sat up straight and faced the podium where his teacher stood.

"What do all heroes need in order to do actual hero work?" Aozora asked out of the blue.

Motomiya's mind blanked on the question. He didn't know any sort of answer that sounded remotely correct. "Uh... lots of training?" He guessed.

"No," Aozora said, "All heroes need a hero license from the Hero Public Safety Comission. Without this license, we can't fight villains and save people without breaking the law."

"Oh," He let out. "That makes a lot more sense."

"Actually," Aozora started, "The provisional licensing exam is taking place in over a month or so. The first years and some of the second years will be taking it." He then narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. "And so will you."

A rush of anxiety went over him, and his breathing quickened as his chest felt tighter and tighter. "Wait- wait a minute. O- over a month? I'm not- I'm not ready for that. I can't do that. I mean- I mean, look at me!" He motioned to himself. His body was thin, and his academics were far from great. He didn't know anything about being a hero besides saving people and fighting villains, and he wasn't strong enough to physically beat anyone in a fight.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Aozora assured. "I'm going to cram every single piece of information from the first term into your skull, and all of the teachers here at UA will train both your body and quirk as much as possible. Soon, you'll be at the top of the class!"

Motomiya stared at his teacher, his mouth hanging open. He didn't believe a single word about getting to the top. "I'm so screwed."

"Let's... go over the history of heroes," Aozora said, seeing how much the thought of having to take an important exam in the coming future disturbed his student. "Do you know how quirks first emerged?"

He thought for a moment. "Didn't a baby in China have the first ever quirk a long time ago?"

"Yes. A baby in Qingqing, China, was born with the first quirk and is known as the Luminescent Baby Incident, marking the beginning of the quirk phenomenon. Over time, quirks began manifesting in people, which brought about an era of chaos and change," He explained. "This chaos and instability caused people to act out and use their new powers for their own personal gain and criminal activities."

"The rise of villains," Motomiya said. He had heard bits and pieces of this from his time in school but had mostly forgotten about it. Now, it was starting to come back to him.

"Exactly," Aozora replied. "In response to the growing crime rates, some individuals with quirks decided to take it upon themselves to fight these criminals and protect civilians. Even though they were using their quirks for good, they were still breaking the law with the use of their quirks and were essentially vigilantes. What do you think happens next?"

"Hmm..." He thought about it for a moment, trying to dig up the memories of learning this in school. "Didn't the government do something about it? Like, make laws?"

"Yes. Governments around the world began to regulate the use of quirks and established laws governing their use. This included licensing and training requirements for those who wanted to use their quirks publicly and professionally. Any guesses for what was established here in Japan for that?"

"The Hero Public Safety Comission. You said that earlier," Motomiya answered.

"Did I?" Aozora asked, genuinely curious about what he said earlier.

"Yeah, when you were explaining the hero license thing."

"Ah," He let out. "Anyway, the Hero Public Safety Comission was established in Japan to oversee the licensing of heroes and ensure that they operated within the legal framework. They play a crucial role in maintaining the standards and accountability of professional heroes. And now we get to the golden age of heroes. With the establishment of legal and regulatory frameworks, the profession of heroes became official. Licensed heroes were recognized by the public and the government, receiving support and resources to carry out their duties. Among these heroes came All Might, our Symbol of Peace. He brought about an era of peace in Japan and continues to do so. Nowadays, we have tons of schools that were established to train the next generation of heroes, that being you. These schools provide comprehensive education, combining practical hero training with academic and ethical lessons. In the present day, heroes are extremely important to society as they fight off villains and rescue civilians, and one day, you'll be doing that too."

Motomiya sat in silence, absorbing all of the information that was just given to him. It was exciting yet terrifying that he would follow the legacy of heroes and be a part of this thrilling history.

"What goal do you have as a hero?" Aozora suddenly asked out of nowhere.

"My goal?" He repeated. He hadn't thought about a goal. He had just figured that it only mattered to save people and fight villains as a hero, not have a specific goal.

"Some heroes strive to become the number one hero while others have a goal of saving a certain number of people in their lifetime. Every hero has their own goal and if a hero doesn't have one, well, their future is pretty bleak and they end up quiting. What do you hope to do as a hero?" He asked.

Motomiya thought back to what Kaillapse had said to him. With a quirk like his, he could save people just like him. Memories of what he had gone through suddenly flooded his mind; his dad throwing bottles at him, his dad yelling at him and telling him how worthless he was, the countless nights where all he could do was cry, the horrible days when living seemed pointless and all he wanted to do was die. He didn't want anyone else to go through that. With that in mind, his goal as a hero was made. "I want to save every abused kid and give them a life worth living."

He would have to work hard to make it as a hero and to fulfill this goal, but with each lesson and each session of training, he knew that with the help of everyone, he would become a hero a reach his goal.